 |
| Y'all... |
That was ballsy last night, some Cool Hand Luke shit, the
kind of win that FC Cincinnati fans will remember for the rest of 2018, if not
beyond. I mumbled a slurry “holy shit” (and nearly fell off the household
typing stool) when Dekel Keinan powered home his headed equalizer, but Fanendo
Adi’s freight-train of a game-winning goal got a noise out of me that I usually
save for the bedroom (sweet, sweet release…aahhhhhhh!!!).
Thus came the 2-1 win over the visiting, visibly-engaged
Pittsburgh Riverhounds (for numbers and highlights, do visit the Match Center),
so continues an ever-lengthening unbeaten streak, and, forgive me I missed it
earlier, but did the “(x)” next to FC Cincinnati’s name in the standings appear only last night? They’ve booked their place in the United Soccer League’s
post-season regardless, and taking down a rival this immediate in every sense
of the word can’t help but bode well for the post-season.
Due to the timing of my getting into FC Cincinnati, I have
never seen them in defeat; as such, I have no sense of what that looks like.
Due to some perversity in my nature, some part of me wants to see it - maybe on
the theory that you can’t really know anyone or anything till you’ve seen
them/it fuck up - and last night sure looked like a strong candidate to make
that happen. To give just one example, I saw Cincy defender/giant Forrest Lasso
struggle like never before: I would have sent him off for his tackle in the 38th
minute (he got a yellow, but…hmm, maybe I want this team to lose more than I
thought (hey there, my subconscious mind!)), and I still don’t know the meaning
of his hand gestures after he committed a clear, clumsy foul in the penalty
area…
…there’s a fun thought: could FC Cincy even come back from two
goals down? And, holy crap, was that a terrible penalty kick by Kay Banjo (but,
lo, his name is unstoppable).
To state the broad contours of the game, Cincinnati looked
comfortable enough, but Pittsburgh looked the sharper team (and the numbers
bear that out). That held, at least, until Cincy started bringing on subs, starting
with Michael Lahoud coming on for Pa Konate - a player, by the way, whose
upside I still have yet to see. Jimmy McLaughlin (that name…sounds like an
angelic child waiting for a lung transplant) replaced Fatai Alashe, and Adi
came on for Danni Konig (who’d been…all right), and that’s probably the biggest
difference between my fan experience watching the Portland Timbers and my fan
experience watching FC Cincinnati: the idea/presence of game-changers on the bench. Just…count yourselves lucky, FC Cincy fans, and savor it for as long as
it lasts, because it won't.
Because I don’t have any great tactical insights to make
beyond that (for a short-list of reasons), I’ll close by flipping that thought
on its head. I don’t read FC Cincinnati press nearly as often as I should, but
did read one piece - maybe last week, maybe the week before - that called/celebrated
what the team has a “the plug-‘n’-play” system, e.g., the team can switch personnel without missing a beat. (Yay, I found the
post!) I think that theory has held, by and large, but last night’s challenged
that to some extent. And it’s one possible reason that should make Cincinnati
fans sit up and take notice - especially in light of what happens next season:
does that “plug-‘n’-play” system hold up against better teams, or will tougher
teams reveal a first team as the games and/or opposition gets tougher? Does a
subtle kind of hierarchy exist - and will that become apparent even as soon as the 2018 post-season?
That’s about 65% me spit-balling at this point. As noted
above, I didn’t have my tactical goggles on last night (or my tactical pants,
but the beer goggles fit perfectly), and the result could have turned on
something banal as FC Cincinnati’s tactical substitutions tilting the field toward
Pittsburgh’s goal - e.g., Lahoud plays higher up the field than Konate (sort
of), and “Li’l” Jimmy McLaughlin plays higher than Alashe. The converse to that
is that Adi gives the team a little more quality than Konig, and Lahoud a little
more quality than Konate - and, for what it’s worth, those aren’t hard
arguments to buy into, but it’s also possible to take them too far.
That’s most of what I have - or, rather, I have only a loose
thought or two left to offer. To start with the obvious one, I am itching to
see Emanuel Ledesma against MLS opposition and wish fervently for the
opportunity (please, please, PLEASE!). He's got a great shot on goal in the highlights, and he crossed the ball at some random point in a way that impressed me enough to note it...just that kid impresses me more every time I watch
FC Cincinnati play. On the same note, but in a different octave, Kenney Walker has
steadily grown on me, and that follows from a combination of intelligence and
bearing. Because I keep seeing him make good decisions and he seems like a
strong communicator out there, I wonder if he won’t come up as a
continuity/locker-room kind of presence when the FC Cincinnati steps up into
MLS.
At any rate, helluva game, helluva win. I know I’ll see FC
Cincy lose at some point, but I’m glad last night wasn’t the occasion. I wouldn’t
trade that win for much. Till next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment