Things should start slowing down for Ron Jans, FC Cincinnati’s new head coach, after last week’s busy introduction to both the club and life in America. Beginning Monday, the Dutchman had his first full week of training this past week.
Here’s are the takeaways from his comments to the media this week:
Jans makes his Nippert Stadium coaching debut on Saturday night at Nippert Stadium against New York City FC.
The match is the third game he’s seen at Nippert, but the first as a coach and as the person picked to lead the Orange and Blue moving forward.
He’s looking forward to the opportunity and said last match at Columbus Crew SC felt like a “little Nippert experience” because of the thousands of traveling fans who saw the first #HellisReal Derby in MLS history.
“I was at two home games just sitting in the stands,” Jans said. “But now that I’m sitting on the bench, I’m really excited to be over there.”
The head coach first visited Cincinnati and attended the 3-2 win against the Houston Dynamo on July 6 and then the 2-1 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Aug. 3.
Jans said FCC had a positive week of training and could have some injured players back available who didn’t play in his debut against the Crew.
“I think the team looks great and we have more players (available),” Jans said. “Some players got back from injury. We had a good week of training, so it should be very positive.”
That is evident on the wings, where Kekuta Manneh is back in contention to make the 18 after missing last week with a slight knock. If he’s in the 18, he’ll likely be joined by Joe Gyau and Derrick Etienne Jr., who trained a combined three days last week after sealing deadline day transfer moves to Cincinnati last week
Left back Greg Garza (calf) and midfielder Fatai Alashe (hamstring) have returned to full training this week after extended absences, but their statuses aren’t as straight forward.
Garza hasn’t played for the Orange and Blue since May 19 in Orlando, where he sustained a calf injury six minutes into a 5-1 loss to Orlando City SC. Up until last weekend in Columbus, Cincinnati hadn’t used a natural left back in the position since because the club didn’t have a healthy left back on the roster.
But Andrew Gutman started last week and impressed, and now Garza could be close to playing once more, too.
“He is improving, but he’s been out for such a long time, so he will not be with the squad tomorrow,” Jans said of Garza. “They told me about his qualities and I saw it in the training sessions. We have to be careful. He’s so eager to come back as quickly as possible, but we don’t want a new injury, so we take care of his health
The last time FC Cincinnati played against New York City didn’t go well and finished with Cincinnati losing 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. But that’s in the past, and Jans isn’t worried about facing them again in a rematch.
“I wasn’t there, it was a while ago and it doesn’t influence the result of this game,” he said. “So, I’m not afraid at all and the team is not. It’s a new game and I’m not worried about it.”
One thing different between Jans’ approach and how the club operated earlier was his frankness to the media.
Earlier in the season, FC Cincinnati players trained in practice to negate the opponents’ strengths and qualities. The focus was about limiting the opposition, rather than the opposition worrying about the Orange and Blue. That’s changed.
Since Interim Head Coach Yoann Damet took over in May, he wanted to implement a new philosophy – one that General Manager Gerard Nijkamp offered full support of when he joined the club later that month.
Of course, now Cincinnati no longer has a temporary coach and Jans can lead the team. But rather than mentioning what the other team does tactically, his approach is saying what FC Cincinnati want to achieve.
This approach is an open one, but it also lets fans know what the style of FCC’s future should resemble. Offensively, that means attacking, fluid play that builds possessions from the back. Defensively, here’s what Jans had to say:
“I want people to think FC Cincinnati are a team the like to press when they lose the ball and want to recover it as soon as possible,” Jans said.
That means Cincinnati want a high press defensively. Essentially, the attacking players have to sprint more to pressure the opponent’s backline. An example of that would be Jans using all three subs last week on attacking players: two wingers and a forward. While they can obviously score, they’re the fastest players and can help in defending, too.
