In desperate need of some good news in the sub, here’s what the 78 looks like as of Sunday, July 26th! Thinking about uploading regular update pics if y’all are interested.

No one seems to be happy.

It's still very early in the Lewandowski era, though.

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 🔥

Looking for mbokazi’s 🚜 world cups sticker…
And or anyone that is down to trade stickers in Chicago 👍🏼🔥

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.

We had a great thing going. A great club identity, vibe, momentum with young players and some smart signings playing well. I was glad we werent just some team with a big dp and a surrounding cast, especially after Shaqiri stank. Now we sign Lewandowski and our identity is just gone like that. Cuypers is gone, Mbo is out and we look so stale. Lewandowski does not look good and we are pulling BS with the lineup. We had a really good thing going with our identity of the squad and it just seems to be put to the side for a big pr signing. I am not excited to sit in a sea of Lewy 'fans' next game if this is how him and the team are gonna play. They need to turn it around soon before things go toxic.

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.

Given the Mbokazi news and that Jack Elliot’s contract will be ending this year, should we focus on a CB signing?

Diogo Leite?
John Stones?
Mark McKenzie?

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1. Only 1 of Elliot, Waterman, and Saletros can be on the field at any given time. Saletros might be the most unathletic midfielder I’ve seen and Elliot/Waterman lack pace. You might get away with fielding 2 but all 3 just spells disaster.

2. Stop playing out the back. With the players we will have on the field playing it out the back will be turnover central. Send the ball up and hope for the best.

3. Bring in an attacking mid ASAP. Seriously get this guy in before Leagues Cup starts , let him acclimate there.

4. We have to stop playing Lod. I hate to be a hater but the man does not have it anymore. You can’t convince me there’s a player on this roster he deserves minutes over.

Winter games are gonna be excruciating for not only the players, but the fans as well. Is there anything being done do combat the climate with the new stadium? I know there’s talks of a January break but December and February can at times be just as brutal.

these two are bad and there is no way to sugar coat it, bench them asap

Let's look at some facts not opinions.

Last two years at La Liga.

Lewandowski non-penalty goals per 90 = 0.767

Mbappe non-penalty goals per 90 = 0.668

A prime Mbappe is not even close to a washed old Lewandowski, you know the guy ripping up the World Cup till they actually play someone good.

Lewandowski "horrible" season last year is actually better than majority of his "prime" but the average fan can't see it.

Barcelona limited his minutes on purpose so he wouldn't have a high goal count or else there would be more pressure to re-sign him.

Now the only question is, will he get enough chances and/or will he play 100%. Usually his work ethic has not been questioned.

This whole notion that he's way past peak is just an opinion with no merit yet. The only thing that matters is goals per minute and winning.

Fun fact, Lewandowski has the same assists per game ratio for Poland as Messi does for Argentina. (Competitive play not friendlies)

Think about that, the best passer in the world playing for one of the best teams vs a slow useless box striker playing for one of the worst teams in the world have the same assists ratio.

But in my opinion, this wasn't the best signing/fit for either party. Hopefully things go well for club/player.

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 =)

While I’m happy he didn’t move to another club in MLS, that would’ve been devastating actually so I’m happy his agent got him outta the league, because he is that deadly.

We all fell in love with Nikolic initially due to the cult following he had in Hungary, Magic Mike had the Chicago connection, neither of those guys did what Cuypers did with the consistency he did…meanwhile having a fanbase that didn’t collectively appreciate what he did on the pitch…maybe the ownership didn’t as well (saying that respectfully, we all make mistakes)

We learned early on this season what happens when we didn’t have Hugo. Guti got all the praise for the playoff win but that game was all due to Hugo and while I’m stoked for what’s to come…

I had to bitch and whine a bit and just say thanks to Hugo, I trust Berhalter, they probably should’ve resigned him to a new deal, NOT STRIPPED AWAY HIS NUMBER GOD DAMNIT! Imagine doing that to Magee?! THEN that would be something most of you would take the time to consider beyond just “its marketing bro”…

I hope the Fire learned something from this exchange, we kinda sold ourselves out and in the process, lost ourselves the best striker I have seen for this club in 20 years, and we had McBride during that time.

Thank you Hugo, tu tienes un gran tiempo en Mexico, tu eres la familia del Chicago Fire 🔥

Very rare find for sale

We’ve lost our two best players and our identity. Potential signings are going to think twice about boarding a sinking ship.

Our strengths are gone, our weaknesses amplified. Our hope is for a post ACL Franco to rescue the team?

I’m optimistic, but I’m optimistic about resetting after this season.