Bastian Schweinsteiger's Chicago Fire debut should prove doubters wrong, for now
When Bastian Schweinsteiger was announced as the Chicago Fire's newest Designated Player, it raised more questions than anything. Do the Fire really need him? Does the 32-year-old still have what it takes to compete at a high level? Will he actually make the team better?
Answers will have to wait for some of the questions being asked, but after Schweinsteiger's debut on Saturday, one thing is clear: The German is still a great player who can change games for the better.
While his 17th-minute goal will be the talking point, his individual impact was otherwise sparkling. His passing and through-balls were both delicately weighted and expertly placed all day, and it was perhaps a minor injustice that Schweinsteiger didn't earn an assist to go with his debut goal.
Simply put, Schweinsteiger was the best player on the field for either team in a match where he was still adjusting to a new team in a new league.
But is that enough to make Chicago better? It might be, but for as good as Schweinsteiger was individually, there are still open questions about how he will fit into the Fire's midfield.
At times, Schweinsteiger and Dax McCarty were good at reading one another in the midfield and playing off each other's movement. But then there were the stretches where the central midfield trio of Schweinsteiger, McCarty and Juninho looked disjointed and unsure of their spacing. Saturday, the first time Schweinsteiger ever played with the Fire, is too small of a sample size to know how the rest of the season will go because partnerships on the field need more time to develop.
Presumably, more time together will help the central midfield trio get on the same page, but there are lingering questions about whether this trio is too similar and too defensive-minded to do what the Fire need, which is create goals. But Schweinsteiger playing in a bit more of advanced role seems to suit him just fine, as long as the pieces around him can fall in line and combine with him. The German's quality is clearly a cut above the rest of the midfield and putting him in a position to make the most impact possible is the logical choice.
That the Fire now have Schweinsteiger taking their corner kicks in and of itself is a significant upgrade. His eighth-minute corner kick went straight to McCarty's foot, and although McCarty failed to finish it, Schweinsteiger's ball was perfect. The Fire have traditionally struggled with set pieces and the more the Fire have balls delivered like that, the more goals should eventually follow.
When the Fire signed Schweinsteiger, the common thread of criticism was that the Fire didn't need him. Of all the areas they improved in the offseason, the central midfield saw the biggest upgrades with McCarty and Juninho, and adding a Designated Player there didn't seem necessary. But Schweinsteiger was always an ambition signing for Chicago – a morale boost as much as a pure on-field upgrade.
The Fire have tried and failed over recent years to bring in big name players who could excite fans and, perhaps, instill some confidence in the squad. Didier Drogba and Jermaine Jones are two players they reportedly put the cash up for but gotten beaten out. Finally, with Schweinsteiger, they've got a player who can deliver. It's early going, but Brandon Vincent on the left side with Schweinsteiger looked arguably the best he has on the back line since he joined the Fire last season. Given what a liability the Fire's back line has been, that's important.
That the Fire settled for a 2-2 draw at home in Schweinsteiger's debut is a bit of a disappointment, but it's also a much better result than the Fire of previous recent years could've hoped for. As Fire coach Veljko Paunovic put it after Saturday's match: "Last year, we would've lost this game. But we showed a survival instinct."
There are kinks to work out and adjustments to be made, but through his first 90 minutes, Schweinsteiger offered glimpses of the tangibles and intangibles that should quiet skeptics of his signing for now.
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