One of the pressing questions surrounding the Fire is whether they are actually better without their best-known player and would-be creative force in the midfield.
Perhaps Saturday will provide a few more clues.
Captain Xherdan Shaqiri will be with the Swiss national team to face Denmark on the same day the Fire (1-2-1, 4 points) visit the Revolution. Shaqiri, who in 2023 earned $8,153,000 in guaranteed compensation, according to the MLS Players Association, has appeared in four World Cups and won every club trophy in Europe worth winning.
None of that means Shaqiri is certain to be a top player for the Fire. And in his fourth game of his third MLS season, more evidence emerged that the Fire would be just fine without him.
When Shaqiri left in the 69th minute of the match last week against CF Montreal, the Fire were down 2-1. Over the last 21 minutes plus stoppage time, the Fire scored three times to steal their most unlikely win in years.
While it raised eyebrows that Shaqiri was lifted in favor of Georgios Koutsias with the Fire needing goals, the gambit to play three strikers worked. Of course, they got some help when Montreal’s Raheem Edwards was sent off in the 82nd minute, not to mention the wind that blew Kellyn Acosta’s long ball from midfield into the net for the winning goal.
On Wednesday, Fire coach Frank Klopas tried to explain the difference with and without Shaqiri. As he noted, the Fire went down 2-0 early in the first half and had to get through an opponent sitting back and absorbing pressure. As the game wore on, the Fire upped the pressure and used their three strikers in a narrow formation to pin Montreal close to their own goal.
“The ability that we have as a team to change the game in certain moments, it’s been good,” Klopas said. “The game became difficult when we fell 2-0 really early on, and then we played a little bit more, not into their hands, but then we have to take a lot more risk as a team, and then they are a team that’s just going to sit and look to counter.”
Over four games, Shaqiri hasn’t played a full 90 minutes, only making it past the 80th minute twice. He has one assist, and his goal came on a penalty kick earned by Brian Gutierrez. His 20 progressive passes are 33 fewer than league-leader Carles Gil, and his five progressive carries lag 18 behind Christian Espinoza’s MLS-best 23.
While cautioning that four games is early to make sweeping judgments, Klopas did not provide a full-throated defense of Shaqiri.
“There are moments when he is in good spots in the final third and you can see, his ability, even in the Columbus match, his ability to provide that final pass that he can,” Klopas said. “There are times where he can do a lot more on his own, whether attacking, finishing plays and then just decision-making at times when he’s further away from the field, can be better.
“But we expect a lot more from him and from the rest of the guys. Our expectations are high. They know that. So it’s a bit early on in the season. It’s hard. We can talk after 10 games.”
