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Paul King - Becoming Royalty

Started on 10 June 2019 by TheLFCFan
Latest Reply on 2 October 2019 by ScottT
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Cincy make its Six in a row with Cup win


Cincy celebrate Emmanuel Ledesmas goal in 1-0 win over Chicago Fire.p

FC Cincinnati have today taken their unbeaten run to six games having beaten Chicago Fire in the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup 5th Round.

A 1-0 victory has extended a highly impressive run of six matches without defeat for Paul Kings, FC Cincinnati. The run which began back in May after a 2-1 win over Wayne Rooney's DC United, has seen a run of five wins and a single draw.

However, the run didn’t have the start Cincy would of been looking for, as inside the first ten minuets Luciano Acosta put DC United in front. A penalty in the 43rd minute and a second on the stroke of halftime saw FC Cincinnati take home all three points, with Emmanuel Ledesma wrapping up his brace. The game didn’t end smoothly though as one of Cincy’s key players throughout the season, Rasmus Schüller, was sent off in the 74th minute.

His sending off came before a massively important game, as Cincinnati faced Atlanta United three days later. Atlanta, the current MLS Cup holders, played host to the surprise performers of the league so far and Cincy took the lead in the 18th minute as Dairon Mosquera scored an own goal. Ferrira equalised but goals from captain Kendall Watson and Emmanuel Ledesma sealed a second win over Atlanta in the season.

Ledesma, scoring his third goal in two games, continued his impressive scoring record as Cincinnati struggled through their 4th round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Adam Jahn opened the scoring for Phoenix but goals from Ledesma and David Cooper gave Cincy the lead up until the 84 minute. José Aguinaga capitalised on a lapse in concentration in Cincy’s makeshift defence, equalising for the USL side. Second pick in the 2019 Superdraft, David Cooper, ensured the Orange and Blacks victory as in the 3rd minute of extra time, as Cooper sealed his brace.

With three wins in a row, Brian Blacks 35 minute winner against Portland Timbers made it four in a row despite a much changed lineup due to a combination of injuries and players away at the Gold Cup. Houston Dynamo scored a 92nd minute goal to save a late draw against Cincy who opened the scoring through Emmanuel Ledesma, a clear standout throughout the run.

The run led into the 5th round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, when Chicago Fire welcomed FC Cincinnati. With number one keeper Przemyslaw Tyton, injured for three weeks, Eric Kronberg made his debut for the side, in another, much rotated side. The rotation did not affect Cincy, as Emmaneul Ledesma scored once again to see his side progress into the quarter finals.

“This run has been very enjoyable so far. We have come up against and beaten some very good sides, and if we hadn’t conceded that very late goal against Houston, it would be six wins in six. It is something we can be proud of, but it is also something we want to continue on with starting in our next game against Vancouver Whitecaps.” the FC Cincinnati manager commented on the run.

With Western Conference leaders, Vancouver Whitecaps coming up next for Cincy, it will be a very tough challenge for them to continue their run. It will only be made harder with key players such as Przemyslaw Tyton, captain Kendall Watson and Alvas Powell all still out of contention for the game. However, the Orange and Blue will be with in form winger Emmanuel Ledesma.

“I am very happy with my form at the moment. I have scored some important goals recently and I have six goals in our current run. I am happy I can contribute to this great team run and hopefully this can continue.” a clearly happy, Emmanuel Ledesma stated.

With Cincinnati progressing in the U.S Open Cup, they will face Philadelphia Union in the Quarter Finals, on 16th July.

Replies


Scott: From Kings view, it is all well and good to be top of the league after 20 games but if you are not there come the end of the regular season what is the point. Getting to the play-offs is the main aim for the regular season then the focus turns to the play offs.
Justice: King certainly represents everything that is right with America, Harambe loving men! #DicksOutForHarambe
BigMaguire: Thank you. King certainly has played at a good level in college but having Coach Dayes a former international player and Avram Grant surrounding him he has certainly got some good mentors.
Jack: Coach Dayes certainly impacted King in a very positive way and his assesment of King becoming a great coach is seemingly coming true. However, that won't be confirmed unless King can continue the start he has had to MLS life.
Jim: We all love Coach Dayes! A true hero, he has certainly been a great mentor for King and has played a huge role in his life as a coach and mentor.
An excellent win to seal your place in the next round. But seriously, what is it with clubs being renamed this year? Frank Lampard's Derby County, Wayne Rooney's DC United... when will it end? ;)
Good cup win so as to progress to the next round. Smelling a successful campaign! ;)
Another good batch of results, the cup win will be sure to improve morale well enough! You should be happy with the start, but motivated to keep pushing on in the future!

Keeping the Momentum Going


With another eleven league games played, as well as our first four rounds of the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup, we have once again impressed over the period of matches. Ten wins from our fifteen matches leaves us with a 66.6% win ratio.


The 2nd part of 3 this season, started with a draw against Montreal Impact thanks to a very late Brian Black goal, equalising in the 89th minute after Impact went ahead just 6 minutes earlier. Up next was Los Angeles FC, who we welcomed to Nippert stadium before playing them off the pitch. Braces from Jimmy Medranda and Jimmy Gressel gave us the big 4-0 home victory and it was a highly impressive performance. Jimmy didn’t stop there as he gave us the 1-0 victory in our next match against Atlanta United. A lovely move which saw some one touch football between Leonardo Bertone and Diego Forlán before the Uruguayan slotted through Medranda who placed the ball past the keeper.

With a nice run forming, Minnesota United bought us back down to life as the Western Conference strugglers, beat us 2-0. We quickly put that behind us winning three on the bounce, with a 2-0 away win over Tormenta FC, a 3-1 away win over Orlando City and a 1-0 win in the 3rd round of the U.S Open Cup against Charleston. David Cooper once again taking his chances scoring in both the Open Cup games, helping us to the victories. But we once again faltered in the MLS against bottom of the Western Conference, Chicago Fire. Unable to get a foothold in the game, highly talented winger Nicolás Gaitán put us to the sword. The Argentine winger formerly of Benfica and Atlético Madrid, opened the scoring before setting up Dax McCarty for their second.

Despite this disappointment, the boys responded well, going on a six game unbeaten run including five wins over DC United, Atlanta United, Portland Timbers in the MLS and Phoenix Rising and Chicago Fire in the U.S Open Cup. The win over Atlanta was another impressive result over last years champions, maintaining our 100% winning record against them. David Cooper once again impressed in the 4th Round of the U.S Open Cup, bagging himself a brace including an extra time winner. In the Portland Timbers game, Brian Black scored his fifth goal of the season before a 92nd minute equaliser saw us have another win snatched away from us by Houston Dynamo.

The final match in the set of fixtures was against the top of the Western Conference, Vancouver Whitecaps. The match came at a terrible time for us, with a few players away on International break and a couple more injured, we had also played a match two days earlier. Vancouver on the other hand had a three week break before the matchup with their last game coming on 7th June. We fought hard but our makeshift side, who were very tired, couldn’t take anything from the game succumbing to a Russel Teibert goal.

Eastern Conference Table

Once again we sit in second place, just one point off top spot, currently occupied by New York Red Bulls. However, this time around, we have played three games more than the two sides surrounding us and could slip to as low as 4th if the teams with games in hand capitalize. Despite this, I am still very happy with our performances and spot in the table. We have had to play a lot of fixtures in a short period of time, with a lot of players unavailable due to Internationals and injuries. A spot in the playoffs is the aim from this point, which will be an incredible accomplishment for this season.


We start this set of fixtures with a trip to the capital city of Washington DC, as we face off against DC United. Led by Wayne Rooney, we won our previous encounter 2-1. We then have a five game run of home matches with four of those being in the league. Facing Orlando City, Chicago Fire, New York City and New York Red Bulls in the MLS, as well as Philadelphia Union in our quarter final of the U.S Open Cup. The two biggest games of the last third of the regular season will definitely be against the two New York sides. We have been going back and forth with both teams all season, having previously lost to both of them, it will be nice to get some revenge.

A game against New England Revolution interrupts our home run, before we welcome Columbus Crew. Having lost the first “Hell is Real” derby game earlier this year, we are certainly hopeful of putting it right this time at home. Following that game, we play Sporting Kansas City, Toronto and Real Salt Lake. Sporting Kansas City are having an impressive year so far, currently sat 2nd in the Western Conference, whilst Real Salt Lake are six points of the playoffs in 9th. Toronto are looking to climb above us so we will be looking for a strong performance to maintain our position.

We end the regular season with an away trip to Texas, to face FC Dallas. Formerly known as Dallas Burn, FC Dallas are one of the original MLS sides and have never won the MLS Cup, with their best attempt coming as runners up back in 2010. This season they are currently scraping in to the playoffs, sitting in 7th place, they will have everything to play for come that final day.

Standout Player


Our player of Pre-Season has continued to impress this season and is our standout player for the past eleven league games. In this set of fixtures, Emmanuel has scored seven goals and assisted on three occasions taking his total tally to nine goals and four assists in all competitions this year. Emmanuel has until December on his contract and we will certainly be looking to extend his deal before then.

Other News

The biggest news of the past couple of months, is that I have renewed my contract with the club once again. With a deal now running up until 2021, I have another 18 month period to continue what we are doing here at Cincinnati.

With myself re-signing, we have also seen some departures with Matt Turner, Darren Mattocks and Roland Lamah all leaving the club. All three players had asked to leave and we decided that it was in the best interests for both parties to see them go. Matt and Darren leave on a free, whilst we have sold Roland for $450k rising to $550,000.

These sales also helped boost our finances, which are continuing to rise. With a profit of $419,674 made last month, we are starting to look very healthy financially.


We also had former Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi on trial at the club however, we decided against pursuing him. We were not convinced on his fitness issues and for the wages he wanted it was not worth it in our eyes.

Finally, the Gold Cup is currently taking place with us losing Kendall Watson, Alvas Powell and Greg Garza to their international sides. Currently at the group stages, we may have to wait until July 8th for the players to return depending on how their sides do in the tournament.

Final Thoughts

I am once again very pleased with how we are performing so far, as we sit in second place after 22 games. With just a third of the season to go we are over half way and can really look to ensure our playoff spot and play Post-Season football. The arrival of Joe Aribo in a week or so’s time will also benefit our push and we are very excited about the final months of the season.

Replies


Scott: A big win to continue our cup run for sure! And, who knows, new sponsorship opportunities ;)
Jim: So far, so good. However, we can't get ahead of ourselves and need to continue going forward.
Justice:The start has been pleasing and still in 2nd is all well and good but it could see us slip to 4th with results going against us. We certainly need to stay focused and continue building on the start we have had.
4 losses in 15 games is not bad at all. You've had bad timing with players being away on international duties so don't judge yourself too hard. I know Cicny will bounce back. Also, congrats on the renewal. Club couldn't be luckier ;)

P.S: Ledesma is a man on fire ready to burn! :D
The club continue to go from strength-to-strength under Paul King's management and despite the gap likely to expand between Cincinnati and the Red Bulls, it cannot be disputed the success enjoyed this season. A play-off place looks extremely likely, at least, which is a fantastic accomplishment!
You look to be in an incredibly strong season in your first season in management with Cinci. It is hard to judge how the league will turn out with everybody playing a different number of fixtures. However, the next five games could prove to be season-defining. Hopefully you come out on top in them.

King Left Fuming After Cincy Draw


Nemanja Nikolić celebrates his equalizer in the 92nd minute
A clearly frustrated Paul King was left angered by his side 2-2 draw as Chicago score late on.

In a game of fascinating events, FC Cincinnati manager Paul King was left scratching his head at what more can be done to take his side out of the current slump in form. Having been 2-0 up after 70 minutes thanks to goals through Victor Ulloa and Brian Black, the match seemed over. Due to a very heavy schedule which has seen Cincy not have a weeks break between a match since April, King made a triple substitution in the 70th minute. No longer than 30 seconds after the three had made their way on to the pitch, right back Jonathan Spector went down injured.

Having not mustered a single shot in the previous 70 minutes, Chicago scored twice in the remaining 20, equalising in the 92nd minute, with just 2 minutes left of added time. Hungarian, Nemanja Nikolić, scoring both of his sides goals taking his tally up to five for the season.

King, who has seen his side perform to a very high standard overall this season, currently sitting 4th in the Eastern Conference, was clearly left frustrated by the games events.

“I am fuming. Simply put I am fuming. It is just unbelievable. For the third game in a row, we have suffered an injury. For the third game in a row we have dominated a game and somehow not come away with all three points. It is just ridiculous. The game was over at the 70th minute mark, we had played them off the park completely, I don't think they had even had a shot at that point. As soon as I make that triple substitution, Jonathan goes down. That sort of thing doesn’t even happen in video games, its just crazy how unlucky we have been. They then go on and grab two lucky goals and steal points from us. The league need to look at the scheduling and do something about it. How have some teams only played four games in the last month yet we have played ten, especially with the Gold Cup being on at the moment”

King alludes to the likes of Vancouver Whitecaps, who only played a total of two games in all competitions in June, where as Kings side played eight. The pile up in matches has clearly taken its toll on Cincinnati who have suffered some big players getting injured in the last few matches. Jonathan Spector, Diego Forlán and Eric Alexander all being injured in the past three games, Cincinnati are seeing a large amount of their players being fatigued and overworked.

This pile up of fixtures has come at the wrong time for Cincy as they have also been without key players, Greg Garza, Alvas Powell and captain Kendall Watson who are all away on International duty playing in the Gold Cup. All three men are key starters in Kings, Cincinnati defense which has meant a makeshift back four has been in place for the past month. Some positive news for King however, is the fact that Garza and Powell will be re-joining the squad this week, having been knocked out of the Gold Cup, both losing in the semi-finals to Mexico and Jamaica respectively. King will therefore have two of his key players available for his clash with New York City on Saturday.

“Thankfully Greg and Alvas are back now, they needed rest before being thrown into the deep end today as they have played a lot of football over the last month and only travelled back yesterday. But both are in contention for our game next week against New York City. It will be good to have them back and hopefully they can help us get out of this slump.”

Having been on a six game unbeaten run, recent events have seen Cincinnati slip to a four game winless run, losing to Vancouver Whitecaps and Orlando City, whilst drawing with DC United and Chicago Fire. The poor run in form has seen the years expansion side slip from second in the Eastern Conference to 4th, having played two games then the teams above them. The challenges don’t get any easier for King and his side as they now welcome New York City, a side who sit second in the Eastern Conference, three points off New York Red Bulls at the top.

It is expected that Spector will be out of action for up to six weeks as the Cincinnati medical team confirmed he had suffered a nasty twisted ankle.

Replies


Jim:It has certainly been a challenge with the amount of players missing as we lack quality in depth at the moment. Ledesma was certainly in top form, long may it continue!
Scott: It would be great to finish top of the conference given the start we had, but a play off place is definitely a great achievement in our first year. Hopefully we manage to secure it!
Justice: The next five games are certainly going to be important but with three of them gone and no win as of yet, lets hope it doesn't cost us!
The scheduling seems a right mess. I would be fuming too.


Tough luck for King, but I'm sure he can turn his fortunes around
It seems as if Cinci have been held to a King's ransom by those in charge of scheduling.

Trio Commit to Orange and Blue

Cincy trio, Julian Gressel, Eric Alexander and Alvas Powell, have all signed contract extensions seeing them remain at the club for at least another two years.

Cincy trio, Julian Gressel, Eric Alexander and Alvas Powell, have all signed contract extensions seeing them remain at the club for at least another two years.

After a successful start to Major League Soccer life, FC Cincinnati have managed to tie down three players to new contracts. Julian Gressel and Alvas Powell have agreed deals until 2022, whilst Eric Alexander has agreed a guaranteed deal until 2021, with the option of an extension at the end of the 2021 season for a future year.

Julian Gressel, a 25 year old German right winger, joined Cincy in the expansion draft in December 2018. Born, December 16th 1993 in the small Bavarian town of Neustadt an der Aisch, Gressel started his youth career at SpVgg Greuther Fürth. Joining the 2.Bundesliga side at the age of nine, Julian played for the academy sides until 2009, when he joined rival Bavarian side, SG Quelle Fürth. However, his move didn’t come with much success, and the hopes of a career in professional football looked slim.

Being without a team for two years, Julian made his move to America, to join Providence College in Rhode Island, in 2013. It was here where the young German made his first real impact in soccer, playing for the Providence Friars in the NCAA Division I. Coached by former Newcastle United academy player, and later Newcastle academy coach, Craig Stewart, Julian saw large success at the college. He played a key part in the colleges Semi-Final run in the 2014 NCAA tournament the furthest the side had ever been in the tournament. He then won First team All American honours, only the 3rd Providence player to do such, in 2016 leading his team to a quarter final spot in the NCAA tournament. In that season, Julian scored 15 goals with six assists in 36 games, seeing him win the golden boot to go along with his First Team All American recognition.

Coming off a great season, the German winger rose up the draft rankings and was finally selected by Atlanta with the 8th overall 2017 Superdraft Pick. The pick was seen as a success with Gressel playing in 32 league matches that season, all but two of Atlanta’s games. He was named as the 2017 Rookie of the Year for his terrific performances before improving on those numbers in 2018. Playing in 37 games, Julian scored three goals, including the winner in the MLS Cup final against LA Galaxy, whilst also creating 5 assists.

Julian was however, seen as a player not in the top five key players for Atlanta and was therefore allowed to enter the expansion draft in December. With no hesitation, manager Paul King selected Gressel with his 1st Expansion draft pick. The 25 year old has so far proven a good choice playing 22 league games scoring four goals and adding three assists.

“It is great to see Julian agree to our deal, keeping him here for another 18 months. He is a big part of my plan here and has shown his incredible ability throughout the year. His ability to create and score goals is incredible, giving us something that opponents fear. I am confident that Julian will continue in this way and we can’t wait to see his future performances in the Orange and Blue.” stated Paul King.

The second player to re-sign with Cincy is veteran Eric Alexander, the twice capped American central midfielder. His highschool career was on of success, playing for hometown side, Portage Central Highschool, known as the Portage Mustangs. Whilst playing for the Mustangs, Eric was named as 2006 Gatorade Player of the year for soccer. The award is given to the most promising talent in highschool and is a prestigious award to win. Coming off this success at Highschool level, Alexander moved to Indiana University, to play for the Indiana Hoosiers.

The university holds many notable alumni including, Drew Moor, Lee Nguyen and Will Bruin, all former capped internationals. However, Eric is one of the more successful members, being named as ESPN best freshman in the country in his debut season in 2006. He then went on to play a key role in the Hoosiers next three seasons, playing in 69 games, staring in the midfield. Despite this impressive set of performances, his side could only manage a best of Quarter Finals in the NCAA tournament during his time at the University.

Selected as the 44th overall pick in the 2010 MLS Superdraft, Eric joined an FC Dallas team poised to make a run at the MLS Cup. Winning the Western Conference in 2010, they eventually finished as MLS Cup runners up, with Eric playing in a limited 17 games. However, his late performances impressed as he featured in 11 consecutive games, a run that helped cement his place in a more prominent role the following year. Despite impressing, featuring in 22 games in the 2011 season, Alexander was traded to the Portland Timbers in August of that season.

Again, Eric showed his class and was seen as an important piece in Portlands midfield, playing in 24 games and led his team in assists with six. But again, he saw himself traded, this time to the New York Red Bulls, teaming up with French legend Thierry Henry. Led by Henry, Eric played an important role in helping New York to its first Supporters Shield trophy in 2013, starting every league game.

But a theme of Eric’s career has been the amount of times he’s been traded, despite performing to a high standard. Traded from New York to Montreal Impact, after 32 appearances in Canada he was once again moved on, this time to Houston Dynamo. At Houston, he won the U.S Open Cup in 2018 before being released, with Cincy picking him up on a free.

This season, Eric has seen a lot of game time from the bench, with 15 of his 20 league appearances coming from the sidelines. Despite this, the 31 year old hasn’t failed to impress, scoring twice and assisting four in his limited game time. Unfortunately the midfielder suffered a groin strain in our game against Orlando City and will be out of action for a further two weeks.

However, this hasn’t stopped Cincinnati from offering Eric a new deal.

“Eric is a player who is great to have in the dressing room. He is a respected member of the group and someone who plays an influential role and is a big role model to the younger lads. Despite his injury, we still trust Eric will play a big role and perform to a high standard in the future,” commented King.


The final man to sign an extended deal with the club is current vice captain and Jamaican international Alvas Powell. Powell, who also is the vice captain of his country, has 47 caps for Jamaica at the tender age of 24.

Alvas began his career in his home country, starting his career at Portmore United, a two hour drive from his place of birth, St Thomas. Making his Red Stripe Premier League debut in 2012, Alvas played a total of ten games for the team. Having won the league in 2012, the right back was loaned to MLS side Portland Timbers.

During his loan, Alvas made a total of twenty appearances for the team over two year spell, which was then made permanent in 2015. Powell was a key player over three years for Portland playing a total of 121 league games in 4 years for the club. In that time he scored five goals and assisted eight.

Since joining Cincy in a trade, Alvas has played in a total of 18 matches for the side and created two goals. However, going forward isn’t Alvas biggest factor on the pitch, it is at the back where he benefits the side the most. Covering an average of 11.4km a game and making 93% of his tackles, Alvas embodies everything that a good hard working defender should.

“Alvas has led from the front this year, as our vice captain we are delighted with how he has performed up to this point. Being one of the hardest workers in the squad he has put in some big yards throughout the year. We are very happy he has agreed to an 18 month extension and we are certain we will see more performances of the highest quality.” said Paul King on his vice captain.


Julian Gressel has agreed to a $177,000 per annum until 31st December 2022, Eric Alexander has agreed to $208,000 per annum until 31st December 2021 and Alvas Powell’s new deal will run to 31st December 2022 on a salary of $260,000.

The new deals come a few weeks after manager Paul King agreed to sign a new contract at the club, keeping him with the Orange and Blue until the end of the 2020 season.

Replies


Scott: What a women. We all love Big Juliette! <3
Syb: Hopefully, as it hasn't been the greatest of times recently!
Justice:Oh dear...
Contracting these three is like making a new signing! Excellent work. Hopefully they can continue to play well and justify their new contracts.
Doing a United on it! Contract every player. Jk seriously really good work contracting these 3 and fending off any bigger clubs

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