RSL Postmatch

[Midas Mulligan]

His first touch was still a little awkward, but he makes up for it with his excellent positioning.

I thought he was much better, but his positioning was lacking a few times. I think he could have had at least one and maybe two more if he got to the penalty spot for the cut back that was played.

eta: Mostly what Sabo said, but disagree with who should be there

There is room for improvement. There was nobody making a late run from 18-22 yards out too often leaving empty space in front of the goal where someone should be open for a high percentage shot. If Maxi is out wide Ring/Ofori or Herrera needs to step up into that sweet spot

By the way, did anyone notice the ridiculous move Matarrita made on the far sideline to set up Ofori's goal? He flipped the ball over the opponent, chased it down, gave it to Medina, who got it to Maxi. That move by Matarrita was INSANE. If you haven't seen it, find it somehow

Mata showed last night why it is critical that he take Sweat's shirt. He's the guy who can turn us from SS favorites into Cup favorites.

An in-form Mata is just levels beyond Sweat, and I don't think anyone in the league can shut us down completely when we have a fullback capable of the sort of creativity Mata brings.

 

[JayH]

Mata showed last night why it is critical that he take Sweat's shirt. He's the guy who can turn us from SS favorites into Cup favorites.

An in-form Mata is just levels beyond Sweat, and I don't think anyone in the league can shut us down completely when we have a fullback capable of the sort of creativity Mata brings.

Yeah - I am harder on Mata than anyone, but his play was stunning last night, top tier talent. Maybe it's focus and determination, which he clearly had last night, and looked like a different player.

 

[mgarbowski]

Yeah - I am harder on Mata than anyone, but his play was stunning last night, top tier talent. Maybe it's focus and determination, which he clearly had last night, and looked like a different player.

Might need be PV has to start Sweat every 5-6 games to keep that focus and determination for Mata.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

The woman at the door wasn't a cop

what they want you to think...

 

[dannd23]

Ofori's heat map

 

[canchon]

Mata showed last night why it is critical that he take Sweat's shirt. He's the guy who can turn us from SS favorites into Cup favorites.

An in-form Mata is just levels beyond Sweat, and I don't think anyone in the league can shut us down completely when we have a fullback capable of the sort of creativity Mata brings.

Mata was playing at a whole other level last night, he was so dynamic going forward. I’d like to see his average position on the field, looked like he started in the opponent’s half. He basically gives you another winger.

However, good attacking teams (not the RSL we saw last night) will take advantage of Mata’s aggressiveness to play the ball on turnovers in the space behind him. If he can show that defensive awareness and cut down on this, then yeah, it’s a whole other level and makes the team a cup contender.

 

[roxfontaine]

Ofori's heat map
View attachment 8509

Exactly. He had a very specific job that didn't require much of anything on the ball.

 

[dannd23]

Exactly. He had a very specific job that didn't require much of anything on the ball.

Oh yeah, I am not hating on it. Loved what he did for us. People have the wrong expectation if they think he's gonna play like Ring's replacement.

 

[Christopher Jee]

Yeah - I am harder on Mata than anyone, but his play was stunning last night, top tier talent. Maybe it's focus and determination, which he clearly had last night, and looked like a different player.

It's all about the sensible haircut lol

 

[Sabo]

I thought he was much better, but his positioning was lacking a few times. I think he could have had at least one and maybe two more if he got to the penalty spot for the cut back that was played.

eta: Mostly what Sabo said, but disagree with who should be there

Bergets runs were dragging both central defenders into the goal mouth and screening Rimando creating a ton of great space behind him 10-20 yards from goal. Out of that XI last night I thought Berget was able to create space in front of the goal for teammates to operate better and more consistently than anyone else.

Its early in the season -- PV will get players in position for those cutback chances with more practice and some tweaks.

 

[dummyrun]

Western Conference Standings

1st SKC
3rd LAG
4th RSL

9 Pts for NYCFC

Is it too early to start the comedown? Imma start the comedown. That game was fun as hell, but RSL's spot on the table is in no way reflective of their quality. Coming into this game they were third-to-last in xGF/g, last in xGA/g, last in xGD/g, and fifth-to-last in GD/g. Their two wins came at home against Vancouver (who's also terrible) and RBNY's second string, and they were outplayed by both. To top it all off, they were missing their best player and the centerpiece of their attack in Joao Plata.

Basically, if we made RSL look like the worst team in the league last night, that's because they were.

None of this is to take away from a genuinely beautiful performance that showed off our tactical growth and flat-out unfair depth, I just want to warn everybody not to go overboard just yet. Wait till we go all General Sherman on Atlanta in front of 50,000 fans on Sunday—then the fun starts.

 

[The Toe]

Being a LB/RB in Vieira's system must be so fun and appealing. They get upfield so quickly, they're behind you before you see the pass. And even on our small pitch, we find huge amounts of space, it's unbelievable. The forwards knew when to pinch when Mata or Tinner were going to make a run and they had clear lanes all night. How often did we get to the endline in good position? It was madness.

 

[Sabo]

Is it too early to start the comedown? Imma start the comedown. That game was fun as hell, but RSL's spot on the table is in no way reflective of their quality. Coming into this game they were third-to-last in xGF/g, last in xGA/g, last in xGD/g, and fifth-to-last in GD/g. Their two wins came at home against Vancouver (who's also terrible) and RBNY's second string, and they were outplayed by both. To top it all off, they were missing their best player and the centerpiece of their attack in Joao Plata.

Basically, if we made RSL look like the worst team in the league last night, that's because they were.

None of this is to take away from a genuinely beautiful performance that showed off our tactical growth and flat-out unfair depth, I just want to warn everybody not to go overboard just yet. Wait till we go all General Sherman on Atlanta in front of 50,000 fans on Sunday—then the fun starts.

My bar offered free upgrades to a full liter to anyone wearing a NYCFC jersey last night. My posts when I get home aren't usually more than a big Cheer when we win. In defense of beer buzzed Sabo, SJ is probably about the 4th best team in the West and SKC (if they keep scoring goals) and LAG should be top 3 teams so my point was true for different reasons.

You are right about RSL. They are terrible. Plata has looked awful all season whenever I have seen him, that's why Petke benched him.

The top teams in the East are the elite in all of MLS so talking about success against Western Conference teams isn't saying too much (except maybe the win in SKC). Sunday is huge.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

That was one of the first times I was sitting in the stadium and I didn't feel nervous at any point from the first kick to the last. We were so composed, and it was wonderful.

 

[LIexpat]

Shout out to one of the ball kids who made a great diving save in the 1st half to allow a quick throw, think it was Mata who gave him a fist bump for his skills

 

[JayH]

Being a LB/RB in Vieira's system must be so fun and appealing. They get upfield so quickly, they're behind you before you see the pass. And even on our small pitch, we find huge amounts of space, it's unbelievable. The forwards knew when to pinch when Mata or Tinner were going to make a run and they had clear lanes all night. How often did we get to the endline in good position? It was madness.

And RSL had absolutely no game plan for our wingbacks, it was almost as if the staff failed to even consider defensive tactics, or they did, but were just overwhelmed by the reality of our implementation.

 

[mgarbowski]

The top teams in the East are the elite in all of MLS so talking about success against Western Conference teams isn't saying too much (except maybe the win in SKC). Sunday is huge.

Agreed that this game is NYC''s first real quality test. If we lose, I still think we don't learn much, as it's arguably the game I would pick if you made me predict one game right now that NYC will lose this season. It's a quality opponent playing in what seems to be the toughest stadium in MLS right now.
A draw or win really does set us up well and does tell us a fair bit. Hell, even a well-played close loss says something not altogether bad.
Finally, the next 3 are at Atlanta, at Portland, and home to Dallas. The Timbers look like trash but they haven't played at home yet and maybe they turn things around at PP. NYC should win at home against FCD. I think -- given the start so far -- most of us would be disappointed to get only 4 points in those 3 games. But add that to the start so far and NYC would have 20 points in 9 games, including 5 away. That's outstanding.

 

[SoupInNYC]

I know others have kinda said this so far, but what a huge goal for Berget that was. If he doesn't slot that home, that is the kind of thing that could really spiral downwards, especially with Villa coming back healthy and his minutes likely to be more limited anyways going forward.

Instead, netting that one can be a HUGE confidence boost to him and really allow him to be an impact sub and spot starter. Excited to see what he can bring.

Also, I do want to say that before the game I preferred Wallace to start over Shradi though was still ok with Shradi getting the nod. Just wanted to follow up on that and say I was wrong and that Shradi really should be there going forward save a matchup issue here and there going forward (can't think of any off the top of my head but could see situations present themselves). That goal he took was so calm and collective and lethal.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Also, has anyone seen what our expected goals were from last night? I haven't been able to find it yet.

 

[canchon]

https://twitter.com/x/status/984263496840949760