Ketuta Manneh said there was no reason to worry.
Before FC Cincinnati’s game at the New England Revolution, questions were asked if FCC could still find success with key players missing from the lineup. Five players were away on international duty, while two others were injured.
Manneh promised the club has a system in place and people who could produce in that system.
He was right.
On Sunday afternoon, Cincinnati beat New England, 2-0, at Gillette Stadium. It was FCC’s first road win in MLS play.
But it was also more than that.
If the 1-1 draw in Atlanta was a smash-and-grab affair and the 3-0 home opener against Portland was FC Cincinnati’s MLS coming-out party, the result against the Revolution showed FCC is a quality team with quality depth that can grind out wins in difficult circumstances.
But for all the grittiness the clean sheet required, there was still exciting flair – led by Manneh.
The Gambian winger had his first goal and assist with Cincinnati and maintained the club’s attacking quality, despite Fanendo Adi being injured and Darren Mattocks away with the Jamaica National Team.
“We know ourselves,” Manneh said. “The coaches, they’ve done their homework. They brought a lot of quality players in here. It doesn’t matter who is here, it doesn’t matter who’s not here.
“We know our team, we believe in our system, we believe in our players and our players came and stepped in and got the job done.”
Manneh played his now expected role of second striker. Against New England, his partner was Emmanuel Ledesma, who made his first MLS start and brought a fresh look to the club in the final third. Roland Lamah brought his expected pace and quality to the attack, while Kenny Saief made his first MLS start and was the key that unlocked the team’s offensive success.
But that success reiterated Manneh’s pre-match point. Of the players mentioned above, only he and Lamah played against Portland in the 3-0 win over the reigning MLS Western Conference champs.
Just because there was squad rotation didn’t mean a reduction in quality. If anything, Sunday proved FC Cincinnati are finding their identity: an attack-minded team with strong defensive parts and a multi-threat attack.
“We have a really good team,” Manneh said. “They can take this whole 11, scrap it up, bring in the guys that are not playing right now, and I think it would be the same … We’re going to play our game, we know our system and we believe in it.”
FC Cincinnati sit second in the Eastern Conference through four matches. They have seven points. Looking ahead, the club has a pair of home dates at Nippert Stadium next. Within the next month, three of the four matches are at home.
After a grueling start to the 2019 regular season, it won’t get easier, but it could become more manageable – especially playing at Nippert.
As for who plays, though, Manneh said the players absent in New England will have to earn their spot in the starting lineup again for Saturday night against the Philadelphia Union.
“We need to keep that momentum going,” he said. “We have fighters on this team. Everyone on this team is a fighter. I think that’s been what’s getting us along. It’s been great.
“We deserve everything we got the last couple games. We were very unlucky in the Atlanta game, but we put that behind us. I think that in the past few games, we’ve been working hard, we took our chances and things are happening for us.”
