A high salary skyrocketed the expectations for Xherdan Shaqiri in a Chicago Fire shirt, setting both player and club up for disappointment as the side missed out on the playoffs once again in 2023 despite having chances down the stretch.
When you’re the third-highest-paid player in Major League Soccer, you need to have more than nine goal contributions in an entire season. Before arriving in Chicago, Shaqiri had only reached double-digit goal contributions three times in his career and hadn’t done so since he helped generate 15 tallies for Stoke City in 2017-18. Maybe the expectations were too high upon arrival in Chicago, but the Fire’s designated player did manage 14 goal contributions during the 2022 MLS season.
Shaqiri’s 84 shot-creating actions in MLS were tied for 44th in the league with the Columbus Crews’ Alexandru Matan (who makes $7.5 million less than Shaqiri) and trailed teammate Brian Gutiérrez’s team-leading 99 shot-creating actions, per fbref.
Shaqiri spent much of the 2023 season trying to mesh on the pitch alongside Gutiérrez, who often played on the wing with the Swiss international occupying the central attacking role. The results were mixed but Gutiérrez was able to find ways to take advantage of the chances that Shaqiri was consistently creating for the Berwyn native.
The midfielder’s role extends beyond the soccer pitch with Shaqiri consistently playing host to the Fire’s French-speaking players (Ousmane Doumbia, Arnaud Souquet, Maren Haile-Selassie) as they adjusted to a new country.
There were two on-pitch highlights for Shaqiri in 2023, one from the inaugural Leagues Cup and one in MLS. Shaqiri’s penalty kick goal in the Fire’s Leagues Cup win over Minnesota United after the Loons’ goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was chirping throughout the buildup to the spot kick reverberated throughout the North American soccer landscape. When this reporter asked Shaqiri about it later, Shaqiri simply responded with a big smile on his face, “He started it.”
Shaqiri’s performance in the Fire’s 4-1 win over Messi-less Inter Miami will be remembered for a while in these parts. Big-time players make big-time plays and Shaqiri took advantage of the over 60,000-person crowd at Soldier Field, scoring the two goals that bookended the Fire’s win.
Expectations will once again be high for Shaqiri in 2024 as he looks to get the Fire into the MLS playoffs for the first time since 2017.
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