Houston - Postmatch

[Christopher Jee]

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.

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.

I think Revfugee hit the nail on the head.

RE: point 1 - he can't close down space because if he gets too tight, he will get beaten. I think Katai did this to him 3 times in one match.
RE: point 2 - he goes to ground because he knows he can't keep up with them, so he's forced to tackle early while he's still close enough to do it.

Both points 1 and 2 are adjustments that he makes because he knows he can't accelerate / turn as quickly as most of the players he comes up against, which is an athletic flaw that is going to be difficult to make up for with intelligence. Hell, even the elite level pattern recognition he'd require to make up for his athletic flaws is something that is really hard to improve upon.

 

[JayH]

I think that you have to evaluate both Sweat and Mata defensively as wingbacks, not as traditional outside backs. Mata brings a lot of value going forward (even more so lately), but is and has always been a liability to the extent he is required to defend. Sweat is not as dangerous as Mata going forward, but has above average speed, control, and crossing abilities. And notwithstanding the gripes on here, he is not as "dangerous" as Mata defensively. He's not great in the first third, but not so far from MLS average. Tinney is the full package wingback - but he is a unicorn by MLS standards and relatively costly. If we play this system, you either have to spend and find a second unicorn, or engage in the "help us minus hurt us" math Dome is doing with Mata vs. Sweat.

 

[Shwafta]

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

Players we rested who are arguably first team:
Maxi, Sands, Tinnerholm
Does that really make a big difference, just 3 players? I'm not sure.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Players we rested who are arguably first team:
Maxi, Sands, Tinnerholm
Does that really make a big difference, just 3 players? I'm not sure.

"Just 3 players" ... Maxi is a best XI player in the league. Sands being on the field probably would have brought more stability to the backline, which struggled a bit. Tinnerholm in pace of Miller is a massive upgrade. So yes, I think those 3 players missing was a big deal. I'm glad we got the result without them (Maxi getting 15 minutes notwithstanding), but they're huge parts of this team.

 

[Shwafta]

"Just 3 players" ... Maxi is a best XI player in the league. Sands being on the field probably would have brought more stability to the backline, which struggled a bit. Tinnerholm in pace of Miller is a massive upgrade. So yes, I think those 3 players missing was a big deal. I'm glad we got the result without them (Maxi getting 15 minutes notwithstanding), but they're huge parts of this team.

I'm not saying they're not... what I'm saying is, they're 3/11 players on the pitch. We got 24 shots on last night and 6 against. I don't know how different it'd end up being..?

 

[SoupInNYC]

I think that you have to evaluate both Sweat and Mata defensively as wingbacks, not as traditional outside backs. Mata brings a lot of value going forward (even more so lately), but is and has always been a liability to the extent he is required to defend. Sweat is not as dangerous as Mata going forward, but has above average speed, control, and crossing abilities. And notwithstanding the gripes on here, he is not as "dangerous" as Mata defensively. He's not great in the first third, but not so far from MLS average. Tinney is the full package wingback - but he is a unicorn by MLS standards and relatively costly. If we play this system, you either have to spend and find a second unicorn, or engage in the "help us minus hurt us" math Dome is doing with Mata vs. Sweat.

I still think Sweat is best defensively as a LCB and not a LB or LWB. He doesn't quite know how to operate in that space and as mentioned before, doesn't have the athletic capabilities to handle speedy wingers or fullbacks. However, he is pretty decent in man-marking and has showed well when playing more centrally.

 

[mgarbowski]

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.

I just said exactly the same thing to a colleague. This team has depth and a busy schedule, so there will be rotation, but I think Taty gets the bulk of the time going forward unless he cools off and maybe if Isi can return.

 

[mgarbowski]

Players we rested who are arguably first team:
Maxi, Sands, Tinnerholm
Does that really make a big difference, just 3 players? I'm not sure.

And Castellanos? I might say Isi is better but he was not available. Apart from that qualifier I think Taty belongs on that list.

 

[mgarbowski]

If we play this system, you either have to spend and find a second unicorn, or engage in the "help us minus hurt us" math Dome is doing with Mata vs. Sweat.

I think it's clear that Reyna and Dome also are making that same bet/calculus in building the roster. Unicorn LBs are hard to find at even upper MLS prices, and even if you go hunting you may never come close to getting one. So get all the wingers instead.

 

[mgarbowski]

Los Templados were wearing orange shirts on the day we play Houston which seems off.
I like seeing the players interact with the kids the way Ring does.
If I were in charge of NY Presbyterian marketing I would want a refund for whatever fee I paid to put their name on those warmup shirts because it's almost invisible.
Is throwing warmup shirts on Kitman Jr. a thing? It's borderline mean in a way that Villa's water squirt never seemed to be, though I'm sure meant in fun.
Castellanos gives Sibiga a thumbs up when Sibiga gives him the yellow for the shirt removal, and Sibiga pats him on the behind.
Some guy with an official vest and a DSLR is taking photos of the players with a smartphone at the end, which get but it's still funny to me.

 

[Ulrich]

I think Revfugee hit the nail on the head.

RE: point 1 - he can't close down space because if he gets too tight, he will get beaten. I think Katai did this to him 3 times in one match.
RE: point 2 - he goes to ground because he knows he can't keep up with them, so he's forced to tackle early while he's still close enough to do it.

Both points 1 and 2 are adjustments that he makes because he knows he can't accelerate / turn as quickly as most of the players he comes up against, which is an athletic flaw that is going to be difficult to make up for with intelligence. Hell, even the elite level pattern recognition he'd require to make up for his athletic flaws is something that is really hard to improve upon.

1. There are very few players in the league that can contain Katai. Using him as an example is perplexing.
2. I’d argue your example defeats itself in that Sweat uses his intelligence and self-awareness to understand his athletics limitations which is exactly why he tackles, and is an extremely good/successful tackler.

Separately, he also is much more reliable defending aerial balls which is very much a function of positioning and athletic ability.

 

[LionNYC]

Never lost a home game in the rain. Never.

 

[moogoo]

Never lost a home game in the rain. Never.

why ya gotta jinx it?

 

[SoupInNYC]

One other thing, Robert Sibiga had himself a very good game.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Oh, and let's remember who Eric Miller is. We traded, what, $50k in GAM for him?

We had no RB depth until Scally was back, which may still be a while. And not like, no RB depth as in a player who isn't good. We had NO RB depth.

Miller is here to be spell Tinny and be an insurance option. He is no Anton Tinnerholm, and it would be a bit much to expect that from him. He's more of a right-sided Tony Rocha and last night while he could have done better, he ok enough IMO (yes, the first goal was quite a lot on him).

ETA: This may have come across more rant-y than I intended, oh well.

 

[mgarbowski]

On Taty's first goal, did anyone get a decent look at the incident between Maxi and McNamara that Tommy thought was a foul moments before he goal? The TV view is useless. Maybe LionNYC or JayH? it looked to be right in front of you guys.

On Taty's second goal I think it's a damn shame that Parks doesn't get an assist for his flicked on header-to-header pass because Taty scored off his own rebound. I'm not saying the rule should be different or anything. It's just a damn shame.

 

[LionNYC]

On Taty's first goal, did anyone get a decent look at the incident between Maxi and McNamara that Tommy thought was a foul moments before he goal? The TV view is useless. Maybe LionNYC or JayH? it looked to be right in front of you guys.

On Taty's second goal I think it's a damn shame that Parks doesn't get an assist for his flicked on header-to-header pass because Taty scored off his own rebound. I'm not saying the rule should be different or anything. It's just a damn shame.

I didn’t celebrate that goal because I thought it was a foul by Maxi and would be overturned by video review. I guess because it wasn’t a clear and obvious error that the foul wasn’t a foul called that the goal stood.

 

[mgarbowski]

I didn’t celebrate that goal because I thought it was a foul by Maxi and would be overturned by video review. I guess because it wasn’t a clear and obvious error that the foul wasn’t a foul called that the goal stood.

I think they probably did not have a decent view.

 

[moogoo]

I think they probably did not have a decent view.

houston players felt maxi came in studs up. from my view at the opposite end of the field, it seemed like that could have been the case, because he came in from the front and there isn't any real angle for him not to come in studs up. the ref was right there though and did not make the call. in the aftermath, houston stopped playing for a moment thinking a foul would be called and allowed parks to find taty in the box.

you guys are right that VAR probably didn't come into play because there were no good camera angles. but it's not like TMac went down in a heap, writhing in pain either.

 

[SoupInNYC]

houston players felt maxi came in studs up. from my view at the opposite end of the field, it seemed like that could have been the case, because he came in from the front and there isn't any real angle for him not to come in studs up. the ref was right there though and did not make the call. in the aftermath, houston stopped playing for a moment thinking a foul would be called and allowed parks to find taty in the box.

you guys are right that VAR probably didn't come into play because there were no good camera angles. but it's not like TMac went down in a heap, writhing in pain either.

Agreed, and Tommy also goes down easy enough elsewhere looking for a foul to be called, that that probably did not help his case, given the bad angle that Sibiga had on it live.