The offseason ends Sunday.
After a busy three-month stretch that included the Major League Soccer Expansion Draft, SuperDraft and several player signings, FC Cincinnati’s 2019 preseason begins Monday morning. Then, players report and go through preseason physicals. Practice starts Tuesday.
As FCC transitioned from a United Soccer League side to an MLS expansion team, the action occurred in boardrooms and on draft floors. Soon, it returns to the field.
“I can’t wait to get on the field,” Head Coach Alan Koch said. “That’s what we’re most excited about.”
The soccer club is back playing soccer.
And while the offseason and preseason might look differently than previous years, what follows next is simple: FC Cincinnati has six weeks before its MLS debut. Between Monday and March 2 at Seattle Sounders FC, Koch and his staff will begin fitness training, friendly matches and even name-learning exercises.
“Last year we actually started earlier, but because we were able to,” Koch said. “USL doesn’t mandate when you start, so we actually added a couple weeks onto our preseason plans last year just because we had so many new players.
“This year, because we’re mandated when we can start, I would’ve liked to have started a little bit earlier with such a new group, but we’re now where we’re just going to have to cram an extra amount of work into a short amount of time.”
Koch said next week’s practices could be indoors depending on weather forecasts. But beginning next Saturday, FC Cincinnati takes its first out-of-state trip. Here’s a guide to what the club’s first MLS preseason will entail:
FC Cincinnati’s 2019 Preseason Schedule
Jan. 26 through Feb. 9: Bradenton, Fla.
- Saturday, Jan. 26 – Depart for IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.
- Wednesday, Jan. 30 – 7 p.m. vs. Montreal Impact (IMG Academy)
- Saturday, Feb. 2 – 10:30 a.m. vs. Colorado Rapids (IMG Academy)
- Thursday, Feb. 7 – 7 p.m. vs. TBA (IMG Academy)
- Saturday, Feb. 9 – Return to Cincinnati
Tuesday, Feb. 12 – at Indy Eleven (Westfield, Ind.)
Feb. 14 through Feb. 24: Charleston, S.C.
- Thursday, Feb. 14 – Depart for Charleston, S.C.
- Saturday, Feb. 16 – 7:30 p.m. vs. Charleston Battery (MUSC Stadium)
- Wednesday, Feb. 20 – 7:30 p.m. vs. Chicago Fire (MUSC Stadium)
- Saturday, Feb. 23 – 5 p.m. vs. Columbus Crew SC (MUSC Stadium)
- Sunday, Feb. 24 – Return to Cincinnati
The Florida portion of preseason marks the fourth-consecutive time FCC has trained at IMG Academy before kicking off a season.
“We get to play three good exercises in terms of assessing all our players,” Koch said. “We’d like to play all our players. That’s the plan at this time and during the course of those games.
After Bradenton, FC Cincinnati plays at Indy Eleven for a second-straight preseason before a first trip to South Carolina. The trips mean Cincinnati has seven preseason matches prior to the season-opener in Seattle.
“You only have a certain amount of time to squeeze the games into, so [the objective] is to just manage the workload of the players. We can’t throw any more games into the amount of time we have.
“Maybe we’ll get an extra game in at some stage for what may materialize to look like the guys that aren’t in the starting 11. So, we may add that at some stage, but right now because the amount of time we actually have, we’re maximizing it by squeezing as many games as we can into that window.”
But that’s for the future. As for next week, fitness will entail players working with the ball to regain their touch and prepare for the upcoming friendlies and preseason.
“I think the players know this about me, fitness won’t be done without the ball,” the third-year coach said. “We train with the ball in our preparations to make sure our players are comfortable with each other, get to know each other’s names. That’s at a very, very primal level, but also to understand the system of play and make sure we’re ready to go for the first game.”
