It's been a long 2018 for Futbol Club Cincinnati head coach Alan Koch.

A good one, to be sure, but a long one nonetheless – and there isn't a respite coming for at least several months.

Koch and Co. are 32 matches into the 2018 season across all competitions. At least six more contests remain in the league season, and that number could climb to as high as nine between now and November if FC Cincinnati advances to the USL Cup championship game, as many expect it will.

(The expectation itself is one Koch has plenty of thoughts on, too, but more on that later.)

The club's stretch run to the playoffs is well underway, and Koch's reward for navigating the 2018 United Soccer League season is a mountain of crucial offseason prep work for the 2019 Major League Soccer season.

Along the way, Koch earned a contract extension, too – his second in two years.

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For Cincinnati.com, this week seemed like an opportune moment to pull Koch aside and pick his brain on a variety of subjects prior to the team vaulting itself into the final five regular-season matches of 2018.

The question-and-answer conversation covered the on-field expectations of FC Cincinnati, the significance of Koch keeping his coaching staff intact for the move to MLS, and what he's looking forward to about the offseason.

The Enquirer: "Is FC Cincinnati where you expected it would be at this point in the 2018 season, Alan?"

Alan Koch: "Whew. Yeah, we are. I hope we'd be near the top or at the top, and obviously, we're at the top at the moment. But we want to finish at the top, so we've still got some work to do."

TE: "Has anything surprised you about this season?"

AK: "How we've been able to truly figure out a way to win games, and sometimes when we haven't been at our best, and you're going to have games like that during the course of the season. There are times when you probably need to lose, and full credit to the players because they've figured out ways to make sure the games had positive outcomes in almost every game we've played this year."

TE: "What's been the biggest frustration you've faced this season?"

AK: "You know, the biggest frustration is we have major, major, major expectations of ourselves, but I think it's people's unrealistic expectations of us. And unfortunately, because of the success we've had, now we've actually pushed that bar of unrealistic expectations even higher because, at the midway point of the season, we didn't have the biggest budget in this league and we were in first place. That's a testament to the work we did in the offseason, a testament to the work the group did. Now, obviously, we made some summer signings and we've spent the most in the league.

"We're at the top and people expected us to be at the top when we didn't spend the most and people expect us to be at the top when we have spent the most. You don't have to look too far around the world to see a lot of teams, even here in North America, the teams that spend the most doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be the most successful. And that's not always easy to manage those expectations. We expect ourselves to be the best, but you're not always going to be at your best."

TE: "What was a bigger relief for you: Getting your own contract extension done for your future at this club or seeing the deals done for assistant coaches, Yoann (Damet) and Jack (Stern), and knowing your staff would be intact for next year?"

AK: "To be honest with you, I was way more emotional for 'Yo' and for Jack to get their deals done. For me, it's just part of the business. I want to be in Cincinnati, but I had lots of opportunities at other places. I never thought about going anywhere else. I wanted to be here the whole time. I trusted Jeff Berding and my agent and they went through the process, and I'm glad they were able to get my deal done, but it didn't really change much in my life. I come to work and I do my job. But to see Jack and Yo have that taken off their shoulders, and they can focus and enjoy what we're doing with the club, that, personally, was a huge relief."

TE: "Have you learned anything about yourself to this point in the season, personally or professionally?"

AK: "I learn a lot in this job every day. I learn a lot from this organization. I learn a lot from how Carl Lindner III has embraced this startup business. I learned a lot from Jeff Berding from just his sheer passion and enthusiasm and energy to get the job done, and I feed off the relationships I've built with our players and staff every single day because without those relationships we wouldn't be where we are today. And those relationships are not easy, particularly for the players, because only 11 players can play. There are players that, during the course of this season – I'm sure there have been moments when they've loved me. There have been moments when some hated me and that's part of it because this is their business. It's their careers, too, but at the end of the day we take a lot of pride as a staff in setting our players up for success, and I firmly believe in doing that as close to every day as we possibly can."

TE: "Back to the business side. There are going to be tough personnel decisions to make in the coming weeks. How have you managed the different player responses to some of the business decisions you've already made?"

AK: "Yeah, it's an emotional business. This is truly one of those businesses where you wear your heart on your sleeve. That goes for all of us – coaches, players and everybody that's involved. We've had to manage the players. I've been very, very transparent that I'd love to take as many players from this group with us (to MLS), and I think that's why we're getting the response from the players in the group that we are. These guys are fighting to be part of something special. Some of us are lucky. We have deals in place that mean we'll be here for some time, but the guys are fighting to join us on that ride. A lot of them are showcasing themselves in the best possible light."

TE: "Has managing the USL season and preparing for MLS, which we've talked about at length almost all season, been as hard as you expected, or harder than you expected?"

AK: "It's been about the same, to be honest. It's a juggling act, obviously. Literally, we had off (Tuesday) for staff and I told the staff to go relax, but I was in the Downtown office with Jeff at times and Luke (Sassano) at other times (Wednesday) just grinding away and trying to set ourselves up for success next year. It's not really enjoyable, but we don't want to take those days off because we want to make sure, come January, we have the best possible team. The rest of the time, we're just pushing this group as much as possible because we're enjoying something that's truly special. It's a lot of work, but we'll gladly embrace both roles. I will be happier when I only have to worry about one team and managing and building one team. I don't think it will be easier, but just for my own sanity it might be a little better."

TE: "And will you still get to enjoy your customary off-the-grid vacation with your family?"

AK: "Yeah, I think Christmas and New Year's, we'll definitely take some days off. I don't have flights booked, but my family has flights booked already. The sooner I get my flights booked, the sooner they're actually going to believe I'm going to be going on these trips with them, but my flights are not booked yet because, obviously, there's going to be a lot of recruitment and scouting that may take me different places, but Christmas and New Year's is always a very, very special time for us as a family."