Chicago Fire's Brian Gutiérrez Wants to Make Good on His Coach's Declaration

After the Chicago Fire won their first match in 56 days over the weekend, head coach Frank Klopas made a bold declaration about his 20-year-old midfielder Brian Gutiérrez.

“I told him, this year he needs to score at least eight to 10 goals and 10 assists.”

That’s quite the statement for the coach to make about a player who before 2024 had never scored more than twice in a Major League Soccer season. The Fire haven’t had a double-digit goal-scorer since Robert Beric scored 12 in 2020, and Jhon Durán’s eight goals in 2022 is the highest output from a Chicago player in the past two seasons. It’s a lofty goal for the head coach to impose upon the Homegrown talent who signed a new contract with Chicago in the offseason.

Gutiérrez has already doubled his goal-scoring total (4) from last year (2) despite playing only 1,115 minutes so far in 2024. He didn’t think the goal his coach presented was outlandish.

“I think that’s a reasonable target,” said Gutiérrez after the Fire’s win over the Galaxy. “I think I can do it and I know I’m capable of reaching those goals.”

Gutiérrez told On Tap Sports Net in February that he knew he needed to improve his goal-scoring in 2024, especially after signing his new contract. The goals have been slowly trickling in, highlighted by his do-it-all-yourself match-winning finish against the Galaxy at Soldier Field, which was enough to put him on the bench for Major League Soccer's Team of the Matchday for Matchday 18.

With Xherdan Shaqiri away with the Swiss National Team and the question of whether he'll ever return to the Fire, Gutiérrez is now entrenched as the No. 10 in Chicago’s attack. As he’s endured a slow start to the season on the assist front (only one after six in 2023), he’s improving with more time in this role.

“I’ve had ups and downs, I think the team also had ups and downs, but I think right now I feel more confident on the ball and my play is developing even more as I’m playing.”

Gutiérrez played a large role in the Fire’s game plan against the Galaxy, which relied on denying Riqui Puig access to the ball as much as possible. His match-winning goal began after intercepting a pass from Edwin Cerrillo, something he said came directly from how the club was defending Puig.

“During the game we were intercepting that pass because they always wanted to find Riqui [Puig]. I had a lot of space in front of me and I took my chance. I feel like I have to do more of that, but thankfully I got the goal.”

It’s no secret that the Fire’s 2024 season has been anything but a steady ship. Club-record signing Hugo Cuypers is finally contributing to goals consistently and that should be Gutiérrez’s main target when looking for assists. Cuypers isn’t the only one who would be the beneficiary of Gutiérrez’s improved play. Maren Haile-Selassie was also tabbed earlier this season by Frank Klopas as someone who he’d like to see score 8-10 goals.

It all starts with Gutiérrez for the Fire. The Fire haven’t lost in 2024 when he’s collected a goal or an assist, and now it’s up to the fan-favorite to take the next step in a crucial summer for Chicago.

What’s On Tap Next?

The Chicago Fire will be back in action on June 15 when they travel to take on Toronto FC. The match is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 PM CT and will air on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

Follow @soccer_ontap on X for more Chicago Fire news and updates!