There are a lot of “when’s” at the Mercy Health Training Center. When would FC Cincinnati appoint a new coach? Now that Jaap Stam was hired, when can he and his assistant, Said Bakkati, come to the U.S.? When will play resume?
But for all the unanswered questions, Nick Hagglund said it’s nice to see the club knows the style and identity it wants to embrace moving forward.
“Quarantine’s been a bit crazy with not knowing what’s going on, but to come out on the opposite side of this with a direction and an idea and an identity for this club is awesome,” center back Nick Hagglund said. “Everyone’s really excited for him to get here.”
Hagglund said the team met Stam and Bakkati on Tuesday over a Zoom call and called the new head coach’s demeanor “incredible.” But now the focus is how quickly the team can meet in person and progress from individual exercise sessions, to a typical training session.
It’s an especially interesting scenario for Hagglund and his fellow center backs, who are now being coached by one of the most famous defenders of the last 25 years.
“I’m excited to see what his philosophy is exactly,” he said. “Sometimes when players become coaches, they see things a little bit differently. But for center backs, I am expecting he’ll want hard-nosed guys that are reliable and trustworthy in the back who are going to do their job day in, day out.
“I’m excited to get the opportunity to learn from him and pick up some tidbits and make my game a little bit better.”
