New England Loss Reinforces FC Cincinnati's Defensive Crisis
Damon gumbert
I’m going to give you a small paragraph description of this match and then I’m going to get into what I actually want to talk about. Tom Barlow scored in the 12th minute. Dor Turgeman scored for New England in the 21st, and then Josh Wynder scored the easiest set piece goal you’ll ever see in the 43rd. Turgeman secured a brace in the 51st minute, and then Kevin Denkey got one back for Cincinnati in the 67th. Nothing else of note happened after that, except Evander getting another yellow card for dissent despite wearing the Captains armband.
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"It hurts losing," head coach Pat Noonan said following the 3-2 home loss to the New England Revolution on Wednesday.
That may seem like a generic statement from the stoic coach, but it was an acknowledgment that even in a season replete with losses, the team still feels that pain.
Yet, they haven’t loss that much.
FC Cincinnati sits at 9-10-9, one more loss than in 2022 and 2025 and one fewer than in 2024. It's entirely possible the club loses a few more times this season, but even if it loses every remaining match, it would still fall short of the 22 losses recorded in both 2019 and 2021.
This season does have a chance to be the worst of Noonan's tenure as head coach.
He took over for Jaap Stam in 2022, transforming FC Cincinnati from a perennial Wooden Spoon contender into an MLS Cup Playoffs participant in his first season and Supporter’s Shield Winners in his second.
The Orange and Blue have the same number of losses this year as the Philadelphia Union, one of the hottest teams in the league, and the New England Revolution. They have fewer losses than Orlando City (13), the New York Red Bulls (13) and New York City FC (12).
It’s not hard to point at what is keeping the team from winning: Defense.
A strong defense was the calling card of the Noonan era, but that is a thing of the past. The defense is on pace to concede more goals than any FC Cincinnati team in club history.
It doesn't seem to matter who is in goal or who lines up along the back line. The defense cannot get it figured out.
This match featured a back line of Teenage Hadebe, Julian Malatini and Kyle Smith in front of goalkeeper Evan Louro. The defensive substitutes consisted of Sam Gidi and, eventually, Brian Anunga dropping back from midfield.
Some people may be concerned about the lack of natural center backs on the field during this match. However, Noonan started back lines composed entirely of center backs for much of the season's first two months, and the team won only three league matches before May.
May was when Noonan began using Sam Gidi consistently along the back line. The club won five league matches from May through August, despite most of June and July being interrupted by the World Cup break. Just as important, the FC lost only three matches during that stretch.
The team still leaked goals, so it's not as though the defense was fixed. Still, something within the team functioned better during that period.
Since the end of August, FC Cincinnati has won only once, a 3-1 victory over Atlanta United last weekend. Wednesday's 3-2 loss was the club's third defeat in six matches.
Players have come and gone, but the results have remained largely the same.
So if it's not the personnel, perhaps it's something else.
Would moving away from the back three change anything? It would certainly help address the transition goals the team continues to concede.
The current defensive system demands that the wingbacks immediately track back whenever possession changes hands, an unreasonable expectation considering how much they are asked to contribute going forward. It also relies on the midfield collapsing quickly to stop counterattacks, but that rarely happens effectively.
More often, three defenders are left covering large portions of the field. Attacking players spread them out, creating massive gaps for opponents to exploit.
A back four would allow the defense to maintain its shape, forcing opposing attacks to slow down and giving the midfield more time to recover into position.
At least that's the theory. Soccer rarely works as neatly in practice as it does on paper.
What is clear right now is that the back three isn't working.
It doesn't matter who gets thrown into the proverbial woodchipper. The result is the same: defenders are being exposed, and some are seeing their performances and reputations suffer because of it.
The offense has been excellent. A simpler, more complete defensive structure could have turned many of this season's draws into wins and many of its losses into draws.
The likelihood of such a change remains low, with FC Cincinnati facing seven games in three weeks while desperately trying to hold onto a playoff position.
“At this stage, we need to defend in a better way and not rely on late dramatics to, you know, carry us,” Noonan said.
Maybe there's hope for the future, maybe.
