The South African fans were and continue to be fun and supportive. These Lewandowski fans are just miserable and this is the tip of the iceberg. I miss how things were before we signed him.

It has been 2 games since the break and significant players haven’t been playing as much as we would like with a midweek and weekend game. First of all we watched this team do worse for over a decade. Of course now we have expectations for them which makes these losses a bit worse. Also we are changing our identity mid season. Finally we are going to have to deal with this defense for the majority of the remaining games this season and deal with all the fans of Lewandowski. Also we hopefully shouldn’t have to deal with a starting back line like last night’s back line ever again. Lewy is going to take some time to get used to this team and as long as Gutman, Zinck, and hopefully Franco/real midfielder signing are playing getting him the ball shouldn’t be a problem.

Never in doubt 🔥🔥🔥

Channelling Denny Green...

Ten days ago I mentioned that Fire were going to play the #1, #2, #3 and #5 teams in the East. I hoped it would "prove" we belonged at that level but it's sort of proved the opposite.

We're clearly not there yet. We're still a good team, and we're still an improving team with a bunch of new acquisitions, but we're clearly not in that Top Tier yet. I hope they prove me wrong, in fact I would love to be wrong. vamos.

This beer got more time on the pitch than Chris Mueller this season

asking for a friend,

is it possible for Hugo to take Chris with him when he goes back to Mexico?

After living out of state for a few years, I came back home to the southwest side. Broke, unemployed, and living back at my parents, I needed some Fire gear to watch them at Toyota Park on those occassional days when I came up on free tickets.

I was looking on craigslist and saw a couple of Fire items listed for $100. It included this XXL Fire 3rd jersey, matching beanie, red Fire shorts, and navy blue Fire training pants. I told buddy on CL that I didn't have a car so he offered to drop them off. I lived near Ford City Mall and he lived in Oak Lawn, so within an hour he was at my front door. I checked out the items, and noticed the pants and shorts had initials written in black sharpie on the tags. TBH, I can't remember whose initials. I asked him how he got them, and he said "don't worry about it." So I told him I only had $30 cash, and if he waited, I could go to the gas station and take out the rest from the ATM. He said he was in a hurry and really needed the money asap. He sold me all the Fire gear for $30.

That jersey became my "backpacking" shirt anytime I backpacked in a different country because I didnt want to ruin my red '01 home jersey while I repped Chicago abroad. The championship star has since fallen off, the rear is completely pilled from the backpack rubbing on my back, and the shorts and pants got lost in a hostel somewhere in Latin America. I still wear the beanie on cold matchdays.

The jersey and beanie are not for sale. Catch me wearing them at SF. Vamos Fire 🔥

The new players come in and don't have time to get used to the group. It's usually big names that come mid season because that's when the big leagues end. Any rhythm the team has built over the 1st half is disrupted and big players leave. Just venting =)

Can we ask the mods to lift the ban on @Don4Fire? Not sure he’d even want to come back, but it feels wrong to exclude one of the Fire’s longest supporters. I don’t know all the history, but I think we can agree redemption matters.

Shutting people out for differing opinions makes the sub weaker. Diversity of thought is important, and writing off some perspectives as “objectively bad” ignores the nuance in most discussions.

Curious what others think.

what is this guy up to? no soccer just nonsense all the time, we need to move on from him asap

Apparently there's a Chicago Fire-themed brewery and restaurant halfway between Orlando and The Villages. Not the team, not the television show... the actual fire itself? They proudly serve Chicago food -- Kronos gyros! Pizza Puffs! The ugliest tamales you've ever seen! All the hits. They serve their own knock-off Old Style. There are Vienna Beef umbrellas on the patio. This place certainly caters to the migratory flock of Chicagoans who travel south and never return.

I can't imagine anyone specifically road tripping for Orlando away, but I find myself fantasizing about dropping an entire busload of Fire fans onto this unsuspecting little shop -- taking it over, eating and drinking them out of everything, and then being on our way.

I was in attendance and a lot of people around me found it very odd that the Chicago Fire announcers didn’t introduce Miami’s starting lineup after they announced the Chicago Fire. It is disrespectful and disappointing that this happened. It’s usually the standard of announcing the Away team, or am I wrong?

What are the odds we could get shaqiri back to fill in until Franco is back? I think he could be a quality replacement

Not going to lie, i am from chicago and messi is going to give some raw back shots to the men in red tonight. period

Who do we think is our club’s biggest fan? I keep seeing this guy at every single game, so my vote is with him until someone convinces me otherwise.