Photo Credit: USLSoccer.com
FC Cincinnati played its first preseason match on Sunday afternoon losing 3-2 to OKC Energy FC. There were many positives to take away from this match. However, some of the negatives were also glaring after the final whistle.
FC Cincinnati looked great on the attack, BUT…
Defensively they were shambolic at the back on Sunday. The first goal given up was due to several FC Cincinnati players arguing with the match official. No one was paying attention and Energy FC took full advantage. On the quick restart, Alejandro Covarrubias quickly found space and put the ball in the back of the net, uncontested outside of the penalty box. Not good.
The second goal was the result of a missed tackle and being outrun on the counter. The third goal was the result of 3 different FC Cincinnati defenders whiffing or even mishitting the ball in the box that eventually found the foot of Wojciech Wojcik. FC Cincinnati’s defense did something yesterday that only happened twice last season, gave up 3 goals in a match.
I know, it’s just a preseason friendly, but the defense looked far worse than anything we saw last season.
Despite the poor play at the back, the offense created chances, BUT…
Dodgy offside calls and poor finishing burned FC Cincinnati on Sunday. FC Cincinnati newcomers Djiby and Andy Craven should have finished chances in the match. Djiby put the ball in the back of the net from 2 yards out but was flagged for offside. Craven found himself on a breakaway after a great counter attack. He was 1v1 with the Energy keeper and pushed his shot wide right. Andrew Wiedeman, though it was a tough angle, was also 1v1 with the keeper near the end line but pushed his shot wide left as it rolled slowly across the goal mouth.
I know, it’s just a preseason friendly, but those chances need to be buried when it counts this summer.
Alan Koch had little time to prepare his team for the match, BUT…
The new FC Cincinnati head coach will have to quickly sort out the defense. I’m sure that with everything that happened with FC Cincinnati the past 72 hours did not help things on Sunday. Long term, it possibly might. But after being named the Head Coach on Friday night, Koch had little time to put his stamp on this team. The defending as mentioned above was Keystone Cops on 2 of the goals. That will get better as Koch has more time in training sessions to mold his team and new faces to the defense have time to gel.
The attack showed that they’ll create plenty of chances en route to their goal of 62 goals this season. He’ll have time over the next month to get the shape he wants. We saw a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-1-4-1 formation in this match. The 4-1-4-1 and the personnel involved showed a lot more attacking prowess. It also showed many more defensive frailties. The 4-2-3-1 didn’t offer up as much attacking threats, but Kadeem Dacres on the right side showed flashes of his pacey brilliance we should expect to see a lot of this summer.
I know, it’s just a preseason friendly, but Alan Koch will need to get this sorted out quickly to calm down an already fired up fan base after Friday’s surprising news. Trust me, the sky is not falling on FC Cincinnati and its fans. Just merely some observations from preseason match #1. Koch has plenty of time to get things in order prior to March 25th.
@nickseuberling for @cincysoccertalk
Recommended for you
