Tag: Pat Noonan

FC Cincinnati coach Noonan: Supporters’ Shield more relevant than MLS Cup

Noonan’s side clinched the Shield with a win at Toronto FC on Saturday

FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan has said he believes the Supporters’ Shield is now more relevant than MLS Cup.

Noonan’s side clinched the Supporters’ Shield on Saturday with a 3-2 win over Toronto FC, completing an incredible turnaround that saw the team finish dead last in MLS for three straight seasons (2019-21).

The Shield is awarded to the team with the best regular-season record, which is, of course, how the majority of leagues worldwide crown their overall champion.

In MLS though, winning the Shield is merely a guarantee of homefield advantage throughout the playoffs and MLS Cup.

In a league where 18 of 29 teams currently reach the postseason, Noonan said on Monday that he felt winning the Shield represented something even bigger than taking home MLS Cup — though he stressed his side’s desire to do both.

“It’s a big achievement, and maybe that conversation is different years back but for me, it’s the consistency of a team over the course of a season,” Noonan told reporters in quotes published on the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“For me, now, and even my own opinion of it has changed: I think it has now surpassed MLS Cup in terms of relevance. That’s not to take away from the desire of our team to hold an MLS Cup but for that team to be the top team over the course of the season, I think, is very meaningful. The hope is that we can find a way to achieve both.”

Noonan’s side will now look to match Los Angeles FC, which won a Shield-MLS Cup double last year, becoming the eighth team to achieve the feat.

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FC Cincinnati coach Noonan says Vazquez is ‘going to be gone’ if he keeps scoring

The 24-year-old will likely have European suitors after a breakout 2022 campaign

FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan is realistic about the prospects of keeping Brandon Vazquez around.

Vazquez just completed a breakout 2022 campaign that saw him tally 18 goals and eight assists in 33 games. At 24, the forward looks to be the right age to make a big-money move to Europe.

Though Noonan would clearly like to keep Vazquez around for the long term, the coach knows there could be offers that are simply too good to turn down.

“I would say that if he continues on this path, he’s going to be gone,” Noonan told the media on Wednesday. “That’s my guess. Do we want to lose him? No. If he continues in the form that he is in, he can produce for us for a long time and that’s what we want.”

Though he excelled at a position that’s hardly an area of strength for the U.S. national team, Vazquez will not be a part of the team’s World Cup roster barring anything truly unforeseen.

That could potentially open the door for Mexico, a country Vazquez is also eligible to represent through his parents.

Vazquez could have a choice of clubs to make soon as well as national teams. Though it could be a blow to his team on the field, Noonan has said he’d be happy to see the striker move on if the right opportunity arises.

“For Brandon, the person [and] the player, if other opportunities come about and he’s able to go onto something bigger and better, I think that’s fantastic,” Noonan said. “I think it’s a sign of players being able to be a part of our staff and this club, being in position to develop to play at a higher level, wherever that is, whatever that means.

“So, again, we want Brandon here for a long time. But when you score goals, others are going to take notice of that and he is going to be sought after.”

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‘It’s an embarrassment’ – Pat Noonan went scorched earth on refs after ‘Hell is Real’ draw

The FC Cincinnati coach was not about to let a possible offside call go unaddressed

Pat Noonan did not hold back in his post-game press conference after his FC Cincinnati side drew the Columbus Crew 2-2 in the “Hell is Real” derby on Saturday, calling the officiating an “embarrassment in our league.”

Steven Moreira equalized for Columbus deep into second-half stoppage time to earn a valuable away draw, but it was the Crew’s first goal that Noonan was very eager to address after the game.

Derrick Etienne appeared to be offside on his 74th-minute header, which was not reviewed by the video assistant referee.

When it was posited to Noonan that observers were interested in the Crew’s first goal, the FC Cincy coach was ready with a response.

“They’re interested because it’s f—–g clear,” Noonan shot back.

“That’s why they’re interested, because this has happened to a point now where it’s an embarrassment in our league. It’s not just us, I will continue to say that, but it is a huge problem that guys that put in that much continue to get punished by just really really poor officiating across the board.

“And the reasons you get for the offside goal, the checkpoint’s different than what they see in Atlanta [at the Video Review Center]. How can the checkpoint be different? How do you not have that view? How can you not just look at that and say, ‘I should check this. This is something that doesn’t look right.’

“But again, that’s the norm. So right now I’m the excuse guy and that stinks, but I want to protect our players because they put too much into it to be robbed like that.”

The draw saw Columbus stay in the seventh and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference, one point above Cincinnati in eighth place.

Watch Noonan’s post-game rant

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