Ronny Deila Named NYCFC Head Coach / Deila Joins Standard Liège

[Sabo]

Count me in on Team "Deila is a good coach".
1) Deila developed Jesus Medina into a good player who I usually enjoy watching and contributes to the team success. I think you have to be a good coach to do that.
2) Deila made sure Parks and Sands both got tons of playing time to become better developed players -- even when it meant playing Ring on the Wing, Which was weird but it kind of worked.
3) This team meets the standard I expect from NYCFC -- attractive attacking soccer (once everyone figured out what they should be doing including, perhaps, the Coach) and a quality of play that friends and family who usually watch just top 5 leagues can enjoy. 5th in the East isnt so great, but I have no doubt the team would be at or near the top of the table if there was another 11 games in the season. According to 538 NYCFC is the 2nd most likely team to win the MLS Cup. We have a realistic chance of winning that and with the new format for CONCACAF Champions League we could do well there too.

I am sure the rest of the Forum agrees with me.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Count me in on Team "Deila is a good coach".
1) Deila developed Jesus Medina into a good player who I usually enjoy watching and contributes to the team success. I think you have to be a good coach to do that.
2) Deila made sure Parks and Sands both got tons of playing time to become better developed players -- even when it meant playing Ring on the Wing, Which was weird but it kind of worked.
3) This team meets the standard I expect from NYCFC -- attractive attacking soccer (once everyone figured out what they should be doing including, perhaps, the Coach) and a quality of play that friends and family who usually watch just top 5 leagues can enjoy. 5th in the East isnt so great, but I have no doubt the team would be at or near the top of the table if there was another 11 games in the season. According to 538 NYCFC is the 2nd most likely team to win the MLS Cup. We have a realistic chance of winning that and with the new format for CONCACAF Champions League we could do well there too.

I am sure the rest of the Forum agrees with me.

I think NYCFC fans writ large were incredibly unfair to Deila and never gave him a chance. They assumed he was like the 18th choice, then we got off to that awful start, and he lost a lot of fans. The sad thing is, the team has lost three games since August 24 -- without question the team has improved, but first impressions being what they are, the fans haven't turned back in his favor.

They should. Because he did a really good job coming into a new situation, getting hired five days before training camp, the COVID shutdown, and now we really are one of the best teams in MLS. I'm not sure he's a great coach, but he's a good coach with a good style and has done a better job than this fanbase is giving him credit for.

 

[NYCFC_Dan]

I think NYCFC fans writ large were incredibly unfair to Deila and never gave him a chance. They assumed he was like the 18th choice, then we got off to that awful start, and he lost a lot of fans. The sad thing is, the team has lost three games since August 24 -- without question the team has improved, but first impressions being what they are, the fans haven't turned back in his favor.

They should. Because he did a really good job coming into a new situation, getting hired five days before training camp, the COVID shutdown, and now we really are one of the best teams in MLS. I'm not sure he's a great coach, but he's a good coach with a good style and has done a better job than this fanbase is giving him credit for.

I think the issue with most fans, myself included, was the style of play. For a while you could add personnel into the mix also but that’s no longer an issue because of how we’re playing now. Alex Wing didn’t work. We looked poor, couldn’t create chances and were sluggish. Ever since he dropped Ring back this team has played Dome and Vieira football. Why? Because we have great players when utilized as they should be. Doesn’t matter who the coach is. Look at us now.
Ronny is hard headed and it took a lot of poor offensive performances for him to slide Ring back Yes, we’ve had some injuries during that time that made it hard to field a proper 11 but most fans would agree that Ring on the wing didn’t work for us.

 

[ZYanksRule]

I think the issue with most fans, myself included, was the style of play. For a while you could add personnel into the mix also but that’s no longer an issue because of how we’re playing now. Alex Wing didn’t work. We looked poor, couldn’t create chances and were sluggish. Ever since he dropped Ring back this team has played Dome and Vieira football. Why? Because we have great players when utilized as they should be. Doesn’t matter who the coach is. Look at us now.
Ronny is hard headed and it took a lot of poor offensive performances for him to slide Ring back Yes, we’ve had some injuries during that time that made it hard to field a proper 11 but most fans would agree that Ring on the wing didn’t work for us.

There were many games Alex Wing was there because there was no one else. No Heber, no Maxi, there just weren't options. Now, there were games where they had options, but part of the problem was he wanted Parks and Sands in the lineup. And how do you get all three of them in the lineup while still keeping a No. 10? Frankly, we might have a similar problem if Sands comes back -- if we have Sands and Parks, where does Ring play? And I think we all agree that Ring should be in there.

I assume Sands won't be starting in the playoffs after all the time off, but the point remains. If Sands is still here next year, where does that leave Ring?

 

[Shwafta]

There were many games Alex Wing was there because there was no one else. No Heber, no Maxi, there just weren't options. Now, there were games where they had options, but part of the problem was he wanted Parks and Sands in the lineup. And how do you get all three of them in the lineup while still keeping a No. 10? Frankly, we might have a similar problem if Sands comes back -- if we have Sands and Parks, where does Ring play? And I think we all agree that Ring should be in there.

I assume Sands won't be starting in the playoffs after all the time off, but the point remains. If Sands is still here next year, where does that leave Ring?

Pretty sure the plan is gonna be to sell Sands in the offseason for some nice mula. Would suck because I love Sands, but for his development I think he's ready to move on!

 

[NYCFC_Dan]

There were many games Alex Wing was there because there was no one else. No Heber, no Maxi, there just weren't options. Now, there were games where they had options, but part of the problem was he wanted Parks and Sands in the lineup. And how do you get all three of them in the lineup while still keeping a No. 10? Frankly, we might have a similar problem if Sands comes back -- if we have Sands and Parks, where does Ring play? And I think we all agree that Ring should be in there.

I assume Sands won't be starting in the playoffs after all the time off, but the point remains. If Sands is still here next year, where does that leave Ring?

I‘m willing to bet if we trot out Ring at LW we don’t pass the first round. Do you want to win or not? If Sands is back for the first round he needs to be on the bench if it means keeping Ring where he belongs.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Pretty sure the plan is gonna be to sell Sands in the offseason for some nice mula. Would suck because I love Sands, but for his development I think he's ready to move on!

I agree. Clearly, re-signing Parks and bringing in Acevedo is a pretty good sign they expect Sands to be close to the end here. Good for him -- it'll suck to lose such a talented player, but it'll be good business when we send him to a top-5 league.

And NYCFC_Dan I agree with you. Ring is not a winger and he shouldn't be a winger. I'm just saying that you can't have Parks, Ring, and Sands all in the midfield together. That, combined with the lack of healthy forwards earlier in the season, is what that came out of. I didn't agree with it, but I can understand the thought process that brought us there. Also, Ring has 8 goals and 9 assists in the last 2 seasons. Let's not act like he's completely worthless offensively.

 

[moogoo]

I agree. Clearly, re-signing Parks and bringing in Acevedo is a pretty good sign they expect Sands to be close to the end here. Good for him -- it'll suck to lose such a talented player, but it'll be good business when we send him to a top-5 league.

And NYCFC_Dan I agree with you. Ring is not a winger and he shouldn't be a winger. I'm just saying that you can't have Parks, Ring, and Sands all in the midfield together. That, combined with the lack of healthy forwards earlier in the season, is what that came out of. I didn't agree with it, but I can understand the thought process that brought us there. Also, Ring has 8 goals and 9 assists in the last 2 seasons. Let's not act like he's completely worthless offensively.

we had Mitri and Taty healthy and ready to go in the early part of the season after MLSisBack. He just didn't want to play them because he wanted to keep ring, sands, parks on the field and wanted to continue pushing Medina and Gary's confidence (which has worked) but could we have had better results had he played everyone where they should have been in the first place?

 

[mgarbowski]

If Ronny actually decided to endure poor results early on in order try to to build up Medina and Mackay-Steven, he's looking like a genius. With no Heber or Mitrita, and a perpetually fragile Shradi, the possibility that those 2 might contribute in the playoffs instead of being certain dead roster weight is enormous. It was especially risky to try this in a short season with less room to wait for things to turn better. We will never know the what if: maybe we could have finished higher and have home playoff game(s) without this experiment, but would have to play those games with fewer scoring options.

 

[ZYanksRule]

we had Mitri and Taty healthy and ready to go in the early part of the season after MLSisBack. He just didn't want to play them because he wanted to keep ring, sands, parks on the field and wanted to continue pushing Medina and Gary's confidence (which has worked) but could we have had better results had he played everyone where they should have been in the first place?

I would argue that the results of pushing Medina and GMS have been good, though. Those guys are now playing better and could be key players for us in the playoffs.

I'm willing to live with some worse results if it means a better overall team in the playoffs.

 

[Shwafta]

I would argue that the results of pushing Medina and GMS have been good, though. Those guys are now playing better and could be key players for us in the playoffs.

I'm willing to live with some worse results if it means a better overall team in the playoffs.

Also we fail to realize - maybe the coach didn't play mitrita because he knew he was on his way out and felt that developing GMS and Medina made more sense?

 

[ManhattanValley]

I think we've been hamstrung a bit this season by having Ring as our captain tbh. Dropping him isn't really an option for Deila, which makes building a first XI from a squad composed mainly of holding DMs slightly....challenging. He's been a square peg in a round hole for much of the year.

 

[Shwafta]

Best-dressed MLS coaches of 2021 | J. Sam Jones

Welp. Here we are again. We’ve been here before. And yet here we are again. Every now and then an article concept thuds into the general consciousness again, forcing us all to address it. When that happens, the writers, bloggers and admins of the world stare for a moment at that concept, which has

www.mlssoccer.com

lmao

 

[mgarbowski]

So set plays goals are the residue of hard effort, luck and preparation, and we had 5 set play goals this week.
The Chanot one and Medina's second especially demonstrate a team prepared for those moments. Watch just before Chanot's goal and you'll see him signal to Medina who took the corner; then they executed together.
Medina and Maxi had a plan for the last goal, which was clearly based on watching and being coached on film of Cincinnati defending short corners.

Vieira's Goal Against average was 1.43, but to be fair exclude 2016 when he retooled everything and the roster was in flux and he had to deal with Kreis holdvers. In 2017-18 Vieira's GA average was 1.27. Torrent announced that he made defense, especially road defense, a priority, and his GA average was 1.26.
Deila's GA average through 25 games is 1.08.

Vieira's PPG was 1.675. Excluding 2016 it was 1.735.
Torrent was 1.736.
Deila's PPG through 25 games is 1.680.

First, it's amazing how close the last 1.5 years of Vieira were to our 1.5 years of Torrent. Basically identical. For all Torrent did and all the analysis and soccer acumen and pedigree, he basically replicated Vieira's results.
Second, Deila ain't so bad, especially when you consider he has coached more than 33% of his games without the team's 2 leading scorers from when he took over, and has been given 0 replacements. He also has very quietly made the team significantly better on defense.
ETA: He also basically revived Medina’s career.

 

[LionNYC]

So set plays goals are the residue of hard effort, luck and preparation, and we had 5 set play goals this week.
The Chanot one and Medina's second especially demonstrate a team prepared for those moments. Watch just before Chanot's goal and you'll see him signal to Medina who took the corner; then they executed together.
Medina and Maxi had a plan for the last goal, which was clearly based on watching and being coached on film of Cincinnati defending short corners.

Vieira's Goal Against average was 1.43, but to be fair exclude 2016 when he retooled everything and the roster was in flux and he had to deal with Kreis holdvers. In 2017-18 Vieira's GA average was 1.27. Torrent announced that he made defense, especially road defense, a priority, and his GA average was 1.26.
Deila's GA average through 27 games is 1.08.

Vieira's PPG was 1.675. Excluding 2016 it was 1.735.
Torrent was 1.736.
Deila's PPG through 25 games is 1.680.

First, it's amazing how close the last 1.5 years of Vieira were to our 1.5 years of Torrent. Basically identical. For all Torrent did and all the analysis and soccer acumen and pedigree, he basically replicated Vieira's results.
Second, Deila ain't so bad, especially when you consider he has coached more than 33% of his games without the team's 2 leading scorers from when he took over, and has been given 0 replacements. He also has very quietly made the team significantly better on defense.
ETA: He also basically revived Medina’s career.

You also have to consider that Deila hasn't played against some of the better teams in MLS (even just once a season) like LAFC, Seattle, etc.

 

[mgarbowski]

Also per SoupInNYC this week’s last goal was set up last week:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1386417092539207680

 

[mgarbowski]

You also have to consider that Deila hasn't played against some of the better teams in MLS (even just once a season) like LAFC, Seattle, etc.

Lol
Last year we played 9 of 23 games, 39%, against 4 of the best 5 records in MLS. We’ve never had a schedule with that much of a concentration of quality opponents.

 

[mgarbowski]

Finally, after about 16 months, Ronny has now coached a full standard "season" of 34 games. Here's how he compares:

FIrst 34 Games
Kreis 10-17-7 37 PTS 1.088 PPG
Veira 15-10-9 54 Pts 1.588 PPG
Torrent 14-8-12 54 Pts 1.588 PPG
Deila 17-12-5 56 Pts 1.647 PPG

Kreis had a dumpster fire squad, got jerked around with his DP selection and timing, but also did not do well even accounting for that.
Veira had to completely revamp much of the roster, and teach the team to play in a completely new way that led to a lot of gifted goals to the opposition during the transition, but set up a base template for the team style that persists to this day (albeit with substantial edits) and overall greatly improved team performance.
Torrent took over a team that was humming beautifully, performed his own tweaks that eventually paid off but also caused a streak of 18 points in 19 games during that transition. He also had to coach 6 entire games without a top line scorer to replace David Villa, about which he reminded us constantly.
Deila also took over a team that was humming beautifully, then coached 2 away games before a pandemic hit (suffering a red card minutes into the first game), had an unplanned break that lasted a few months, then coached several games in a weird Florida bubble tournament that also partially counted as regular season (and IMO his top scorer returned out of shape and never recovered before getting hurt), finished a truncated season with zero games in his team's true home under a very compressed schedule, lost his team's (not one but) two best scorers and went 14 games without any replacement for either (actually 16 for one and 14 for the second, and about which he complained much, much, less than Torrent), lost his team captain and left back (a CR national team regular) roughly 2/3 through the first 34 games, has still played only two games total at Yankee Stadium, and is coping with Sean Johnson's worst year in an NYCFC uniform.
Best first 34 game record of any NYCFC coach.

 

[moogoo]

Finally, after about 16 months, Ronny has now coached a full standard "season" of 34 games. Here's how he compares:

FIrst 34 Games
Kreis 10-17-7 37 PTS 1.088 PPG
Veira 15-10-9 54 Pts 1.588 PPG
Torrent 14-8-12 54 Pts 1.588 PPG
Deila 17-12-5 56 Pts 1.647 PPG

Kreis had a dumpster fire squad, got jerked around with his DP selection and timing, but also did not do well even accounting for that.
Veira had to completely revamp much of the roster, and teach the team to play in a completely new way that led to a lot of gifted goals to the opposition during the transition, but set up a base template for the team style that persists to this day (albeit with substantial edits) and overall greatly improved team performance.
Torrent took over a team that was humming beautifully, performed his own tweaks that eventually paid off but also caused a streak of 18 points in 19 games during that transition. He also had to coach 6 entire games without a top line scorer to replace David Villa, about which he reminded us constantly.
Deila also took over a team that was humming beautifully, then coached 2 away games before a pandemic hit (suffering a red card minutes into the first game), had an unplanned break that lasted a few months, then coached several games in a weird Florida bubble tournament that also partially counted as regular season (and IMO his top scorer returned out of shape and never recovered before getting hurt), finished a truncated season with zero games in his team's true home under a very compressed schedule, lost his team's (not one but) two best scorers and went 14 games without any replacement for either (actually 16 for one and 14 for the second, and about which he complained much, much, less than Torrent), lost his team captain and left back (a CR national team regular) roughly 2/3 through the first 34 games, has still played only two games total at Yankee Stadium, and is coping with Sean Johnson's worst year in an NYCFC uniform.
Best first 34 game record of any NYCFC coach.

I'm still on the #RonnyOut train. lol. I think because despite doing better statistically than previous managers, I personally think he could be doing even better. Sometimes the eye test is more meaningful than the data? *shrug*

 

[Gotham Gator]

Finally, after about 16 months, Ronny has now coached a full standard "season" of 34 games. Here's how he compares:

FIrst 34 Games
Kreis 10-17-7 37 PTS 1.088 PPG
Veira 15-10-9 54 Pts 1.588 PPG
Torrent 14-8-12 54 Pts 1.588 PPG
Deila 17-12-5 56 Pts 1.647 PPG

Kreis had a dumpster fire squad, got jerked around with his DP selection and timing, but also did not do well even accounting for that.
Veira had to completely revamp much of the roster, and teach the team to play in a completely new way that led to a lot of gifted goals to the opposition during the transition, but set up a base template for the team style that persists to this day (albeit with substantial edits) and overall greatly improved team performance.
Torrent took over a team that was humming beautifully, performed his own tweaks that eventually paid off but also caused a streak of 18 points in 19 games during that transition. He also had to coach 6 entire games without a top line scorer to replace David Villa, about which he reminded us constantly.
Deila also took over a team that was humming beautifully, then coached 2 away games before a pandemic hit (suffering a red card minutes into the first game), had an unplanned break that lasted a few months, then coached several games in a weird Florida bubble tournament that also partially counted as regular season (and IMO his top scorer returned out of shape and never recovered before getting hurt), finished a truncated season with zero games in his team's true home under a very compressed schedule, lost his team's (not one but) two best scorers and went 14 games without any replacement for either (actually 16 for one and 14 for the second, and about which he complained much, much, less than Torrent), lost his team captain and left back (a CR national team regular) roughly 2/3 through the first 34 games, has still played only two games total at Yankee Stadium, and is coping with Sean Johnson's worst year in an NYCFC uniform.
Best first 34 game record of any NYCFC coach.

This is a great and helpful analysis. The one factor that leaves fans a bit numb with Ronny is this - after some understandably poor performances as teams adjusted, both Torrent and Vieira had the team rolling and near the top of table. Ronny D does not have that, although I am willing to be patient.

Put another way, it will perhaps more illuminating to evaluate games 18-51 once we can - eliminate the first half season of adjustment and get something that's more of a run rate.