Maybe we can consolidate some of the over-arching tactical discussions.
Here's a decent summary of exactly what many of us are noticing:
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2017...red-bulls-atlanta-chicago-fire-timbers-dynamo
Andrea Pirlo isn’t bad. He just doesn’t fit.
Since he’s arrived in MLS, Andrea Pirlo has caught a lot of criticism for being really bad on defense. And honestly, this isn’t his fault. He’s still an extremely useful player if you limit situations where he might get isolated in space.
NYCFC isn’t doing this at all. They’re playing with an extremely high press and asking Pirlo to do a ton of work. And there’s a lot of reason to believe that they’re better off changing their DM than changing the system to fit Pirlo.
Here’s a moment in the first half of NYCFC’s match against Montreal where their two central players ahead of Pirlo — Maxi Moralez and Alexander Ring — pressure aggressively. Moralez’s excellent pressing forces Impact fullback Chris Duvall to make a risky pass to Calum Mallace, which results in a turnover. Ring closes down this space in less than two seconds and sets up what becomes a clear-cut chance.
But what happens when NYC doesn’t close down the space fast enough? Pirlo gets hung out to dry. In the second half, Moralez and Ring weren’t moving quite as quickly, giving Montreal chances to attack the center of the pitch with long balls that beat Pirlo.
It would be unfair to say that any of Ring, Moralez or Pirlo is playing poorly. They just fit different systems. If Patrick Vieira is committed to a very aggressive five-man high press — and on the evidence of the 14 shots inside of the box his team created against Montreal, he should be — he needs an athletic DM who can cover a lot of space quickly. Otherwise, NYCFC is going to keep drawing games where they were the superior team.
Here's a decent summary of exactly what many of us are noticing:
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2017...red-bulls-atlanta-chicago-fire-timbers-dynamo
Andrea Pirlo isn’t bad. He just doesn’t fit.
Since he’s arrived in MLS, Andrea Pirlo has caught a lot of criticism for being really bad on defense. And honestly, this isn’t his fault. He’s still an extremely useful player if you limit situations where he might get isolated in space.
NYCFC isn’t doing this at all. They’re playing with an extremely high press and asking Pirlo to do a ton of work. And there’s a lot of reason to believe that they’re better off changing their DM than changing the system to fit Pirlo.
Here’s a moment in the first half of NYCFC’s match against Montreal where their two central players ahead of Pirlo — Maxi Moralez and Alexander Ring — pressure aggressively. Moralez’s excellent pressing forces Impact fullback Chris Duvall to make a risky pass to Calum Mallace, which results in a turnover. Ring closes down this space in less than two seconds and sets up what becomes a clear-cut chance.
But what happens when NYC doesn’t close down the space fast enough? Pirlo gets hung out to dry. In the second half, Moralez and Ring weren’t moving quite as quickly, giving Montreal chances to attack the center of the pitch with long balls that beat Pirlo.
It would be unfair to say that any of Ring, Moralez or Pirlo is playing poorly. They just fit different systems. If Patrick Vieira is committed to a very aggressive five-man high press — and on the evidence of the 14 shots inside of the box his team created against Montreal, he should be — he needs an athletic DM who can cover a lot of space quickly. Otherwise, NYCFC is going to keep drawing games where they were the superior team.
