Earlier this month Backdraft headed out to Toyota Park to watch the Fire’s U-16 and U-18 academy teams face the U.S. U-17 national team. The Academy initiative, headed by Louis Mateus, has been running for around a year, and is one of the first fully free youth development academies in MLS.

New rules in MLS make such academies critical for the future success of teams, as each clubs can now directly sign (bypassing the draft) up to two players from their academies each year. Backdraft has been watching the games, and recently spoke to Mateus about the program.

Bakary Soumare's early-season performances in defense for the Fire have been one of the biggest positives so far for the team.

To add to that, he's gaining a reputation as one of the toughest Fire players on the field whilst being one of the friendliest to Fire fans off it.

Backdraft talked to Bakary about life with the team, his new role at the heart of the defense, and his views on the recent upheavals and what it means to play for the Chicago Fire.

After a 1-0 loss to the visiting Kansas City Wizards, the mood in the Fire locker room was glum to say the least. The players walked around with their heads low, and there was none of the usual joking around. It was obvious that this was a game the players felt they should have come away with at least a point from.

With the departure of President and GM John Guppy last week added to all the turmoil of the past year, Backdraft's writers decided to get together and talk about where the Fire stands now.

Here are their answers to five key questions regarding Guppy's departure, what it tells us about Andrew Hauptman, what qualities the next GM should have, and whether the Fire are in capable hands with Javier Leon stewarding the ship in the meantime.