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| A little nod for all you Roger Miller fans. |
“…put all that together, and it seems like the main thing Cincinnati will need to do on Saturday is keep up.”
So close, and yet so far. Hurts a little, honestly, but the sting of FC Cincinnati’s 2-3 home loss to the New England Revolution beats the holy hell out of the unholy hell of what past seasons have felt like - e.g., feeling one blow after another from a fetal position. I hate to do this, but, this one sentence from the (admittedly choppy) game thread on this game (I was cooking over the first 50 minutes), feels relevant to the discussion:
“Does #FCCincy go for broke at this point? Can they go for broke? And isn’t it nice to say that?”
To tie those two thoughts together, Cincy largely did keep up and with a visibly talented (yet still wobbly) New England team. Sure, the Revs won, but I’d put money on Tommy McNamara missing that shot nine times out of ten and not getting it at all more often still. Cincinnati’s defense dropped too deep, no question, and maybe they had run their legs out, but the Revs game-winner - all three of their goals, really - weren’t unlike rolling three straight, clean sevens in craps (and the lazy shits at MLS HQ didn't do pull-out highlights for this one, so the full four-minute reel is the only point of reference). Only they made each goal happen and credit to them. As loud as their Achilles heel screams (de-fense, de-fense), New England still moves the ball as well as any team in the league, Wilfrid Kaptoum and McNamara did well enough that they didn’t miss Matt Polster, Brandon Bye played a ridiculously effective game, etc. etc. etc.
But push a fair chunk of the credit to FC Cincy in this game for coming back into it twice - and they climbed the psychological equivalent of a mountain to do it. The broadcast booth called Sebastian Lletget’s opening goal against the run of play, but I’d call that valuing possession over effective use of it; New England had the better of the game to that point and they pulled Cincy like well-simmered pork on the goal. Good as Lletget’s movement was on that, Brandon Vazquez matched it on Cincy’s first equalizer, drifting back-post then, crucially, taking a step back allowed the other players to drift across his run and gave him a wee run-up to the ball to boot.
Now, for a bit of an intermission: xG data reads like a book held upside-down sometimes, but MLS’s stats team (or whoever the fuck does it) got it right on this one. Despite the five goals scored, neither team racked up the chances and both did a solid job of containing the threats. And that meant the chances had to count. And, dang me, dang me, they oughta take a rope and hang me, did Adam Buska do that on New England’s second go-ahead. Stepping in front of Nick Hagglund and hooking that ball home with his heel gives a good measure for where both teams set the general degree of difficulty. And, again, Cincy’s Dominique Badji answered back with a super-strong run past DeJuan Jones - i.e., the same guy that ran 0.5 steps faster than Luciano Acosta to cut out a near-breakaway after the 80th minute, aka, the there-but-for-the-grace-of moment of the game - and cut the ball back to Alvaro Barreal, who was lurking to the right of the Revs’ penalty spot. Great set up, smart finish and the game was tied. Until it wasn’t. Dammit.
One quick note on Cincy’s second goal: I saw New England collapse defenders to pin Cincy’s attack to the side over and over - I’m talking four, sometimes five defenders in the space between the channel and the touchline. As well as that approach meets overloads, it leaves acres of space on the weakside. Barreal’s goal benefited from that and, were I scouting the Revs, I’d study them to see how often they do that - and build some processes around it. Moving on…
As much as I’d rather be praising the tie I feel Cincinnati earned - or, better, celebrating the win that was by no means implausible - I don’t have any real complaints about their performance or play yesterday. I figured keeping up would be the challenge and so it was. Close yet so far doesn’t feel great, but it’s better than being so far away from great that you can’t see it.
Now, to wrap up with some talking points…
1) Acosta v Gil
Both players can hold the ball in tight spaces for an impressive amount of time and both know how to wriggle out of space. I’d call Gil the better passer overall, but Acosta stands too tall for anyone to mistake him for a slouch. If you go by the old point system of two points for a goal, one point for an assist, Acosta holds on edge on points with 15 (five goals, five assists) to Gil’s 13 (three goals, seven assists). Given all that…do you think Acosta stepped onto the field with besting Gil in the back of his mind?
So close, and yet so far. Hurts a little, honestly, but the sting of FC Cincinnati’s 2-3 home loss to the New England Revolution beats the holy hell out of the unholy hell of what past seasons have felt like - e.g., feeling one blow after another from a fetal position. I hate to do this, but, this one sentence from the (admittedly choppy) game thread on this game (I was cooking over the first 50 minutes), feels relevant to the discussion:
“Does #FCCincy go for broke at this point? Can they go for broke? And isn’t it nice to say that?”
To tie those two thoughts together, Cincy largely did keep up and with a visibly talented (yet still wobbly) New England team. Sure, the Revs won, but I’d put money on Tommy McNamara missing that shot nine times out of ten and not getting it at all more often still. Cincinnati’s defense dropped too deep, no question, and maybe they had run their legs out, but the Revs game-winner - all three of their goals, really - weren’t unlike rolling three straight, clean sevens in craps (and the lazy shits at MLS HQ didn't do pull-out highlights for this one, so the full four-minute reel is the only point of reference). Only they made each goal happen and credit to them. As loud as their Achilles heel screams (de-fense, de-fense), New England still moves the ball as well as any team in the league, Wilfrid Kaptoum and McNamara did well enough that they didn’t miss Matt Polster, Brandon Bye played a ridiculously effective game, etc. etc. etc.
But push a fair chunk of the credit to FC Cincy in this game for coming back into it twice - and they climbed the psychological equivalent of a mountain to do it. The broadcast booth called Sebastian Lletget’s opening goal against the run of play, but I’d call that valuing possession over effective use of it; New England had the better of the game to that point and they pulled Cincy like well-simmered pork on the goal. Good as Lletget’s movement was on that, Brandon Vazquez matched it on Cincy’s first equalizer, drifting back-post then, crucially, taking a step back allowed the other players to drift across his run and gave him a wee run-up to the ball to boot.
Now, for a bit of an intermission: xG data reads like a book held upside-down sometimes, but MLS’s stats team (or whoever the fuck does it) got it right on this one. Despite the five goals scored, neither team racked up the chances and both did a solid job of containing the threats. And that meant the chances had to count. And, dang me, dang me, they oughta take a rope and hang me, did Adam Buska do that on New England’s second go-ahead. Stepping in front of Nick Hagglund and hooking that ball home with his heel gives a good measure for where both teams set the general degree of difficulty. And, again, Cincy’s Dominique Badji answered back with a super-strong run past DeJuan Jones - i.e., the same guy that ran 0.5 steps faster than Luciano Acosta to cut out a near-breakaway after the 80th minute, aka, the there-but-for-the-grace-of moment of the game - and cut the ball back to Alvaro Barreal, who was lurking to the right of the Revs’ penalty spot. Great set up, smart finish and the game was tied. Until it wasn’t. Dammit.
One quick note on Cincy’s second goal: I saw New England collapse defenders to pin Cincy’s attack to the side over and over - I’m talking four, sometimes five defenders in the space between the channel and the touchline. As well as that approach meets overloads, it leaves acres of space on the weakside. Barreal’s goal benefited from that and, were I scouting the Revs, I’d study them to see how often they do that - and build some processes around it. Moving on…
As much as I’d rather be praising the tie I feel Cincinnati earned - or, better, celebrating the win that was by no means implausible - I don’t have any real complaints about their performance or play yesterday. I figured keeping up would be the challenge and so it was. Close yet so far doesn’t feel great, but it’s better than being so far away from great that you can’t see it.
Now, to wrap up with some talking points…
1) Acosta v Gil
Both players can hold the ball in tight spaces for an impressive amount of time and both know how to wriggle out of space. I’d call Gil the better passer overall, but Acosta stands too tall for anyone to mistake him for a slouch. If you go by the old point system of two points for a goal, one point for an assist, Acosta holds on edge on points with 15 (five goals, five assists) to Gil’s 13 (three goals, seven assists). Given all that…do you think Acosta stepped onto the field with besting Gil in the back of his mind?
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| Serious shit. And less gaudy. |
2) Nwobodo
Whatever Cincinnati did to improve its scouting system (or maybe it was just a matter of clearing away some clutter), they find a rock of a gold nugget with Obinna Nwobodo. If the man does anything wrong at his position, I haven’t seen much of it yet - and he must have put out 20 fires over the first 15 minutes all by his lonesome. Whether he’s breaking up plays, serving as a highly-reliable, very mobile outlet, or just keep the ball moving, Cincy might have stumbled onto one of the league’s best d-mids.
3) A Little Love for His Other Half
Junior Moreno might push it a bit on the fouling side, but I also see him as the quiet calm to Nwobodo’s more eye-catching play. His positioning is reliably good and his reading of the game adds value to that. If he and Nwobodo can keep this up, Cincinnati will have taken two steps in the right direction in one off-season. You don’t see that a lot, so…bravo Chris Albright, et. al.
4) The Improved Defense
I’m tempted to say Nick Hagglund has improved since the start of the season - sure, Buksa rolled him on the goal, but also, Buksa - but I’m moving toward faith on him, something I never fully expected to do. Ian Murphy has been solid, especially for a rookie, plus he’s just 22 and, if I can trust early returns, he’s a player Cincy can build on/around for seasons to come (unless he gets good enough for greener pastures to come calling). I’m not 100% sure where Tyler Blackett fits into the depth chart, but I still rate him and, even with him on the verge of aging out, Geoff Cameron makes for one hell of a back-stop. So, yeah, that’s me feeling pretty bull-ish about the central defense…
…but how much of that follows from a much-improved midfield?
That’s it for this one. The next game - away to Club du Foot Montreal - looks like another stroll through Hell…and things don’t cool off enormously after that, but, the dragons look smaller on the backside of the schedule and I’ll be damned if I’m not daydreaming about how far this team can go. Till the next one…
Whatever Cincinnati did to improve its scouting system (or maybe it was just a matter of clearing away some clutter), they find a rock of a gold nugget with Obinna Nwobodo. If the man does anything wrong at his position, I haven’t seen much of it yet - and he must have put out 20 fires over the first 15 minutes all by his lonesome. Whether he’s breaking up plays, serving as a highly-reliable, very mobile outlet, or just keep the ball moving, Cincy might have stumbled onto one of the league’s best d-mids.
3) A Little Love for His Other Half
Junior Moreno might push it a bit on the fouling side, but I also see him as the quiet calm to Nwobodo’s more eye-catching play. His positioning is reliably good and his reading of the game adds value to that. If he and Nwobodo can keep this up, Cincinnati will have taken two steps in the right direction in one off-season. You don’t see that a lot, so…bravo Chris Albright, et. al.
4) The Improved Defense
I’m tempted to say Nick Hagglund has improved since the start of the season - sure, Buksa rolled him on the goal, but also, Buksa - but I’m moving toward faith on him, something I never fully expected to do. Ian Murphy has been solid, especially for a rookie, plus he’s just 22 and, if I can trust early returns, he’s a player Cincy can build on/around for seasons to come (unless he gets good enough for greener pastures to come calling). I’m not 100% sure where Tyler Blackett fits into the depth chart, but I still rate him and, even with him on the verge of aging out, Geoff Cameron makes for one hell of a back-stop. So, yeah, that’s me feeling pretty bull-ish about the central defense…
…but how much of that follows from a much-improved midfield?
That’s it for this one. The next game - away to Club du Foot Montreal - looks like another stroll through Hell…and things don’t cool off enormously after that, but, the dragons look smaller on the backside of the schedule and I’ll be damned if I’m not daydreaming about how far this team can go. Till the next one…
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