2016 MLS Season Preview: Chicago Fire

With the MLS season set to begin on Sunday, theScore runs down everything you need to know about each team heading into the 2016 campaign. Here, we take a look at the Chicago Fire.

To call the 2015 Chicago Fire a disaster might be doing the club a favor; almost nothing went right last season for this rag-tag team. Such to the point that, with a new general manager in Nelson Rodriguez and a new head coach in Veljko Paunovic, the club has blown up chunks of its roster to try and find a winning formula once more.

No one was immune: not once-MVP Mike Magee, nor Chicago native Harry Shipp.

If Fire fans are expecting a blazing inferno torching its way through the Eastern Conference this year, they'll be in for disappointment once more. Instead, Paunovic is letting his proverbial embers heat up this season, bringing in talented players and hoping that his team grows together as the year tolls on.

"We have to prepare well, we have to win and play to win all the games that we have in front of us," Paunovic said of his team. "That's our goal, prepare well right now and go from one game to another game to another game, always giving our best. If we win, obviously we will reach playoffs, and this always will be our goal. It depends how well we prepare and how well we handle the long season that we have in front of us."

It certainly couldn't get much worse in 2016.

2015 season

Regular season: 10th in Eastern Conference

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Nuts and Bolts

• Head coach: Veljko Paunovic
• Stadium: Toyota Park
• Season opener: Sunday, March 6: Chicago Fire vs. New York City FC (Toyota Park) - 2 p.m. ET

Key Arrivals

• Johan Kappelhof (acquired from FC Groningen)
• John Goossens (acquired on two-year contract)
• Joao Meira (free transfer)
• Jack Harrison (SuperDraft)
• Brandon Vincent (SuperDraft)

Key Departures

• Harry Shipp (traded to Montreal Impact)
• Jon Busch (option declined)
• Jeff Larentowicz (option declined)
• Mike Magee (out of contract)
• Ty Harden (out of contract)
• Patrick Nyarko (traded to D.C. United).

Player to Watch

If there was one bright spot to the Chicago Fire of 2015, it was David Accam. The Ghanaian winger stepped up where striker Kennedy Igboananike failed and carried the Fire on his shoulders, scoring 10 goals and providing blistering pace out wide.

His is the talent that Paunovic will most rely on in 2016 as well, in particular out wide on the left where Accam best thrives. His speed is his best asset and that's exactly what Magee and Shipp lacked. In tandem with Igboananike and Gilberto, Accam can be an effective attacking player but questions of his supply from midfield will surely be raised.

Accam has all the makings of a star. He just needs to prove it, with a little help from a resurgent Chicago Fire side.

Keep an eye on: Gilberto

Projected Starting XI

Season in a Sentence

This season will all come down to how well Paunovic adjusts to life as an MLS head coach. The former Philadelphia Union attacking midfielder found success recently as manager of the Serbian under-20 national team that won the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. But can he translate that into MLS success? That's the burning question of the year.