D.C. (Home) - Postmatch

[FredMertz]

Mitrita is great but he needs space. Everything is so congested for us up too that he isn’t getting that space. The only time we looked threatening is when he made a quick run and played a 1-2.

He loses the ball a lot. I think he is very good, but he thinks he is slightly better than very good.

Also, as Fred Jr. remarked, he does not work hard to get back on defense, like Villa season 1, but exactly not like Villa seasons 2-4.

And finally, I sit behind the away goal (which was the home goal today) and I still don't understand how Lewis didn't score a tap in near the end. In an instant it looked like he wasn't paying attention. Was it easier to see what happened on tv?

 

[mgarbowski]

wow this is a lot of negativity! I thought for the start of the season and against a tough DCU this game went pretty well.

I approve of your overall optimistic post, but there is no evidence that DC is any good away from Audi Field. This was definitely a game we were supposed to win.

 

[ManhattanValley]

Just a straight up unenjoyable game. When Maxi doesn't play well, we don't play well, and yeah. Mitrita is a lot of fun to watch, and Sands is going to be a hell of a player, but there wasn't a lot out there today that makes me excited for the rest of the year. Seems like this squad isn't going to be complete until the summer, and while that isn't necessarily a season-ending disaster, I can't say I'm thrilled about having to watch us muddle on for the next few months.

 

[FootyLovin]

I still don't understand how Lewis didn't score a tap in near the end. In an instant it looked like he wasn't paying attention. Was it easier to see what happened on tv?

Real time it looked like the kind of ball Lewis or someone should have gotten to. The replay showed it was just a good box out by the defender. No really fair expectation for Lewis to get there first given where it bounced to.

 

[Jock]

That was pretty shite overall, let's be honest.

Credit to Jimmy Sands for showing for the ball, moving in to the space, being ready to make passes, being attentive to second balls. Everyone else was below par though.

Still looks like we're screaming out for a striker too. Seems like we should be setting up in a balanced formation, like a = but we ended up more like a V at times with the midfield being tight and all the forwards rushing out to the wings.

Also, way more communication needed. Simple passes went astray too often and so many times two guys would dummy the same ball and we'd lose posession, or two guys would go for the same ball and be all over each other.

Much improvement needed please.

 

[Kangaroo Jack]

On the bright side, we’re still undefeated

 

[JayH]

The disconnect driving much of the chaos is between Dome and Maxi. Maxi has no idea where he is supposed to be, it's clear from his confusion and his body language, and it is also affecting his overall poise. It's also clear from Dome, as he spent much of the game today shouting to Maxi, directing Maxi, and, at times, barking to his staff about him (though I couldn't understand all of it given my translation ineptitude.). When the head coach and QB aren't on the same page, the offense suffers.

 

[canchon]

Sands had an excellent game disrupting DCU a number of times. Going to be great to see him develop - looks like he is going to get major minutes this year.

That save from Johnson on Acosta was one of the better saves that I have ever seen. Hamid’s save on the diving header was top notch.

Overall even though NYCFC had more of the ball, DCU seemed to have the better of the chances. NYCFC was very inept in the offensive third, lots of possession but mostly long shots, seems like everyone wants to score bangers (Ring especially seems to have a new role launching them from outside the 18).

Also, attendance was 24k? Seemed much lighter than that. It was awful weather, cold and wet. People were huddling in the bathrooms at halftime to warm up.

Also, come on Lewis with that counterattack. It was 3 on 2, should have done much better there.

 

[Marito]

The result is fair and DC, for a team that was bunkering in the second half, still managed to create a few very clear options. SJ saved our hides. This game was very different to the 1-1 late last year. We did not overrun them at all, and in fact didn't put them under any pressure until the 85th minute. That's what is most disappointing: the lack of fight and the timidity. Mitrita is, as Fred say, less brilliant that he thinks himself to be, and he would clog our attack if we aspired to any quickness and fluidity. Since we don't, he doesn't. At this point I don't know what our most effective attack formation would be. Taty seems the only natural candidate for mediocre ST, but he got precious little service in the first half, because Mitri on the left tried to finish by himself and Medina, on the right, didn't take people on. He is simply not a winger. He is good at making deep passes to break lines (one of the few to ever do that in the first half), but we don't attack fast enough to use him well, and he seems lost in every other role. So Taty got not crosses to get to end of.

 

[JayH]

I also think that Dome wanted the team using the sidelines, and the players were for some reason not aware of that. It was strange to have that lack of cohesion.

 

[Jock]

I also think that Dome wanted the team using the sidelines, and the players were for some reason not aware of that. It was strange to have that lack of cohesion.

Like early on when Anton was *not on the field* and I was screaming at him to get back inside the touchline and someone pinged him the ball and OF COURSE it went for a throw in to the other team.....

Also forgot to add Sean Johnson really kept us in it today. Could have been 0-2 at least if not for our big Johnson.

 

[LIexpat]

He loses the ball a lot. I think he is very good, but he thinks he is slightly better than very good.

Also, as Fred Jr. remarked, he does not work hard to get back on defense, like Villa season 1, but exactly not like Villa seasons 2-4.

And finally, I sit behind the away goal (which was the home goal today) and I still don't understand how Lewis didn't score a tap in near the end. In an instant it looked like he wasn't paying attention. Was it easier to see what happened on tv?

From where I was sitting it looked like he was way offside and he knew he was so wasn’t really making the effort

 

[FredMertz]

From where I was sitting it looked like he was way offside and he knew he was so wasn’t really making the effort

Ahhhh. Was the flag up? I didn't notice. The seats are the best in the stadium for a very limited section of the field, but pretty bad for most of everything else.

 

[LIexpat]

Ahhhh. Was the flag up? I didn't notice. The seats are the best in the stadium for a very limited section of the field, but pretty bad for most of everything else.

No I think that was the problem they never called it so should of played to the whistle instead of assuming he was going to get called

 

[Ulrich]

If not for SJ, the game would have been ugly early. He made what, two or three world class saves, and given that first one up early and we’d have been cooked with their counter.

What was so distressing was when we had the ball, it was a lot of improv with guys not being in synch or knowing where their teammates were. Contrast that with DC who had very crip passing lanes with players running off the ball, and they had us pinned pretty easily. It’s bizarro world when Benny Olsen is tactically running circle around the fraudster we have organizing our team.

 

[mgarbowski]

Were we Villa FC?

I'd argue for Vieira FC.

Vieira 39-22-22 1.65 PPG
Others 18-24-15 1.21 PPG

Others breakdown
JK 10-17-7 1.09 PPG
DT 8-7-8 1.39 PPG

Oops. It should be
Vieira 39-22-22 1.65 PPG
Others 18-24-13 1.22 PPG

Others breakdown
JK 10-17-7 1.09 PPG
DT 8-7-6 1.43 PPG

 

[Kjbert]

So many thoughts. I apologize in advance. I’ll break this into two posts to make it easier for people to ignore if they so choose. This post is about everything other than the play on the pitch.

First: The parking was a mess again. Last years plan to have you pay as you entered the lot was the correct one. Maybe the machines are broken but it caused a mess on the way out. And the traffic direction on the way out was more mediocre than ever.

Second: It’s the first game of the season and you can’t figure out how to get people into the stadium in a quick manner? Come on man. They didn’t have nearly enough people manning the gates for what will most likely be our most well attended game.

Third: That pitch was unplayable. I really hope that Ben Olson complains about it. I hope the guys on SiriusXM and the MLS fanboys all complain about it. It looked like they were playing in a public park in Jersey City. I go from watching the Arsenal match where it looked like a carpet to watxhing the ball hit an uneven patch and bounce up to the goalkeepers groin. I know it’s a baseball stadium, but that was the worst field I can remember us playing on.

Four: Even the concession folks were working out the kinks. Network issues at food stands (my son is still waiting on the popcorn to be available at Section 128) and folks not knowing to put ice in drinks.

Five: I thought the crowd was lively. There weren’t a lot of us. Club can’t be happy about that.

 

[LionNYC]

2 points through 2 matches is the worst start to a season in NYCFC history.

2015: 4 points
2016: 4 points
2017: 3 points
2018: 6 points
2019: 2 points

It's no secret we need a striker that's probably between 5'6" and 6'0".

The weather conditions were terrible, the field looked shit even in the outfield. It didn't look like a single lawn on there, it looked as bad as the infield.

Isi on earlier. JLew too.

I'm not hopeful.

It felt good to have a home match again.

 

[mgarbowski]

So many thoughts. I apologize in advance. I’ll break this into two posts to make it easier for people to ignore if they so choose. This post is about everything other than the play on the pitch.

First: The parking was a mess again. Last years plan to have you pay as you entered the lot was the correct one. Maybe the machines are broken but it caused a mess on the way out. And the traffic direction on the way out was more mediocre than ever.

Second: It’s the first game of the season and you can’t figure out how to get people into the stadium in a quick manner? Come on man. They didn’t have nearly enough people manning the gates for what will most likely be our most well attended game.

Third: That pitch was unplayable. I really hope that Ben Olson complains about it. I hope the guys on SiriusXM and the MLS fanboys all complain about it. It looked like they were playing in a public park in Jersey City. I go from watching the Arsenal match where it looked like a carpet to watxhing the ball hit an uneven patch and bounce up to the goalkeepers groin. I know it’s a baseball stadium, but that was the worst field I can remember us playing on.

Four: Even the concession folks were working out the kinks. Network issues at food stands (my son is still waiting on the popcorn to be available at Section 128) and folks not knowing to put ice in drinks.

Five: I thought the crowd was lively. There weren’t a lot of us. Club can’t be happy about that.

1. yes
2. yes (first time I was a big difference to have CLEAR even at the Suite/Premium entrance)
3. yes
4. yes
5. yes

 

[Shwafta]

My thoughts on the game:
1) SJ had a Neuer-esque game.
2) Sands, holy shit man he looks like he's been playing for years.
3) I thought our defense was solid throughout, except a few times that DC was able to get through- but we basically silenced them the entire time.
4) At the beginning of the game our front looked awful. Passes being played to nowhere etc, but you could see as the game went on that they were slowly starting to figure it out... It actually excites me because towards the end of the game we were getting some nice passes in and nice runs through. I think by next week against LAFC we might be seeing some better play.
5) Mitrita was good, but many times he was selfish when he should have played it.
6) There was this one breakaway towards the end of the game where (i forget who) passed the ball right instead of left to a wide-open Mitrita, which would have probably led to a better chance.

Overall, I am actually not to unpleased. I think we played well, kept them out for the most part, and I think if we keep at this we will be scoring lots of goals soon.