For the fourth time in as many years, FC Cincinnati has clinched a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Their 2-1 victory over Nashville SC sealed the deal, but the work done over the course of a long MLS season put The Orange and Blue in a position where they could be one of the first teams in the league, and the second team in the Eastern Conference, to secure their spot.

Under Pat Noonan, FC Cincinnati has made the playoffs every year, establishing a consistency that few have been able to duplicate. Only five teams, including FCC, have qualified for the playoffs every season since Noonan took over (FCC, LAFC, Orlando, New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake).

Part of achieving consistent success can be avoiding the temptation to celebrate small victories or achievements if your overall goals are contingent on those things happening. FC Cincinnati, for example, has its eyes on bigger prizes than simply qualifying for the playoffs – an accomplishment that once was a true watershed moment for the club – but that doesn’t make the accomplishment any less valid.

For much of the league, making the playoffs is a major check off the list of goals for 2025. So while in the last four years FC Cincinnati has made it routine, ignoring that achievement and what that means for the team is not something the club intends to do.

"I'm pleased about that. It's not easy to do. I think you see that historically, having a team make the playoffs year after year, it's challenging for different reasons,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said after the win Saturday that confirmed their spot. “I'm happy about the consistency, but it's also the expectation. This is where we want to be, this is where we expect to be, and it's nice to be knowing we're in the playoffs again and clinching that spot. Now it's a matter of how high the seed we are going to get."

Securing a spot was just the first step of the playoff picture coming together. There is still home-field advantage, top spot in the Eastern Conference, and the Supporters’ Shield up for grabs. To reach their goals, the work must continue.

“I wouldn't say we celebrate a little more,” goalkeeper Evan Louro said of how the team would enjoy the victory. “Obviously it's a big achievement, but – and I'm not the first person to say this – but this is an ambitious club. With what ownership spends and the big time players that we have, we expect these things.”

Motivation vs Confidence

Part of pushing forward and going for more is the mindset FC Cincinnati coaches preach and operate under.

Given what’s still up for grabs, motivation should be in no small supply. So, clinching a playoff spot should not add any additional motivation. But there is something to take away from the accomplishment, and after the victory Saturday night, Head Coach Pat Noonan helped spell out the difference and clarify his expectations.

"We shouldn't need any motivation at this point. Everybody understands what we're trying to accomplish, and if you need motivation to go play and perform, that's concerning,” Noonan said. “So I don't think these guys need any more motivation. Hopefully it's just a little bit more confidence after a good result."

“We continued to play, we continued to create,” Noonan continued. “We had multiple chances and that's what I like to see out of these guys, to continue believing that they're going to get the next goal and they're going to get the result. That was encouraging."

Building confidence and quality is what FC Cincinnati can take away from its success. With a marathon of a season quickly turning into a sprint, confidence can be a key ingredient for a team with the quality FC Cincinnati believes it has.

“Four games left, everything can happen. I think the focus has been so much better and our play much for this game. We had to get this win at home, we needed it,” FC Cincinnati midfielder and late-game goalscoring hero Evander said Saturday. “You want to keep pushing for the last four games and to get four wins. We're going to be working to focus on winning and focus on ourselves.”

Building Connections

One of the biggest successes from the victory over the weekend was the team's ability to translate the work done over the international break into the match. With two weeks between games, thanks to the international break, FC Cincinnati was able to take to the training pitch and, more specifically, target self-improvement rather than preparations for an opponent.

And while there were some absences from the squad due to international duty (you can read more on that here), for the most part, the squad was able to get together and find places to improve.

“We've worked on a lot of repetition and ideas to attack the goal, and we've done plenty of it previously when we were finding goals, but we just put a bigger emphasis on it and tried to have these guys in training experience scoring more goals,” Noonan said Saturday as to how they were able to work on things during the break. “Because sometimes it's just about the structure of how you remind them that they're not far off in scoring goals…the hope is that it translates to the game.

“I think there was enough from the performance tonight that showed that they took some of those training ideas and attacked in an aggressive way.”

FC Cincinnati was on the front foot for most of the game, but was particularly so in the final 10 to 15 minutes of the match, a period of time where they have either struggled to do so or haven’t been in a position to be able to do so this year. So to be able to show improvement, particularly in the attack, was a positive takeaway.

Part of that time to focus on themselves was the ability to integrate new players into the group. Brenner, Ayoub Jabbari, Dominic Marczuk and Samuel Gidi, who all played prominent roles in the win, had another two weeks of focused training to build with their teammates and their teammates with them.

For Noonan, part of the success his squad experienced was due to greater patience in the attack. Patience, in so much as not rushing a bad ball into a spot or getting frustrated when something doesn’t work. FCC was able to create better chances by being patient in their play and allowing things to come naturally.

That was evident by Brenner and Evander’s play together. During the break, the two were able to work together at a deeper level and learn some of the subtle nuances of each other's game. That connection, while perhaps a small part of success, can be the difference, and Evander believes that the goal Brenner scored was an example of how that plays out.

“I think it's just the connection, how he likes to play, how he likes to receive the ball. How are you going to understand the job on the pitch and at the end of the day, just pass the ball to him,” Evander said postgame with Brenner watching on. The two decided to do their postgame media together, and while perhaps unintentional, only showing more of their connection.

“He makes my job easy,” Evander continued with a laugh. “You can see the on goal that he scores. It's a hard pass coming from me, and he takes a perfect touch of the ball to land in front of him, and he scored for his first goal. So it's quality. Some players are like that. So the understanding is just coming natural.”

Evander’s connection with his new Brazilian teammate is an example of a developing connection that can be extrapolated even further. He feels that it’s developing with his other teammates as well.

For example, Kévin Denkey was away with the Togolese national team during the break, but he too factors into the relationships in the attack. Denkey, while not given the time to mesh like the other two, factored into the goal in a quieter way as the forward made a run across the box that drew the attention of three defenders away from Brenner and opened up the space for him to score. So while on the score sheet it was just two players to register goal contributions, it was the three of them working in sync that gave them the lead.

“The two weeks we had, it was good to understand each other better, especially with the new guys coming and understanding the way we play and also organizing the team,” Evander continued. “We had lost the last three games playing at home, which hurts even more. So we knew where we're coming today. I think we had better organization, better chemistry, and we had to win.”