CCL - April 6 - Seattle (Away)

Right, but I think it's a lot different at the end of the season with guys who have been there all year long vs at the start of the season when the guys playing there include:
  1. A new signing (Martins)
  2. A player returning from significant injury (Parks)
  3. A player returning from international duty and another system/partnerships there (Callens)
  4. A player who has never started for the first team (Gloster)
  5. A player playing in a completely new position (Acevedo at RB)
  6. A player who is playing out of their preferred spot, even if they have played it before sparingly (Jasson)
  7. Three different formations (4-2-3-1, 3-4-3 with a diamond, 3-5-2)
When it's the end of the season, a lot of the above has been worked out and the guys are going to be a lot more comfortable with interchanging parts, having accrued many, many minutes over the season and in training.

I agree. Thus those are the problems, not necessarily just the simple 8 different back line d mid combinations in 10 games.
I also think Martins is not up for the level of play yet. but that's my opinion.
 
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i have not checked the App, but were the other highlights of other CCL games the same? It could be a concacaf thing that they have to use their feed for highlights.
But it's all the CONCACAF feed. The live broadcast last night was CONCACAF licensed. The guy who did the highlights was on the live broadcast a few weeks ago, also licensed by CONCACAF. I can't figure out why they even had separate announcing tracks. It's weird.
 
But it's all the CONCACAF feed. The live broadcast last night was CONCACAF licensed. The guy who did the highlights was on the live broadcast a few weeks ago, also licensed by CONCACAF. I can't figure out why they even had separate announcing tracks. It's weird.

The MLS highlights is using the "World Feed," which has that announcer. It's actually Mike Watts, who has done a few NYCFC games on YES when Tolleson is unavailable.

FOX took the world feed last night and put their own announcers on it, but the highlights are from the straight world feed.
 
I think I’m turning a corner. The team is in disarray due to injury, loss of Sands, new personnel, extreme travel schedule, no stadium…
It is a crime that this team has to play the home match in a semi final second leg in New Jersey at Red Bull Arena at 9pm on a Wednesday. Just ludicrous. Imagine if NYCFC were playing that match in a home atmosphere like Providence park…
Anyway, I’m making an effort to stay positive. Not just about the second leg but the whole situation in general. Want to be supportive of the players.
 
Seattle was also missing half of their starting backline (Nouhou and Yeimar), but controlled the game so well ahead of them that NYCFC couldn’t take advantage of it. there were potential goals to be had if NYCFC could have applied more consistent pressure.

NYCFC seemed so slow and sloppy in the buildup, turned the ball over in bad spots. Not sure how much was the turf added to that.
 
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I think I’m turning a corner. The team is in disarray due to injury, loss of Sands, new personnel, extreme travel schedule, no stadium…
It is a crime that this team has to play the home match in a semi final second leg in New Jersey at Red Bull Arena at 9pm on a Wednesday. Just ludicrous. Imagine if NYCFC were playing that match in a home atmosphere like Providence park…
Anyway, I’m making an effort to stay positive. Not just about the second leg but the whole situation in general. Want to be supportive of the players.

Agree wholeheartedly here. We won the title last year. The players had a four-week offseason. The travel has been absurd. We also faced a really good team. Who knows what it will look like at the end of the year, but right now Seattle is far and away the best team in the league. No shame losing to them at their place. But this thing isn't over. I don't think we hold them off the board at RBA, but I do think we can score three goals against them.

The way this team looks now is not how they will look in September. Long way to go. This tournament coming at the very start of the season like this is one of the very many reasons I struggle to take CCL seriously.
 
I think I’m turning a corner. The team is in disarray due to injury, loss of Sands, new personnel, extreme travel schedule, no stadium…
It is a crime that this team has to play the home match in a semi final second leg in New Jersey at Red Bull Arena at 9pm on a Wednesday. Just ludicrous. Imagine if NYCFC were playing that match in a home atmosphere like Providence park…
Anyway, I’m making an effort to stay positive. Not just about the second leg but the whole situation in general. Want to be supportive of the players.

glad you made it around the corner! i was on the deep end last night during the game, but soon after the game, I was ready to pump this team up again and get that comeback win. it really does suck that we don't have a stadium of our own. and i think 99% of the any other MLS team in the league who had to deal with the homelessness that we have and our travel schedule, would have simply crumbled and been a complete shitshow from day 1.

but we somehow made it to the semifinals of CCL with doable deficit. we aren't taking huge points in the league but we have a long home stand where we can make up some ground. Hopefully some of our pieces come back and we can find some rhythm again.

missing Sands is bigger than any of us had imagined. we also took for granted how good our wing backs (anton, gudi) were. Yes, gudi wasn't super fast on defense and got toasted regularly, but going forward he was at least fairly consistent and he could take free kicks.

i have faith the team will find some rhythm and go on a great run. I'm not so sure it's going to happen by next week though. But if Maxi and Chanot are back and the boys get one hell of a pep talk from Ronny, 2-0 can happen. Seattle are good but they are not unbeatable. At our best we are just as good, if not better. If we can find it in us to match or exceed their intensity, it will be our game to lose.
 
You have to feel for the players.
Short rest, short offseason, no real fanbase supporting them for half of their games so far this season (and last season)...
 
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You have to feel for the players.
Short rest, short offseason, no real fanbase supporting them for half of their games so far this season (and last season)...

this sounds like you've decided to go to NJ
 
I agree about the depth, especially on defense with the injuries. But the starters? We lost 3 starters from last year: Sands, Gudi, and Medina. Maybe count Shradi as half (he started 14 games in 2021). Sands is the only one on any top 5 lists, though we certainly miss Gudi. And he only started 20 games himself - he was basically 60% of a left back duo. I would argue our starting wingers last night are an upgrade over a Medina/Shradi combo, even if Talles and Andrade aren't Top 5 (yet?).

I think our 2022 problems are missing Tinnerholm, Chanot, and Sands.
Chanot, Sands and Callens allowed both outside backs to go forward with minimal risk, and almost always cleaned up other players' failures on defense. Tinnerholm required less cover than the Thorarinsson/Amundsen combo on the left, so the big three could shade their attention to their sidewhile completely smothering the middle. Tayvon Gray is solid but is not as complete on the entire range of the Tinnerholm spectrum of offense to defense and back. Having Chanot and Sands late last year allowed us to get through the playoffs despite missing Tinnerholm. Chanot/Callens/Sands were that good.

I really wish we hadn't given up the third goal, however it happened. But 3-1 in Seattle without Maxi or Chanot (Tinnerholm is gone for too long to cry about any single game) is a decent result.
Spot on. And I'd go so far as to say the thinking in the front office had Martins solving a lot of those problems with his pace. So far, it hasn't worked out.
 
Hmmm. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to try Martins with Callens and Chanot, once Maxime comes back. (Just thinking out loud a little.)

we have tried that in one match, I think? if I recall, it didn't look great.
 
we have tried that in one match, I think? if I recall, it didn't look great.
We've done that in both Comunicaciones games.

The main issue I had with it is that Ronny put Martins in the central spot, but usually you would want someone better on the ball there while Martins has some limitations with his passing. I would much rather have Chanot in that spot, leaving more pace on the RCB spot.

The first Comunicaciones game is where we played a diamond midfield with Alfredo in that spot and it kind of left him in no man's land. Especially with the other midfielders being Maxi, Santi, and Talles.

I think the diamond midfield can work, but you'd need one of Parks or Acevedo (preferably Parks) to help provide some defensive cover to a degree.

Which then also means you're likely taking one of Talles Magno or Santi Rodriguez off the field unless you play one of them at WB.
 
the more i think about things, the more upset I am we let Sands go to Rangers to sit on the bench.

yes i know.. my feelings are selfish.. but he could have stayed here, helped us, and got himself a trip to the world cup and with a solid performance there, the offers would be coming in. instead, he's at rangers getting limited minutes, slim world cup roster chances, and we don't get the benefit of his skills.
 
the more i think about things, the more upset I am we let Sands go to Rangers to sit on the bench.

yes i know.. my feelings are selfish.. but he could have stayed here, helped us, and got himself a trip to the world cup and with a solid performance there, the offers would be coming in. instead, he's at rangers getting limited minutes, slim world cup roster chances, and we don't get the benefit of his skills.

i dont cock block the kid. its more the FO knowing he wanted to go to europe and not really finding a replacement, especially since parks was not going to be 100% right away and acevedo has not been doing well. Haak is no where to be seen.

i also dont think he gets called into the NT as much if he was still in nycfc either. that euro snobbery is a thing.
 
the more i think about things, the more upset I am we let Sands go to Rangers to sit on the bench.

yes i know.. my feelings are selfish.. but he could have stayed here, helped us, and got himself a trip to the world cup and with a solid performance there, the offers would be coming in. instead, he's at rangers getting limited minutes, slim world cup roster chances, and we don't get the benefit of his skills.
This will set some people off, though I don't think he solves any of our problems had he stayed.
While looking up something else today, I noticed Tajouri-Shradi has played only 52 minutes in 3 appearances over 5 games for LAFC . This after they paid $400k to Charlotte to get him, and we got just $50k. In classic Shradi fashion, he has one shot and one goal.
 
i dont cock block the kid. its more the FO knowing he wanted to go to europe and not really finding a replacement, especially since parks was not going to be 100% right away and acevedo has not been doing well. Haak is no where to be seen.

i also dont think he gets called into the NT as much if he was still in nycfc either. that euro snobbery is a thing.

there's been plenty of MLS players called in lately. Our starting CBs the last handful of qualifiers have been MLS players. Sure, he's not high on the depth chart at his position but his versatility if a big benefit. Not only that, if he's playing with us more, he is improving more. Even since last year, I feel like MLS 2022 has improved in quality league wide. Playing more with us would have improved his passing range and made him even more attractive to be on the NT.

This will set some people off, though I don't think he solves any of our problems had he stayed.
While looking up something else today, I noticed Tajouri-Shradi has played only 52 minutes in 3 appearances over 5 games for LAFC . This after they paid $400k to Charlotte to get him, and we got just $50k. In classic Shradi fashion, he has one shot and one goal.

i don't think he'd solve all our problems but he would certainly help. His ability to read the game and pass/progress the ball forward is pretty valuable. especially in a back 3. I get that Morales is the defacto replacement with acevedo being morales's backup. but neither have Sands's physical toughness and neither are as clean. Not saying Sands never makes mistakes, but his mistakes are pretty few and far between.

As you said in your other post, the combination of having Sands, Chanot, and Callens gave us a defensive triangle that was extremely solid. So far this season, we've played with 1 or 2 of those points missing. I still think our defense will improve with time and more consistent personnel, but with CCL coming at the start of the season, going into it with our veteran/experienced and in-sync defensive core would have given us a better chance to win it.
 
This will set some people off, though I don't think he solves any of our problems had he stayed.
While looking up something else today, I noticed Tajouri-Shradi has played only 52 minutes in 3 appearances over 5 games for LAFC . This after they paid $400k to Charlotte to get him, and we got just $50k. In classic Shradi fashion, he has one shot and one goal.

oh well, moogoo basically said this better before I posted.

I think that having Sands would help with the intangibles. The team is off in a way that seems different to me from when they struggled last year. They seem asleep at times and often disorganized and messy. Lots of other reasons for that besides Sands being gone but I think if Chanot and Sands were on the pitch with Callens it wouldn’t be this messy.
 
there's been plenty of MLS players called in lately. Our starting CBs the last handful of qualifiers have been MLS players. Sure, he's not high on the depth chart at his position but his versatility if a big benefit. Not only that, if he's playing with us more, he is improving more. Even since last year, I feel like MLS 2022 has improved in quality league wide. Playing more with us would have improved his passing range and made him even more attractive to be on the NT.



i don't think he'd solve all our problems but he would certainly help. His ability to read the game and pass/progress the ball forward is pretty valuable. especially in a back 3. I get that Morales is the defacto replacement with acevedo being morales's backup. but neither have Sands's physical toughness and neither are as clean. Not saying Sands never makes mistakes, but his mistakes are pretty few and far between.

As you said in your other post, the combination of having Sands, Chanot, and Callens gave us a defensive triangle that was extremely solid. So far this season, we've played with 1 or 2 of those points missing. I still think our defense will improve with time and more consistent personnel, but with CCL coming at the start of the season, going into it with our veteran/experienced and in-sync defensive core would have given us a better chance to win it.

not james sands, took forever for people to even know who he was. then he has one bad game in honduras and then was not really thought of until this past window. he can improve his passing but i dont think it moves him in the NT depth chart at all. thats why the rangers move meant something. he can improve while potentially facing tougher opposition in europa league. it was time. Sands has no hype.

edit: could he have helped yesterday, yes. but i still fault FO for lack of options at RB/ LB to begin season anyway.