Calen Carr is Excited About the 2025 Chicago Fire

Calen Carr will always have a soft spot for Chicago.

The Fire’s first-round pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft after a standout collegiate career at California, Carr will be on the call for the Apple TV+ broadcast when Chicago looks for their fourth road win of 2025 when they take on the New York Red Bulls at Sports Illustrated Stadium Saturday evening.

“Gregg Berhalter is coming in with new ideas, with a voice that has instant credibility, one of the most accomplished coaches in North American Soccer and a great track record in MLS,” Carr told On Tap Sports Net. “So right away, he's going to catch the ear and the attention, and I think also has the buy-in of the people around him, from the very top of the totem pole to the very bottom. That is a really important part.

“Now, I'm not saying that's going to just be ‘all right, perfect. Everything is now solved. We can just move on into utopia.’ I don't think Gregg is promising that either, but it does feel like there's a fresh start. And that's what the club needed.”

The front three of Hugo Cuypers, who is second in MLS with five goals in 2025, alongside offseason additions Jonathan Bamba and Philip Zinckernagel, has “excited” Carr throughout his match prep.

“Bamba has the quality, no doubt, and has the ability, but I think can even hit another level. Zinckernagel, to me, has already come off and been really, really effective and would create a lot of matchup problems. And then what that's allowed is also a simplified role for Hugo Cuypers: to not have to go into the wide areas, to not have to create as much, and to focus on what he wants to do, which, to me, is just scoring goals. He's interested a little bit here and there. He had a really nice assist against Dallas. He has the quality to drift into wide areas and contribute in other ways. But ultimately, you want somebody of that quality in the box getting service.”

We’re nearing the 20 year anniversary of the Fire’s 2006 U.S. Open Cup title, the most recent trophy Chicago has won, a memory Carr cherishes from his rookie season in Major League Soccer. A rookie on a team that featured Fire legends C.J. Brown, Chris Armas and Zach Thornton, Carr was able to build confidence in himself throughout the Fire’s run to the Open Cup title even though he didn’t feature in the final in Bridgeview.

“Open Cup was the first avenue that I had where I was able to start matches and really build consistent minutes and score to score. I scored some goals throughout that tournament. I got two [goals] in the semi against D.C. United went to the final and then won the final. That ended up being the only piece of hardware that I got throughout my career. Got close two times with the MLS Cup finals.

“But I tell young players now, every year at the rookie symposium, as they're coming in and homegrown players, you never know when that chance is going to come. It might be your first year. It might be your breakthrough moment. And to now look back and say I was a part of an Open Cup champion team.”

Carr was in Chicago when the Fire acquired Mexican superstar Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who the broadcaster remembers fondly. The Blanco effect was real everywhere the Fire went, though Carr believes he’d only be more of a big deal if a player of his ilk played in MLS in 2025.

“I felt his impact massively with Chicago. And I was, I was a little bit skeptical, as were a few of the guys on the team. You’d just see his personality, a fiery character, and mostly the battles against the US as a national team. We had a bunch of national team guys at the time, the personality of the team was much more like hard working blue collar, Chris arms, CJ Brown, Jim Curtin, Zach Thornton, like everybody that was kind of from this Bob Bradley era of ‘play football the right way, be responsible.’

“And you didn't know how Blanco was gonna fit into the mix, but he actually fit in perfectly. Number one, because he was one of the most competitive guys ever played with, he never took any days off, he got kicked like crazy across the league. But the part that I'm most that I think would actually be much better now, is like the personality. And this was still a pre-social media era for the most part. So all of the things where he would go to the referees and make the goggles, bifocal looks at them, the goal celebrations, of course, the audacious goals, but more the personality piece. And especially now with the way that leagues like MLS and the Mexican stars, the way they're marketed, and Leagues Cup and World Cup being shared amongst three countries, he would be an even bigger star today.”

What’s On Tap Next?

The Fire will be in New Jersey to take on the New York Red Bulls on April 5. The match is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.