CHICAGO (WGN) — Chicago Fire FC is heading into the home stretch of the Major League Soccer season with a playoff push in its sights. As a way to thank fans for their support this season, the club’s head coach offered them a unique experience with the team, and WGN-TV a tour of the Fire’s newly finished, state-of-the-art training facility.
“We’re pretty rowdy fans, so I’m surprised they let us in here in general,” said Andrew Littrell, A Chicago Fire fan. “But it just speaks volumes what the club and ownership are trying to do.”
In the midst of their preparation for the New England Revolution next Saturday, head coach Gregg Berhalter gave some of the biggest Fire fans an inside look at practice.
“I don’t know any other Chicago teams where they’re [like], ‘Hey, come to a practice, talk to a coach, come see the players up close,’” said Chris Littrell, Andrew’s brother. “This is just a really cool experience.”
The buzz around the team is palpable, though the playoffs are far from guaranteed.
Standing at 11-10-6 with 39 points, the Fire currently sit in tenth place in Major League Soccer’s standings. The New York Red Bulls, who stand at 11-11-6 and also have 39 points, have a better goal differential than Chicago and sit in the ninth seed.
The top nine teams in the MLS qualify for playoffs, with the No. 8 and 9 seeds competing in a wild-card match to fill out the final spot in the league’s playoff bracket.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve really had something to be excited about,” said Neil Stern, another Chicago Fire fan. “This is a fun team that’s got some players who are fun to watch. They score a lot of goals—I wish they didn’t give up as many goals—but at least they’re not boring.”
A look inside the Fire’s new training facility
After the fan experience on the practice pitch, Berhalter gave WGN-TV a look inside the Endeavor Health Performance Center, which included a tour of the players’ lounge, film center and the weight room.
-
Entrance to the Endeavor Health Performance Center. (Photo: WGN-TV) -
A weight rack at the Endeavor Health Performance Center. (Photo: WGN-TV) -
Seating inside the film room at the Endeavor Health Performance Center. (Photo: WGN-TV) -
Other equipment inside the Endeavor Health Performance Center. (Photo: WGN-TV)
The Fire’s outlook down the stretch
With seven regular-season games remaining, four of the Fire’s contests are against teams ranked ahead of them in the standings—New York City FC (No. 8 seed in the East), Minnesota FC (No. 2 seed in the West), the Columbus Crew (No. 7 seed in the East) and Inter Miami FC (No. 6 seed in the East).
“It is a crucial time of year, but the way we’ve been approaching every game this season has really [been] focusing on one game at a time, and keep trying to get better each week,” Berhalter said. “If we do that, we can position ourselves to make the playoffs. We know every game, the intensity increases a little bit toward the end of the season, but this is what you play for.
“I talked to the guys last week and said, we work so hard to get ourselves in this position, now it’s about closing it out and making the playoffs.”
The Fire’s next match against the New England Revolution will be on Saturday, Sept. 6, at SeatGeek Stadium, with kick-off set for 7:30 p.m. CT