FC Cincinnati closed the first ‘half’ of the MLS season in style; they now head into the first-ever summer break with positive feelings and excitement for the fanbase to take into the two months without MLS action.
While not yet technically at the midway point of the season, with only 15 of 34 MLS matches played, this eight-week break from match play to accommodate the 2026 FIFA World Cup provides an incredibly unique opportunity at this point in the season.
A chance to step back, reevaluate, and start fresh.
When The Orange and Blue return to action next, it will be for a preseason-like restart. FCC play their next MLS match on July 22, when the Vancouver Whitecaps come to TQL Stadium, but FCC players will return around June 22 to begin training again. Much like preseason in January, this will be another opportunity to work on things for an extended period of time.
So what happens next then between now and then? Well, that’s not exactly clear. But there are some indications of the thinking that the brain trust at FC Cincinnati have in mind.
For the current roster, there are approximately four schedules in mind for players.
“Guys are at different points in games played, in development, in what they need going into the break. Some guys need a rest to freshen up, some guys need to continue playing,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan explained prior to the team breaking for the summer. “It's individual discussions…so there's a plan for all of our guys.”
The four groups Noonan described are fairly identifiable, but even within those groups there’s some nuance. There’s the high-minute contributors who can use this break to rest and recover before another preseason. There are young players who need minutes, who Noonan said would get a short break before returning to action earlier with FC Cincinnati 2 for game reps. There are players like Ender Echenique with Venezuela, Andrei Chrila with US Youth National Team and now Pavel Bucha with the Czech Republic, who are getting called into non-national team camps. Then there’s Miles Robinson, who will be with the United States at the World Cup for as long as their run lasts.
Inside each group there are specifics to work out, but those specifics are being handled, rest assured.
But if you’re interested in seeing some FCC first-team talent who, as Noonan puts it, are best served in their development by playing through the summer with FCC 2, they play twice this June at Scudamore Field at NKU Soccer Stadium before the first team resumes training activities.
So that covers the individual players. But where does the club more holistically look towards this summer?
“Attacking wise we're in a good place. Defensively, we need to improve a lot if we want to be a team that's contending,” Noonan said of where his team needs to improve this summer. “I think that's pretty clear, we're conceding too many chances, too many goals. What I think the first stretch of the season going into the break has provided us is a chance to now analyze and look at a lot of things with the games, with the data, with all of it to post-break when we go into the second preseason if you will understand what we need to work on, what the focus needs to be, and come out of it to have a better second half of the season and compete for trophies.”
With 36 goals scored, FC Cincinnati is second in offense in Major League Soccer through 15 matches, so the offense has clearly been there and shows no signs of letting up. The defense, while historically a strong point in FCC’s toolbelt of success, just hasn’t been there, allowing the second most goals in MLS as well.
One place Noonan addressed as a key cause of some of the FCC’s defensive woes has been the health of the squad. The defense has been plagued by injuries thus far, leading to a constant shuffle of players and availability. The summer break and the rest it offers may help get that part of the roster a little healthier…or address what may be the central causes of those injuries.
“Health is important. We haven't been afforded consistency in that. Some of it is unfortunate, some of it we have to look at and say, anytime you have muscle issues, if there are trends to that, then it's things that we can control in a better way,” Noonan said prior to the Orlando match. “We need to be healthy, and especially along the backline, that's been the biggest challenge is keeping guys healthy.
“Sure, we have more experience, we have some of the higher ages along our backline, but we need to be healthy and that factors into the defending side of things, and performing better and conceding less. But like I’ve said, all of these things have helped inform us how we need to go about the break.”
But with a 5-5-5 record, FCC have managed to reach the break with a respectable table position, all the same. It’s not where they want to be, but it certainly hasn’t ruled them out of end-of-year success and shows the levels this team can reach should they improve.
“From a standings perspective, we're certainly behind where our expectations are. But when we look at sort of what we talked about as a refresh and being a little bit more intentional and creating goals, creating expected goals, which obviously eventually leads to the goals, and leveraging our attacking pieces. I think we feel like we're in a pretty good position,” FC Cincinnati General Manager Chris Albright told the media at an April check-in earlier this year.
“We'll have a lot of flexibility in the summer to improve the roster,” Albright added. “We've, and credit to our group and our player sales, been able to stockpile a good amount of GAM (general allocation money) which is important in our league to be able to have flexibility. So when it comes time this summer, we'll evaluate and make the necessary improvements.”
This is where the biggest change could come this summer for FC Cincinnati: a roster augmentation. Sure, improvements can come from inside the locker room (as they say), but like every summer window, there will always be tinkering when the appropriate time comes. Where those come, who’s to say, but the clear indication from leaders is that, like always, FC Cincinnati will be looking for ways to improve the team, and this summer break offers a unique stoppage to both focus on that mission. Then, when the time comes, and new players arrive, there may be extra time beyond usual to get them ingrained in the squad and comfortable.
“I think we have a good idea of pieces that we potentially need to bring in,” Noonan explained at his final prematch press conference prior to the break. “Maybe players that have performed, underperformed, and take all of that into account to make the best decisions possible whether it's personnel or just our play to have a good start to the post-break."
“We're gonna make improvements,” Albright said at that April media check-in. “Could this team, currently, right now, win a championship? Absolutely. But do we ever sit and go, ‘this team's good enough to do so and rest?’ I think our transfer window in the summer last year answers that question. We're always going to try to improve it to the best of our ability, and so there'll be improvements coming.”
So what comes next for FC Cincinnati this summer? In short, ‘preseason training’ kicks off about a month before the return to MLS action on July 22. Some FCC players will be featuring with their national teams, and others with FC Cincinnati 2 between now and then. All the while, Chris Albright, Pat Noonan and the entire braintrust of club leaders will be looking for ways to position an already talented FC Cincinnati team for success when they come out of the break.
Until then, sit back, relax, and enjoy the World Cup. Club leaders will be working while you do so.