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Columbus (Away) - Postmatch
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
I've been wondering if he's playing injured. The heavy strapping on his knee is a concern. And his passing, while never his strong point, is becoming depressing and was responsible for the second goal.
Have no idea about the league he came from, but maybe his team just sucked and he had to do everything himself. It's too early to say he's a bust. He has good skill and talent. Shake the selfishness and he can be super productive here.
Anyone else scream at the TV “wtf are you doing?” while Taty took that shot?
I mean....it worked in the end and what a fucking strike, but I’m sticking to that was a terrible decision to shoot from there considering the break we were on and the options around him.
I mean....it worked in the end and what a fucking strike, but I’m sticking to that was a terrible decision to shoot from there considering the break we were on and the options around him.
If that goal had been scored against us, this board would be:
1) Asking why we can’t get guys who can do that instead of Medina.
2) Castigating our midfield for not shutting down the opportunity
3) Shaking our heads at SJ for not getting there fast enough.
4) Figuring out a way to insert Ben Sweat into the conversation (see what I did there?).
Mitrita’s shot is the kind we blame you for missing. Taty’s shot is the kind we blame you for taking.
Steffen looked like he hesitated and still almost got it, so probably savable if he wasn’t surprised that a shot was actually taken from that distance.
As I said last week, opposing teams will give that shot/goal up over marauding space in front of the net, since the shot has a really low chance of success. They rolled the dice and lost that time with not having a Midfielder close down the space. And as
SoupInNYC mentioned, I agree, it was a wtf type strike that fortunately worked - much like the Kelly McGillis scene in Top Gun when Maverick is castigated for his tactical maneuver that worked but is warned against not trying it in combat in the future.
I think this 9-game unbeaten streak is masking some serious issues. The performance yesterday against a reeling Crew team missing its best player simply wasn't good enough.
We are a good team - slightly above average. But, we aren't elite, and we aren't even knocking on the door to be elite. An elite team chokes Columbus to death and walks out of that stadium 2-3 goals up.
Not sure what we can do at this point, but I don't see anything changing this season. We make the playoffs, maybe win a game, maybe not, but no magical run.
We are a good team - slightly above average. But, we aren't elite, and we aren't even knocking on the door to be elite. An elite team chokes Columbus to death and walks out of that stadium 2-3 goals up.
Not sure what we can do at this point, but I don't see anything changing this season. We make the playoffs, maybe win a game, maybe not, but no magical run.
The ball had all kinds of crazy movement on it. Find the highlight that shows it from behind. It starts to move inside, and that freezes Steffan, and then it slides back out and into the corner. The Yankees would pay $30 million a year to someone who could make a baseball do that in that stadium.Steffen looked like he hesitated and still almost got it, so probably savable if he wasn’t surprised that a shot was actually taken from that distance.
As I said last week, opposing teams will give that shot/goal up over marauding space in front of the net, since the shot has a really low chance of success. They rolled the dice and lost that time with not having a Midfielder close down the space. And as
Were basically good enough to make the last spot or two of the playoffs and not have the Front Office institute fundamental and structural changes, but bad enough to again have a plodding attempt at the regular season and post season accolades - ie none.
It’s what Midas Mulligan and I have been afraid of since before CFG decided against canning Dome.
I agree that in general it's a low percentage shot, but context is important. If they are expecting us to try and work out a higher xG shot then the percentage of a distance shot has to be higher, or at least the gap between the relative percentages has to be lower. Even if it's just because of the lack of defensive pressure and lack of expectation from the goalkeeper.Steffen looked like he hesitated and still almost got it, so probably savable if he wasn’t surprised that a shot was actually taken from that distance.
As I said last week, opposing teams will give that shot/goal up over marauding space in front of the net, since the shot has a really low chance of success. They rolled the dice and lost that time with not having a Midfielder close down the space. And as
If they have to defend the shot next time then that theoretically opens up passing lanes to get the ball into better shooting positions next time around.
If we just play the numbers all the time, we become predictable. I'd expect those higher xG numbers to come down over time, or to find it harder to get shots off from those spots. And those xG numbers don't internalize factors that make these actions unpredictable and therefore more likely to succeed.
I've been happy with the tactical adjustments. Against Chicago I thought we kept the wrong players on the field (playing Sands and Rocha as 8s), but the Shradi sub and then the Taty sub were appropriately aggressive moves against Columbus.
For the next iteration, it would be interesting to see if we ditch the 3-4-3, either because teams seem to have figured it out, or because it doesn't fit against Cincinnati, or because we will be working against injuries and international call-ups. But I'm happy that we seem to be at least robust in different systems. We have a long season ahead of us and if we keep seeing this kind of improvement I think we can improve upon our playoff performance last year at least.
Can we all take a minute to appreciate the Sandman’s work last night. I specifically remember him closing down a breakaway by taking the perfect angle and blocking the shot. Elite skill.
I have no idea what Tab was thinking by not including him (cough Durkin cough) on the u-20 roster.
I have no idea what Tab was thinking by not including him (cough Durkin cough) on the u-20 roster.
Oh I totally misinterpreted this. You're talking about recovering the ball and assisting you Taty. I think you're right, sadly, in that we don't have another player who presses and harasses quite like he does.
Our adjustments took us from being the worst team in the league to one that is midtable but unable to consistently distance ourselves from the competition. Hence, we’ve done enough to not force the FO’s hand to make the fundamental and structural changes that I believe we need to make as I continue to think Dome is no more than a middling Manager. Dome has done enough to not get canned, but he’s leagues away from seeing the fabled land with a championship. That’s fine for a team that has zero ambition, but for everything we’ve heard from CFG, it’s not meeting the bar they’ve set for themselves.
As to the subs last night, they weren’t a masterstroke of genius, they were the only two offensive players on the bench. Sweat goes down and Mata was already injured, so to bring a wing on as an end of the half wingback which switched to a wide midfielder 2nd half (after locker room direction) was just common sense. Taty coming on for Ofori was a strange sub in that we then had virtually no midfield players, and that was commented on in the shoutbox- it was a case of throwing care to the wind and going for broke. That just screamed of desperation, which it was.
Well, I don't know what to tell you, because Dome smells a championship: https://theoutfield.org/2019/05/14/l-a-galaxy-0-2-nycfc-smells-like-victory/
In all seriousness, I know we're far away from being a championship favorite, on current form, recent-past form as teams adjusted to an unconventional system, and past results where Dome struggled through various system changes. I just have a feeling that the myriad parts of a footballing machine (players, physical conditioning, drilling, tactics, subs, travel logistics etc.) are starting to work together smoothly. We saw as many formations as Columbus as we have throughout Dome's entire tenure, yet, on first watch at least, we transitioned between them smoothly and managed to look threatening outside of a handful of individual errors (that admittedly can be made more likely by changes in system). I just feel like the core of Dome's style, the pretty pinecone if you will, is looking more and more well-established, and this side has the makings of a team that's hard to plan for and therefore difficult to beat. If we can translate "difficult to beat" to "impossible to stop"...
As for the substitutes, my opinion is that you're being a little unfair. He could easily have brought on Rocha for Sweat as a like for like replacement, but he decided, bravely, to bring on Shradi and execute a system change instead of waiting for half-time. And it was sorely needed. I'd like to think that playing Maxi with Ring as a double pivot is a sign of things to come, a way to get more verticality and creativity on the pitch, and not just an off-the-cuff act of desperation.
Either way, nobody's calling it a masterstroke of genius, and that's a strawman. But it worked, and it was an improvement on past examples of in-game decision-making. It's not a guarantee of a championship, but it's a positive sign and I'll take it.
The only reason we're mid-table are all the games in hand. We could be top of the table if we can win our home matches coming up. You mentioned Ring doing nothing but picking up yellows in a previous post, but he only has 2 yellows all season. I'm frustrated we didn't get the win, but road points are hard in this league, and we're on a record pace for those. We also had a harsh penalty called against us that we had to battle back against. I saw resiliency on the road. I saw a team with an abundance of offensive weapons for an MLS squad (even considering one of their DPs couldn't even crack the 18!). We're very good right now and a Medina transfer and DP signing away from being elite.
Actually, on the shoutbox, a few did say dome was a genius, so that’s what I was drawing from on the heels of you saying you were happy with the tactical adjustments. That was my bad for anchoring a thought to statements made during a different medium.
I also don’t think I’m being unfair with the criticism of the subs being obvious. To bring on Rocha for Sweat is then locking oneself in the closet for a later offensive sub as Dome wouldn’t to a short-term sub for Sweat if Sweat was later the intended sub for Isi or Taty - it’d be burning a sub for nothing (or 15min). And NYCFC was already down a goal, so bringing in a non-offensive player in a wingback position is hardly helping the situation.
Also, looking at who was on the bench, there were zero other options for clawing back offense. Ibeagha, no. Mata was injured (why have on the bench at all?). Torres, do we have any idea what he’s able to do? And Rocha came on for Mitrita when Dome decided to preserve the point. Based on that bench, there were zero other options than the obvious ones.
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