Last night we were humiliated at home, beaten 3-1 by our rivals the Red Bulls. Here are some thoughts.

Wake Up and Smell The Sucking

On my 45 minute ride up to Yankee stadium from Brooklyn (still better than going on the PATH….) I turned to my father to talk about the upcoming game. I told him that it’s funny that we’re going into this game as slight favorites, only 3 games ago we were the worst team in the league with no hope.

It’s amazing how short the memory of the football world is. I’ve seen it for years in Europe, and it’s funny to see it happen here. A team, a player, or a manager, can go from being considered the cream of the crop to the worst piece of shit within a month. I remember when Cristiano Ronaldo was on top form a year back and people were questioning whether Lionel Messi had shown us his best and was on a downward spiral. A year later, Messi wins the treble in emphatic style and people are back to praising him.

And, of course, many people stick by these teams, players, or managers, but it’s really quite remarkable how ubiquitous an opinion in footie can become once it’s expressed. It’s as if journalists are too stupid to have their own opinions, so once a few articles are written everyone follows suit.

Thus, reminiscing over the insane amount of articles I read before last night’s match, I couldn’t help but be struck by the collectivity in opinions, and even phrases. “NYCFC on the up”…”Red Bulls falling”…etc etc.

The play on the field last night was a wake up call. NYCFC just aren’t a good team yet. We’re brand new, and we won’t be truly good for a while. This Red Bull team have been playing together for a bit, and have an identity.

We were almost the worst team in the league a month ago. A few lucky breaks does not make winners. Last night was case in point.

I Remember Middle School

NYC’s play last night reminded me of an 8th grade boy about to lose his virginity. The first 10 minutes are the most exciting you’ve ever had, and then you lose your focus and by the time it’s over you’re confused and she’s disappointed.

But seriously, there’s an almost childish mentality amongst our team. The first 15-20 minutes, we scored a goal, we had some silky (albeit frustratingly unnecessary) back heels, and some good passing.

Yet as soon as it was Red Bull’s turn to do something, we got bored and lost focus. The rest of the game was typified by wayward passing, lethargic movement, and a genuine lack of communication between our players. The true NYCFC way.

The Team

Yes, I could talk about how McNamara inexplicably is able to score goals yet not pass the ball at a 5th grade level. And I could mention I don’t think Ned Grabavoy was on the field last night.

But the truth of the matter is, our team just isn’t good enough. Yeah, there were poor individual performances, but it’s not like a few changes would’ve really changed that much.

We all love to play backseat manager. “Oh if only he played so-and-so”…”Why doesn’t he switch to a 4-3-3?” etc etc. Hell, I do it all the time. But the truth is there’s no magic formula that can transform the team we’ve got into a winning machine. Unless you’ve got a device which can make 11 clones of Kwadwo Poku, we’re shit outta luck. And if you do have that device, I seriously question your moral code that you’d spend your time using it to help a mediocre MLS club.

Yeah, Pirlo and Lampard will help, but we’re a brand new club, and I’ve heard patience is a virtue.

The Future

Here’s the good news, NYCFC has a bright future. We’re a piece of crap team that already manages to attract talent that most MLS teams would only dream of. I don’t care how much you think we’re just pawns in Man City’s chess game, our owners have a fuckload of cash and don’t like losing. They’ve seen how many people turn up for the shit we’ve got now and they’re smart enough to understand the economic gold mine that is NYC. They know how to run a football team, and I guarantee you in 5 years we’ll be MLS royalty.

We’ll look back at this first season when we get all the bandwagon fans down the line and say “I was there when we were shit.” And fuck, we’ll be proud. Because we suffered through every loss and every second and we’ll look back on players like McNamara and Grabavoy and RJ Allen and we won’t be able to believe that guys like that played for our club.

So forget “on to the next one.” This season will be tough, whoever we play. We’ll win some games with our reinforcements, and that’s exciting. But the real reward will come in a few years. In many ways, we’re going to end up being a lot like Man City. After years of mediocrity and suffering we eventually become the top 3 in the league, never to look back. And it’ll be so much sweeter when we win whatever they’ll be calling the trophy in 5 years time. Because we’ll remember the shit we sat through, and we’re better for it.