Home - 04/19 Portland

Unfortunately Frank Lampard isn't Jermaine Jones. No silver lining here.


No let's see Jermaine Jones is defensive ball winning midfielder and Frank Lampard through out his career has been much more of a consistent goal scorer from Mid field. Let's see we retain plenty of possession of the ball but have no end product. Which player sounds more like what we need ? Taking negative emotion out of it and sticking to logic there's no reason not to expect Lampard to have positive effect on this team.
 
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A few more thoughts on the game. I can't understand why Kreis played Grabavoy at center mid for 90 minutes. I will never say that Ned doesn't work hard (he always puts in a shift) but he doesn't belong in that position. He has no ability to beat guys off the dribble and he does not create any chances in the final third. He loses every 50-50 challenge because he's not strong enough to fight through tackles or quick enough to avoid them. He gives you every thing he has when he's out there but its simply not enough. I've said it before, Kreis is asking way too much of this guy at this stage of his career.

Last night pretty much confirmed what I feared about Velasquez. He is flashy but ineffective. Too much style and not enough substance. Case in point was when he did three or four step overs to put the defender off balance, but when it came time to make the decisive pass he played it directly to another Timbers defender. He also got exposed last night as a one footed player. Two or three vital moments where he needed to make a play with his right foot and he was simply not able to do it (that close range right footed shot was embarrassing). He's still young so hopefully he will improve, but so far I'm not impressed.

Ballouchy was pretty much invisible last night. Didn't hurt us but didn't really do anything to help us.

Jacobsen was solid defensively but he gives the ball away way too easily even when he's not under pressure.

Calle was great again last night. He's been a revelation at left back and I think he has pretty much punched his ticket as the first choice left back from here on out. Best player on the field for NYC last night.

Everyone seems to be in agreement that we need to be better in the final third. Thats why I can't understand why Kreis won't give McNamara a run. He's a true CAM and the book on him is that he's a guy who can pick the lock in the final third. Not the fastest guy around but high soccer IQ and really good passing vision. I thought when we went down 1-0 he might get in. Hope he gets a chance soon.

One final and obvious note, we really missed Mix last night. Hopefully he's back for Friday.
 
We outplayed Portland and lost 1-0 on an unlucky deflection. Even without 4-5 starters and our star players we play attractive soccer. Everyone should realize that if we have Villa, Mix and Lampard on the field and take 21 shots we are not going to get shutout. The tiki-taka in and around the box works much better with world class finishers on the field. Its frustrating to lose and tie the way we have this season but the stadium experience is great and the team is fun to watch on tv because of their style. The wins will come and I would rather have the team unlucky now and lucky in the playoffs than the other way around. I have to give a shout out to KWS who I dissed before the game but he was fantastic (Adi is not an easy mark) and able to clean up any mistakes he made last night.
 
Too many good comments on this thread to quote, so I'll just say I agree with them all! ;)

Sucks this team can't get a lucky bounce to fall our way, but these things tend to level out over the course of a year. Personally I think it bodes well that as an expansion team NYCFC has been holding their own despite missing any number of starters. But, as a Great American Philosopher once said: "You are what your record says you are." Reckon' we'll just have to take it from there and move forward.

The atmosphere was electric last night and we can't wait to get back for the next match. Hats off to TTR & HoO. Also pleasantly surprised we breezed right into the stadium without any hassles (got there a little after 6:00).

I didn't see a replay (not that I want to), but TT getting hurt happened right in front of us and it looked to me that it was a non-contact injury. Can anyone confirm that? Please don't tell me he got hurt by stepping on a spot where those sprinkler heads come out.
 
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Interesting stats from whoscored:

Calle plays so far up, based on the heatmaps our formation looks like a sexy 3-4-3.

Highest rated-Brovsky and Wingert
Lowest rated- Taylor (maybe due to injury?) Poku and alvarez had low rating strangely.

Passing percentage- Highest starter-grabavoy (highest sub velasquez- what?)
Crosses- Calle had 12 (2 accurate), no one else had more than 4
Calle also had 7 long balls (4 accurate), Brovsky had 8 (5 accurate) I assume these are the diagonals both were dropping in.

Shelton dispossessed 5 times. He and Mullins both had 4 unsuccessful touches

Brovsky had 7 tackles, 6 interceptions and a blocked shot
KWS blocked 4 shots


We had 54% possession, out shot them 21-12.
 
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I think Brosky going to ground instead of staying with the runner into his space was the fuse that lit the bomb cache of errors that lead to the goal.

Jacobsen and KWS were not in awful positions to defend, and Brosky comes sliding in to take them out of the play.

As for nothing bad happening being his fault...well, I certainly don't see it that way. As I said, it was his best game for us. And even if you don't fault him for the goal, I remember at least one awful giveaway that led directly to a great opportunity for Portland.

I think it's no small coincidence that his best game came against a team that largely seemed to lack a coherent plan of attack or have much of the ball. If teams focus on going at him, I don't think he can hold up.

I challenge anyone to find a fullback getting minutes anywhere in MLS whose owning club would exchange for bro. I can't think of one. If you can, I double-challenge you to politely email the suggestion to Kreis. If you could also heal George John while you're fixing us, that'd be great, too.
 
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My nephew is 8 years old & he just started getting into soccer, has been playing for almost a year now. Anyways this weekend my brother (his dad) & I took him to the Red Bulls Game on Friday & then to last night's game so he would experience both teams, both stadiums, both atmospheres before picking a team to follow. The experience at Red Bulls was exciting for him, it was his first game so it was a great experience for him. However it was a dead atmosphere. No fans chanting, no one cheering, etc. He was ready to not go to our game bc he expected the same at Yankee Stadium. He went & had the time of his life. The atmosphere there last night was unbelievable despite the loss. He made his decision at the end of the night to follow NYCFC in his words "even though they lost, they really tried". Now I know this an opinion of a child & it might not hold a lot of validity but that was the impact of the stadium, the team's performance, and the fans' undying support through out the game on him. Yes, this team has issues & yes this was another upsetting loss but I have yet to leave a game feeling like I'm a part of a terrible club.

I know most of the recent posts are discussing our issues with our line-up but I'm throwing this in there to truly convey the atmosphere there last night.
 
Too many good comments on this thread to quote, so I'll just say I agree with them all! ;)

Sucks this team can't get a lucky bounce to fall our way, but these things tend to level out over the course of a year. Personally I think it bodes well that as an expansion team NYCFC has been holding their own despite missing any number of starters. But, as a Great American Philosopher once said: "You are what your record says you are." Reckon' we'll just have to take it from there and move forward.

The atmosphere was electric last night and we can't wait to get back for the next match. Hats off to TTR & HoO. Also pleasantly surprised we breezed right into the stadium without any hassles (got there a little after 6:00).

I didn't see a replay (not that I want to), but TT getting hurt happened right in front of us and it looked to me that it was a non-contact injury. Can anyone confirm that? Please don't tell me he got hurt by stepping on a spot where those sprinkler heads come out.
Yeah it was non contact and his knee hyper extended. The team fears it's an ACL. I will remain positive that it is just a bad hyper extension with no tears until I hear otherwise. Sometimes a hyper extension looks worse then it is. They will probably do an MRI today or tomorrow they will have to wait for the swelling to go down to get a good image.
 
My nephew is 8 years old & he just started getting into soccer, has been playing for almost a year now. Anyways this weekend my brother (his dad) & I took him to the Red Bulls Game on Friday & then to last night's game so he would experience both teams, both stadiums, both atmospheres before picking a team to follow. The experience at Red Bulls was exciting for him, it was his first game so it was a great experience for him. However it was a dead atmosphere. No fans chanting, no one cheering, etc. He was ready to not go to our game bc he expected the same at Yankee Stadium. He went & had the time of his life. The atmosphere there last night was unbelievable despite the loss. He made his decision at the end of the night to follow NYCFC in his words "even though they lost, they really tried". Now I know this an opinion of a child & it might not hold a lot of validity but that was the impact of the stadium, the team's performance, and the fans' undying support through out the game on him. Yes, this team has issues & yes this was another upsetting loss but I have yet to leave a game feeling like I'm a part of a terrible club.

I know most of the recent posts are discussing our issues with our line-up but I'm throwing this in there to truly convey the atmosphere there last night.

Great decision making process. I have an acquaintance from Brazil is in the same process deciding which team to follow and went to Red Bulls on Friday, Cosmos on Saturday and NYC last night. Anxiously awaiting his choice.

What an amazing time to be a football fan in NY/NJ area with 3 pro clubs to choose from!
 
My nephew is 8 years old & he just started getting into soccer, has been playing for almost a year now. Anyways this weekend my brother (his dad) & I took him to the Red Bulls Game on Friday & then to last night's game so he would experience both teams, both stadiums, both atmospheres before picking a team to follow. The experience at Red Bulls was exciting for him, it was his first game so it was a great experience for him. However it was a dead atmosphere. No fans chanting, no one cheering, etc. He was ready to not go to our game bc he expected the same at Yankee Stadium. He went & had the time of his life. The atmosphere there last night was unbelievable despite the loss. He made his decision at the end of the night to follow NYCFC in his words "even though they lost, they really tried". Now I know this an opinion of a child & it might not hold a lot of validity but that was the impact of the stadium, the team's performance, and the fans' undying support through out the game on him. Yes, this team has issues & yes this was another upsetting loss but I have yet to leave a game feeling like I'm a part of a terrible club.

I know most of the recent posts are discussing our issues with our line-up but I'm throwing this in there to truly convey the atmosphere there last night.
Your nephew is quite wise beyond his years. :)
 
I'll say this until something changes. Kreis hasn't played our team based on their strengths. Last night, the majority of our attacks were crosses if I'm correct, who are those crosses going to? Between Mullins Shelton and Taylor none of them are spectacular in the air. That just so happens to be nemecs main contribution. Why wasn't he thrown in as a sub late on?

Nemec is big and wasteful with his feet dribbling at defenders. But when he is in, we do not cross the ball. He's ok at holding the ball and laying it. Target man 101 he can do that most of the time. But we play his feet like. He's gonna turn a defender... And he has little help when villa plays him a 10 yard pass...

Why do we continue to cross the ball from sideline to sideline? To, put the who scored stat for calles crossing.... 2 for 12! The fuck kinda shit is that?

I'm not convinced at all by Khiry as a starter. Back to back games of 5+ chances (combined) and no goals. These aren't world class attempts (slaloming runs from midfield beating 8defenders or scoring bicycle kicks from outside the 18...) he's missing 1v1s with rookie keepers, not taking penalties. And when he has miles of time. Vs the Portland keeper, he gets scared and closes his eyes and hits the ball as hard as he can. Keep him as a sub.

Another problem is we don't shoot. Or even look to shoot.
 
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I thought Calle won the LB job last night. But with the way Kreis has been, I bet he doesn't play again until June.
I liked the aggressiveness that Alvarez showed when he came in. He took on defenders. Wow. Who would have thought our RB should take on a Defender. I'm actually happy with Hernandez and Wingert at CB. Not great, but I think they have been solid.

I'm unhappy with the coaching philosophy right now. Seba and Grabavoy can't maintain possession. They hold on to the ball too long without making a decision. What I love about Poku and Mix is that they either attack or move the ball.
 
Just rewatched that late alvarez through ball to shelton. What a beauty, Khiry has to hit that sooner, but the keeper really had it covered. We created so many chances, horribly unlucky that none went in. SO fun to watch though.

Thank you. Alvarez created more chances in 10 minutes than our fullbacks have collectively the entire year.