Earlier today, I saw a tweet celebrating the fact Red Bull New York crashed out of the playoffs. If I had to write a concurring opinion, I’d mourn how far they’ve fallen since the Thierry Henry/Tim Cahill/Sacha Kljestan/Dax McCarty days. Like watching 11 drunken men trying to climb a goddamn greased poll, I tell you.
I don’t have a headcount of how many neutral Major League Soccer fans wanted FC Cincinnati to come out of the...is it a play-in, or a conference quarterfinal (does it matter)? At any rate, on a day when Cincinnati managed the more controlled approaches to goal, while the Red Bulls flailed in some fortunate something from distance, Cincy left Red Bull Arena with the ticket to the next round of the 2022 MLS Playoffs. And there was much rejoicing (yaayyyyyy).
I haven’t written about FC Cincinnati since...shit, July, but I’ve dipped in here and there to stay current. Between the opposition and the plethora of draws they played in the second half of the season, I fully braced to see today’s game slump into penalties. Instead, and with the housekeeping crew at McMenamin’s Kalama Lodge impatiently tapping at the door, I had the good luck to see Brandon Vazquez’s game-winner and to miss the overstuffed stoppage time minutes tacked on to the end of the game. I doubt anyone quibbled with the final score (have I mentioned it was 2-1 to Cincy yet?), I only know I found it satisfying.
Because Pat Noonan has trotted out something like the same line-up for as far back as I’ve noticed, there’s not a lot to say about the roster beyond, I think he’s on to something. Not every part of the set-up clicked – e.g., the Red Bull Collective did a great job of keeping the ball away from Vazquez and Brenner for something like 86 minutes (Brenner’s point-blank header, saved by Carlos Coronel notwithstanding), but an in-form player needs only a chance and a (again) collective breakdown on Red Bull’s right side gave Vazquez the one clear look he needed.
In the preview to my post-mortem on the Portland Timbers’ 2022 season, I made a case for why Cincy made the playoffs when the Portland did not – and that’s exactly why seeing the Red Bulls score first shouldn’t have panicked either Cincinnati fans or players. I know they’ll get shut out again one of these days, but they haven’t made it easy for anyone they’ve played throughout 2022. Even when it failed to come off entirely, Luciano Acosta and Alvaro Barreal had put plenty of pressure on New York’s right for much of the game – to the point that it was hardly surprising that they picked up the penalty kick on the same side. The replay on the penalty call isn’t great, but the entire event tends to support a truism: keep defenders chasing long and often enough and it’s just a matter of time before they leave a leg in the wrong place. (And Acosta's finish was butter smooth.)
As for the Red Bulls, I’ve reached a point where I dread watching any game they play. A pressing system isn’t a sin in and of itself, but it takes elegant finishing moves to excuse all the ugly shit that comes before it. Because the Red Bull team doesn’t provide those nearly as often as their glory teams, they’ve become something like soccer anti-matter, i.e., a negative force that consumes good and natural things without replacing it with anything worthwhile.
That idea set the tone for the game as a whole. While I didn’t pay perfect attention to it (the feed cut out for about five minutes in the late 50s; then I had to pack real fast after Vazquez’s game-winner), and while I can’t accuse New York of doing nothing good on the field, the xG on the official stats page gives a numerical shorthand of the game I watched. It waited on FC Cincinnati finding a way to push past all the chaos, kicking and gamesmanship (so much rolling on the ground) to find space for a moment of clarity. In the end, that came in three quick steps: Obinna Nwobodo reading a lazy throw-in, Sergio Santos sprinting past...does it matter, and Vazquez stomping on the accelerator to slip past Aaron Long. That it was a tap-in when it came speaks to the gamble.
The next game will come for Cincy and it’ll have its own challenges – not to mention a Philadelphia Union team almost certain to have rewenge at the back of their minds – but I expect expectations to run a little header in this season that has consistently exceeded them. And I’ll take the dumbfounded, shit-eating grin on Vazquez’s face after he scored as the happy memory from this one.
Till the next one...and isn’t that a fun thing to say this season?
I don’t have a headcount of how many neutral Major League Soccer fans wanted FC Cincinnati to come out of the...is it a play-in, or a conference quarterfinal (does it matter)? At any rate, on a day when Cincinnati managed the more controlled approaches to goal, while the Red Bulls flailed in some fortunate something from distance, Cincy left Red Bull Arena with the ticket to the next round of the 2022 MLS Playoffs. And there was much rejoicing (yaayyyyyy).
I haven’t written about FC Cincinnati since...shit, July, but I’ve dipped in here and there to stay current. Between the opposition and the plethora of draws they played in the second half of the season, I fully braced to see today’s game slump into penalties. Instead, and with the housekeeping crew at McMenamin’s Kalama Lodge impatiently tapping at the door, I had the good luck to see Brandon Vazquez’s game-winner and to miss the overstuffed stoppage time minutes tacked on to the end of the game. I doubt anyone quibbled with the final score (have I mentioned it was 2-1 to Cincy yet?), I only know I found it satisfying.
Because Pat Noonan has trotted out something like the same line-up for as far back as I’ve noticed, there’s not a lot to say about the roster beyond, I think he’s on to something. Not every part of the set-up clicked – e.g., the Red Bull Collective did a great job of keeping the ball away from Vazquez and Brenner for something like 86 minutes (Brenner’s point-blank header, saved by Carlos Coronel notwithstanding), but an in-form player needs only a chance and a (again) collective breakdown on Red Bull’s right side gave Vazquez the one clear look he needed.
In the preview to my post-mortem on the Portland Timbers’ 2022 season, I made a case for why Cincy made the playoffs when the Portland did not – and that’s exactly why seeing the Red Bulls score first shouldn’t have panicked either Cincinnati fans or players. I know they’ll get shut out again one of these days, but they haven’t made it easy for anyone they’ve played throughout 2022. Even when it failed to come off entirely, Luciano Acosta and Alvaro Barreal had put plenty of pressure on New York’s right for much of the game – to the point that it was hardly surprising that they picked up the penalty kick on the same side. The replay on the penalty call isn’t great, but the entire event tends to support a truism: keep defenders chasing long and often enough and it’s just a matter of time before they leave a leg in the wrong place. (And Acosta's finish was butter smooth.)
As for the Red Bulls, I’ve reached a point where I dread watching any game they play. A pressing system isn’t a sin in and of itself, but it takes elegant finishing moves to excuse all the ugly shit that comes before it. Because the Red Bull team doesn’t provide those nearly as often as their glory teams, they’ve become something like soccer anti-matter, i.e., a negative force that consumes good and natural things without replacing it with anything worthwhile.
That idea set the tone for the game as a whole. While I didn’t pay perfect attention to it (the feed cut out for about five minutes in the late 50s; then I had to pack real fast after Vazquez’s game-winner), and while I can’t accuse New York of doing nothing good on the field, the xG on the official stats page gives a numerical shorthand of the game I watched. It waited on FC Cincinnati finding a way to push past all the chaos, kicking and gamesmanship (so much rolling on the ground) to find space for a moment of clarity. In the end, that came in three quick steps: Obinna Nwobodo reading a lazy throw-in, Sergio Santos sprinting past...does it matter, and Vazquez stomping on the accelerator to slip past Aaron Long. That it was a tap-in when it came speaks to the gamble.
The next game will come for Cincy and it’ll have its own challenges – not to mention a Philadelphia Union team almost certain to have rewenge at the back of their minds – but I expect expectations to run a little header in this season that has consistently exceeded them. And I’ll take the dumbfounded, shit-eating grin on Vazquez’s face after he scored as the happy memory from this one.
Till the next one...and isn’t that a fun thing to say this season?
While I can't work up a good hate-watch for the Red Bulls like I can with NYCFC and their insulting baseball stadium pitch, still FC Cincy had my good wishes going in and my happy grin post-match. Didn't see it, so depend on you for the play-by-play. Maybe they'll have a 2015-Timbers kind of run. Some team we follow needs to be experiencing purely football happiness.
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