Know Your Opponent: FC Cincinnati with Laurel Pfahler | The Heron Outlet
The Queen City Press reporter breaks down what Inter Miami can expect in an effort to get their first road points of the season.
photo courtesy of FC Cincinnati
Inter Miami are back on the road again this week after a 3-2 home defeat to Chicago last Saturday. It’s the third defeat in a row for the Herons who have dropped down to the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference after their impressive start to the season.
The Heron Outlet spoke this week with Laurel Pfahler, FC Cincinnati reporter for the Queen City Press, to discuss a much improved Cincy side from recent years and a tough test for Miami to stop their skid.
Cincinnati has been praised league wide for turning around from perennial wooden spoon contenders to being considered a serious MLS contender this year. What have they done to turn things around?
“I would say it started with getting a general manager with MLS experience, who valued MLS experience on the coaching staff and roster, but coach Pat Noonan deserves a ton of credit for getting the best out of a lot of players who had been a part of those struggling teams of the past. Players bought into his ideas and he was flexible with his system, so when FCC opened with a 5-0 loss to Austin last season, he shifted to a five-player back line that evolved to a 3-4-1-2 (which they play now). Noonan paired Brandon Vazquez and Brenner up top and they have worked really well together with Luciano Acosta at the 10, but he also focused on getting Acosta up the field more and he and the offense really benefited from that change. Once Noonan had the attack figured out, it was a matter of fixing the defense. Obinna Nwobodo's arrival last April made a noticeable difference, and he's been outstanding again this year. Matt Miazga sured up the defense when he arrived in August.
This offseason was about making further upgrades to the defense with Yerson Mosquera coming on loan from Wolverhampton and former Atletico Madrid right back Santiago Arias signing in preseason. Arias was injured in the opener and they have been bringing him along slowly, but he looks good when he's on the field. Mosquera has impressive speed and length and it's clear why an EPL team wanted to invest in his future. This team just has better depth than in the past as well, as GM Chris Albright was able to shed some contracts that were simply eating up assets.”
Cincinnati’s two strikers, Brandon Vazquez and Brenner, are a dynamic duo. How do they play off each other and use their pairing to drive defenders crazy?
“They are two very different players so it works well having the two of them paired together. Brenner has an incredible touch on the ball and has been known as a fox-in-the-box, but he's great at finding space and obviously he's shown in the past a knack for finishing. He also is great finding Vazquez or others with his passing, which I think has been an underrated part of his game. Vazquez can score in multiple ways. His ability in the air makes him a threat any time FCC has the ball on the flanks or in the defensive third, so defenders are always staying with him, which opens things up for Brenner a lot. He doesn't have as good of a first touch, but he's a strong target in the box. The two of them really enjoy playing together and you can tell when one of them scores, the other is just as happy as he would be for his own goal. That chemistry has been key.”
Miami fans know about the hot start to the year Drake Callender has had in goal. Roman Celentano has been great for FCC too with three clean sheets in his first five games. What’s attributed to his improvement?
“Celentano has always been a great shot-stopper, and he's already had some great saves. I would say the improvement comes from having a stronger back line in front of him. Miazga took the middle spot that Geoff Cameron previously held and has been an outstanding defender and leader for the back line. Nick Hagglund makes mistakes but his hussle and effort enable him to recover, and like I mentioned earlier, Mosquera has been an upgrade over Ian Murphy, who was pretty solid as a rookie but still is a little raw. Left wingback Alvaro Barreal is also more comfortable in his role this year so that helps as well. As for Celentano specifically, I think he also is communicating better. I hear his voice a lot more in training than I recall last year, and he's showing more confidence guiding even more veteran players. His distribution is vastly improved as well, though he still has moments where he puts defenders in tough positions with a bad short pass he should just launch down the field.”
Pat Noonan has proven to be very adept in running a three-at-the-back system, especially with a low block, counter attacking style. What has proven successful for him tactically to utilize that and spurn this improvement within the club?
“It might seem like a low block but Noonan really wants to be a team that presses more to create turnovers in dangerous positions, and I think Barreal has been a big part of improving that early this season. Teams early on have maybe assumed he is the weak link on defense because he's a natural attacker/winger still learning to be a wingback, but he gets really high up the pitch and has been a ferocious defender so far, stepping in front of a lot more passes or just stripping the opponent of the ball, leading to a lot of great opportunities in the attack. It's not just him, of course. Against Houston, Brandon Vazquez pressed into two turnovers that led to breakaways, and Brenner has been close to forcing keepers into some bad mistakes playing out of the back. But overall, I would say this team seems a little different in its approach with the ball this season. It seems they are being more patient and building up the attack from the back more than last year, and that's a credit to just having players who are more comfortable with the ball at their feet.”
Are there any significant injuries or absence? How do you see the end result faring?
“Yuya Kubo is dealing with a knee injury and has missed the last two games, so that hurts the midfield depth, especially with Junior Moreno and Marco Angulo called away for international duty. Both are expected back at the facility tomorrow (Thursday), but Moreno was with Venezuela in Saudi Arabia and started against Uzbekistan on Tuesday so it's unclear how the travel on top of that will impact his availability. He's the type that will want to slide right back in, so we will see. Angulo has been a depth piece for the most part but only played as a sub with Ecuador so I could see him maybe having a bigger role this weekend.
It seems every week I'm thinking "this is a big game for FC Cincinnati" but even with Miami at 2-3-0, I think this is a good test and ultimately a chance for the Orange and Blue to really create some separation early on in the Eastern Conference standings. They love playing in front of the home crowd with the great atmosphere at TQL Stadium, and the game against Miami at TQL Stadium last year was a fun one where it really felt like things were starting to come together for the offense. Fans here are still waiting for that dominant performance from the big three attackers, and I could see them putting it all together Saturday, especially seeing how flat they looked without Gregore against Toronto. I could see this being a 3-1 win for FCC, though Miami has found ways to frustrate this club in the past.”