Chicago Fire’s Raphael Wicky says midfielder Gastón Giménez is “getting sharper”

After a day off today, the Chicago Fire will return to training on Friday—just six days before the team’s next match against the Columbus Crew.

The schedule for the continuation of the 2020 MLS regular season wasn’t made official until last week, but the team has been working toward that Aug. 20 date since they were eliminated from the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando.

“We had some information, nothing confirmed, so we knew it’s about, again, three and a half to four weeks where we basically have again a little bit of a preseason,” Head Coach Raphael Wicky said. “Unfortunately—and that’s for everyone, it makes it hard with no friendly games again.”

Wicky singled out his new defensive midfielder/designated player, Gastön Giménez, as one of the players who has picked up his game.

“We actually tried to work them very, very hard in these times, and the team actually trains well. I see guys getting sharper. Gastón Giménez, I see him getting better and better, getting sharper,” Wicky said.

Around the League

Major League Soccer announced today the three Canadian clubs will play one another exclusively for the first six phase of the revised regular season schedule. After that, Toronto FC and Montreal Impact will reportedly set up camp at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ. No word yet on the Whitecaps, but a west-coast city would probably make sense.

Finally, we now know the name and colors of the team Fire fans will no doubt love to hate. St. Louis City SC debuted the expansion club’s name, crest and colors today.