Leagues Cup is an opportunity for FC Cincinnati to sort themselves out and get right for not only the tournament's knockout stages, but the regular season as a whole. One of those opportunities to identify problems and work towards solutions now while time affords for problem solving.
One of those identified problems from Thursday nights Leagues Cup opener against Querétaro, a 1-nil win in regulation yielding FC Cincinnati all three points and securing advancing from the group, was the general fitness of the team and how, in some cases, the lack thereof is creating tactical issues late in the game.
“One of the things that we continue to take away from where we're at now is we need to improve our fitness,” Pat Noonan said from the podium at his post game press conference. “Too many guys have to come off the field with physical cramps.”
In an ideal world, Noonan is not making adjustments in game based on fitness or health. Fatigue is something to manage, sure, but being forced into changes at nonideal times means making changes that sometimes don’t best suit the team's needs.
The arrival of newly signed center back Chidozie Awaziem only further highlighted the problem. Awaziem, who due to the nature of the European calendar, has only truly just begun the equivalent of his preseason training after a lengthy offseason break from club play in Portugal, played a full 90 in his debut. An unexpected but welcome contribution as Noonan indicated postgame the plan was to evaluate him after 45 minutes of play, but his performance and fitness level showed he was good to go for the rest of the match.
The feat of fitness and mental toughness was only further stated when teammate Asad informed the world that Awaziem had flown in from Canada earlier that day after securing his work permit. Further adding to the fatigue he must have been feeling as he fought to see out a clean sheet after 90 minutes of pouring rain play.
“I wasn't supposed to play the 90 minutes so, I guess I have to give myself some credit for staying up to the 90 minutes because I was very tired…but it meant alot to me (to get the clean sheet). But like I said, I was feeling good in the game. I was good to go. It doesn't matter when I come, today or yesterday, I was feeling good so I was good to go.”
“I thought that the way he controlled his running, the way we were able to control the tempo with the ball at times, we didn't consistently put our back line in spots where they had to defend the space and he managed it for himself in the game in a good way,” Noonan said of his new defender. “This is a guy that's played for two weeks. He's essentially in preseason form and figures out how to get through 90 minutes. That's what an experienced player is able to do.”
Awaziem’s ability to go a full 90 minutes was highlighted by Noonan as a point some of his FCC teammates should look to. If there was a negative take away on the night (beyond the lack of finishing) it was growing frustration from the FC Cincinnati manager that his squad has players unable to give full match efforts without fatigue (in all of its ways) impacting the game.
Essentially making the case that if the newest member of the squad, the Nigerian center back who has only begun full training sessions, can prepare for and manage the match in such a way to see out the match, then those who have been training and building fitness since the end of January certainly can too.
“We have guys that need to understand what being a pro means for not just portions of the game, but for all of the game. The lead up to a game, and how you train to be physically preparing to be consistently available for the entirety of the game. That's something we need to address.”
“In some cases it is,” Noonan said when asked if the fitness issues are a matter of toughness. “In some cases it’s where guys are having played games prior or coming off of an injury. When you miss some time, you can play catch up a little bit.”
“But we have to make too many changes because of cramping. That's not just me pointing fingers at guys that we need to improve their fitness. I have to look at the training and how we can make sure that this isn't a concern moving forward.”
