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| Hell adjacent, but also a start. |
First of all, I’m gonna fuck up some names. Second, I don’t
really know this team, FC Cincinnati, either, because this was my first 90
minutes with them. A speed date, if you will. That said, I think I picked up a
reasonable sense as to who does what on FC Cincinnati, or at least this
specific version of their roster. Or against this specific opponent. Again,
this is the first step to me knowing what I’m talking about, and give it a month
or two.
Hold on, backing up: FC Cincinnati beat North Carolina FC 2-0 in the Containment Area for Relocated Yankees, North Carolina (that’s Cary,
NC). They looked reasonable for the win, but North Carolina gave them plenty of
breathing room by taking…just terrible shots, more around than on goal. And
that “around” was very general. As noted in my catch-up post on FC Cincy, they
have a decent knack for creating wide-open chances, and tonight was no
exception. There, I’m thinking their second, more than their first: when Nazmi
Albadawi found Emery Welshman in that much space on Cincy’s right, it isolated
the (surprisingly nimble) forward against (I’m guessing) Carolina’s left-sided
centerback, and Welshman sat him right on his can with a cut inside, fired the
shot, and, boom, FC Cincinnati bags their insurance goal in the 87(-ish)
minute, game very much over, and Cincinnati three points clear on top of the
United Soccer League’s Eastern Conference. (Just five points behind Western
Conference leaders Real Monarch SLC; also this puts Cincy level on points with
Timbers 2, but with a game in hand.)
To step back still further, it’s sort of a trip starting
with this team where I did - i.e., tonight - but I don’t think my personal
experience differs so much from an “O.G.” Cincinnati fan. (Again) This team is
two years old and counting, for fuck’s sake, and, at time of writing, I’m not
sure how new or old any of these twits are to the team. For instance, Emanuel
Ledesma, team points leader, came over from the New York Cosmos just this
season. Russell Cicerone, the player who stood out most tonight, turns out he’s
a rookie, an at least one-time MAC player of the year award, and, no, I’m not
looking that up, because who cares what you did in college, kid, but damn good
game tonight. You made that first goal, but, wow, didn’t Danni Konig literally
wrestle that fucker home? And that was Cincinnati’s first goal. Also, when did
Konig sign? Ah, just May 2017.
My point is, players can’t have deep roots with this team,
because this team does not have deep roots. There is no “street cred” with this
bunch. We’re all fucking newbies at this rodeo.
Now, to the game itself and what it told me about who does
what, I absolutely insist on beginning with the statement that you can’t
possibly know the tip of shit about a team by watching one game. There are too
many variables involved - starting with the quality of the opposition (wait for
it) - to allow any reasonable person to think he (or she) can make any kind of
firm statement about any player, the tactics, or just anything about a team
after just one viewing. With that firmly in mind, dig this…
