Whatever it takes to keep that winning vibe going. I'm a team player.
Crew Postmatch
- Thread starter NYCFC_Dan
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Same here. Was happy to find out it wasn't all an elaborate hoax that only existed in the ethers of the web.
I think you nailed it.
There's a big benefit to using this formation for us because it doesn't leave Villa so isolated up front. I think it pressures the backline of the other clubs far more.
I would not be surprised AT ALL if we tucked that formation away for Red Bull, and this was a test drive. I think it's the best setup for us to combat their press. Think about how many times we could have been in behind last time. Having three guys rotating those runs and three guys who can receive the ball deep, turn and pass long or short (Chanot and AI can hit a long pass for sure) makes me feel a bit less hopeless at our prospects if we meet.
We're on the same page.
I watched the game back last night and that's exactly what I said to myself...this is how we beat the Red Bull's.
Also same with Villa. There's a big difference with playing Mendoza & Harrison as L/R forwards instead of wingers. Every goal was a direct result of not having Villa as an isolated forward.
Buffon is a good soldier. Pirlo is more of a free bird.
If my memory is right..it is Pirlo that has an option to play another year here based on the contract. It will be interesting to see what happens.
I definitely think with the lineup from Sunday we'll be able to break their press and break the ankles of their defenders with speed and shiftiness from our forwards.
The big x-factor in any game with RB is how much of a D-Bag the ref is by allowing RB to hack the crap out of our players with no cards being shown. In both of the losses, the Ref let them get overly physical with us without consequences - our one win was evenly called.
I'll disagree here. Red Bull have the ginger and Pornstache in the middle feeding the uglier English version of Sam Cassell. That is a significant upgrade over Columbus' midfield and Ola Kamara. The 523 we played gave up the center of the park completely. This formation was horrible vs Columbus, it will get shredded by New Jersey, and we only started scoring when we came out of it on Sunday.
We already give up the middle when we play them. Might as well acknowledge we're skipping it and line people up to be dangerous, rather than wander around without service.
Seemed to me the only attacking idea we had in that 523 was Matarrita hitting crosses to our short guys who had no chance at the header.
I think this is right. My preference is to control the midfield as a style generally, but I think Vieira has largely realized we don't have the personnel to do it against teams who have better athletes and decent skill there. Among other things, for example, we are horrible at winning second balls in the midfield. While I found this weekend frustrating to watch for the first 60 mins, the reality is that we didn't give up that many good chances. As we play better teams, I expect the strategy is going to be to defend deep with numbers and then try to create opportunities for our playmakers. This likely means more Mendoza and Shelton and less TMac, as we saw Sunday. It is a reasonable strategy when you have good open field players upfront and some guys deeper who can play long passes. But, it can also be hard to watch because it feels like you are on the back foot a lot.
Beats turning it over in bad areas all the time. Get the ball to Pirlo or Frank, one or two of the forwards show for the ball, Matarrita runs wide, the the other forward/s try to get in behind.
I thought we had a couple of chances where we cut the ball back and had a decent look. Can't be sure, though since I was not watching for tactics.
As
Viewfrom226 said, it's a lot about being set up to not give up garbage goals, too. It's playoff time. No one is going to play wide open in the East. And there's a strong chance we would play a defensive COL if we made it to MLS Cup. I just can't be wedded to playing pretty possession soccer when 5 bad minutes against a press could end our season.
I imagine it'll be somewhat dependent on what order the home/away legs are played, too. If we're home over the first leg I'd probably be in favor of parking the bus more and playing Leicester-style balls over the top as counterattacks in order to prioritize denying NJ any away goals. Possibly frustrate them into a red card, too, maybe.
Hence, we had RJ making some ridiculous cross-field passes to Villa and Harrison on the left. Same with Mata going Route1 to Villa. We break the press by taking Dax/Felipe out of the equation and hard-charging their outside backs that do not have the pace to keep up with Harrison/Mendoza while the CBs break their ankles chasing Villa. Plus, hit the little punk Lade all game and then bring Shelton on to out-muscle him - he only comes up to Khiry's armpit when wearing heels.
I'm not a fan of Route1 ball except when it badly exposes a forward-pressed team with acres of space between the back line and GK.
And you would advocate opening it up in Harrison? Noooooooo...
Well, that's the tricky bit, isn't it? Clearly I'd prefer us to win a first home leg with a clean sheet, but if we can at least get to Harrison with a 0-0 aggregate than we have two ways to win; a draw, or an outright win.
If we were to play NJ in the final, we would have the first leg, the second would be played in NJ.
I agree generally, though I think it is more tactical than pure Route 1 which I usually think of as lumping it up to the center forward and trying to win balls in the air (a disastrous strategy for us). That's probably just semantics, though, as I think we are saying the same thing about what we are trying to do and what makes sense from a matchups perspective. The strategy seems apparent to me -- execution is a good bit trickier
Sadly, Lade is out for the year.
I would have relished watching Khiry muscle him off the ball as he nipped at his ankles like a little terrier.
Everybody focusing on RB when we're gonna be playing DC in the Conference Final.
Lloyd Sam with the winner in extra time at RBA to knock Red bull out of the playoffs.
Lloyd Sam with the winner in extra time at RBA to knock Red bull out of the playoffs.
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