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| You can move a lot without going anywhere... |
In last week’s Review/Preview, I called Orlando Ciy SC v FC Cincinnati a “Big Early Test.” The hosts failed the test harder than the visitors in yesterday’s 0-0 loss, but Cincinnati doesn’t have a lot to cheer either.
Damn that stray glance I caught while bouncing between games last night, because I knew the final score going in. I still watched every damn minute...well, a lot minutes (a solid 85%) of this game just now and don’t entirely regret the experience. If nothing else, Cincy tidied up the mess in midfield after the opener. Junior Moreno looked steady and I liked the way he (mostly) set up to allow Obinna Nwobodo to prowl further up-field – and to pretty decent effect. Nwobodo set up what may have been the best shot of the game - i.e., the one a happily more-visible Brandon Vazquez chipped against the crossbar – and that speaks to a larger truth, i.e., if either team was going to score yesterday, it would have been Cincinnati.
Turning to the flip-side of that thought, Orlando simply does not generate much offense – or at least haven’t over their first two games of 2023. They’ve fired 13 shots total so far (see this and see that) and with just two on frame (and was one of them the penalty that won it against Red Bull New York?). Having sat through my first full(ish) 90 with them, yeah, can confirm it's a lot of aimless shit, moving in and about the top of the attacking third and to no notable affect. Honestly, you have to assume their fans are bored shitless so far.
I heard talk from the broadcast booth about Orlando “heavily-rotating” its squad ahead of Tuesday’s CCL game against Mexico’s Tigres UANL, but Orlando still squeezed 45-65 minutes out of several clear starters - e.g., Mauricio Pereyra, Robin Jansson, Facundo Torres and Ercan Kara – though let the record note the rumblings from the broadcast booth about looking for options beyond Kara to give the attack some kind of juice.
So, that’s who and what Cincinnati was up against. And, sure and to their credit, they did all right with it. The team found a minimum of two great looks for Luciano Acosta, Brenner fired at least one shot in anger, and Vazquez finally made his 2023 debut, making smart passes – if I recall right, he dimed the big, fat diagonal that teed up Acosta’s better chance - spreading the field with hard, effective running and getting into decent-to-good places in the box. Unfortunately, Orlando’s Pedro Gallese saved all of those, most of them comfortably. To sum Cincinnati’s evening into one pithy phrase...it was fine.
And, if you pull back and look at the season thus far from a bird’s eye view, the same thought carries through. Cincy has four points from its first two games, a totally respectable haul given one home game against a weaker team and a road game against a team just about everyone sees as their peer, aka, Orlando. The only real disappointment I feel comes with believing they pissed away a couple points against an Orlando team that, on both field and paper, rather visibly is not there yet. Being the better team counts for something, but it’d be a lot nicer if it counted for a little more.
As for the game as a whole, there just isn’t much to say. The fact I can’t get out of passive voice with the verbs says something and it sure as hell didn’t inspire any metaphors. Overly patient, pretty dull, a single note – aka, the broad upper hand Cincinnati held over the proceedings – in search of either harmony and a counterpoint to make it interesting. In a sound, pffft...
Hate to leave it that short, but it’s just stray notes from here.
One of Several Clear Bright Spots
I’d call this a better overall performance for Cincy than what fans and observers saw in the home opener - for me, only Alvaro Barreal had a falling off, but he fell from a ways up and not that far - but a couple players stood a little taller than others. To throw one more player into the honors, Yerson Mosquera had several good “read-and-step” moments throughout the game and he did solid work (mostly) shutting down Orlando’s right and giving Barreal room to roam. He looks like a smart addition so far.
One Shady Corner
I type this with respect, but, surely, Cincy can do better at right back than Raymon Gaddis. Everyone knows what Alvas Powell does and does not provide from the same spot, but Gaddis offers even less – or did yesterday. He has his place on the team – if nothing else, he a good, responsible defender – but it’s not as a starter. I don’t know why neither Powell nor Santiago Arias started, but have to assume that regularly-scheduled programming will resume next weekend and in the weeks ahead.
Now, to go somewhere a little darker...
Damn that stray glance I caught while bouncing between games last night, because I knew the final score going in. I still watched every damn minute...well, a lot minutes (a solid 85%) of this game just now and don’t entirely regret the experience. If nothing else, Cincy tidied up the mess in midfield after the opener. Junior Moreno looked steady and I liked the way he (mostly) set up to allow Obinna Nwobodo to prowl further up-field – and to pretty decent effect. Nwobodo set up what may have been the best shot of the game - i.e., the one a happily more-visible Brandon Vazquez chipped against the crossbar – and that speaks to a larger truth, i.e., if either team was going to score yesterday, it would have been Cincinnati.
Turning to the flip-side of that thought, Orlando simply does not generate much offense – or at least haven’t over their first two games of 2023. They’ve fired 13 shots total so far (see this and see that) and with just two on frame (and was one of them the penalty that won it against Red Bull New York?). Having sat through my first full(ish) 90 with them, yeah, can confirm it's a lot of aimless shit, moving in and about the top of the attacking third and to no notable affect. Honestly, you have to assume their fans are bored shitless so far.
I heard talk from the broadcast booth about Orlando “heavily-rotating” its squad ahead of Tuesday’s CCL game against Mexico’s Tigres UANL, but Orlando still squeezed 45-65 minutes out of several clear starters - e.g., Mauricio Pereyra, Robin Jansson, Facundo Torres and Ercan Kara – though let the record note the rumblings from the broadcast booth about looking for options beyond Kara to give the attack some kind of juice.
So, that’s who and what Cincinnati was up against. And, sure and to their credit, they did all right with it. The team found a minimum of two great looks for Luciano Acosta, Brenner fired at least one shot in anger, and Vazquez finally made his 2023 debut, making smart passes – if I recall right, he dimed the big, fat diagonal that teed up Acosta’s better chance - spreading the field with hard, effective running and getting into decent-to-good places in the box. Unfortunately, Orlando’s Pedro Gallese saved all of those, most of them comfortably. To sum Cincinnati’s evening into one pithy phrase...it was fine.
And, if you pull back and look at the season thus far from a bird’s eye view, the same thought carries through. Cincy has four points from its first two games, a totally respectable haul given one home game against a weaker team and a road game against a team just about everyone sees as their peer, aka, Orlando. The only real disappointment I feel comes with believing they pissed away a couple points against an Orlando team that, on both field and paper, rather visibly is not there yet. Being the better team counts for something, but it’d be a lot nicer if it counted for a little more.
As for the game as a whole, there just isn’t much to say. The fact I can’t get out of passive voice with the verbs says something and it sure as hell didn’t inspire any metaphors. Overly patient, pretty dull, a single note – aka, the broad upper hand Cincinnati held over the proceedings – in search of either harmony and a counterpoint to make it interesting. In a sound, pffft...
Hate to leave it that short, but it’s just stray notes from here.
One of Several Clear Bright Spots
I’d call this a better overall performance for Cincy than what fans and observers saw in the home opener - for me, only Alvaro Barreal had a falling off, but he fell from a ways up and not that far - but a couple players stood a little taller than others. To throw one more player into the honors, Yerson Mosquera had several good “read-and-step” moments throughout the game and he did solid work (mostly) shutting down Orlando’s right and giving Barreal room to roam. He looks like a smart addition so far.
One Shady Corner
I type this with respect, but, surely, Cincy can do better at right back than Raymon Gaddis. Everyone knows what Alvas Powell does and does not provide from the same spot, but Gaddis offers even less – or did yesterday. He has his place on the team – if nothing else, he a good, responsible defender – but it’s not as a starter. I don’t know why neither Powell nor Santiago Arias started, but have to assume that regularly-scheduled programming will resume next weekend and in the weeks ahead.
Now, to go somewhere a little darker...
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| For instance, does it last forever if you lose it? |
Nothing Is Forever, Very Much Including Form
It drives me a little crazy when people talk about, say, Vazquez’s form as if it can only improve from the career highwater mark he set last season. That doesn’t mean I don’t think he played well yesterday (see above), so much as it speaks to something I like to bring up ad nauseum, i.e., how the opposition adjusts to the good things your local team does. Teams review video for a reason, after all, and Orlando deserves credit for generally limiting one of the hottest attacks of 2022, aka, Cincinnati’s.
The same goes for Brenner and Acosta. Both played decent games, but without ever really lighting up the sky or the scoreboard. Acosta orchestrated some nice overloads on the left with help from Barreal and Cincinnati collectively managed some good inside-out movement and passing that stretched holes into Orlando’s defense, but, for all the bending Orlando’s defense did, it hardened nicely when it needed to. As for Brenner, you could see him looking to combine along the top of the 18 over and over again, but Orlando got their reads and rotations mostly right.
I don’t raise the point to argue it’s happening, so much as to acknowledge that it might. It’s early, obviously, and both the attack and attacking players will get sharper; then again, so will the opposing defenses. No less significantly, I don’t think Cincy’s defense has really been tested so far – Houston’s Houston and I’ve already covered how little heat Orlando puts off – and those two thoughts combined make it tricky to see what we’re all looking at so far. Personally, I’m going to stand pat on “wait and see” before I join the loose talk about Cincinnati challenging for the Supporters’ Shield.
For good or ill, I believe Cincy fans will get some clarity when the Seattle Sounders roll into town next weekend. Until then...
It drives me a little crazy when people talk about, say, Vazquez’s form as if it can only improve from the career highwater mark he set last season. That doesn’t mean I don’t think he played well yesterday (see above), so much as it speaks to something I like to bring up ad nauseum, i.e., how the opposition adjusts to the good things your local team does. Teams review video for a reason, after all, and Orlando deserves credit for generally limiting one of the hottest attacks of 2022, aka, Cincinnati’s.
The same goes for Brenner and Acosta. Both played decent games, but without ever really lighting up the sky or the scoreboard. Acosta orchestrated some nice overloads on the left with help from Barreal and Cincinnati collectively managed some good inside-out movement and passing that stretched holes into Orlando’s defense, but, for all the bending Orlando’s defense did, it hardened nicely when it needed to. As for Brenner, you could see him looking to combine along the top of the 18 over and over again, but Orlando got their reads and rotations mostly right.
I don’t raise the point to argue it’s happening, so much as to acknowledge that it might. It’s early, obviously, and both the attack and attacking players will get sharper; then again, so will the opposing defenses. No less significantly, I don’t think Cincy’s defense has really been tested so far – Houston’s Houston and I’ve already covered how little heat Orlando puts off – and those two thoughts combined make it tricky to see what we’re all looking at so far. Personally, I’m going to stand pat on “wait and see” before I join the loose talk about Cincinnati challenging for the Supporters’ Shield.
For good or ill, I believe Cincy fans will get some clarity when the Seattle Sounders roll into town next weekend. Until then...
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