Updated to add the full audio of the media scrum with Chris Albight.
FC Cincinnati reset expectations during the winter when the club invested more than $30 million in transfer fees for attacking players, then backed the commitment to winning with a busy summer window that saw five new players added to the roster.
Fans clamoring for a trophy this year are right to expect one, FCC general manager Chris Albright said Tuesday during a scrum with local media, and he still believes Pat Noonan is the coach to lead the team to a championship.
The Orange and Blue sit in second in the Eastern Conference, five points behind the Supporters’ Shield-leading Philadelphia Union with five matches left, after a third straight home loss by a 1-0 score. Although recent results haven’t gone their way, Albright said with the investment in the roster, a trophy still is a realistic expectation.
“It should always be,” Albright said. “I mean, we do have a commitment from ownership that's, you know, among some of the best sort of expenditures in MLS. So yeah, that puts pressure on ourselves, that we welcome. That's why we do this. We want to win. We think we have a team that's built to win. Ultimately, there's few trophies to win, but, you know, we think we're still in the hunt for a couple of them, and sure, that's always going to be the expectation when we have the infrastructure we do and we have the people and players that we do.”
The club spent $16.2 million to acquire Kevin Denkey from Belgium’s Cercle Brugge in the winter and made a $12 million cash trade with Portland for 2024 league MVP finalist Evander to replace departed 2023 MVP Luciano Acosta. FCC also paid almost $3 million to Vasco da Gama to purchase Luca Orellano’s contract at the end of his 2024 loan.
FCC was in first place just a few weeks ago and still was looking at ways to improve depth and upgrade a couple key positions.
Four of its five summer window signees were on the field Saturday, including loanees Brenner, Dominik Marczuk and Ayoub Jabbari for the first time in 2025, and they have just five more games to get fully integrated for a playoff run. Ender Echenique has played six matches, and Samuel Gidi is expected to arrive after the international break.
The additions did not come without sacrifice, as three veterans were traded (DeAndre Yedlin to Real Salt Lake and Corey Baird to San Diego FC) or cut (Sergio Santos), but the moves were done with bigger goals in mind. So, what happens if FCC doesn’t win the trophy that Albright says can be expected? Could coach Pat Noonan’s job be in jeopardy or Albright’s even?
“There's pressure on all of us,” Albright said. “… Obviously, we're in it to win something, right? Pat is a ‘Coach of the Year’ for a reason, and he's an excellent coach, and he's the right guy to lead us now and in the future. But sure, we put the pressure on ourselves, it's not good enough right now. I mean, Pat said as much in his press conference the other night. We've set expectations high enough that this is not the level we should be performing at. We know that. We have a couple weeks now to address it and continue to sort of acclimate these players into the team.
“Look, unfortunately, the last couple seasons, for whatever reason, we've been missing key pieces as well. So, you can't not mention that we didn't play with Miles (Robinson) and Obi (Nwobodo) the other night. Those aren't excuses. That's just reality. Those are foundational pieces in what we do. Last year was Matt (Miazga injured). The year before, it was Matt (suspended) and Obi (injured in the playoffs). So, it's hard to overcome those things, and again, in a cap league where those guys make up an amount of the salary cap, or you're depending on them for X reason. But that being said, no, look, we put the pressure on ourselves and we welcome that.”
This is the second straight year that results haven’t gone in FCC’s favor late in the season. Cincinnati is 5-4-1 in league play since Nwobodo’s last game on June 25, a win at Montreal.
A notable difference, though, is what was done this summer, compared to last, when attempts to address a dire need for proven goal scorers failed. The Orange and Blue in the 2024 summer window signed two new centerbacks to replace injured Miazga and Nick Hagglund, but they were scrambling at the end to add attackers amid cap constraints and ended up with Nico Gioacchini on loan from Italy. He finished with zero goal contributions.
Thus, the effort this past winter to add to the attack.
This summer was about adding specific qualities in key spots, and Albright said he was “pleasantly surprised” by how much the club was able to accomplish. Cincinnati acquired Echenique from Caracas FC in Venezuela as a right-footed wingback/forward to stretch the field with speed early in the window, then brought the 6-foot-6 Jabbari on loan from French Ligue 2 side Grenoble to add a younger, more mobile aerial threat and physical presence in the box.
FCC also acquired Gidi on a U-22 deal from Slovakian side MŠK Žilina in early Augist to provide depth and an intriguing ball progressor in the midfield. Then, on the last day of the window, FCC acquired Marczuk on loan in a trade with Real Salt Lake and Brenner on loan, returning to his former club from Udinese.
“I think going into the window, given the cap flexibility that we did not have, I probably expected more, like maybe two players in,” Albright said. “So, to be able to get five in was, I think, a surprise for all of us, a pleasant surprise. Obviously, some sacrifices when you do that in a salary cap league, but ultimately, the play on the field will determine what success is or isn't. Sheer numbers of players aren't a predictor of success. So we'll see how these players continue to integrate into the team.”
Albright last summer said the windows in Europe remaining open longer than MLS created challenges for the club to sign players who instead wanted to wait and see if they could get a deal done abroad. FIFA responded to his and others’ concerns by extending the window later in the United States this year, to August 21, but as Noonan has pointed out multiple times now, that doesn’t leave much time for late additions to get acclimated.
Echenique was the only summer signee for FCC that actually arrived before the window closed. Jabbari and Gidi both faced long waits to acquire the necessary visas, and Marczuk and Brenner weren’t necessarily in the picture until the very end of the window.
“It's an imperfect system,” Albright said. “That's why we're talking about adjusting it and aligning with the European calendar so that we can, you know, imagine having all these additions and now we're heading into preseason, or we're heading into the first game of the year. Would make it a lot easier to kind of bring the guys together and hopefully form success early that would determine success during the year. That's just not the situation we're in now.
“And it's, I always say in MLS, the guys that come and go quickly are the people that sit and whine about, you know, why certain things are in place that are inefficient, and teams that have success try to deal within those constraints. And we try to live in the latter part of the world.”
Albright said the decisions to move Yedlin and Baird and waive Santos were not necessarily done to get younger, but generally, as pieces of the core move on, the hope is to replace them with players who can be “building blocks for years to come.”
FCC filled all three of the remaining U22 spots this summer, though Marczuk is only on loan.
Neither Baird nor Santos were playing consistent minutes this season, but Yedlin was the team’s starting right wingback and a leader in the locker room. Asked about the risk of moving a player that was contributing to a first-place standing at the time, Albright said it was a complicated situation.
“DeAndre meant a lot to this team, to the locker room, to myself,” Albright said. “There was a personal connection in which we recruited DeAndre with, that ultimately complicated how he left, you know, by promising him that if there was something better for him and his family, that he could entertain that. That's kind of how we got to where we were. And then, full disclosure, we all but matched what Salt Lake had to offer in the end. And DeAndre chose to go to Salt Lake. And so, in the end, we did all we could to keep him, but he's got a wonderful family and people he has to support. And in the end, he made a decision on what's best for him and those people. And I can't argue with that.”
Sources confirmed MLS Insider Tom Bogert’s reporting that Cincinnati had agreed to trade Yedlin about three weeks before he actually departed. According to Bogert on the “Soccerwise” podcast, FCC tried to back out of the deal when plans for a replacement fell through, and the league had to step in to finalize the trade.
Marczuk wasn’t a part of the original plan, but ended up being an intriguing option.
“He's another guy that we have been tracking, even pre-Salt Lake, that kind of scored well for us in our data, and so a player that we were familiar with,” Albright said. “Again, we ask a lot of our wingbacks, you know, with the ball, and so we knew that Dom had qualities, even though he's a young player, qualities with the ball, can get in spots that we feel are dangerous spots. He did early in the game (Saturday), and unfortunately, we didn't pull a play off. But he's got a great engine. He's a willing worker, he's a good soccer player, and a young player that we think can get better. And you know, yeah, like you said, the in-league loans are rare. But again, I think another sort of efficient way to manage the cap in a period like this, to try to get an additive piece and still maintain flexibility going forward.”
Asked if the moves to bring in younger players this year resets the proverbial championship window, Albright said he hopes that it is open his entire time in Cincinnati.
Brenner’s return, specifically, has been viewed by club officials as the bonus addition that could push the team over the top. Brenner was a part of a three-headed monster in the 2022 attack, which saw him and Brandon Vazquez finish with 18 goals and Acosta with 10 goals and 19 assists. Perhaps he can be the puzzle piece to unlock the 2025 attack, where Evander leads with 16 goals and Denkey adds 13.
“We kind of saw it as a really, really nice to have a great piece like that, but not necessarily a must-have at the time, but I think, certainly an exclamation point on the window and a player with incredible ability that hopefully gives a chance to realize some of our expectations,” Albright said.
The “elite difference makers” in the lineup are what give Albright the belief this team can win a trophy this year. FCC is 16-8-4 with 52 points at the international break, but tied for eighth in the Eastern Conference with 42 goals and tied for fifth with a seven-goal differential.
“I think we have elite difference makers where it matters most,” he said. “The margins of our game are about scoring goals. And we go into a lot of games, and I think if we were playing in the NBA, we'd probably win by 12. That's not how our sport works. Goals are so critical, and I think we have elite personnel in those areas. And so certainly, with Kevin, Evander, they've shown it, Brenner has shown it in the past, players that we brought in, I feel good about the group of players that we're adding, and that they're all going to fit in the right way. And then health's a big part of it. And so, you know, we anticipate Obi (Nwobodo) coming back and being a part of the playoffs. We anticipate Miles (Robinson) back shortly. Those are two gigantic pieces that help us play like we want to play and make the other guys better. And so we put all that together, and you know, we're going to give it our best run at it.”
Here are other topics Albright addressed (plus, more on Brenner coming later):
Q: How do you view Brenner, Evander and Kevin Denkey and how they mesh together in a way that makes sense for you guys?
Albright: That's something that we're still going to evolve here and see over the next few weeks. They all know how to play the game at a high level. You know, I think the chance that Brenner would want back and misses in the game is a pretty nice combination between Evander and Kevin and Brenner. I think we saw some really elite patterns of play in training last week that, unfortunately, we didn't see as much in the game. Players of that quality tend to understand players that have similar qualities, and so I think that their soccer IQ should be what rises above and allows them to connect quickly. But that's also on us to design a game plan that enhances those, the qualities that those players have. So some of it's on them, and some of it's on us.
Q: You've injected the team with a handful of young players and saw the team move on from some of the more senior players on the team. Are these moves kind of a change in philosophy going forward?
Albright: No, not really. I mean, I think you're always looking to kind of, you have your core, and then pieces of your core move on, and then you augment your core, and you're hoping when you do that, that you are getting younger, so that they those players can can be building blocks for years to come. I mean, Evander and Kevin are the best examples of that, right? You know, they're new pieces of the core, but they're also years younger than the players before them. And I think this window is another example of that, you know, try to get players that can come in and help win now, but that you can build around in the future, and that that's what we kind of looked at with this window.
Q: Do you believe this resets that proverbial championship window?
Albright: I hope the championship window is here the whole time that we're here. I mean, that's my personal expectation. You know, we can reassess when we're standing here next year and seeing where we are, and maybe I'm not saying we're in a win-now mode, but those are the expectations that we have, is to be great every year, and those are the expectations that our ownership has and continue to have the commitment to support us to do so. So, you know, those players, a couple of them played two games, some of them aren't here still. So I'll be able to answer that question better the next time you guys grill me.
Q: Last time you did an interview with us, you were asked about some of the decisions with, a lot of contracts coming up this year. With Matt Miazga, specifically, coming back from an injury, is he performing to what you expected, and do you still see him with a future here?
Albright: Yes, I do. Matt's a big part of this. He's our captain. He's a big part of this club. He's a big part of our success on the field, the success we've had over the last couple of years. Yeah, we see Matt as a part of this club, certainly, in the coming years.
Q. You made the decision not to put Obinna Nwobodo on the season-ending injury list. Did you feel at that point that you had a good enough idea on the timeline for his return? And what, if anything, can you share about that timeline?
Albright: Well, you know, we're obviously going to our, Matt Busam, our doctor, orthopedic surgeon is excellent at what he does. And we got second opinion specific to Obi's injury and the surgery he had. And so we knew the timeline would be right there. And then you factor in the human that's going to be attacking that rehab, and then you feel real comfortable with the timeline. You know, Obi has been the best patient that you could imagine. I'm sure that surprises no one. And so we know that he's got the fight in him, to fight like hell, to be back to help us compete. And so that was kind of the decision making behind not placing him on season-ending injury.
Q: We've seen Dado Valenzuela come into his own as a top-three goal scorer for the club. Where do you see him fitting in with all these new additions that have come in and kind of play similar positions?
Albright: As a key contributor, I think he came on the field the other night and showed his quality, set up a couple chances that it gave us the ability to tie the game, and it didn't come off. You know, I think where this league has evolved is you want to be able to look down your bench and see 7-8-9 starting quality options. And for so long, in MLS, that was never the case. You maybe had two, and then the other seven you're looking at as sort of perennial reserves. And so really, you know pushing, not Pat specifically, but coaches over the years to be accepting of that, having to manage a really good quality player as the 18th, 19th, 20th guy. And what do you think that's like at Chelsea right now, they might have four starting 11s. So I think it's a testament to where our league's grown that a guy like Dado, with his ability, has to fight for minutes because he wouldn't had to do that five years ago. So that's a testament, I think, to how we're building things and where the league's gone.
Q: We've seen some academy players graduate to first-team deals, but some of those guys, like Dado Valenzula, Stefan Chirila and Stiven Jimenez, aren't getting as many minutes. Could those guys end up going on loan elsewhere to be challenged more on a similar level to MLS than what they are getting in MLS NEXT Pro?
Albright: Yeah, I think we're maybe in the very early stages of having that abundance of talent at the academy and second-team level, to where that gets super complicated. We certainly have those players' development arcs in mind at all times. Stiven, we were looking very closely at a loan for him in Mexico, right before Leagues Cup came around and injuries came around, and then all of a sudden you find yourself on the field. That's what this job is, that's what this sport is. It's unpredictable. Timing plays a big part in where you wind up, so credit to Stiven, for example, he got on the field and really performed. So, he's really put himself back in the group that maybe he wasn't in before. If that didn't happen, maybe he's on loan in Mexico right now, and yeah, we're looking at ways for him to best continue to develop and develop for him as a player and develop for us as an asset and as a player. We have a team from myself, to Jeff Larentowicz, to Larry (Sunderland), that's constantly thinking of how we better these players and we're going to continue to try to do a better job of that.
Q: Roman Celentano, I think he's at the U.S. Men's National Team camp right now, and that's a guy who's been a staple for this roster. What does it mean for him to get an opportunity so close to the World Cup to go and represent himself in the club at the national team level and secondly, consistently having him or Miles or other guys representing FCC at the national team level?
Albright: Yeah, well, that's something that the second part, really educating Carl and ownership on, especially early on, that sometimes especially with our league playing through FIFA windows, while it's hard to lose players and not have them performing for you on the field, they're representing our club, our city, them as owners on the global stage. And that's really cool and well deserved for those guys, it's a testament to Roman's work ethic, shows up every day, works his ass off, along with Paul, pushes Roman in the right way. He's continued to improve. And I think there's no bigger recognition than being called in for your national team. We're really proud of him.
