Chicago Fire FC have shaken up their coaching staff, as assistant David Zdrilic is no longer working with the club's first team, head coach Raphael Wicky confirmed in Wednesday media availability.
The Athletic's Sam Stejskal first reported the news on Monday, with Wicky confirming to reporters when asked on Wednesday that Zdrilic would no longer be working with the first team due to what the Chicago coach deemed as philosophical differences. Wicky did seem to leave open the possibility that Zdrilic could remain with the club in a different capacity, although he didn't specify what that would be.
"Well, the status is that I decided 10 days ago that we are not working together any more for some different reasons," Wicky said. "The club is still figuring out his future position, obviously with him, but for now he's not in my first team staff anymore. That's the situation and that's where we are today."
Pressed on what led to that decision, Wicky explained his rationale and said that his first-team staff assistants now consist of Frank Klopas and Adin Brown.
"Just the simple fact that we have different visions, different approaches to the game, different visions and I decided [it’s] best to not work together anymore," he said. "It's as simple as that. That's why I decided to do [that], and again, it has nothing to do with the results and David worked very hard for us and I appreciate everything he had done but there were just different visions and different approaches and that's it. I took a decision and that's where we are today and we keep working."
Zdrilic was named to Wicky's staff as an assistant in January 2020, moving from his role as an assistant for the RB Leipzig U-19 team. The 47-year-old Australian had a lengthy playing career that spanned from 1993-2010 before delving into coaching.
The news comes as the Fire are mired in a 0-4-1 start that leaves them with one point and second from the bottom on the Eastern Conference table.
