Yeah, Messi's initial contact with Medhi's neck didn't seem all that bad but then it looked like he gave it an unnecessary squeeze before he left.
MLS - February 22 - Miami (Away)
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
I'm not sure there's much more to say.
I'm not sure there's much more to say.
NYCFC entered the season as usual with a half-baked roster and got a half-baked result, probably more than they deserved.
I'm not sure there's much more to say.
since he's been high on ojeda as being young player of the year, a short blurb about what he thought of ojeda's play would have been nice. but otherwise yes, there's not much more else to say.
We're definitely incomplete. And we're not completely healthy, either. We may have seen a much better result with Thiago Martins for the full 90 minutes, and with Malachi available for minutes on the wing.
But that's speculation. We can only work with what we have. And it's clear, we desperately need a young, dynamic, skilled No. 10 who can plug right in and put a defense on its heels and create big chances. (I say that with nothing but maximum love and respect for Maxi, by the way.)
A theme we're likely to see over and over in the foreseeable future.
I thought Trapito gave us his best performance so far. Very heartening to see. And had Julian not flubbed a golden opportunity, we may have been happier with him too, although the whole running around like a chicken with its head cut off thing is, shall we say, suboptimal.
I think we have two really good super draft picks as well. And we have some young -- really young -- guys coming up who will be something down the road, eventually.
But eventually isn't where we are. The transition is complete. It's time to start winning for real. David Lee must take some of that dry powder and put a fuse to it and fill these obvious gaps, and not at the very end of the window, either. If he dawdles until late April, we're going to be left in the dust.
ezbeezy214
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Pascal mentioned a professional foul would probably have been the best option after Fernandez slides in, needlessly btw, for the equalizer. Is that Risa or Cavallo’s job to recognize and to stop retreating so much or does Shore have to foul Fray sooner? Seems like once Messi got the ball Parks was out of the picture.
fernandez's slide was a joke. unnecessary and not even effective.
i think risa, as the experienced player, should have directed someone else to foul.
ezbeezy214
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There’s also a part of me that hoped Cavallo would have kept running with Segovia instead of maintaining a line.
i don't fault him too much for this. he's inexperienced. it was messi carrying the ball at the three of them and even then, the pass was one that few could pull off at that speed. cavallo probably didn't think there was a threat of a pass and was more worried about whether messi was going to dribble around them.
that all being said, i think defensively, our guys could use some coaching. 1v1, 2v2 situations. what to do when someone is driving at the back line like that, etc. personally, I think risa should have controlled the back line more. told someone to pressure messi or commit a foul much sooner. You simply can't let someone drive at your back line all the way into your own box.
Defending is not difficult, but it does need to be taught and practiced so that it's reflexive and instinctual. At least when it comes to 1v1 and 2v2 defending. Our guys are generally pretty terrible at it. You have guys with their hands behind their back outside of the box. Or they go to "pressure" the ball carrier but give a solid 5 yards of space, which is useless. I don't think it would take long to teach the basics and commit some time each week to practice. It would yield tremendous benefits going forward though, in my opinion.
I think Sands covered up defensive mistakes that are going to be costly when they happen now without him out there to bail people out. I also hope Tana never starts for us again, those two fouls (which should have both been yellows) were totally unacceptable and put the team in a terrible spot. We spent the whole preseason prepping for a Risa, Tana pairing to cover for Martins and had to throw it out the window at halftime.
i think we throw murray in there next to risa until martins is available. at the very least, haak. I agree tana makes some stupid decisions, but so does Haak in an attempt to be aggressive.
we were definitely spoiled with chanot and callens for so long. the pain of finding another solid cb pairing is evident.
ezbeezy214
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I think Gray might find time at CB as well at long last
Messi fined for putting hands on Mehdi
I think a big thing that was discussed in the chat during the game, but not so much in this thread, is that the team still has not learned how to close out a game. Do coaches not teach these things? Do players not learn from watching big teams close out games?
What does everyone think? Will we learn from this experience? or will we still be terrible at closing out games?
What does everyone think? Will we learn from this experience? or will we still be terrible at closing out games?
ZYanksRule
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I'm not going to make wild generalizations off facing the best offensive team in MLS. Generally I thought we were doing pretty good things in closing out that game, we just got Messi'ed at the end. There are very few players in this league who make the play Messi made in the 100th minute.
I do think, because of our youth, we will have some trouble with late-game composure at times. But I'm not going to prejudge that after Lionel Messi did Lionel Messi things against our 17 year olds.
They're professional players, and I'm sure they've been coached on how to see out a game. But knowing how to do it and actually executing it are two very different things.
This all ties back to our ongoing roster issues. With the right additions, we'll improve, but right now, this is a bottom-third MLS roster trying to compete against a former Supporters' Shield winner. Seeing out a game requires controlling it, and this squad has struggled to do that even in short stretches—even with Santi and Maxi on the field. Without Santi and Maxi subbed off, their only option is to sit back, defend, and hope for a bit of luck.
youth kids know how to close out a game. we were up a man against a miami team on short rest. we didn't play like we were trying to close out a game. closing out a game means keeping the ball and attacking on when there's a good, high percentage opportunity. otherwise, if you're in trouble, you knock it to the corners or take there yourself and make the clock tick. then on defense, you get compact and find your shape.
We didn't do any of those things. I don't care if it was messi and miami. You're telling me a bunch of so-called professionals can't do a decent game of keep away a man up? It's not like messi or busquets were chasing anybody down either.
Sure, our roster is not on miami's level. I completely agree. But I would have liked to see them attempt to close out the game. In my opinion, I didn't see any of it.
