October 31, 2024 • 11 mins
Pat Brennan of Cincinnati.com joined us to discuss FC Cincinnati's playoff series with NYCFC.
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
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Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Follow on Twitter: @MoEgger
Email: mo@espn1530.com
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dary playing the Halloween mus a good day early. There
you go, ESPN fifteen thirty. FC Cincinnati is on the
road on Saturday, Game two, potential clincher of their best
of three MLS Cup Eastern Conference playoff series, after beating
New York City FC in Game one on Monday night.
Pat Brennan covering FC Cincinnati in their playoff run for
(00:21):
The Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
You know it, Patt, It's the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So we're not gonna have time to talk about any
Philadelphia teams, so don't worry about it. Okay, We're just
gonna talk to f.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
C Cincinnati Soccer.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
No no reason to talk about, you know, the Eagles
or or anybody else.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Okay, well, I wouldn't expect you to want to talk
about the Eagles, But if you were gonna, if you
were gonna go low, you could do it with the
with the Sixers, and you could definitely do it with
the Phillies.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Because I'm still on the floor about that. But hey,
if you say we don't have time, then we don't
have time.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Well what I was gonna say is that at least
FC Cincinnati season can end at Cinneyfield because there's nothing worse.
But then I then I thought, you throw the Eagles
at me, and I didn't. You know, I've that's that's
been my life for the last three days.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I mean, yeah, at least it's it's it must be
nice for Cincinnatians to have a team though that won't
see their season end at City Field.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
That must be really special. I don't know what that's like, MO,
I don't I.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Understand so that the game on Monday night felt weird?
Was it weird? And if it was, why was it.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
The game on Monday night weird?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I guess though, Yeah, I mean only in the sense that,
you know, I thought the team played well, But I
think in the stands, you know, FC Cincinnati routinely sells
its matches out, and I thought the crowd made great noise.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Yeah, you know, I think the year for the.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Goal they scored was one of the loudest I can
remember hearing at the stadium, But.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
It wasn't a full house.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
And the fact that that was the case for a
playoff game it was. It's just it's been a topic
of conversation throughout these playoffs so far, MO, and kind
of an irregular scheduling pattern when you compare it to
the rest of the regular season, where it was like clockwork,
(02:28):
you know, mostly Saturdays seven thirty pm, some Wednesdays seven
thirty pm. So to have a Monday game at six
forty five was just weird, you know, and you're going
up against Monday night football. I don't understand the logic there,
you know, that's all driven by Apple, and I assume
(02:51):
they are smarter people they're making these decisions than myself.
But it was, you know, it felt like FC since
wasn't really rewarded as the third seed in the Eastern
Conference for when they played, but I thought.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
It was weird in that regard.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Yeah, you know, it feels like a year ago, they're
going into the playoffs, they're the supporter Shield winners, they're
the one seed, they get a bye. Yeah, and so
we're we're talking about them entering the postseason as the favorite,
and it feels like this go around, I can't find
anybody who feels like they're in the same level as
(03:27):
Miami and Columbus and so yeah, yeah, they're gonna make
the postseason and maybe they went around, but they're not
a legitimate contender. And I that feels to me, you
and know more than I do, that feels to me
to be a little bit unfair and short sighted.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, I think so that probably is. And I'm sorry
if that if I didn't pick.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Up no, no, no, no, no, go ahead, the strangeness of
Monday Night. But yeah, you know that you're one hundred
percent are people just aren't sure about f C Cincinnati.
You know, the goal scoring was down coming down the stretch.
They were giving up more goals and they had earlier
in the season coming down the stretch, they lost three
or four coming into the postseason.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
And now you know, you've got.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
A small but growing sample size of two games where
the defense looked pretty good, and all of a sudden
you're feeling differently about them, I think after Monday Night's
performance against.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
A pretty able New York City team. But I agree
with you.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I think the expectation for FC Cincinnati in a lot
of corners of the MLS community and probably in Cincinnati
two is that they'll they should get out of the
first round. The obviously they're in a really good position
to do that now. But and I think some people
might think differently about the prospects going forward after Columbus
(04:48):
dropped the first game of their series last night in Columbus.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
But yeah, it's it's hard to.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Imagine FC Cincinnati going on the road to Miami, team
that won the Supporter Shield, broke the single season record
for points in a regular season, and then you know,
potentially even before that, having to go on the road
to Columbus, which.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Is the still I think the likely path.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
You go to Columbus then Miami, and that's your path
to the MLS Cup. That's gonna be really challenging if
that's how it plays out. But I do think that
Monday was kind of a narrative twist just because FC
Cincinnati looked so good, maybe some people are starting to
reevaluate what they think this team is capable of.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
All right, so let me let me focus on what
you just talked about there with Miami, because I look
at it like this, I have the reigning league MVP,
nobody believes in this right, the most cliched storyline in
all the sports against this Miami team that's supposed to
win this year and is dealing with a fair amount
of pressure. Dude, get me there and let me let
me take my chance and and you know, as as
(05:59):
as an FC Cincinnati supporter, that's what I want. You
got to get there first, You got to finish off
this series. You got to advance there. But if I
love it, if I'm the dog and they've got the
pressure on their team, and I get it, they have
superstars and a global icon, but there's pressure on them.
And I got a team that's got Luco Acosta, like dude,
give me that opportunity.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I mean, the one thing I would say is, I
think Miami has faced immense pressure all year and for
parts of this year, for long stretches without Messi, and
they've largely answered the bell. That's the only caveat I
would add to what you just said, though, But generally
I completely agree with you. You want that shot if
you're f C Cincinnati, obviously, but given that opportunity, I
(06:46):
think FC Cincinnati has more than a puncher's chance against Miami.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
This is still by that point in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Not only is it single game elimination, but you know
it's it's it's still a North American playoff situation where
weird things can happen. Like I said, Columbus lost their
home game last night, they're not eliminated yet, but they're
down in that series. Miami did not look great in
their playoff opener against the number I.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Think it was the number, Yeah, the number nine seed
in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
They they kind of had to scrape through to win
that game against Atlanta United, and that game was in Miami.
So FC Cincinnati would love the opportunity. I think there
have been There have also been moments this year where Miami,
even though they've largely prevailed through the challenges they've faced
this year, they have proven to not be immune to
(07:45):
slip ups in on a given night, you you absolutely
want that opportunity.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
Lucost looks really engaged. I love how just.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
The aura around him right now. He was glowing on
Monday night after the game, and you know it, he
it's not like he scored a hat trick. He assisted,
but it's not like he was the standout, standalone star
of the game. You could make an argument as to
who that would have been. But he was glowing on
Monday night, and I think he's in a great place.
(08:15):
And when he's in that place, moent healthy, which I
think he is right now, he can do special things,
take over a given match on any night, and yeah,
you want that shot.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
I would love to see him get it.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Was he glowing because that Tevon Gray dude punched him
in the face.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
You know, No, that wasn't why I would think that
would have been. He looked okay, he didn't look he
didn't look too worse for where as far as the
uh that coming together goes, he looked, okay, mo, how
can you.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Punch somebody in the face and then when you get
the red card you throw a temper tantent?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
He punched him in the face.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Well, the other thing I said to some people out
in Milford today at Finn's practice was like we were
talking about the premeditated nature, kind of split second premeditation,
but premeditated.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Nonetheless, you could.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
See Tevon Gray kind of cock his upper torso to
get ready to throw his weight into Luco. So yeah,
I mean, I guess some of that is for show,
you know. I think also there's probably frustration for the
player in that moment, knowing that he kind of sticks
(09:27):
his team in a pretty bad spot because now he's
not available for their elimination game on a baseball.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Field on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
So he's probably really like, oh, I kind of screwed
up there, But you know, I mean, look, we don't
have to You and I have honest conversations about the
Mighty FC and soccer in general.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
You know, some of these guys are a little.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Flamboyant in their reactions to these situations.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
It's part of the sport, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Is it just it drives me nuts, That's all I'll
say about that. So when you have played these teams
have played each other four times, obviously Monday, but recently
towards the end of the regular season, when when soccer
teams have played as often as these two sides have,
is is there anything tactically that either coach can unveil
(10:20):
that the other squad hasn't seen.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Yeah, definitely not.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I think, especially like you noted, this will be that
they've played each other four times. This will be the
fifth time they've played each other, third time in a month.
You've seen everything at that point.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I think.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
It's just gonna it's gonna be kind of especially on
what excuse me, what figures to be a weird playing
surface at City Field, It's gonna be a test of
wills and which teams are more disciplined and basically who
wants it more? You know, the last time that these
teams met at City Field was.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
In twenty twenty two. The playing surface was awful. It
was awful.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Roman Celentano was acting as half a groundskeeper throughout the game,
and I remember at the halftime whistle no fewer than
a dozen actual groundskeepers rushed onto the field to try
to start pulling and poking and prodding at the chunks
of sod that were all over the place.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
So I don't think it'll be a pretty game.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I don't know if that necessarily benefits one team over
the other, but because they have seen so much of
each other, I don't think there are any punches to
be pulled. They're not going to be any surprises either,
and it'll just be a battle of oils.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I can't wait Saturday, five o'clock. Awesome stuff is always, man,
thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Bo
Dary playing the Halloween mus a good day early. There
you go, ESPN fifteen thirty. FC Cincinnati is on the
road on Saturday, Game two, potential clincher of their best
of three MLS Cup Eastern Conference playoff series, after beating
New York City FC in Game one on Monday night.
Pat Brennan covering FC Cincinnati in their playoff run for
(00:21):
The Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
You know it, Patt, It's the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So we're not gonna have time to talk about any
Philadelphia teams, so don't worry about it. Okay, We're just
gonna talk to f.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
C Cincinnati Soccer.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
No no reason to talk about, you know, the Eagles
or or anybody else.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Okay, well, I wouldn't expect you to want to talk
about the Eagles, But if you were gonna, if you
were gonna go low, you could do it with the
with the Sixers, and you could definitely do it with
the Phillies.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Because I'm still on the floor about that. But hey,
if you say we don't have time, then we don't
have time.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Well what I was gonna say is that at least
FC Cincinnati season can end at Cinneyfield because there's nothing worse.
But then I then I thought, you throw the Eagles
at me, and I didn't. You know, I've that's that's
been my life for the last three days.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I mean, yeah, at least it's it's it must be
nice for Cincinnatians to have a team though that won't
see their season end at City Field.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
That must be really special. I don't know what that's like, MO,
I don't I.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Understand so that the game on Monday night felt weird?
Was it weird? And if it was, why was it.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
The game on Monday night weird?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I guess though, Yeah, I mean only in the sense that,
you know, I thought the team played well, But I
think in the stands, you know, FC Cincinnati routinely sells
its matches out, and I thought the crowd made great noise.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Yeah, you know, I think the year for the.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Goal they scored was one of the loudest I can
remember hearing at the stadium, But.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
It wasn't a full house.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
And the fact that that was the case for a
playoff game it was. It's just it's been a topic
of conversation throughout these playoffs so far, MO, and kind
of an irregular scheduling pattern when you compare it to
the rest of the regular season, where it was like clockwork,
(02:28):
you know, mostly Saturdays seven thirty pm, some Wednesdays seven
thirty pm. So to have a Monday game at six
forty five was just weird, you know, and you're going
up against Monday night football. I don't understand the logic there,
you know, that's all driven by Apple, and I assume
(02:51):
they are smarter people they're making these decisions than myself.
But it was, you know, it felt like FC since
wasn't really rewarded as the third seed in the Eastern
Conference for when they played, but I thought.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
It was weird in that regard.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Yeah, you know, it feels like a year ago, they're
going into the playoffs, they're the supporter Shield winners, they're
the one seed, they get a bye. Yeah, and so
we're we're talking about them entering the postseason as the favorite,
and it feels like this go around, I can't find
anybody who feels like they're in the same level as
(03:27):
Miami and Columbus and so yeah, yeah, they're gonna make
the postseason and maybe they went around, but they're not
a legitimate contender. And I that feels to me, you
and know more than I do, that feels to me
to be a little bit unfair and short sighted.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, I think so that probably is. And I'm sorry
if that if I didn't pick.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Up no, no, no, no, no, go ahead, the strangeness of
Monday Night. But yeah, you know that you're one hundred
percent are people just aren't sure about f C Cincinnati.
You know, the goal scoring was down coming down the stretch.
They were giving up more goals and they had earlier
in the season coming down the stretch, they lost three
or four coming into the postseason.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
And now you know, you've got.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
A small but growing sample size of two games where
the defense looked pretty good, and all of a sudden
you're feeling differently about them, I think after Monday Night's
performance against.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
A pretty able New York City team. But I agree
with you.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I think the expectation for FC Cincinnati in a lot
of corners of the MLS community and probably in Cincinnati
two is that they'll they should get out of the
first round. The obviously they're in a really good position
to do that now. But and I think some people
might think differently about the prospects going forward after Columbus
(04:48):
dropped the first game of their series last night in Columbus.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
But yeah, it's it's hard to.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Imagine FC Cincinnati going on the road to Miami, team
that won the Supporter Shield, broke the single season record
for points in a regular season, and then you know,
potentially even before that, having to go on the road
to Columbus, which.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Is the still I think the likely path.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
You go to Columbus then Miami, and that's your path
to the MLS Cup. That's gonna be really challenging if
that's how it plays out. But I do think that
Monday was kind of a narrative twist just because FC
Cincinnati looked so good, maybe some people are starting to
reevaluate what they think this team is capable of.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
All right, so let me let me focus on what
you just talked about there with Miami, because I look
at it like this, I have the reigning league MVP,
nobody believes in this right, the most cliched storyline in
all the sports against this Miami team that's supposed to
win this year and is dealing with a fair amount
of pressure. Dude, get me there and let me let
me take my chance and and you know, as as
(05:59):
as an FC Cincinnati supporter, that's what I want. You
got to get there first, You got to finish off
this series. You got to advance there. But if I
love it, if I'm the dog and they've got the
pressure on their team, and I get it, they have
superstars and a global icon, but there's pressure on them.
And I got a team that's got Luco Acosta, like dude,
give me that opportunity.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I mean, the one thing I would say is, I
think Miami has faced immense pressure all year and for
parts of this year, for long stretches without Messi, and
they've largely answered the bell. That's the only caveat I
would add to what you just said, though, But generally
I completely agree with you. You want that shot if
you're f C Cincinnati, obviously, but given that opportunity, I
(06:46):
think FC Cincinnati has more than a puncher's chance against Miami.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
This is still by that point in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Not only is it single game elimination, but you know
it's it's it's still a North American playoff situation where
weird things can happen. Like I said, Columbus lost their
home game last night, they're not eliminated yet, but they're
down in that series. Miami did not look great in
their playoff opener against the number I.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Think it was the number, Yeah, the number nine seed
in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
They they kind of had to scrape through to win
that game against Atlanta United, and that game was in Miami.
So FC Cincinnati would love the opportunity. I think there
have been There have also been moments this year where Miami,
even though they've largely prevailed through the challenges they've faced
this year, they have proven to not be immune to
(07:45):
slip ups in on a given night, you you absolutely
want that opportunity.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
Lucost looks really engaged. I love how just.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
The aura around him right now. He was glowing on
Monday night after the game, and you know it, he
it's not like he scored a hat trick. He assisted,
but it's not like he was the standout, standalone star
of the game. You could make an argument as to
who that would have been. But he was glowing on
Monday night, and I think he's in a great place.
(08:15):
And when he's in that place, moent healthy, which I
think he is right now, he can do special things,
take over a given match on any night, and yeah,
you want that shot.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
I would love to see him get it.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Was he glowing because that Tevon Gray dude punched him
in the face.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
You know, No, that wasn't why I would think that
would have been. He looked okay, he didn't look he
didn't look too worse for where as far as the
uh that coming together goes, he looked, okay, mo, how
can you.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Punch somebody in the face and then when you get
the red card you throw a temper tantent?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
He punched him in the face.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Well, the other thing I said to some people out
in Milford today at Finn's practice was like we were
talking about the premeditated nature, kind of split second premeditation,
but premeditated.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Nonetheless, you could.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
See Tevon Gray kind of cock his upper torso to
get ready to throw his weight into Luco. So yeah,
I mean, I guess some of that is for show,
you know. I think also there's probably frustration for the
player in that moment, knowing that he kind of sticks
(09:27):
his team in a pretty bad spot because now he's
not available for their elimination game on a baseball.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Field on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
So he's probably really like, oh, I kind of screwed
up there, But you know, I mean, look, we don't
have to You and I have honest conversations about the
Mighty FC and soccer in general.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
You know, some of these guys are a little.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Flamboyant in their reactions to these situations.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
It's part of the sport, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Is it just it drives me nuts, That's all I'll
say about that. So when you have played these teams
have played each other four times, obviously Monday, but recently
towards the end of the regular season, when when soccer
teams have played as often as these two sides have,
is is there anything tactically that either coach can unveil
(10:20):
that the other squad hasn't seen.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Yeah, definitely not.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I think, especially like you noted, this will be that
they've played each other four times. This will be the
fifth time they've played each other, third time in a month.
You've seen everything at that point.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I think.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
It's just gonna it's gonna be kind of especially on
what excuse me, what figures to be a weird playing
surface at City Field, It's gonna be a test of
wills and which teams are more disciplined and basically who
wants it more? You know, the last time that these
teams met at City Field was.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
In twenty twenty two. The playing surface was awful. It
was awful.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Roman Celentano was acting as half a groundskeeper throughout the game,
and I remember at the halftime whistle no fewer than
a dozen actual groundskeepers rushed onto the field to try
to start pulling and poking and prodding at the chunks
of sod that were all over the place.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
So I don't think it'll be a pretty game.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I don't know if that necessarily benefits one team over
the other, but because they have seen so much of
each other, I don't think there are any punches to
be pulled. They're not going to be any surprises either,
and it'll just be a battle of oils.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I can't wait Saturday, five o'clock. Awesome stuff is always, man,
thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Bo
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