Chicago Fire Notebook: Fabian Herbers on Improving Corner Kicks, Frank Klopas on St. Louis, More

The Chicago Fire’s 2024 season has gotten off to an incredibly slow start despite already having been gifted a lucky win this early in their campaign.

Two wins from 11 matches and collecting a single point from a three-match homestand won’t push the Fire into the playoff picture, something they’ve desperately needed since last qualifying for the postseason in 2017.

Chicago is now tied at the bottom of MLS with just 10 shot-creating actions generated from dead-ball scenarios, according to fbref, after entering last weekend at the bottom of the league with nine. To make matters worse, the Fire only have a single goal-creating action from those set-piece chances.

One place the Fire could improve those numbers is on corner kicks, though that hasn’t been a fruitful venture thus far for Chicago in 2024. The Fire’s do-it-all midfielder Fabian Herbers had this to say when asked about how his side can improve on these dead-ball opportunities.

“One is about the discipline to make the runs that we actually train and should be doing,” said Herbers. “Yeah, I think we do certain reps during the week, and then just seeing the signal, if it's one hand, two hands or something else, a trick play here or there, where we actually try to do it and everybody finds their spots.

“It's also about execution. If we have to hit the corner kicks to the spot that they are supposed to go. Let's say we have a signal that we go to the second post; and then the ball comes first post, and we are outnumbered there, and then we are not going to win the ball and the first ball.

“I think it comes down to discipline to make the runs, and then trust that the taker is also, you know, getting the service there. I feel like either/or has not always been right this season.

“And I think set pieces are very important, hugely important, where you can sneak away with results. I think Cincinnati did it to us early in the season where they had a couple corner kicks to the near post, and we couldn't defend, and they sneak away with three points. I think it's a very important part of the game, and obviously we are not good enough at that, either, this year. So I feel like we still have a lot of areas to improve.”

The Fire pulled off a double of sorts over St. Louis in 2024, defeating them in the U.S. Open Cup and the MLS regular season in the span of five days. Herbers expects a tough match against a high-pressing St. Louis side.

“They are pretty aggressive. They are probably one of the best teams in the league in terms of, yeah, pressing, and then, you know, when they lose the ball, repress. So we have to be mindful of that. And then obviously, yeah, try to exploit the places that they do give. When there's a people on one side, you know, we have to switch the ball to the other side as quickly as possible.”

Major League Soccer dubbed this weekend “MLS Rivalry Week” and despite the short history between the two sides, Herbers expects the atmosphere to be exceptional at CityPark in St. Louis.

“I think it's nice for us to have a real rivalry with them. You know, we beat them twice so they are going to be hungry to beat us. I think the team is excited to go there because we haven't been there. It's a new stadium. Heard the atmosphere is pretty good there. I think it's an exciting game for the fans, and for us, you know, another good opportunity to steal points there as well.”

From the rest of my notebook:

Frank Klopas Talks St. Louis City

Frank Klopas has been in charge of the Fire for a year now, and the results haven't changed since Ezra Hendrickson was fired last season. Despite four consecutive matches without a goal, Klopas thinks his side has been playing well recently.

“I felt the team has been playing well,” said Klopas during his weekly media availability. “We've got to find a way now to get points. We've got to find a way to -- I don't want to say, score -- we have to score, obviously, or else it's going to be difficult for us.”

The prospect of playing on the road in a new environment should excite the Fire players because they’ve never played in St. Louis.

“But maybe, you know, going away, again, we're excited because we haven't been. It's a new stadium. Obviously we played St. Louis last year at home in both games, there were difficult moments. We beat them in the Open Cup in the regular season. It's going to be a difficult game.

“The only thing is we can just prepare really well and put the guys in positions where they are going to be successful and that's the most important thing, and not try to do things where we take away the strengths of the players. Keep it simple, focus on that, be positive and keep working on the things that the team is really strong at.”

Chicago Fire Injury Updates

Gastón Giménez (hamstring) and Rafael Czichos (patella) are day-to-day according to head coach Frank Klopas. Maren Haile-Selassie is working out individually and isn’t expected back until the Fire host the Columbus Crew on May 18. Chase Gasper and Tobias Salquist remain out long-term.

What’s On Tap Next?

The Fire travel South to face St. Louis City on Saturday. The match kicks off at 7:30 PM CT and will air on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.