It’s out! The blank slate that is the 2023 MLS Schedule is officially public, and the road for the Chicago Fire is now known.
This will be the first time since 2018 that the Fire will host their season opener, and it will be against the champions once removed – New York City FC - who are coming off yet another impressive season where they reached the Eastern Conference Final.
However, they have some big pieces moving on - including Maxi Moralez, Sean Johnson, and Alexander Callens to name a few.
Unfortunately, someone over at MLS HQ in New York City likes to play some cruel, sick games with the great City of Chicago, as the Fire faithful are the odd man out for Week 1 and will have to wait until March 4 to get their new campaign underway.
REVENGE MATCHES
I am a pretty petty sports fan by nature (It’s the Jersey in me) and always remember the teams who did me wrong the previous season - or in some cases, in prior decades.
A couple of big matches to keep an eye on from a revenge standpoint will be the home matches against Columbus and Charlotte. Not once, but twice, did the Fire squander 2-0 leads at half to these two sides and ended up surrendering all three points at Soldier Field. For me (and I’m sure for those who took part in those games in 2022) these are “payback” games, as they loom large in the “what if” scenarios that Fire fans probably played in their heads over and over again as they missed out on the postseason in 2022.
The Fire will welcome Columbus on June 10, who are now under the direction of Wilfried Nancy after the dismissal of Caleb Porter. Fire Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson will also welcome back Charlotte FC on Oct. 7, following that gutting 3-2 defeat along the lakefront that more or less solidified the Fire’s playoff fate last year
Here’s what stands out to me about the 2023 Chicago Fire Schedule
RIVALRY (?)
The highly-anticipated arrival of St. Louis City SC to MLS is finally here, and Chicago fans will add yet another team to root hard against from a strictly geographical standpoint.
For me, it can’t be a true rivalry until there is some bad blood, heated fixtures, multiple cards or at least some extracurricular activities to get your heart rate up. However, I need not explain what the St Louis/Chicago rivalry means to their respective fans when it comes to the Cubs and Cardinals.
Separated by less than 300 miles, these two teams will already have something built into what potentially could be a long-standing, nasty rivalry (fingers crossed).
SUMMER LOVIN'
We always talk about the “dog days of summer” when it comes to an MLS schedule, and for good reason. The calendar spans three “seasons”, 34 games from late February until mid -October and potentially beyond if you get into the postseason. It is significantly longer than the MLB season and can really start to take its toll on teams and players who aren’t used to the travel that MLS presents.
With that in mind, the months of June/July/August will be CRUCIAL for the Fire. June will present a daunting road swing in Portland (6/21), Kansas City (6/24) and Orlando (7/1). These are arguably three of the most difficult places to play in MLS. That will be followed by a four-game homestand against Nashville, Montréal, Toronto and Orlando.
Fortunately, in regard to the road swing, the Fire will be fresh off an international break in June before heading to the Pacific Northwest to start the gauntlet that sees them travel to the West coast, Midwest and Southeast for a total of 5,000 miles traveled in 10 days.
Picking up points at home is always crucial, especially for a side like Chicago that have, yes, historically struggled on the road. Those four games at Soldier Field will set the scene for what the final 10 games of the season look like, and more importantly how much ground the Fire will have to make up or how much wiggle room they have.
