Atlanta - Postmatch

Maxi is a little mighty-mite, he plays much bigger than he is, but it’s not his fault he surrenders 10” and 70lbs to other players. If the defender knocks him over and it’s not shoulder to shoulder, it’s a foul. Why should the defender be given the advantage and benefit of the doubt?

Sorry. I think he flops a lot.
 
That's what I think as well.

Also - I understand McNamara making the bench last night. Lewis is one dimensional. McNamara, in a pinch, provides cover at 4 positions. Maybe not well - but as a stop gap.

i mean we had mata to do damage on the wings already...so that "role" was covered as a sub i thought no need to have two....i still think he gets his chance in the regular season, during the WC ....and i think that coincides with the US open cup game as well.
 
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Yeah I need to look at the tape but Almiron goes wide and it looks like there are 3 NYCFC players in the area and no one marks McCann. Bad marking all around, even with the excellent ball in from Almiron.
One of the tactical guys on Twitter pointed that this was Almiron responding to being cut off from the ball. Instead of falling further back into midfield (which would be typical), he started going wide about 5 minutes before this and had Garza playing narrower. We simply weren't prepared for that action initially.
 
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Most things have already been said. My only real comment is the criticism of Villa in this thread. I dont think he had his best game by any means but he was still good. His little flick set up the play that earned Berget the PK. and then he ended the game with a goal and an assist. As bad as you may have think he was, ill take those results any day from him.
 
Most things have already been said. My only real comment is the criticism of Villa in this thread. I dont think he had his best game by any means but he was still good. His little flick set up the play that earned Berget the PK. and then he ended the game with a goal and an assist. As bad as you may have think he was, ill take those results any day from him.
He also put in a lot of work on defense, very deep on our end. But I think the criticisms stated are valid, if a bit oversold.
 
That's what I think as well.

Also - I understand McNamara making the bench last night. Lewis is one dimensional. McNamara, in a pinch, provides cover at 4 positions. Maybe not well - but as a stop gap.
I can hear an argument for TMac making the bench most of the time (though I will outright disagree with it), but not last night. He doesn't belong on the field with the speed and athleticism of Atlanta. Yeah, he can provide cover at 4 positions in a pinch, but he will do so and get run over. JLew may be one-dimensional, but especially at Atlanta, I'd take JLew and the remaining players on the bench to provide sufficient cover, than TMac.
 
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I think it was Herrera that had a throw-in directly to an ATL player. It had no impact on the end result, but man was that a boneheaded play...

I think it came right after an awful giveaway by Sweat too, definitely not our best minute of footy right there.
holy shit that was embarrassing as fuck.

One of the main reasons I want to see Ofori take his place in the lineup next match. Besides avoiding turnover, one of our main gripes in the offseason was we didn't get scoring from our mids. It would be pretty nifty to start an 8 who can actually put the ball in the back of the net.
 
I can hear an argument for TMac making the bench most of the time (though I will outright disagree with it), but not last night. He doesn't belong on the field with the speed and athleticism of Atlanta. Yeah, he can provide cover at 4 positions in a pinch, but he will do so and get run over. JLew may be one-dimensional, but especially at Atlanta, I'd take JLew and the remaining players on the bench to provide sufficient cover, than TMac.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this yesterday. More than anyone should.

If Herrera and Ring had to come off yesterday, what's your midfield? Who are the subs? If you asked PV, the answer is Ofori and McNamara.
 
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One of the main reasons I want to see Ofori take his place in the lineup next match. Besides avoiding turnover, one of our main gripes in the offseason was we didn't get scoring from our mids. It would be pretty nifty to start an 8 who can actually put the ball in the back of the net.
I think I'd like to see Ofori there as well. And if anything, it can help light a fire under Herrera. He has loads of talent, he may just need a benching to get him out of this funk.

And if Ofori lights it up and takes the starting job, well, that works for us great.
 
One of the main reasons I want to see Ofori take his place in the lineup next match. Besides avoiding turnover, one of our main gripes in the offseason was we didn't get scoring from our mids. It would be pretty nifty to start an 8 who can actually put the ball in the back of the net.

Well and a big question was answered against RSL too about Ofori. We can't have him and Ring as both deep lying players. When Ring subbed in Ofori pushed up, he looked great IMO. Wouldn't mind seeing it.
 
I spent a lot of time thinking about this yesterday. More than anyone should.

If Herrera and Ring had to come off yesterday, what's your midfield? Who are the subs? If you asked PV, the answer is Ofori and McNamara.
Yeah, that's a fair point. That problem is a bit exacerbated by not having Awuah available. The three other options would be:
  • Have Maxi deeper and bring Medina in at the 10 - though to be honest, I'm not certain that would have been a good move at Atlanta.
  • Have Sands available over TMac and play him at the 6. Yeah, that would be throwing him into the fire, but I would prefer that over the known quantity (or lack thereof) we have in TMac and would love to see what Sands could do there
  • JLew on the wing, and I think Wallace could play in the MF as the 8, Ofori at the 6. Yeah, not ideal, but Wallace has the tools to play in the MF if needed and has a great defensive bite.
I'm not advocating for all of those above, but in the scenario you lay out in which both Ring and Herrera have to come off, I think I would prefer those to TMac coming in.
 
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Yeah, that's a fair point. That problem is a bit exacerbated by not having Awuah available. The three other options would be:
  • Have Maxi deeper and bring Medina in at the 10 - though to be honest, I'm not certain that would have been a good move at Atlanta.
  • Have Sands available over TMac and play him at the 6. Yeah, that would be throwing him into the fire, but I would prefer that over the known quantity (or lack thereof) we have in TMac and would love to see what Sands could do there
  • JLew on the wing, and I think Wallace could play in the MF as the 8, Ofori at the 6. Yeah, not ideal, but Wallace has the tools to play in the MF if needed and has a great defensive bite.
I'm not advocating for all of those above, but in the scenario you lay out in which both Ring and Herrera have to come off, I think I would prefer those to TMac coming in.

Possibly. But that would require you to carry Awuah and Sands.

It all comes down to his unique ability to cover multiple positions. Same with Ben Sweat. Same with Ofori. And to your point, to a lesser degree, same with Awuah.
 
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Possibly. But that would require you to carry Awuah and Sands.

It all comes down to his unique ability to cover multiple positions. Same with Ben Sweat. Same with Ofori. And to your point, to a lesser degree, same with Awuah.
Well, I was excluding Awuah in my above, since he is out injured at the moment. And I get that TMac provides positional flexibility, I just don't think his flexibility, combined with his skill set is a good fit for the bench at Atlanta.
 
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I can hear an argument for TMac making the bench most of the time (though I will outright disagree with it), but not last night. He doesn't belong on the field with the speed and athleticism of Atlanta. Yeah, he can provide cover at 4 positions in a pinch, but he will do so and get run over. JLew may be one-dimensional, but especially at Atlanta, I'd take JLew and the remaining players on the bench to provide sufficient cover, than TMac.


This. Once we upgrade from T-Mac, even for a bench player, oh boy oh boy. He is absolutely one of our weakest links. Pray we stay healthy.