Given a night's sleep to get the emotion out of my system and to reflect, I'm feeling better. I can't believe that every team in the league is going to be able to soak up that pressure without cracking and be able to catch us on the break like that. There have to be a few teams in the league who are feeling shaky, or just don't have their heads in the game, who will face the constant attacking that we're putting out and won't be able to handle it.
Home - 05/03 Seattle
- Thread starter NYCFC_Dan
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He stopped obafemi one on one toward the end of the game. Guy has really improved since the beginning of the year. He clearly isn't comfortable with the left foot on offense, so he is playing out of position. He gets credit for doing what the team needs.
I forgot to mention we had two legitimate penalties not called. Mullins got absolutely bowled over in the six yard box. Marshall can't go through him to take that ball. And villa got tripped by Evans late in the game.
I love Dempsey on the nats, but he really is a whiny bitch.
I love Dempsey on the nats, but he really is a whiny bitch.
I'm another who feels a bit better about the game after a night's sleep. We were in the front foot the first half, with more attacks than Seattle had, with residual injuries including both of our Opening Day strikers on the bench. And as many have pointed out, falling prey to Dempsey and Martins is no shame.
OTOH, the recent mantra of our optimistic fans has been, "We keep it close and never lose by more than one goal." Well, that didn't work out so well last night.
OTOH, the recent mantra of our optimistic fans has been, "We keep it close and never lose by more than one goal." Well, that didn't work out so well last night.
It was a tale of two matches.
MATCH #1:
For 60 minutes we actually looked phenomenal with two exceptions. (1) We blew an offside trap which gave up a goal. (2) We lacked clinical finishing.
But every other facet of the game we looked great for the first hour. We moved the ball. We kept possession. Seattle had almost no opportunities. We had many. We just had poor finishing other than Ballouchy's strike.
And we got a point on a 1-1 draw.
MATCH #2:
For the final 30 we looked poor. We didn't seem to understand our defensive assignments. Suddenly Seattle seemed to have a near breakaway every 45 seconds. Yes, we should have had a PK on the Villa takedown. But the result was not undeserved.
We got zero points on a 2-0 loss.
TAKEAWAYS:
I think this match was a big step forward. In previous matches we showed we could dominate possession while never coming near having a legitimate shot on goal. Last night we generated real scoring chances and just weren't clinical with our finishing. If we had played the final 30 like we played the first 60 we might even have gotten a result. Against Seattle no less.
It would be nice to have something more than a moral victory, but if that's all we can get for now ...
MATCH #1:
For 60 minutes we actually looked phenomenal with two exceptions. (1) We blew an offside trap which gave up a goal. (2) We lacked clinical finishing.
But every other facet of the game we looked great for the first hour. We moved the ball. We kept possession. Seattle had almost no opportunities. We had many. We just had poor finishing other than Ballouchy's strike.
And we got a point on a 1-1 draw.
MATCH #2:
For the final 30 we looked poor. We didn't seem to understand our defensive assignments. Suddenly Seattle seemed to have a near breakaway every 45 seconds. Yes, we should have had a PK on the Villa takedown. But the result was not undeserved.
We got zero points on a 2-0 loss.
TAKEAWAYS:
I think this match was a big step forward. In previous matches we showed we could dominate possession while never coming near having a legitimate shot on goal. Last night we generated real scoring chances and just weren't clinical with our finishing. If we had played the final 30 like we played the first 60 we might even have gotten a result. Against Seattle no less.
It would be nice to have something more than a moral victory, but if that's all we can get for now ...
Last night is why closing out games like both Union, Colorado and ORL would have been great. Our situation would be a lot better.
I mentioned multiple times in the shoutbox that our guys were pressing like they were told the ball had Ebola.
http://gfycat.com/EasySneakyGharial#
http://gfycat.com/EasySneakyGharial#
Yea Really.
I'm not sure KWS deserves a six. He was victimized on both of the first two goals. Just caught napping with terrible positioning on the first Martins goal, and Dempsey's goal went straight through his legs.
If Jason Kreis weren't the coach, we'd be way, way worse than we are now.
These results have very little to do with coaching. We don't have the roster to compete right now.
Quoting this, because it can't be stressed enough.
I feel like the team is decent enough because of Kreis. He was quoted today as saying "this was harder than he thought it would be". I'm thinking part of that problem is ownership not getting him the DPs he was promised. Maybe it's playing in a narrow field and having a roster made for width.
Regardless NYCFC played really well for large swaths but couldn't keep it going. It's a new chemistry with a roster filled with not-match-fit players. It takes time.
Regardless NYCFC played really well for large swaths but couldn't keep it going. It's a new chemistry with a roster filled with not-match-fit players. It takes time.
I thought he was playing martins offsides on the first goal, wingert was too deep and didn't hold the line. And the through the legs one is a tough one to fault him on, he had position, Dempsey just hit it perfectly. He had a couple nice blocks, which he is doing every game now.
Listen our team is not that far off believe me when I say this. The main reason is Kreis. Once he gets his players here in the next year or two then we will see the results. But here is the thing....the reason this team is not winning is very simple. 1) our finishing has been awful. It doesn't matter how much possession you have and how many shots on target or off target you have, you have to finish. If not, all it takes is for the other team to get a chance or two and get a lucky goal and you lose 1-0 or draw 1-1, we have seen this a lot so far this year. How do we fix this problem? Well I think if Villa stays healthy, that will certainly help, but I also feel that our midfield has been under performing, in a sense that, they are not realizing the runs that our forwards are making and trying to feed them. Way to many times I have seen Villa and Nemec make those great runs expecting a ball to be played to them and voila nada comes there way.
The midfield is not as good as we had hoped because Mix is not playing as well as he should be, he certainly is giving great effort but he plays the easy pass and the safe pass way to many times. Grabavoy is just not very good, I thought he would show better, and so on. Maybe Lampard helps when he comes over, I hope so, but it will take time to get going. What I would do if I was Kries is start Poku in the Central Mid. Put Mix slightly above him with two strikers on top of Mix (Villa and Nemec or Shelton). Every time Poku has played I have been thoroughly impressed. He needs to play more, he is one of our better mids for sure. Also, Alverez has shown well for the most part except for that turnover leading to Seattle's goal. I think his instinct when he gets the ball is to push it and thats what you need from your mid. You need possession with a purpose, not safe possession like you are taking care of a 2-0 lead in the second half.
The second major problem is the defense. Our backline is just awful, again, giving great effort, but those guys just aren't very good. Kwame is not good to be kind, Brovsky has been awful and is not very good, with this defense it is just a matter of time before they crack or turn the ball over and give other times prime opportunities. Again the effort has been there all season but the bottom line is, they are not very good, unfortunately. We shall see what RJ Allen brings, and maybe when Hernandez comes back healthy, he will help, as he is one of our better defenders.
Overall, I am still optimistic we will get better as the year progresses but it is hard to watch these losses for sure. But keep in mind, this is an expansion team guys, it will surely get better, it may be get worse before it gets better, but trust me, it will get better. The only fear I have is Kreis getting fired, or leaving on his own because the guy is a very very good coach and I hope the soccer people listen to him on the type of players to bring in. He knows what he is doing.
The midfield is not as good as we had hoped because Mix is not playing as well as he should be, he certainly is giving great effort but he plays the easy pass and the safe pass way to many times. Grabavoy is just not very good, I thought he would show better, and so on. Maybe Lampard helps when he comes over, I hope so, but it will take time to get going. What I would do if I was Kries is start Poku in the Central Mid. Put Mix slightly above him with two strikers on top of Mix (Villa and Nemec or Shelton). Every time Poku has played I have been thoroughly impressed. He needs to play more, he is one of our better mids for sure. Also, Alverez has shown well for the most part except for that turnover leading to Seattle's goal. I think his instinct when he gets the ball is to push it and thats what you need from your mid. You need possession with a purpose, not safe possession like you are taking care of a 2-0 lead in the second half.
The second major problem is the defense. Our backline is just awful, again, giving great effort, but those guys just aren't very good. Kwame is not good to be kind, Brovsky has been awful and is not very good, with this defense it is just a matter of time before they crack or turn the ball over and give other times prime opportunities. Again the effort has been there all season but the bottom line is, they are not very good, unfortunately. We shall see what RJ Allen brings, and maybe when Hernandez comes back healthy, he will help, as he is one of our better defenders.
Overall, I am still optimistic we will get better as the year progresses but it is hard to watch these losses for sure. But keep in mind, this is an expansion team guys, it will surely get better, it may be get worse before it gets better, but trust me, it will get better. The only fear I have is Kreis getting fired, or leaving on his own because the guy is a very very good coach and I hope the soccer people listen to him on the type of players to bring in. He knows what he is doing.
Spot on, and exactly the kind of roster issues and lack of fluidity in play and purpose you'd expect from... an expansion team
M
Mack
Guest
My only big problem with Kreis is his commitment to his RSL guys even when they are not producing, especially Grabavoy and Ballouchy. Give credit to Ballouchy for a great finish but there's a reason why he was about to be subbed out at the 55 minute mark. He was basically invisible for 54 minutes. And I've said it before about Grabavoy. He works hard and he doesn't make any egregious mistakes, but he doesn't help you at all either.
Interesting stats from whoscored:
54% overall possession
Shots: 20-11 (9 of ours on target)
Ballouchy highest rated 7.9
Facey lowest rated 5.5
Poku 3 successful dribbles led the team despite playing 20 minutes
Shelton and Mullins- 3 and 2 dispossessed, 4 and 3 poor touches. led the team.
Diskerud led the team with 6 tackles.
KWS led the team with 4 interceptions
Grabavoy led team with 86.4% passing
Alvarez and Ballouchy 9 and 8 crosses, only 1 and 2 were accurate
54% overall possession
Shots: 20-11 (9 of ours on target)
Ballouchy highest rated 7.9
Facey lowest rated 5.5
Poku 3 successful dribbles led the team despite playing 20 minutes
Shelton and Mullins- 3 and 2 dispossessed, 4 and 3 poor touches. led the team.
Diskerud led the team with 6 tackles.
KWS led the team with 4 interceptions
Grabavoy led team with 86.4% passing
Alvarez and Ballouchy 9 and 8 crosses, only 1 and 2 were accurate
M
Mack
Guest
A few other thoughts on last night's game.
I wish Poku had gotten on a little earlier. I like that he immediately tried to push the issue when he did come on. He's got to get better on the defensive side of the ball though. He has a tendency to not track back when the ball is turned over. It didn't cost us last night but I noticed it happened a few times again last night when I got home and re-watched the game on TV. I don't think its laziness. I just think he needs to up his soccer IQ and stay a little more focused when he's not on the ball.
Curious sub by Kreis to bring on RJ Allen. You are chasing the game down two goals and you switch out your right back? Not saying RJ did a bad job and at least he tried to get forward. However, at that point I think we would have been better off subbing out Grabavoy (who gives you nothing offensively) or Alvarez (who played well but whose legs were gone after 60 minutes). I still have no idea why Kreis won't give McNamara a chance off the bench when no one else has shown the ability to be effective in the final third.
I thought Alvarez played really well for the first 35-40 minutes last night both on and off the ball. He's one of the few guys we have who actually moves off the ball to try to get himself into space to receive the ball. After that his work rate went way down and he became much less effective. By the 60-65 minute mark you could see he was just trying to conserve energy for when he got the ball at his feet. Unfortunately, I don't think this is going to improve. 34 year old players don't run themselves into shape as the season goes on, they just get more worn down. I like what I saw from Alvarez but I don't think there's a lot of tread left on those tires and he is going to have a difficult time being effective for a full 90 minutes.
I wish Poku had gotten on a little earlier. I like that he immediately tried to push the issue when he did come on. He's got to get better on the defensive side of the ball though. He has a tendency to not track back when the ball is turned over. It didn't cost us last night but I noticed it happened a few times again last night when I got home and re-watched the game on TV. I don't think its laziness. I just think he needs to up his soccer IQ and stay a little more focused when he's not on the ball.
Curious sub by Kreis to bring on RJ Allen. You are chasing the game down two goals and you switch out your right back? Not saying RJ did a bad job and at least he tried to get forward. However, at that point I think we would have been better off subbing out Grabavoy (who gives you nothing offensively) or Alvarez (who played well but whose legs were gone after 60 minutes). I still have no idea why Kreis won't give McNamara a chance off the bench when no one else has shown the ability to be effective in the final third.
I thought Alvarez played really well for the first 35-40 minutes last night both on and off the ball. He's one of the few guys we have who actually moves off the ball to try to get himself into space to receive the ball. After that his work rate went way down and he became much less effective. By the 60-65 minute mark you could see he was just trying to conserve energy for when he got the ball at his feet. Unfortunately, I don't think this is going to improve. 34 year old players don't run themselves into shape as the season goes on, they just get more worn down. I like what I saw from Alvarez but I don't think there's a lot of tread left on those tires and he is going to have a difficult time being effective for a full 90 minutes.
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