I’m Worried About the Stars

A rebrand that’s fallen flat, no marquee additions, a thin squad, poor communication and an MIA superstar.

Two years ago was very bad for the then Chicago Red Stars. In the wake of the Rory Dames scandal, veterans fled in free agency, the manager was more or less a caretaker, and clearly everyone was just trying to get through it. They predictably finished dead last in NWSL.

For entirely different reasons, I fear this year’s team may have a similar destiny.

While other teams have made big in-league trades, signed exciting talent from abroad, hoovered up college players after the elimination of the draft (including Naperville native Hannah Bebar going to Bay FC), and for the most made obvious efforts to improve themselves, the Stars appear just seven times in the NWSL’s ‘Offseason Transfer Tracker’:

- A 2-year contract for free agent midfield Maitane Lopez (formerly of Gotham FC)

- Signing 17-year Old US U-17 forward Micayla Johnson

- A one year contract for reserve goalkeeper Halle Mackiewicz (played most recently in Sweden)

- Signing 20-year-old Japanese youth international midfielder Mana Hayashi after a standout freshman year at Santa Clara

- Resigning Camryn Biegalski, Nadia Gomes, Sarah Griffith

That’s it. Only four new players, one of whom is a child, one rookie, one goalkeeper who isn’t expected to play, and a defensive midfielder who played just 21 games over two years for Gotham after a move from Spain.

Only Lopez will contend for a starting spot. The most glaring problem this leaves is defensively, where the Stars have only five defenders on their roster. One is Sam Staab, who is still recovering from a torn Achillies suffered last summer. She’s joined by versatile veteran Natalia Kuikka (who recently picked up an injury on international duty with Finland and is out for an unknown amount of time), second-year center back Hannah Anderson, third-year fullback Taylor Malham, and utility backup Camryn Biegalski. I think Cari Roccaro, listed as a midfielder but who mostly played center back late last season, is likely to join this group. Winger/wingback Jenna Bike may as well as an attacking right back. But still, it’s pretty inexcusable that this threadbare group was not fortified in any way over this winter.

The other obvious need this team has had for the last year is a traditional, change-of-pace striker who can be a focal point for the Stars’ assortment of technical and quick other attackers to play off of. That player may be Ava Cook, who missed all of last year with a torn ACL, but the only attacking ‘reinforcement’ to be a player returning from injury sure doesn’t show much ambition.

When new ownership, led by Cubs and Sky minority owner Laura Ricketts, took over the club they made a $35 million promise: 25 for the purchase of the team, and then 10 for promised investment in the coming years. Last offseason was largely what you might have expected from that: veterans Staab and Kuikka to anchor the backline, a locked in starter (we thought) at right back in Maxi Rall, veteran attacking mid Shea Groom, a strong draft class, and a record contracted handed out to Mallory Swanson (who yes I have made it this far without mentioning, more on that in a moment). More spending followed in the summer with Brazilian international forward Ludmila and Canadian international midfielder Julia Grosso. Then this offseason… nothing of the sort.

To be fair, maybe the idea was that last year’s spending spree was supposed to rejuvenate and sustain the squad for a while, with only minor tweaks to the roster. However, if that’s the case, you don’t have a good roster plan if one defender getting hurt more or less ruins the entire thing (Staab was also a significant amount of the team’s progressive passing in possession as a center back, which is part of what makes her so special and important).

We now must address the elephant in the room, or rather not in the room. The team is currently being overshadowed by an obvious question: where is Mallory Swanson?

Almost six weeks ago now, both the team and Swanson put out statements announcing she would miss the opening of training camp for personal reasons. Swanson thanked the team for being understanding, the team voiced their support for her, and coaches and teammates reacted to the news in a way that didn’t sound worried. Since that statement:

- The Swansons have sold their house in suburban Atlanta

- Dansby Swanson reported on time for Cubs’ spring training in Mesa, Arizona

- Mallory posted a picture of roses from Dansby on a kitchen counter for Valentine’s Day on her Instagram story.

That is all the evidence we have. Given Swanson’s previous injury history and relatively recent health scare following knee surgery I do not want to speculate about why she is absent. But the reality is that one of the best players in the world has been MIA for weeks, there has been no update (not even something like ‘Swanson continues to be on approved leave and we look forward to when she is able to return’ or something), the team is behaving as if she doesn’t exist, and opening day is in just over a week.

You might well ask: why hasn’t someone who covers the team simply asked about this? Well, Swanson was not a topic at the team’s Media Day a couple of weeks ago, head coach Lorne Donaldson has not spoken at a press conference in a month, and I have been told that requests to the team for a Swanson update have either been rebuffed or ignored. To be honest, it’s not just Swanson. Fans have seen and heard very little from the team during the preseason, the club’s social media pages oddly sparse while other teams (in a parallel to transfer activity) pump out content. This includes that the team has been playing preseason friendlies from which there has been no highlights, updates or notes. I only know they’re happening at all because I asked someone who knew.

As if the mood wasn’t off enough, they enter this new season simply as Chicago Stars FC, changing the name the team had since before the NWSL existed and ditching their unique badge (and a shoutout to the original) with references to Chicago history in favor of something that looks extremely corporate and generic.

On the field, the team was a chore to watch last year despite featuring some very talented and exciting players. Ugly soccer played by players stretched too thin without their most reliable source of goals for a team stripped of their established identity whose desire to reintroduce themselves to the city has been remarkably quiet. Oh, and they don’t know where they’re playing after this year (but that’s a discussion for another day.

None of this bodes well, and I’m worried that some very difficult days lie ahead in Bridgeview.