Away - September 6 - D.C. (Postgame)

[QuigrNYCFC]

You can complain about tactics and PRO all you want. Doesn’t mean dick if the players can’t kick the ball at the goal.

Dropping 2 points is 1000% on the players tonight.

We did score in the run of play (Gaz got one only called back because of a phantom handball) and we had a clear penalty shot (brilliant handball).

Could they have scored more? Absolutely. But when your scoring opportunities are taken away from you, you can’t blame the players.

This game goes into the evidence pile of PRO actively tipping the scales in a game. I truly believe that PRO is in bed with the owners to keep parity and unpredictability within the league.

 

[Brooklyn Blue]

Mitrita doesn’t pass the ball. He’s not a team player.

Disagree with respect to passing. Early during his time with the team he was ball dominant and willing to shoot within 40 yards of goal, but he has become a willing and capable passer. Admittedly small sample size - and smaller due to Deila's roster management - but Mitrita's 2 assists lead the team and his average passes per game and passing percentage are on par with Heber and exceed those of other pure forwards and wings on the team. He entered as a gunner, but has evolved.

Mitrita issues are off the ball, where he is slow to track back on defense and willing to coast if he is on the far side of the pitch. He also is still prone to flop for a foul at contact that won't merit a call in MLS. However, passing the ball is no longer a weakness (and, perhaps, a strength).

 

[Gotham Gator]

Correct. People are quick to forget his long ball that set up the winning goal against Miami, for example.

 

[Kjbert]

The manager didn’t have an answer for DC’s game plan. So yes, the draw is on the manager.
Dome would have come out in the second half in a 4-1-5.
the manager has admitted that he is incapable of making in game adjustments.
and it’s another reason why you don’t shoe horn 3 defensive midfielders onto the field. Maybe Ring needs to sit here to get your best twoCMs on the pitch. He hasn’t been one of our best 11 the last two plus weeks

 

[Annagram]

and it’s another reason why you don’t shoe horn 3 defensive midfielders onto the field. Maybe Ring needs to sit here to get your best twoCMs on the pitch. He hasn’t been one of our best 11 the last two plus weeks

I’ve noticed your criticism towards Ring recently, and some of it might be justified, but that’s over the top. His presence makes him irreplaceable atm in the team that otherwise would lack leadership, structure and directness. I wonder who you think the best two central midfielders are if Ring is not one of them.

 

[ZYanksRule]

I’ve noticed your criticism towards Ring recently, and some of it might be justified, but that’s over the top. His presence makes him irreplaceable atm in the team that otherwise would lack leadership, structure and directness. I wonder who you think the best two central midfielders are if Ring is not one of them.

It seems pretty clear to me that Parks and Sands have taken those two spots in Ronny's 4-2-3-1, leaving Ring without a spot unless he plays on the wing, which he's not that good at other than tracking back and defending.

 

[NYCFC_Dan]

It seems pretty clear to me that Parks and Sands have taken those two spots in Ronny's 4-2-3-1, leaving Ring without a spot unless he plays on the wing, which he's not that good at other than tracking back and defending.

I criticized him up until a few weeks ago. He’s improved in the role and has actually created scoring chances and got into space. Think he’s the one that played one of the balls between defenders to Mata for one of the should be goals.
I disagree about not having a game plan. That’s saying he went to work all week and told everyone to wing it. We held 80% of possession and had multiple wide open looks on goal. We attacked the very limited space available on the wings and had success there. That was the only possible game plan last night. What else would you suggest? So throw on another midfielder and you’re just putting them in an already clogged midfield. That was DC’s game plan. Put everyone back and clog the middle. if we scored those two chances the win would of gone down in the history books as one of the most dominant wins in MLS history (possession and SOG).
I haven’t been a Deila supporter but I’m a realist and this one just got away from us.

 

[FredMertz]

I continue to be amazed at the relatively large number of short, sharp passes attempted in heavy traffic the red box below vs the relatively low number of shot attempts in the red box below.

Also, the number of crosses attempted from the blue boxes, too close to the end line and late enough in the play for defenders to be able to get back into coverage.

That's one thing that's missing without Mitri, ITS and Taty playing more minutes -- the Robben-style winger cut in that creates their own shot, as I've illustrated in yellow.

They play as if an unassisted goal does not count as much as an assisted one.

And finally, I hate short corners.

 

[moogoo]

I criticized him up until a few weeks ago. He’s improved in the role and has actually created scoring chances and got into space. Think he’s the one that played one of the balls between defenders to Mata for one of the should be goals.
I disagree about not having a game plan. That’s saying he went to work all week and told everyone to wing it. We held 80% of possession and had multiple wide open looks on goal. We attacked the very limited space available on the wings and had success there. That was the only possible game plan last night. What else would you suggest? So throw on another midfielder and you’re just putting them in an already clogged midfield. That was DC’s game plan. Put everyone back and clog the middle. if we scored those two chances the win would of gone down in the history books as one of the most dominant wins in MLS history (possession and SOG).
I haven’t been a Deila supporter but I’m a realist and this one just got away from us.

the game plan should have changed mid-game when ronny saw that DC didn't bother about attacking. he should have relied on his CBs to mark their SINGLE striker and brought on more 1v1 players. bringing on isi was too late. mitri should have come on too. Parks should have come off sooner. Ring should have pushed back. Mitri and isi's 1v1 ability would have thrown their parked bus off balance. when they send 2-3 defenders to cover, that's when space opens up and we have to make the runs into space. You can't just pass around a parked bus because they just sit there and cover the passing lanes instead of worrying about where runners go. other than a well timed run in behind with ball over the top or through, it's just not possible. yes, we had a few of those last night and we should have put them away, but we would have created a whole lot more with a whole lot more effective attackers if he had brought on isi, mitri, and taty on sooner.

 

[Annagram]

I criticized him up until a few weeks ago. He’s improved in the role and has actually created scoring chances and got into space. Think he’s the one that played one of the balls between defenders to Mata for one of the should be goals.
I disagree about not having a game plan. That’s saying he went to work all week and told everyone to wing it. We held 80% of possession and had multiple wide open looks on goal. We attacked the very limited space available on the wings and had success there. That was the only possible game plan last night. What else would you suggest? So throw on another midfielder and you’re just putting them in an already clogged midfield. That was DC’s game plan. Put everyone back and clog the middle. if we scored those two chances the win would of gone down in the history books as one of the most dominant wins in MLS history (possession and SOG).
I haven’t been a Deila supporter but I’m a realist and this one just got away from us.

I admit there was a game plan yesterday. With ”no structure” I rather mean that Deila doesn’t seem to have had a plan over a longer period. It’s still difficult to describe what the playing system is, if there’s any.

 

[ZYanksRule]

I criticized him up until a few weeks ago. He’s improved in the role and has actually created scoring chances and got into space. Think he’s the one that played one of the balls between defenders to Mata for one of the should be goals.
I disagree about not having a game plan. That’s saying he went to work all week and told everyone to wing it. We held 80% of possession and had multiple wide open looks on goal. We attacked the very limited space available on the wings and had success there. That was the only possible game plan last night. What else would you suggest? So throw on another midfielder and you’re just putting them in an already clogged midfield. That was DC’s game plan. Put everyone back and clog the middle. if we scored those two chances the win would of gone down in the history books as one of the most dominant wins in MLS history (possession and SOG).
I haven’t been a Deila supporter but I’m a realist and this one just got away from us.

Yeah we had a plan, and our plan worked. We had a clear-cut handball waived off, then a quick whistle on a ghost handball rule a goal out. Why the whistle blew before the ball went in the net is a mystery -- that call shouldn't be made until after the play so you can use VAR if you need to. So we really should have had two goals, plus the three golden chances in the first half (Parks, Medina, Heber). That's five plays -- and if even two of them go our way, it's a 2-0 win. Everything about last night's game plan was good. Just bad luck.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1302937734839963648

 

[Shwafta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1302937734839963648

MVP, at least in my eyes! If we can pick up the scoring pace maybe he can even win it

 

[Sabo]

Ian Joy had an interesting comment (that he immediately qualified because we werent scoring any goals) that watching the game last night was like watching a Barcelona game because so often Barca's opponent feels they have no chance of winning the game by playing toe-to-toe and their best chance at getting points is to park the bus and counter -- you don't see that too much in MLS but Olsen did that last night and the coach of Cincinnati pretty much realized after a couple of games that he has to do that every game so we can expect it again next game.

We may have a mid-table record, but its no coincidence teams are playing us like we are one of the best teams in the league. The team has to keep improving and obviously needs to convert chances but NYCFC otherwise had a ridiculously dominant performance last night. We have outplayed every team since the season started again including Columbus.

I dont think Rony adjusted well to the DC tactics last night with his in-game subs but the more important test is whether he changes his lineup to adjust next game. When the other team parks the bus we need 3 forwards who are dangerous 1 v 1 and not Ring.

 

[Kjbert]

I’ve noticed your criticism towards Ring recently, and some of it might be justified, but that’s over the top. His presence makes him irreplaceable atm in the team that otherwise would lack leadership, structure and directness. I wonder who you think the best two central midfielders are if Ring is not one of them.

if I was wrong, he wouldn’t be playing as a LW right now.

Fact is, he’s been mediocre this year at best. Several games, he’s looked completely out of it.

 

[Kjbert]

Ian Joy had an interesting comment (that he immediately qualified because we werent scoring any goals) that watching the game last night was like watching a Barcelona game because so often Barca's opponent feels they have no chance of winning the game by playing toe-to-toe and their best chance at getting points is to park the bus and counter -- you don't see that too much in MLS but Olsen did that last night and the coach of Cincinnati pretty much realized after a couple of games that he has to do that every game so we can expect it again next game.

We may have a mid-table record, but its no coincidence teams are playing us like we are one of the best teams in the league. The team has to keep improving and obviously needs to convert chances but NYCFC otherwise had a ridiculously dominant performance last night. We have outplayed every team since the season started again including Columbus.

I dont think Rony adjusted well to the DC tactics last night with his in-game subs but the more important test is whether he changes his lineup to adjust next game. When the other team parks the bus we need 3 forwards who are dangerous 1 v 1 and not Ring.

counterpoint - maybe Olson knew early on that the guys on the field couldn’t break us down. So he went to a low block. They abandoned that later in the game with Pipa

 

[ZYanksRule]

counterpoint - maybe Olson knew early on that the guys on the field couldn’t break us down. So he went to a low block. They abandoned that later in the game with Pipa

Except we did break them down. We broke them down repeatedly, just didn't finish. The first 60 minutes we had probably four absolute stone-cold chances and a should-be PK shout, and in the 90th minute we had a goal that was incorrectly ruled off. We should have had at least 3 goals in that game, and on a night where we have better luck, we would have won 3-0. The variance in this sport between scoring and not scoring is so high -- if we play like that every game, we're going to be title contenders.

 

[Keith Putnam]

And finally, I hate short corners.

Why's that? I think there's a strong argument in favor of regaining controlled possession high up the field and working to create a good shot as opposed to rolling the dice on what's, statistically speaking, a roughly three percent chance of scoring by knocking the ball into the box.

If a short corner leads to a shot with an xG as low as even 0.04 then you've done better than the 0.03 generated by a "traditional" corner.

 

[moogoo]

Why's that? I think there's a strong argument in favor of regaining controlled possession high up the field and working to create a good shot as opposed to rolling the dice on what's, statistically speaking, a roughly three percent chance of scoring by knocking the ball into the box.

If a short corner leads to a shot with an xG as low as even 0.04 then you've done better than the 0.03 generated by a "traditional" corner.

probably cause in most cases a short corner just results in a cross from the sidelines anyway. if we worked it around and recycled it with every short corner, sure. i get it. but most times we don't.

 

[moogoo]

Except we did break them down. We broke them down repeatedly, just didn't finish. The first 60 minutes we had probably four absolute stone-cold chances and a should-be PK shout, and in the 90th minute we had a goal that was incorrectly ruled off. We should have had at least 3 goals in that game, and on a night where we have better luck, we would have won 3-0. The variance in this sport between scoring and not scoring is so high -- if we play like that every game, we're going to be title contenders.

we didn't break them down repeatedly. we should have had 3 goals means we only really broke them down three times. if we're forced to cross or unable to penetrate resulting in a corner, then we didn't really break down the block. getting a chance on goal with high xG means we broke them down and that only happened 3-4 times.

playing "like that" is relative. We were able to play "like that" because DC didn't bother pressing us and were happy to concede possession for 2/3rds of the field. If we played with that level of dominance and possession against a high press team, then i'd be a lot more convinced that we're title contenders. but the last bit is that title contenders... champions... are clinical with their chances. we have yet to show we are clinical this season.

there's a reason why teams like barca and man city are successful attacking a parked bus and that reason is their individual quality in 1v1 situations. we simply didn't have that on the field soon enough in the game to create MORE opportunities for us to score.