FC Cincinnati renew one of the greatest rivalries in American soccer this weekend, making the 90-mile trek north up I-71 to take on the Columbus Crew in the 22nd playing of Hell Is Real, presented by TourismOhio. The Orange and Blue will be looking to build on some momentum they built earlier in the week when they defeated Vancouver Whitecaps at home, and make it a six-point restart to the MLS season!
Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m. ET on Apple TV from ScottsMiracle-Gro Stadium. Ahead of this game, let’s look at a few key stories to keep in mind as The Orange and Blue look to earn all three points on the road!
Familiar Opponent in an Unfamiliar Situation
The Columbus Crew is one of the most familiar opponents FC Cincinnati have, and the rivalry has just made all the names and faces even more known for both sides. But this year, the Crew come into this match with a lot of common names and faces no longer with the club. Whereas for FC Cincinnati, the vast majority of their roster has experience with this derby dating back to at the very least their last meeting in the MLS Cup Playoffs last season.
In addition to a new Head Coach in Laurent Courtois, the Crew have recently transferred out star DP Diego Rossi among a list of other notable departures.
That being said, there are still a lot of thematic similarities in how Columbus has played, and FCC say they feel confident in how they're approaching the game because of that.
“There's a lot of similarities. Laurent's very familiar with these players and the club,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said ahead of this match. “I know him from previously being around each other in L.A., and he's a very good guy and has his own ideas. But you can see his time working within the MLS NEXT Pro program, and with the first team, he has a carryover of ideas, his own little stamp on things. So yeah, I think he'll have them ready, and they'll be ready.
Courtois recently took over as Head Coach just before the FIFA World Cup break, serving as manager for the Crew’s last two games after previous coach Henrik Rydström was relieved of duty after just six months at the helm of the club.
“So that's a small sample size of his time as head coach, but I still think there's a lot of what we've seen in previous years that'll play out,” Noonan continued. “We can talk about the tactical approach as much as we want, but there's so much that goes into the savvy of how you play the game and managing it, and the emotions, and you know having the right sense of calm and confidence and competitiveness. So. yeah, it'll be a lot of similarities for me as far as the expectations going into it.”
The table doesn’t matter
An element of this rivalry that has helped bring the Hell is Real matchup to the forefront in recent years has not only been the geographic proximity, but the table stakes at the time for each match. In addition to four MLS Cup Playoff matchups, FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew have been two of the top teams in Major League Soccer for the last five seasons. Meaning, the quality of the match has been apparent beyond the emotional stakes.
This time around is a little different. FCC are rising in the Eastern Conference table in 5th place, but the Crew are outside the playoff picture in 11th place.
But the emotional stakes and intensity mean you throw out the records when these two teams meet.
“Positioning going into this game I don't think will ever matter with the expectations of both sides to have success,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said of the match. “So I think over the first half of the season, both teams would like to be in a better place, and have been in a better place. But that's the past, so we go into this game with you know our current situation, which is coming off of a good win against a very good team with plenty to still improve upon.”
“These games just mean much more,” FCC defender Matt Miazga added to that point. “There's intensity, there's passion, there's you know there's that extra energy from both teams, and obviously you feel it right away.”
Engaged
FC Cincinnati enter this game with momentum after a big win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday night at TQL Stadium. Still, as the season moves along, Pat Noonan is looking for continued improvement as the squad pursues its goals.
One theme that supersedes any tactical detail that Noonan addressed as a continued point of needed improvement before the Hell is Real matchup is the general level of ‘engagement’ in every match.
The word we've used for our whole team is engagement in the game and helping the team,” Noonan explained. “There are still too many moments where the engagement is not at the level that we need it to be more successful.”
When we're engaged, we do a lot of good things, specifically with the ball to create and score goals, and even when we're engaged and things go wrong, our preventative structure to deal with transitions is better,” Noonan continued. “But defensively, the engagement I think still stands out as something that has to improve because there are too many moments where the game is too easy for the opponent to play against us.”
FC Cincinnati kick off against the Columbus Crew at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field Saturday night, with the action getting underway at 7:15 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FS1 in addition to Apple TV.
