Fire need to make changes even if they reach MLS playoffs

Entering this weekend’s limited slate of MLS matches, the Fire have a 23.8% chance to make the playoffs according to sportsclubstats.com. But even if the Fire overcome those long odds to reach the postseason, they shouldn’t celebrate and stand pat this winter.

They need to make changes, and what happened in their most recent game is just more proof that continuity isn’t the answer for the club.

Instead of building off their emphatic 4-1 victory against Inter Miami at a sold-out Soldier Field, the Fire laid an egg three days later against Charlotte FC. With their playoff fate in their own hands, the Fire fell 2-0 and were the second-best team on the field against a side beneath them in the Eastern Conference standings.

“It was again a final for us,” midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring the performance we wanted. Charlotte played with more intensity today and they had a really good game plan where they did very well and they scored two goals [on] two chances.”

Number of chances aside, Shaqiri’s point about intensity is an indictment of the Fire.

With two games remaining, the Fire couldn’t afford to come out flat. True, the outside hype around the Inter Miami match was absent for Charlotte but that doesn’t excuse what the Fire did and didn’t do on a night that was just as important in the standings.

“I like to play, always, on Saturday and Wednesdays,” Shaqiri said. “You have to show up in these games, and unfortunately today, we couldn’t match the intensity especially of Charlotte. They were really on their toes and they made it really difficult.”

Players like Shaqiri and other big earners are the ones who should be expected to carry a team on off nights. That didn’t occur against Charlotte.

Shaqiri, the highest-paid player on the Fire and one of the best-compensated players in league history, rose to the occasion in front of 62,124 fans who were hoping to see Lionel Messi suit up with Inter Miami. In that game, Shaqiri scored twice, had three shot attempts and connected on 82.8% of his passes.

“I don’t know, maybe he needs 60,000 fans every game to perform like this,” coach Frank Klopas said after the Inter Miami game. “I mean for him, it’s a big stage and I think he always, you know, big players perform on big stages. And he knew what was at stake today.”

Against Charlotte and with plenty still on the line, Shaqiri had just one shot and completed 70.3% of his passes. Shaqiri, however, hasn’t been the only big-money attacker who can be called a culprit, as young designated player Jairo Torres has only one assist and hasn’t figured out how to stay healthy. Kacper Przybylko has four goals in 954 minutes and hasn’t started a league match since June 21.

Yet with a win in next week’s season finale at New York City FC and a little help, the Fire can sneak into the bottom of the East playoffs.

“We have to go there like it’s a final over there,” midfielder Brian Gutierrez said. “We have to go for those three points because that’s a playoff spot obviously.”

Grabbing that playoff spot shouldn’t be celebrated. It should only be a prelude to a different roster.