At the beginning of the MLS preseason, the Chicago Fire looked like a team in serious trouble. Their roster was shockingly thin after the departures of Brian McBride, Nery Castillo, and Freddie Ljungberg, amongst others, but they’ve done a decent job in filling out that roster in the last month with some relatively unknown foreign players. First they signed a couple of Uruguayan forwards - Diego Chavez and Gaston Puerari - and now they have added a Croatian defensive midfielder, Marko Maric.

Maric is a big guy at 6’2″, and he’s been tagged as a tough tackler in the center of midfield. Apparently, he’s a decent passer, as well. Here’s what Fire Technical Director Frank Kloppas had to say about Maric:

“Marko is a tenacious, hard working midfielder with size and technical ability.”

If Carlos de los Cobos plans to continue with his system, a base 4-5-1 formation that requires a couple of central midfielders with defensive qualities, Maric should be a fantastic addition. The Fire were a bit thin in that area, but Maric and Pause should make a fantastic central midfield pair, at least in theory. The only place they could potentially be lacking is on the midfield band of three between the holders and the central striker. Patrick Nyarko should be the starting right winger, while Marco Pappa can play any of the three positions on that band. The Fire might still be in the market for an attacking central midfielder or left winger, unless they’re now confident that Corben Bone is the man to pull the strings in the center.