FC Cincinnati return to TQL Stadium on Wednesday night for the first time in over a month, riding the confidence and positive vibes they have been missing for several weeks after a quality win and performance over the weekend.
The midweek match sees The Orange and Blue host the New England Revolution, which kicks off a three-match homestand over the next ten days, but the focus remains on the game in front of them and winning at home.
The matchup against the Revs gets underway on Apple TV at 7:30 p.m. Ahead of that, let’s look at a few key factors The Orange and Blue will need to win this Saturday night battle.
Build on the momentum at home
FC Cincinnati got a big three points over the weekend, snapping a six-game winless streak and building much-needed confidence in the process. With seven games left in the regular season and sitting in the ninth spot in the Eastern Conference, FC Cincinnati has needed better performances, but what they’ve really been looking for is wins, however they come.
On Saturday,, they got both a strong performance and a win, so heading into this week's midweek tilt with New England, the team can build on that momentum.
“It was nice to win a game. It had been too long and at this stage what we've talked about is, yeah, we want the performances to be better and hopefully that leads to a good result, but we have to win games,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Monday ahead of the midweek match. “There's always stuff that you can look at and say, 'this is a positive that we can take moving forward'. Wins help with confidence, with momentum, so that's a positive from this one game.”
“But it's a quick turnaround, and we have a tough New England team that's coming off of a couple poor results that is going to be motivated to right the ship,” Noonan added. “They've been strong all year and so can we carry some momentum into this game and perform at home, so, that's something I would say that I hope we take away from it and help us move forward.”
An added benefit FCC can take advantage of this week is returning to TQL Stadium, with Wednesday's match kicking off three straight home games. With these next three games in front of the FC Cincinnati faithful, the team can build even more momentum in this stretch and use and reward their home crowd as a push to success.
“It's exciting because it has been a while and we have a three-game homestand here now with that D.C. game that got moved. So, it's an important stretch and we have a clear objective of performing at home and picking up points in this stretch and it's going to be a difficult starting point against New England,” Noonan said of the week ahead. “So, that's the focus, but it's nice to be in front of these fans again as the temperatures start to drop a little bit. I think I saw game day was probably the coolest on Saturday, where it's now, you start to see these temperatures for game day be not so drastic, not so warm. So it will be, I think, favorable for the fans as well to fill the building and bring the energy like they always do. So, now it's our job to go and perform.”
A well-rounded side with a star
New England is a strange side that, purely on the stats, doesn’t particularly leap off the page in any one category. Yet with 14 wins and 46 points, they’re fourth in the Eastern Conference and firmly in the MLS Cup Playoff picture. The Revs' strength comes from the completeness of their game rather than any one specific element.
That means to beat New England, FC Cincinnati will need to be equally well-rounded to match their quality.
“Sometimes you have certain aspects of a team that separate them from everybody else. That they do very, very well, and some teams that are towards the top all year, it's because they do a lot of things consistently well, and New England's been one of those teams for me,” FCC Head Coach Pat Noonan said of his opponent this weekend. “They defend in a good way, attack in a good way. They can score with set pieces. They can score with individual talent.”
The individual talent element, though, is one place where New England stands out, as the Revs boast former MLS MVP and Best XI attacking midfielder Carles Gil. In 28 appearances this season (all starts), the Spanish attacker has scored 12 goals and added nine assists, putting him just five contributions off his career best total of 26 with several games left to play.
“For me, one of the best players in this league for the last decade, and ever with Carles Gil. I have so much respect for his play, his leadership. He's been outstanding and so he kind of dictates a lot of the success of their group as far as the flow of the game and that's something that we need to be prepared for and try to limit,” Noonan said of the midfield star. “But yes, it's a strong group. Good physical presence on the back line, on the flanks. I think good technical players, again, I could go through a lot of different things. This is why they're in the position they are.”
Newcomers in the quick turnaround
A key part of this game that will come into consideration for FC Cincinnati is not only that this match comes in the midweek, but that, with effectively two matches every week through the end of the year, player selection needs to factor in for each game, both with fatigue and with recovery time available.
Head Coach Pat Noonan also said Monday that while all three of FC Cincinnati’s newest players, Julián Malatini, David Douděra and Tyrell Malacia, all arriving needing to work on their fitness and not having a propensity of games to fall back on, fitness is still something they are working on.
So how FC Cincinnati chooses to approach this game can have knock-on effects on all future games as well.
“How do you manage it knowing that it's going to be game after game after game? We have an idea, but we also just need to go and win games,” Noonan explained on Monday as to how they’re approaching the newcomers. “So we'll try to think of what the best starting point is for our group and how that involves them. But a lot of it's going to be around conversation with them. They're all pretty mature. I think they know their bodies and where they're at, so they can help guide us to how they're feeling so we don't position them to do more than they're capable of, but I think they also recognize the moment and want to help. So, they're probably going to do everything they can to turn it around and be available. So, we'll see how we get through this 24-hour stretch but I would say all of them are in contention to start the game, which is a positive.”
Regardless of who is selected for the starting group on Wednesday, the expectation is clear: FC Cincinnati needs wins, and whoever is called upon to do it needs to rise to that level.
FC Cincinnati kicks off with New England at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at TQL Stadium. For more information on how to watch, or for matchday information at TQL Stadium all season, click here.
