FC Cincinnati defender Miazga out for 2024 with knee injury
FC Cincinnati center back Matt Miazga will miss the remainder of the 2024 MLS season after undergoing knee surgery. Miazga’s operation resulted in a successful reconstructive surgery of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and meniscus. Further, Miazga has been placed on the Season-Ending Injury List and is expected to rejoin Cincy for preseason training in 2025.
Sporting Kansas City legend Espinoza retires
Sporting Kansas City all-time great Roger Espinoza has retired from professional soccer. Espinoza spent 14 of his 16 professional seasons with SKC, going from the No. 11 overall pick (first round) in the 2008 SuperDraft to numerous trophies and legendary status in Major League Soccer. The longtime Honduran international will be formally recognized Saturday in a pre-game ceremony before Sporting KC host Austin FC (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
It’s been a brutal stretch for FC Cincinnati. Miles Robinson leaving for USMNT duty at Copa América seemed like it might slow them down a little. Then Matt Miazga went out with an injury for an unknown amount of time after sliding into the post of the goal. Then fellow center back Nick Hagglund broke his fibula. The Garys were going to be thin at center back for the next month at least depending on the extent of Miazga’s injury.
Well, now Miazga’s diagnosis is back. He’s officially on the Season-Ending Injury List. He’ll miss the entirety of the 2024 season with a torn PCL and meniscus.
After last year’s Supporters’ Shield-winning season, Cincinnati retooled this offseason. And that’s putting it lightly. The team brought in and sent out starters at five positions. That includes center back, where Robinson replaced Yerson Mosquera. They’ve kept racking up points anyway. Remarkable work from the front office and head coach Pat Noonan has kept the machine humming despite new parts. In fact, it might even be better than last year’s version. Cincy’s 2.05 points per game pace this season is better than the 2.03 points per game they ended on last year. Their underlying numbers are slightly improved. And the eye test makes you wonder if this version’s ceiling is even higher than a team that won the Shield and came a few agonizing minutes away from MLS Cup.
Let’s be blunt about it. There’s no wondering anymore. This team has taken a blow that will keep them from outpacing the 2023 side.
Since Miazga arrived in August of 2022, FC Cincinnati have allowed 1.13 goals per game, tied for the second-best mark in MLS in that span. They’ve allowed 1.12 expected goals per game, the third-best mark in the league. In the 115 games they played prior to Miazga’s arrival, they allowed 1.96 goals per game, the worst mark in the league, and 1.62 xG per game, the second worst.
You can even see an immediate change during the 2022 season pre and post-Miazga. Pre-Miazga they allowed 1.75 goals per game and 1.49 xG per game. In the 10 games after Miazga arrived and immediately jumped into the starting lineup, those numbers dropped to 1.30 goals per game and 1.20 xG allowed per game.
Cincy’s defensive revolution hasn’t solely come thanks to Miazga, of course. But no one has played a more critical role than last year’s Defender of the Year. Throw in an injury to another member of Cincinnati’s back line - Hagglund has started 63 games since the start of 2022 - and it’s fair to have real concerns about whether or not this team will hold up defensively.
It’s not like they’re suddenly going to be giving up four goals a game or anything. But this team’s success the last season-and-a-half has been predicated on playing against the ball effectively, being dominant in their own box and letting Lucho Acosta power them to one-goal wins.
Since the start of 2023, FC Cincinnati have a 25-5 record in one-goal games. The team with the second-most one-goal wins, Orlando City, has 12. They have thrived on the margins thanks to outstanding defense and Acosta. If that defense takes a step back, so do Cincy. They fell 2-1 to New England on Saturday. More one-goal losses could be on the way.
FC Cincinnati will still be a good team. But this is MLS. It is very, very, very difficult to have this kind of attrition to your spine and come out unscathed. Miazga’s injury could mean the end of their Supporters’ Shield chances. It might even mean that teams below them in the East can catch up. And, most worryingly, it might mean the championship window Cincy have opened for themselves could end up closing a little faster than expected.
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Good luck out there. A little magical thinking never hurt anyone.
