After Head Coach Alan Koch whistled for the final time during Wednesday morning’s practice, players sat in a circle at midfield for a chat.
“Just bringing the group together,” Koch said about the conversation’s objective. “We just had a chat about the ups and downs we’ve had so far this season and to make sure we focus on what we’re good at and not get carried away with the things that we’re not so good at.”
The third-year FC Cincinnati coach noted the chat consisted of on-field matters.However, the big topic this week is what happened off the field.
On Sunday morning, forward Fanendo Adi was stopped for speeding and cited for Operating a Vehicle While Impaired (“OVI”) by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He’s currently away from the team activities.
“Obviously things like this are frustrating for everybody to go through of course, but we just focus on the work we have to do,” Koch said. “We tell the guys when we play in a game, it’s focus on literally what’s inside the white lines. When we come to training, that’s our job, to focus on what you can control.”
During a post-training interview with media, Koch noted Adi’s absence isn’t a major adjustment ahead of Sunday afternoon’s match against Sporting Kansas City at Nippert Stadium. Adi missed the previous two games with a left ankle injury.
“It’s interesting because he’s been injured the last little while,” Koch said. “We were hoping to have him back this week in terms of recovering from his injury, but we’ve had to deal with it the last few games, so nothing really changes from that perspective.”
