In assembling a 2021 preseason schedule that kicks off Saturday, Louisville City FC’s technical staff took a club mantra to heart.
“When we compete in training, we say this a lot: We make it hard on ourselves,” said John Hackworth, LouCity’s head coach and sporting director. “And that’s the idea. We want to get out of our comfort zone, we want to test each other, and certainly our players do a good job of that.”
The boys in purple get going this weekend with a closed-door friendly at Major League Soccer’s FC Cincinnati, a former USL Championship rival. LouCity continues with a stretch of seven games in four weeks ranging across professional ranks.
MLS sides include Nashville SC, Houston Dynamo, Austin FC and a rematch with FC Cincinnati. There’s also a meeting with the reigning USL League One champion Greenville Triumph, familiar USL Championship foe Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC and clash with the National Independent Soccer Association’s Chattanooga FC.
It all leads up to a 32-game USL regular season kicking off on or around May 1.
“I have the belief that you cannot improve unless you’re constantly being tested, and I think our preseason schedule is a test,” Hackworth said. “I think there’s a test in some of it being the days in between, some of it’s in the opponents we play — a different variety with different motivations from different teams.”
Saturday’s trip to FC Cincinnati marks the first edition of the “Dirty River Derby” — as supporters so eloquently call it — since the 2019 U.S. Open Cup. LouCity will face an entirely different system for the blue and orange under first-year head coach Jaap Stam.
“We don’t know anything about how Cincy’s been preparing, and I would say there’s a lot that they don’t know about us,” Hackworth said. “There’s a lot of problem solving that’s going to go on early in that game on Saturday.”
LouCity will start both halves with different lineups, Hackworth said, to allow every player on his roster 45 minutes of game time.
“The game gives our technical staff the best evaluation possible against a good opponent,” the coach added. “We’re going to try implement some ideas and things that we’ve been trying in training against an opponent.
“The ability to problem solve and make good decisions in every facet of the game is something that all 22 players that represent us on Saturday will have to show.”
Saturday’s game also marks the first time LouCity newcomer Jimmy McLaughlin will take the pitch against his former club.
Numbering more than 100 appearances across five seasons in Cincinnati, the forward has spent the last six weeks working his way into a competitive position group that features returnees Antoine Hoppenot, Brian Ownby and Cameron Lancaster.
“It’s funny how it all works out,” McLaughlin said. “I think it’s a really healthy competition and that’s the nature of playing for the best team in the USL. It’s going to be competitive across the board in every spot. But especially with the congested season everybody on this roster is going to need to play a big role.”
Now six weeks into preseason, the Pennsylvania native is excited about his new club has to offer. But as McLaughlin tallies his first meaningful minutes in purple this preseason, he isn’t letting the pressure to perform mount. He’s instead “taking it day by day” and trying to control the controllable as he learns a new system.
Other former FC Cincinnati players on the LouCity roster include Corben Bone, Tyler Gibson, Antoine Hoppenot and Pat McMahon.
“I’ve been incredibly impressed at the competitiveness throughout the group,” McLaughlin said. “It’s something that’s on a whole other level. It’s something I’ve never been seen in any club that I’ve been at. The will to win and the battles between every player on this field every single day has been amazing, and it’s pushing everybody to play at the highest of their abilities.”
