To the Santi and Bakrar point, is it just me or did Santi start to ignore Bakrar because just like us he assumes the attack will die. Iirc there were a couple times where he didn't play Bakrar which was the obvious play and he chose another option.
2024 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread
- Thread starter JayH
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Yeah, I noticed that too, by the end of the game, the entire team had lost faith in Bakrar and stopped giving him the ball.
I'm probably the only person left but I still have hope for Bakrar. The more he struggles to finish the harder he plays. A lot of players in his situation would be walking around sulking (see Tallar Magno last year). Bakrar's movement is good, he has the top-end speed to get in behind, he works hard in the press and his high work rate opens things up for the rest of the team. If he can break out of this shooting slump I feel like he can turn it around.
Yes. He will come good eventually. I’m not sure how good, maybe just ok, but his work rate and history bode well.
Fair enough. I just get tired of the negativity.
“Pessimism never won any battle.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower
Of course, we're not so bad. It's a lot worse on Reddit. And if you want serious negativity, just check out the Mets subreddit. Holy smokes.
He's behaving like a guy with self-belief and an absolute pro (even while finishing like an amateur), and he has many good qualities, so hopefully he'll turn it around at least a bit.
I’ve been in your position often enough. I rarely make it through an entire game chat because of negativity. People’s emotions go through some wild swings there. And even last year I found the overall mood too negative for me.Fair enough. I just get tired of the negativity.
“Pessimism never won any battle.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower
Of course, we're not so bad. It's a lot worse on Reddit. And if you want serious negativity, just check out the Mets subreddit. Holy smokes.
I tend to avoid NYCFC Reddit and X/Twitter for the same reasons except for a few select accounts.
I am still bullish on the season. I think we can turn things around. If we look at game 1 vs atlanta game, we look much better. Some of that is personnel changes (martinez for example). Some of that is just growing into the season.
We need some guys to improve their form and some more discipline on the team. It just seems too disjointed for me on defense and in attack. Too often guys aren't where they need to be and taking up the same spaces on the field.
here's hoping ojeda can find his starting boots because I think he's a player we can look to rely on for 1v1 attacking. Similarly, i'm looking forward to magno coming back with some hunger to prove a point.
We need some guys to improve their form and some more discipline on the team. It just seems too disjointed for me on defense and in attack. Too often guys aren't where they need to be and taking up the same spaces on the field.
here's hoping ojeda can find his starting boots because I think he's a player we can look to rely on for 1v1 attacking. Similarly, i'm looking forward to magno coming back with some hunger to prove a point.
I am guilty of letting the results and my frustration with our most recent signings drag me down into negativity but I agree there are number of positives that offer hope for the future.
Freese is a sold MLS keeper and should bring some nice stability to that position on the roster for years as he is only 25.
Santi is showing signs of maturity and improvement in his game. He still plays with an incredible amount of passion but I have not seen him let his emotions get to the point where it takes him out of games as it has in past seasons. His interactions with teammates on the field seem more supporting and directive than snarky and combative as they have been in the past. His recent PKs have also started erasing that feeling of impending doom I get as an NYCFC play walks up to take a PK after years of shaky PKs from Maxi and others.
I have high hopes for Perera, I think that guy is a baller, breaking up an attack or pushing the ball in transition it just seems like he finds a way to make things happen. It's hard to see how he cracks the starting lineup with how entrenched Sands and Parks are in those spots but I have this feeling that at some point Perera's going to get a shot for one reason or another and it's going to be part of the turnaround.
Huge factor. I was a little concerned over the first couple of games, especially when Santi mouthed off to (I think) Ballouchy while getting subbed off against St. Louis. I thought, "Oh boy, here we go again." But then he scored in the next two games, and he's been showing real leadership ever since too, so it's cool.
Someone has some man management skills.
I'm a ditto on Andrés Perea. He's sitting on a couple yellows, which may be the reason he's being held back a little, or at least part of it. But we definitely want to see more of him.
We need two wins and a draw over the next three games, so this could be the time.
I'm just hoping Nick was sending some kind of signal with his Stone Island stylings. That's football hooligan stuff. I'm praying he's ready to turn the boys loose.
I continue to believe we have a team that is good enough to win. I do, however, think we can't or won't get there with this current coaching staff, and we will need to make that change in order to see the potential in this team. For whatever reason, the tactics and decisions just aren't working with Cushing, and a new coach will hopefully move this team into better territory.
That certainly is the consensus here and on social media, at least among the vocal supporters. As I've said elsewhere, I'm a hard disagree.
Of course, I know I'm going against the grain when I say Nick Cushing is our guy and has been from the beginning. But I believe it. In fact, I'll stick my neck out a lot further than I usually do and say we're about to get good. And it won't be long before we're very good.
I'll even stick my neck out further still and say it's not up to Nick to prove me right; it's up to him to prove me wrong.
I hope you're right. I've been on your side for a while. It just seems like, at this point, he's gotten so much time to prove it that we should have already been seeing it. The team wasn't good enough last year, but they are good enough now.
I want Nick to succeed here. He seems like a good guy, and seems like he wants to be here for the long-term. But he is on some very shaky footing right now. It feels like there is at least a 50-50 chance the team makes a coaching change after this homestand, and maybe earlier. Results need to start coming or he's not going to make it through.
I am actually optimistic, just not soon.
I'm mostly annoyed at how they decided it was OK to load up with players not ready to contribute to start 2024.
I'm mostly annoyed at how they decided it was OK to load up with players not ready to contribute to start 2024.
“(W)hen you're managing change, you have to accept the quieter spells and acknowledge that transformations take longer than a year.”
― Alex Ferguson, Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography
(Sir Alex also said, "Attack wins you games. Defense wins you titles." But that's true in every team sport. I'll leave that for another time.)
It sucks to be going through this -- and if it sucks for us, you can only imagine how the squad is feeling -- but it's a necessary passage. And I'm sure the organization was fully aware of what it would take, and how long it would take, going in.
Anyway, I look on the bright side: when we do start to win, we'll get to dance in the streets.
Perfectly understandable. But I think some of these guys are going to be ready a lot sooner than we think.
Whatever you are drinking I think most people could use a glass of… your posts are starting to have the vibe of Katrina and the Waves “Walking on Sunshine “
I'll be honest, I don't think the organization thought we'd be bad this year. I think they expected this to be a rebound season. If they expected the team to be good this year, and we're still something like 3-5-3 after this homestand, I think they're going to make a coaching change.
They thought that last year as well. Even after all the unforeseen departures they expected Talles to step up and the club could be mediocre until the summer window. This year's even more inexplicable disappointment has been Bakrar scoring 0 goals through 7 games. It was a failure to overestimate Magno's ability to move positions and score more goals. Not expecting Bakrar to have an epic slump is more forgivable by itself, but they also bet everything on one guy. Last year's club not only lacked a primary scoring threat, it had epically low goal contributions from the 3-6 top scorers on the roster. And they did nothing to fix this. If Bakrar were converting his chances this would still be a below average scoring team. NYCFC is next to last in goals but also bottom 25% for xGoals.
This is why I'm frustrated. I can't see what they thought success would even look like this year. If Bakrar had 4 goals in 7 games the club would be sub median. The clubs with 9 goals rank 16-19 for goals scored. We don't even play most of the new guys, so who was supposed to round out the scoring? Not the backline. Not Sands, Perea or Parks (17 career goals in 15 combined seasons pre-2024). Wolf is new and gets minutes, but he had 5 goals his previous 4 seasons. So what was the plan? What would we look like if everything clicked?
