Sporting director Georg Heitz has missed on every designated player he’s signed. His best moves have been selling teenagers to European clubs, he’s shown no ability to build an MLS winner and has the Fire on track to miss the playoffs for a fourth straight year under his watch.
Yet Heitz still has his job, but coach Ezra Hendrickson doesn’t.
On Monday, the Fire dismissed Hendrickson and assistant Junior Gonzalez and named Frank Klopas as interim coach. In 44 games, Hendrickson went 12-18-14 as the Fire showed a troubling propensity to squander late leads and drop points. This season’s team is 2-3-5 (11 points) and mired in 14th place in the Eastern Conference, but also three points out of sixth place with a key US Open Cup match against St. Louis City on Tuesday.
Hendrickson essentially gambled on the Fire winning against St. Louis by fielding a weakened side Saturday in Nashville. The feckless 3-0 loss was Hendrickson’s last game with the Fire, and he won’t be around to see how that risk turns out.
But for some reason, Fire owner/chairman Joe Mansueto keeps chasing his losing bet on Heitz.
Against Nashville, the Fire saw the impact a designated player can make. Two years after he needed 16 minutes to score three goals against the Fire, Nashville attacker Hany Mukhtar had another hat trick against a team built by Heitz. Though the three goals weren’t his most impressive — two on penalties and one rebound — Mukhtar controlled the match and consistently picked apart the Fire.
None of the five designated players signed by Heitz have ever influenced a match like that. Xherdan Shaqiri, one of the most expensive players in MLS history, was hardly noticeable and in the late stages of the match his effort was criticized by Apple TV analyst Jamie Watson. Watson, though, isn’t the only person who’s questioned Shaqiri’s commitment, an issue that notably cropped up on opening night when he walked instead of supporting an attack even when other offensive teammates were sprinting.
While Hendrickson could’ve come down harder on Shaqiri for that lapse or committed fully to using Brian Gutierrez as the Fire’s main attacking central midfielder, it was Heitz who essentially bid against himself to bring in a former colleague from their time at Swiss club FC Basel.
Unfortunately for the Fire, Shaqiri isn’t the only error Heitz has made at the top end of the roster. Robert Beric flamed out in 2021, Ignacio Aliseda was shipped off to Swiss partner club FC Lugano after two ineffective seasons, Jairo Torres can’t stay healthy and Gaston Gimenez was given a new contract but lost his DP status in the process. And by keeping Heitz – whose option was picked up last offseason – Mansueto and the Fire enter the summer transfer window with a DP spot open and the chance that Heitz can sign another big-money player.
Mansueto simply cannot allow Heitz to fill that DP slot. He also can’t allow Heitz to pick another full-time coach.
