Damon Gumbert
A game happened on Saturday between FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC, but talking about it is boring so I’m not going to do it. What I will talk about is the playoff picture and the upcoming Wild Card matchup between FC Cincinnati and Orlando City.
There were multiple scenarios that would see FC Cincinnati fall into the Wild Card match, most of them involving a loss to Nashville. That or a draw was almost certainly a given, with Nashville attempting to break the record for most points in a season. They achieved that goal with a 0-2 win over the Orange and Blue on Saturday, thusly putting Cincinnati on the back foot, hoping for some other results to go their way.
Unfortunately, of the three teams vying for the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference, Cincinnati was the only one to lose. The dreaded Columbus Crew managed a come from behind victory over the Chicago Fire in a 4-3 barn-burner. Orlando City managed a 1-0 upset win over third seed New England Revolution.
So that puts Cincinnati, who locked up a playoff spot last week, in the 9th and final playoff spot. Orlando City moved up to 8th place despite being tied on points due to having once more win than FCC on the season. Columbus were lucky enough to move into the 7th position and now will face Inter Miami and reigning MVP Lionel Messi in the best of three first round series.
The worst part about the Decision Day finals is that FCC went from potentially hosting a playoff match to chasing at least two away wins to advance to the second round.
That’s bad for FCC because they have an abysmal 3-7-7 record away from TQL Stadium. The FC has had Orlando’s number this season, winning the first matchup 6-2 in Cincinnati and then managing to secure a point away in a 1-1 draw.
Orlando hasn’t exactly been tearing the world apart lately either. They had a mixed bag of an October, beating Columbus and D.C. United, but drawing NYCFC, Chicago, and Toronto FC before getting knocked around by Charlotte 4-0 to end the month.
Prior to their loss against the best team in Major League Soccer, FC Cincinnati had been on a tear, winning four matches in October including three of four in the last two weeks of the month. Their 1-0 victory against Philadelphia Union secured their fifth straight year in the playoffs while also notching their second clean sheet in seven days.
That doesn’t mean this is a guaranteed win for The FC though. The back line has been banged up for most of the season but especially lately with Nick Hagglund missing Saturday’s game due to being in concussion protocol and Teenage Hadebe exiting the match at half time due to a leg injury. Miles Robinson entered the match for Hadebe, his first match in nearly a month.
Newcomers Julian Malatini and Tyrell Malacia have been injured and may be back for match with Orlando but it’s too soon to tell. Assuming Malatini is healthy enough to play, he likely would not start so we would still not see the best XI version of the backline. There’s also the question of what that back line looks like when it is healthy. Hadebe and Hagglund have been playing very well together, as has Kyle Smith.
Robinson is a designated player and when healthy is one of the best defenders in the league and Malatini was brought in to replace Matt Miazga, do you force those two into the lineup and potentially disrupt the flow of a defense that has looked very good lately?
Assuming Hadebe and Hagglund are available for the match against Orlando, I would not be surprised if you see a backline of Hadebe, Hagglund, and Robinson to start the match.
But then what do you do at wingback? Bryan Ramirez has been starting while Malacia has been injured, but with the former Man United player on his way back, do you take Ramirez off the pitch? And David Doudera has been starting on the right side but hasn’t made the impact that was expected. Does Ender Echenique get a start? The Venezuelan has been a difference maker off the bench, and could inject some of his energy into a sometimes lackluster offense.
Chris Albright spoke last year about wanting to look down the bench and see starters. It’s clear that he has put that together here, as you could feasibly see anybody start on any given night. But I’m not sure that means what he wanted it to mean. Does having a bench of potential starters mean that you’re deep, or that your starters aren’t as good as you thought they were?
Regardless, FC Cincinnati will have 11 days to get ready for Orlando City, as that match is scheduled for Thursday Oct 19 at 7:30 p.m.
