San Jose Postmatch

[Jon]

Biggest issue I had was with White today. There's no chemistry between him and Harrison. As soon as he felt even the slightest pressure he passed back to Johnson. There were a couple times where it looked like Maxi was losing his patience with him, begging for him to pass the ball up. I haven't looked at the stats but I'm guessing the vast majority of movement up the field was on the left side.

As for Pirlo, I thought it was a mixed bag. He's clearly slower and can't defend well, but the guy can drop a ball anywhere on the field still.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

WE TALKIN' ABOUT PIRLO?

 

[SebastianBlue]

MLS Loves the Flair

https://twitter.com/x/status/848281987987197953

 

[Kjbert]

Villa - 7. Distributed well. Pressed well. Creates both goals

Harrison - 8. Was terrific on both sides of the ball today. Really maturing into a fantastic player.

Wallace - 7. Maybe our smartest non-DP. I know he is a winger, but he makes up for Matarrita's deficiencies so well. Just knows where to be.

Pirlo - 6. I thought he was terrific offensively. And below average defensively. Made one poor pass today and it led to a goal. I think he has actually been very good this season. Better than last year or the year before. But he is such a defensive liability and we don't play him with cover.

Ring - 7. Another strong game. Needs to play every minute of every match for us. I think he's been miserable in the final 3rd but he's incredibly intelligent and is an enforcer that we lacked last year. I hope he chooses to stay after this season.

Maxi - 7. Puts in a shift. Don't always love how deep he plays. Picked out some wonderful passes. I still think he lacks the physicality to be a difference maker in this league. It holds him back.

White - 5. A good shift. He's playing well. But it's almost more about not making mistakes. Can't pick out a pass great still. Was solid defensively.

Matarrita - 6. Was very involved. Instrumental in the game winner. But his positioning is AWFUL. Best athlete on the squad and the worst soccer intelligence.

Chanot - 8. Solid. Straight up difference maker.

Callens - 8. Compliments Chanot well. Great in possession. Covered for Mata multiple times today. He's going to score a goal on a set piece too this season. Terrific signing.

Johnson - 9. I'll give him the MOTM. I thought it was a poor move to acquire him this offseason but I've been proven wrong so far. I don't think he's world class but he's so much better than Saunders. He's been surprisingly strong with his feet.

McNamara - 7. Didn't like the sub. Thought it was the wrong move there but he scored a goal and generally was disruptive.

Shelton - 6. Midas Mulligan will hate this but I thought he did what he was supposed to do by holding up play once he came on for Villa.

Brilliant - N/A. Don't know that he got a Touch

Towards the end of the match, it looked like we were in a 3-5-2. I swear Harrison was playing as a RWB. Thought that was an interesting formation.

 

[Ulrich]

MLS Loves the Flair

https://twitter.com/x/status/848281987987197953

Villa's touch was ridiculous on those passes.... but holy hell would the stadium have lost their collective shit if TMac had missed that open net (kissed the post) - as it was happening, I had a flashback to Mendoza missing his breakaway that should have won the game last year.

 

[Jock]

TOMMY MAC!!
I love him, but, what the hell, man of the match? I thought I heard that at the time but didn't believe it.

That's crazy also because Ring was MOTM, making up for Pirlo (who sold the first goal).

Decent game all told, too cold though.

ETA: those were two quite beautifully worked goals, too.

 

[Albany_NYCFC]

Villa's touch was ridiculous on those passes.... but holy hell would the stadium have lost their collective shit if TMac had missed that open net (kissed the post) - as it was happening, I had a flashback to Mendoza missing his breakaway that should have won the game last year.

I thought the same thing about that goal. If you watch the replay you can see that Tmac looks like he starts to pull up as if he thinks it's wide then celebrates as it squeezes in.......

 

[dannd23]

TOMMY MAC!!
I love him, but, what the hell, man of the match? I thought I heard that at the time but didn't believe it.

That's crazy also because Ring was MOTM, making up for Pirlo (who sold the first goal).

Decent game all told, too cold though.

ETA: those were two quite beautifully worked goals, too.

The only reason Tommy is MOTM because the average fan simply doesn't watch/understand closely enough outside of big goals or saves

 

[Jock]

The only reason Tommy is MOTM because the average fan simply doesn't watch/understand closely enough outside of big goals or saves

 

[Ulrich]

I didn't realize Jack was credited with the goal until I left the stadium and looked at the box score - I had thought during the game he has been snakebit 3x this year by the post, so very excited he scored. But that leads me to address that he's really been our most improved player since last year. Tommy lost his spot, Mata looks up/down, Pirlo is even at best, Villa is looking great but wouldn't call it improved but just being Villa. Chanot is the one guy that is looking better in 2017 than 2016 (not counting new players to the team) but he's actually only playing the way we had hoped he'd play last year. But Jack, he's looking like a more mature winger. He's bulked up and that really is helping him shield the ball. His move outside is now as effective as that first step inside he uses to clear space for his curling shot. It really does make defending him difficult since the LB cannot cheat to one side. And then when he does shift to the middle, he's again showing the close quarters passing & dribbling that was so fantastic last year. And did I mention he defends tenaciously - shit, his workrate is off the charts? Pretty much now a complete player.

 

[Ulrich]

The only reason Tommy is MOTM because the average fan simply doesn't watch/understand closely enough outside of big goals or saves

We really had a bunch of MEN of the Match: Chanot, Harrison, Ring, Johnson, Callens. Those five pretty much didn't do anything wrong all game.

BTW- I just wanna add that the Ref was garbage missed some calls on goal kick versus corner on the SS side. Blew at least one handball in the box but I think it was two. Took him a long time to get control of the game. Blew the whistle when Jack was mugged on the sideline but Jack rode the tackle through and he/Villa were about to break - should have played advantage. But I lost my shit when he stopped play to show the red card when we had a one-on-none with the GK... let the play go forward and then stop play once SJ got the ball back to send that POS hack to the showers.

 

[Questionable8]

https://twitter.com/x/status/848249682820247552

I bought two, sold the extra one to a British dude for 50 bucks.

P.s i had a amazing time , sucks for whoever didn't attend

 

[Questionable8]

MLS Loves the Flair

https://twitter.com/x/status/848281987987197953

Mls love DPs

 

[Keith Putnam]

I believe this was the entirety of the SJ away support. They sat down about a minute before the opening goal.

 

[mgarbowski]

MLS Loves the Flair

https://twitter.com/x/status/848281987987197953

 

[NYCFC_Dan]

Agree with your last statement, whole-heartedly. I'm not a big Pirlo defender this year, I just thought he had a decent game today based on what I saw.

But again, I didn't see the first goal. And further, if it happened on our defending half in the first half, I didn't/couldn't see it from where I was sitting.

Offensively he played great and orchestrated much of our offense. He was horrible defending today. Had a lot of gaffs in our third and just didn't give much support.

 

[NYCFC_Dan]

The only reason Tommy is MOTM because the average fan simply doesn't watch/understand closely enough outside of big goals or saves

Exactly. Like the guy blowing my Twitter up about how Maxi is bad and doesn't contribute at all.

 

[Seven]

http://m.goal.com/s/en-us/news/55/m...r-raises-questions-about-why-he-isnt-starting

MCNAMARA'S WINNER RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT WHY HE ISN'T STARTING

The NYCFC midfielder replaced an ineffective Andrea Pirlo and scored the winning goal, raising questions about whether a change is needed

Does it though? Didn't really think he did anything superb other then the goal. Admittedly the game plan of bunkering after the card meant no one really looked great, but I don't know who you take out of the lineup for TMac. The article seems to infer it should be Pirlo for TMac, but if Pirlo starts on the bench, I would much rather see Herrera start in that spot intend of TMac

 

[Ulrich]

http://m.goal.com/s/en-us/news/55/m...r-raises-questions-about-why-he-isnt-starting

MCNAMARA'S WINNER RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT WHY HE ISN'T STARTING

The NYCFC midfielder replaced an ineffective Andrea Pirlo and scored the winning goal, raising questions about whether a change is needed

Does it though? Didn't really think he did anything superb other then the goal. Admittedly the game plan of bunkering after the card meant no one really looked great, but I don't know who you take out of the lineup for TMac. The article seems to infer it should be Pirlo for TMac, but if Pirlo starts on the bench, I would much rather see Herrera start in that spot intend of TMac

I'm glad you said this because from the moment he stepped on the field up to the goal, my two buddies and I were saying how poor his play was and wasn't really having an effect on the game. Then he scored, the beneficiary of probably the best sequence of passing in the league this weekend. Was a clutch goal (he almost missed) so he deserves his due, but he didn't do anything else that warranted praise. Even when he took the ball to the corner, he had an unmarked man 5-10yrds away that could have either burned more time or had a nearly direct/unblocked path to the GK/net.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

I'd like to see the possession stats. In the stadium it felt like we were winning balls pretty much at will and knocking it around most of the time. Chanot was a boss (Callens definitely gives him more room to be confident). Even White looked solid at back. Maxi, Rodney, Ring, Jack, Guaje, and Tommy felt pretty dominant.

If we finish at a better rate we could dominate the league and potentially transform its style. The movement off the ball and the possession game are just superior.

The bunkering in at the end was puzzling and frustrating. We don't need to do that and it almost backfired.

In NY its no longer el guaje, its el capitan.