There are plenty of (probably pretty valid!) reasons to write off FC Cincinnati's 1-0 loss to Minnesota United on Saturday as a one-off instead of as some larger trend for the rest of the season. Those excuses include but aren't limited to, the fact that it was 20 degrees at kickoff and FC Cincinnati was playing its fourth game in 10 days. But when there are just two real data points in a season, it's worth considering all the information there is.

The story of the game is pretty straightforward. FCC wasn't consistently dangerous but also denied the Loons much in the final third. Ultimately, the home team took advantage of a tap-in after a free kick while the Orange and Blue couldn't turn some promising attacks into quality chances.

Outside of transition and set piece opportunities when FCC looked the most dangerous, the team looked mostly out of ideas during sustained possession. Despite pretty comprehensively winning the field tilt battle, the Orange and Blue struggled to create much danger with its possession in the final third.

Though Evander seems to have avoided major injury he remained unavailable with the hamstring issue that led to his departure early in the first half of the season opener. His absence was felt in the middle of the field.

Without him, FCC's attacking fate is even more reliant on the play of its wing backs and against Minnesota, Ender Echenique and Bryan Ramirez couldn't find the right final ball to unlock Minnesota's defense. There was plenty of space for the wing backs to get on the ball but, once they were, the Loons' narrow defensive shape was set up to deal with anything other than a perfect delivery.

More of the attacking burden fell on the shoulders of Dado Valenzuela, too.

Evander-less

Valenzuela again deputized for Evander on Saturday, starting as FCC's most attacking minded midfielder. As I wrote about it before the season, Valenzuela isn't really a #10 in the same way that Evander is. In and around the box, Valenzuela seems to have a knack for creating shots, both for himself and teammates. But in the build up, he's much less involved than FCC needs from a player in his position.

Minnesota's three center back setup limited the efficacy of skipping the midfield in build up and for much of the game, the Loons defended narrowly in a mid block, daring the Orange and Blue to find a way through. The team struggled to do that.

After the game, FCC manager Pat Noonan alluded to the game plan for breaking down Minnesota's defensive structure when asked if the first half was a disappointment. He said, "After 20, 25 minutes, if you can't maintain that rhythm and understand the flow of the game and how they were defending and really us being able to utilize our structure to find wing backs to be able to switch play, to use some diagonal balls and get closer to goal, you know, then it's, I wouldn't say it's a missed opportunity because we didn't perform well enough for it to feel that way."

Valenzuela wasn't a fulcrum to facilitate FCC's efforts to move the ball side-to-side in hopes of drawing Minnesota's defense apart and exploiting resulting gaps. Don't get me wrong, Valenzuela was a key part of some really nice sequences (See: the build up in 49th minute for some really nice soccer). However, Valenzuela isn't yet the player to orchestrate play in the final third to break down a highly effective defensive block or to break defensive lines.

Again, if there's a game to write off due to a confluence of extenuating circumstances, it's this one. Even with a positive prognosis for Evander's hamstring, the Orange and Blue needs depth at the position. If Valenzuela can grow into the position, great, but Noonan might need to have a secondary approach ready just in case. Valenzuela still has a big role to play in Orange and Blue but the position he was in on Saturday doesn't play to his strengths.