Chicago Fire Notebook: Brian Gutiérrez on Role, Frank Klopas, Chris Mueller, Availability Update, More

Every career has its bumps in the road.

People change, roles change — sometimes without much explanation.

Brian Gutiérrez is going through a bump in the road at the moment as he has been relegated to a bench role in the past two matches for the Chicago Fire after starting the previous six.

Gutiérrez responded well in his first foray off the bench in 2024, scoring the match-winner in the Fire’s 2-1 win over the Houston Dash. He said the sixty minutes on the bench helped set him up to score the winning goal at Soldier Field.

“You read the game more, because obviously, you see it from a different aspect,” Gutiérrez told On Tap Sports Net. “And I think, I think yeah, I was identifying where the spaces or where the spaces are to run in behind like I did. I saw that [Steve] Clark was coming out a lot every time, so I had a feeling he would come out when they played me that ball.”

Gutiérrez said he was focusing his mindset on looking forward before he once again came off the bench for the Fire in their 0-0 draw at the New York Red Bulls.

Fire head coach Frank Klopas was asked about Gutiérrez during his weekly media availability ahead of their match against Real Salt Lake, and the coach said that Chicago’s homegrown attacker has been put on the bench due to form.

“It's all about form,” said Klopas during his weekly media availability. “You know, we have to manage the whole team and I think it's a long season and I think players go in and out of form. I think with Guti (Brian Gutiérrez) as a young player, I think that's also the case, you know, and our ability to have much better depth this year in every position, I think that's very important.”

For now, all Gutiérrez can do is focus on what's ahead and reminisce on one final part of his eventful match against the Dynamo.

The good vibes continued hours after the Houston match as Gutiérrez was signing autographs for a line of fans that was hundreds of people deep. Those moments remind him of the support he has in Chicago.

“It’s something that you really feel thankful for. You thank God for the opportunity that’s given to me right now. And seeing people that really, really, liked the way I play and really enjoy me and support me. It’s honestly incredible and I thank them and I will always do my best for them.”

From the rest of my notebook:

Klopas on RSL

The Fire will face off against Real Salt Lake on Saturday for the first time since October 2021. The Fire’s head coach expects a tough opponent at Soldier Field.

“It's a team that's very well-organized,” said Klopas. “Obviously, it's a really hard-working team. A team that's really good in transition, especially on the right side with (Andrés) Gómez and with (Cristian) Arango with his pace and his ability to really punish teams with the chances he gets. And you know, (Diego) Luna, also a player on the other side that comes inside and can create certain overloads with his quality on the ball. It's a team that's coming in and playing really well with confidence that's going to work extremely hard.”

Chris Mueller on Goal Creation

Mueller has started consecutive matches for the Fire on the left wing but he hasn’t been on the pitch for a goal in open play during either of those starts. Mueller said that the team needs to be willing to fail when creating changes for Hugo Cuypers.

“Obviously we need to get him a bit more service and just have a little bit more courage and putting the balls in the box,” said Mueller. “You know, I think that's something that might be limiting guys and holding guys back - just in general in football, maybe not even here. But it's that fear of losing the ball and it's about having guys who aren't afraid to risk failing…

“It becomes difficult so I think that ultimately just the attacking players, especially once we do get in those areas, which I think we need to do a better job of too, is getting us more balls in those areas of the field where we can really be effective. It's not a 100% guarantee every time you go at a guy, you'll beat the guy one out of two times, you know, maybe two out of three if you're having a good night. But those chances come few and far between right? But ultimately what we need is to get in those spots more and then have the courage right? Like I said, it takes that risk of failure and daring to fail. The moment that you don't have guys who are willing to unbalance teams by taking guys on the dribble or putting in a cross when it might be low probability at times, that's what it takes to put those balls in those dangerous areas and score goals. So that's what we got to be doing better.”

Availability Update

Klopas said that Tobias Salquist is in concussion protocol after leaving last weekend’s game before halftime and is unlikely to be available against Real Salt Lake. Andrew Gutman has been training with the first team and will be closer to a game-time decision.

Brady on Young Player of Matchday List

The Fire’s starting goalkeeper earned MLS accolades earlier this week for his performance against RBNY. Brady made five saves en route to his first clean sheet of the 2024 MLS season and earned a spot on the Young Player of the Matchday list for Matchday 9.

What’s On Tap Next?

The Fire host Real Salt Lake at Soldier Field on Saturday. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 PM CT and will air on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.