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It's good to be back

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Finally. FC Cincinnati took the pitch. The offseason is over and behind us and now the joy of play can begin. It didn't end the way we had hoped with a 3-2 defeat to the New York Energy Drinks. Even though we didn't get a result I, for one, am pleased with what I saw. After falling behind 2-0 in the first half they didn't throw in the towel and allow New York to open up the scoring flood gates in the second half.

The first half of this game was horrendous. All the horrors of last year came flooding back -- the giveaways in our own defensive 3rd, inability to complete passes in the midfield and a complete lack of attacking in the final 3rd. The team looked unorganized and undisciplined. New York was able to find plenty of space throughout the field. It was as if our game plan was to space our 11 players equally around the pitch. It was disheartening and frustrating. Then came the second half.

The second half was brilliant. We tightened up and began completing passes. Alan Cruz found the back of the net on a nice pass from Brandon Vazquez. From there FC Cincinnati kept the pressure up. In the 63rd minute, our 10 million dollar man finally came onto the pitch. After spending the week in Holland acquiring his work visa, Jurgen Locadia wasn't able to practice with the team all week. He was still able to come on and we could immediately see the quality he brings. He had two great chances that didn't end in goals but it was something exciting for the future of FC Cincinnati. After New York scored off a break to take a 3-1 lead, The Boys in Orange and Blue still continued to press and Locadia opened his scoring account in his MLS premiere. 2020 is going to be a much better season that 2019.

There are obviously things that need to be corrected. Our Midfield needs to link better with both the backline and our attackers. Siem de Jong should help smooth that out. Hopefully, his paperwork will be ready by next week's game in Atlanta.  There are obvious issues that need to be corrected with our defense. Mathieu Deplagne has got to do better. He was carelessly playing the ball out of the back and never seemed to get back defensively. A lot of the issues can be fixed with the team playing together more and learning each other styles.

I am excited about all the new players that we saw today. Kubo seemed a bit lost at times but he showed flashes and I think he just needs time to gel with his team. Locadia, well, he was as promised. I see no reason why he won't end this season on the plus side of 15 goals. Adrien Regattin will end this year as a soccer legend in Cincinnati. He plays with the fire and passion we love in our athletes. His hustle and determination are going to win him a lot of fans. I can't wait until next week to see how much better they become.

We still have to bring in the right coach for this team and hopefully that will be very soon and more improvements will be seen. The biggest take away from today's game is that two of our DPs scored a goal.  Last season our only real DP (yes I know Cruz was technically a DP but he was a "Young DP") scored one goal. This year we have doubled that total from DPs. It can only get better from here.

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