Where we left off last year
2025 season: 53 points, 8th in the Eastern Conference, 13th in MLS
Last season featured the Chicago Fire taking a massive step forward, one so large that I wrote this about them following their playoff exit at the hands of the Philadelphia Union:
Complete with resources paralleled by only a select few league rivals, the club is on the right track again that could see them enter MLS’s exclusive tier of consistently competitive teams.
In Gregg Berhalter’s first year as head coach and chief soccer officer, only the Union’s points per game total improved more than the Fire’s from 2024 to 2025. Most of the club’s signings hit in a heavily revamped roster. The team showed a clear, unified style. And they announced a new soccer-specific stadium coming to Chicago. The Chicago Fire we’d become used to seeing — the disorganized, poorly assembled Fire that hadn’t made the playoffs for seven-straight seasons — is gone, replaced by one on a trophy path.
Joseph Lowery
What changed in the offseason
Notable arrivals:
- Anton Saletros, CM: With a couple of central midfielders exiting this winter, the Fire signed Saletros from the Swedish top-flight. The 29-year-old left-footed center-mid will bring the sort of technical on-ball play that you’d expect Chicago to prioritize under Gregg Berhalter. He should be an upgrade in midfield.
- Robin Lod, CM/W: Signed as a free agent, Lod was one of the best pickups of the entire MLS offseason. The former Minnesota United man was the model of consistency (and versatility) at his last club. Though Father Time is catching up to him at age 32, Lod has played at least 2,300 minutes in each of the last two years and could well start 30 games for the Fire.
