As Spencer Richey walked toward Jack Stern, FC Cincinnati’s Goalkeeper Coach, he turned his head and scowled. Elsewhere on the field, Fatai Alashe put his hands on his head and looked forward in disbelief. Mathieu Deplagne stared emptily and scratched his facial scruff.
The actions all meant the same: what could’ve been done differently?
It’s the question FC Cincinnati still can’t answer.
The club has lost four-straight matches and hasn't scored in 431 minutes. Ignoring a converted penalty, the goal drought is even longer.
The Orange and Blue may have played themselves into this predicament, but they didn’t arrive here by a lack of effort.
In the 2-0 loss at the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night, Richey produced arguably the best performance of any Cincinnati player in MLS this season. Despite conceding two goals – neither were his fault – he recorded a career-high six saves.
Alashe only played 14 minutes, but he created the club’s best scoring opportunity with a long-range effort that was saved for a corner. In stoppage time, another shot drifted inches wide of the post.
As for Deplagne, in the last three matches, he’s switched outside back roles three times. He, Leo Bertone and Nick Hagglund are the only players to start every match to this point. There’s not much else he can do.
“It’s tough,” Richey said after the game. “If I knew (how to change things), I would definitely speak out and express that to the group. All we can do now is reflect on the game, get back on the training field, try to figure things out and not just speak about it.
“If I had the golden solution, I would be sure to express it. But I don’t have it right now.”
No one does.
Even Head Coach Alan Koch said the club couldn’t buy a goal right now.
“I don’t think I personally haven’t lost this many games in my entire career anywhere, so it’s incredibly frustrating,” Koch said. “But we’ve got to stay incredibly true to the process. We’ve got a group. We’re maximizing that group.”
That maximization needs to lead to productivity and points.
When FC Cincinnati hosted the Union on March 30 at Nippert Stadium, they had seven points from four games. A win that night would’ve given the club the best start by any first-year MLS team in league history. FCC lost 2-0.
Fast forward to Wednesday in Philly, where there was another 2-0 loss. In between those matches, the team earned one point from five games.
The solace in this, however, is the Orange and Blue can end this three-game, eight-day road trip positively with a result at the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night. After that, two of their next three matches are at Nippert Stadium.
This doesn’t mean anyone should look ahead, but there are plenty of awaiting opportunities. Cincinnati is only 10 games through its inaugural, 34-game season.
As the players’ facial expressions revealed that the full-time whistle, there’s serious effort and frustration. Now, games need to end in an encouraging manner.
“(I’m) very happy with how the players applied themselves,” Koch said. “I think the work rate was spot on out of the gate. I think they wore us down a little bit as the game went along … The little moments, and I speak to them all the time, are the big moments and quality steps up to the plate in those moments. We came to a tough place to play and we created a lot of opportunities.”
