New York Soccer Journal spoke with Laurel Pfahler of Queen City Press to learn more about FC Cincinnati, New York City FC's opponent on Matchday 9 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night. Here is your NYCFC vs Cincinnati preview.
• League Form: D-D-L-W-L
• Record: 2W, 2D, 4L | 8 points, 10th place
• Scoring Leaders: Kévin Denkey, Tom Barlow, 2 goals
• Assist Leader: Ender Echenique, 2 assists
1. Cincy struggling to begin 2026
New York Soccer Journal: After finishing one point shy of the Supporters' Shield last season, FC Cincinnati didn’t lose much of its core in the winter, except for the likes of Luca Orellano and Yuya Kubo. The club signed Bryan Ramírez, Tom Barlow, and Kyle Smith, all of whom have played first-team minutes this season. Despite not bringing in huge names, how do you assess Cincinnati’s winter transfers?
Laurel Pfahler: FC Cincinnati made several moves last summer, and like you said, the team returned a strong core from the 2025 roster. However, the Orange and Blue did lose three starters in Orellano (transferred to CF Monterrey), Brenner (loan from Udinese expired) and Lukas Engel (loan from Middlesbrough expired), and really only replaced one of those with Ramirez's signing.
Despite losing the versatile Yuya Kubo, as well, the depth looked better on paper going into this year, but injuries and red cards have crippled the defense and the lack of a proven scoring threat next to Kévin Denkey has really made the club's emphasis on an improved attack fall short so far. Tom Barlow has been better than anticipated, and I really like what he provides defensively with the press, but he's no Brenner. Teams don't respect Barlow as they did Brenner, so they are able to put extra bodies on Denkey and Evander, and the goals have been hard to come by on a consistent basis.
