2018 International Duty

[Christopher Jee]

I hear you on this, but gave some of my reasons above in terms of changing the personnel.

And at some point we do need to figure out an alternate formation to be able to go to when we need to. Yes, we would be missing Ring/Herrera/Wallace, but there are still 8/11 starters there that could help figure it out. As well as other pieces that could be considered a "starter" in a different formation (think Berget up top with Villa in a 2 striker system).

Yeah. At this point I think we are all aware of the rationale behind all of the suggestions on the table but just have different assessments of the risk / reward of each approach. Only data or blood sugar level will probably shift our positions

Maybe if we have the game tucked away fairly early (ha!) against Orlando we can try the 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1 against them and start working through the kinks. That would make me more willing to see us try it against NE for sure.

 

[ZYanksRule]

I feel like every time we play a 3-4-3 (think it was PV's first season, mainly), we play like crap. No thanks on the 3-4-3. This team is a 4-3-3 team, it's how they're most comfortable, and it's what our personnel is most suited for. That's what we should play.

 

[Christopher Jee]

I feel like every time we play a 3-4-3 (think it was PV's first season, mainly), we play like crap. No thanks on the 3-4-3. This team is a 4-3-3 team, it's how they're most comfortable, and it's what our personnel is most suited for. That's what we should play.

When we tried it with Jack and maybe Mata, we really struggled to get out of our own half and stay out. Maybe Jack just didn't have the engine or the timing to get up the line and bring the line of numerical superiority further up the pitch. Or maybe we couldn't keep the ball in midfield or between Villa and midfield long enough for our wingbacks to get up the line.

I think it would be interesting with Tinnerholm there and our stable of CBs. Herrera and Ring together might do a better job of bossing the midfield, and Maxi might better support Villa. But I wouldn't wanna try it for the first time with a partial second string against NE on turf.

 

[Seven]

How about everyone on international duty try and stay healthy this time?

 

[SoupInNYC]

I feel like every time we play a 3-4-3 (think it was PV's first season, mainly), we play like crap. No thanks on the 3-4-3. This team is a 4-3-3 team, it's how they're most comfortable, and it's what our personnel is most suited for. That's what we should play.

Well we haven't played it much, and I think the last time we did was in 2016 with Pirlo and Bravo in the back 2 of the midfield with Mix and TMac at the top and our wingers were Tony Taylor and Khiry Shelton.

Oh, and our back three was Brillant, Mata, and Jason Hernandez.

I'm not saying we should definitely do it here. I am saying at some point this season we need to run out a different formation and tactic so we can have that available come playoff time. I'm not sure its a 3-4-3 we should run out (having Berget gives us a lot of flexibility). All I am saying, is I wouldn't put too much in how we played in a 3-4-3, in the first couple of games of PV at manager, with that particular lineup.

 

[Jock]

our wingers were Tony Taylor and Khiry Shelton.

Oh, and our back three was Brillant, Mata, and Jason Hernandez.

 

[SoupInNYC]

We don't yet have a game thread for the San Jose match, so I guess I'll put this here:

San Jose will be without (most likely, they all have games on 3/27 in Switzerland and Georgia) Harold Cummings, Anibal Godoy, and Vako when we play them on 3/31.

I posted in the NER game thread that they will be without Nemeth.

 

[Gotham Gator]

List of MLS call ups through Sunday. Still just shows Wallace, Matarrita and Ring for us (and Matarrita has since been replaced).

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/03/18/2018-international-call-ups

I've been trying to poke around about Herrera and whether he would be called up, but I can't even see if Venezuela has a game coming up.

 

[Gotham Gator]

With the World Cup inching closer, it's time to start thinking about which players will be missing from our team and from the teams we play.

This matters both for the World Cup itself as well as for the warm up matches before. Teams have friendlies scheduled as early as May 29, with most of the World Cup sides playing at least one match by June 3.

We could start losing our players from World Cup countries as early as late May - probably after our game against Houston on May 25.

Our other players could get called up for friendlies against World Cup teams in late May or early June, although we would be under no obligation to release them as these are not FIFA match dates.

 

[Sabo]

With the World Cup inching closer, it's time to start thinking about which players will be missing from our team and from the teams we play.

This matters both for the World Cup itself as well as for the warm up matches before. Teams have friendlies scheduled as early as May 29, with most of the World Cup sides playing at least one match by June 3.

We could start losing our players from World Cup countries as early as late May - probably after our game against Houston on May 25.

Our other players could get called up for friendlies against World Cup teams in late May or early June, although we would be under no obligation to release them as these are not FIFA match dates.

Even if we don't have an obligation, I am sure the Club will want to release them to maximize the likelihood the WC players play and start and shine and add sell-on value.

 

[dannd23]

Even if we don't have an obligation, I am sure the Club will want to release them to maximize the likelihood the WC players play and start and shine and add sell-on value.

So potential to lose Wallace, Matarrita, Callens, and Tinnerholm? Woof our defense without them.

 

[Gotham Gator]

Here is a brief schedule summary covering our games and World Cup events.

May 25 - NYCFC at Houston
May 29 - Friendlies for WC teams begin
June 2 - NYCFC vs. Orlando
June 3 - First Costa Rica friendly (vs. N. Ireland)
June 9 - NYCFC vs. Atlanta
June 14 - World Cup 2018 Begins
June 24 - NYCFC vs. Toronto
June 28 - End of World Cup Group Stage
June 30 - NYCFC at Chicago
July 3 - End of World Cup Octofinal (Round of 16)
July 7 - End of World Cup Quarterfinal
July 8 - NYCFC vs. Red Bulls
July 11 - NYCFC vs. Montreal
July 11 - End of World Cup Semifinals
July 14 - NYCFC vs. Columbus
July 15 - World Cup Finals
July 26 - NYCFC at Orlando

 

[Gotham Gator]

Here are our players from World Cup countries in a roughly descending order of likelihood that they are called up.

Rodney Wallace - Costa Rica
Ronald Matarrita - Costa Rica
Anton Tinnerholm - Sweden
Alexander Callens - Peru
David Villa - Spain
Maxi Moralez - Argentina

 

[Gotham Gator]

Even if we don't have an obligation, I am sure the Club will want to release them to maximize the likelihood the WC players play and start and shine and add sell-on value.

I don't think there is any doubt that we release players to a World Cup roster as soon as their federations begin training.

The question is whether we release players to non-World Cup squads for friendlies in late May, early June.

For example, Ghana has a friendly against Japan on May 30. Would we release Ofori to play in that one? How about Berget for Norway against Iceland on June 2? or Ring for Finland against Romania on June 5? or Medina for Paraguay against Japan on June 12?

There is a jumbled mess of games for non-WC teams during the 2 weeks or so leading into the World Cup itself.

 

[Gotham Gator]

So potential to lose Wallace, Matarrita, Callens, and Tinnerholm? Woof our defense without them.

Yeah, that is pretty concentrated on the defensive side.

I think in the end we lose 1-4 guys. I could see only Wallace going, or all of those four, or something in between. Villa is a big longshot (although I kind of hope he gets called up), and Maxi is not going.

 

[Gotham Gator]

Eyeballing our schedule against this Wikipedia list of MLS players who play for their national teams, I don't think we are going to face any teams with players missing for the World Cup. About the most we could expect would be for Orlando or Atlanta to be missing players for friendlies when we play them in the lead up to the World Cup.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...yers_with_national_team_caps#New_York_City_FC

 

[Sabo]

I don't think there is any doubt that we release players to a World Cup roster as soon as their federations begin training.

The question is whether we release players to non-World Cup squads for friendlies in late May, early June.

For example, Ghana has a friendly against Japan on May 30. Would we release Ofori to play in that one? How about Berget for Norway against Iceland on June 2? or Ring for Finland against Romania on June 5? or Medina for Paraguay against Japan on June 12?

There is a jumbled mess of games for non-WC teams during the 2 weeks or so leading into the World Cup itself.

I think you do with an eye toward the long-term -- you want to be known as a Club where national team players can come and thrive and be successful as they try to move to a bigger stage. Also thinking about the long term in terms of the Fall when we may really need points during international breaks.

There is a downside to having a huge roster of national team players in the MLS.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

So potential to lose Wallace, Matarrita, Callens, and Tinnerholm? Woof our defense without them.

Callens has not gotten a single callup, which is a signal that they aren't even considering him for a WC spot. Tinnerholm is also very borderline. We can handle losing Mata and Wallace with our depth.

 

[dannd23]

Callens has not gotten a single callup, which is a signal that they aren't even considering him for a WC spot. Tinnerholm is also very borderline. We can handle losing Mata and Wallace with our depth.

Callens has 10 callups, is that in the last year he hasn't gotten any? Very interesting since at first glance Peru doesn't have many capable center defenders. I feel much better if we only lose our Costa Ricans.

 

[LionNYC]

Callens has 10 callups, is that in the last year he hasn't gotten any? Very interesting since at first glance Peru doesn't have many capable center defenders. I feel much better if we only lose our Costa Ricans.

https://www.transfermarkt.com/alexa...eler/147462/hauptwettbewerb/FS/verein_id/3584

Last call up was November 2014.