MLS Cup Playoffs - November 23 - Red Bulls (Home)

[CCMore]

I’m excited to see what next season brings us. This year just wasn’t it. I think Wolf is a decent player but he definitely is not a difference maker. But that’s just damming to think of the amount of players (and money) sitting on the bench behind him who just can’t take his spot. If they can’t be better something needs to be done to either develop those players (meaning a coach change) or find some actual ballers who can play.

 

[LionNYC]

We’re still too reliant on a 37 year old to work the midfield. That’s telling.

 

[Kenny]

I'm still wondering about that second goal. If Keaton played Vanzeir on, it was by a smidgin.

We were good tonight, though. Not as good as against Tigres (our match of the year, and a sign of things to come), but we certainly didn't gag or wobble. It just didn't go our way.

But I'm excited for the next campaign, and the campaign after that. It's really hard to be patient and take the long view, especially since there's always the chance David and Nick and the organization have it all wrong and we really have blown the fees and lost the opportunities the last few windows have accorded us.

I don't think that's the case. There are only so many minutes to go around, and we're too talented to tank an entire season for the sake of giving the kids on-the-job experience. And we know that, because we were among the last four teams standing in the Eastern Conference.

I believe what we saw this year was a team which executed the last step of a flying transition. The next step is to fully integrate all the moves.

In the meantime, I'm damn proud of our guys.

I appreciate your positivity, and agree. I just wish it wasn’t the red bulls.

 

[KevinJRogers]

I appreciate your positivity, and agree. I just wish it wasn’t the red bulls.

I don't hate. It's against my religion to hate. No one should have hate in their heart.

But I hate Red Bull.

 

[LionNYC]

I appreciate your positivity, and agree. I just wish it wasn’t the red bulls.

Yeah, this isn’t just us losing. It’s them being closer to MLS Cup which is a travesty.

God, am I now rooting for Atlanta? Maybe. Literally any Western Conference team? Yes.

 

[LionNYC]

Not to be too tinfoil hat but Alan Kelly, the head of PRO, was standing pitchside during the game. He was standing on both sides we were attacking each half. I don't know what that means but I didn't like Allen Chapman tonight. RB led with 18 to 9 fouls, only 1 yellow card to our 2. So much time wasting by RB and only 4 and 9 minutes of added time.

We're 0-5 against Red Bulls in knockout games. 4 were held in RBA (3 USOC, 1 Leagues Cup). That's a terrible record.

And I felt something was wrong when they had a guitarist perform the national anthem. That felt more Red Bulls.

And the light show. It's the first time we're doing it this season. Less than 20% of the stadium had their phones going. Felt, meh.

 

[Brooklyn Blue]

David Lee Out!

Transfer fees and Playoff Stats
Mijatovic - $8.7M (0G, 0A, 0 Starts, 4 Min)
Ojeda - $7M (0G, 0A, 0 Starts, 16 Min)
Fernandez - $5M (0G, 0A, 0 Starts, 9 Min)
Bakrar - $3M (0G, 0A, 0 Starts, 43 Min)
Risa - $1M (0G, 0A, 1 Starts, 90 Min)

Total Transfer Fees: $24.7M
Total Playoff Goals: 0
Total Playoff Assists: 0
Total Starts: 1
Total Min Played: 162

That is horrific in a capped league.

Is it Lee or Cushing?

One of them has to go - they are cross-purpose.

With respect to differing opinions, I’d rather keep Lee who was here and helped build two conference finalists. Cushing buries the young players, and in an elimination game down 2-0 decides to make the first substitution at 74 minutes - and brings on a box to box midfielder for an attacker. It was emblematic of his never-ending quest to win a game 0-0.

This team likely finished where they should. It hurts more to lose to Jersey and their Neanderthal soccer, but top 8 was a fair result for a squad that was not a real threat to win the cup.

Interested to see what happens this off-season. My preference regarding administration is on record. Enjoy London, Nick. For players, I’d like to celebrate Maxi one more year, and balance the spend better between attack and defense - but am pretty open and flexible until the stadium opens.

 

[moogoo]

Not to be too tinfoil hat but Alan Kelly, the head of PRO, was standing pitchside during the game. He was standing on both sides we were attacking each half. I don't know what that means but I didn't like Allen Chapman tonight. RB led with 18 to 9 fouls, only 1 yellow card to our 2. So much time wasting by RB and only 4 and 9 minutes of added time.

We're 0-5 against Red Bulls in knockout games. 4 were held in RBA (3 USOC, 1 Leagues Cup). That's a terrible record.

i don't think the refereeing made much of a difference tonight.

red bull were clinical and we were not. by my eye, they seemed to win the duels and our guys were just a step behind. i found myself screaming at parks cause he'd make a pass or a tackle and if it didn't pan out, he would just kinda watch the play without continuing to get involved. i love parks and there are games when he has beast games, but there are just so many where he just seems like he's playing in a rec league.

 

[LionNYC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1860513529519907285

 

[ZYanksRule]

I thought the moment was too big for our players tonight. Red Bulls were so much more composed than we were.

The wind was a major factor in the first half -- every one of our long balls got held up by the wind, and they got a boost in that first half. We didn't take advantage of it after halftime.

Parks kept the racist Red Bulls player onside on that 2nd goal. The handball I wanted, but maybe they didn't give it because it wasn't making his body unnaturally bigger and was in a natural position.

I'm upset we lost, but all year my hope was to reach the conference semifinal. Hosting it against our biggest rival made me greedy, but I agree with Brooklyn Blue -- this is where we deserved to finish. Just sucks so bad that it had to be against the fucking Red Bulls.

I'm upset we lost, but I'm furious at the Third Rail. It was classless for the Red Bulls players to taunt us after the game, but that doesn't give fans the right to throw bottles and cans on the field. It's humiliating as an NYCFC fan. If we're going to lose, we need to learn how to lose with class. If our suppporters section suffers sanctions next year, we will absolutely deserve it.

 

[JayH]

David Lee Out!

Transfer fees and Playoff Stats
Mijatovic - $8.7M (0G, 0A, 0 Starts, 4 Min)
Ojeda - $7M (0G, 0A, 0 Starts, 16 Min)
Fernandez - $5M (0G, 0A, 0 Starts, 9 Min)
Bakrar - $3M (0G, 0A, 0 Starts, 43 Min)
Risa - $1M (0G, 0A, 1 Starts, 90 Min)

Total Transfer Fees: $24.7M
Total Playoff Goals: 0
Total Playoff Assists: 0
Total Starts: 1
Total Min Played: 162

That is horrific in a capped league.

This ^^^^ x 25,000,000

 

[Brooklyn Blue]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1860513529519907285

This is overblown. After the loss Maxi may have more on his mind. If he plans to retire, there will be a press conference at the appropriate time. Whine about something else.

 

[ZYanksRule]

This ^^^^ x 25,000,000

And the crazy thing about it: NONE of those players (except maybe Risa) deserved to be on the field in a do-or-die game. All of those attacking players did absolutely nothing this season to earn playoff minutes. It's not like we had too many good players and had to leave talent on the bench. Those attackers were all dreadful this year and didn't do anything to earn minutes.

This is a big concern of mine for the offseason. They're all signed for a few years. Maybe we sell Julian this offseason. We need to see if Jovan actually wants to be here, because he didn't play like he wanted to be here all year. But if those two guys stay, we have almost no wiggle room in the roster.

The only players out of contract for next year are Maxi Moralez, Luis Barraza, and Thiago Andrade (who's out on loan anyway, and we have an option year on him).

That's it. Hopefully Maxi returns, I could see Barraza leaving and we grab a new backup goalie (Romero also out of contract). But we have very little wiggle room.

This is going to be an offseason with very few moves unless we sell Julian and let Jovan go somewhere he wants to be.

We will be resting our hopes in 2025 on Mijatovic, Ojeda, Fernandez, and Bakrar taking a step forward and improving. If they do, we are a top-4 team in the East. If they don't, we could potentially even take a step back if Alonso's hot streak doesn't continue.

 

[ZYanksRule]

This is overblown. After the loss Maxi may have more on his mind. If he plans to retire, there will be a press conference at the appropriate time. Whine about something else.

There will not be a press conference. Maxi should talk after the game. I don't think this is overblown -- it's an endemic problem with NYCFC.

 

[KevinJRogers]

We will be resting our hopes in 2025 on Mijatovic, Ojeda, Fernandez, and Bakrar taking a step forward and improving. If they do, we are a top-4 team in the East. If they don't, we could potentially even take a step back if Alonso's hot streak doesn't continue.

Don't forget about Malachi coming back.

 

[Brooklyn Blue]

And the crazy thing about it: NONE of those players (except maybe Risa) deserved to be on the field in a do-or-die game.

How do you know? None of the young attackers received any extended play time. Cushing rarely rotates and substitutes late or never.

Mijatovic 271 minutes 2 starts.
Fernandez 674 minutes 6 starts.
Ojeda 924 minutes 11 starts.

Wolf 2559 minutes 32 starts. 1 goal in June, 1 in July, none since.

Do we really think a team in transition couldn’t find more minutes for some of the high money transfers?

They may all be poor acquisitions, but anyone who claims to know at this point is just guessing. And that includes Nick.

If we keep Nick, we need to sign 28 year olds that have found their level and be like any number of MLS teams. If we want to find young stars, we need a coach that will play young players. Pick a lane. This half and half nonsense is never going to work long term.

 

[ZYanksRule]

How do you know? None of the young attackers received any extended play time. Cushing rarely rotates and substitutes late or never.

Mijatovic 271 minutes 2 starts.
Fernandez 674 minutes 6 starts.
Ojeda 924 minutes 11 starts.

Wolf 2559 minutes 32 starts. 1 goal in June, 1 in July, none since.

Do we really think a team in transition couldn’t find more minutes for some of the high money transfers?

They may all be poor acquisitions, but anyone who claims to know at this point is just guessing. And that includes Nick.

If we keep Nick, we need to sign 28 year olds that have found their level and be like any number of MLS teams. If we want to find young stars, we need a coach that will play young players. Pick a lane. This half and half nonsense is never going to work long term.

My point is that in those minutes, none of those guys did anything to deserve more time.

Jovan walked around the field and generally looked like he didn't want to be here.

Fernandez was a non-factor. Ojeda was fast, but didn't do anything else.

At least Wolf played a decent role in our attack, had a good workrate, and had some good moments. I absolutely thought he was better than the other three guys.

Should they have gotten more time to aid their development? Maybe, but Nick had a ton of pressure on him to get results this year. I legitimately believe he was one loss from being fired before we went on that run during the homestand in April/May. He needed to ride with the players he could trust to give the team the best chance to get results.

 

[Brooklyn Blue]

There will not be a press conference. Maxi should talk after the game. I don't think this is overblown -- it's an endemic problem with NYCFC.

If Maxi retires they’ll have a press conference.

If Maxi isn’t available, that is fine as he has earned whatever leeway he wants. And, he may be contemplating a lot this evening. He has earned time to ponder.

I’ll accept that NYCFC can be selective with information, but two things can be true.

 

[ZYanksRule]

If Maxi retires they’ll have a press conference.

If Maxi isn’t available, that is fine as he has earned whatever leeway he wants. And, he may be contemplating a lot this evening. He has earned time to ponder.

I’ll accept that NYCFC can be selective with information, but two things can be true.

Last time Maxi left, they did an in-house interview with him, but the media never got a press conference. I don't think it would be different this time.

 

[Brooklyn Blue]

My point is that in those minutes, none of those guys did anything to deserve more time.

Jovan walked around the field and generally looked like he didn't want to be here.

Fernandez was a non-factor. Ojeda was fast, but didn't do anything else.

At least Wolf played a decent role in our attack, had a good workrate, and had some good moments. I absolutely thought he was better than the other three guys.

Should they have gotten more time to aid their development? Maybe, but Nick had a ton of pressure on him to get results this year. I legitimately believe he was one loss from being fired before we went on that run during the homestand in April/May. He needed to ride with the players he could trust to give the team the best chance to get results.

Jovan showed little, but had the least time to show anything. I’ll disagree on Fernandez - he always did something, even if his team defense was erratic.

I like Wolf as a player, but let’s be honest - his output was lacking the second half of the year. Maybe some rest would have helped and would have given chances to others.

Cushing desperate is at the heart of my biggest complaint. This team spent a ton of money on young players but had a desperate coach more concerned with stopping goals than scoring goals bury them on the bench. The coach doesn’t match the squad. We can disagree, but I’d rather watch young potential - even if it fails - than Sporting Kansas City.