Fabian Herbers was wearing the captain’s armband to start a match for the first time in his Chicago Fire career when they faced off against the New England Revolution last weekend.
Herbers, 30, has appeared in 127 MLS matches, starting 86, for Chicago since the Fire traded for him in December 2018 in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft. Getting the captain’s armband meant a lot to Herbers.
“I've been around quite a bit now,” said Herbers. “It felt good. It feels good to get the confidence from the coaching staff to lead the team.
“Obviously for me, I didn't really do too much different. I try to lead by example out on the field. I try to run and work hard every game and then try to play my game and try to direct the players in certain ways when it's pressing or when we do have the ball to find the gaps and find open passes.
“So, in terms of preparation or going about the game, I didn't really do too much different. But obviously it's an honor to be captain for this team, and you know, unfortunately we couldn't get the win but I thought it was alright.”
Herbers has connected well with club-record signing Hugo Cuypers. He assisted on the Fire No. 9’s goal in New England and was inches away from assisting him in Columbus earlier this month. Herbers said he trusts his new attacker in the final third.
“We had a good sort of counterattack. It was a transition where Haile-Selassie played me through, and I saw him wide open in the box. And yeah, he had a clean finish, so that was good. He's a finisher. He has a good track record of scoring goals.
“So, you know, I trust and we as a team have to trust that he puts the ball in the back of the net, and I think he's starting to do that which obviously helps us as a team. And hopefully he can score many more goals and try to have a lot of those clean finishes to get more wins and more points down the road.”
From the rest of my notebook:
Frank Klopas on Georgios Koutsias
The Fire’s young Greek forward had a great chance to score in the Fire’s 1-1 draw in Foxborough. Koutsias stole the ball from New England’s goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. and made a run toward goal but his effort went at Edwards Jr. for the easy save. It was the best scoring chance of the season for the Fire’s 20-year-old forward, and while he should’ve done better with the chance in Massachusetts, Fire head coach Frank Klopas is happy with his young striker’s response to his tough start to 2024.
“He's always a striker that's looking for the next opportunity and chance,” said Klopas. “I don't think he overthinks stuff like that. I think that's the really strong point about him, and being so young, I just think his mentality and his ability to move on and right away, he's looking for the ball again to put himself in that spot, and I think, for a striker, that's a really good mentality to have.
“I mean, on that play, he makes a really great effort to close the goalkeeper down, and he goes down and then, look, he's got the defender on him. That puts some pressure on him. I think he tried to pick that corner and the goalie made a good save.
“But as a whole, his ability to put the energy and the pressure to close the goalkeeper down and create an opportunity really out of nothing is good. But I don't think he's a guy that really dwells too much on. He's really a guy that moves on and, as a forward, he's the one guy that if he misses five chances, he always wants the next one because he believes that the next one will be in the back of the net.”
Left Back Update
It's looking like Jonathan Dean will once again start at left back when the Fire face Atlanta United. Frank Klopas said that Chase Gasper would be “out for a while” after leaving last weekend’s match minutes after being subbed on. Andrew Gutman is highly unlikely to return to the pitch in Atlanta, so Dean appears in line for another start, this one coming in his home state of Georgia.
Dean did an “excellent job” defensively against New England according to Klopas and should get his second start of the MLS season on Sunday.
International 'Break'
Xherdan Shaqiri
The Fire’s captain subbed on in the 76th minute of Switzerland’s 0-0 draw against Denmark and then scored his 30th international goal (a very nice free kick) in his side’s 1-0 win over Ireland in Dublin.
Chris Brady
Brady started for the United States Men’s Olympic Team in their 3-0 win over Guinea in Girona, Spain, and was an unused sub in his side’s 2-2 draw with France a few days later. Brady was called into camp after Gabriel Slonina sustained an injury and did well to keep a clean sheet despite being hounded by Guinea’s attack after halftime.
Omari Glasgow
This international window is one Glasgow won’t soon forget. Glasgow became his nation’s third-highest goal-scorer of all time when he struck twice in his nation’s 4-1 win over Cambodia after they lost 1-0 days earlier to Cape Verde. While with his nation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Glasgow received the 2023-2024 CONCACAF Nations League Young Player Award for his performances with Guyana during the tournament.
Sergio Oregel
Oregel subbed on in the 72nd minute in the US Under-19’s 3-2 win over England and then started and played 71 minutes in their 1-0 loss to Morocco.
What’s On Tap Next?
The Fire hit the road to face Atlanta United on Sunday. Kick off is at 2:30 PM CT and the match will air on FOX and MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.
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