An emphasis on technique took front-and-center on the first day of the Chicago Fire’s 2017 preseason training at The PrivateBank Fire Pitch in Chicago. Audible among the reverberations inside the domed facility were the voices of forward Nemanja Nikolic and midfielder Juninho, each of whom took to the pitch for the first time with their new teammates after an offseason marked by international transition.
“It was super to feel the ball,” Nikolic said. “It was a long holiday for everybody, and of course the first training is to adapt on the pitch, on the ball, on the feeling of the ball.