How will the Fire fare going forward in 2010? (Getty Images)

Today is the start of a new series. As teams get into training camp and new players come on board its worth looking into each club to see how they are stacking up and what else they need to do to get ready for the 2010 season. I got this idea from the post I did a few days back on how the Philadelphia Union were looking. I figured it would be good to do something like that to all the clubs.

I’ll go in alphabetical order here with this series. Now I don’t know if it will be a daily thing or what yet, it all depends on my current work schedule but I do plan on getting each club by the end of February.

Keeper:

Who they have: Jon Busch, Sean Johnson (GA), Andrew Dykstra

Notes: Busch is the main guy we know that and with rookie Sean Johnson waiting in the wings with that Generation adidas contract things should be looking pretty bright in this department for years to come. I honestly don’t know much about Dykstra so it wouldn’t be too shocking to hear if the Fire waive him or send him out on loan this year at some point to get him some playing time.

Defense:

Who they have: CJ Brown, Tim Ward, Wilman Conde, Daniel Woolard, Dasan Robinson, Austin Washington, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Krzysztof Król, and Steven Kinney.

Notes: Getting Krol and drafting someone like Watson-Siriboe should make up for the losses of Gonzalo Segares and their lack of depth down the stretch in 2009. Conde will obviously still be the rock in the middle and adding Krol to the outside should work. I’m curious to see if Frank Klopas and Carlos de los Cobos add anything else to this group. Its good but not great right now, maybe one more center back would do the trick to keep Jon Busch from having to come up with big games.

Midfield:

Who they have: Logan Pause, Baggio Husidić, John Thorrington, Marco Pappa, Mike Banner, Justin Mapp, Peter Lowry, Corben Bone, Julio Martínez, and Drew Yates.

Notes: I really like what they’ve done to make up for the losses of Blanco and Chris Rolfe this winter so far. Adding Martinez on loan makes up for Rolfe on the wings and getting lucky in the draft by landing Bone was something else. For some reason I really like this group and hope it turns out to be as good as I think they can be in 2010. I’m very curious to see the development of Husidic in 2010 and I hope Thorringtoncontinues to grow as a player too.

One thing I kind of see happening at some point is a trade involving Justin Mapp. For some reason I get the feeling his time in Chicago is almost up. Just a hunch at this point from me but all I am saying is don’t be shocked if at some point this season we see him in a different uniform.

Forwards:

Who they have: Brian McBride, Patrick Nyarko, Calen Carr, and Stefan Dimitrov.

Notes: I’d say this is the one area Klopas has the most work to do. There are rumors that Collin John could be headed to Chicago. John was a former teammate of McBride at Fulham. I’m not entirely sure if that is the best move for the Fire at this point but they definitely need someone else along with McBride and Nyarko. Someone younger than John would probably be the best fit in my eyes. (ignore that comment on finding someone younger, I thought I read that John was 34, but he is only 24. Wow, it is Friday)

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Overall:

The Fire aren’t looking too bad overall considering the talent they lost this winter and the coaching change. I still have my doubts defensively with this group and I question right now whether or not they have enough offense to remain a top dog in the east. Also with SuperLiga on their schedules again this year I wonder a bit about their depth. On the surface it seems decent enough but a couple more quality moves like Krol and Martinez before the season will put my worries to rest with this group.

Klopas and de los Cobos have done a good job so far this month. Their draft a couple weeks ago was one of the best in the league. Usually a coaching change in the winter will see its ups and downs but seeing how de los Cobos is letting Klopas take control of picking out a good majority of the talent I think this team will be just fine in 2010.

Order: Chris Rolfe, Mike Banner, Steve Zakuani, Fredy Montero, Maykel Galindo, Eduardo Lillingston, Chad Marshall, Eddie Gavin, Dwayne de Rosario, and O’Brien White