Lopez played safe and stayed out of the way. Overall, not terrible. Still spastic on challenges.
Orlando Postmatch
- Thread starter NYCFC_Dan
- Start date
Mikey Lopez played pretty well, he deserves a shoutout. Three tackles, an interception, sent 2-of-3 successful long balls, and completed 34-of-36 passes. And almost none of them were back passes:
Until Yangel comes back and Mata back from injury, this may be our best starting XI, especially away.
His passing chart is fine. basically supports your analysis. Only 2 incomplete, mostly forward, and one key pass to create an opportunity.
S sbrylski beat me by a couple minutes
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I can't believe they threw something out on the field while Villa was taking a PK. Actually it doesn't surprise me.
Can't rep your post even though it's a solid effort. TOo much credit to RJ. not enough recognition of why Maxi makes it hard to defend us.
This is why I said even before the match that you have to play him over Ucubed. Honestly, there's no place for Ucubed in our 11.
If you don't have him or Pirlo in the lineup and you have Ring, you can probably get away with Lopez or maybe Stertzer in midfield.
I'm glad the Pirlo situation seems settled. But funny to me we're still yet to play a season with 3 DPs.
How you know Lewis can't do it he hasn't played
Maybe our most complete match of the season, considering we are missing two of our starters.
Villa - 8. Played very well tonight. Not even his best performance and had a brace. When he is locked in, he is special. I thought he stunk on Wednesday night and his mind wasn't there. Tonight, he was terrific.
Wallace - 7. Relentless defensively and seemed to be in the right place as always. I liked when he found place in the middle of the field. Sometimes he does that and it ruins our shape. Not tonight. Was good defensively, but not great tonight. Didn't seem to provide a lot of cover for Sweat.
Harrison - 5. Mediocre performance. Seemed to be dropping deep defensively a lot tonight. Had a nice attempt on goal. Missed a couple of opportunities to make the right run. Overall, just didn't have it tonight but thought he chipped in well defensively.
Maxi - 9. His best game in an NYCFC uniform, and it is not even close. He absolutely destroyed Orlando. A poster above made a great point about him having a lot of space to run into. I thought Dallas played him perfectly. Beat the crap out of him. He didn't drop as deep as he has recently, specifically with Pirlo in the game. The ball he played into Villa for the third goal was the assist of the year.
Ring - 9. He was my MOTM. Absolutely destroyed the midfield of Orlando. Is he a Top 3 CDM in the league right now? In the beginning of the season, playing next to Pirlo, I really didn't think he was a 6. He's definitely a 6. He seems so much more comfortable sitting back and reading the game. Made one sprint forward tonight and ran into trouble. All in, a masterful match considering he's played 280 minutes probably in 7 days.
Lopez - 6. Mikey was invisible, outside of his yellow, and that's a good thing. He played a safe game. Played a few one-twos with his outside backs and Maxi but was solid. One of the better matches he has played for us. Certainly deserves a roster spot. I know I have been accused of having a soft spot for Lopez but I thought he showed well tonight, for him. I still don't think he is a 90 minute player, but you saw tonight that, in the right set up, with the right support around him, as long as you don't ask him to be a difference maker, he can put in a shift.
Ethan White - N/A. Great cross. Hope he's healthy for next week. We'll need his defensive presence against Atlanta.
RJ Allen - 5. Another post I liked in this thread was that he looked better defensively and looked poor moving forward. I thought he played alright. He's still chippy, but he has reigned it in some so he doesn't make stupid fouls. All in, I thought he was fine. It's amazing that when you don't ask guys to play above their heads all the time (Lopez, White and Allen specifically) by putting talent around them, how much better of a job these guys do.
Sweat - 5. When he missed those two offensive chances, I was waiting on Lalas to make a comment a la, "that's why he plays CB-LB." He was ok down the left flank. I think both sides did a nice job of keeping the ball on the ground. We know Orlando wants to get the ball in the box to Larin through the air. Both sides did a good job of stopping that. Would have given him a 6 if not for the awful challenge in the box.
Chanot - 8. Another terrific performance. He's becoming a dominant CB in this league. I hope we keep him. He's still young. Lots of CBs don't excel until they are 30. He's 27?
Callens - 6. I think he has taken a step back of late. He gets away with his mistakes because of his athleticism. I would like to see Brillant given another chance to play next to Chanot, frankly. He's not the athlete that Callens is, but I don't think he makes the mistakes that Callens is prone to. He was OK tonight, but he made a couple of mistakes.
Sean Johnson - 7. Was going to give him a 6 because his long distribution was poor again tonight but that save on Gil was fantastic. That shot goes in the last two years. I think he has done a decent job with the ball at this feet and distributing around the box. Doesn't panic. But he punts the ball poorly now and I thought he cleared poorly tonight as well.
Camargo - N/A. He came into chase the match. He did his job.
McNamara - N/A. I would like to see the armband go to Chanot, frankly, but I understand.
Villa - 8. Played very well tonight. Not even his best performance and had a brace. When he is locked in, he is special. I thought he stunk on Wednesday night and his mind wasn't there. Tonight, he was terrific.
Wallace - 7. Relentless defensively and seemed to be in the right place as always. I liked when he found place in the middle of the field. Sometimes he does that and it ruins our shape. Not tonight. Was good defensively, but not great tonight. Didn't seem to provide a lot of cover for Sweat.
Harrison - 5. Mediocre performance. Seemed to be dropping deep defensively a lot tonight. Had a nice attempt on goal. Missed a couple of opportunities to make the right run. Overall, just didn't have it tonight but thought he chipped in well defensively.
Maxi - 9. His best game in an NYCFC uniform, and it is not even close. He absolutely destroyed Orlando. A poster above made a great point about him having a lot of space to run into. I thought Dallas played him perfectly. Beat the crap out of him. He didn't drop as deep as he has recently, specifically with Pirlo in the game. The ball he played into Villa for the third goal was the assist of the year.
Ring - 9. He was my MOTM. Absolutely destroyed the midfield of Orlando. Is he a Top 3 CDM in the league right now? In the beginning of the season, playing next to Pirlo, I really didn't think he was a 6. He's definitely a 6. He seems so much more comfortable sitting back and reading the game. Made one sprint forward tonight and ran into trouble. All in, a masterful match considering he's played 280 minutes probably in 7 days.
Lopez - 6. Mikey was invisible, outside of his yellow, and that's a good thing. He played a safe game. Played a few one-twos with his outside backs and Maxi but was solid. One of the better matches he has played for us. Certainly deserves a roster spot. I know I have been accused of having a soft spot for Lopez but I thought he showed well tonight, for him. I still don't think he is a 90 minute player, but you saw tonight that, in the right set up, with the right support around him, as long as you don't ask him to be a difference maker, he can put in a shift.
Ethan White - N/A. Great cross. Hope he's healthy for next week. We'll need his defensive presence against Atlanta.
RJ Allen - 5. Another post I liked in this thread was that he looked better defensively and looked poor moving forward. I thought he played alright. He's still chippy, but he has reigned it in some so he doesn't make stupid fouls. All in, I thought he was fine. It's amazing that when you don't ask guys to play above their heads all the time (Lopez, White and Allen specifically) by putting talent around them, how much better of a job these guys do.
Sweat - 5. When he missed those two offensive chances, I was waiting on Lalas to make a comment a la, "that's why he plays CB-LB." He was ok down the left flank. I think both sides did a nice job of keeping the ball on the ground. We know Orlando wants to get the ball in the box to Larin through the air. Both sides did a good job of stopping that. Would have given him a 6 if not for the awful challenge in the box.
Chanot - 8. Another terrific performance. He's becoming a dominant CB in this league. I hope we keep him. He's still young. Lots of CBs don't excel until they are 30. He's 27?
Callens - 6. I think he has taken a step back of late. He gets away with his mistakes because of his athleticism. I would like to see Brillant given another chance to play next to Chanot, frankly. He's not the athlete that Callens is, but I don't think he makes the mistakes that Callens is prone to. He was OK tonight, but he made a couple of mistakes.
Sean Johnson - 7. Was going to give him a 6 because his long distribution was poor again tonight but that save on Gil was fantastic. That shot goes in the last two years. I think he has done a decent job with the ball at this feet and distributing around the box. Doesn't panic. But he punts the ball poorly now and I thought he cleared poorly tonight as well.
Camargo - N/A. He came into chase the match. He did his job.
McNamara - N/A. I would like to see the armband go to Chanot, frankly, but I understand.
Who is U Cubed?
I wonder if Lewis is better served being out on loan? The team must think they are molding him into something in practice every day. That seems to be a consistent thing. Knowing that an NYCFC2 is in the works, I think it HAS to be local to the training ground. No way you can have it in Hartford, Albany or upstate. Has to be near the training facility. We want our guys all training with the first team.
I wonder if Lewis is better served being out on loan? The team must think they are molding him into something in practice every day. That seems to be a consistent thing. Knowing that an NYCFC2 is in the works, I think it HAS to be local to the training ground. No way you can have it in Hartford, Albany or upstate. Has to be near the training facility. We want our guys all training with the first team.
I agree on most everything besides Callens. He had a mistake early but I thought that was it for mistakes. After that, he won at least 4 or 5 1v1s and had a few clearances on corners. IMO, him and Chanot are why NYCFC has gone from the worst team at defending set pieces to the best in one season. I'd give him an 8 if we're only doing even numbers, though Chanot was slightly better.
I mean, White has locked down the RB spot. I can't remember the last time his man scored a goal. He played solid D tonight and his overlap was once again perfect. And his link up with both Chanot and Harrison is solid. As far as I'm concerned, we don't need to upgrade that position in the summer - we have more pressing concerns.
He has played. And he's looked timid and not nearly physical enough.
I like him. I want him to get minutes. But you're suggesting things like moving Wallace to accommodate him.
This isn't a charity league. It's first division professional football.
We broke the Fox/Lalas curse tonight!!!! We broke the curse, on the road, against our sht-eating former coach!!!!
I think Callens had two pretty bad mistakes in the first half ? But obviously neither was punished and Just when I was going to get a bit down on him he makes some really good tackles and all is mostly forgiven.
I was definitely in the give Maxi a chance camp preseason but I'll admit I was seriously questioning him as a DP after the first couple or few games. Crazy how much better he (and even Ring) seem to be without Pirlo. I'll be honest I have no personal animosity toward Pirlo but he's become such a disappointment that the "No Pirlo No Party" shirt that I did pick up will be the first piece of NYCFC merch that I'm willingly giving away to the good will.
Running out of new things to say about Villa. Hope he stays long enough with us to hit the century. Not sure if that's quite realistic but it would love to see it. Hope he tops his MLS season goal total again and with the way he meshes with Maxi don't think THAT is unrealistic to hope for.
What's more an embarrassment to Orlando fans, The graffiti accusing us of not having history or the ball grabbing guy?
I was definitely in the give Maxi a chance camp preseason but I'll admit I was seriously questioning him as a DP after the first couple or few games. Crazy how much better he (and even Ring) seem to be without Pirlo. I'll be honest I have no personal animosity toward Pirlo but he's become such a disappointment that the "No Pirlo No Party" shirt that I did pick up will be the first piece of NYCFC merch that I'm willingly giving away to the good will.
Running out of new things to say about Villa. Hope he stays long enough with us to hit the century. Not sure if that's quite realistic but it would love to see it. Hope he tops his MLS season goal total again and with the way he meshes with Maxi don't think THAT is unrealistic to hope for.
What's more an embarrassment to Orlando fans, The graffiti accusing us of not having history or the ball grabbing guy?
Ucubed is Thomas MacNamara. Useless Unless Unmarked.
and I think you are right about Lewis. From what we've seen, he's not physically ready. The talent is there, I think. He's so much better than Khiry was, but the team was worse then and Khiry's size alone allowed him to occasionally contribute despite his generally poor technical ability and tactical understanding.
Right now, with Maxi, Wallace, Villa and to a slightly lesser extent Harrison, we have the best attacking movement in the league. And that's by a long shot. When you replace any of those guys, it changes so much more than just relative player v. player quality.
The last two years, we'd have lost that game because of shitty goalkeeping. The Milkman made a couple of key saves and clearances that Slosh would have 100% flubbed. I love the new guys Ring, Maxi, Hererra, Callens, and Chanot (token new guy), and think they've all had a massive contribution to the team, but Johnson has been an amazingly quiet contributor in that he makes saves look routine. I was so wrong preseason thinking we should give Lurch his shot - Johnson was an all star that had been stuck on a shit team for too long, and he just needed a new environment. Damn we pulled a coup getting him.
Love that alexi referred to us as the Pigeons.
I don't think generalizations can be made about Lopez abilities after one game against Orlando, who are a VERY opportunistic team. Lopez did not have to face a determined midfield. He was only passable tonight because they were skipping over him on the buildup unless he was completely unmarked. He was standing wide open many times with his hands up and they would rather pass through danger than pass to him.
We survived a Lopez start. I don't want to see him get another one. Especially, not against Atlanta in Atlanta. Where the fuck is James Sands?
We survived a Lopez start. I don't want to see him get another one. Especially, not against Atlanta in Atlanta. Where the fuck is James Sands?
His best comment was throwing shade at the nut-grabber. Said something like: "big or more likely small, gotta do more to throw Villa off when he takes a PK."
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