Chicago Fire: Hendrickson backs Gabriel Slonina to bounce back after tough Minnesota game

As a 17-year-old goalkeeper, Gabriel Slonina is bound to suffer the odd setback.

The teenager is one of the most talked-about goalkeeping talents in world soccer right now, securing his spot as the Chicago Fire's no.1 at the end of last season and keeping nine clean sheets in 19 games since - including five in eight this campaign.

As reported by 90min, Slonina is attracting intense interest from English Premier League and Spanish clubs, while he's also set to receive a call-up from the senior Poland national team, leaving him with a choice between them and the United States.

That's a lot for a teenager to take in and on Saturday, Slonina finally showed he was human with a sub-par performance during the Fire's 3-0 defeat to Minnesota United.

Slonina was by no means top of the Fire's list of problems, but he was more erratic coming for crosses than usual and was unable to stop the Loons' second-half onslaught. Head coach Ezra Hendrickson conceded it was a day to forget for the youngster while being mindful to stress his tender age.

"Well, I think his last game in Minnesota, if we're being honest, probably wasn't his best game. But we can't forget that he's still 17 years old," he said. "I think after that first shot, that first free kick that kind of went off the crossbar, it kind of rattled him a little bit, and it took him a while to get back in the flow of things."

Hendrickson added: "We like the way he's been performing. Like all players, we're going to have not-so-great games but I'm sure he'll be back on Saturday and bounce back and we'll get a victory."

When pressed on where Slonina could improve his game moving forward, Hendrickson highlighted the teenager's ability to come and claim crosses as an area for work - but he was keen to stress how talented Slonina is and that Fire goalkeeping coach Adin Brown is already hard at work improving his game.

"Like all keepers, like all players at every position, they all have different things that they've got to work on," said Hendrickson. "I'm not a goalkeeper coach so I can't really say specifically what it is he needs to improve on.

"If I have to guess at anything just by looking at maybe the last game, maybe some of the timing on the crosses. But again, that's something that Adin (Brown), our goalkeeper coach, will be dealing with or will be working with him.

"But the kid is a very good ’keeper and he's just going to continue to get better."

Up next for the Fire is a testing tie at home to the high-flying New York Red Bulls.