MLS - March 22 - Columbus (Away)
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
Watching the 5 minutes 38 seconds highlights video, our only attacking clip was the Maxi shot in 76'. Thankfully for the VAR, the 83' goal for Columbus was offside. This might have been the worst attacking match for NYCFC in a couple years. 0 corners. 5 shots, 0 shots on goal.
Yea that's what I noticed too. But not having parks to progress the ball hurt. As Doyle likes to say, he's a one man field tilt machine. Hopefully his injury is minor and he's out one game at most.
The bigger problem is that we are so thin we have no one to fill his spot while he's injured.
Alex Da Silva
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I would like to see more carrizo where he doesn't have to defend as much and can be on the ball more, reid was very hesitant to press but I doubt we see too much of him this season regardless. Ojeda had some really great moments with his first touch. My biggest grip (beside the lack of roster depth) is so many of our players take sloppy touches that get pounced on by the other team, especially when the ball may go out, let it go out, not give the other team the chance to counter. There were also too many soft layoffs that didn't make it to the intended player. If this team can learn to use the ball and be more patient to spring the attack I think we can improve further. I see where this team is trying to go more and I'm not mad (would be happier with some big time reinforcements and signings though)
You're missing the point. Average those three 17-year-olds with the one 38-year-old we had on the field and you have 4 22-year-olds in their prime!!
Four-D chess my brother.
And I agree it got worse, but the first 35 wasn't good. It just wasn't execrable.
Columbus won every 5 minute possession interval the entire game. In the first 35 when Keaton played, the Crew alternated 5 minutes of winning possession by a little with 5 minutes of dominance. After 35' it was almost all dominance.
The game flow chart is more refined than possession. I count 12 minutes where NYCFC controlled the flow in the first 35 minutes and 12 in the rest of the game. That is a fall off but even with Keaton on the field Columbus controlled the flow 2/3 of the game. Plus their peaks were higher than ours. I call that not good. This chart also clearly affirms your observation about minutes 21-23.
Regardless of personnel, our Away offense has been terrible. We have 2 goals in 3 games, and we only have those 2 because Miami set up a terrible wall on a free kick and Alba passed the ball to Alonso. We have created a vast pile of bupkis in open play on the road in 270 minutes. Fortunately our defense has been on point and we still managed 2 points.
Yeah, Ojeda played hard and made some key plays to help kill off the game and steal a point. Given that Fernandez got subbed off at 57' after a bunch of careless giveaways I'd bet Ojeda did enough to earn a start next match opposite Wolf.
let's hope his off field discipline is no longer an issue.
My read, too. And I'd rather see Wolf on the right side to begin with.
I'd also like to see us grab a lead so we could sub off Maxi and move Trapito central and see what happens if he's the playmaker. He can be a pretty slick little dude.
Revfugee
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Just watched (had a gig last night so watched on delay)
We generally did a pretty good job of frustrating them in the box. We just spent too much time there. And luckily Columbus shooting was pretty terrible too.
Credit to the back line for holding a great line on the goal that was called back. It was textbook.
Amazing but also a little bit scary to see Maxi pestering the Crew back line while Reid, who is less than half Maxi’s age, stood and watched. Maxi showing what being a pro looks like. I hope Reid took the lesson.
I was hoping for some magic from Reid or Carrizo but not this time. Still, I’d rather see a bunch of 17 year old out there than some old fringe MLS journeyman.
Julian and Agu both have been looking better against the bottom feeders but they both need to progress more to where they can cope with the better ones. Tonight was valuable minutes for both. Agu did a nice job killing the match in ET. I’m glad they are getting the minutes because either a) they will break out or b) if they don’t break out we will at least have tested them adequately, which Nick stopped doing.
Bakrar is so frustrating. He does all the right things until that final touch(or lack thereof). But you can’t question his effort and when he’s back to subbing late I think he might steal some points with his pressing.
Any time we come out of Columbus with any points is a positive, and doing it without Keaton and A-Mart is a bonus, so I’ll take it.
We generally did a pretty good job of frustrating them in the box. We just spent too much time there. And luckily Columbus shooting was pretty terrible too.
Credit to the back line for holding a great line on the goal that was called back. It was textbook.
Amazing but also a little bit scary to see Maxi pestering the Crew back line while Reid, who is less than half Maxi’s age, stood and watched. Maxi showing what being a pro looks like. I hope Reid took the lesson.
I was hoping for some magic from Reid or Carrizo but not this time. Still, I’d rather see a bunch of 17 year old out there than some old fringe MLS journeyman.
Julian and Agu both have been looking better against the bottom feeders but they both need to progress more to where they can cope with the better ones. Tonight was valuable minutes for both. Agu did a nice job killing the match in ET. I’m glad they are getting the minutes because either a) they will break out or b) if they don’t break out we will at least have tested them adequately, which Nick stopped doing.
Bakrar is so frustrating. He does all the right things until that final touch(or lack thereof). But you can’t question his effort and when he’s back to subbing late I think he might steal some points with his pressing.
Any time we come out of Columbus with any points is a positive, and doing it without Keaton and A-Mart is a bonus, so I’ll take it.
Marito
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As a result it is positive, but as proof of concept it cannot hold. It will be a long, painful season if we have to resign ourselves to be dominated to this extent by the league's better teams. I mean, we are sooo behind in terms of roster quality and depth right now, that I fear that home games (where the game plan cannot be to bunker and have 25% possession) against top-tier teams will be even more likely to end in defeat than this one was. And this one should have been a defeat. I mean Aziel Jackson surpassed Bakrar in terms of Keystone Kops finishing.
Davo15
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Sounds more like Steiner Math.
This basically tracks with my impression after watching. We started off even - maybe even a little better. We had some good chances and created some danger. Gradually, Columbus began to assert themselves on the game and take control. Then, Keaton got hurt and that process accelerated to a rapid completion. By the end of the first half, it was all hands on deck emergency defending for the rest of the match.
I am glad we got a point, but we won't be getting many more if things don't improve.
Julian had two pretty decent opportunities in the early phase of the match but took an extra touch and allowed himself to get closed. It's something we do a lot: take that extra beat, and in an instant the chance is gone. It's a confidence thing. If there's one thing I want to see over the next couple matches, it's us being a little snappier.
And not for nothing, but Pascal was pretty blunt in his postgame. He's not kidding when he says he's going to hold people accountable.
3/22/25 Pascal Jansen Post-Match Press Conference at Columbus
New York City FC's internet bleacher section.
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Julian had two pretty decent opportunities in the early phase of the match but took an extra touch and allowed himself to get closed. It's something we do a lot: take that extra beat, and in an instant the chance is gone. It's a confidence thing. If there's one thing I want to see over the next couple matches, it's us being a little snappier.
And not for nothing, but Pascal was pretty blunt in his postgame. He's not kidding when he says he's going to hold people accountable.
3/22/25 Pascal Jansen Post-Match Press Conference at Columbus
New York City FC's internet bleacher section.
how do you hold a player accountable if there is no depth in his position to push him out?
that's another big issue with such a thin roster. we don't have the competition in each position to make everyone better.
There are other ways of holding people accountable that isn’t playing time. Extra practice, running lines, disciplinary conversations. But I wish we had more depth to claim and push starting spot players
I think Jansen was fairly strategic in his comments in that regard. He went directly after the attackers which is the one spot on the roster where he does have players competing for spots. Martinez and Maxi are fixed starters at this point which leaves Wolf, Ojeda, Fernandez, and Bakrar fighting for time on the wings.
Fernandez was terrible in the Columbus game. He flubbed his two chances and kept blindly panic passing the ball into the center of the field in our own half when he got pressed. We had already burned a sub on Keaton so Jansen burning a second sub in the 57th just to get Fernandez off the pitch is very telling. As I said before I would be shocked if we don't see Ojeda start the next game.
ZYanksRule
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This team is a good MLS early-season story, but I've watched lots of teams with high effort and a new coach start well only to falter. This success will not last if we don't make additions before the end of the window.
Revfugee
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I don’t disagree. Our roster is thin as tissue paper. But I would rather see Jonny Shore while I wait for depth and a Maxi successor than have us commit to the 2025 equivalent of Andrew Jacobsen/Ned Grabavoy, which is what most teams would do.
Last season’s playoff run left us stuck wondering what could have been if we had just one more high-quality attacker. Given how things played out, I truly believe we were a single difference-maker away from beating Red Bull and making a cup appearance.
Now, it feels like we’re heading toward the same scenario this season. If Jansen and the squad can deliver results with this thin roster, imagine what they could do with a fully built one. We’re walking a fine line, and at some point, the roster deficits will catch up with us—unless, as you said, we start making moves.
Even if we sign reinforcements now, they won’t be full contributors until midseason, factoring in visas and team integration. Waiting until the second window means wasting this season, only to start over again next year when Maxi possibly retires or Illenic (or another key player) leaves for Europe.
New roster gaps emerge every season—it’s the reality of being a selling league. But if it consistently takes us six months to a year to fill each hole, we’ll be stuck in an endless cycle of an incomplete roster, always one step behind.
