Like many of you, I tuned into FC Cincinnati’s preseason match against the Philadelphia Union on Friday with great anticipation. Though I knew we’d encounter poor camera angles, bad production value, and wonky lineups (and we did!), I couldn’t pass up my first chance to see the 2025 version of the team we all love.
Preseason in every sport is notorious for sending fans into over-reaction mode. Whether our teams are winning or losing, we want real data from preseason performances that just doesn’t exist. FC Cincinnati handled the Union pretty easily in the end, winning 4-1 after 120 minutes of play. However, I would preach caution when reading anything into the results of the match. Instead, here are some tactical observations that just might turn out to be true as we head into the season…maybe.
*Note: I’m writing this assuming that Lucho Acosta will not be on the roster for the 2025 season.
Kévin Denkey will get off to a slow start in 2025.
There is a truckload of caveats that needs to be dumped all over this take:
- Denkey hasn’t had much of a chance to play with important players like Yuya Kubo or Luca Orellano due to their late arrival to camp.
- Denkey is a super-star designated player, and it wouldn’t be odd if he was just trying to get his fitness up while not getting hurt during the preseason.
Denkey’s strength and tenacity will probably allow him to get better as games progress and defenses wear down, yet we only saw him for around 30 minutes on Friday.
All of that said, I fully expect Kévin Denkey to get off to a slow start this season, and not just because he is a young guy trying to get settled on a new team in a new country. FC Cincinnati seemed to have a very difficult time progressing the ball through the center of the pitch in this preseason match, and I think that will continue as the team tries to figure out life post-Lucho Acosta.
Acosta led the team in both progressive pass receptions (237) and progressive passes (250). That means if he wasn’t the one passing the ball forward and starting the attack, he was typically the one receiving the pass. On Friday, that presence was sorely missed. The team relied heavily on playing short passes to the wing backs and asking them to find an entry pass into the midfield or the forward line. When that wasn’t available, the team seemed to dump a ball in Kévin Denkey’s direction and ask him to battle a center back to hold the ball up while the team transitioned forward. All of this meant that Denkey spent a lot of time checking back into midfield to get onto 50/50 balls or to be an option for an under-pressure wingback. It is going to be tough for him to take on that much of the ball progression load and still find opportunities to put the ball into the back of the net.
Even if Evander or another Acosta replacement comes in soon, it will take some time for FC Cincinnati to sort out how they are going to get the ball to Kévin Denkey in dangerous forward positions. I expect him to start slow but build into the season as they do just that.
FC Cincinnati’s press will look the same, but be better, in 2025
I was really interested to see how FC Cincinnati would set up to press the opposition without Lucho Acosta on the pitch this season. Under Pat Noonan, the Orange and Blue has mostly pressed out of a 3-4-2-1 formation with Acosta both triggering and leading the press. That means that he was both indicating when the team should press and when it should drop off, often the furthest player forward when the opposition’s back line had the ball. Consequently, whoever was playing center forward spent a lot of time dropping in as an attacking midfielder in defense.
Without Lucho Acosta on the pitch on Friday, FCC still pressed out of the 3-4-2-1 formation. However, with the starters on the pitch, Kévin Denkey led the press with Luca Orellano and Pavel Bucha dropping in as midfielders. Denkey is not only much more energetic as the spearhead of the press than Acosta, but he will also be more adept at pulling defenders out of position or creating space in the box in transition when the press wins the ball back. Furthermore, new left wingback Lukas Engel is going to be far better defensively than Yamil Asad, Orellano, or any of the cast of characters that filled in at that spot last season.
FC Cincinnati’s first goal came directly off the press, and I expect that to be a feature for the team in 2025.
Yesterday's goals, a thread 🧵:
Pavel taking it himself. ☺️ pic.twitter.com/T4yrtbtVgL
— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) February 8, 2025
FC Cincinnati will defend more and look to score in transition in 2025
Last season we would often see FC Cincinnati build patiently from back to front before looking to get Lucho Acosta on the ball in the final third of the field. The team relied on set possession and pinning teams back to generate chances. On Friday, FCC certainly possessed the ball at times,but mostly with their defenders. Once the team made the decision to go forward, they looked to get there quickly.
I don’t think that FCC is going to dump and chase or turn into the kind of direct team that we’ve seen out of the Red Bulls, St. Louis, or even the Philadelphia Union. However, it sure looked to me like the tactical emphasis in possession during this preseason match was to pass the ball side to side in the back and midfield only as a means to move the ball forward as quickly as possible. Often, the team would lose the ball or find a shot prior to both wingbacks even being able to join the attack.
That sort of frenetic pace will mean the team might spend more time defending, but when they win the ball, they will be more decisive in turning defense into attack.
So, that’s what I saw on Friday. I think these tactics just might give us a glimpse at how FCC will play throughout the coming season…maybe.
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