



This piece is part of our “State of the Team” series, previewing each MLS squad ahead of the 2020 season. Read the other teams’ stories here.



When Gerard Nijkamp left longtime employer PEC Zwolle last summer to start life as general manager of MLS’s FC Cincinnati, it looked to be a whole new kind of project for him. In retrospect, the term “project” may be an understatement when you consider the state of the club when he arrived, midway through one of the worst seasons any MLS team has ever endured.



Plenty has been written about FCC’s disastrous debut campaign, but it’s worth recapping briefly for posterity: a record-setting poor defensive record; the worst record in the league by far; allocation money wasted on players that didn’t live up to it; an early-round U.S. Open Cup exit to a USL Championship side; a midseason coach firing and an unhappy locker room.



After all of that, Gerard...