Last night NYCFC earned a well fought point against Chicago Fire at home. Here’s our thoughts.

David Villa? More like David Suck!

That’s not entirely accurate. He’s a fantastic footballer who holds the top goal scoring record for the Spanish national team and has won almost every trophy that a footballer can earn. He came to MLS to either: A) Get one last hefty paycheck living in our lovely city or B) Give himself one last challenge.

Presumably it’s a Mix of the two but if option B was at all on his agenda he’s doing quite poorly.

Granted, he’s only been here for a bit and he’s had some injury trouble, but it’s kind of unsettling how hard he’s finding life in MLS.

Sure, he doesn’t have Xavi or Iniesta giving him passes. Which in all honesty is exactly the reason he’s struggling. But you’d hope a player of such high caliber and talent would be able to do something on his own. Yet he often looks at a loss for ideas.

He keeps losing the ball when he runs with it at MLS defenders. Let me repeat, MLS defenders. 

And while his off the ball play is rather commendable, he’s slow and indecisive on the ball (Mix Diskerud too, maybe that’s what they learn in training?).

Villa will get the ball in a dangerous area and often slow the tempo, allowing for the opposition to get more men behind the ball, and then he’ll shoot from the same position he was in earlier yet now it gets blocked.

But forget all that. Villa is a goddamn world-class footballer. He shouldn’t only be finishing every single chance he gets in the box, he should be creating chances, he should be a game changer. A Designated Player, if you will.

So far he hasn’t really done that. He’s been good in patches, takes some nice shots like the one that allowed Mehdi Ballouchy another goal for this season, but he really isn’t doing anything special. We’d like that to change. Or another DP. Both work.

The People

As our results have been poor to say the least, I’ve been wondering how long will this team continue to get support.

Losing to the Red Bulls, playing like crap, being a bad team, all these factors add up to what should be a substantial loss of an excited fan base.

Of course the diehards would stay and the casual supporter would go, but it’s those in the middle, the slightly interested, who have presumably been jumping ship after this suck-fest we call our first season.

Thus, at Yankee Stadium this summer night I was surprised to see 23 thousand fans in attendance. There were many seats vacant, which makes me question that number, but a lot of people are still showing up. What if we were good? Imagine the possibilities!

Yet as the game progressed my positivity from the fan support was quickly overshadowed by what’s becoming an NYCFC trademark: poor play, red card, giving up a goal.

Once the second goal went in, the crowd (myself included) started getting angry.

“You guys are idiots” one fan screamed down to the team. “How could you make that pass?”, “What’s wrong with you guys?” “Does anyone want my season tickets? Please? I’m begging you!” were only some of the less than supportive shouts during the first half. It looked as if we were in for another long night.

Then, Mehdi Ballouchy did what he does best: Inexplicably score yet another goal. Fans clapped and cheered, but it wasn’t enough to bring us back from the disapproval we held.

Second Half

NYCFC love the second half.

We always play better. And for some reasons teams end up playing worse. Really odd.

Last night was no different. We played far better in the second half, and ended up with a goal to show for it.

Went Shelton sent that miss-hit shot wobbling into the far corner, Yankee Stadium erupted. As the game came to a close, most fans were on their feet, applauding the efforts of our team.

True, we were a man down for an hour on the match, but it’s quite incredible we were all clapping for a tied game at home. Maybe one day we can clap for a really good performance and even, dare I say, a win.

Shelton

It’s a shame, but Khiry Shelton looks the be the Chicharito of the MLS. We’ve started Shelton for many successive games after his breakout into the team, yet despite his best efforts, he hasn’t really had the offensive impact we’d hope he would.

Normally I’d be livid if he were benched, but last night I felt he sort of deserved it. And the truth is his pace and raw force are better utilized later into the match when the opposition are tired.

It’s so simple! He kept having such a positive impact on the game off the bench earlier in the season, naturally we assumed he’d be just as effective given 90 minutes.

Yet, we were wrong. Shelton is at his best two-thirds into a match when the opposite defenders are starting to get weary and he can run at them full steam. He may not want to admit it, but at this point in his career, he’s best only playing 30 minutes a game. But what a 30 minutes he gives us.

On To The Next One

Shelton’s late goal can only propel us towards a brighter future. It will give the team renewed confidence and a belief that maybe they aren’t the worst thing to happen to New York since some European douchebags brought pigeons here on a boat.

But let’s not get our panties in a bunch. Sure Kreis and Co. will be lauding this miraculous result, but we’re still making the same stupid mistakes and not playing up to our potential.

We can hope that this comeback will inspire us to get a result against a Real Salt Lake that were just humiliated 4-1 by last placed Montreal Impact, but only time will tell.

On to the next one.