3 Questions with The Lantern

Getting to know Sunday's opponent.

via Atlanta United

Atlanta United return home on Sunday afternoon to face the Chicago Fire. The Five Stripes should have the majority of their stars back from international duty but will still be short a few names with Stian Gregersen out for up to a month with a meniscus injury and possibly Bartosz Slisz, who played 210 minutes for Poland as they clinched a spot at EURO 2024.

To get to know a little more about the Fire, I reached out to former Hot Time in Old Town Editor Ruben Tisch, who now runs his own newsletter called The Lantern.

Here’s what he had to say.

Rob: For those of us unable to watch every match or follow the news, can you give us a quick synopsis from your point of view on how the first five matches of the season have gone for the Fire? 

Ruben: It’s been pretty rough. Until last week, the crazy Montreal game aside, they’ve had trouble getting anything consistent out of their attack. Some of that is tactical. I’m not the biggest fan of Frank Klopas and the way he sets his teams up and they tend to not use their width and play too narrow. 

But it’s mostly that they’re playing 10 v11 most of the time. Xherdan Shaqiri has been awful. If the last game proved anything, it’s that the Fire are better off without him. The problem is he is the marquee DP and the highest-paid player on the team. That shouldn’t really mean anything playing time-wise, but we all know what that kind of status means on a team. He will play regardless of what’s most likely to get wins. And because of that, the Fire are stuck. 

Rob: There appear to have been several moves this offseason to strengthen the team. How have the new additions looked so far? 

Ruben: Kellyn Acosta is as advertised. He’s been tasked so far with playing the 6 so the likes of Fabian Herbers can play higher up the field. And as a result, he hasn’t been all that visible on the field. But that’s what you want from a 6. He’s there when you need him to be and invisible otherwise. However, I’d like it if he were allowed to get forward a bit more. He’s good with the ball at his feet, a good passer, and had a decent outside shot. If they could figure out a way to free him up the team would get better.

Hugo Cuypers falls into the same category. He is what they said he was; a proper 9. When he gets the ball in and around the six-yard box he doesn’t miss. The problem is that they’re not getting him the ball in those areas enough for it to mean a whole lot. He has scored in the Fire’s last 2 games though, so maybe the longer they play they

The pleasant surprise has been the defensive signings, Andrew Gutman’s injury notwithstanding. Allen Arigoni has come in and made the right-back position his own. On a team with two decent options at the position in Arnoud Souquet and Jonathan Dean, He’s taken the role with relish and it doesn’t look like he’s giving it up any time soon. Tobias Salquest on the other hand has been up and down. His highs have been astoundingly high (New England)  while his lows have been really low (his performance against Montreal). He’ll probably settle in around above average to good. 

All in all, the offseason signings have worked out. But it hasn’t been enough early in the season to change the fortunes of the club. 

Rob: Frank Klopas seems to be Chicago’s emergency stopgap manager throughout the last 15 years. How hot is his seat coming into this season and do you get the feeling they have eyes towards bringing someone else in if an option emerges? 

Ruben: It feels like his seat isn’t hot at all despite Ezra Hendrickson getting fired when they were playing better football despite similar results. In fact, he shouldn’t have been hired at all and the rumor and innuendo is that no one wanted the job so they turned to him to, as you say, be the emergency manager. As far as I can tell, Ownership and the GM are very content with Klopas. This may change as the season goes on if the club keeps spinning its wheels when the schedule gets a little easier. But for now, we’re stuck with a manager of obligation instead of one who actually wants the job.

Lineup Prediction: Brady; Dean, Czichos, Salquest, Arigoni; Acosta, Herbers; Gutierrez, Shaqiri, Hallie-Selassie; Cuypers

Score Prediction: 1-0 Atlanta

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Big thanks to Ruben for taking the time to chat with me.