I partially concur. Myself, I didn't think NYC was as good as its record early on before the first loss. Then I thought they had a strong stretch of games (with 2 clunkers mixed in) from the first Atlanta game to the second, in which results did not live up to the play (accounting for said clunkers).
Since Dome came on, I agree the team has seemed muddled, but I've made allowances for injuries (Herrera, Villa, Johnson, Berget, Shradi,Ring[?]), whatever the hell is going on with Chanot, and the coaching transition. I'm mostly concerned whether Villa, Ring and Chanot -- and now Callens -- get back to form.
Hell, Dome coached his first 8 games without Villa, who got hurt 28 minutes into Torrent's first game. He had 3 straight games where he couldn't start any of Villa, Berget or Shradi (Berget and Shradi came on as late <30 minute subs in one of those games).
Last night was the first time since, Houston maybe?, that I thought the team looked significantly worse than the lineup and matchup warranted. Hell, isn't this forum's standard complaint that our results don't match how the team outplays it's opponents?
Even last week against Toronto, when it seemed for the first time in a while that NYC was a fortunate winner, the Pigeons outplayed Toronto 20/9 on Shots, 7/4 SOG, 591/334 Passes, 84%/72% Passing Accuracy, 64/36 Possession, etc.
What I really cannot sign on to is that this has been the worst stretch of games since 2015. I get that you're not strictly talking results, but do you really think this is worse than the first 8 games of 2016? I saw a team that had a sieve at keeper, gave up multiple turnovers in its own end while stubbornly playing there, could not defend set pieces at all, and scored 4 goals in its first 5 Home games. What did you like in that run of games?
Or how about the 4 games a bit later in in 2016 that comprised a rotated-roster draw in Toronto, RBW(home), a draw with Orlando (Home) that featured a Villa PK miss, and conceding a 2-0 lead in the last 20 minutes including the tying goal at the death, followed by a pathetic 3-2 loss to RSL (again Home), which IMO marked the regular season low-point of the Patrick Vieira era. Finally, if you thought the team deserved much better than 7 points in its last 7 games last year I'd be curious to know why. I will grant the pseudo-home draw to Houston stings, because of the flukey quick restart goal NYC conceded and playing in Hartford. But apart from that the team was meh to worse over that stretch and deserved what it got, sadly.
So, yes, I'm concerned at the team's form now, and also that the injuries responsible for much of it won't improve. Herrera's not coming back, and Villa, Ring, and Chanot are not guaranteed to revive their form. I wish we did better in the transfer window than one solid addition which did not address the biggest needs (LB, and midfield spine). But, I also expect the team has another good run in it. I also have personally resigned myself to NYC probably finishing third for weeks now. I see us winning the home game, and I'm not conceding anything to Atlanta or Red Bulls H2H. Nobody has played 2 better games against Atlanta than this team. And maybe maybe? Dome can do better than Vieira at RBA.
So that's me in my rose glasses right now.
