Preseason game two for FC Cincinnati from Clearwater, Florida, ended much the same way game one did. The teams and situations were different, but from a 50,000-foot view, they kind of end up looking the same. With a 1-0 lead in the late parts of the game, the 88th minute in this specific case, FCC’s opponent equalized with a bit of a quirky goal that ultimately led to a 1-1 final.
But games in preseason aren’t meant for the 50,000-foot view; they are meant for the granular. The specific. They are meant for Head Coaches like Pat Noonan to install new ideas, reinforce others and experiment in what is ultimately a risk-free environment. So, Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Houston Dynamo FC, as it pertains to any similarities in previous results, is mostly unimportant so long as the team feels they got what they wanted out of the game.
Pat Noonan says he felt there was progress and improvement compared to game one, and that’s not the only thing going on, either. Experimentation was also well underway at Al Lang Stadium.
“There was some progress, for sure,” Pat Noonan explained postgame on Wednesday after the 1-1 draw with Houston in St. Petersburg, Florida. “The first 15-20 minutes, I think we struggled to find some of those solutions, (but) then the last 20 minutes of the half was much better, and had us closer to their goal where there were some good actions, especially down (Ender Echenique’s) side to get him isolated and get some runs in the box.”
FC Cincinnati struggled to figure out the Houston Dynamo defense early in the match as the Texas side pressed FCC defenders “three for three” and with “straight matchups.” But as the half progressed, FCC grew into the game and asserted themselves. Kévin Denkey was ultimately the difference maker again, scoring for the second time this preseason and finishing off the first 45 minutes of the match before both sides swapped XI’s entirely for the final 45.
Noonan said he felt the team showed improved intensity and problem-solving on the fly to find solutions in the game. He said they found ways to relieve the pressure from Houston by using its midfielders more and using Roman Celentano in goal to buy some time. He praised the team's improved communication (though there is still work to be done) and ultimately said they were able to use different looks to progress further up the field and be on the attack more often.
All in all, it wasn’t a perfect day, but it was a solid day for progress and improvement.
“As always, in these preseason games, you see progress in ways where maybe you put a bigger emphasis on it, and then maybe you lose some progress in other areas. So it's trying to kind of pull it all together,” Noonan explained postgame. “But like I said, this was a better overall performance, putting the result aside, than what we had against New England.”
Training for FC Cincinnati this preseason has been stronger, according to the coaching staff and players. Roman Celentano, for example, pointed postgame to how what they’ve spent time on in training is starting to translate better to the games, and in ways that make the players “feel more connected” in how they play. But both Noonan and Celentano indicated that FCC have been implementing new principles to the group, and that part of the progress this preseason is seeing those ideas take root and the players improving on them.
“I think with the ball, how we advance up the field, whether it's through, whether it's around, whether it's over, there were improvements with how we got behind with our center backs, with time and space and locating the wing backs. So improvement there,” Noonan explained.
“We worked a lot on our high press, and then what it looked like when we needed to recover behind the ball, those were two different ideas, and so that was an improvement, as far as when we recovered the press,” Noonan continued. “(I'd) still like to see us be able to get into the final third more consistently and kind of lengthen that time with how we attack, with how we structure, what the structure looks like behind the ball to keep teams pinned in. So that's something we've been looking at as well. The first 20 minutes of the first half wasn't great. The last you 20, 25 minutes was better.”
New ideas are interesting, but that wasn’t the only place FCC was experimenting, according to Noonan on Wednesday. FCC deployed a slightly different lineup on Wednesday than the week before, notably swapping midfielders and some centerbacks while also putting players in different situations or pairings.
The midfield four of Obinna Nwobodo, Pavel Bucha, Samuel Gidi and Brian Anunga all swapped partners, with Gidi playing with Nwobodo for the half this week after playing with Anunga the week before. Centerback Gilberto Flores swapped sides of the field, and FC Cincinnati 2/FC Cincinnati Academy product Andrei Chirila, 17, joined the first XI. Kévin Denkey also had a new running mate up top as Tom Barlow joined the opening group. Still, it’s unclear how experimental that was, as Ayoub Jabbari did not appear as the club load managed his minutes due to a knock from earlier in the week.
These combinations are all for a reason and go far beyond idle experimentation. Pat Noonan says he’s weighing his options for the opening of the 2026 season.
“We're going to look at different partnerships, and whether it's the backline, the midfield, up front, this is the time to explore and look at different partnerships,” Noonan explained as to the changes. “We're just looking at all of these things, because we know at the beginning how things start, there's going to be a need for depth. So (it’s) a good chance to just look at different relationships.”
The four midfielders mentioned all have a certain continuity with FC Cincinnati, having all played for the club since at least the later stages of last season. But certain pairings were rarer than others last year — Obinna Nwobodo’s injury kept him out for an extended period of time, and Gidi’s arrival late made for fewer chances to play with Nwobodo, so this match gave them minutes together.
The backline was more unique.
“We know what Nick (Hagglund) looks like in that spot,” Noonan explained as to starting Flores on the right side for this friendly. “Gilberto's had moments, but we've also had him on the left at times. So we wanted to see him on the right of Miles (Robinson) and on his stronger foot more consistently, with how we could see some of those on-the-ball qualities when we were in the build.
“Then his relationship with Ender, I still think the communication can improve as far as how he dictates how we get pressure to the ball on our right flank. So, that was part of that challenge, just to hear more with somebody that can understand his first language.”
“With Andrei, he's had a really good start since he returned from the youth national team camp. Again, I want to see some of these different partnerships, just to see what Andrei looks like with Miles next to him and playing with Obi and Sami and Evander, and so he had a decent game.”
“That was good, but that was kind of the approach with some of these different faces then maybe you're accustomed to seeing."
FC Cincinnati opens the season with four games in 11 days, and likely another four games in the following 14 days, making for an opening month of eight games in 25 days, making for a game every three days. The standard The Orange and Blue hold themselves to is finding success in circumstances like those, no matter the laborious stress that such a schedule can take on the team. So answers must be found.
Who knows what other kind of experimentation is planned for or taking place, but Noonan’s explanation, or clarity, into how they are approaching these preseason games gives us a glimpse of things.
Wednesday at Al Lang Stadium against the Houston Dynamo was a good day for FC Cincinnati. They saw the improvement they were looking for; the performance was stronger, and some of their relationship-building/testing seemed to yield useful insights.
What comes next for FC Cincinnati is a short break from preseason action before a return and sprint to the regular season. FCC trained on Thursday, then take a couple of days' break before returning to the field and training all the way through to kickoff in the Concacaf Champions Cup on February 18 and the MLS season opener against Atlanta United FC on February 21.
Preseason continues, and there is plenty more work to be done, but at this mile-marker check-in, it seems like there was a positive report to share.