CHICAGO – New signing Dax McCarty saw enough fight in the Chicago Fire’s season-opening comeback at Columbus last Saturday to insist that the team’s “ceiling is as high as we want it to be.”
After a poor first half in which they trailed a dominant Crew SC 1-0, Veljko Paunovic’s men regrouped and earned a deserved 1-1 draw on David Accam’s 73rd minute equalizer after a much-improved second period. They'll have a chance to grab their first win on Saturday, when they'll host Real Salt Lake in their 2017 home opener at Toyota Park (2 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
McCarty was one of several important additions to a Fire side that has spent the past three years at the bottom of the MLS standings. After going the full 90 in his new team’s first match of 2017, the former New York Red Bulls captain believes the current group assembled by Paunovic and GM Nelson Rodriguez can return the Fire to the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
"Lot of potential, lot of potential in this team,” McCarty said. “I still think we have a long way to go, for sure, we're a project I would say still. I think once guys play a little bit more together and get on the same page, our ceiling is as high as we want it to be. We certainly have the potential to do some damage in this league. The playoffs is always the goal, so we are going to try and make the playoffs and make a deep run in the Open Cup and we'll see how we can do it."
McCarty’s surprise switch from the Red Bulls to the Fire in January was a signal of intent from the Chicago front office, and if his early words and impact are anything to go by, he won’t be satisfied until the Men in Red reclaim their place among the top teams in MLS. The arrival of Hungarian international striker Nemanja Nikolic gives the Fire the kind of potency and experience they’ve been craving in attack, while the additions of former LA Galaxy midfielder Juninho and Uruguayan goalkeeper Jorge Bava take the experience level up another notch.
The acquisitions prompted some observers to declare the Fire as “offseason winners,” but the club’s key protagonists know that will mean nothing if they don’t credibly challenge for a spot in the postseason after finishing in last in both of the past two seasons.
“What I think is that we are in a very good spot and I am very confident that we can achieve the playoffs this year,” Paunovic told reporters ahead of Saturday’s opener. “It’s a long season, I think we did a very good job in the offseason, I think the preseason also worked very well for us and now it’s up to how we start the season. I am confident we can make it this year.”
“The mood this year is decidedly different," added Rodriguez. "I think the mood this year is one of confidence. I think this group recognizes that it is its own entity. This team does not carry with it the burden of previous teams and recent results.”
McCarty, whose move from the New York to Chicago surprised him as much as anyone, shares the belief that the offseason arrivals could turn the Fire from MLS’s forgotten men into genuine contenders.
“I think this year, adding myself, Juninho, Nemanja Nikolic, Michael de Leeuw with another season under his belt, getting a new goalkeeper that’s very good with his feet and has a lot of experience, I think this team has a lot of weapons and I think we’re going to be a pretty dangerous team,” he said.
“I think it’s a team that we should be cautiously optimistic that we’re going to have a better season. The goal is to always make the playoffs and from there anything can happen. I think this is a team that should be confident that we can make the playoffs and that’s going to be what we try to do all season.”
