Copyright Chicago Tribune
When former United States men’s national soccer team coach Gregg Berhalter took over as head coach and director of football for the Chicago Fire at the end of last season, he met with the team to lay out his plans. “This will be the hardest preseason you’ve ever had,” Berhalter said. “It was about setting a tone, professionalism, trying to get everyone pulling in the same direction.” Fire defender Andrew Gutman figured it was the same old rhetoric any new coach would lay out to his new team. “That’s verbatim what he said to us,” Gutman said. “I wasn’t intimidated, but I was like, that’s how every new coach comes in, sets the tone.” That was, until he arrived at training camp. “Then we got there, and it was the hardest training camp of my life,” Gutman said. “It was full go for three weeks before we were building up our minutes. “Right from the beginning, he set the tone. If you’re going to play on this team, you’re going to have to work your butt off. It was something the club needed.” Berhalter had a similar message while recruiting new players to the Fire. His culture change has paid immediate dividends, as the Fire clinched their first MLS Cup playoff berth since 2017. They will host the Eastern Conference wild-card game against Orlando City at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. The winner will face the top-seeded Philadelphia Union in a best-of-three first-round series starting at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Berhalter took the job thinking Chicago was primed to become an MLS powerhouse. The Fire opened their new training facility before this season. Owner Joe Mansueto then laid out plans for a new soccer-specific stadium in the South Loop. Add in the playoff berth, and the momentum to get where Berhalter envisioned when he took the job is already well underway. “This is a sports city, and I know how this city can get behind a team,” Berhalter said. “There’s so much potential with the player pool in the area, the training facility we built, the stadium coming on board. “When we’re talking to new recruits and show them all of that, they’re blown away. It’s such a livable city. It’s a great recruitment tool.” Those factors helped lure Danish forward Philip Zinckernagel to Chicago. The 30-year-old had a decorated career in Europe and never really considered playing in MLS. After meeting with Berhalter, Zinckernagel started to seriously consider making the move. Both he and the team are glad he did. He’s a Newcomer of the Year candidate after becoming the first player in club history to score 15 goals and record 15 assists. He scored both goals in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against the New England Revolution. “He explained to me his vision,” Zinckernagel said of Berhalter. “With the new facility and plans for the new stadium, what sort of owner we have, it seems like a really healthy project and a project that could go only one way — forward.” Gutman has been around the Fire since he was at Hinsdale Central in 2012. He has long felt the Fire could be a big-time club, so when he heard Berhalter’s plan, he was all-in. “I’m a little bit biased because I grew up a fan, but this should be one of the biggest clubs in the league,” Gutman said. “This is a massive soccer city. These are the expectations and I’m not surprised we were able to do it so quickly. He put together a great plan to build us up. We stuck together.” Berhalter built the team with purpose. He wanted to put together a high-scoring, high-energy product. That started with bringing in Zinckernagel to pair with Belgian striker Hugo Cuypers (17 goals). The Fire scored a club-record 68 goals this season. “I knew who Hugo was, and bringing us in was a clear signal that this is a team that wants to attack and wants to be offensive,” Zinckernagel said. “That is appealing. “I know my qualities and I know what I can do. I’ve played at a high level, so I was expecting to have an impact. I’m happy I’ve been helping the team and the system has been fitting me really well. I’ve been able to be the best version of myself.” The Fire clinched the playoff berth by beating Inter Miami 4-3 on the road on Sept. 30. For Gutman, the moment was special. “This is the expectation moving forward, that the Chicago Fire should be in the playoffs every single year,” he said. “It was a great feeling for the staff and the players and the club as a whole. It has been so long.” Berhalter’s vision of the club’s future direction is already coming to fruition. Wednesday’s game proves that. “We need to become a club that is expected to make the playoffs,” Berhalter said. “We want to eventually be competing for a championship. It’s up to us consistently competing and putting a product on the field the fans want to see. We’re an exciting, attacking team.” Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
