It’s Impossible to Overstate How Amazing FC Cincinnati is this Season

Kevin Wallace

Last night felt a little different in the Queen City. If ever there was a match this season that the FC Cincinnati fanbase could understand losing it was last night’s match. A depleted backline and key starters in the spine of this team meant it was all set up for a few defensive errors vs two of the highest paid players in MLS history. The game script was coming from a mile away.

And yet.

A backline anchored by Ian Murphy and needed emergency center back performances by both Ray Gaddis (who is still just a couple of years removed from retiring) and Alvas Powell  shut down Lorenzo Insigne, Federico Bernardeschi, and CJ Sapong. A 3-0 clean sheet and looked really comfortable doing it.

Speaking of the backline, Santiago Arias. Man. It’s taken awhile for the Colombian wingback to find his footing again coming back from injury. But. I’m trying to take it slow here so I don’t overstate this. But. Arias is starting to look like his old self again. And if you’re not familiar with his old self, he was one of the best right backs in the world. What looked like the biggest swing a miss by Albright is panning out to be, if he can stay healthy, and unbelievably shrewd move.

This match saw the continued impressive form by one Dom Badji up top who scored yet again for the Orange and Blue. I will admit I was one that wondered if Badji still had it in the tank at the beginning of the season. Now? I’m wondering if Vazquez still has a starting spot when he comes back from the Gold Cup.

And Marco Angulo put together his best performance of the season tonight. On the second goal in particular he won the ball at the top of Toronto’s box and was able to quickly square it to Lucho for the score. The U-22 Initiative signing got off to a predictably slow start to start the year, but if he can continue to build on performances like this, The FC will have 4 midfielders to rely on for the rest of the season.

And that’s just who stepped up last night to turn what looked like an oncoming disaster into a masterpiece. But that doesn’t fully capture what is happening here in Cincinnati.

The MLS media is downplaying what is going on in Cincinnati. I know, I know, everyone wants to pick a fight with the media and turn this into a “they underestimate us” story, but let’s put this into perspective.

FC Cincinnati is currently on a points pace that no other MLS side has ever beaten. Don’t worry about where the season ends up, no other team has been at this pace for this long into a season. FC Cincinnati is the second team to win 10 straight at home in MLS play and is the first MLS team to ever open a season with 13 wins at home in all competitions.

The narrative around FC Cincinnati is that they do nothing but win close, 1-0 matches and don’t really dominate teams. While at the same time they’ve quietly accrued the joint highest goal differential in the league. They’ve lost just 1 match all calendar year. They’ve lost just three matches since July 18th, 2022.

Pat Noonan and his coaching staff, Chris Albright and his staff, and the players on this team are strapped to a rocket ship of their own design and it’s performing better than they could have expected.

This team is special. The vibes around this team are special. And yet it’s possible for fans to go read mid-season review pieces that don’t mention a single FC Cincinnati players. You can listen to league produced podcasts and wrap-up shows that hardly mention The FC. For a league so excited about a potential super team being built in Miami and still not ready to let go of the idea of an LAFC super team. Well they already have one. It’s FC Cincinnati.

Lucho Acosta is this year’s MLS MVP and it’s not particularly close. We have seen what this team looks like without Acosta and it’s not pretty. Think about what that actually means. FC Cincinnati is on a frenetic pace that no other MLS team in history can match, they’re in the semis for the Open Cup, they’re the odds-on favorite for the Shield, and they will be expected to play in the MLS Cup Final at the end of the year. And without Lucho Acosta they look like a team that might go to the play-in game. He is the difference between an OK team and a era-defining.

Though, the good news for FC Cincinnati is they don’t have to play without Lucho. He won’t let them. We’ve been told that he gets to call his own number and he is always calling his own number. The other piece of good news here is that since FC Cincinnati has last had to play without Lucho, they’ve matured as a team. They’re able to play without him, no they’re not nearly as good. And no, it’s not something they want to do. But they can do it.

Which is what makes this FC Cincinnati team so special. Everyone is stepping up. The two position groups you’d look at as the weak links are the strikers and the center backs.

And yet.

Again FC Cincinnati has the joint-best goal differential in the league. They win games. Strikers or no strikers, they’re dominating the league. They’re also adding Aaron Boupendza to this squad, a proven striker, at a cost of $7 million. Brandon Vazquez may be off to a slow start but he’s still getting in the right places and isn’t that far off his pace from last year’s career year. Santos and Badji are proving to be perfectly serviceable in MLS.

And center backs? Who needs ‘em. The starting three center backs of Yerson Mosquera, Matt Miazga, and Nick Hagglund were all out. And while depth is still likely coming this summer, Ray Gaddis, Ian Murphy, and Alvas Powell just showed they can win games in this league.

Just when you think there’s a flaw in this team, they respond. They adapt. Just when you think they’ve reached the end of their talent the right reinforcements are brought in.

And the youth in this club look like they’ll be contributors too. Arquimides “Quimi” Ordóñez and Bret Halsey looked ready to play last night. Gerardo “Dado” Valenzuela finally made his debut at 18 years old and Stiven Jimenez made his MLS debut at just 15 years old (just a hair younger than the Ol Left Hander when he made his debut for the Reds). If the academy gets to pumping out regular MLS talent… this success is going to be sustainable.

I like to say that this team is inevitable and it really feels that way. They keep winning, they keep breaking records, they keep rolling though competitions. Yes it’s only half way through the season and sure the wheels can fall off at some point. But it needs to be said that this team is on a trajectory that is special.