FC Cincinnati came back to action after a long break, refreshed and recharged. They also came back with an added fire and commitment after taking a hard look in the mirror during that time.
After a four-match winless streak, with losses to Atlanta and D.C. United interspersed with draws to Columbus and Dallas, The Orange and Blue needed to take stock of where they were at and how they were doing.
"It was a disappointing, challenging week," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said after the 2-1 loss to D.C. United on May 31, the first home loss of 2025. "We will take this opportunity to reevaluate things.
The leadership core promised revisions; they said the break came at a good time, as it provided an opportunity to reset. And it seems in that time, they've done just that. With three wins on the road coming out of the break, and all three featuring multiple goal outputs with strong defensive stands, FCC has looked like a fresh, feisty, and ready team, not just to handle the second half of the season, but to attack it.
"Training has been a little bit different since then. After that week that we had that wasn't very good, Pat (Noonan) said there's gonna be some changes in the way we do things and there has been," DeAndre Yedlin shared Saturday after the victory in Orlando. "And it's not just on the players but on the staff as well. So training has been a little bit more intense, just a little bit more competition. And I think you can see it in the games that there's a bit more fight from us, and that starts in the work we put in."
In the three games played this June, FC Cincinnati has not only played with a sense of togetherness but also with a real fight. Team cohesion on both the offensive and defensive ends has looked, at times, as good as it has this season. Still, the physicality (or grit) the team has shown has also taken a step up.
And it was not as if FCC had looked soft or weak by any means earlier this season, but it has been a notable step up in terms of grit the team has shown; often rallying together in important moments and making life challenging for their opponents when the time calls for it.
That ramp-up in intensity can be attributed to the increased training mentality, but it's also a specific point of emphasis from the team's leaders. Over the break, DeAndre Yedlin, Matt Miazga, and others discussed as a group how the first half of the season had played out and what they could do to support the team's vision. One conclusion they came to is that while they feel united as a group in the locker room, perhaps they need to be doing more on the pitch to replicate that connectivity.
"We learned that we need to come together a bit more as a team. And if that means taking yellows, that means taking yellows," Yedlin explained after the Orlando City victory this weekend, a match where the competitive fire of both sides was clear and evident. "Obviously you have to be smart, but I think we just need to show that we're united, and that nobody's going to bully us. That's what that is."
"We were looking at ways where we can show and rely our leadership to help the team and one of those ways was understanding when the game was on top of us how to rile guys up, and when to slow things down when they were going to fast," Miazga explained earlier in the month after a 2-1 victory in New England, a win that started the winning streak at the beginning of June. "I think DeAndre did a great job and I kind of followed suit with him. Protecting players, getting into it, knowing when the moment was right to stand up for our guys…I know I can always rely on him."
Miazga Makes a Mark
Yedlin has been a rock-solid contributor to FC Cincinnati this season, stepping up on the pitch and off, but having Matt Miazga back in the lineup has been a significant addition not only to the talent on the field but also to the voices in the locker room. Adding the 2023 Defender of the Year back to the mix has added an important, steadying force that, according to Yedlin, may have been the exact missing piece from the squad.
"In that position, I think the most important thing is experience and he's one of the most experienced guys on this team. So for him to be able to command back there, especially when the other center back positions kind of rotate a lot… different guys have to fill in… to be able to have that anchor back there is incredibly important for us," DeAndre Yedlin said in praise of the now defacto FC Cincinnati captain.
Miazga has been, in his minutes this season, an immediate difference maker. The problem thus far has been keeping him on the field. Since returning to action after his season-ending injury in San Jose last year, and making his season debut in D.C. on April 12, Miazga had not yet gone a full 90 minutes.
But over these three games in June, Miazga cleared plenty of hurdles. Not only did he deliver his first 90-minute performance (New England), but he also went full 90's in all three matches, including the two games in four nights to close the month against CF Montréal and Orlando.
"The fact that he was able to do it now two times in three days is a great sign I think, not only for us, but for his confidence," Yedlin added on Miazga.
"For Matt [Miazga] to turn it around after two days, which he hasn't done, and perform the way he did, he's looking like himself again," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said after the 2-0 win over Orlando City SC. "He was making plays in the box, with very little left in the tank, that showed the level that he provides as far as reading the game and making plays that make a difference. So, very pleased..."
FC Cincinnati now have to continue their stretch of play, sticking to the hard work and commitment to togetherness and build upon it. It's too early to be looking at the table in terms of mapping out the race for trophies or even playoff spots with 14 games still left to go (and some teams having as many 18 games still on the calendar), but the season is coming to an end and with each passing match the importance of playing their best consistently continues to ramp up.
June could be the inflection point of a season that was already defined by success. A season where FCC entered the break in second place, but exited it as a group better than the sum of its parts.
"It's great for our confidence, we needed that for sure," Yedlin said of both June and the way FCC grew as a group over that time. "Getting back to our fundamentals, our identity, and I think we've done that. But the thing is, we can't just let it go now that we've won some games. We have to ramp it up."
The Orange and Blue can ramp things up this weekend, hosting Chicago Fire FC at TQL Stadium to kick off a five-match July that includes Hell is Real and two matches with Inter Miami.