The Day After (New England)

The day after? It couldn’t have come soon enough. NYCFC traveled to New England on Saturday, full of hope and potential. And if you listen to the pundits, momentum as well. But being “unbeaten” isn’t the same as winning, and when people start celebrating the act of not losing, then you know you are in trouble.

One could argue that we were off to a good start. We had some bright spots in the opening minutes. Angelino was a revelation. The man’s like a death ray. Utterly fantastic. Which, of course, only exposed the rest of our squad as being so much less so.

We did enjoy a slight edge in possession, which somehow lasted throughout the entire game, but that proved about as meaningful as being unbeaten. In the 12th minute, New England had a moment of clarity that coincided with a moment of quality to produce a well-earned goal from Lee Nguyen.

Yes, it was the result of nice passing, but our defense looked a tad feeble on the play. Both Andoni Iraola and Jason Hernandez rushed out to challenge Diego Fagundez, leaving Ngyuen wide open behind them. Mehdi Ballouchy tried to recover and shut down Nguyen in the box but it was too late. If I had to blame someone, it’d be Iraola, as Hernandez had more of a right to push up on Fagundez. Iraola should have been marking Ngyuen. And it certainly wasn’t the first time the Spanish vet, only two games into his NYC FC run, has been suckered out of position like that.

Things started to roll downhill from there. We had the ball, but we couldn’t do a damn thing with it. So sad.

Changes Coming

Our midfield is still getting comfortable with full backs that can play the game. By that I mean they are starting to realize that they have a position to play, with responsibilities to fulfill. This includes providing coverage on the overlap.

And with Shay Facey starting to play the ball out of the back, with the help of Angelino and Iraola, the midfielders are also discovering that they need to provide them options as well. The days of simply running around in hopes of picking up a loose ball from defensive clearances are hopefully over, along with the default setting of having keeper Josh Saunders regularly booting the ball as far up field as possible.

And our forwards? We don’t get many opportunities the way we’ve been playing, and these guys squandered the few we had on Saturday. In fairness, Patrick Mullins worked his ass off. But David Villa needs to do better. Are the balls used in MLS that much more attractive than those in La Liga? They seem to be, because Villa’s always looking down at the ball and never up at his teammates. And I can understand his frustration at the poor service, but he’s also throwing tantrums when he’s not even bothered to get open. Could the 33 year-old need glasses?

I hope Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo, our two other designated players, have a better attitude than Villa has displayed. We’ll know soon enough.

Hungry or Fed Up?

It’s strange that, given the introduction of five new players in the middle of the season, no one on the current squad looks even remotely interested in fighting for their place on the team. You’d expect them to be digging deep to prove they deserve a spot out there, but that didn’t appear to be the case this weekend.

And if it were only one or two players looking like that, I’d place the blame on them individually. But since everyone lacks that sort of hunger, I have to blame Coach Jason Kreis. Where’s the leadership? Where’s the man management? And has anyone spotted Jurgen Klopp “vacationing” in New York City this summer?

All in all, it was a fairly timid performance from a team that should be – needs to be – doing a lot better. We’re more than halfway through the season and we’ve still got too many poor touches, poor passes, and poor positioning.

More Changes Needed

With the addition of Lampard and Pirlo, things should change in the midfield. We’ve already seen some change in the back. And hopefully that will translate to a change on the attack as well.

For example, with Angelino and Iraola advancing up the flanks, along with precision passing from Pirlo, might we see more of Adam Nemec and his aerial ability in the box? And what about Khiry Shelton? Sure, he’s been battling an injury, but he practiced this week, not even a spot on the bench? What’s up? His pace will be a welcome alternative on the attack. Tommy McNamara couldn’t outrun an armadillo.

The good news is that Ned Grabavoy won’t be available to play next week. He earned a straight red in the 55th minute for doing a poor Nigel de Jong impersonation. The saddest part is that it was the first and only time his name was called all evening.

Hernandez will have to sit as well, thanks to steady stream of yellows. Will Kreis give Jefferson Mena a start? The Colombian center back was only recently signed, but I don’t think anyone is interested in seeing what else Kwame Watson-Siriboe can do wrong.

And what about Lampard and Pirlo? Will Kreis start either – or both – of them, especially with Mix Diskerud still away on national team duties?

Kreis has shown some faith in Iraola, but he took Angelino off after 70 minutes, replacing him with Chris “Wing and a Prayer” Wingert. He also took off Mullins and brought on Kwadwo Poku shortly after Grabavoy’s dismissal, though the Ghanaian talisman proved unable to work his magic. He did have a few nice connections, though, including a late-game link-up with Pablo Alvarez, who replaced Ballouchy in the 77th.

What lessons, if any, will Kreis learn from this flatulent performance? Will he give the new guns a shot or cling to his familiar failings? Only time will tell.

And time is running out on this season. So far we’ve earned a measly 21 points in 20 games. At this rate, we’re not going to make the playoffs. We’ll need to at least double our 1.05 points per game average over the next 14 fixtures if we hope to have a shot at the post-season this year.

On To The Next One

We play Orlando at home on July 26th.

I don’t know why, but I hate Orlando as much as the Red Bulls. Maybe even more. Perhaps it’s the whole “the other expansion team” thing, or the choice to name it Orlando City SOCCER Club, or the purple fucking color, or most obvious, the fact that it’s fucking Orlando.

So yeah, I’d like to win. With Lampard hopefully playing and perhaps, perhaps, Pirlo, we could have a better midfield. Which means we’d actually have a midfield. And some of the infamous NYCFC mediocrity may have to sit down and never see the pitch again.

Ned Grabavoy is suspended for us and star Canadian striker Cyle Larin is suspended for them. Both great news for us.

While this game will be billed as Kaka vs Lampard & Pirlo, the truth is that the rest of our team need to vastly improve, or at least try, to give us a chance this season.

Anyway, on to the next one.