February 26, 2025 • 9 mins
Chris Wittyngham called last Saturday's FC Cincinnati win over the New York Red Bulls for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. He'll also be behind the mic for this Saturday's FC Cincinnati game against Philadelphia.
Chris joined us on ESPN1530.
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
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Chris joined us on ESPN1530.
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
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
FC Cincinnati plays tonight in the CONCA CAF Champions Cup
against Matagua. That game is at six thirty tonight on
the West end of Cincinnati. They resume MLS regular season
play on Saturday night with a tilt on the road
against Philadelphia. The Orange and Blue, in what I read
was the coldest game in the history of TQL Stadium,
(00:21):
pulled out a one nothing victory over the New York
Red Bulls on Saturday night. Chris Whittingham called that match
for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and he's going
to call the match this Saturday for MLS Season Pass
on Apple TV. And whenever he is behind the microphone
for FC Cincinnati Tilts, we get him on the show
with us. Chris is kind enough to give us a
(00:41):
few minutes. It's good to have you stir. What's going on, mo.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
My apologies for being a little late to this, but
I'm excited to be on and I can confirm that
it was very very.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I've only just about redeeming the feeling in my hands.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Uh. Well, the Apple TV broadcast made it look warm.
Congratulations on that, and you guys didn't sound frigid, So
good for you guys. But it was nice to see
them get three points because I think the weather needs
to be talked about, because you take, you know, the
new additions to the team, which have obviously paid dividends,
the players who didn't play them having to fly back
(01:19):
from Hon Doris, and then you add to it the
elements plus playing what I think is a good New
York team. To pull out three points on opening night
is not insignificant.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Absolutely, And you're right about New York being difficult opposition.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
They press you and press you and press you, and.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It's a very difficult style to come up against, especially
on short rest. Your point about how difficult that turnaround
is when they play on a Wednesday night in you know,
Central American conditions, it's a lot warmer.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Than it is back home.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And then from what we got told, they didn't really
return to since that until Thursday night around seven eight pm.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
And you got to turn around and play the Red Bulls.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
On the opening day of the season, which a lot
of fans show up and expect a good performance.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And those are very circumstances in some ways.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
The MLS season, particularly for the teams that are in
CONCACAF competition, is a real zero to one hundred. You
go from not playing a game, in Cincinnati's case, for
about ten weeks to playing three or four games in
about ten days, which is roughly what it will be
from that first leg of the Motagua series to the
second regular season game against Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
So you just get right into the thick of the schedule.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And it's very difficult for Pat Noonon to rotate and
he's betting an Evanders only just come in for a week.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
So it was really.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Impressive to see how Cincinnati got the victor on the day.
And one of the things that they just do is
they win close games if the game is being decided
by a goal. Last year, I believe they won thirteen
of them. The year before they won fourteen of them.
It is remarkable how they just handle their business in
those sorts of games well.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
And you talk about handling your business, and you and
I have talked about Pat Noonan before. This was a
weird preseason and he even at one point expressed frustration
with the players who weren't there. The Lujo Acosta thing
hovered over all of preseason training. They make to trade
with Dallas late, they acquire Evander, and I really did wonder,
you know, how are they gonna look to start the season.
(03:04):
They played in Honduras and played very well. I don't
think they played great against New York on Saturday, but
they played well enough. And I just I don't think
I gave Pat noon and credit for just figuring out
how to work through all the noise and put something
on the field that was good enough to win. And
yet he did it again on Saturday, right, and you.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Kind of go line by line, I guess other than
goalkeeper in Roman Sontano, who has just been at ever
present for several years.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Now, you look at that back three, they.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Still have Matt Miasga back of them injury, they still't
have Nick Cacklin back from injury. That that midfield is
kind of coming together with Evanders as the new number ten,
that shifts everything.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Lucas Engel I think was a really good addition. I'd
left wingbacko.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I thought it had a really impressive performance on the opening day.
And then in that forward line you had Kevin Denke
with Kubo and Evander who are still just kind of
figuring life out together.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
So it definitely was a lot of change and.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
The most important you can do in those situations is
keep a clean sheet, as they did, and I don't
really think they gave away too many chances where you
really fear that they were going to concede a goal.
And then from an attacking point of view, I thought,
at least you saw the biggest thing you want to see.
For as much money as was spent, it was roughly
twenty eight million dollars between Evander who cost twelve million
and Kevin Danke cost sixteen.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
You want to see flashes.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
You want to see signs that these are really talented
players that can anchor a team that some people are
tipping to in the supporter shield, that are right back
in it as MLS Cup contenders, and I thought those
two players give you a lot of signs that are
signs for encouragement.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
And to your point, it is.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
A platform upon which Pat Newton has provided for them
that those players can go and play and do their thing.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Chris Whitningham is with this MLS season pass. Apple TV
has the Call Saturday Philadelphia hosting FC Cincinnati at seven thirty.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
You and I, when you've joined me.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
In the past, we've talked a lot about Lucho Acosta
and obviously he's no longer here, and it's it's sort
of effectively a trade for a former MVP in exchange
for a guy who was an MVP finalist last season,
and so the comparisons are inevitable. I asked this of
your broadcast partner, Laurie Lindsay last week. I are a
lot of folks who watched Evander closely for the first
time on Saturday, or maybe in the the CONKAKAFF Champions
(05:08):
Cup match in Honduras. As somebody who has watched both
and watched both extensively, how do you compare the two.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Well, I think Lucho Acosta is a little bit more
of the sun, and I think that Evander is a
little bit more of maybe one of the stars, and
the team is kind of the central point. But Lucio
Acosta everything revolved around him. He got the ball on
every creative moment. It was his decision making.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
They got everything. Whereas Evander, I think you even saw
it in the game.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yes, there are moments where he'll call for the ball
for himself and will take shots some long distance and
that will hit these Hollywood passes, but he'll also look
to play in combination with all the players around him,
and I think they are different styles of player that
will take some adjusting to. But the one thing you
can't deny about both of them, but certainly not Evander
from what we saw on opening day is a level
of creativity and a level of ingenuity and ideas that
(05:58):
is ultimately what you want out of a player in
that position. We saw there was this one moment where
we kind of received the ball, not make the player
a carab beyond the other, got fouled and set up
a free kick in a really good spot. I thought
played a couple of really good passes that opened up opportunities.
They weren't converted.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
He didn't get an assist on the day, But do
you know they're coming?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And you know that he is going to be really
productive for the Cincinnati team because he was really productive
for Portland.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Like you mentioned, he.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Had that season that made him of an MVP finalist.
He had fifteen goals in nineteen assists. You know that
that level of production is coming. I can understand though
from an em season Sinnaty point of view, Lucho Acosta
was a league MVP in some ways, he was the
catalyst for going from being one of the worst teams
in the MLS to one of the very best, and
he is beloved around that area, and you can understand
(06:43):
why in acquiring a player maybe from the Western Conference,
so you're not.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Terribly familiar with Wait a second, why are we doing this?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
But Evander is the real deal and I think you
saw signs of it, and I think the production is
coming in short order.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Philadelphia opens the season with a win in which they
score four goals. How good of the Union this year?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, there was relatively low expectations for them coming into
the season. I think there was a real expectation from
a lot of people around the league that they're maybe
going to be at bottom three or four team in
the East.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
They change manager.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Jim Curtin was a manager who had a ton of
credit aroun MLS, was one of the longest tenured. He
was in Philly for ten years, then made a decision
to pivot and go another way. I think the biggest
thing is it's not going to be terribly far off
from a stylistic point of view with the Red Bulls game.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I think they want to play that very.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
High octane pressing, direct quick and make life uncomfortable for
Sea Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
I don't think that Cincinnati are overly wetted to playing.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Out from the back, and so I think it'll kind
of be one of those games that's hotly contested, a
lot of duels, a lot of intensity. But I think
in some ways the style has to be the star.
And for Philly, their identity is two things.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Is that is that.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Pressing in that ability to go at teams and make
life uncomfortable. But the other thing as well is bringing
through young players. And already for match Day one there
was two new twenty or younger players that that's along
that back line in Frankie Westfield, the new right back
who's nineteen, a new center back to Hea from South
Africa who's twenty.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Obviously, they made a ton.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Of headlines for playing a fourteen year old the youngest
ever pro player in the history of American sports last year,
Kevin Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
They just bring through. They invested so much in their
academy and they bring through young players. So they're gonna
come out you with.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Young legs, intense legs, and try and make life difficult.
I think because of the way that they'll play under
Bradley Carnell and their style. I think that they have
a chance to make the playoffs. I think that f
cly Cincinnati is probably.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
A level above them.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
But it'll be interesting to see after both teams won
in the opening day, where both teams kind of find
their level, especially when presumably Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Will be onto the next round of the Champions Cup.
That will be a.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Priority, and with having played so many games in so
many days, can they deliver that level of performance.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
But I think it'll be a really interesting test of
both teams.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I hope it's warmer on Saturday in Philly than it
was this past Saturday here in Cincinnati. I hope we
can do it again. Man, thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
I think they're anticipating mid forties, so I appreciate it
for my.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Clcificattle Dattle, that'll work. IM very good, Thank you sir.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Thanks about
FC Cincinnati plays tonight in the CONCA CAF Champions Cup
against Matagua. That game is at six thirty tonight on
the West end of Cincinnati. They resume MLS regular season
play on Saturday night with a tilt on the road
against Philadelphia. The Orange and Blue, in what I read
was the coldest game in the history of TQL Stadium,
(00:21):
pulled out a one nothing victory over the New York
Red Bulls on Saturday night. Chris Whittingham called that match
for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and he's going
to call the match this Saturday for MLS Season Pass
on Apple TV. And whenever he is behind the microphone
for FC Cincinnati Tilts, we get him on the show
with us. Chris is kind enough to give us a
(00:41):
few minutes. It's good to have you stir. What's going on, mo.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
My apologies for being a little late to this, but
I'm excited to be on and I can confirm that
it was very very.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I've only just about redeeming the feeling in my hands.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Uh. Well, the Apple TV broadcast made it look warm.
Congratulations on that, and you guys didn't sound frigid, So
good for you guys. But it was nice to see
them get three points because I think the weather needs
to be talked about, because you take, you know, the
new additions to the team, which have obviously paid dividends,
the players who didn't play them having to fly back
(01:19):
from Hon Doris, and then you add to it the
elements plus playing what I think is a good New
York team. To pull out three points on opening night
is not insignificant.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Absolutely, And you're right about New York being difficult opposition.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
They press you and press you and press you, and.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It's a very difficult style to come up against, especially
on short rest. Your point about how difficult that turnaround
is when they play on a Wednesday night in you know,
Central American conditions, it's a lot warmer.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Than it is back home.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And then from what we got told, they didn't really
return to since that until Thursday night around seven eight pm.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
And you got to turn around and play the Red Bulls.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
On the opening day of the season, which a lot
of fans show up and expect a good performance.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And those are very circumstances in some ways.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
The MLS season, particularly for the teams that are in
CONCACAF competition, is a real zero to one hundred. You
go from not playing a game, in Cincinnati's case, for
about ten weeks to playing three or four games in
about ten days, which is roughly what it will be
from that first leg of the Motagua series to the
second regular season game against Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
So you just get right into the thick of the schedule.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And it's very difficult for Pat Noonon to rotate and
he's betting an Evanders only just come in for a week.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
So it was really.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Impressive to see how Cincinnati got the victor on the day.
And one of the things that they just do is
they win close games if the game is being decided
by a goal. Last year, I believe they won thirteen
of them. The year before they won fourteen of them.
It is remarkable how they just handle their business in
those sorts of games well.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
And you talk about handling your business, and you and
I have talked about Pat Noonan before. This was a
weird preseason and he even at one point expressed frustration
with the players who weren't there. The Lujo Acosta thing
hovered over all of preseason training. They make to trade
with Dallas late, they acquire Evander, and I really did wonder,
you know, how are they gonna look to start the season.
(03:04):
They played in Honduras and played very well. I don't
think they played great against New York on Saturday, but
they played well enough. And I just I don't think
I gave Pat noon and credit for just figuring out
how to work through all the noise and put something
on the field that was good enough to win. And
yet he did it again on Saturday, right, and you.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Kind of go line by line, I guess other than
goalkeeper in Roman Sontano, who has just been at ever
present for several years.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Now, you look at that back three, they.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Still have Matt Miasga back of them injury, they still't
have Nick Cacklin back from injury. That that midfield is
kind of coming together with Evanders as the new number ten,
that shifts everything.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Lucas Engel I think was a really good addition. I'd
left wingbacko.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I thought it had a really impressive performance on the opening day.
And then in that forward line you had Kevin Denke
with Kubo and Evander who are still just kind of
figuring life out together.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
So it definitely was a lot of change and.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
The most important you can do in those situations is
keep a clean sheet, as they did, and I don't
really think they gave away too many chances where you
really fear that they were going to concede a goal.
And then from an attacking point of view, I thought,
at least you saw the biggest thing you want to see.
For as much money as was spent, it was roughly
twenty eight million dollars between Evander who cost twelve million
and Kevin Danke cost sixteen.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
You want to see flashes.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
You want to see signs that these are really talented
players that can anchor a team that some people are
tipping to in the supporter shield, that are right back
in it as MLS Cup contenders, and I thought those
two players give you a lot of signs that are
signs for encouragement.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
And to your point, it is.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
A platform upon which Pat Newton has provided for them
that those players can go and play and do their thing.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Chris Whitningham is with this MLS season pass. Apple TV
has the Call Saturday Philadelphia hosting FC Cincinnati at seven thirty.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
You and I, when you've joined me.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
In the past, we've talked a lot about Lucho Acosta
and obviously he's no longer here, and it's it's sort
of effectively a trade for a former MVP in exchange
for a guy who was an MVP finalist last season,
and so the comparisons are inevitable. I asked this of
your broadcast partner, Laurie Lindsay last week. I are a
lot of folks who watched Evander closely for the first
time on Saturday, or maybe in the the CONKAKAFF Champions
(05:08):
Cup match in Honduras. As somebody who has watched both
and watched both extensively, how do you compare the two.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Well, I think Lucho Acosta is a little bit more
of the sun, and I think that Evander is a
little bit more of maybe one of the stars, and
the team is kind of the central point. But Lucio
Acosta everything revolved around him. He got the ball on
every creative moment. It was his decision making.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
They got everything. Whereas Evander, I think you even saw
it in the game.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yes, there are moments where he'll call for the ball
for himself and will take shots some long distance and
that will hit these Hollywood passes, but he'll also look
to play in combination with all the players around him,
and I think they are different styles of player that
will take some adjusting to. But the one thing you
can't deny about both of them, but certainly not Evander
from what we saw on opening day is a level
of creativity and a level of ingenuity and ideas that
(05:58):
is ultimately what you want out of a player in
that position. We saw there was this one moment where
we kind of received the ball, not make the player
a carab beyond the other, got fouled and set up
a free kick in a really good spot. I thought
played a couple of really good passes that opened up opportunities.
They weren't converted.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
He didn't get an assist on the day, But do
you know they're coming?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And you know that he is going to be really
productive for the Cincinnati team because he was really productive
for Portland.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Like you mentioned, he.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Had that season that made him of an MVP finalist.
He had fifteen goals in nineteen assists. You know that
that level of production is coming. I can understand though
from an em season Sinnaty point of view, Lucho Acosta
was a league MVP in some ways, he was the
catalyst for going from being one of the worst teams
in the MLS to one of the very best, and
he is beloved around that area, and you can understand
(06:43):
why in acquiring a player maybe from the Western Conference,
so you're not.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Terribly familiar with Wait a second, why are we doing this?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
But Evander is the real deal and I think you
saw signs of it, and I think the production is
coming in short order.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Philadelphia opens the season with a win in which they
score four goals. How good of the Union this year?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, there was relatively low expectations for them coming into
the season. I think there was a real expectation from
a lot of people around the league that they're maybe
going to be at bottom three or four team in
the East.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
They change manager.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Jim Curtin was a manager who had a ton of
credit aroun MLS, was one of the longest tenured. He
was in Philly for ten years, then made a decision
to pivot and go another way. I think the biggest
thing is it's not going to be terribly far off
from a stylistic point of view with the Red Bulls game.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I think they want to play that very.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
High octane pressing, direct quick and make life uncomfortable for
Sea Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
I don't think that Cincinnati are overly wetted to playing.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Out from the back, and so I think it'll kind
of be one of those games that's hotly contested, a
lot of duels, a lot of intensity. But I think
in some ways the style has to be the star.
And for Philly, their identity is two things.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Is that is that.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Pressing in that ability to go at teams and make
life uncomfortable. But the other thing as well is bringing
through young players. And already for match Day one there
was two new twenty or younger players that that's along
that back line in Frankie Westfield, the new right back
who's nineteen, a new center back to Hea from South
Africa who's twenty.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Obviously, they made a ton.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Of headlines for playing a fourteen year old the youngest
ever pro player in the history of American sports last year,
Kevin Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
They just bring through. They invested so much in their
academy and they bring through young players. So they're gonna
come out you with.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Young legs, intense legs, and try and make life difficult.
I think because of the way that they'll play under
Bradley Carnell and their style. I think that they have
a chance to make the playoffs. I think that f
cly Cincinnati is probably.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
A level above them.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
But it'll be interesting to see after both teams won
in the opening day, where both teams kind of find
their level, especially when presumably Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Will be onto the next round of the Champions Cup.
That will be a.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Priority, and with having played so many games in so
many days, can they deliver that level of performance.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
But I think it'll be a really interesting test of
both teams.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I hope it's warmer on Saturday in Philly than it
was this past Saturday here in Cincinnati. I hope we
can do it again. Man, thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
I think they're anticipating mid forties, so I appreciate it
for my.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Clcificattle Dattle, that'll work. IM very good, Thank you sir.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Thanks about
Mo Egger News
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