BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. ā There isnāt a player on the Chicago Fire roster who was around the last time the club made the playoffs in 2012. For that matter, no one currently with the club was in Chicago the last time the Fire finished outside of last place in the league.
The way midfeidler Dax McCarty sees it, thatās a good thing.
As the 2017 Fire have heated up, theyāre no longer thinking about just getting a road win, getting out of last place, or even ending the clubās four-season playoff drought.
Theyāre thinking about winning a trophy for the first time since 2006.
āI think goals can always change,ā McCarty said. āThis team in the past hasnāt been good, hasnāt made the playoffs, but the best part about this year is that we have a lot of guys that werenāt here and just really donāt care about last year or five years ago. Itās totally out of our minds. We have a lot of winners here and we have a lot of guys who are hungry for more wins and more success. This club has a proud history, it has a rich history of winning championships and thatās something that the Fire need to gain back.ā
A 4-0 rout Saturday at home over Orlando City SC kept the Fire (10-3-4, 34 points) one point behind Toronto FC (10-2-5, 35 points) in the Eastern Conference and Supportersā Shield standings.
The Fire are now unbeaten in their last nine matches with seven wins and two draws. They are undefeated at Toyota Park, including seven straight home wins, and havenāt lost since April 29 at Red Bull Arena. The clubās 10 wins in 17 games is already its best tally since 2013.
āI mean there was only one way to go and that was up, in terms of how bad they were last year,ā McCarty said. āBut the mentality is certainly now, āOK letās not just make the playoffs because thatās not good enough.ā Sure we want to make the playoffs but we want to win the Open Cup and we want to win MLS Cup and we want to compete for the Supportersā Shield. Now, is that realistic to compete for all three? Why not? Why not us? I think thatās our motto and our attitude right now in the locker room, āWhy canāt we win every game?āā
McCarty, who was traded to Chicago in the offseason, added that he isnāt surprised that the team has gelled so quickly despite so many new pieces.
āIām really not,ā McCarty said. āYou might be surprised that I say that, but when you bring together players that are hungry ā good players from last yearās team that are not satisfied with how the last couple years went here and then you bring in good players who are winners and guys that are used to winning and guys that are used to being successful ā I think that mentality rubs off on the whole group.
āIām not surprised that weāre gelling because Iāve said this before, but itās easy to play good soccer when you play with good players. Good players make the game easier for everyone around them. And then you add on the fact that guys have the right mentality when they step onto the pitch of wanting to run and wanting to fight and not wanting to lose individual battles and thatās a recipe for success. So Iām not surprised.ā
The Fireās run of form will be put to the test as they face a busy schedule over the next week-and-a-half, with a U.S. Open Cup trip to USL upstart FC Cincinnati on Wednesday (8 pm ET; ESPN2), followed by a home tilt vs. Vancouver on Saturday (7 pm ET, MLS LIVE) and a trip to Portland the following Wednesday.
And even though the teamās ambitions keep growing, McCarty said that theyāre no doubt enjoying the victories while also keeping perspective on where they are in the season.
āIf you donāt enjoy winning games then youāre in the wrong profession,ā McCarty said. āThatās why we get up every day, thatās why we step on the practice field, thatās why we do what we do. You want to win.
āTo answer your question, yes, weāre enjoying it. But weāre halfway through the season. We havenāt lifted any trophies, you donāt get any trophies for being great 17 games. So weāre going to keep going, itās not going to be easy, weāre not going to have this amazing run last forever, I mean itās bound to come to an end eventually. But right now, we step on the field with the mentality that weāre going to win every game.ā