Man of the Match was the kid in 234 that used his horn as a beer funnel.
NYCFC v Revolution Postmatch
- Thread starter Falastur
- Start date
This early part of schedule was must win, looking at the rest of the year. Unless we turn into one of the nest teams in the league going forward, it is panic time because if the teams we are dropping points to. Chicago orlando and NE are not playoff teams or barely playoff teams. This feels a lot like last year. sadly
This has logical legitimacy, but this game is not always a logical one.
This makes a lot more sense because momentum plays a surprising role in sports. Even though strength of schedule gets worse later in the year, a win streak can turn things around in a hurry and convince the team they are better than they are. They will then play up to that expectation and win, even during a "tougher" stretch of schedule.Bottom line is I thinkSchwallacus had it right. Four more game of bad results (9 games into the season) and we have real trouble. Which would still be something that could be overcome, but would take more than a 3-5 good games. Last year our season was in big trouble by week 9, and a full shambles at weeks 11-13. We then won 4 of 5 in games 14-18, and it was reason for hope, but would have required a sustained rate of success we came nowhere near to fulfilling to make the playoffs.
At least, that's what I'm telling myself. Here's hoping.
Kaka hasn't played in 7 months.
The Philadelphia Union are in 1st place
The Seattle Sounders have 0 points
It's not panic time, guys.
The Philadelphia Union are in 1st place
The Seattle Sounders have 0 points
It's not panic time, guys.
Better-late-than-never reply to this. The security around the Batter's Eye is both extreme and lackadaisical, especially that early before the game. I arrived at the section a little after 2 and there was nobody checking tickets or game cards. We just sat down. Then 10 minutes later my daughter and I were made to justify our presence by 2 separate employees. And they routinely check tickets/cards when you return after leaving for food or the restroom during the game. My advice for anyone trying to visit going forward is this. Walk behind the food court towards the field. There is a publicly open area back there so you can circle that food service area without running afoul of security. Past that, there is a barrier before the seats with openings only at both ends. If there is a guard there, but not standing at the end where you can pass by, you're probably better off not just going in, but getting his/her attention and asking if you can enter that walkway between the seats and the barrier to try to see your friends. There are only two rows so you can see or call to anyone in the seats from back there. There are 3 sections, and none of them are marked. Section 1 is closest to the supporters and left field, and 3 (where I sit) is closest to right field and on your left as you look at the field.
It's definitely not panic time yet - there's plenty of games left. Plus I don't buy into the good/team bad team must win games because there are a ton of "expected" good teams that are in worse shape than us.
And there isn't one thing about this season that feels like last year - we move the ball well, we get really good shots albeit they're not falling, and the team appears to be playing for each other rather than simply next to/with each other. The vibe is completely different. Last year we couldn't buy a shot on goal during the first half of the season and it was depressing watching the energy on the field and from the coach.
Thanks. In fact, I think I even saw who I am sure was you there with your daughter alone in the middle of the row, closest to right field. I was just looking down at the field, and the Securitas guy came over and asked me for my ticket. I told him very nicely that I was just stopping by for a few minutes to say hello to friends, even told him where my seats were, and he yelled at me to move. I moved back to the area with the round-top tables, had a beer, and about 10 minutes later, he saw me from a distance, ran over and actually got in my face and told me he was going to eject me from the stadium. I (somehow) kept my cool, calmly told him how poorly I thought that he had handled himself, and went back to my seats to see my friends who I had invited to the game. It really was bizarre, almost as if he was just looking for an opportunity to assert his "power" and eject someone from the stadium.
Yeah that was almost certainly us, and if a person with power wants to be a jerk, it's hard to argue with them. Most extremely ridiculous, however, that he harassed you in the public area. I think it gets rented out for parties before Yankee games, and then people from the party get to sit in the seats - which is why the sections are not marked and stubHub was even confused about the existence of sections. This concept where the seats are normal tickets and the food area is public might confuse some of the staff. Not an excuse of course but it might explain why.
I think Ballouchy has two functions, neither of which were applicable here:
(1) He can be a safe pair of hands in the sense that, I think, he doesn't give the ball away that much. He can therefore be useful to kill off a game. The flipside of that is that he doesn't create much so I don't think he is helpful playing a deeper role when we are trying to get a goal.
(2) He has shown an occasional touch of class in terms of finishing. The guy scored two of our better individual goals last year early in the season. I still don't think he's the first answer when we are chasing a game, but to get any value from that skill he needs to be closer to the box.
Mostly, he was just a strange substitution in each of the last two games.
I've watched the goal a bunch of times trying to figure out how the ball got from Taylor to Villa, who then hit the bar. It was weird looking, but I think the answer is that Taylor slipped on the "infield" which let to the odd pop up as opposed to it being a genuine chip.
Did others see it that way? If so, that is a fantastic use of the home field advantage!
Did others see it that way? If so, that is a fantastic use of the home field advantage!
I can't tell if you're right. He definitely slipped as he was swinging at the ball with his left foot. What I cannot really decide on is the timing: did he hit it just before he lost balance, or after. Even if he had balance, you could still be right and it chipped due to the turf.
Also notable is that TMAC nearly got kicked in the head. A Revs player, I think Woodberry, tried to kick the ball high, just missed Tommy's head, and ended up with ankle to neck contact as Tommy followed through with his run. It was largely unmentioned here but it sort of blew up on Twitter.
I just re-watched it - TT looks like he catches his toe on the turf which initiates the fall. I think he was looking to shoot all the way, and was fortunate to chip it to Villa. Never saw the karate kick until you mentioned it - he couldn't have even made contact as TMac never flinched. Too bad, that could have been a straight red if he had.
Also finally saw the Mendoza assist on NE's goal.... the only way he makes contact like that is if he closed his eyes (not that I blame him) - his head barely moves to either try and block the ball or to add power to the header.
Post-Match Sendoff. How well can you identify signatures?
I know that David Villa, Andoni Iraola, Mikey Lopez, and Eirik Johansen signed .. just not sure which ones are theirs. I'm still missing 5 names to go with signatures.
I know that David Villa, Andoni Iraola, Mikey Lopez, and Eirik Johansen signed .. just not sure which ones are theirs. I'm still missing 5 names to go with signatures.
This game definitely felt like last season. For me we lacked energy throughout the game. They quickly recognised our left hand side was weak and targeted that throughout the game. I am hoping that with Mix, Khiry and Mattarita back next game we can show the same energy we showed in our first three games.
What concerns me is the fact we have 2 DP's in Lampard and Pirlo who for different reasons have been underwhelming.
David Villa's signature is center -- just above the word "club". Iraola is below that to the left.
That's exactly what the last 10 minutes were.
Mac doesn't look like he can go 90 minutes at CM. His pressing and off the ball movement has been severely lackluster.
That may be a product of wanting to impress the new coach/overcoaching. They're told to keep possession, that's what on their minds. It takes some of the creative expression away from the players. Guardiola tells his players its his responsibility to get the players to the final third, and then its up to them. Maybe PV should start operating like that.
Paul, in this match, yes Josh didn't really cost us much. But he's allowed really soft goals that have cost us points. We've had 3 clean sheets in ~40 games, not all of it is on the defense.
His play offers a different dimension we don't have though. We don't have single player willing/able to go on a marauding run through the midfield and try to split the defense.
The Bravo boner stems from him being good defensively, not fine. Pirlo looked like he checked out this game. Consistently passed the ball to Bravo, putting the pressure on him to distribute in which he just failed. The formation is supposed to assert midfield dominance, but there's no fluidity between the 4 CMs. It's so rigid that it's actually easy to defend. You know Pirlo and Bravo are sitting in the back, they're not going anywhere. You know Mac and Poku are going to sit right where the formation says they should be.... and that's it. They're sitting in a rigid square, and no one is willing/allowed to disrupt the shape. There was one player sitting between Mac and Poku, effectively defending both of them at the same time. It's really that simple. Villa consumes the 2 CBs because he's still playing as a target man, and our wingers are not good enough to get past a fullback, who doesn't even have to worry about an overlapping run BECAUSE THERE ARE NO FULLBACKS IN THE FORMATION! It's a fucking butt formation that needs to go away.
When we switched to a 433, the playing styles of Villa, Mac, and Poku did not change. I was sitting there, watching Mac and Poku literally stand there when we were in possession. They either have no tank, or no tactical awareness. If you're a CM, how are you not constantly trying to find space to receive the ball? I now have no problem with Poku not playing for that reason. In the second half, Josh was distributing to our right every time (whether he meant it or not) giving Poku plenty of opportunities to get on the ball, and he's sitting there between 2 Rev players with no urgency to get on the ball. Same with Mac, until Villa moved to LW and he seemed to get a fire under his ass. Why Villa is still playing with his back to the net, I'm not sure either. His best attributes are finishing and dribbling. Both are taken away with the way PV has him playing. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
How could anyone be worse?
I'm going to say as long as Mata is back there, theoretically Villa on the left could work. He provides an outlet for counters, and if the RB decides to join the attack, it's Villa vs 1 CB in space. But it could also look like Chelsea when they just pass the ball to Hazard and hope he does something magical because the rest of the team sucks. You become one dimensional, and could overwork your best player.
I hadn't looked that closely, but watching the replay, it's clear that his plant foot slips on the temporary grass and this leads him to whiff on the follow through.
Another thing I hadn't clearly seen. The kick was late and ended up with the defender wrapping his leg around MacNaMullet's neck from about calf high. There wasn't much behind the kick, but the real danger was if the studs got him on the way out. They didn't, but you can almost see TMac being a little shaken during the goal celebration.
I just watched the condensed game on MLS Live. Had to sacrifice last Saturday to do a combine Mom/Wife birthday broadway show. What formation did we go to when we subbed off Mendoza for Mullins? Villa went to the LW?
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