At least we now know this team can suffer together. The question that now looms is, how much suffering will be asked of us?
The Chicago Fire, fashioned in the national imagination as a potentially resurgent side after two creditable outings to start the season, collapsed spectacularly in the opening stanzas of Saturday’s showdown matchup with starlet darlings Atlanta United. Ten minutes in, the Men in Red had pulled off a rare game-opening own-goal/red-card combo, and rarely threatened the rampant home side thereafter en route to a 4-0 humiliation.
All along the way to a discouraging drubbing, the beleaguered Fire suffered together, working hard in thankless circumstances, gamely minding their shape, making every transition difficult - but in the end their intelligence and bravery availed little against an avalanche of superior skill and intention from a dominant home side.