The bad news is FC Cincinnati’s season is over. The good (?) news is that they lost to a fully armed and operational Inter Miami. And I don’t think anyone, not even Thomas Müller and Vancouver, is capable of stopping Leo Messi’s Pink Steamroller. After blowing away the Orange and Blue 4-0 two weekends ago, Miami thrashed (an admittedly injury-riddled) New York City FC 5-1. Miami’s playoff goal differential is up to 17-4. The MLS Cup final is set for Saturday in southern Florida.
Back to the locals. By now, players and coaches have returned to their offseason cocoons. But the offseason is never long in football; Cincinnati will report for preseason training next month. Let’s go player by player on the first team and determine if the player’s stock rose, held steady, or fell during 2025. We’ll also weigh in on Head Coach Pat Noonan and General Manager Chris Albright.
Tah Brian Anunga: Steady
Garnered way more playing time than anyone expected after Obinna Nwobodo’s injury. He fits in well in a backup defensive midfielder role.
Brenner: Up
Saved FC Cincinnati’s bacon in Columbus to complete his wantaway-to-playoff-icon arc. Remains to be seen if the financials will work out to have him return in 2026.
Pavel Bucha: Up
Noonan’s setup falls apart sans the Czech midfielder, who has now paced the club in minutes for two straight seasons. The addition of Samuel Gidi and the healthy return of Nwobodo gives Noonan no excuse not to rest the 27-year-old more often.
Roman Celentano: Up
Celentano will be FCC’s No. 1 goalkeeper as long as he maintains his strong shot-stopping profile. Continued improvement with his passing/distribution will send him further up the U.S. Men’s National Team depth chart.
Stefan Chirila: Up
After breaking into FC Cincinnati 2 in 2024 with 6 goals and 3 assists, the young striker tallied 9 goals and 5 assists with FCC2 in 2025. The 18-year-old made his first team debut this year, but he’s still likely a year away from meaningful playing time at TQL Stadium.
Kevin Denkey: Up
Almost went with “steady” here, but I chose the optimistic route and decided to give the burly striker some grace in his first year in MLS after tallying 17 goals and 2 dimes in all competitions. That total should be at or over 25 in 2026, and his chemistry with Evander needs to improve.
Ender Echenique: Up
Arrived in early August and was immediately a bolt of lighting on the flanks. Echenique is the starting right wingback in 2026 until proven otherwise in my mind.
Lukas Engel: Up
On loan from the English second division, Engel was immediately indispensable and wound up third on the team in minutes played. It’s a shame his body broke down in the season’s final weeks. Authored the quote of the season with his “die with the boots on” quip ahead of Game 3 vs. Columbus.
Evander: Up
Despite his postseason flop, Evander’s first year in Cincinnati was a massive success (39 goal contributions), especially considering how Lucho Acosta’s downward spiral in mood and form continued in Dallas. After arriving on the doorstep of the 2025 season, let’s see if a normal preseason can forge better connections with his fellow attackers.
Gilberto Flores: Down
Played a lot in the first half of the season with the center back room missing bodies. The 22-year-old’s lack of experience in MLS and in first-division football showed, though, and Noonan kept him rooted to the bench in the season’s second half. Needs a strong preseason to move up the depth chart.
Samuel Gidi: Up
Chalk this up as a major win for the scouting department, which allowed Albright to pluck the 21-year-old midfielder out of the Slovakian first division. Nwobodo’s injury forced Gidi into critical minutes straightaway, and he didn’t look out of place. He’s the future of FCC’s midfield room.
Teenage Hadebe: Steady
Struggled to maintain form and fitness but played his best ball at the end of the season. FCC picked up his 2026 option, so as of now he is the starting left center back.
Nick Hagglund: Steady
I almost went full Grinch here with a “down.” FCC relied far too much on the aging Cincinnati Kid down the stretch. His leadership and overall presence are still integral to the team, though.
Ayoub Jabbari: Steady
Made five appearances after arriving on loan in August from France’s second division. Played a role in Brenner’s winning goal in Game 3 in Columbus, but he won’t be back.
Stiven Jimenez: Up
The 18-year-old midfielder notched his first start in 2025 after making his first appearance in 2024. Should get more opportunities in 2026 but will spend most of his time with FCC2 in 2026.
Kei Kamara: Down
The ageless wonder was a fun story, but he registered zero goal contributions in nearly 900 minutes. Cincinnati can do better at backup striker.
Yuya Kubo: Down
Neat to see current and former FCC players alike giving Kubo his flowers after his farewell post. After a rough start, he salvaged his FCC career by becoming a plug-and-play solution across the midfield and attack. It’s a shame 2025 was so muted; Kubo engaged in a weird holdout to start the season and struggled with injuries.
Evan Louro: Up
Acquitted himself well in four starts when Celentano was injured. Alec Kann’s retirement was the last remaining hurdle between Louro and the No. 2 goalkeeper job.
Dominik Marczuk: Down
Came over from Real Salt Lake on loan as part of two trades that created room for Brenner and sent DeAndre Yedlin to Salt Lake. He appeared in five matches but didn’t sniff action in the playoffs and has already been returned to Salt Lake.
Kenji Mboma Dem: Steady
Second on FCC2 in goals and goal contributions. Received just under 200 minutes of first team action.
Matt Miazga: Down
An injury kept the 30-year-old out of the playoffs for the second year in a row. His contract option was picked up, but 2026 could be his swan song in Cincinnati. With FCC moving to three Designated Players in 2026, I wonder if less investment along the back line could equate to Noonan moving to a back four? A writer can dream.
Obinna Nwobodo: Steady
Nwobodo signed a contract extension five weeks before a torn quad tendon kept him on the bench for much of the season’s second half, otherwise I’d be wondering about his future. Gidi was a near glove-in-hand fit, and Bucha is a written-in-stone starter. If FCC retains all three for 2026, it will be its deepest midfield ever.
Luca Orellano: Down
Had a forgettable season (0 goal contributions) after a dynamite 2024 (16 goal contributions). Orellano never got on track after his preseason holdout, and Echenique’s combination of pace and defensive commitment made him a better fit opposite Engel on the flank. FCC won’t want to sell low on a player under contract through 2029, though, so I expect him to be back barring a Godfather offer.
Alvas Powell: Steady
The Alvas Powell Experience giveth and taketh away. The club declined his 2026 option, but I’ll bet the veteran winger is back. He’s a Noonan favorite.
Miles Robinson: Up
Another strong season for the future of the defense. Robinson is better suited to left center back or right center back in Cincinnati’s back three; his speed plays better there. Needs to be consistently elite to justify his new Designated Player status in 2026.
Dado Valenzuela: Steady
The 21-year-old was on track to establish a new career-best in minutes played, but he logged just six minutes from September on. Still, Dado’s five regular-season goals were third-best on the team.
Head Coach Pat Noonan: Steady
There is perhaps no better floor-raiser in MLS. Every winter and summer, the roster loses and/or adds a handful of critical pieces but FCC has finished in the top three of the East three seasons running. This team needs more tactical offspeed pitches, though, to counter its one-goal-victory fastball. I’ll be interested to see if turnover finally finds its way to a coaching staff that has stuck together since Noonan was hired ahead of the 2022 season.
General Manager Chris Alright: Up
Cincinnati’s fourth-year GM dropped $28 million of ownership’s money to fill the hole at striker (Denkey) and replace Lucho Acosta (Evander). Albright also made strong supplementary additions with Anunga, Echnique, Engel, and Gidi. Brenner’s shocking return helped steer the ship in the right direction in the season’s final weeks.
Final Thoughts
This is an expensive roster with most of its key players at or near 30 years old. Sustained excellence is great, and winning trophies is obviously far easier said than done. But all that winning will feel hollow if a downturn comes in a few years and there aren’t a few more banners bolted onto TQL Stadium.
Thanks for reading throughout the season! We’ll talk again in a few months.
Grant Freking writes FC Cincinnati coverage for Cincinnati Magazine. You can follow him on X at @GrantFreking.
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