MLS - April 27 - Charlotte (Home - YS)

[JayH]

I thought Ilenic was terrific last night. Great runs, blazing speed, dangerous crosses. IMO other than Santi, he was the best player on the field.

On the other hand, wasn’t impressed with how HW handled being a sub. Played poorly, but even worse looked disinterested, frustrated and unmotivated.

 

[mgarbowski]

Most recent 3-game winning streak before now was the final 3 games of 2022. One was Away in Atlanta so a bit more impressive, but you can only play the schedule. They also won the final 3 Home game of 2023 (with road disappointment mixed in).
Never saw a CB leave no-look a drop pass for the trailing runner so perfectly before.
Bakrar was just a bit offside. Disappointing because it gave him no advantage at all. Very impressive how he created that shot, though.
Game lasted an obscene 2 hours 6 minutes and was more than 2 hours long even before Martins was knocked out. Was the ref adding time because he took 2 minutes to set up every free kick?
Perea can't pick up an injured player by the head like he did.

 

[KevinJRogers]

During the game winner celebration, two guys in succession in matching outfits ran towards the players. They got immediately swarmed, tackled, zip tied by YS security. They were some LT like tackles, they got absolutely demolished. It was impressive how quickly the staff reacted and apprehended the guys. I was a little concerned while it was happening because the matching outfits was strange, I was waiting for more to join.

Some of those Yankee Stadium security dudes are beastly. I was in the upper deck back in the late '90s sitting next to a section of FDNY guys, drunk off their asses. They were alright, just loud, until this one shirtless creatine freak got out in the aisle and started menacing people.

This security guy who looked exactly like Ricky Williams -- except he was even bigger and badder -- covered the stairs in about three strides and just destroyed him. Crushed. Tweety birds around the head, the whole bit.

Needless to say, things settled down after that.

 

[LionNYC]

It makes me wonder whether this was just a couple of drunk dudes or if it was more premeditated with some kind of political point that they didn’t have a chance to express.

I doubt we will ever know.

It looked like they were wearing Barcelona sweatshirts and sweatpants. They had their phones out so maybe trying to get a picture. I wanted to say, “Didn’t know Messi played for us.” Who knows?

 

[BC19]

6th place! It’s quite sad but I can’t remember a post 2022 time we were so high up the table.

 

[joe]

Any update on Martins? That was scary

 

[mgarbowski]

Any update on Martins? That was scary

https://twitter.com/x/status/1784406676004573661

 

[gbservis]

Ojeda had a nice game last night. He was active in the press and tracking back. He showed some clever movement and the ability to dribble out of pressure. I think the team is still getting used to his movement, he finds space well, and once Santi and others build some understanding he could be really good. It will be interesting to see Ojeda with Maxi as I think he will see the movement and get him the ball in better spots.

 

[CCMore]

Ojeda had a nice game last night. He was active in the press and tracking back. He showed some clever movement and the ability to dribble out of pressure. I think the team is still getting used to his movement, he finds space well, and once Santi and others build some understanding he could be really good. It will be interesting to see Ojeda with Maxi as I think he will see the movement and get him the ball in better spots.

I second this. There was one play in particular where O’toole committed forward on a cross that was cleared and Charlotte tried for a quick counter to where O’toole was out of place. Ojeda was already back and won the ball away from the offensive CLT player. I was very impressed by the situational awareness.

 

[Gene]

During the game winner celebration, two guys in succession in matching outfits ran towards the players. They got immediately swarmed, tackled, zip tied by YS security. They were some LT like tackles, they got absolutely demolished. It was impressive how quickly the staff reacted and apprehended the guys. I was a little concerned while it was happening because the matching outfits was strange, I was waiting for more to join.

But it was a late game winner!!!

 

[JayH]

Man of the people.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1784610616864301281

 

[Revfugee]

It makes me wonder whether this was just a couple of drunk dudes or if it was more premeditated with some kind of political point that they didn’t have a chance to express.

I doubt we will ever know.

they were in my section, wearing matching Barca sweatsuits looking like they’dbeen planning it the whole game

 

[Gotham Gator]

On players, I agree that Ojeda had a good game.

Fernandez on the other hand… his poor backpass in minute 15 led to a one-on-one that Freese saved. If that scores, it’s game over. He was also late getting back on Charlotte’s goal, but to be fair they moved so quickly on that counter that he probably couldn’t have made a difference.

 

[SoupInNYC]

I thought Ilenic was terrific last night. Great runs, blazing speed, dangerous crosses. IMO other than Santi, he was the best player on the field.

On the other hand, wasn’t impressed with how HW handled being a sub. Played poorly, but even worse looked disinterested, frustrated and unmotivated.

He's really been coming on lately

 

[KevinJRogers]

On players, I agree that Ojeda had a good game.

Fernandez on the other hand… his poor backpass in minute 15 led to a one-on-one that Freese saved. If that scores, it’s game over. He was also late getting back on Charlotte’s goal, but to be fair they moved so quickly on that counter that he probably couldn’t have made a difference.

He's really been coming on lately

You could see where Fernandez needs to develop more to round out his game. He's still green. But I loved the way he just bulled in and created a shot. That's a glimpse of what's coming. He's going to grow into one heck of a player.

As for Hannes, I start him every game where he's fit.

 

[DeGrozz]

It doesn't seem fair to pile on Bakrar right now, but....

We've score 5 goals during this little win streak. If my math is correct, 3 of those goals have come in the 28 minutes (+stoppage) that Mounsef has been on the bench.

Food for thought

 

[gbservis]

You could see where Fernandez needs to develop more to round out his game. He's still green. But I loved the way he just bulled in and created a shot. That's a glimpse of what's coming. He's going to grow into one heck of a player.

As for Hannes, I start him every game where he's fit.

When we first signed Fernandez I remember seeing a conversation between NYCFC fans and a fan from Vélez Sarsfield the club Fernandez came from. I think it was on Reddit but I can't seem to find it now. This fan's scouting report on Fernandez was very talented physically but not very smart. I remember it because at the time I thought it was a bit harsh to comment on a player's intelligence especially a player that is so young. After watching him though I think I can see what they are getting at, probably a better way to say it is that he doesn't have a lot of game sense.

The team keeps his role very limited, he sticks to the right side and cuts in when he has an opening. Even on the overlap his passing and movement are very one-dimensional. That said the guy is 20 and increased game sense is certainly something the coaching staff can help him develop. He is crazy talented and more than capable of scoring goals entirely of his own making but if the team can help him grow to a point where he can do more interplay with his teammates and operate within the offense he will be a monster.

 

[KevinJRogers]

When we first signed Fernandez I remember seeing a conversation between NYCFC fans and a fan from Vélez Sarsfield the club Fernandez came from. I think it was on Reddit but I can't seem to find it now. This fan's scouting report on Fernandez was very talented physically but not very smart. I remember it because at the time I thought it was a bit harsh to comment on a player's intelligence especially a player that is so young. After watching him though I think I can see what they are getting at, probably a better way to say it is that he doesn't have a lot of game sense.

The team keeps his role very limited, he sticks to the right side and cuts in when he has an opening. Even on the overlap his passing and movement are very one-dimensional. That said the guy is 20 and increased game sense is certainly something the coaching staff can help him develop. He is crazy talented and more than capable of scoring goals entirely of his own making but if the team can help him grow to a point where he can do more interplay with his teammates and operate within the offense he will be a monster.

This all makes a lot of sense to me. He often looks confused.

But when he gets himself pointed in the right direction, look out. From a game management perspective, you kind of have to hide him and figure out ways to cover for the missing elements in his game until he can pop out and do some damage. Nick even slid Ojeda across the field to Julian's side for a while Saturday, I'm assuming to create an overload for him and help in transitions.

Then the kid got the ball at his feet and cracked a double-team single-handedly and got off a pretty decent shot, no help from anyone. It's not something you teach. It's just straight-up balling.