Jaap Stam knows he carries a stigma with him from his playing days, when he was known as an aggressive and somewhat intimidating defender. FC Cincinnati’s new head coach said that isn’t who he is on the sidelines.

FC Cincinnati on Thursday announced the former Manchester United centerback as its new head coach — its third in 13 months. The team formally introduced him Friday during a Zoom news conference.

Stam, 47, won three Premier League titles after joining Manchester United in 1998 and is considered one of the greatest Dutch defenders of all time. As a manager, Stam is 54-47-32 (W-L-D) since 2016 with stints at English side Reading and Dutch clubs PEC Zwolle and Feyenoord, from which he resigned in October.

“When they see me physically, everybody is thinking, 'OK, you must be angry all the time,' but that's not the case,” said Stam, who stands 6 feet, 3 inches tall. “I can have a laugh with everybody. I played in a certain way, with a certain aggression like everybody knows. That's my mentality, that's my way how I approach the game (as a player). You try to win your games. You go up (emotionally) in your games as well.

“As a manager, you have to learn how to manage that as well, your own feelings, how you approach the team, what you want to give to your team as a manager as well. Of course, you want to give that winning mentality to your team because players, I think, need to do everything in their ability to win games and do their best and work hard. That's the least you can expect from your players.”

Stam added that he doesn’t necessarily take the “tough guy” approach as a manager. He said he addresses some players more directly than others and takes a more “feeling” or personal approach with others, depending on what they respond to best.

Style-wise, he talks about being dominant but not necessarily physically.

“By being a defender and sometimes tackling players and looking like a tough guy, that's not in how I approach the game in terms of playing,” he said. “The team needs to be decisive in what they are doing, but that's in a way defensively and that's also attacking wise. If you go forward, you need to be very decisive in your attacking movement and making your runs. In how I want to play, that's by playing in an attractive way, going forward, being dominant, keeping possession and hopefully finding the patience to create openings in the opposition to score goals. By being dominant, I mean it's always nice to have the ball as a team than to chase it every time. That's why you want to play in a certain way.”

Stam is often portrayed in photos with a scowl or being physical with opponents, but he showed a softer side Friday. Asked about the club accidentally using a mislabeled Getty Images photo of Jong Ajax coach Tinus van Teunenbroek when announcing Stam’s hire on social media, Stam made light of the situation.

Opposing teams even jumped in on Twitter with their own photos of bald white men who could have been mistaken for Stam, and Stam said FC Cincinnati will get the last laugh if they beat those teams on the pitch.

“Yesterday was a busy day,” Stam said. “It was a hard day, a lot of talking, a lot of meetings eventually, so we used the doppelganger to do pictures for me.”

The club gave him a warm welcome, Stam said, and he looks forward to working with the roster he has been dealt. For now, that will be done from afar until his work visa is complete and FC Cincinnati gets permission to fly him, new assistant Said Bakkati and general manager Gerard Nijkamp in from The Netherlands.

Stam said he was interested in the club because it’s a project where he can grow as a manager and help shape a young club’s future. Though he brings a prior connection with Nijkamp, who hired him at PEC Zwolle in December 2018, both Stam and Nijkamp said their “friendship” had little to do with the decision to work together again.

“There are living 17 million people in the Netherlands and every time we talk about a Dutch candidate, the media is talking about, 'It's a friend of Gerard's, and he's coming to FC Cincinnati,'” Nijkamp said. “Yes, I like Jaap a lot as how he is as a professional in his job and what he will bring for our club because I was working very pleasant with him in PEC Zwolle.

“We know each other, yes. We like each other in the way we work,” Nijkamp added. “I think we also will have a good fit, but I also believe based on our conversations ... there are more connections than just people thinking we are friends.”

CINCINNATI — While Major League Soccer finalizes plans to restart the 2020 season, FC Cincinnati is gearing up with the hope that its new coach will arrive in time to lead the team through a fresh beginning.

A team spokesperson said Jaap Stam is still in the process of securing his work visa and approval to fly from his home in The Netherlands to his new adventure in the United States. However, the opportunity for him to potentially join FCC in Orlando – where all 26 teams will gather at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex for a World Cup-style tournament – would be ideal.

Stam fills the role vacated by Ron Jans, who resigned 12 days before the start of the season amid an investigation into a racial slur he made earlier during the preseason.

MLS suspended the season March 12 after just two games because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the ratification of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement on Wednesday paved the way for the league to move forward with plans to resume play initially with the tournament in Orlando and potentially finish the season in home markets. The league on Thursday lifted the team training moratorium that had been in effect since mid-March.

“I think it would be awesome (to restart with Stam),” goalkeeper Spencer Richey said on a Zoom call with media Wednesday. “… I think part of this whole situation is, just, the future has been uncertain and the more stability and certainty you feel you can have in your life these days is so much better, and that's no different with the coaching staff. We've had some changes, obviously. That's no secret, but just in speaking on that one Zoom call with Jaap, I feel like you could feel his energy, you could feel his passion, and he's certainly had an incredible career as a player and he's going to be a guy that guys respect as a coach, so I think guys are really looking forward to that.”

Richey said this feels like a fresh start for the team, but more so once Stam is in place. FCC held its first small-group training session Thursday after weeks of individual training. Assistant Yoann Damet, who served as interim coach, continues heading things up in Cincinnati.

As some of the proposed details to the Orlando tournament emerged late last month, even Stam was on board with the idea, saying in his introductory press conference on May 22, “Orlando would be ideal for me because you get to know everyone really well when you’re all together like that for an extended period of time.”

MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a Zoom news conference with media Wednesday that dates and full details are still being arranged, but the players would be gone for no more than 35 days and teams would essentially be quarantined together at a hotel and at the Disney sports complex. No fans will be in attendance, but games will be broadcast on TV with some added visual enhancements to make the product even better for those watching at home, Garber said.

ESPN.com’s Jeff Carlisle reported from sources that players could arrive as early as June 24 for a two-week training period with a three-game guaranteed first round, followed by knockout rounds to determine a winner. Garber said the idea behind the tournament is related to providing a way to get back on the pitch in as safe a manner as possible (the league will provide regular testing for COVID-19) and a way to recoup some of the revenue lost, as the league is estimated to lose $1 billion this year.

The league and players’ union both had to give some concessions to reach an agreement, and negotiations heated up so much in the last week that MLS threatened a lockout if the MLS Players Association did not agree to its proposal with the main sticking point tied to a force majeure clause meant to allow either side to back out of the contract under extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances, such as a new wave of COVID-19 infections that would force MLS to shut down again.

Players around the league chose not to participate in voluntary training sessions Monday as a stand against the ultimatum, and no FCC players showed up for what would have been the club’s first small-group workouts after the league initially limited teams to individual training sessions. The idea of a lockout and the tough stance taken by players ultimately brought both sides to a deal.

“The tactic of the threat of a lockout is a scary thing, for sure,” said FC Cincinnati defender Nick Hagglund, who is one of the team’s MLSPA representatives. “I think ultimately it made the players dig their heels in even more, and I'm really proud of the players and how they responded to that. There was no panic and everyone was in it together making sure they know what the information was to make sound judgement. It was across the player pool. I'm really proud of FC Cincinnati and what they did to understand and make sure everyone was on the same page. Ultimately, MLS needed a decision made, especially on the Orlando trip, and obviously they wanted a specific thing, so it puts a timeline on everything. We thought we might have had a little bit more time, but once they said that, it was time to get a decision done. For us, ultimately, it was to make sure what we got for the players was right and that we were going to stand together and be unified.”

Players are taking just a 5% pay cut, according to Garber, but the extension of the CBA – one was approved in February but never ratified -- by one year to run through 2025 will help the league save money down the road when the new media-rights deals come into effect in 2023. The force majeure clause remained but with some tweaking of the wording.

Hagglund and Richey both said it will be nice now to just focus on soccer. Although there are risks to returning because of COVID-19, they were satisfied with the league’s plan to try to keep players and staff safe.

“I think that was a lot of the first thought that came to guys' minds when this idea of the tournament came together, but there's a lot of smart people that both the PA and MLS have brought on board to ensure it's as safe as can be,” Richey said. “We know there is some risk that comes with it, but we think there are enough protocols and enough safety measures in place that we will hopefully be able to get out of there healthy.”

Garber said all players will be required to participate unless they fit into the categories the league discussed with the MLSPA, such as a medical reason or extenuating family needs.

FCC is hoping to get a chance to return to Nippert Stadium to finish the season, ideally in front of at least a lower-capacity crowd. In the meantime, they will treat the Orlando tournament like playoff games. The club lost its first two games played before the season was suspended and was coming off a last-place finish in 2019, but there is reason for optimism with an improved roster and now a new coach who was known as a legendary defender in his playing career with Manchester United, among others.

“It wouldn't be exactly the same feeling of having a full season and then playing MLS Cup, but it's also like a World Cup kind of tournament, so when you win anything it's an exciting feeling,” Hagglund said. “I think it's obviously going to feel different, but any time you have an opportunity to lift a trophy, you are excited about that.”

CINCINNATI — FC Cincinnati will host its first home opener at West End Stadium on Sunday, May 16, the club announced Wednesday afternoon.

They will face visiting Miami CF in a match that will be nationally televised.

"The match will mark FC Cincinnati's first home Major League Soccer match to be played at a venue other than Nippert Stadium," club officials said in Wednesday's announcement.

The game will begin at 4 p.m. on May 16, nearly a month after the team's season opener at Nashville SC on April 17.

FC Cincinnati is looking for its first season-opening win since joining Major League Soccer.

The club is 0-2 in season-opening games, but has a chance to change that Saturday night, when it faces Nashville SC on the road.

“They have to score goals,” said WCPO contributor Laurel Pfahler, who covers FC Cincinnati.

Plain and simple, that slowly became the most frustrating part of the 2020 FC Cincinnati team, which showed great promise during the “MLS is Back” tournament in Orlando last summer.

After leaving the “bubble” in Orlando, however, the team went 2-12-4 to close the season.

“They need to make sure they keep possession and moving forward,” said Pfahler. “A lot of times in the midfield, last year, they ended up going backwards and never had numbers going forward.”

The club made moves to improve that deficiency this offseason – namely in adding Luciano Acosta, to go with other additions in the offensive end like Brenner and Calvin Harris.

One major talking point in recent weeks, however, has been the reported departure of Frankie Amaya.

Notably, Amaya is still listed on FC Cincinnati’s official roster, but according to multiple national reports, the 20-year-old midfielder was traded away earlier this month.

“The reason it hurts is because it came so late in the offseason – or the preseason, really,” said Pfahler.

Instead of replacing Amaya with a player from outside the organization, it appears the coaching staff will move Yuya Kubo to Amaya’s position, with the possibility of others filling that void at times as well.

FC Cincinnati opens the season at 8:30 Saturday night on the road at Nashville SC.

Unlike most games last season, there will be thousands of fans at Saturday’s game.

Nashville is allowed to host up to 40% capacity inside Nissan Stadium, which has a typical seating capacity of close to 70,000 fans.