November 22, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – FC Cincinnati News Release
There’s a funny thing about adages in that they are always old. There’s never been a new adage, old wives’ tale, or saying. The point being, I don’t know if this is an old piece of wisdom, but it is one someone gave me that I remember.
“If you have time, use it.”
That is exactly what FC Cincinnati have done since their last playoff match. A penalty kick shootout at Red Bull Arena that had all the drama and intensity of a classic heavyweight title bout, but it was only the opening round of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs for The Orange and Blue.
Now, thanks to the new playoff format intersecting with the FIFA International Break, FC Cincinnati finally find themselves in a matchweek … 17 days after the last time they took the pitch.
On the one hand, time may not be what the club wanted. A school of thought suggests playing quick and capitalizing on momentum is the preferred course of action. But they got something else; they got time. They got 21 days between matches, and like it or not, so did their Eastern Conference Semifinal opponent, Philadelphia Union, so utilizing that time became of the utmost importance in preparing for that match.
If you have time, use it.
In this case, that means late in the season, using that time to give key FC Cincinnati players time to recover, regenerate and be at their best for the season’s most important game. Throughout the three weeks, FCC and their sports performance team have rotated players in and out of daily training to prepare them for the final week-long build.
The first week, FCC rotated Álvaro Barreal and Luciano Acosta in and out of full-session training before returning to action the next week of the break. Alvas Powell rejoined full group sessions and drills after missing both matches of the Round One Best-of-3 series to open the playoffs. Brandon Vazquez took time to work individually in the second week before rejoining the full group on Tuesday, the first day of the four-day build to Saturday’s match.
By optimizing everyone’s individual training schedule to align with their needs, The Orange and Blue have put themselves in a position to be at their best when the moment is required.
“While it’s less than ideal it really helped us for for guys working their way back from injuries because the reality is if we were to play the week following (the match at Red Bull Arena) we would have had a lot of guys who wouldn’t be able to go,” FC…
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