Houston - Postmatch

[Alex Da Silva]

I think that like a lot of people here I just feel we had an off night with finishing, I mean GMS missed a few golden opportunities, ring and mitri both had opportunities to shoot in the box but tried to beat the last defender, deric made some great saves too and let's not even start with the night Heber had, could have easily had 4 goals, including the cross in from Mata, and the header he missed from basically on the goal line that probably would have gone in if he hadn't touched it. Really just astounding how unlucky he was today and thankfully we didn't drop points because of it. Also going to put it out there but Medina had a few good stretches in this one, not enough to justify more playing time but it was good to see even if it just helps make selling him easier. Also our beloved 69 angeliño is back with city, so when he eventually loses the battle for starting left back I would love to see him come back on loan next year because we really need a quality LB to put us over the top of this league. Also I hope isi comes back soon, he is better than what I've seen from GMS. Put isi in the spots GMS was in and we win 5-2

 

[ALBNYfan]

Update on Isi and Scally:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1159600883698679808

 

[adam]

Update on Isi and Scally:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1159600883698679808

Ankle surgery? Well that would be a quick end to his season. Hope he doesn’t need it, because this team needs him.

Good to know Scally has a timetable to return.

 

[FredMertz]

We have a team full of forward players with terrible judgment. One of the primary rules of soccer is make the easy pass over the hard pass. Every single one of the forward players, save Maxi, looks to make the hard pass. Everything is trying to thread the needle to hit the shooting foot of a player in the box covered by at least two defenders. Everyone thinks they’re Iniesta passing the ball to Messi in the box.

That will not work on a tiny field against a team that is playing 9 men behind the ball.

Also, the finishing is dreadful.

 

[Ulrich]

Find it head-scratching to see how many people dunk on Sweat when he didn’t even play. Sweat held down a starting role for two years and did just fine - not spectacular, but he was competent. Miller’s comparisons should be to Mata who is absolute trash as a defender. Sure, he may have a single match here and there that his fans point to saying he’s back, but the guy has shown time and again he’s incapable of the one skill required of his position, getting beaten by the man he’s marking.

For whatever reason, Dome would rather play the high priced often injured always beaten Mata at LB. Fine, that’s his prerogative. But when the guy is repeatedly beaten/scored on, maybe the narrative needs to change.

 

[The Toe]

We will be pretty well-rested for Atlanta at least.

eta: Keaton Fucking Parks with two of the best touches we've seen all season on Taty's goals.

 

[mgarbowski]

I'm chuckling at the idea that the concerns about finishing are unique to this game. I'm not looking to call out any individuals so here are some selections it took me 5 minutes to find from recent postgame threads stripped of the usual quote tags:

Colorado
"I was disappointed in Matarrita's and Tinnerholm's crossing and our finishing in general,"
"Should have been at least 3-1 if not more, had our finishing been better."
"Finishing and crossing has been terrible. "
Kansas City
"Contrast that with Taty, who should have had 2 goals tonight, but flopped both finishes."
Red Bulls
"Can't believe how we bossed the first 45 minutes, it really should have been 3-0 at the break."
"Seems like [GMS is] already pretty in tune with Heber to be able to find him on that last shot (WHICH HE SHOULD HAVE BURIED)."
Portland
"The guys played hard, they worked their asses off, and really should have had the equalizer numerous times."

This is by no means unique to us. All soccer fans do this, because it's so easy to notice and a missed good chance really sticks in your head. But like so many things it is confirmation bias. Most shots don't go it. Hell, tons of sitters don't go in. Double hell: even only about 70% of PK's are scored.

If you want to claim that we are particularly adept at missing the best chances, well there are people who track that. According to ASA, not including last night which isn't posted yet, NYCFC scores 1.28 Goals for every xGoal. That ranks second in the league. Only RSL has done better at 1.37. LAFC is third at 1.22. Last night, when NYC had 4.33 xG (according to Opta) and "only" 3 goals is an anomaly. NYC is really quite good at finishing yet we repeatedly complain about it. It's also worth noting that NYC has 34 games in its history where it scored 3 or more goals and 5 of those came in the last 9 games.

On the other hand I will repeat we are bleeding goals in that same period. So sure, Opta says we should have had 1 more goal tonight, but not the multiple more that people are bemoaning and more importantly it also says Houston deserved 2 fewer. Yet there are multiple concerns about finishing and the defense is mostly ignored. We are repeatedly giving teams extremely limited chances yet when it is time to perform the part of defense that prevents teams from scoring when they do have possession within 25 yards of our goal, NYC is failing.

D will get better with a 3 man back and ring in front. Those games were missing 1 or more of Callens chanot and sands.

This is an excellent point. That trio played together in just 2 of the last 10 games. I hope you're right it will improve with all 3 together down the stretch.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Two super quick thoughts on a couple of plays that I noticed:

• Though I didn't think he played very well overall, that Medina ball to Parks in the first half was fucking gorgeous. Thought Keaton did well too, but Deric came off his line very well and made a great save. Not sure what else Keaton could have done there.
• There was a play in the second half I think, where Mitrita got the ball just outside the left-hand side of the 18 and then carried it to the right, carried to the right, carried to the right, and in several instances had space enough to take a decent shot, and then he didn't. This completely surprised me, especially for Mitrita to not pull the trigger with his right foot. I may go back later tonight or sometime tomorrow to gif that sequence

 

[moogoo]

• where Mitrita got the ball just outside the left-hand side of the 18 and then carried it to the right, carried to the right, carried to the right, and in several instances had space enough to take a decent shot, and then he didn't. This completely surprised me, especially for Mitrita to not pull the trigger with his right foot. I may go back later tonight or sometime tomorrow to gif that sequence

I remember that mitri sequence. i was sitting on the edge of my seat screaming "SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT" haha. he seems to do that more and more. I think he's lacking in confidence a bit and is trying to get that perfect shot for that perfect goal. He's been out with injury and this season, he came in an expensive transfer and hasn't really lived up to it. I think he feels the pressure and wants to contribute. I felt he had a much better game last night with the effort he showed. He tracked back a lot more than he usually does and generally made better decisions. If he keeps up with that kind of play and gets his confidence back, I think he'll develop into a very solid signing for us.

Find it head-scratching to see how many people dunk on Sweat when he didn’t even play. Sweat held down a starting role for two years and did just fine - not spectacular, but he was competent. Miller’s comparisons should be to Mata who is absolute trash as a defender. Sure, he may have a single match here and there that his fans point to saying he’s back, but the guy has shown time and again he’s incapable of the one skill required of his position, getting beaten by the man he’s marking.

For whatever reason, Dome would rather play the high priced often injured always beaten Mata at LB. Fine, that’s his prerogative. But when the guy is repeatedly beaten/scored on, maybe the narrative needs to change.

I'm guilty of comparing Miller to Sweat. I'm not sure why you think Sweat is any better at defending than Mata. They're both pretty terrible. Mata's guilty of getting beat by his runner into the box for a cross and forgetting his man exists - time and time again. But Sweat (and similarly Miller) get beat on pace alone and are guilty of never closing down the space fast enough - allowing the winger to send in crosses almost uncontested. I've lost count how many times I've seen sweat stand a solid 5-6 yards off a winger and consider that "defending."

I think it's fair to say we don't have a solid left back DEFENDER on the team. Mata plays more because if no one we have can defend, at least Mata is more of a threat offensively and doesn't usually get beat purely on pace alone.

 

[Shwafta]

My observations from the game:
Keaton without maxi wasn't too good, most of the game he seemed out of sorts. Sure he had some good chances, but he was getting roasted in the midfield.
-Chanot vs Mcnamara was honestly cringy to watch, Mcnamara kept roasting him. Tmac. Roasting Chanot.
- Medina, I thought, had a good game for the position they played him. Not great, but was good.
- GMS has this thing he does by the wing where he always picks faking out and going towards the endline. And the defense picked up on it really quickly, so dome swapped the wings (Which was a smart move)... but then Mitri just did the SAME thing on the wing. They have to be more creative, because the houston defender read it every single time.

 

[Sabo]

In the last 2 games we have allowed 5 goals ----

In the last 2 games we have only allowed 6 shots on goal.

Its soccer, you can get weird stretches like that. Great to get the 3 points in a game where our finishing isn't there.

Taty has trouble breaking into our starting lineup and has as many goals this season as Elis, Quintero, Russell, Vako, Jordan Morris and Nemeth.

 

[moogoo]

Taty has trouble breaking into our starting lineup and has as many goals this season as Elis, Quintero, Russell, Vako, Jordan Morris and Nemeth.

I think yesterday was more of Dome resting Taty than Taty not being good enough to start. Dome also wanted to give GMS a full game to get him up to match fitness and thought a houston game at home would be good for that. I'm confident we'll see Taty in the XI vs. ATL. Especially with his performance last night.

 

[Ulrich]

But Sweat (and similarly Miller) get beat on pace alone and are guilty of never closing down the space fast enough - allowing the winger to send in crosses almost uncontested. I've lost count how many times I've seen sweat stand a solid 5-6 yards off a winger and consider that "defending."

I think it's fair to say we don't have a solid left back DEFENDER on the team. Mata plays more because if no one we have can defend, at least Mata is more of a threat offensively and doesn't usually get beat purely on pace alone.

Sorry, but this just isn’t correct. Sweat is not slow as evidenced by breakouts he’s been a part of that left the Forums specifically commenting on his speed. And as to closing down space, well that’s both true and not true - he does give a large cushion at times, but he’s also one of the best tacklers on the team and a guy that has drawn maybe only one PK for a tackle in the box while be successful numerous times. If anything, that shows he’s extremely capable of closing down the space.

As to Mata playing, it’s coaches decision, but the previous coach had both guys available and routinely played the one on the min league salary and the defense was tighter.

 

[Revfugee]

I remember that mitri sequence. i was sitting on the edge of my seat screaming "SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT" haha. he seems to do that more and more. I think he's lacking in confidence a bit and is trying to get that perfect shot for that perfect goal. He's been out with injury and this season, he came in an expensive transfer and hasn't really lived up to it. I think he feels the pressure and wants to contribute. I felt he had a much better game last night with the effort he showed. He tracked back a lot more than he usually does and generally made better decisions. If he keeps up with that kind of play and gets his confidence back, I think he'll develop into a very solid signing for us.


But Sweat (and similarly Miller) get beat on pace alone and are guilty of never closing down the space fast enough - allowing the winger to send in crosses almost uncontested. I've lost count how many times I've seen sweat stand a solid 5-6 yards off a winger and consider that "defending."
and doesn't usually get beat purely on pace alone.

I agree with you. Sweat’s deficiencies are athletic. Mata’s are mental. Sweat plays off the man because he knows he will always get beaten if he dives in. Most of the time containment is the best option for him. He has to be conservative.

I get a lot more frustrated with talented players having repeated brain farts. That’s Mata’s disease.

Personally I’m more forgiving of a less talented player playing above his station than a more talented one who doesn’t think.

Either way, we could use an upgrade.

 

[moogoo]

Sorry, but this just isn’t correct. Sweat is not slow as evidenced by breakouts he’s been a part of that left the Forums specifically commenting on his speed. And as to closing down space, well that’s both true and not true - he does give a large cushion at times, but he’s also one of the best tacklers on the team and a guy that has drawn maybe only one PK for a tackle in the box while be successful numerous times. If anything, that shows he’s extremely capable of closing down the space.

As to Mata playing, it’s coaches decision, but the previous coach had both guys available and routinely played the one on the min league salary and the defense was tighter.

I guess we can just agree to disagree. I stand by my assessments of Sweat.

 

[Keith Putnam]

Most shots don't go it. Hell, tons of sitters don't go in

Yes, let's not forget that the tip-top elite world-class goal scorers finish about 25%-30% of their chances.

 

[Ulrich]

I guess we can just agree to disagree. I stand by my assessments of Sweat.

It’s fine to disagree, but give credit where credit is due, and Sweat is not as bad as you make him out to be nor is he the liability he’s scapegoated as on these boards. It’s not as if he’s ever stepped out of the way of the opposing RB, in a classic bullfighting ole move, allowing them to scoring the winning goal in the playoffs.

 

[moogoo]

It’s fine to disagree, but give credit where credit is due, and Sweat is not as bad as you make him out to be nor is he the liability he’s scapegoated as on these boards. It’s not as if he’s ever stepped out of the way of the opposing RB, in a classic bullfighting ole move, allowing them to scoring the winning goal in the playoffs.

My biggest problem with Sweat is I think he could be a really great defender if he improved, in my opinion, are the weaknesses in his defending. Namely, (1) not pressuring faster and getting close enough to make the winger get his head down and (2) not going to ground/diving in when he has every opportunity to contain and allow our guys to get back on defense.

point 1 - there are lots of things to consider when closing down the space and pressuring an attacker. But I think mentally, Sweat is capable of playing smart enough to make up for any deficiencies he may have compared to the attacker he is facing.

point 2 - this goes along with point 1 really. if he's smart enough to position himself better, he'll have less situations where he'll need to go to ground. sometimes I feel like he's going for the spectacular tackle instead of the smart play.

If Sweat improves these parts of his game, I think he'd be really solid for us. Not as good offensively as Mata, but he's a defender first and foremost so that's ok. Until that happens, I'm open to finding a new LB.

 

[Antidote P. Smiley]

We have a team full of forward players with terrible judgment. One of the primary rules of soccer is make the easy pass over the hard pass. Every single one of the forward players, save Maxi, looks to make the hard pass. Everything is trying to thread the needle to hit the shooting foot of a player in the box covered by at least two defenders. Everyone thinks they’re Iniesta passing the ball to Messi in the box.



That will not work on a tiny field against a team that is playing 9 men behind the ball.

Also, the finishing is dreadful.

Fred’s post resonates with me...

Now regarding the stats:
I’m not sure how all those numbers are arrived at...
Is it possible that the stats are unable to reveal some important context about this team and finishing?

How about this context regarding goals:
5 against Cincinnati, 3 against a 10 man SKC, 3 against a 10 man Houston...

How many games (and how many minutes in those matches) have we played with a man advantage this season?

When I think of games against top playoff caliber teams this year, LAFC, Portland, Red Bull’s (NYFC goal total was 3) and last night’s 3 goal last minute man advantage W against a bad road team not even the “number” or “stats” comfort me.

 

[adam]

Fred’s post resonates with me...

Now regarding the stats:
I’m not sure how all those numbers are arrived at...
Is it possible that the stats are unable to reveal some important context about this team and finishing?

How about this context regarding goals:
5 against Cincinnati, 3 against a 10 man SKC, 3 against a 10 man Houston...

How many games (and how many minutes in those matches) have we played with a man advantage this season?

When I think of games against top playoff caliber teams this year, LAFC, Portland, Red Bull’s (NYFC goal total was 3) and last night’s 3 goal last minute man advantage W against a bad road team not even the “number” or “stats” comfort me.

Agreed, but we also rested some of our better players for most or the whole match last night.