Tag: NYCFC

All NYCFC

The Day After

1 Comment

Today we begin our first edition of “The Day After”, a segment which will be posted after every NYCFC match, with some thoughts and observations.

The People and Their Children

After so many difficulties leading up to this day (Frank Lampard enjoying the bench at Man City, no soccer specific stadium announced, and a horrendous music video) it was impressive to see 43,507 people fill up Yankee Stadium for this match. What’s more, most people came to the game early, walking around the stadium and reveling in the excitement that was NYCFC’s first ever home match.

As far as demographics were concerned, it was encouraging to see so many children. If you watch a English Premier League or La Liga match, you see a plethora of young kids with their parents at the games. This is vitally important for NYC. Those of the pre-Guliani era will be the first to tell you that New York has become overrun with families that used to live in the suburbs. Truth is, New York has now become a safe and desirable place to raise a family. The children who put on a sky blue t-shirt and saw World Cup winner David Villa in the flesh will be the future of this club. Because after all the fanfare and the supporter clubs’ memberships and exclusive scarves, NYCFC will need to attract the youth. If yesterday is any example, we’re on the right track

Will People Show Up Again? And Again? And After That Time???

It was nice to see over 40,000 people for a footie match, yet the real question is: Who’s going to be there 3 months from now?

The first few matches were always likely to have large support. They were inaugural, they were special. But after the special games are over, and aside from the local rivalry games against The Team Who Must Not Be Named, it will be difficult to get people to come out every few weekends for MLS soccer.

NYCFC say they have sold over 15,000 season tickets, which is encouraging. Presumably, there will be at least 15,000 people at every home game, if everyone always shows up. The real question becomes the rest of the people. Yankee Stadium will have space for just over 27,000 people for normal, run-of-the-mill MLS matches. There is a big difference between a stadium with 15,000 and one with 20,0000 or 25,0000.

In order to keep getting those extra 10,000 fans, NYCFC has to play some good footie.

Let’s Talk About Some Footie

NYCFC did not play well.

Head coach Jason Kreis has told the media that NYCFC wouldn’t be playing its best footie for a while, as this is a brand new team which needs time to gel.

That said, the 2-0 headline was more than flattering towards the home team. After an energetic first 15 minutes, David Villa grabbed a well taken goal. Yet, after that, the rest of the first half was better off forgotten.

The midfield was non existent. Rumors spread that from the 20th minute until halftime, Mix Diskerud was getting his hair done at a local Bronx salon. The game plan seemed akin to what it was for opening day: Kick the ball up the field to 6’3 Slovakian powerhouse Adam Nemec and hope for the best.

Maybe Jason Kreis has tried to instill a more fluid, possession based style into his team, but it seems as if that will take quite some time to take effect. Granted, a large criticism of American footie is the focus on strength and fitness rather than skill and possession, which has been evident in the first two games of NYCFC’s season.

So, after what became a dismal first half, NYC was more than lucky to go into halftime winning the match. After 90 minutes, there were at least 4 clear cut chances that New England failed to score .

The second half was more encouraging, and ESPN reported that Kreis told his players to be more “aggressive”, which translates to, “try and actually play some soccer.” There were many nice interchanges between Mix, Villa, and Velazquez. But all too often the final pass was lacking. More worryingly, NYC often turned over possession in their own half. Against stronger opposition NYC will be made to rue those mistakes. It’s only the second game, though, and expect NYC to improve each week.

On To The Next One

NYCFC just beat the 2014 MLS Cup finalists 2-0 in front of 43,000 fans. NYC is now in first place in the Eastern Conference.

One Yankee Fan who had bought tickets to the game remarked: “We never get 40,000 people to come to our games, and we’ve won 27 World Series!”

NYCFC don’t have any championships, history, or Babe Ruth memorabilia. But we do have something special. To quote everyone’s favorite New York City person, Jay-Z, “On To The Next One.”

NYCFC vs New England Revolution: Preview

The day has arrived.

Almost two years ago, on May 21st of 2013, NYCFC was announced to the public as MLS’ newest franchise. At that point in time, every person had their own speculations of what this team would become, and finally on Sunday at 5pm (ESPN 2/WatchESPN) NYCFC will play their first ever home game at the historic, albeit problematic, Yankee Stadium.

Form

New England recently lost their season opener by being completely outplayed by the Seattle Sounders, with the explosive tandem of Dempsey and Obafemi Martins inflicting a 3 nil defeat upon the Revolution. The Revolution, after acquiring Jermaine Jones in the summer, stormed their way to the MLS Cup final only to be defeated by the LA Galaxy. Two key players for that run were Lee Nguyen and Jermaine Jones, Nguyen only recently returning from injury while Jones remains sidelined for another month after undergoing hernia surgery. New England will hope to rebound from their poor display in Seattle, but without their two best players fully fit that feat may become very difficult.

NYCFC managed to win a hard-earned point down in Orlando last weekend, but didn’t play particularly well. This is to be expected from a team that has never played a competitive match in their history. They will come into this game with home advantage, but the chemistry and understanding the players have between each other is far weaker than that of New England. That is not to say NYC can’t or won’t win, though. David Villa will need to put on a more convincing performance than he did against Orlando, but NYCFC’s best hope comes in the form of Norwegian-American Mix Diskerud, who’s glorious curling effort was nominated for goal of the week.  NYCFC will hope that these two players can light up Yankee Stadium and give their first home crowd a night to remember.

Predicted Lineups

New England (4-2-3-1): Shuttleworth (GK), Alston (RB), Gonçalves (CB), Farrel (CB), Tierney (LB), Dorman (CM), Caldwell (CM), Nguyen (CAM), Fagundez (LM), Rowe (RM), Agudelo (ST)

-Starting winger Teal Bunbury came off injured last week with what appeared to be a fairly serious shoulder injury.

-Nguyen was back in training this week and could start, or perhaps come off the bench.

-Striker Charlie Davies could be given a start after a mediocre return to MLS from Agudelo, but head coach Jay Heaps could give Agudelo another chance to get acclimated with his teammates and hopefully get back into form.

NYC (4-4-2): Saunders (GK), Williams (RB), Hernandez (CB), Wingert (CB), Brovsky (LB), Jacobson (CM), Diskerud (CM), Grabavoy (LM), Shelton (RM), Villa (ST), Nemec (ST)

-It’s likely Kreis will keep his back line the same as he hopes to build chemistry between his defenders, despite players such as Watson-Siriboe and Mendoza vying for a starting berth.

-We’ve selected Khiry Shelton to start over Ballouchy at right midfield. It’s possible Kreis will partner Shelton with Villa up top and drop Nemec, or not start Shelton at all. Ballouchy was largely anonymous against Orlando and Shelton brought an infectious energy which seemed to spurn the team on towards Mix’s opener. If Kreis decides to keep Shelton out of the starting XI, expect the 21 year-old striker to be the first man off the bench.

Final Thoughts

Both these teams will be desperate for a win in their second MLS game of the season. It will be fascinating to see how NYC competes against a fully established MLS franchise, rather than playing against another expansion club. Tune in this Sunday at 5pm to find out.

Welcome to New York City Footie

Welcome to NYC Footie. We’re glad to have you.

This site was created out of a desire for an authentic, reputable, and knowledgable source for NYC soccer fans. It it our intention to provide exactly that.

Our primary focus is our hometown team, NYCFC. Every home match will be attended by a member of NYC Footie, and we will provide the latest updates and analysis from NYCFC. However, footie is a global sport, and NYC is a global city. We will occasionally provide in-depth articles about major global news from the English Premier League to the World Cup to everything in between.

We will not post baseless rumors for the sake of views (see: Gareth Bale to Man U for record breaking fee!!!/ Ronaldo to MLS????). Nor will we simply provide recaps of games, you can get those anywhere.

It is our hope and goal to provide what so many sport (and news) websites seem to have forgotten: Integrity.

This is a real website for readers who wish to escape from the mania that has become the unnecessary ESPN interface and the meaningless talk-show style arguments between pundits (Let’s just not mention Bleacher Report for the sake of brevity and sanity).

Whether you be a die hard footie fan, or a newcomer to our lovely sport, we hope to give you a website that you can trust and enjoy.

Welcome to NYC Footie.