Soccer <\/p>\n
History tends to hang heavy over Chicago Fire FC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Of the nearly two dozen expansion clubs to enter MLS since its 1996 launch, the Men in Red remain the only one to win an MLS Cup in their inaugural season. And their subsequent glory years, marked by a 2003 Supporters\u2019 Shield, four US Open Cup<\/a> titles, consistent competitiveness and a vibrant supporter culture, provide a potent legacy. That\u2019s all made Chicago\u2019s past decade-plus of struggle that much more painful.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s rather striking when star striker Hugo Cuypers<\/a> reveals first-year boss Gregg Berhalter and his staff rarely even mention all that as they work to turn around a proud organization seeking a path out of the wilderness.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we arrived for preseason, I think the standards were pretty high. It felt like a high-performance environment where the past didn’t count anymore,\u201d Cuypers revealed to MLSsoccer.com in a one-on-one conversation ahead of the Fire\u2019s visit from mighty Inter Miami<\/a> at Soldier Field on Sunday night (4:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s maybe one of his [Berhalter\u2019s] main contributions, is with everything he puts into place. Last year, when I arrived, the conversation was always about, \u2018the club has missed the playoffs for five or six years.\u2019 So it was a negative narrative, whereas for all the new players that arrived this year, I haven’t heard that sentence once. I haven’t heard once, \u2018Chicago missed the playoffs for six years,\u2019 because we really were building something new.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n So far, so good. With just seven matches played \u2013 five of them on the road \u2013 the Fire (11 points, 3W-2L-2D) are already more than a third of the way towards their point total from last season, when they finished dead last in the Eastern Conference and only looked truly competitive in fleeting patches. They\u2019ve scored 14 goals, and just as importantly, that matches almost identically to their expected goals total of 13.72, which suggests sustainability in their output.<\/p>\n Cuypers himself is already halfway towards his league scoring total from 2024, with five goals and two assists that put him in the thick of the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race, in a four-way tie for second behind Philadelphia<\/a>\u2019s Tai Baribo<\/a>. The sophistication and variety of those finishes, too, have helped remind everyone of the quality that prompted the Fire to spend a club-record amount \u2013 a reported $12 million fee \u2013 to acquire him from Belgian side Gent in February 2024.<\/p>\n He\u2019s quick to point to the benefits he\u2019s reaping from a more effective collective around him in his second season.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the most important thing, wherever you go, may it be changing leagues or and even more so for continents, it’s the team environment you arrive in,\u201d explained the 28-year-old Belgian, who played for nearly a decade in Europe before moving Stateside. \u201cIf that is stable and performing well, everything else is much easier. I think there is no secret about it, it wasn’t stable enough last year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe quickly changed systems, and it was also for me, the first time that I arrived \u2013 and I was 27 when I arrived, so it\u2019s the first time in my career I arrived in a club without having a preseason,\u201d he added, noting the circumstances of his trans-Atlantic move were such that he\u2019d barely gotten introduced to his new teammates, let alone versed in tactics and tendencies, before suiting up for opening day last season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n So nice, Hugo Cuypers did it twice! ???? pic.twitter.com\/v3IYFileWy<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Now he and his teammates are preparing for one of the most stringent measuring sticks on offer in this part of the world: a date with Leo Messi<\/a>\u2019s star-studded Inter Miami. The Herons are fresh off a dramatic Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> triumph over LAFC<\/a> as they visit for one of the tastiest fixtures on the MLS Matchday 8 docket.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the type of occasion most players would circle on their calendar. It says something about Cuypers\u2019 methodical approach to his craft that he provides a very grounded perspective on this test.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are one of the best teams in the league since I arrived, and you always want to measure yourself against a better team,\u201d he said of Miami. \u201cFor us as a team as well, it’s where are we now after those first couple of weeks with ups and downs already? At home with more people and more attention, are we able to deal with that? Have we taken the right steps, or enough steps already, as early as we are in the season?<\/p>\n \u201cHow mature are we now, individually and as a team, to face them? And that’s why it’s a game for us to look forward to, but not having to change the way we prepare.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n As you might guess from the thoughtfulness of a response like that, Cuypers is a studious type. He\u2019s already obtained a UEFA Certificate in Football Management and works with a striker specialist outside of his club responsibilities, always aiming to hone the finer points of his skill set.<\/p>\n \u201cHugo is an interesting one. Really is one of the most focused players I’ve ever seen, I’ve ever been around,\u201d Berhalter said of Cuypers in a Thursday media availability. \u201cJust laser-focused on getting better, on improving, on taking care of himself, helping the team; tremendous work rate. He’s got a lot of really, really special qualities, and it’s been interesting to work with him.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m amazed watching him in the penalty box, how he finishes, how he’s able to put the ball on target with no time, under a lot of pressure. So to me, there’s just a lot of upside with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Berhalter\u2019s possession-oriented principles of play have famously fueled several career seasons for his teams\u2019 strikers over the years, among them Kei Kamara and Gyasi Zardes during his Columbus Crew<\/a> tenure, and it\u2019s not hard to imagine a similar breakout for Cuypers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s really important in the way he wants to play, to create not only a lot of chances, but a lot of high-quality chances \u2013 and then I am the main man on the field you will look at once we create those chances, even if the whole offensive compartment is very quality this year,\u201d said the forward of his new coach\u2019s philosophy.<\/p>\n \u201cHis way of playing is pretty clear for us as a team. It’s what we needed after a lack of maybe stability or identity last year, that players could fall back into a clear identity. And then it’s up to us to execute it on the pitch. But it surely makes it easier when the guidelines are clear.\u201d<\/p>\n The coach himself, who also serves as Chicago\u2019s director of football, sees ample nuances to explore in his talented No. 9, who came achingly close to moving to one of Europe\u2019s elite leagues before his MLS move, with Gent reportedly declining a hefty offer from Serie A side Bologna two years ago, a few months after he won the golden boot in the Belgian top flight.<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s different than a lot of the strikers that I’ve coached before, because it’s not really about aerial crosses. It’s not about putting the ball in the air with him,\u201d said Berhalter. \u201cIt’s really more about the finer detail with his movement, smaller movements, getting open in the box, breaking free from opponents on the weak side. He does a lot of things extremely well. But it’s been so far a real pleasure to work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Chicagoland is traditionally known for its large, vibrant Mexican and Polish diaspora communities and their deep influence on the city\u2019s culture. Over the decades that helped guide the Fire towards prominent signings like Peter Nowak, Cuauht\u00e9moc Blanco, Jorge Campos and more, a tradition that continues today with the likes of homegrowns Brian Guti\u00e9rrez<\/a> and Chris Brady<\/a>.<\/p>\n So perhaps it\u2019s symbolic of the Men in Red\u2019s fresh start in 2025 that a distinctly Francophone thread runs through the club\u2019s revival, thanks to the chemistry Cuypers is striking up with new wingers Jonathan Bamba<\/a> and Philip Zinckernagel<\/a> as the nexus of the Fire\u2019s attack, even with limited time together.<\/p>\n \u201cI missed all of preseason [due to injury], and as well as Philip and Joe joined during the preseason, so I couldn’t create those relationships on the field, but right away off the field we hit it off,\u201d said Cuypers. \u201cHaving with Joe a common language in our mother language, which is French, and a lot of common things with Phila, who played a couple of years in Belgium; we both played at [Greek powerhouse] Olympiacos.<\/p>\n \u201cIt helps when you have those kind of conversations right from the start. And I mean, the energy they came in with was that positive, that they are really eager to help the club attain our target. So I think the vibe is really positive, and they surely contributed to that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Five of Chicago\u2019s 14 goals have involved some combination of that trio. And while the Fire\u2019s three-match streak of away wins last month drew league-wide attention to the Berhalter turnaround, the most notable among them a 3-1 defeat<\/a> of the West-leading Vancouver Whitecaps<\/a>, Cuypers\u2019 faith in the process is also fueled by the interplay the attacking trident produced in last week\u2019s setback at the New York Red Bulls<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually had that thought after this weekend, even if unfortunately we lost \u2013 that it was really coming together in the way we create chances for the team,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I’m speaking for the three of us, even if the whole team is responsible for it, but we are the end product. It was really nice to see Joey [Bamba] score his first goal, and again, the three of us were involved in that goal.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s going to be one of our strengths during the course of the season, is that the danger can come from everywhere. And I think the next piece to that is involving even more players from the midfield and our fullbacks. But it’s going to take time, it isn\u2019t going to come overnight and one week to the other. But the signs are positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Cuypers is the sort to focus on the long haul. He points to that long postseason drought as an obstacle for the Fire to face further down this road \u2013 \u201cwe\u2019re still in the process of getting that consistency; there is no point in setting our goals too high right now,\u201d he declared \u2013 once they\u2019ve matured as a collective.<\/p>\n The fact that he and his wife Pauline have chosen Chicago as the place to start a family underlines his commitment. They welcomed a son, Nathan, into the world in September, and are settled and content in the Fulton Market neighborhood, not far from the Fire\u2019s brand-new training facility, the Endeavor Health Performance Center.<\/p>\n \u201cWe enjoy it, especially right now, when the weather is starting to get a little bit warmer! But overall, we really fell in love with the city. So on that part, we’re very lucky,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re both from the suburbs in Belgium, but we like that city life a little bit. I think downtown Chicago is a bit too busy for us, and so West Loop is the perfect place to have walkable areas, go for a coffee, and especially now with a newborn, it’s really enjoyable to walk around. Daily life is about training and taking care of the family. So no, I’m really, really in a happy place right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nChicago ascent<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Miami measuring stick<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Unique approach<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Placing roots<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n