In 2008, Fire defender Jonathan Bornstein and new coach Raphael Wicky had been teammates with Chivas USA. Bornstein remembers how Wicky related with Jesse Marsch, a former Fire midfielder who was nearing the tip of his enjoying profession with the now-defunct membership.
According to Bornstein, Marsch and Wicky mentioned group techniques and positioning, the sort of subjects that future coaches speak about.
Marsch went on to a profitable teaching profession in MLS and now in Europe, which doesn’t shock Bornstein. As for Wicky, Bornstein isn’t precisely surprised he went into teaching after his time on the sector.
“He’s just a great soccer mind,” Bornstein stated. “Obviously, a lot of great players transition into coaching because they’ve done it their whole lives. That’s what they love.”
When Bornstein and Wicky had been teammates, they had been at completely different phases of their careers. Bornstein was a younger rising star who performed in 26 video games that season. Wicky performed in solely 5 video games in 2008 earlier than retiring in March 2009. He was on the finish of a run that included 75 appearances for the Swiss nationwide group and time in Germany and Spain.
Bornstein was upset that the 2 didn’t get to play collectively a lot, however Wicky nonetheless left a mark.
“When they named him to be coming to us, I was extremely excited,” Bornstein stated. “Meeting him, he’s an amazing person. He’s very easy to talk to. With his trajectory, you could be as stuck-up and as pompous as you wanted to, but he definitely is not like that. He came off as very humble.”
Wicky should regulate shortly to MLS, beginning Saturday with the start of coaching camp. But as Bornstein identified, the league isn’t utterly overseas to Wicky.
During his time with Chivas, Wicky skilled the uniquely difficult MLS journey and the size of the season, which Bornstein thinks will enable him to handle all of the points of the league.
“For me personally, I’m really looking forward to working with him,” Bornstein stated. “When I met him as a player, he was a great person. Obviously, he had a great playing career. I’m looking forward to nothing but making things better for Chicago and hopefully very quickly we can turn things around as a club and [get] that positive motion.”
Wicky, 42, was employed Dec. 27 to interchange Veljko Paunovic, a transfer that didn’t come as a shock as a result of he labored with Fire sporting director Georg Heitz at FC Basel. And you’ll be able to depend Bornstein amongst those that predicted that Wicky can be employed.
Bornstein, 35, stated that when the Fire employed Heitz, he researched the chief and realized he had been at Basel. Bornstein then remembered Wicky coached there. So Bornstein advised his spouse that Wicky is perhaps coming to Chicago.
“When [Wicky] was named, I said ‘Wow, I called it!’ ” a laughing Bornstein stated. “It’s a positive for the club. He comes in with a new, fresh style. Overall, it will be a great change for the team in a time when there’s a lot of change going on for the club, and I think everything’s moving in a positive direction.”