Toronto FC, Chicago Fire coaches share history as players, mutual respect as coaches

Toronto FC, in search of its first win under coach Robin Fraser after an 0-2-1 start on the road, trains at BMO Field on Friday for the first time this year ahead of Saturday's home opener against Chicago. FC Cincinnati forward Corey Baird (11) is tripped by Toronto FC midfielders Kosi Thompson (6) and Matty Longstaff (8) during an MLS soccer match, Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Cincinnati. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Tanner Pearson

TORONTO — Toronto FC coach Robin Fraser and Gregg Berhalter, his Chicago Fire counterpart, are no strangers, having played shoulder to shoulder at centre back for the U.S.

“He was a great player to play with, actually,” said Berhalter. “I have a lot of respect for Robin, and for what he’s done and him as a coach, and how he organizes his team, how he leads his team. … I hear nothing but good things from the players that he’s coached.”

Fraser, a former two-time MLS Defender of the Year, is equally complimentary towards Berhalter, whom he calls “as smart as any centre back I’ve played with in terms of just understanding how to manipulate attackers.”

The two coaches will share the sideline Saturday when Toronto (0-2-1) hosts Chicago (1-1-1) in its home opener at BMO Field.

Both coaches are new to their teams, although Fraser served as an assistant coach under Greg Vanney in Toronto from 2015 to 2019 before leaving to take charge of the Colorado Rapids.

And both were fired from the last jobs -- Fraser by Colorado in September 2023 and Berhalter by U.S. Soccer in July after the American men failed to get out of the group stage at Copa America.

The two coaches are in the early days of putting their stamp on their new teams.

Chicago is coming off a 3-1 win at FC Dallas after drawing visiting D.C. United 2-2 and losing 4-2 in the season opener at Columbus.

But the Fire showed character in the win over Dallas which marked the first time in franchise history the club scored at least three goals after the 80th minute in a come-from-behind road victory.

“I think it’s mixed,” Berhalter, who at 51 is seven years younger than Fraser, said when asked about his assessment of the team’s performance to date. “I think there’s times when we’re doing really well and times when we’re not doing so well. We did score seven goals, which is positive. We’ve also given up seven goals, which is negative.

“I think, six of those seven goals were really avoidable goals and something where we made mistakes on and we can do better,” he added.

Toronto was beaten 2-0 at FC Cincinnati last time out, after losing 4-2 at Orlando City and drawing 2-2 at D.C. United.

“I’d say the plus is (their) character,” Fraser said of his team. “I think there are a lot of really good, hard-working players who try to do exactly what’s asked of them. And when they do, I feel we’ve had some pretty decent moments … When I think about the three games, I thought as I’m watching what we’re trying to achieve defensively, we’re pretty good, we’re pretty good, we’re pretty good and then a mistake happens.”

“We just need to get to a point where we reward ourselves for some of this hard work,” he added

Toronto will be without defenders Richie Laryea and Henry Wingo. Laryea, forced off in the 22nd minute of the Orlando loss, has a hamstring issue that Fraser described as a “medium-term injury.”

“I don’t want to put a timeline on it because it could be shorter, it could be longer ... It won’t be this week or next week,” said Fraser.

That does not bode well for Laryea’s Canada call-up for next Thursday’s CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against Mexico. It’s the same leg that required hamstring surgery last season.

The Fire have also been dealing with injuries. And while Philip Zinckernagel and Maren Haile-Selassie are back training, fellow midfielders Kellyn Acosta, Dylan Borso and Rominigue Kouame remain out.

“We are thin, but that’s part of it. And we’re going to have to get through it,” said Berhalter.

Out-of-favour Italian star Lorenzo Insigne continues to train with Toronto but has yet to dress this season.

While Fraser said the 33-year-old winger is available for selection, he added it was his job to pick “the group that is going to play in accordance with how the club wants to play.”

The company line is Insigne does not fit that style. In truth, TFC wants rid of a player who has not delivered on his eight-figure salary.

Insigne, whose contract runs through June 2026, ranked second to Miami’s Lionel Messi last season in MLS with a salary of US$15.4 million.

TFC holds a 14-12-13 record all-time against Chicago in regular-season play and is looking for its first home win over the Fire since May 2022. Toronto has gone winless in the five meetings (0-3-2) since.

Toronto is 9-6-3 in its 18 previous MLS home openers to date, blanking Charlotte FC last year.

The forecast for Saturday afternoon’s kickoff calls for 13 Celsius and the chance of showers. The team will be playing on a pitch that only came out from under a winter tarp on Monday.

“It’s not in great shape,” said Fraser. “It’s winter in Toronto, right. Give the ground crew credit, it looks decent and playable but we also know what this winter has been like. I do think it will chop up a little bit as we go.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press