NYCFC finished fifth overall in the league this year even though they basically punted one third of the season (the stretch where they had one win in 10 games). Food for thought.
In the other 24 games NYCFC had a PPG of 2.08 and a Goal Differential of +24.
Overall it was a pretty streaky season. There never was a medium-sized stretch where they played near their average level of 1.62 PPG and you can't divide it into clear substreaks.
First 5 games PPG 0.80 GD -1
Next 8 games PPG 2.75 GD +8
Next 4 games PPG 0.75 GD -1
Next 4 games PPG 3.00 GD +6
Next 10 games PPG 0.50 GD -8
Final 3 games PPG 3.00 GD +4
Of course I'm cherry picking with these game splits. If you take the first 10 Cushing games it comes to 1.60 PPG which is just about season average. But it so clearly breaks down into 4 winless, 4 wins and then 2 winless. It's not really a 10-game stretch where the good and bad results were evenly mixed.
And the streaks almost perfectly coincide with external events that line up with the results:
Begin season and CCL play
First 5 games PPG 0.80 GD -1
Last CCL game played between these segments
Next 8 games PPG 2.75 GD +8
Ronny Quits, Cushing In
Next 4 games GD 0.75 GD -1
Next 4 games PPG 3.00 GD +6
Ending of previous segment coincided with Taty's last game. Also....
In the next segment Callens, Morales, Martins and Tinnerholm combine to appear in only 20/40 games and average 38 minutes per game
Next 10 games PPG 0.50 GD -8
In the last segment Callens, Morales, Martins and Tinnerholm combine to appear in 9/12 games and average 54 minutes per game. These are also the first games in which Callens and Martins both start and were not forced to leave the game early for injury or red card since July.
Final 3 games PPG 3.00 GD +4
Basically every switch in results, except for one, aligns with a clear plausible cause.
