How first-place FC Cincinnati engineered the greatest start in MLS history
If you told FC Cincinnati fans two years ago that their team would soon be the best in MLS, they wouldn't have believed you.
The Ohio club had a difficult start in MLS, finishing last in its 2019 debut season and somehow getting worse two years later. In 2021, FC Cincinnati won one of its final 20 matches.
Two years after that nightmare season, however, Cincinnati FC is first in the MLS Eastern Conference. Its most recent win, over NYCFC on Wednesday, gave it 36 points after 15 games — the best season start in league history.
Here's how Cincinnati pulled off a remarkable turnaround:
Excellent fans and facilities: Cincinnati fans embraced MLS despite the team's dismal start, regularly selling out 25,000-seat TQL Stadium.
"If you can look past previous seasons, you see the infrastructure, and after meeting with ownership, you see the ambition," FC Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said, per The Athletic. "You have a great training facility, a world-class facility and you have the resources. At that point, it's just a matter of getting the right people in the building."
Which naturally led to...
Backroom stability: Cincy brought in Chris Albright from the Philadelphia Union as the club's general manager at the end of 2021. Albright is a well-respected figure in MLS, a man who understands the league intuitively and excels at building stellar teams with or without stellar funding.
Albright's appointment intrigued many coaches across the country, and eventually he persuaded Noonan, formerly of the New England Revolution, to come aboard as head coach.
"I knew that despite the challenges we'd face early on, I wouldn't be entering into an entirely new relationship," said Noonan of his decision to join FC Cincinnati. "That helps."
Albright and Noonan filled out their coaching staff with MLS regulars and focused on mental success above all else. FC Cincinnati didn't have a winning mindset in its early days. That had to change quickly if the players were to trust one another on the field.
As the pieces clicked into place behind the scenes, only one part was left:
Unpredictable — but coachable — attacks: FC Cincinnati's greatest asset is its one-two offensive punch of Luciano "Lucho" Acosta and Brandon Vazquez. Acosta is a mercurial, expressive midfielder. He's an emotional player who plays every game as if it's his last. He has quite the reputation in MLS, but Noonan learned how to harness his chaos.
"Lucho is a pain in the ass," Noonan said with a laugh, per The Athletic, "but he's a good pain in the ass. He's so talented, and he does have freedoms that some of his teammates don't."
Acosta's wild runs from midfield are perfect for stoic, practiced Vazquez, a U.S. international who excels in a traditional poaching role.
"It's been incredible playing next to him," Vazquez said of Acosta. "He's an amazing player with the ball at his feet. I have to be ready at all times because he's very unpredictable, so it's hard to know what his next move is going to be."
That unpredictability is crucial for FC Cincinnati because it throws off defenses and creates space. Lucho has six goals this season. Vazquez, meanwhile, has four.
There's a lot of season left to play, but with Western Conference challenger LAFC distracted by the CONCACAF Champions League, FC Cincinnati has a shot at winning the MLS Supporters' Shield and challenging for the MLS Cup.
After all of the lessons learned and hard work, it's exactly what FC Cincinnati deserves.
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