Discussing the Chicago Fire or any other MLS team's salary budget is always very complicated. You might want to take a look at our 'Roster 101' and 'Roster Construction' pieces before proceeding. Even veterans of such discussions need to remind each other that we are talking about a salary budget and not a salary cap.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

According to the Castrol Index, Major League Soccer's latest metric for measuring individual success, New York Red Bulls Designated Player Thierry Henry is off to a stellar start in his first full season in the league.

The Castrol Index is designed to analyze each player's every movement on the field and how those movements impact a team's penchant for scoring goals and conceding goals.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Ristic, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Paladini, Bone

F Chaves, Nazirit

Bench : Conway, Anibaba, Robinson, Husidic, Nyarko, Barouch, Puerari

Sounders

GK Keller

D Riley, Parke, Kennedy-Hurtado, Wahl

M Rosales, Evans, Alonso, Neagle

F Fucito, Jaqua

Bench : Boss, Gonzalez, Ianni, Scott, Carrasco, Levesque, Montero

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Ristic, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Paladini, Bone

F Puerari, Nazarit

Bench : Conway, Robinson, Husidic, Nyarko, Chaves, Videira, Barouch

SKC

GK Nielsen

D Harrington, Besler, Collin, Myers

M Sassano, Arnaud, Bravo

F Kamara, Bunbury, Smith

Bench : Kronberg, Diop, Stojcev, Zusi, Cesar, Sinovic, Sapong

Photo by Tracy Allen/ISIphotos.com

With all of the Chicago Fire's recent forward acquisitions, there couldn't be room for everybody in Frank Klopas' stable of strikers, and Gaston Puerari is the odd man out.

The Fire sold Puerari, a Uruguayan forward acquired in the offseason, to Mexican club Atlas on Wednesday for an undisclosed transfer fee.

Today the Chicago Fire announced that Gaston Puerari has been sold to Atlas for an undisclosed fee.
This move signals a few things. First off the team has confidence in Orr Barouch to take over a bigger role in the offensive scheme. He immediately takes Puerari's place as one of the players who will start at striker depending on form, Chaves and Nazarit being the other two.

Marvin Chaves celebrates his goal in Mexico. (Mexsport)

"It only takes one."

That was something my old soccer coach back in West Virginia used to tell me and my teammates before (and sometimes during) a game that we knew would be tough. We had this one team that we played a couple times a year that always seemed to get the best of us and would typically beat us.

Sporting Kansas City signed its second homegrown player on Friday, adding 19-year-old defender Kevin Ellis to the team's roster.

Ellis joins United States youth national team goalkeeper Jon Kempin as the homegrown players in Kansas City. He played at Barton County Community College for the last two seasons, scoring 34 goals in time as both an attacking player and a defender.

WASHINGTON, DC — D.C. United have reacquired Brazilian midfielder Fred in a trade with the New England Revolution. United on Friday sent the Revolution a 2013 second-round draft pick for Fred, who had 11 goals and 16 assists over three seasons in Washington from 2007-09. The 31-year-old Fred played last year with the Philadelphia Union, [.

Photo by SGFsoccer

Team: Chicago Fire
Coach: Carlos de la Cobos
Last Year's Finish: 4th Eastern Conference, 10th Overall, 9-9-12

Last year's Chicago Fire were going through a transition regardless of the tumultuous offseason they've had.

Defender Josip Mikulic (center) -- ISI PhotosBRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- When the Chicago Fire sought out new pieces in building their 2011 squad, they brought in a group that had a combination of athleticism, youth and experience.
That might not be the easiest combination to find, but a fitting example is the addition of center defensive back Josip Mikulic.

The Chicago Fire suffered their first loss of the season Saturday afternoon and it happened at the feet of the Seattle Sounders. The final score was 2-1 with goals coming from O'Brian White ('7) and Steve Zakuani ('25) for Seattle and Diego Chaves ( '8) for Chicago. O'Brian White picked up an assist on Zakuani's goal and Mauro Rosales hard a great cross to White on the header.

The Chicago Fire come into tonight's game on a skid having lost three straight to the Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, and a depleted LA Galaxy team. The Men in Red look to turn it around tonight against a Houston Dynamo squad that is heading into tonight's match with back to back wins. The two teams split last year's matches.

Chicago Fire visited lovely yet chilly Colorado in hopes to salvage a literally pointless April. A point they gained, but nothing more as the game ended in a 1-1 draw. The lineup saw some big changes and a new captain as Logan Pause was out. Marco Pappa filled the role nicely and scored the side's only goal to boot.

Photo courtesy of Chicago Fire

The Chicago Fire has had such a good return on its South American forward signings that the club decided to go back to the well again.

Chicago signed 20-year-old Colombian forward Cristian Nazarit on a free transfer from top-flight Colombian team Independiente Santa Fe, the club announced on Wednesday.

First half chances from Dominic Oduro, Marco Pappa and Diego Chaves went begging as the Chicago Fire drew 0-0 with Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday night at Toyota Park. With the tie, the Fire extend their unbeaten streak to three matches and move to 1-3-4 with seven points through eight matches.

Fire's Diego Chaves -- Getty ImagesBRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The post-Carlos de los Cobos era begins for the Chicago Fire, and it is no secret that interim head coach Frank Klopas' squad has a deep hole to climb out of.
The Fire are 1-4-6 and have tied a franchise-worst nine-game winless streak (0-4-5).

The latest MLS Castrol Index player rankings are out! Marco Pappa is rated the highest on the Chicago Fire at 24th in the league. What might surprise you, is that defender Cory Gibbs is right behind him at 25th in the league. Diego Chaves, Gonzalo Segares, and Jalil Anibaba round out the top 5 on the Fire squad.

Today's matchup between the Seattle Sounders and Chicago Fire marks the first time the Sounders play their second match against an opponent in 2011. The first meeting in early April resulted in a Sounders win that kicked off a stretch of three wins in four games, which went a long way towards rescuing a disappointing start to the season.

Stop me if you have heard this one before. The Chicago Fire came away from Toyota Park with a tie last night. Sound familiar? The final score was Chicago Fire 0 - Seattle Sounders 0. Sean Johnson came up with some big saves early in the game but he didn't record any other saves after the first 20 minutes of the game.

It's been a long couple months on the road for Sporting KC, the 1-6-3 record is some proof of that. But tomorrow that changes as Sporting KC will be opening their home, Livestrong Sporting Park, when they take on the Chicago Fire. As I mentioned earlier today, this game is a MUST win for KC on so many different levels.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Husidic, Nyarko

F Puerari, Chaves

Bench : Conway, Robinson, Ristic, Paladini, Bone, Barouch, Nazirit

Crew

GK Hesmer

D Miranda, Marshall, James, Gardner

M Balchan, Ekpo, Gaven, Meram

F Mendoza, Cunningham

Bench : Gruenebaum, Iro, Veeder, Burns, Gehrig, Rusmir, Horton

The Chicago Fire enter today's game on the heels of their first win since March 26th. New England lost four games in a row before stopping the bleeding on Wednesday with a tie against Toronto FC. Frank Klopas hopes the team can continue the current 286 minute opposition shutout streak dating back to May 28th when San Jose's Chris Wondolowoski scored a 74th minute header.

Starting Line Ups

Fire GK Johnson D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares M Nyarko, Pause, Husidic, Oduro F Chaves, Nazirit

Bench : Conway, Ristic, Robinson, Bone, Paladini, Barouch, Ferrari

Revolution GK Reis D Barnes, Coria, Soares, Alston M Tierney, Joseph, Phelan, Nyassi F Mansally, Lekic

Bench : Shuttleworth, Loewy, Guy, Kinne, Schilawski, Sousa, McCarthy

By IAN HOLLIDAY

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution played better than the visiting Chicago Fire for the first 70 minutes of their match Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, but the hosts couldn't capitalize on their many chances, and were lucky to finish the match's last 20 minutes with a 1-1 draw intact.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Paladini, Husidic, Nyarko

F Chaves, Barouch

Bench : Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Pappa, Videira, Ferrari

RSL

GK Rimando

D Russell, Olave, Borchers, Beltran

M Grabavoy, Beckerman, Warner, Johnson

F Espindola, Aghasyan

Bench : Reynish, McKenzie, Schuler, Gil, Gonzalez, Williams, Toia

Quick and Dirty Recap:
No one scored. Sean Johnson had one excellent save on a Collin Warner shot. On this play Jamison Olave juked past Segares and put a square ball in towards the spot. Yamith Cuesta missed the ball as he dove for it giving Warner the clear look. Excellent save by Johnson who continues to be in top form.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Nyarko, Paladini, Husidic, Pappa

F Oduro, Chaves

Bench: Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Videira, Chaves, Ferrari

Red Bulls

GK Condoul

D Solli, Keel, Mendes, Miller

M Richards, Tainio, Ballouchy, Lindpere

F Henry, DeRosario

Bench: Sutton, JOnes, Schneider, Da Luz, Kassel, Rooney, Hertzog

Quick and Dirty:

First half: No one scored. Jalil Anibaba missed a free header off a corner. LA had a few opportunities but no shots were put on goal. The Fire defense was up to the task in the first half. The LA defense decided to be overly physical with anyone who was born in Ghana.

Rumors of Pavel Pardo are flying around Chicago Fire Country and I think this as close to a done deal as you can get for written and non-written reasons. The only problem? The current roster would not allow it to happen. One of the main intrigues? The team already has several players in the central midfield position.

Today is the big press releases full of protected players day. Personally it feels like a healing balm to help with the festering burn wound that was yesterday's Cup final.

Here is your creamy filled list of protected goodness:

Sean Johnson - GK
Cory Gibbs - DEF
Jalil Anibaba - DEF
Gonzalo Segares - DEF
Pavel Pardo - MID
Logan Pause - MID
Marco Pappa - MID
Sebastian Grazzini - MID
Orr Barouch - FWD
Patrick Nyarko - FWD
Dominic Oduro - FWD

Join me for some frothy instant analysis after the break.

The Fire finally revealed the identity of the second international striker today, and his name is Diego Chaves. At 5'-10" and 150 lbs. Chaves isn't exactly a prototypical target forward but the Fire are hopeful that he can fill the #9 spot that is currently up for grabs.

Chaves played briefly with Uruguayan teammate Gaston Puerari in 2009 at Montevideo Wanderers before playing for Queretaro and Veracruz in Mexico.

I'm planning on bringing back the live chat for the final pre-season match on Saturday night...in the meantime here are the starting line ups for the second match of the Carolina Challenge Cup:

Fire

Conway; Anibaba, Mikulic, Gibbs; Ristic, Husidic, Pause, Pappa, Paul; Puerari, Chaves

DC United

Onstad; Barklage, White, Brasesco, Burch; Quaranta, Morsink, King, Fred; Davies, Brettschneider

I'm particularly looking forward to the match up with USMNT forward Charlie Davies.

For a team hoping to get a look at its offensive options heading into the 2011 Major League Soccer season, the continual red cards are not helping the Chicago Fire's cause.
Uruguayan forward Diego Chaves was ejected in the 37th minute and the Fire fell to D.C. United, 1-0, on Wednesday at the Carolina Challenge Cup at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.

The Chicago Fire enter 2011 coming off one of the worst seasons in club history. For only the second time since its debut season of 1998, the Fire missed the playoffs. That disappointing performance might have led to some other coaches being given the boot, but head coach Carlos De Los Cobos is back to try and improve on a sub-par first season.

Fire forward Gaston Puerari -- ISI PhotosLast year's Chicago Fire squad was a middle-of-the-pack MLS team on the offensive end, scoring 37 goals in 30 games. But there were many dry spells along the way, as the offense was shut out seven times during the final two months and 10 times overall in 2010.

Chicago Fire vs. FC Dallas 7:30 PM CST

Chicago Fire Starting XI: Sean Johnson; Jalil Anibaba, Josip Mikulic, Cory Gibbs; Bratislav Ristic, Mike Videira, Logan Pause, Marco Pappa, Gonzalo Segares; Gaston Puerari, Diego Chaves

FC Dallas Starting XI: Kevin Hartman; Jackson Gonclaves, John, Brek Shea, Zach Loyd; Marvin Chavez, Eric Alexander, Daniel Hernandez, Eric Avila; David Ferreira, Milton Rodriguez

It's been a long off-season but here we go.

Fire's Orr Barouch (R) -- Getty ImagesThe Chicago Fire handled 2010 MLS runner-up FC Dallas with composure in their season opener, earning a 1-1 draw on Saturday in the first leg of the Brimstone Cup at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.
Uruguayan forward Diego Chaves netted his first MLS goal for the Fire as both teams scored within the first 20 minutes.

The Chicago Fire opened their 2011 campaign with a 1-1 draw and will have to share the Brimstone Cup until the two clubs meet again October 12.

Diego Chaves had a great debut by opening the scoring, but the Fire relaxed a little too much and quickly relinquished the equalizer. Dallas defender Brek Shea earned a red card by pulling a passing Gaston Puerari to ground as the last man, but the Fire could not capitalize on the man advantage.

The Fire took 1 point on the road from the MLS Cup runner ups from last season. Oh yeah the Fire should have won the game as well. Kevin Hartman did what Kevin Hartman does and saved FC Dallas from losing by two or three goals.

More thoughts below the jump.

At some point over the last month I had an article half written railing on Fire fans who didn't have hope for this season.