It’s Hell Is Real week. Playoff implications abound for FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew, most crucially home-field advantage in a possible playoff rematch for the second year in a row. After a 2-1 win in Columbus in May, FCC seeks its first season sweep in the rivalry’s five-year MLS history.
FC Cincinnati sits in second place in the Eastern Conference behind Miami, with 51 points and seven MLS matches remaining. Columbus is in third place, with 49 points and eight MLS matches left. Here are three things to know ahead of Saturday’s showdown at TQL Stadium.
Ignore the Crew’s banana peel slip vs. Seattle
Columbus was pummeled 4-0 by visiting Seattle over the weekend, but I would advise the Orange and Blue faithful to largely ignore any glee-induced takeaways from the match. With the game being played over an international window, Columbus took the field without star forward Cucho Hernandez, its top two goalkeepers, and two other regular starters. The contest went without goals or incident until the Crew’s third-string goalkeeper picked up a red card in first half stoppage time, forcing coach Wilfriend Nancy to play center back Sean Zawadzki between the pipes for the remainder of the match. Columbus will arrive in Cincinnati on Saturday night back at full strength.
There is one key development, though. The Crew failed to collect any points in one of their two remaining “in hand” matches.
FC Cincinnati can apply major pressure to an overextended Columbus
Three points on Saturday would provide FC Cincinnati with a five-point advantage over the Crew with six matches remaining. Columbus still has seven league matches left, plus a Campeones Cup contest vs. Liga MX’s Club América. (The Campeones Cup is contested between the previous year’s winners of MLS Cup and Liga MX’s Campeón de Campeones.) In fact, between Saturday and October 5, the Crew play seven times, or once every three days.
By contrast, FCC will have had 13 days of rest between its 4-0 bludgeoning of Montreal and Hell Is Real. And while Saturday does initiate a stretch of three matches in eight days for the Garys—road trips to Minnesota (September 18) and Nashville (September 21) loom next week—FC Cincinnati will have a full week of rest before welcoming LAFC on September 28. After LAFC, FCC takes the field just three times the rest of the regular season, including nearly two full weeks to prepare for its final match at Philadelphia on October 19.
Is Pat Noonan a possible manager for USMNT?
Prior to the full-time tenants of TQL Stadium resuming their slate this weekend, the U.S. Men’s National Team drew 1-1 with New Zealand Tuesday night in the West End. No FC Cincinnati players were in uniform for the Americans, whose next competitive match will be under new manager Mauricio Pochettino, previously the gaffer for European heavyweights Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea.
After going the MLS/American route with Gregg Berhalter for much of the past six years, the U.S. has hired a someone with considerable European playing and coaching bonafides in Pochettino, not terribly dissimilar a route from when the federation hired Jurgen Klinsmann, who preceded Berhalter in a full-time capacity. Bob Bradley, an American with MLS roots, preceded Klinsmann.
If the pendulum swings back to an American coach with a MLS background post-Pochettino, could Pat Noonan be next in line? A former player and assistant coach for the Stars and Stripes, his winning pedigree as a player and a coach and his ability to earn respect from players of all backgrounds are appealing qualities in a national team coach.
Grant Freking writes FC Cincinnati coverage for Cincinnati Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at @GrantFreking.
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