2016 Strategy - What worked, What didn't?

Tom in Fairfield CT

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I have to give credit to Vieira, he was not afraid to make changes. Made for a very exciting season to watch, and full credit to the entire team and coaching staff for this year, it was a huge success in our second season. 2 seed was great and we've positioned ourselves as the favorites for the last CCL spot. I personally loved watching Montreal's run last year, I really hope we can do something similar.

That said, forums and fans are made for second guessing, so I would love to hear what everyone thought were the best and worst decisions of the season.

BEST:
Unlocking Pirlo: Kreis couldn't do it, and none of the pundits could figure it out, but Vieira's decision to move RB Andoni Iraola over to CDM to take the pressure off Pirlo, and give him room to make magic, was, to me, the single biggest reason for our success this year.

Switching Keepers: Seeing Eirik Johansen play 3 games in the net, confident in possession, distributing accurately and confidently and with both feet was a breath of fresh air for the supporters. Everyone loved Josh for the hard work he put in and his dedication to the team, but with the focus on playing out of the back, a GK with more natural ball handling skills was necessary. Another bold PV move to make the switch for the last game of the season.

WORST:
Moving Iraola into Defense: Whether the team sheet showed a 3 man defense or not, the last few games of the season saw Iraola dropped between the CBs to start the attack, and away from Pirlo. Not surprisingly, this left Pirlo with less time on the ball, and less time to find Villa and the forwards with his patented long balls.

Waiting too long to switch Keepers: It was obvious early on that Saunders was never going to be the keeper to play out of the back with. Vieira was right to insist on this tactic, but many of the machinations he made to help the team do it (moving Iraola, tinkering with the fullbacks) caused their own problems, when more time with a better distributing keeper might have made those changes unnecessary.

Never figuring out the 3rd MF: After Iraola and Pirlo, the 3rd midfielder never seemed to work properly in the system. Diskerud was banished to his apartment, 38 yo Lampard scored when he played, but never seemed to provide the link to the forwards or the defense that his position requires. That, and injury, left experiments with Lopez, Harrison, Mendoza and McNamara at the CM position, with no one assuredly grabbing the position.




I'm sure I missed some, I'd love to hear your opinions on this.
 
I'm sure I missed some, I'd love to hear your opinions on this.

Great post. Fair and balanced. I'll add one to both category:

Best
Ruthless personnel decision-making generally. I never got the sense that he played guys because he felt compelled to play them because of who they were. There were times where he stayed with guys for too long perhaps (GK and see below re RB), but ultimately it always felt to me like he was playing what he thought was the best lineup. Examples would be the GK switch (too late perhaps, but ultimately a brutal decision to make), the fazing out of Hernandez (by all account a popular guy and a veteran), a declining role for TMac (a guy he purportedly loves generally) down the stretch when he wanted speed, etc. Sometimes it went too far perhaps with the weird Mix situation being the best example (not necessarily a starter for me, but certainly should have been in the 18 based on talent), but ultimately I give him a lot of credit for making hard decisions even if I didn't always agree with them or they came a bit later than I would have liked.

Worst
Screwing up the fullback situation whenever Matarrita was out by playing Allen at LB and Hernandez/White and even Mena at RB. This was sometimes okay at home (e.g., the second derby), but on the road (see San Jose, Sporting KC and the away derby to name a few) it created a situation where the RB was exposed badly in wide areas. Allen also really struggled at LB when, based on very small sample sizes, it seems like Martinez might have offered a better option. It also seemed like, when Allen finally got back to RB towards the end of the season, he wasn't very good after having a great start to the season once he came back from injury. We can't really establish a causal link between all the time he spent playing LB and his late season fade, but I do wonder about it.
 
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BEST:
Being Road Warriors- at least early on in the season when we were still figuring out how to use Yankee Stadium to our advantage. Helped us to become one of the top teams in the east and stand out vs. the rest of MLS teams, which all tend to have terrible road records (re: MLS Cup Holders; Portland Timbers).
Youth- The emergence of Jack Harrison in our offense, as well as TMac being key cogs in our system during the regular season. Johansen came up big in most situations our defense left him in, and gave some hope to a keeper who could possibly help us in the future in PV's play out the back system.
Home Fortress- Yankee Stadium became a shut down fortress for us at the end of the season. We went 7-0-1 in our last 8 games (not counting playoffs). 2015 season and the beginning of 2016 we looked like lost souls trying to get something out of playing at the Stadium, and I remember going home happy early this year if we got at least a point from our games at YS.

WORST:
End of Season Formation Change- Dropping Iraola back was probably our undoing, as we looked lost and gave Pirlo no time to do anything. It didn't even help out our defense, and probably made it worse by spreading Chanot and Brillant even further apart. Andoni was fine being a CDM next to Pirlo, not being forced to track back in a sweeper role.
Our Defense- Our defense did improve a little bit, but was still way too porous for my liking. We put some money into it as well, and didn't get as much to show for it. I think part of that reason was the constant switching of CB's, not knowing who was going to play. Brillant and Mata were the only constants, and cohesion can't happen without constant playing time together. I hope Brillant and Chanot get some more time together to gel, as i think they can both can be a strong CB pairing. Hernandez and Mena didn't step up, and I'm more disappointed in Mena for not taking a chance. He looked like he had potential last year, but seemed to regress this year. Mata was a plus for the team, but showed his defense isn't the best, or that he tends to either get unfocused or lost in the sauce on some plays. Is he even a LB?? Or is Mata just a winger turned occasional defensive work turned he's further up the pitch than Villa turned saving a goal off the line and nearly breaking his leg turned what the shit is going on. We also need a RB. Allen has been amazing and definitely a great addition to the team, but he shouldn't be the best RB we have on the team. He's the perfect backup or late game sub player.
Midfield- We need another 2 CMs to add, and I agree with T Tom in Fairfield CT with not having anyone after Pirlo and Nips. This is where a middle aged, Germanic midfielder would be key. Maybe one with some actual World Cup experience, whose national team didn't falter every tournament. Just throwing that out there. Back to the point, we need some DM help, as I don't think Bravo is the answer to our formation. Two younger guys would be clutch to take over, similar to Mix's physical abilities but a little more sound technically and not going to be thrown into the NYCFC Dungeons for an entire season.
 
BEST:
Being Road Warriors- at least early on in the season when we were still figuring out how to use Yankee Stadium to our advantage. Helped us to become one of the top teams in the east and stand out vs. the rest of MLS teams, which all tend to have terrible road records (re: MLS Cup Holders; Portland Timbers).

Home Fortress- Yankee Stadium became a shut down fortress for us at the end of the season. We went 7-0-1 in our last 8 games (not counting playoffs). 2015 season and the beginning of 2016 we looked like lost souls trying to get something out of playing at the Stadium, and I remember going home happy early this year if we got at least a point from our games at YS.
The home/away weirdness is probably the biggest thing I'm trying to think through as I evaluate this past season and think about next season. Everyone knows the stats, but here they are:
First 9 Home games: 0.9 ppg
Last 8 Home games: 2.8 ppg
First 10 Road games: 1.9 ppg
Last 7 Road games: 0.7 ppg

I'm cherry picking my dates slightly to make a point, but essentially our home and road form reversed entirely mid-season. Was this random variation? Linked somehow to lineup or tactical changes? Something else? No obvious answer for me, which, combined with the huge home field advantage in MLS generally, probably leads me to conclude that the first half of the season was just an anomaly. Its an interesting one, though.
 
I think that the posts above perfectly summarize many of the thoughts that I have.

One missed opportunity I was thinking about during the season, and even more so in hindsight is missing an opportunity to really groom JH into a midfielder. He was terrific for us, and at times, a game changer, but I see his skill set as better fit for the midfield, rather than a right wing. I understand why it would have been difficult to plug him in the middle more often, as this was hampered by his own late start, inexperience, Frank, lack of depth on the wings, etc.

But I would have liked to have seen him both train and play in the position where his future most likely best lies. I think that he developed some bad (but fixable) habits playing wing in our system, where at times he was forced to take on multiple defenders. And we obviously didn't have great air targets in the middle for an effective cross, so he could only be effective in odd-man transitions, or simply by using his speed over the top. So instead, at times, particularly later in the season, he played very one dimensionally - receive the ball, put his head down and accelerate directly forward, attempt to beat any defenders in his path, often unsuccessfully.

I love JH - he performed well beyond my expectations and was a difference maker. I just wish that circumstances (and some decision) would have allowed him to get the benefit of more development in a different role.
 
I think that the posts above perfectly summarize many of the thoughts that I have.

One missed opportunity I was thinking about during the season, and even more so in hindsight is missing an opportunity to really groom JH into a midfielder. He was terrific for us, and at times, a game changer, but I see his skill set as better fit for the midfield, rather than a right wing. I understand why it would have been difficult to plug him in the middle more often, as this was hampered by his own late start, inexperience, Frank, lack of depth on the wings, etc.

But I would have liked to have seen him both train and play in the position where his future most likely best lies. I think that he developed some bad (but fixable) habits playing wing in our system, where at times he was forced to take on multiple defenders. And we obviously didn't have great air targets in the middle for an effective cross, so he could only be effective in odd-man transitions, or simply by using his speed over the top. So instead, at times, particularly later in the season, he played very one dimensionally - receive the ball, put his head down and accelerate directly forward, attempt to beat any defenders in his path, often unsuccessfully.

I love JH - he performed well beyond my expectations and was a difference maker. I just wish that circumstances (and some decision) would have allowed him to get the benefit of more development in a different role.
It's interesting that you bring this up because I was thinking about it the other day but in slightly other terms.... JH was played at RW because of the logjam in the middle. I buy that and understand why. He'll move to the middle after Frank leaves. What's interesting about this is it's exactly what happened to Mix last year - with Frank/Pirlo in the middle there was no place for Mix but the wing, so he was shelved there. Taking JH this year knowing he wasn't going to play in CM was a no-brainer because he was the best player available hands down, but it is interesting To think about what the team could have looked like if Pirlo wasn't the third DP and instead we got a forward/winger/CB - Mix & Frank last year/this year in the middle with Mix/JH next year in the middle. Less drama, more fitness, youthful/technical pairing..... and this isn't to say I don't like Pirlo - love having him since he was used correctly this year - but it's still a big what if.....

But if getting somebody else as a DP would have guaranteed Kries not getting fired because of better results, then forget everything I wrote above because cutting that cord allowed us to progress faster without a crappy demeanor at the helm.
 
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I think that the posts above perfectly summarize many of the thoughts that I have.

One missed opportunity I was thinking about during the season, and even more so in hindsight is missing an opportunity to really groom JH into a midfielder. He was terrific for us, and at times, a game changer, but I see his skill set as better fit for the midfield, rather than a right wing. I understand why it would have been difficult to plug him in the middle more often, as this was hampered by his own late start, inexperience, Frank, lack of depth on the wings, etc.

But I would have liked to have seen him both train and play in the position where his future most likely best lies. I think that he developed some bad (but fixable) habits playing wing in our system, where at times he was forced to take on multiple defenders. And we obviously didn't have great air targets in the middle for an effective cross, so he could only be effective in odd-man transitions, or simply by using his speed over the top. So instead, at times, particularly later in the season, he played very one dimensionally - receive the ball, put his head down and accelerate directly forward, attempt to beat any defenders in his path, often unsuccessfully.

I love JH - he performed well beyond my expectations and was a difference maker. I just wish that circumstances (and some decision) would have allowed him to get the benefit of more development in a different role.

When I first started reading this, I thought you meant Jason Hernandez, and then when you said "game-changer" I got very confused.
 
More of a question than an affirmative statement, but could/should we have gotten more value out of Matarrita? He may be the most talented player on our team (other than Villa, maybe/maybe not the other two DPs at this stage). The guy should be a superstar in the MLS with his talent and speed. But he was a defensive liability for us at times with his positioning, ball-watching, and, frankly, at times disinterest in defending. And notwithstanding his abilities, although super solid and with some glimpses of greatness, he wasn't a difference maker as often he should/could have been.

Some of this, of course, was the result of our lack of depth on defense. If we move Matarrita up, we replace him with the RJ experiment or another cone. In that case, our inability to effectively bolster the depth in the back was "wrong" for another reason - Matarrita could have been available to play in a more optimal position. But if there was the ability to replace him at LB, what is his most optimal position given our shape? With his talent, should we have adjusted the formation and/or tactics to better utilize him? Should we have figured out a way to make him more of a focal point?

Sorry for my thought flow. I just think that we have a young, world class talent (certainly by MLS standards), and the return this season was only fair.
 
More of a question than an affirmative statement, but could/should we have gotten more value out of Matarrita? He may be the most talented player on our team (other than Villa, maybe/maybe not the other two DPs at this stage). The guy should be a superstar in the MLS with his talent and speed. But he was a defensive liability for us at times with his positioning, ball-watching, and, frankly, at times disinterest in defending. And notwithstanding his abilities, although super solid and with some glimpses of greatness, he wasn't a difference maker as often he should/could have been.

Some of this, of course, was the result of our lack of depth on defense. If we move Matarrita up, we replace him with the RJ experiment or another cone. In that case, our inability to effectively bolster the depth in the back was "wrong" for another reason - Matarrita could have been available to play in a more optimal position. But if there was the ability to replace him at LB, what is his most optimal position given our shape? With his talent, should we have adjusted the formation and/or tactics to better utilize him? Should we have figured out a way to make him more of a focal point?

Sorry for my thought flow. I just think that we have a young, world class talent (certainly by MLS standards), and the return this season was only fair.
I would have liked to have seen in at least one game, Mata at LW and Martinez at LB (with the other typical starters: Villa, Harrison, Pirlo, Lampard, Iraola, Chanot, Brillant, RJ, Lurch). That would be a lot of speed with the flexibility of subbing either the LB or RB out for another speedy attacker (Mendoza, Khiry, TT) - or both while dropping Iraola to CB/Sweeper and the two new subs bolstering the Mid/For positions.
 
More of a question than an affirmative statement, but could/should we have gotten more value out of Matarrita? He may be the most talented player on our team (other than Villa, maybe/maybe not the other two DPs at this stage). The guy should be a superstar in the MLS with his talent and speed. But he was a defensive liability for us at times with his positioning, ball-watching, and, frankly, at times disinterest in defending. And notwithstanding his abilities, although super solid and with some glimpses of greatness, he wasn't a difference maker as often he should/could have been.

Some of this, of course, was the result of our lack of depth on defense. If we move Matarrita up, we replace him with the RJ experiment or another cone. In that case, our inability to effectively bolster the depth in the back was "wrong" for another reason - Matarrita could have been available to play in a more optimal position. But if there was the ability to replace him at LB, what is his most optimal position given our shape? With his talent, should we have adjusted the formation and/or tactics to better utilize him? Should we have figured out a way to make him more of a focal point?

Sorry for my thought flow. I just think that we have a young, world class talent (certainly by MLS standards), and the return this season was only fair.

I think the frustration, at least for me, was that Mata seemed to be inconsistent. I remember early in the season, his defense was on point. If I am remembering correctly, people were thinking he had all the offensive upside of Angeliño with much better defense. There was many a times, he showed that he could be a good defender, and that had the speed to track down forwards. I remember during the Portland game, him running down Melano from behind. There were games where he lead the team in tackles.

But he also had games where he wouldn't/couldn't track back. Watching that second goal for Toronto last week was horrible. There was also a goal in Orlando where he left Mena out to dry and Kaka scored.

That being said, I think he was still one of the best left backs in the league. I think he shows up on a lot of people's season's best XI.

If we had a target guy in the box, I think Mata's crosses look even better.
 
He did some things well which have already been said.

Leaving Mix on the naughty step permanently is a failure of PV and the front office. Even if he's never going to make it in your system, he certainly could've helped save some of the old legs that gave out on Sunday. And not just doing this but never airing out why it was happening.

Failing to adjust in game is a failure of PV. What was he waiting to change Sunday night? We needed 6 goals at the half, was the team on the field going to magically unshit itself? At least go down in flames having tried something with enough time left for a miracle.

Waiting til the last game for Eirik is absurd.

I also question whether we need a home/road strategy. Inviting the press may never work in YS even if we have the personnel to beat a press. But doing it when we don't have the speed/dribbling to get out was futile. Similarly futile is playing long balls over the top to Villa, dwarfed by every center back in the league.

The result of the regular season was fine, and hopefully PV will be open to learning and improving for next.
 
Also what didn't work - Pirlo free kicks. It's hard to remove one of the best takers of all time, but for whatever reason direct kicks haven't clicked for him since his arrival. Villa was obviously too respectful to push for a takeover, but the coaching staff should have facilitated it. Villa would have been more effective, and it could have changed some games.
 
Also what didn't work - Pirlo free kicks. It's hard to remove one of the best takers of all time, but for whatever reason direct kicks haven't clicked for him since his arrival. Villa was obviously too respectful to push for a takeover, but the coaching staff should have facilitated it. Villa would have been more effective, and it could have changed some games.
Huge one. Villa was on a roll at the end of 2015.
 
Also what didn't work - Pirlo free kicks. It's hard to remove one of the best takers of all time, but for whatever reason direct kicks haven't clicked for him since his arrival. Villa was obviously too respectful to push for a takeover, but the coaching staff should have facilitated it. Villa would have been more effective, and it could have changed some games.

I think a lot of this is that we have had far fewer good free kick opportunities this year than last, so Pirlo hasn't had as many chances. That's my impression, at least.
 
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I have to give credit to Vieira, he was not afraid to make changes. Made for a very exciting season to watch, and full credit to the entire team and coaching staff for this year, it was a huge success in our second season. 2 seed was great and we've positioned ourselves as the favorites for the last CCL spot. I personally loved watching Montreal's run last year, I really hope we can do something similar.

That said, forums and fans are made for second guessing, so I would love to hear what everyone thought were the best and worst decisions of the season.

BEST:
Unlocking Pirlo: Kreis couldn't do it, and none of the pundits could figure it out, but Vieira's decision to move RB Andoni Iraola over to CDM to take the pressure off Pirlo, and give him room to make magic, was, to me, the single biggest reason for our success this year.

Switching Keepers: Seeing Eirik Johansen play 3 games in the net, confident in possession, distributing accurately and confidently and with both feet was a breath of fresh air for the supporters. Everyone loved Josh for the hard work he put in and his dedication to the team, but with the focus on playing out of the back, a GK with more natural ball handling skills was necessary. Another bold PV move to make the switch for the last game of the season.

WORST:
Moving Iraola into Defense: Whether the team sheet showed a 3 man defense or not, the last few games of the season saw Iraola dropped between the CBs to start the attack, and away from Pirlo. Not surprisingly, this left Pirlo with less time on the ball, and less time to find Villa and the forwards with his patented long balls.

Waiting too long to switch Keepers: It was obvious early on that Saunders was never going to be the keeper to play out of the back with. Vieira was right to insist on this tactic, but many of the machinations he made to help the team do it (moving Iraola, tinkering with the fullbacks) caused their own problems, when more time with a better distributing keeper might have made those changes unnecessary.

Never figuring out the 3rd MF: After Iraola and Pirlo, the 3rd midfielder never seemed to work properly in the system. Diskerud was banished to his apartment, 38 yo Lampard scored when he played, but never seemed to provide the link to the forwards or the defense that his position requires. That, and injury, left experiments with Lopez, Harrison, Mendoza and McNamara at the CM position, with no one assuredly grabbing the position.




I'm sure I missed some, I'd love to hear your opinions on this.
Nice statement T Tom in Fairfield CT
 
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More of a question than an affirmative statement, but could/should we have gotten more value out of Matarrita? He may be the most talented player on our team (other than Villa, maybe/maybe not the other two DPs at this stage). The guy should be a superstar in the MLS with his talent and speed. But he was a defensive liability for us at times with his positioning, ball-watching, and, frankly, at times disinterest in defending. And notwithstanding his abilities, although super solid and with some glimpses of greatness, he wasn't a difference maker as often he should/could have been.

Some of this, of course, was the result of our lack of depth on defense. If we move Matarrita up, we replace him with the RJ experiment or another cone. In that case, our inability to effectively bolster the depth in the back was "wrong" for another reason - Matarrita could have been available to play in a more optimal position. But if there was the ability to replace him at LB, what is his most optimal position given our shape? With his talent, should we have adjusted the formation and/or tactics to better utilize him? Should we have figured out a way to make him more of a focal point?

Sorry for my thought flow. I just think that we have a young, world class talent (certainly by MLS standards), and the return this season was only fair.

I'm not sure LW is Mata's optimal position. Has he ever beaten a defender 1:1 off the dribble? If you put him up at LW you take away all that space along the length of the field he uses to create separation and exploit his speed. I could see him as a LM in a 4-4-2 but LW in our 4-3-3 seems too far up the field for him. Maybe the move is to leave him at LB while getting a more serviceable defensive minded right back and a true box to box mid to free him up to bomb up the sideline at will.
 
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