With the Chicago Fire continuing their preseason preparations in Florida, MLSsoccer.com beat writer Sam Stejskal sat down with Fire technical director Frank Klopas on Tuesday to discuss the club's latest roster news.
Babic rumors denied
Reports surfaced Monday morning that linked the Fire with 30-year-old former Croatian international Marko Babic. Klopas quickly denied those reports, saying that Chicago have no plans to bring in the out-of-contract defender.
“I saw that report, too," Klopas said, "but right now, Marko’s not coming in."
Final roster size still uncertain
Klopas isn’t sure if the Fire will open the season with 28, 29 or 30 players on the roster. The team currently has 33 players in camp, 21 of whom are under contract. Two unsigned draft picks – Davis Paul and Jason Herrick – and 10 trialists remain with the team.
“We originally wanted to go into the season with 28, but it depends,” Klopas said. “We can go with 28 or we can go with 30 based on if we feel that there are younger players in this environment that can develop and play a few minutes this year.”
Klopas did say that the Fire will keep three goalkeepers. As of now, they only have two – Sean Johnson and Jon Conway – under contract. A third, 23-year-old trialist Alec Dufty, has been training with the club all preseason and seems a safe bet to make the team.
Building chemistry
One thing Klopas has repeatedly emphasized is how pleased he is with the Fire’s attitude. He said that everyone in camp is working hard and getting along – something that wasn’t necessarily true during parts of last season.
“I think the mood’s been fantastic, the attitude’s been fantastic and the guys are very loose,” Klopas said. “With a lot of new players coming in, the most important thing is building a family and understanding what the values of the Fire are. That’s where everything starts and … so far, it’s been very good.”
