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| Victor Mature, in a less than mature moment... |
I can’t tell you how much hearing the broadcast booth dip into the cliche about tonight’s game being “kind of like a playoff game” got under my skin...
...and yet the sons o’ bitches got it more right than wrong. The game labored under the pacing of a slow-burn drama, but FC Cincinnati’s 1-0 home win over the (once) red-hot Seattle Sounders (I’ve earned that; Portland Timbers fan) came to life shortly after Seattle decided to take chances. To that point, yep, both teams really did play it in the risk-averse fashion of a playoff game – something I find utterly bizarre given how little any given game counts in the MLS regular season. I get playing for the win, but I also get swinging for the fences when points matter as little as they do right now, aka, buckle up for 20 weeks’ worth of loose claims about this result or that one “proving [YOUR TEAM] really belongs this season.” Yessir, “statement win” articles are already dropping.
As noted/argued in my game thread on this one, a watchable soccer game relies on one team sincerely believing it’s the better on as a starting premise. If Seattle felt that tonight, they didn’t show it, at least not at the beginning. To harp on a theme I expect I’ll be playing all season long, Seattle pumped up their aura with two season-opening wins, but...had you described the setting and opposition of each – i.e., the Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake, both in Seattle – I doubt you’d have to make a long case for them getting all six points. As implied at the top of the game thread, I saw Cincinnati away as Seattle’s first real challenge of 2023.
Before going any further, I want to make one thing clear: I will not be indulging in any “your team really belongs” narratives until sometime after the 20th week in the season. Going the other way, Cincy put together an impressive evening, maybe even a complete one. Call it a mature performance, the kind of wily veteran shit you see in a team that feels a breeze at its back. That’s not always entertaining to watch – won’t lie, I was bored for fair stretches of this one – but a well-managed game provides comforts and satisfactions of its own.
...and yet the sons o’ bitches got it more right than wrong. The game labored under the pacing of a slow-burn drama, but FC Cincinnati’s 1-0 home win over the (once) red-hot Seattle Sounders (I’ve earned that; Portland Timbers fan) came to life shortly after Seattle decided to take chances. To that point, yep, both teams really did play it in the risk-averse fashion of a playoff game – something I find utterly bizarre given how little any given game counts in the MLS regular season. I get playing for the win, but I also get swinging for the fences when points matter as little as they do right now, aka, buckle up for 20 weeks’ worth of loose claims about this result or that one “proving [YOUR TEAM] really belongs this season.” Yessir, “statement win” articles are already dropping.
As noted/argued in my game thread on this one, a watchable soccer game relies on one team sincerely believing it’s the better on as a starting premise. If Seattle felt that tonight, they didn’t show it, at least not at the beginning. To harp on a theme I expect I’ll be playing all season long, Seattle pumped up their aura with two season-opening wins, but...had you described the setting and opposition of each – i.e., the Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake, both in Seattle – I doubt you’d have to make a long case for them getting all six points. As implied at the top of the game thread, I saw Cincinnati away as Seattle’s first real challenge of 2023.
Before going any further, I want to make one thing clear: I will not be indulging in any “your team really belongs” narratives until sometime after the 20th week in the season. Going the other way, Cincy put together an impressive evening, maybe even a complete one. Call it a mature performance, the kind of wily veteran shit you see in a team that feels a breeze at its back. That’s not always entertaining to watch – won’t lie, I was bored for fair stretches of this one – but a well-managed game provides comforts and satisfactions of its own.
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| You did your best, young Nick. |
Moreover, my personal feeling Cincinnati had the game entirely under control came in perhaps the least unexpected moment. After a night of putting, at most, a half dozen feet wrong, Nick Hagglund got either too cute or clumsy with a straightforward back-pass, giving Seattle’s Raul Ruidiaz an opportunity to pounce and, for Hagglund, a devil’s choice as to how hard to foul. Hagglund walked that damned line admirably – the ref checked the VAR monitor, after all – but he still saw red and, rules being rules, walked off early. And yet that was the unexpected moment: that red card didn’t phase me at all.
I, like you, saw how close the Sounders came to pulling level – i.e., Yeimar Gomez Andrade looked for all the world like he got the equalizer, at least until you back-tracked to see how he made the opening – and, sure, that would have sucked. They starved Seattle for opportunities – and Seattle absolutely returned the favor (as evidenced by the 0.6 v 0.7 xG) – and, when his moment arrived like an oasis in the desert, Brenner kicked his chance through a surprisingly tight window.
There’s no doubt about it: poised, well-drilled and more confident than they have any right to be in those ugly, ugly uniforms, Seattle’s a tough nut to crack. And it’s here that I give Cincinnati’s press its due. The Sounders don’t fluster easily in possession – anyone watching this game could see that – and their defensive rotations snap into place with mechanical regularity. And yet FC Cincy capped its better period of the game by kicking that sturdy setup off its hinges. There’s nothing to do except to say, take a bow, gents. You deserve it.
I don’t have much for detailed notes in this one – though I will say, Cincinnati looks like they landed something sturdy of their own in Yerson Mosquera. This took a true team effort, one of those games where every piece does its part to keep the machine moving. Good on ‘em for winning it, obviously, and solid start to 2023, but there’s still a lot of season left.
That’s it for the content, but also let’s talk content. I’ll be folding the FC Cincinnati match reviews into the MLS round-up posts going forward. They’ll still feature in virtually every one of them – I qualified that with “virtually” because, as already threatened, I may well take breaks for both them and the Timbers later this season should the spirit move me – but it’d be nice to write just two soccer posts every week instead of three.
Till the next one....
I, like you, saw how close the Sounders came to pulling level – i.e., Yeimar Gomez Andrade looked for all the world like he got the equalizer, at least until you back-tracked to see how he made the opening – and, sure, that would have sucked. They starved Seattle for opportunities – and Seattle absolutely returned the favor (as evidenced by the 0.6 v 0.7 xG) – and, when his moment arrived like an oasis in the desert, Brenner kicked his chance through a surprisingly tight window.
There’s no doubt about it: poised, well-drilled and more confident than they have any right to be in those ugly, ugly uniforms, Seattle’s a tough nut to crack. And it’s here that I give Cincinnati’s press its due. The Sounders don’t fluster easily in possession – anyone watching this game could see that – and their defensive rotations snap into place with mechanical regularity. And yet FC Cincy capped its better period of the game by kicking that sturdy setup off its hinges. There’s nothing to do except to say, take a bow, gents. You deserve it.
I don’t have much for detailed notes in this one – though I will say, Cincinnati looks like they landed something sturdy of their own in Yerson Mosquera. This took a true team effort, one of those games where every piece does its part to keep the machine moving. Good on ‘em for winning it, obviously, and solid start to 2023, but there’s still a lot of season left.
That’s it for the content, but also let’s talk content. I’ll be folding the FC Cincinnati match reviews into the MLS round-up posts going forward. They’ll still feature in virtually every one of them – I qualified that with “virtually” because, as already threatened, I may well take breaks for both them and the Timbers later this season should the spirit move me – but it’d be nice to write just two soccer posts every week instead of three.
Till the next one....
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