It’d be perfectly understandable for Mathieu Deplagne to be exhausted.
After all, Deplagne has played every minute of FC Cincinnati’s 2019 season, including all of the club’s MLS matches and its two 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup games. In fact, because one Cup match went to extra time, the French fullback is averaging 91.58 minutes per match – literally more minutes than a game includes. (Stoppage time isn’t included in MLS statistics.)
That’s a lot.
It’s even more so considering Deplagne came to the Orange and Blue via ES Troyes AC in France, meaning he arrived in Cincinnati midway through his French season, which runs fall through spring.
So, as American-based players (Nick Hagglund, Victor Ulloa, etc.) reported to camp for preseason in January, Deplagne did the same. However, he was already in mid-season condition. He’s kept that form since January, too.
“For me, it’s OK because I’m used to playing a lot,” the 27-year-old said. “I can manage. If you say to me that I have to play, I can play. I don’t feel tired.”
Deplagne’s ability to play every match highlights his reliability. That his performances are just as consistent across every minute shows how valuable he is to FC Cincinnati, and even more so recently.
Cincinnati had 14 field players practicing during media availability Tuesday morning. One of those, Leo Bertone, is unavailable Saturday at Minnesota United FC because of a one-game suspension for card accumulation.
As injuries and players away on international duty have shaped and shifted FCC’s gameday lineups, Deplagne’s name has been cemented into a starting position every match.
He has played 1,740 minutes across 19 games this season in all competitions. Of those, 1,530 minutes have been in MLS play. Center midfielder Victor Ulloa has the second-most minutes at 1,278 MLS minutes. That’s still a significant minutes total, but 2.8 games fewer than Deplagne.
“It’s a lot and we know it, but we have to deal with the situation right now,” Interim Head Coach Yoann Damet said of Deplagne’s minutes. “We would like to make sure the workload can be managed for everyone. There are individual cases that we have to take into consideration. But for now, we keep pushing.”
