Hey guys, it’s been a while. Not just that it’s been two weeks, but we have had a couple of media cycles ripping through the Fire community. First, we lose 4-0 to Atlanta, only to pick up Bastian Schweinsteiger (who gets auto-completed to Schwarzenegger apparently) only a few days later. His arrival gets a whole cycle to its own and then a meme was created by an educated reporter who asked a simple, realistic question. But we all forgot the first item on that list, our previous result. A 4-0 loss is not a good look for your brand new signing, so this game’s entire focus will be to see how our new era will begin.

So who is our victim? The Montreal Impact are currently searching for their first win of the season with a less than stellar look against NYCFC and Seattle in their previous two times out, where they were ran over then saved by Piatti and blew a two goal lead given by Piatti respectively. They will not have Piatti on Saturday due to an injury, which means they have no one to save them. Alongside him on the bench may well be captain Patrice Bernier and defenseman Laurent Ciman, but they’re only doubtful and I suspect they’ll still play. This looks to be another easy handling at home for the Fire, but we should still play as hard as any other match because every game is important for a team that regularly battles for the Wooden Spoon! Here’s their last three games:

Vs. San Jose

Vs. Seattle

Vs. NYCFC

Three Keys

Schweinsteiger

Have I mentioned this guy yet? Well, he’s kind of a big deal. I could link to a bunch of articles we’ve already written about him, but it’s literally all we’ve written about recently. It’s important for him to start right. When the Fire signed Bulgarian legend Hristo Stoitchkov, his first game was a 4-2 loss to the Dallas Burn. Although he’d make an impact, his time here would be nevertheless plagued with injury. Cuahtemoc Blanco’s first game with the team would be a 1-1 friendly against Celtic, scoring the lone goal for the Fire. His career here would prove amazing, but never quite made it to any trophies. If Basti can start with a bang, I think it could be a sign that we’re going places (maybe even the World Cup (probably not)).

A Little Luck

What we’ve gotten for this game is quite a bit of a break with no Piatti and very likely no Oyongo (due to terribly unfortunate and stupid circumstances). Those are two great players that Montreal will definitely miss. What it means for us on the other hand, is a diminished Montreal left side. I don’t know whether they’ll try to fix it by switching up their formation or if they’ll just sub in their next best options, but it looks like a place that the Fire should attack. In fact, maybe we can switch it up and start Accam on the right side to exploit that weakness.

Throw your cares away; Worries for another day; Let the Fire play; Down at Toyota Park

This title may seem confusing (you try to do better), but my point is that the Fire need to have short memories. They need to forget the last time they were on the pitch and put their foot down for a three week home stand. While the fan base appears to have forgotten the result, it’s important to win right now while they have the attention of almost the entire world after our Basti signing, the welcome at the airport, and that one idiot who thought we could win the World Cup (keep on dreaming, buddy; we’ll get there some day (no we won’t)). We need to come out and show the world what we’re made of. I also kind of want to binge-watch “Fraggle Rock” now; is it on Netflix?

Projected Line-ups

How to Watch

Kickoff: April 1st, 2017, 2:00 PM CDT

TV/Streaming: CSN-Chicago, MLS Live

So do you think the Schweinsteiger era in Chicago will start with a big bang, or will his debut be a flop? Or maybe you think he won’t play at all! Tell us what you think down below.