3 Questions with The Post Cincy

Getting to know Saturday's opponent.

via Atlanta United

Atlanta United attempt to get back to their winning ways on Saturday night when they host FC Cincinnati. This match marks the return of centerback Miles Robinson to Atlanta. After spending seven seasons with the Five Stripes, the two-time MLS Best XI defender chose to sign with Cincy in free agency.

To get you a bit more familiar with FCC, I reached out to Cincy PostCast, a podcast covering the team. One of their co-hosts Grayson was kind enough to answer some questions for us.

Here’s what they had to say:

Rob: Give us a quick summation of how Cincy have opened the season so far and what vibes are like around the team.

Grayson: Vibes are… weird. FC Cincinnati is fifth in the standings, three points out of first place, and looks to be as strong as predicted in defense, yet they haven't had a performance in league play where they looked very good, or at least consistently good. It turns out that replacing five starters in one window might not always be an entirely smooth process. After the first few games, there was an idea that the defense was good enough to keep them competitive and buy the offense time to figure it out, but now they're sitting on their first two-game losing streak since May 2022 and just played their worst collective game in recent memory in the 2-1 loss to Montreal.

Part of that losing streak likely has to do with injuries to starting goalkeeper Roman Celentano (out this weekend) and defensive midfielder Obinna Nwobodo (who has been back a couple of weeks but does not look to be back to normal), but those don't explain the lack of cohesion on offense or some of the carelessness in possession. So I would say there's a general sense that the team should be good, and certainly has good players, but there's something wrong that keeps fans from expecting much in the near term. Nevertheless, I am still optimistic that the additions will adjust to the team/league and FCC should be in position to be peaking more toward late summer/early fall.

Rob: From the outside looking in, it seems as if FCC’s attack hasn’t been as prolific as in the past. Is that an accurate assessment and how much of that is related to the loss of Brandon Vazquez?

Grayson: Yes and a lot. Brandon didn't score much in MLS play last year (just eight goals) and on the surface it might have been tempting to assume that Corey Baird (also eight goals in MLS last year) would be a decent replacement, but FCC has sorely missed Brandon's hold-up play and ability to create space for himself and others with his movement in the box. The current line on Baird going around town is that he was actually a replacement for Dominique Badji (backup striker who moved to Turkey in the offseason), but that means that Brandon's replacement is… no one. FCC seems to have missed out on its primary U22 striker targets this window, so it looks more and more like they will have to make do with what they have until the summer.

In the last two games, Baird was benched for Yuya Kubo, who was signed in 2020 as a Designated Player striker but since then has played primarily as a box-to-box midfielder (and at right wingback to start this year). Kubo now has two goals in two starts at striker, and three overall on the season. Last year's MVP Lucho Acosta seems to be as dangerous as ever – he's at the top of the league in key passes, shot-creating actions, and expected assists – but he is not combining with Baird or Aaron Boupendza at the same level he did with Brandon or Brenner. In particular, Lucho's chemistry with Boupendza seems to be nonexistent, and Boupendza's two goals this year are the only two this season that Lucho did not score or assist. Further underscoring the problems is that FCC has been offside more than anyone in the league this year, with Lucho, Baird, and Boupendza all in the top ten individually.

However, there are reasons to expect improvement, if not necessarily by this weekend. Luca Orellano has looked like a promising replacement for Alvaro Barreal on the left, and he has been denied a couple of goals by the crossbar already. There's hope that Pavel Bucha, once he adjusts to the physicality of the league, will provide more going forward than Junior Moreno did. Boupendza and Baird both should have scored more than they have, but they each have missed multiple clear chances at the goal. All of that is tempered, though, by the fact that they haven't collectively generated as many chances as you would like, and by the anecdotal observation that Lucho seems to be allergic to passing to Boupendza.

Rob: We Atlanta folks are always nostalgic about our former players. How has Miles looked so far? Also, did the five minutes you saw Yamil Asad play change your life?

Grayson: In the recent chief soccer officer survey that ran in The Athletic, Miles Robinson was the top vote-getter for best defender in MLS, and we have not seen much of anything suggesting otherwise. When we signed Miles, I thought that he was a great fit for the way our center backs play, and that seems to be the case. It was always going to be tough to replace Yerson Mosquera, who is currently starting regularly for Villarreal in La Liga, but Miles has been as good or better (and less prone to stupid yellow cards). He also scored the winning goal against Chicago, which isn't necessarily expected but still nice to see.

The Yamil Asad signing seemed to come out of nowhere. He randomly showed up at training one week, which was described by the local beat reporters as "a courtesy" to help him stay fit. About two weeks later, he was added to the roster. I wouldn't say his five minutes "changed my life," but it was curious that he was suddenly one of the players that Lucho was willing to pass to (they played together in DC). I have assumed that the Asad signing was just to get Lucho another buddy on the team, since some of the players he hung out with (Barreal, Brenner, Santi Arias) have moved on. I assume he's a good teammate and veteran locker room presence, but I don't expect to see much of him on the field. He didn't even travel to Montreal.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention another former Atlanta player, Alec Kann. Kann was signed in 2022 to be the starter, got hurt early in the season, and lost his job to Celentano. He had hand surgery in the offseason and is only just back. He got his first start last weekend (former USL Goalkeeper of the Year Evan Louro started the first game Celentano was out) and it was a bit rough, but now he has his first opportunity in a few years to get a decent run of games.

Projected Lineup:

Kann; Yedlin, Robinson, Miazga, Murphy, Orellano; Nwobodo, Bucha, Acosta; Boupendza, Kubo

I would not be surprised if Miles started at LCB and Kipp Keller started at RCB, as they have had problems with teams exploiting the left side of the defense when Orellano gets forward. I also would not be surprised if Baird comes back at striker, but Kubo has the hot hand currently.

Score Prediction: 2-1 Atlanta