So often this season FC Cincinnati has been defined by their ability to come back from long odds and fight to the final moment to earn points. Saturday night in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, that simply was not the case.
There’s an underlying issue with needing to come from behind all the time, as FCC have successfully done eight times this season, more than anyone else in Major League Soccer. It means you’re constantly going down and trailing in games.
That underlying concern is a problem that has been addressed, or attempted to be addressed, all season long. But in the meantime, while you sort yourself out, there’s something you can hang your hat on with that. There’s a ‘never say die’ attitude you can build an identity around and rally around to help sort out the more intrinsic, more physical issues with the team.
It’s worked in the past. It even worked against this same opponent six months ago when FCC went down a man and down a goal in the home match against CF Montréal. The Orange and Blue fought back and secured a 4-3 win against all odds and rallied off that.
But this Saturday night at Stade Saputo, in a 3-1 loss to a CF Montréal side that had lost their last five games in a row and sat in the cellar of the Easter Conference, that drive was nowhere to be found.
What was put on display was a squad, that Head Coach Pat Noonan said postgame, lacked confidence, conviction and energy from minute one and never rose to the moment.
“Really strange that we didn't have the energy and urgency that we needed. We had a great week of training, and it didn't translate at all. That's all we talked about for two days, ‘can this translate into our performance?’ And it was the opposite of the energy and the focus that we had during the week, and we just didn't look like a team that understood the moment,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said in his opening remarks to the press Saturday night postgame. “And even when we were in the balance in the second half, we just don't, one, make enough big plays, and two, we don't make the simple plays.”
FC Cincinnati showed a glimpse of fight early in the second half and earned an equalizer from Tom Barlow to bring things level after conceding in the first half. But the nail in the coffin came minutes later as through sloppy play and a lack of focus they allowed a penalty kick (which was converted) and then bang in the nail when they failed to contain Montréal’s leading scorer, Prince Owusu, who secured his brace in a matter of three minutes.
The FC Cincinnati defense continued to falter Saturday, conceding three goals and bringing their season total to 64, tied for most in the league. They allowed their league high 10th penalty kick of the season, and a fifth penalty kick in their last 4 games. The faults have been well documented, and the work to amend the team has been equally documented. But, again, on Saturday what stood out was not the lack of execution, but the lack of readiness to rise and meet the moment as a collective.
The defensive issues aside – and they are not to be put aside lightly or for long – the saving grace of this team has been the offense. Their ability to overcome defensive lapses through firepower.
For a team who has scored so often this season -- 55 times, to be exact and where until recently they were top in the league, so even with this downturn they’ve fallen to just third best -- they hardly looked the part of offensive juggernaut. FCC get into plenty of good spots, they get plenty of opportunities, but an offensive juggernaut is both clinical and ruthless.
Whereas FCC just don’t look like they believe in themselves in that way.
"The intensity and energy of our play hasn't been the issue. Tonight it was. So for that to be the case with the moment is confusing. It just didn't look like a group on the field that had that desire to go win a game,” Noonan said.
“You look at the play tonight, and it's hard to fathom that we can't perform in a better way and with better connections, and like I said, just more desire to and more energy to go and perform,” the Head Coach continued. “It looks like a lack of belief, a lack of confidence, and then not making enough plays. Like I said, even when we get those things right, we lose the energy and the momentum because of moments…we make too many big mistakes that we can't overcome.”
“Right now that you (can) see, but how we're going to dig ourselves out of it is the question.”
That’s as dire as Pat Noonan has sounded in his tenure leading FCC. Which only speaks to the seriousness and ‘confusion’ of the situation.
The Orange and Blue entered this game winless in their last five and left it the same in their last six. They were in ninth place in the East and, through only the grace of some fortunate results around the league, exited the game in the same position. With only eight games left in the regular season, time is running out to right the ship and, frankly, salvage whatever is possible for the 2026 season.
So where does the team go from here? How do they dig out of it?
Noonan reiterated postgame he doesn’t feel like there’s a talent issue on the team, but did again hint at a growing concern of engagement and energy amongst some. But the soccer ability is there. So, 26 games into the season it’s hard not to wonder if only a big or radical change is needed to get this team on a winning path.
It’s a thought that Noonan gave credence to.
“We're not good enough to overlook anybody. Missing players or not, they were in a more dire situation, and that's why I said that it's confusing to not have more energy to play the game,” Noonan explained. “There are guys that we could probably make changes with…that's something to look at to see how you bring life and shake things up to see how we get out of that funk.”
“Some guys looked tired. Some guys looked uncertain of themselves on the field, and it doesn't matter where you are in the standings, it doesn't matter talent level, you have to care, and you have to bring the energy and the confidence in your play.”
David Douděra is one place Noonan could point to as a big change, or even a positive coming out of the night as the newest member of FC Cincinnati made his club debut as a second half sub and appraised himself well in his minutes.
But even in that, Douděra’s performance only further highlighted the concerns the Head Coach was ready to enumerate postgame.
"Yeah, it's a tough circumstance,” Noonan said of Douděra’s debut. “I would say based on him coming in, and you got a new player that brought more energy than most of our players that have been a part of the group, and that part to me is really strange. You could see an experienced guy that didn't see the life of a group and tried to come in, and there were mistakes made, but at least it looked like a player who understood the moment and cared. So, as far as the overall play, it was good to see him out on the field."
What troubles this writer most is that in the past, when faced with challenging results, trials and tribulations, there was always that fighting spirit to fall back on. Problems were solvable and mountains moveable because the team was motivated to bring about change and genuinely believed they could.
In Pat Noonan’s five-year tenure at the helm of The Orange and Blue there have been plenty of challenges, in good times and in bad, but rarely, if ever, has he been left mystified by the team’s confidence and desire. Or rather, a lack thereof.
Desire is still in that locker room; that’s not really up for debate. It’s evident from the seething faces of some as they exited towards the buses outside of Stade Saputo. Confidence is for sure not.
So finding ways to more prominently feature those who have that spark or searching for ways to ignite it in those missing it is needed to help get this season back on track.
“It's not a talent issue. (It’s) The connection of the group and leadership, and how we make the mistakes again. If you look at the last five games, four games, five penalties conceded, and you look at those moments, it's hard to overcome that,” Noonan said. “It’s not talent. It's, I think, confidence, being decisive in what we're doing, in what we're seeing and what we're thinking.”
“There are guys that we could probably make changes with,” Noonan shared. “That's something to look at to see how you bring life and shake things up to see how we get out of that funk.”
FC Cincinnati now have two weeks to reflect on what will go down as another bad loss in a season full of them. Though it won’t be until they go on the road to Atlanta United FC on October 10 to know if they’ve found the solutions they’re looking for.
