MLS - August 24 - Chicago (Home - CF)

[Kenny]

• nearly the entire first half was played in our offensive end, and we only took 6 shots while allowing 6

all good points, but this one in particular is crazy. Lots of crosses from out wide near the goal line and simply not enough players running into the box to get on the end of one. The first Alonso goal was very out of nowhere from outside the box "fuck this I'm having a go from right here".

 

[GratefulDawg]

The Fire are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook.

Two points lost, and I dare say most likely the start of a slide down the table during the stretch run.

We got way too conservative and got punished. Tayvon, defending 101: put your hands behind your back in the box.

 

[mgarbowski]

I saw someone wearing a Birk Risa jersey at the game.
This led me to wonder what life experiences leads you to the decision to buy a Birk Risa jersey?
I don’t hate Risa, but I mean sincerely why?

 

[ZYanksRule]

Atrocious, atrocious tie. That has to be a win against an awful team that wasn't doing anything dangerous.

I hated Gray's body language after the handball. Live in the stadium I thought it was soft, but watching the replay -- it's a stone-cold penalty. Just incredibly sloppy from Gray. He needs to know better.

I thought Keaton was awesome tonight -- really good performance all night from him.

I hated how the team played the last 30 minutes. We were completely bossing that game, then the subs happen and we decide the game is over. We have to kill the game. Cushing needs to be better with how he sets the team up. Leading 2-0 isn't the place to put every defensive player you have on the field. We're not good enough to absorb pressure for 20 minutes. I don't understand why Cushing does this time and time again when it's been shown not to work. At some point the coach needs to put the players in position to succeed, and that's not what Cushing did in the 2nd half.

I really want this team to win that first-round best-of-3 series in the playoffs. That would make it a successful season for me. But we need to be a hell of a lot better than those last 20 minutes.

 

[moogoo]

I saw someone wearing a Birk Risa jersey at the game.
This led me to wonder what life experiences leads you to the decision to buy a Birk Risa jersey?
I don’t hate Risa, but I mean sincerely why?

Maybe Norwegian pride?

 

[JayH]

I think we were hoping to win in PKs.

 

[mgarbowski]

Maybe Norwegian pride?

Admittedly you can't ever be sure, but I'm guessing no in this case.
I'm still puzzled in the light of morning.
Risa is just there. His jersey doesn't even work on a counter-cool or ironic level. He's just a sort of ok starting CB who shows little personality. But if that's who you identify with, let your mid flag fly!

 

[mgarbowski]

all good points, but this one in particular is crazy. Lots of crosses from out wide near the goal line and simply not enough players running into the box to get on the end of one. The first Alonso goal was very out of nowhere from outside the box "fuck this I'm having a go from right here".

This was what I saw for maybe 35 minutes in first half:

Every time Chicago managed to cross midfield with possession they created decent chances. NYC played a lot of Simpsons soccer with each other, and was fortunate to get 2 goals out of weak chances.

 

[DeGrozz]

We've now dropped 13 points from winning positions this season (not counting the Leagues Cup collapse in Cincy, or losing in PKs after the instant lead in Columbus).

I looked at the teams the closest to us in the Eastern Conference table, and that's more than CLT, NYRB, or Columbus. If we start the playoffs on the road, we know why...

(and I know CLB has several games in hand, but you gotta think schedule congestion is gonna catch up to them)

 

[gbservis]

I hated how the team played the last 30 minutes. We were completely bossing that game, then the subs happen and we decide the game is over. We have to kill the game. Cushing needs to be better with how he sets the team up. Leading 2-0 isn't the place to put every defensive player you have on the field. We're not good enough to absorb pressure for 20 minutes. I don't understand why Cushing does this time and time again when it's been shown not to work. At some point the coach needs to put the players in position to succeed, and that's not what Cushing did in the 2nd half.

I'm not sure what people want Cushing to do with the current roster options he has. As soon as we put on more than 1 of the young guys (Jovan, Fernandez, Ojdea, and Bkarar) we completely lose the ability to execute any kind of functional offense. Our roster is attacker-heavy and thin everywhere else but it's also thin on competent attackers despite all the money we paid for the young guys. All 4 of the players that came off last night played heavy min in the cup and looked like they needed to be subbed. So assuming you have to swap out those same 4 players what are the options?

1. Go full like for like and instead of putting on Haak send out Ojeda, Jovan, and Fernandez. This will result in us not being able to do anything on offense and likely spending the whole time defending anyway without Haak to help.

2. Keep the same subs we used last night but instead of going with the 3 DMs that always seem to get us in trouble, shift Parks forward to help with the press the way we used Perea late game earlier in the season. But that only works if we press and you can't press with plodding Jovan on the field.

3. Go with option 2 but instead of putting on Jovan, put on Bakrar so the press can be effective when Keaton pushes up to help.

I would have preferred option 3 but Parks doesn't play with the same work rate as Perea and I expect there is pressure to play Jovan so I can see how Cushing landed on the subs he made.

 

[mgarbowski]

I'm not sure what people want Cushing to do with the current roster options he has. As soon as we put on more than 1 of the young guys (Jovan, Fernandez, Ojdea, and Bkarar) we completely lose the ability to execute any kind of functional offense. Our roster is attacker-heavy and thin everywhere else but it's also thin on competent attackers despite all the money we paid for the young guys. All 4 of the players that came off last night played heavy min in the cup and looked like they needed to be subbed. So assuming you have to swap out those same 4 players what are the options?

1. Go full like for like and instead of putting on Haak send out Ojeda, Jovan, and Fernandez. This will result in us not being able to do anything on offense and likely spending the whole time defending anyway without Haak to help.

2. Keep the same subs we used last night but instead of going with the 3 DMs that always seem to get us in trouble, shift Parks forward to help with the press the way we used Perea late game earlier in the season. But that only works if we press and you can't press with plodding Jovan on the field.

3. Go with option 2 but instead of putting on Jovan, put on Bakrar so the press can be effective when Keaton pushes up to help.

I would have preferred option 3 but Parks doesn't play with the same work rate as Perea and I expect there is pressure to play Jovan so I can see how Cushing landed on the subs he made.

Building on this:
I don't think Martinez is over worked, and wasn't even that active in Leagues Cup, but that doesn't mean he wasn't winded. As I noted a couple of weeks ago, he has never played 90 minutes. He did play long shifts in the last 2 LC games, but only played 64 total in the first 3. On the plus side his G/90 is up to 0.97 and it is conceivable he hits my arbitrary 15 goal standard. But there's a reason he gets a lot of rest. We just don't know exactly what it is.

Earlier in the season a developing CW around NYCFC was we had amazing attacking depth and could overrun teams by bringing Martinez and Jones on late to dominate tired defenses. But Martinez is starting and Jones is hurt, and as you note, Bakrar, Ojeda, Fernandez and Jovan don't offer very much: 8 goals in more than 2800 combined minutes for a blended 0.25 G/90.

 

[Brooklyn Blue]

I'm not sure what people want Cushing to do with the current roster options he has. As soon as we put on more than 1 of the young guys (Jovan, Fernandez, Ojdea, and Bkarar) we completely lose the ability to execute any kind of functional offense. Our roster is attacker-heavy and thin everywhere else but it's also thin on competent attackers despite all the money we paid for the young guys. All 4 of the players that came off last night played heavy min in the cup and looked like they needed to be subbed. So assuming you have to swap out those same 4 players what are the options?

1. Go full like for like and instead of putting on Haak send out Ojeda, Jovan, and Fernandez. This will result in us not being able to do anything on offense and likely spending the whole time defending anyway without Haak to help.

2. Keep the same subs we used last night but instead of going with the 3 DMs that always seem to get us in trouble, shift Parks forward to help with the press the way we used Perea late game earlier in the season. But that only works if we press and you can't press with plodding Jovan on the field.

3. Go with option 2 but instead of putting on Jovan, put on Bakrar so the press can be effective when Keaton pushes up to help.

I would have preferred option 3 but Parks doesn't play with the same work rate as Perea and I expect there is pressure to play Jovan so I can see how Cushing landed on the subs he made.

My, perhaps overly simple, suggestion - don’t start Maxi.

For the stretch run they should always have either Santi or Maxi at the 10. This doesn’t mean they can’t play together, just that one should always be on the pitch, barring injury or a lopsided score.

Maxi as super sub would allow him to run full out when in game, and it would let him enter a game knowing if we need to score or hold possession.

Another advantage - Maxi has the experience to adapt and understand game flow better than the slew of young attackers.

I’d go into this last set of games with this:

Ojeda/Fernandez - Martinez - Wolf


Santi


Pick Ojeda for tight parked defenses, Fernandez for long ball/speed.

Bring in Bakrar or Jovan for pressing or box presence/poaching.

Bring Maxi in at 60 minutes for an attacker or Parks as needed. Let him cook.

 

[LionNYC]

As stated depth has been an issues. Perera has been huge coming in as a sub and absorbing all midfield pressure and helping start counter attacks leading to a goal, or just heading to the far corner. His injury has really been felt. Justin Haak has been coming in, not to say Haak is responsible for the loss, he's just lower on the depth chart.

 

[Alex Da Silva]

I miss perea, he is so good from the start of at the end of the game, keeps us playing like we want to be.

 

[Kenny]

I miss perea, he is so good from the start of at the end of the game, keeps us playing like we want to be.

He's been a HUGE miss.

 

[moogoo]

I miss perea, he is so good from the start of at the end of the game, keeps us playing like we want to be.

i miss jones too. he was incredibly dynamic on the wing willing to take on players AND run in behind.

 

[Schwallacus]

Admittedly you can't ever be sure, but I'm guessing no in this case.
I'm still puzzled in the light of morning.
Risa is just there. His jersey doesn't even work on a counter-cool or ironic level. He's just a sort of ok starting CB who shows little personality. But if that's who you identify with, let your mid flag fly!

I've thought about getting one since he's from Stavanger and it's currently the HQ for the company I work for. I joke with one of my coworkers that Risa's his brother, but aside from an incredibly rare and dumb circumstance I agree with your points. He's been quite mid-tier with minimal increase, if any, in CB-ing abilities.

 

[Gotham Gator]

One issue I think we have with our centerbacks is ability in the air. Neither of our starters seems to be particularly strong defending crosses, etc.

I do think Risa is a decent defender and an above average passer from the back.

 

[moogoo]

One issue I think we have with our centerbacks is ability in the air. Neither of our starters seems to be particularly strong defending crosses, etc.

I do think Risa is a decent defender and an above average passer from the back.

agree neither are dominant in the air.

i disagree Risa is a decent defender. He's not a good 1v1 defender. He's not particularly fast and we established he's not dominant in the air. He doesn't track runners well and doesn't seem to be the type who commands the back line to make sure it's organized.

He does have a good passing range, but i don't think we see it often enough. This might be because of how cushing wants to play (e.g., less direct balls).

 

[LionNYC]

They score. Next moment.

But what if they score again?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1829186413604356592