BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The life of a first-year MLS head coach has never been an easy one, but Veljko Paunovic is refusing to let the Chicago Fire’s season-long struggles dampen his enthusiasm for what he sees a “fantastic” opportunity.
The Fire have maintained a now-familiar position at the bottom of the MLS standings for much of the season as they look set to finish the season on a high note.
But despite being nine points adrift of the final playoff spot with nine games remaining, the erudite Serbian Under-20 World Cup-winning coach refuses to concede defeat in his maiden season with the Men in Red.
“Right now it's not a moment where I should think about the underline and think about the season behind,” Paunovic said when asked how the team’s struggles have affected him. “I think we have competition to go and we have games to play. We are not abandoning and we are not getting away from our goal to reach the playoffs. Once everything is done, I will think about. Right now I'm just thinking about our next game.”
Having inherited a side that finished 19th and 20th overall in the previous two seasons, Paunovic has been quick to stamp his unique authority and style on a group of players that has increasingly shown signs of clicking, with the recent 3-0 road victory at Montreal and a 2-2 tie at home against LA suggesting the team had turned the corner.
However, a 6-2 humbling loss at D.C. United last Saturday quickly deflated any momentum and despite sitting on a league-low 23 points, the well-travelled 39-year-old’s confidence remains unshaken and he insists he doesn’t feel under any undue pressure because of the lack of results.
“I really don't feel any kind of pressure from elsewhere,” he said. “I'm really enjoying my job and enjoying this experience. It's a fantastic experience for me. As I said, I'm not giving up on anything yet.”
Paunovic is fortunate to have the full backing of general manager Nelson Rodriguez, who was full of praise for the Serb during Thursday’s lengthy media Q&A at Toyota Park.
“I’m very satisfied with his work,” Rodriguez asserted. “I’m very satisfied with his approach. I’m very satisfied with his willingness to self reflect. I’m very satisfied with his willingness to seek and accept criticism. I’m satisfied with his ability to change as he believes he needs to and the team needs to.”
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Asked about how he would asses Paunovic’s impact on the team so far, he added: “Impact? It’s a tough one. I think it’s too soon for me to judge his impact because his impact is most obviously on results but it’s also on the progress of individual players, on the progress of groups, groups being backs, midfielders, forwards and goalkeepers. I prefer to withhold my judgement or evaluation of that until the full season’s over.”
Like the head coach he was instrumental in recruiting last winter, Rodriguez also believes the Fire would be foolish to throw the towel in on a season that could still see them reach some of their initial goals for the year.
“We’re obviously not where we want to be in the standings or expected to be, but everything remains right in front of us,” he insisted. “We still have everything to play for and nearly all of the goals that we had set for ourselves at the start of the year remain achievable. We’re nine points out, with nine games left. Five of those are at home, but importantly, three of the four teams that sit above us in the standings we play head-to-head. We have one of those teams, Columbus, twice, so I view it as we control our destiny. We still have everything at our feet and I feel optimistic. In large part because I think we’ve been playing better soccer since mid-late July.”
Regardless of how the remaining nine games pan out, it is clear there will be another significant overhaul of the roster going into 2017. With names like Bastian Schweinsteiger and Andres Guardado linked in certain quarters with potential moves to Chicago, Rodriguez said that the club is actively seeking personnel for key roles in the team.
“We need a bigger personality, that hasn’t changed,” he stressed. “I still feel we need help in central midfield, and another attacking piece that has the ability to create for himself and those remain on our shopping list for January.”
The former Chivas USA executive also indicated that he and Paunovic had the full financial backing of owner Andrew Hauptman in continuing to shape the roster in their image, even if they opt to spring for a big name.
“There has never been an indication to me from ownership other than full support of our plan, and so I have no reason to believe we can’t go out and acquire the players that we think will make the difference,” Rodriguez said. “Given the right plan, the right player, and the right timing, we have all of the resources we need to assemble the type of team we want.”
