Cincy fans left wanting as Shield slips further from grasp
Damon Gumbert
Head Coach Pat Noonan’s post-game presser was short and tense, with Noonan not mincing words when talking about how the defense played. “I don’t think we played particularly well over the course of the 90 minutes,” Noonan said. “Got too opened up in this game with a very good team in transition.”
“Definitely unacceptable,” Miles Robinson added in his media availability. “They pretty much came in and took our three points from our hands.”
While Robinson’s words mean a lot, a leader on the team expressing frustration with the way things happened, Noonan’s ring a bit more hollow. The coach is in his fourth year in Cincinnati and has done amazing things with the team, but his insistence on playing players out of position and in a formation that leaves little room for error may be costing the team chances at trophies.
Sunday night saw Noonan trot out the same team that gave up two goals in their previous match with the LA Galaxy, this time playing a team that has scored 18 more goals than the Galaxy this season. While the result was a 1-1 draw, it could have been much, much worse, with Orlando putting up 23 shots in the match and securing an expected goal (xG) rate of 3.8 (according to MLSsoccer.com).
The lineup on the night had Luca Orellano and Ender Echenique playing wingback, neither one being particularly adept at defense, Lukas Engel beside Nick Hagglund and Robinson on the back line, a defense-oriented fullback playing centerback instead of wingback, and Samuel Gidi in the defensive midfield beside Pavel Bucha. Gidi isn’t a slouch on defense, but his intention in the lineup is to move the ball forward more than focus on defending the midfield.
Noonan’s reasoning behind sending out an offense-oriented lineup against a strong offensive team is unknown at this time, but more confusing is the coach’s lack of trust in his defensive players. The first substitution of the match came in the 66th minute when Hagglund was taken off for Alvas Powell.
Powell, who has played centerback before, is a natural fullback and converted wingback. Cincinnati has two healthy centerbacks that continue to sit on the bench and not play in Gilberto Flores and Teenage Hadebe.
There’s no telling what could have happened if Hadebe had started at CB and Engel moved over to wingback. You then have to decide to sit either Orellano or Echenique in that moment, with Echenique having the more effective performance on the night. Does adding a natural centerback to the pitch lighten the load on Evan Louro to the point where he doesn’t see 20+ shots coming at him?
Matt Doyle of MLSsoccer.com this week noted that Cincinnati’s slow attack often leads to the defensive players moving farther up the pitch and putting themselves in disadvantageous situations where they are having to foot race attacking players on a counterattack. MLSAnalytics on BlueSky posted the passing map from this match, which shows that the two side centerbacks both played higher up the pitch, leaving the middle centerback alone on the backline to stop any counterattacks. On top of this, the wingbacks both played extremely high up the field, with the right wingback (Echenique) seemingly right on level with Kevin Denkey.
“For me, we need 11 players defending at all times if we’re up one goal in the 95th minute,” Robinson said after the match. That is a pretty telling indictment of the play of the team when up in these matches. According to Laurel Pfahler of the Queen City Press, this is the 13th time this season that the team has conceded a goal in the 85th minute or later.
The club added a lot of offense over the summer transfer window, but also saw a key defensive player in DeAndre Yedlin leave. Yedlin was exactly what this team needed on the night. A capable wingback with defensive prowess and the speed to get back in transition quickly.
Earlier this season, if you had asked what the problem with this club was, I would have said they focus so much on defense that it hinders the offense. The opposite seems true now. They’re so worried about scoring that they don’t do enough to stop the other team. There may be no way to construct a truly even lineup with this formation. You’re either sacrificing your offense or your defense, and it’s up to the coach to choose which one on the night.
There are only two games left before the playoffs begin, so now is not the time to make substantial formation changes. This post-season may be the make-or-break moment for Noonan’s formation of choice. If the team isn’t able to truly excel and make a run at the MLS Cup this season, that should be all she wrote on the back three/wingback formation.
When asked about the trajectory of the team going forward, Noonan said, “There are things we clearly have to improve on.”
The likelihood that FC Cincinnati wins the Supporter’s Shield is virtually zero, barring a complete collapse from Philadelphia and Miami. Fans will be looking for some improvement from the squad in the final two matches, the first against the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 4 and the last match of the regular season on Oct. 18 against CF Montreal.
The FC’s match against RBNY kicks off at 7:30 p.m. in New Jersey. You can watch that match on AppleTV+ with the MLS Season Pass, or you can visit any of the clubs participating Pub Partners.
