Minutes before Wednesday morning’s training session, Yoann Damet delivered his first interview as FC Cincinnati’s interim head coach and stressed he’ll managed with a team-first approach.
“The focus is on the players,” Damet said in his French accent. “It’s not about me. It’s more about what we can do to find a solution and improve on the field. The focus is on trying to get back on training, implement some concepts and get back on track.”
Damet’s first day in charge arrived roughly 24 hours after FCC parted ways with Alan Koch, who had coached the team since February 2017. Damet joined Koch’s coaching staff a month later.
During his interview Wednesday, Damet stressed the importance of the club having a positive and enjoyable environment. The day before, President and General Manager Jeff Berding said that culture was lacking earlier this season.
“The main focus is having accountability on the field,” Damet said. “We want to set the standard for the guys and make them understand they have the qualities. (But) It’s not about their qualities, it’s about how we can use their qualities to make sure they can express themselves and find each other on the field and again try the best way to play all together.
“We expect to create a more competitive environment too. We didn’t score many goals in the past games; we didn’t have success in the past games. Now, it’s not about looking back, but moving forward and focusing on the things we need to change and improve on.”
When FCC take the field Saturday afternoon against the Montreal Impact – Damet’s old club – at Nippert Stadium, it’ll be a fresh start and new-look club, he said. Now in charge, the 29-year-old said the Orange and Blue would deploy new tactics, a new approach and a new identity in play moving forward.
“For sure we want to improve on that aspect and try to give ideas to the guys and a more defined way to play and take some more risks, too,” he said of an identity. “It’s just going to take more time. We have three days to prepare for the game on Saturday, so it’s a quick turnaround.
“The idea is to focus on the next weeks, coming weeks. We know it’s a long process. We have to keep working every single day on that and hopefully it pays off as quickly as possible.”
