MLS - March 30 - Miami (Away)
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
Jovan can go fuck right off. Window ended on Tuesday and he didn't come back. Unless someone died or he was booked on Frontier there's no excuse for not being back. I don't care if the club said it's OK.
Ojeda was a coach's DNP, for unfathomable reasons.
That's close to $15M not on the field in a winnable game where we needed goals.
Martinez is suddenly offensive MOTM after playing only 53 minutes in the previous 15 games.
Bakrar couldn't hit a bridge in Baltimore harbor with a giant cargo ship.
Kyndra mocked her announcing partner for saying "apoplectic." I'm apoplectic here watching this crap.
Ojeda was a coach's DNP, for unfathomable reasons.
That's close to $15M not on the field in a winnable game where we needed goals.
Martinez is suddenly offensive MOTM after playing only 53 minutes in the previous 15 games.
Bakrar couldn't hit a bridge in Baltimore harbor with a giant cargo ship.
Kyndra mocked her announcing partner for saying "apoplectic." I'm apoplectic here watching this crap.
freese is legit.
martinez shows his veteran experience and was lively. shame cushing didn't think he was good enough to contribute until now.
bakrar needs to sit and jovan or jones needs to start next game instead. the guy cannot finish to save his life.
once again, cushing sets us up to defend. plays us out of our best formation and takes one of creative players and sticks him on the back line. i just don't get it.
we actually had some control of the game for 2/3 of the first half. but quickly lost all control of the match after equalizing. barely any possession that i could recall in the 2nd half.
we still suck at transitioning both ways. we simply don't do it. i know it's hot in miami, but we need our midfielders making that effort.
obviously better 1 point than none, but we are still so, so far from where we need to be. i miss our precision passing and free flowing style that was our identity since viera and even under ronny. we are a shell of our former selves and varying degrees of regression in all of our talent just points a nasty finger at cushing. i really hope we can turn things around. this is painful to watch.
martinez shows his veteran experience and was lively. shame cushing didn't think he was good enough to contribute until now.
bakrar needs to sit and jovan or jones needs to start next game instead. the guy cannot finish to save his life.
once again, cushing sets us up to defend. plays us out of our best formation and takes one of creative players and sticks him on the back line. i just don't get it.
we actually had some control of the game for 2/3 of the first half. but quickly lost all control of the match after equalizing. barely any possession that i could recall in the 2nd half.
we still suck at transitioning both ways. we simply don't do it. i know it's hot in miami, but we need our midfielders making that effort.
obviously better 1 point than none, but we are still so, so far from where we need to be. i miss our precision passing and free flowing style that was our identity since viera and even under ronny. we are a shell of our former selves and varying degrees of regression in all of our talent just points a nasty finger at cushing. i really hope we can turn things around. this is painful to watch.
It's a valuable one, too. And we found out a few things. Strahinja Tanasijevic can play (and he's physical, something we could use more of). Alonso Martinez can play. Mounsef Bakrar needs to work on his shot. Julian Fernandez is streakier than a cheap Windex knockoff.
A few other things. But I'm not at all surprised we're inconsistent both game-to-game and within games. We'll get better. The point, for now, is the point.
I did not. Uber straight from the hotel in Miami Beach to the game and back.didnt get to see, who looked good, who looked shit? DidLionNYC get a laspadas sub like I suggested?
In the history of my sports fandom, I don't think I've ever had a bigger swing in how I felt about a player than how I felt about James Sands.
His passing mistakes and his defensive lapses... they are getting worse every game. What the hell happened to him?
His passing mistakes and his defensive lapses... they are getting worse every game. What the hell happened to him?
Key missing element of our game. We don't attack dynamically, either. We're too static. We don't flow. Even when presented with wide swathes of green in front of us, we don't carry the ball forward (Alex Callens would have run it right down Miami's throat tonight).
It's frustrating. But that's what the process is all about, of course: developing those things. It totally sucks to be going through this, but it's the price we pay for going young rather than cycling veteran talent through and constantly reconstituting the squad.
If the organization has it right, eventually it will click and we're going to be a team no one is going to want to play. If they have it wrong, we're going to keep going sideways until the end of the year, at which point we really throw the table over and go back to the drawing board. Which would suck even worse. But it's possible.
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I've had it happen plenty of times before, but usually for late-career players who just suddenly lose it instead of the gradual decline.
James Sands was a dope player entering his prime years. He pretty suddenly lost it so early in his career that it's stunning. I'm barely exaggerating by saying that he's better suited for the deuce.
It's not the occasional mistake or bad performance, he is consistently poor.
MLS seems to be getting their xG data from a source other than Opta this year. Maybe this is why they dropped that xG-over-time graph for each game. In any event, MLS and Opta disagree considerably on this game.
MLS says MIA 1.9 - NYC 1.7
Opta says MIA 2.5 - NYC 1.2
ASA has posted game stat lines for every game but the 2 Florida NY/NJ matchups yesterday.
Opta Seems more true to me. Suarez's top 5 shots were worth 1.8 alone. Freese earned that draw for us, and we still don't score or even create sufficient chances Away.
Bakrar has 0.23 Goals plus Assists per 90 in his time here (15 games). He had 0.53 in 1 season in Croatia (18 games). It's written on his face and body language. I have no theories, and I feel terrible for him, but it's just not working for him here. Actually, I have plenty of theories but none of them give me any reason to believe which is correct.
The Serbian U19 club last played to a 3-3 draw against Greece in Greece on March 26. Mijatovic played 63 minutes, got a Yellow, and did not score. He did not play the previous week against Portugal. My guess is Greece is very close to Serbia, he's 18 years old, living on another continent, asked for permission to visit family and NYCFC said yes. I sympathize. But why spend ~$9M on a player, use him only 49 minutes in the first 4 games and then give him 2 weeks off? He played more minutes in that single game for Serbia against Greece than he has for NYCFC total.
To the people exercising patience, I'm borderline in awe. I see no progress. I think we need to play our young players for them to develop. And if Bakrar can't get benched at 0.23 G/Gm, does he ever lose playing time?
Patience: NYCFC has scored 0.61 goals per Away game in 21 MLS Away games in combined 2023-24. This year the rate is 0.25. It's literally the opposite of progress. 10 of those 21 games have been shutouts. Add in Cup games and the numbers are 0.57 G/GM and 12 shutouts in 23 games. The last time NYCFC scored more than 1 goal Away in any competition was June 21, 2023. Last night was an improvement only in the sense that in the first 3 Away games this year NYCFC scored nothing.
Patience: Martinez's goal last night was the first 2024 NYCFC goal from open play by a forward in 6 games.
NYCFC really loves this Secondary kit. Number of games it took to reach 4 games in the Secondary kit by year.
2015 18
2016 32
2017 never
2018 17
2019 27
2020 15
2021 27
2022 12
2023 11
2024 6
MLS says MIA 1.9 - NYC 1.7
Opta says MIA 2.5 - NYC 1.2
ASA has posted game stat lines for every game but the 2 Florida NY/NJ matchups yesterday.
Opta Seems more true to me. Suarez's top 5 shots were worth 1.8 alone. Freese earned that draw for us, and we still don't score or even create sufficient chances Away.
Bakrar has 0.23 Goals plus Assists per 90 in his time here (15 games). He had 0.53 in 1 season in Croatia (18 games). It's written on his face and body language. I have no theories, and I feel terrible for him, but it's just not working for him here. Actually, I have plenty of theories but none of them give me any reason to believe which is correct.
The Serbian U19 club last played to a 3-3 draw against Greece in Greece on March 26. Mijatovic played 63 minutes, got a Yellow, and did not score. He did not play the previous week against Portugal. My guess is Greece is very close to Serbia, he's 18 years old, living on another continent, asked for permission to visit family and NYCFC said yes. I sympathize. But why spend ~$9M on a player, use him only 49 minutes in the first 4 games and then give him 2 weeks off? He played more minutes in that single game for Serbia against Greece than he has for NYCFC total.
To the people exercising patience, I'm borderline in awe. I see no progress. I think we need to play our young players for them to develop. And if Bakrar can't get benched at 0.23 G/Gm, does he ever lose playing time?
Patience: NYCFC has scored 0.61 goals per Away game in 21 MLS Away games in combined 2023-24. This year the rate is 0.25. It's literally the opposite of progress. 10 of those 21 games have been shutouts. Add in Cup games and the numbers are 0.57 G/GM and 12 shutouts in 23 games. The last time NYCFC scored more than 1 goal Away in any competition was June 21, 2023. Last night was an improvement only in the sense that in the first 3 Away games this year NYCFC scored nothing.
Patience: Martinez's goal last night was the first 2024 NYCFC goal from open play by a forward in 6 games.
NYCFC really loves this Secondary kit. Number of games it took to reach 4 games in the Secondary kit by year.
2015 18
2016 32
2017 never
2018 17
2019 27
2020 15
2021 27
2022 12
2023 11
2024 6
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I’m with you. The body language on the field looks troubling to me. The lack of coordination front line, back line, and middle, and too few attackers on the rare forays into the final third, all point to something systemic rather than individual mistakes or lack of quality.
I agree that the younger players need time on the pitch, and that switching out Bakrar for a game or two is a good idea. I think you are a bit aggressive on the Mijatovic assessment. It is entirely reasonable that after a game on Tuesday, and a multiple time zone flight, that he would have not played Saturday even if he was on the bench. A 18-year-old in a new country gets my benefit of the doubt. He should start against Atlanta, however.
Unrelated, but adding it here, I give kudos to Cushing for the game last night. I have been critical of both his subsititution pattern and in game strategy, but last night he adjusted to the 4-3-3 when it was clear the initial formation was not working, moving Gray to the left side. Also, his substitutions were solid, removing the duplicative right back (Ilenic), and the ineffective Bakrar for KOT and Fernandez (even if I am not sure what he was doing). It doesn't lower my arched eyebrow, but for one night Nick gets a supportive nod.
As frustrated as we were last year pre Maxi, we were playing better than this. Even through the winless streak we’re were mostly unlucky/unable to finish rather than outright chaotic. We played with far more control and organization last spring. We are flat to down in all areas except keeper and Santi, who has taken a step forward. Keaton and Sands seem to have lost their composure and none of the additions has stepped up for more than a token game.
Maybe we undervalue Talles. Maybe he provides more stability than we thought.
Any normal team would shrug at the away point and move on. We can’t afford to be that kind of normal.
Maybe we undervalue Talles. Maybe he provides more stability than we thought.
Any normal team would shrug at the away point and move on. We can’t afford to be that kind of normal.
And yet, if Mounsef is able to finish we've won 3 games already.
Just like last year -- in a vacuum, the point is a decent result. But because of previous results, we can't afford just a point.
bakrar needs to finish, yes. but i don't think he's the sole problem. it's not as if we are creating so many clear chances and he's fluffing them all.
we fail to put enough good and EARLY crosses. Crosses that attack space and play to bakrar's limited skillset - speed and hustle. there's no doubt he doesn't work hard, make him attack the space and get something on it. he's not the type of #9 who will magically control the ball in tight spaces and turn it into a goal. he's not the type of #9 who is clever enough to make a run that makes sense for santi or someone to play it for him (it has yet to happen). He's the type who likes to chase and run into space. We need to play those balls in behind for him and early crosses behind the retreating defense, for him to run onto.
that all being said, he needs to sit and jovan or jones needs a chance to show us what they can do.
we fail to put enough good and EARLY crosses. Crosses that attack space and play to bakrar's limited skillset - speed and hustle. there's no doubt he doesn't work hard, make him attack the space and get something on it. he's not the type of #9 who will magically control the ball in tight spaces and turn it into a goal. he's not the type of #9 who is clever enough to make a run that makes sense for santi or someone to play it for him (it has yet to happen). He's the type who likes to chase and run into space. We need to play those balls in behind for him and early crosses behind the retreating defense, for him to run onto.
that all being said, he needs to sit and jovan or jones needs a chance to show us what they can do.
Freese made Team of the Matchday
www.mlssoccer.com
Team of the Matchday: Mihailovic, Pec lead big Matchday 7 victories | MLSSoccer.com
Matchday 7 was full of players scoring for their new club, especially in all-important home victories.
www.mlssoccer.com
ASA finally posted the game.
MIA 1.92 - 1.28. A little of both the MLS and Opta figures, but definitely closer to Opta on the NYC side.
