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FCC Kicking On to Season’s Second Half

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 07/06/17, 1:44PM EDT

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Clash with Rowdies marks second consecutive week in national spotlight


Photo courtesy Brett Hansbauer / FC Cincinnati

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – FC Cincinnati is looking forward to appearing in the national spotlight for a second consecutive week on Thursday night, with the ESPNU broadcast of the club’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Rowdies at AL Lang Stadium in the USL Game of the Week another big moment for the club in the 2017 season.

“I think it’s a lot of fun for our group,” said FCC Head Coach Alan Koch on Wednesday evening. “I think we’re enjoying things now, it took us a little bit of time to get going to start the season, and then I think we started getting ourselves going in a positive way in league play, and then obviously going on a cup run is also enjoyable. The challenge with that is, obviously, it starts to create a bit of fixture congestion in terms of trying to manage the roster and manage the group, but it’s something we’ll gladly do.”

FCC is undefeated in its last four games in the USL after Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Orlando City B, and as it enters the second half of the season is feeling in a much better position than when the season began. Sitting in the top eight of the Eastern Conference standings, and buoyed by their run in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the side enters the second half of its season in a positive mood.

“I think the main thing with our team is that we’re 100 percent different than when we started the season as a team, and as a group of players,” said FCC goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt. “We still have a ways to go. We started off a bit slow, but we’re starting to find our feet and coming together as a group, and we’re on the same page. We’re kicking on, and that’s the exciting part.”


Photo courtesy Erik Schelkun / FC Cincinnati

The positive mood has come as the side has progressed into its recent adaptation of a 3-4-3 formation, which Koch believes has given the side flexibility in the way it approaches games. So has the work Koch and his staff have done to allow the players to reach what they’re seeing over the course of a game, and adapt accordingly.

“The thing I enjoy about our group as we work with them every single day is just really increasing the football IQ of our group,” said Koch. “If you have a better football lQ it allows you to change the way you play, but most important actually adapt to situations during the course of the game. It doesn’t really matter what formation we line up in because the game is live, and we expect our players to adjust and mold as the game goes along. I think that’s been our biggest area of growth that we’ve really worked on a lot this season, and we’ve got ourselves in a positive place this season.”

That has given the likes of winger Jimmy McLaughlin the freedom to get into the types of positions that will give opponents problems. The 24-year-old has created a team-high 24 scoring chances this season, just ahead of central midfielder Kenney Walker, and is

“I think the formation gives the players a lot of freedom,” said McLaughlin. “I think it gives the top three the freedom to find the game and it allows us to get the most out of our very talented outside backs, who are good in attack and on defense. It’s a flexible formation, and we can use it in a few different ways.”


Photo courtesy FC Cincinnati

With the opportunity to pull level on points with the Rowdies with a win on Thursday night, Cincinnati is looking forward to the challenge Tampa Bay will pose, and the chance to show what two of the biggest clubs in the USL have to offer.

“It’s good for us,” said Hildebrandt. “I think getting us out of our own little bubble of Cincinnati and the USL bubble, and show the league’s quality. It’s not just us, but it’s the whole league, and you’re going to see us and Tampa on Thursday, and there’s many, many more teams in this league that can compete, so I think it’s good for the whole league.”

“It’s a huge game for us,” added McLaughlin. “They’re a great team, I think they’re one of the best teams in the league, and I think it’s a team when matched up with us makes for an exciting game. We play pretty similarly, we both want to try and play and possess the ball and make things happen through creative attack, so when we come together it’s definitely exciting.

“They’re a team just a little bit above us in the standings, so a result would be huge for us going forward, and we’re going to do everything we can to cut their lead on us and make a push into the top four.”

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