Tag: NYCFC Review

The Day After (DC United)

Well that was unexpected.

I stand by my earlier theory that the existence of NYCFC is just some cruel, cruel joke concocted by bored billionaires from the Middle East. How else do you explain how, after playing like idiots against Montreal and then getting easily beaten by Red Bulls, do we manage to beat the statistically best team in the league, quite comfortably? Bored billionaires, I’m tellin’ you.

Mr Suck Goes to Washington

Perhaps the most astounding aspect of the game was just how mediocre DC United were. It must be said that this is my first game watching DC play a full match, and most of the other research I had done was reading other people talk about them. Suffice to say, I was generally confused by the end of last night’s match. They had been alright, they’ve got a great ability to retain possession of the ball and make menacing runs. But they never really looked like threatening. Sure, they had some very close chances, but who doesn’t against our sad excuse of a defense? What was amazing is they really looked ok with losing. Was it complacency? Perhaps it’s the fact that they know they’re probably into the playoffs and didn’t expect much from NYC. Maybe it was just an off night.

Whatever the reason, DC looked like one of the easier teams we’ve had to play. Far more teams have come into Yankee stadium and had oodles of chances, better organization, and much more desire. For some reason, DC United didn’t. So from all of us here in the Big Apple, I’d like to say: Thank you for sucking.

No Pirlo, No Party? No Lampard, No Problem

With Lampard picking up an injury midweek, Kwadwo Poku slotted into his attacking midfield role.

There’s just too much to say about tactics and individual player performances last night. David Villa actually played decently well, inexplicably scoring the second goal and often times sending Poku some great balls.

But, if someone had not seen the lineups, they’d guess that Villa was playing left mid. And that seems to be his game. But it’s not that he merely drifts out wide, he hugs the touchline and spends most of his game there. The problem? No center forward to aim for. We send way too many balls into the box and there’s no one there. Thus, with Poku playing under Villa, he ends up playing as a central striker almost, yet he does well to get back on defense. Poku had an interesting match. Without him, we’d have been screwed. His ingenuity, his directness, and his stunning ability to retain the ball in tight spaces made him the X-factor for last nights game. Yes, he did miss some easy chances and was a little rusty, but he always made up for it. And that’s the real difference between Poku and whoever else we want to play. Maybe Poku is young and inexperienced and is prone to making the wrong decision in the box, but at least he has those decisions to make. That is to say, the fact that Poku looks a bit rusty in the box is also a testament to his ability to get in amazing positions. With consistent playing time and a mentor like Villa, Poku could, nay, will, become one of the top player in the MLS. But Kreis will probably bench him once Grabavoy’s fit. Motherfucker.

On To The Next One

We play the Columbus Crew away on Wednesday. It’ll be fascinating to see what lineup Kreis chooses, specifically whether that lineup include Poku and/or Lampard. It’s odd to say, but we looked a better team without Frank. Sure, he’s a world-class player who, when he’s really fit, could make amazing things happen, but out DP policy has been Real Madrid esque: buy a bunch of superstars not caring about which position they play or if we really need them and force our manager to figure it out. And there’s a few problems with that policy.

  1. Jason Kreis is not Carlo Ancelotti. The MLS vet is out of his depths at NYCFC and does better when coaching a team like DC United, full of MLS seasoned players who work for each other as a unit.
  2. No legs in the midfield. With both Pirlo and Lampard expected to play in the middle, with Villa right on top of them, most pundits have been asking the simple question: who’s doing the running? While it was seems childish, it’s been a good point. Against the Red Bulls, having both Pirlo and Lampard in the center of the field meant that the other players had to do way more running and defensive work than they should. And not even that, we lack any pace, any cutting-edge up top. With Poku instead of an older gentleman, we fix that problem. But Lampard has to play. So we shall see.

Anyway, Columbus are a top team who’ve been playing some decent enough football in this league. They’ll be a good test, and we’ll see if we can build off this win or if it’s just a flash in the pan.

On to the next one.

The Day After (Montreal)

Oh dear.

The First Half

After much anticipation for this match, the first 45 minutes was some of the worst we’ve seen. Where to even begin?

Kreis started an interesting team, to say the least, but we’ll get to that later. Our first half reminded me of some long lost memory in the freezing cold of March where our players couldn’t pass to each other and mediocre opponents waltzed past our defenders with stunning ease. Unfortunately, I was not dreaming as I saw our back line humiliated on several occasions in the first half.

Look, Mena and Hernandez tried pretty hard, which is nice. And Mena even managed to stick a foot in and steal the ball from the attackers, which was a welcome surprise. But none of that can make up for such poor defending aerially. I mean, honestly, it was impressive how easy it was for Montreal. All they had to do was kick the ball in the air towards our center backs and their strikers would easily be open, control the ball, and beat our guys for pace. It looked like high school. And it happened over and over again. It even lead to two first half goals. How can we be so helpless?

But it wasn’t just the back line. After finally being able to bang in goals (5-3 Orlando, 4-4 Toronto) our offense this game was abysmal. Pirlo and Jacobson were actually quite nice as a duo again, but there’s only so much the holding mids can do.

Calle offered little to nothing, McNamara worked hard and passed back, and Grabavoy was moving into useless positions right in front of the center mids, all of which gives Pirlo very limited options. Granted, Pirlo had an off day, hitting poor corner kicks and sending wayward passes, but he didn’t have much to work with. Often his long balls should have worked but Calle, Grabavoy, and McNamara didn’t really know they had to be there. The first half was typified by shitty passing, almost no shots on goal for us, and schoolboy defending.

The Second Half

I guess the second half was better. Poku and Mix came on and did what they could. Poku was good every time he was on the ball, making smart passes and taking people on, but he just didn’t have much opportunity to do so.

Mix was a similar story. He got into good positions on the right flank and looked dangerous but we need more from him. Most of the time he’d get the ball on the wing and just pass it back, not much forward-thinking play. Maybe if Kreis had started him he could have done more.

Oh, Lampard came on. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, since he hasn’t played a competitive match for a bit, but he looked worryingly out of sorts. He had a really poor touch, and didn’t seem quite comfortable on the pitch, which is weird for someone of his caliber. He wasn’t great, yet it’s only his first few minutes, we’ll wait until his next match. Let’s just hope it’s better than that.

We’re Not In Salt Lake Anymore

Firstly, Kreis has nearly lost any respect I have for him. Okay, MAYBE Shay Facey had a slight injury (although no reports indicate anything of the sort) so whatever, he’s on the bench. BUT Poku gets 3 assists and Mix scores on his return (at right mid, mind you) and they’re both benched? For NED GRABAVOY and Calle? Have you lost your damn mind sir? The craziest thing is, Kreis seems to understand his error, bringing on both Mix and Poku for Calle and Grabavoy once they were losing in the second half. It’s as if Kreis is 50 percent smart manager and 50 percent MLS-bred twat: half of his mind knows that Poku and Mix should be playing in those positions, but the other half, and thus far the dominant half, have decided that Ned Grabavoy deserves to play soccer. I can remember back to the beginning of the season when Kreis was talking about Grabavoy and saying how fans may not realize his worth, but managers do. His work rate, what he does off the ball, what he brings to the team. It’s only clear to me now, all these months later, that Jason Kreis loves Ned Grabavoy because of the context in which Kreis knew him before NYC.

Before NYC, Kreis was a player-turned-manager for newly fledged side RSL. With some good ol-fashioned American hard work and determination, Kreis built a team of overall decent enough players, that together, as a unit, were able to win. They were built on passing not because Kreis is a disciple of tiki-taka, but rather because you didn’t have DP’s running into defenders. Kreis’ team was built on passing because none of the players were selfish enough to keep it longer. Kreis lauds nice, cooperative personalities because that’s what won it for him in the past.

The issue is, we’re not in Salt Lake anymore. The question handed to Jason in this new stage of his managerial career was: can he handle a team with superstars? Can Jason Kreis, the sweetheart from Utah, handle putting together a team with Manchester City youth prodigies, Villa, Pirlo, Lampard, and a billionaire Sheikh breathing down his neck? The answer so far has been, no.

The fact is, I’ve been defending Kreis for a while. At least, amongst friends. The truth is, I believe in patience, in letting the manager figure things out. And I would be doing that with Kreis, but this game serves as the perfect example. The fact is, for all the patience and waiting for the team to gel, Kreis dropped Poku, a player who had been instrumental in orchestrating a win over Orlando, for Grabavoy, a hard working sub-par footballer who contributed little to nothing in this game and has continued to be picked by Kreis despite consistent anonymity on the field.

Kreis is a nice enough guy, but there’s nothing I’ve seen to serve as evidence that he’s the man we need at the helm. Tactical errors are still made in spades, our defense is pathetic, and half our players seem unsure of what they’re supposed to be doing.

I guess there’s always next season.

On To The Next One

We play the Red Bulls. Let’s hope we can give them a run for their money. Should be interesting, at least.

Whatever.

The Day After (New England)

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.

The Day After (Toronto)

Holy crap. 4-4. For neutrals that game was up there for game of the season. For fans of either team that just took off 3-5 years in life expectancy.

Typical NYC

I feel stupid that after we had gone up two-nil I felt happy. Two-nil! So early on! It was great. We were going to win.

Turns out that wasn’t to be. In what was a crazy game with 4 penalties and 8 goals, what stood out was that NYC blew a perfectly good lead. We talk about passion, desire, dedication so often in the footie world. The fact is, the guys out on that pitch just haven’t achieved the mental toughness to shut games out. We should have scored those two goals, defended as a unit and won a vital three points. And yes, perhaps that would have been a lot less exciting, but Mourinho didn’t win the Premier League by giving the neutrals a nice game to watch, he won it because he knows how to win. Which is something we clearly lack.

Villa & Giovinco

Technically speaking, Villa and Giovinco are two of the best players in the league. If you look at their pedigree, their history, and for Giovinco their age, it’s clear that these players are a class above everyone else.

Yet, I still feel that Giovinco plays much better. There will be those who believe that me saying Villa has played poorly is outrageous, that’s why I don’t allow comments. Yes, he’s finally scoring goals. But look, he scored from a free kick and a penalty. And last week was another free kick. It’s great that he’s able to make something out of nothing, but why can’t he score more from open play (case in point last night’s sitter)?

And even if he is scoring, stats are over-hyped. Trust me, if stats were what they claim to be then Liverpool’s moneyball-esque era of Downing & Carroll would have ended far differently. What I’m saying is, I’m glad Villa is finally scoring goals. And he’s even hustling for the team. But he’s not even close to the $6 million we pay annually. Or even close to what he should be. He still inexplicably dribbles into defenders. He still takes way too long to shoot, and he loses the ball far too carelessly for a World Cup winner. With Lampard and Pirlo behind him I expect much greater things. Otherwise I’m gonna start sending nasty letters.

Spanish Full-Backs

Iraola was rusty last night. But to be fair the former Bilbao man has barely trained a week with the team before being thrust into the starting lineup. That’s how much NYCFC and Kreis rate the right back. It’ll take time for the 33-year-old to really settle, but despite some of his defensive shortcomings it was obvious he was already a step up from RJ Allen. Just look at his positioning. Iraola was doing something no other NYCFC player has ever done: consistently get wide into open space. It’s sort of remarkable that you’re taught to get wide and open space up by mediocre coaches by the time you’ve turned 10 and no NYCFC player has done it well. If you watch Iraola for a match, you’ll see how his hugging the right touchline creates so much space for his players, and his darting runs down the wing always look dangerous.

Plus, there’s Angelino. The blond haired 18-year-old made his debut as a half time sub for the impressively poor Kwame Watson-Siriboe. Wingert was moved to centre back (CAN WE SIGN TEFU PLEASE) so that Angelino could wreak havoc down the left flank. And wreak havoc he did.

Angelino looked dangerous every time he touched the ball. He made a duracell battery hopped up on coke look lazy. His pure skill, his absurd pace, and his abundant energy make him already one of the most dangerous left backs in the MLS, and he’s only getting started. In an interview with NYCFC afterwards he said that he felt he wasn’t at all nervous, but that he lacked match fitness and looks to be much better in the games to come.

If what we saw last night was lacking match fitness and there’s better skill to come then we’re in for quite a treat.

On To The Next One

Remember when Frank Lampard was supposed to play? Yeah, well he’s supposed to play next weekend. But maybe it’ll be a few more weeks if he decides to extend his loan with some team. BOOM, roasted.

But real talk we’re lucky to have a player of his caliber, despite his age and his ability to sit on the bench for the second half on Man City’s season. He should make his debut against New England, and we really could use him.

With all this Pirlo & Lampard fanfare, it’s hard to be patient and wait ’till they both are consistent starters. But injuries aside, that day should be coming soon. Until then, let’s get Tefu, let’s learn from Iraola, let’s learn how to hold a lead, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get somewhere this season.

On to the next one.