Know Thy Enemy: Revolution vs Cincinnati - Arena's at High Noonan Edition

While there might be an Arena family duel at 20 paces on the sideline, both the Revs and Cincy are looking to move past 20 points on their respective seasons.

Photo courtesy of J. Alexander Dolan

The New England Revolution and FC Cincinnati tonight at Gillette Stadium (730pm ET, AppleTV+), and for the Revs there is a chance to equal some recent history:

The two previous New England teams on that list made an MLS Cup and won the Supporter’s Shield, so the Revs have a chance to do something potentially very special today against a team that they have a lot of similarities and connections with.

Coached by a former Revs striker in Pat Noonan and assisted by “some dope” that has a significant relationship to Bruce Arena, whose tongue is firmly in cheek and not to mention former Revs defender Chris Albright in the front office…why don’t we consider Cincy more of a rival? Or at the very least a comparable benchmark club in the East.

Hear me out - I know that FC Cincy has only been around for a cup of coffee in MLS and has only beaten the Revs once in league play over the years where they have been mostly pants. But the similarites between these two teams go well beyond the relation of the coaching staffs. I think both clubs build their teams similarly and now with the sale of Brenner to Udinese of Serie A in Italy, both the Revs and Cincy have made high-profile sales in recent years.

This, from MLS’ game preview, shows that even despite the Revs’ lackluster 2022…they still dominated Cincy including a blowout Round of 32 win in the US Open Cup thanks to a Carles Gil hat trick.

I don’t think New England or Cincinnati will ever spend like the Los Angeles clubs or Atlanta, Miami, Toronto in the East nor will they ever have the academy pull that Philadelphia or Dallas have…but there is a strong middle ground targeting younger mid-level DPs and U22 players to sell on as well as building with league veterans that can still compete at the top of the league.

FC Cincy I think has finally found a front office and coaching staff that truly knows and understands the league and how to be successful in it and it’s not a surprise to see them for the second consecutive year improve significantly under Albright and Noonan. Of the 10 goals Cincy has allowed this year, 8 of them have been in two games - a blowout 5-1 loss to St. Louis and a 3-3 draw at Chicago.

This is a tremendous opportunity for the Revs to gain additional separation in the East before beginning a long road trip. New England has done well at home against less than stellar opponents, and today would be a anxcellent statement win to shed any doubt that this team can dominate, score against often, and beat top-tier opponents in MLS.

As always, we are joined by our good friend Laurel Pfahler of Queen City Press who was extra kind to take a break from her Bengals NFL Draft coverage to answer our questions. QCP is a Patreon-backed site so send a few dollars Laurel’s way to check out today’s Revs-Cincy coverage.

1) So the sale of Brenner to Udinese of Serie A was finally made official, what does this mean for the club's summer transfer window plans and how important is it for Cincy to maintain their strong start to the year while Brenner is still stateside?

As much as I like Sergio Santos, who has been Brenner’s sub and fill-in when not available, you can’t really replace Brenner in this roster, so it’s important FCC gets out of him whatever it can before he leaves and you can bet the club will be bringing in a new replacement – likely another young designated player. Brenner does a lot he doesn’t get credit for defensively and in his passing, and he scored 18 goals last year over the final 20 games. Even with a slow start to this season, he’s a special talent, and that’s why he’s a top 10 transfer in MLS.

Santos has four goals in nine games with three starts, but he’s not someone the team can rely on for 90 minutes simply because of how he plays with his speed, and his injury history is a concern there will be a breakdown if he’s starting regularly. After that, there’s a huge dropoff in the forward production – zero goals from any other forwards dating back to last season.

FCC general manager Chris Albright had a chance to move Brenner in January and did not. That tells me the club wasn’t ready to replace him yet. Cincinnati has been preparing for this for almost a year, and I would bet a replacement is in the wings to be signed in the summer window. The timing of this deal now still gives FCC three months to get that done.

2) Much like the Revs in their USOC match, Cincy had to sub on several regulars late to nab the win but of the starting group against Louisville who stood out for the orange and blue?

Forward Dom Badji looked great, especially pressing in the final third, but the midfielders were sitting back so deep he didn’t have much help once he won turnovers. He’s been playing well in his minutes lately, but still has not scored since joining FCC ahead of last season. Quimi Ordonez, the other starting forward, had some great chances and scored the game winner of a buildup started by Luciano Acosta and Alvaro Barreal, two ringers that came on in the final 15-30 minutes. He’s headed to the U-20 World Cup with Guatemala and is a young one to watch for the future.

Goalkeeper Alec Kann, who was injured in warmups before last year’s Open Cup third-round game and ended up losing his job to Roman Celentano while out, made some great saves and still proves to be a solid option as a backup. And the only other one I would highlight is 15-year-old Stiven Jimenez, a homegrown player signed to a first-team deal last fall. He was super active, had some great passes and wasn’t afraid to go into hard tackles against much bigger players than him. He hadn’t even made a matchday roster yet and has been starting with the FCC 2 team, but he will be a fun one to watch develop.

3) Tied atop the East with identical records, should Saturday's game between these two have a playoff feel to it or do we have to wait for the July rematch to really start looking at the standings?

This is the 10^th game of the season, and while it’s still really early, I think it’s a good time to start reading more into the standings and I know the players are looking at this game as one of significance. This will be a good indicator for both teams to see where they stack up against top competition, and I don’t think FCC has forgotten the two losses they took to the Revs last year, including the 5-1 blowout in the Open Cup game and the 3-2 defeat at home, but I would expect more hype around the rematch in July if the teams are still high up in the standings, especially with the atmosphere at TQL Stadium adding to the energy.

Lineup/Injuries/Predictions/Etc.

Injuries: The only injury right now is right wingback Santi Arias, as he suffered a quad injury in the loss at St. Louis on April 15 and is still working off to the side in training. He’s a good player but has been hurt more than healthy so Ray Gaddis has been a steady replacement. Yuya Kubo made his return to the pitch Wednesday for the five minutes of stoppage time after missing five weeks with a knee injury, and I could see him getting some more minutes off the bench Saturday. Brenner won’t be traveling, as he just returned from Italy finalizing the deal with Udinese for his summer transfer. He’s been out of team training for almost two weeks, and that turf at Gillette Stadium makes for a risky return after the travel and time off.

Lineup (3-4-1-2 or 3-5-2)

Santos-Vazquez

Acosta

Barreal-Moreno-Nwobodo-Gaddis

Mosquera-Miazga-Hagglund

Celentano

Prediction: It might seem like I’m taking the easy route with a 2-2 draw, but this just feels like a game that will end up even. Pat Noonan would love to get his first win against mentor Bruce Arena, but it’s a tough place to play and I think FCC would be fortunate to come away with a draw here against a clearly improved Revs squad that might have an advantage in terms of depth.