MLS - May 13 - Red Bulls (Away)

[mgarbowski]

By the way, the underlying MLS narrative (Doyle cough cough) is that RBNJ has actually been good by the underlying statistics even though they are in last place. Getting ready to explain why RBNJ wins tomorrow. Ugh.

I was completely unaware of this until now. They have the best xGD in the East and are second only to Seattle league wide. They have the lowest xG allowed at 0.80 per game. They have the second worst GD-xGD at -0.72 per game. Galaxy are at an absurd -1.22 per game. NYC is -0.03, basically even.

 

[DeGrozz]

Not gonna lie - this has been the least excited I've ever been on a Hudson River Derby Day.

 

[canchon]

I was completely unaware of this until now. They have the best xGD in the East and are second only to Seattle league wide. They have the lowest xG allowed at 0.80 per game. They have the second worst GD-xGD at -0.72 per game. Galaxy are at an absurd -1.22 per game. NYC is -0.03, basically even.

Yeah, the numbers back it up. Although, there is no guarantee that this will even out through a full season - I think it was two years ago when LAFC missed the playoffs they had a huge negative GD-xGD through the entire season and it never reverted back to zero.

 

[mgarbowski]

Yeah, the numbers back it up. Although, there is no guarantee that this will even out through a full season - I think it was two years ago when LAFC missed the playoffs they had a huge negative GD-xGD through the entire season and it never reverted back to zero.

Yes, 34 games is still a small sample, but the extremes through 10-12 game almost always revert partially at least, but rarely in full.

 

[Revfugee]

For me honestly I wanna say it's mostly due to not being able to make any games anymore since they moved to this 7:30pm sat night formula. Really sucks. My worries about it for the entire MLS in general has been exactly what i was afraid of. I used to watch like 3-4 games per week, or at least have games on in the background throughout sunday. Doesn't happen anymore. And i can't even go see my own team play ever anymore. Maybe like twice or three times per season?

I don’t have the same reasons as you (for me it’s that Saturday night is usually social obligation night) but I’m finding exactly the same thing. With all of MLS crammed into a single window on Saturdays, there’s no steady drumbeat of attention through the week. La Liga plays matches spread out over practically the entire week so I’ve been following Rayo and Girona more lately than I’ve been following us. I told my rep this. By June 3 I will have missed more matches than I’ve been to, and I’m a STH. Even late Saturday afternoon would be better.

 

[413Blue]

I don’t have the same reasons as you (for me it’s that Saturday night is usually social obligation night) but I’m finding exactly the same thing. With all of MLS crammed into a single window on Saturdays, there’s no steady drumbeat of attention through the week. La Liga plays matches spread out over practically the entire week so I’ve been following Rayo and Girona more lately than I’ve been following us. I told my rep this. By June 3 I will have missed more matches than I’ve been to, and I’m a STH. Even late Saturday afternoon would be better.

My most enjoyable week of MLS was opening week. We were able to watch our match in the exclusive early window, then I had a dinner break before settling in for 360. Ever since then, I don't want to go right into 360 after our matches, so I'm not following the rest of the league anymore, and because of that I've lost a bit of interest in our matches because I feel less connected to the league.

Obviously, we can't be in an exclusive window every week, but they do need to do some spread. There should be an early Saturday game every week, the main windows on Saturday night, then a smattering of matches on Sunday.

How bout this:
Friday night: Solo match with weekend preview content surrounding it.

Saturday afternoon: One early match. Get everyone a taste of Saturday MLS.

Saturday night: The majority (9-11) of matches with 360.

Sunday: 1-3 matches.

Everyone wins here.

 

[JayH]

Red Bulls 1, NYCFC Front Office 0

 

[413Blue]

We had a couple nice matches to finish off the season last year, which gave me some pause. However at this point I'm on Cushing out.

Yes, we don't have a #9, we've lost some players, but those excuses don't excuse obviously poor lineup, strategy and substitute decisions. He's a cool guy, but he's not at this level.

 

[Revfugee]

We had a couple nice matches to finish off the season last year, which gave me some pause. However at this point I'm on Cushing out.

Yes, we don't have a #9, we've lost some players, but those excuses don't excuse obviously poor lineup, strategy and substitute decisions. He's a cool guy, but he's not at this leve

If Cufre and Ilenic don’t merit a single derby minute, what were we doing this off-season?

 

[canchon]

Tell me one good thing the team did this game. Completely inept going forward, this game was destined for 0-0 except for the usual brain fart allowing the other team to win. 4 losses in a row on the road. He’s got to go. The team has NO IDEA how to create going forward.

If we don’t win against Orlando he shouldn’t come home.

 

[413Blue]

Tell me one good thing the team did this game.

We completed 86% of our passes. Sure, they were all tactically useless passes, but we did complete them.

 

[KevinJRogers]

If Cufre and Ilenic don’t merit a single derby minute, what were we doing this off-season?

Big question. I'd love to hear why they didn't get the start tonight.

 

[GratefulDawg]

Pathetic performance tonight. No cohesion. No urgency.

We let a BAD team missing several starters beat us. Coronel could have sat in a deck chair all game. We gave him nothing to do.

Possession without intention is masturbation.

Magno was a walking turnover. I dunno, maybe try going through Pereira more often?

We're struggling with energy and ideas, and all Cushing can do is sub on Andres Jasson in the 89th minute? Why no Cufré or Ilenič? I'm back to believing that Cushing has got to go.

 

[Brooklyn Blue]

It is nearing pointless to watch until the summer. This is a half team that is as mid-table as it can get in MLS.

A few thoughts:

1) Ilenic is better than Gray. He had to get minutes in this game, especially late. Gray does nothing going forward and cannot break the press. I am not sure I blame him for the poor deflection for the goal - but it sure doesn't help his resume. I wish they would move him to CB full time and get him minutes there, rather than chase the fool's gold that was his emergency coverage for Tinnerholm during the Cup run.

2) O'Toole has shown enough to merit a roster spot.

3) Teams from fifth to fifteenth in the East all have 12 to 15 points. Ten teams - it is rather odd. Poor run or not, if the team hovers in the middle it will allow for a playoff run after the summer window. The upcoming window is, in my opinion, as crucial a window as the team has ever had.

 

[twsj91]

Why did we not put our best XI out? Why didn’t we make any substitutions that mattered?

Tonight the FO told us the only thing that matters is mls cup. If we don’t achieve that then what’s the fucking point?

I am sad.

 

[JayH]

We're struggling with energy and ideas, and all Cushing can do is sub on Andres Jasson in the 89th minute? Why no Cufré or Ilenič? I'm back to believing that Cushing has got to go.

Agree with your post until this. The fact that we bring on Jasson chasing a goal is a screaming indictment of the front office failing to build a passable roster.

 

[LionNYC]

Terrible referee. Terrible positioning by Barraza. The team only picked up the tempo when we were down. Another classic fuckfest in Harrison.

 

[ZYanksRule]

We have had a chronic lack of intensity in games under Nick Cushing. I like Nick. Seems like a great guy and a knowledgeable coach. But we don't play with enough intensity under him. I'm not at Cushing out -- I still think he's a great assistant coach, and I don't think we have the roster to succeed right now, but he needs to find a way to motivate this team to play with intensity.

We look great in all aspects aside from finishing. We just need that finisher. This is an incomplete roster and will continue to be until we find a striker. What baffles me is that we knew Taty was leaving last winter -- we've now been through two (and you could argue 3) transfer windows without signing his replacement. We've known about this for over a year, how do we still not have a replacement yet? That's just inexcusable from David Lee. There is a lack of intensity on the field, and a lack of urgency in the front office.

I know we won in 2021, but that doesn't mean we sit on our laurels and celebrate for this long. At some point we have to compete for that title. The run to the conference final was fun last year, but we played over our heads in that postseason run and everyone knew it.

 

[Kenny]

We are now below the playoff line.

We can string some wins together next homestand, like last homestand, and shoot back up the table past all the teams bunched together around us. And I'm sure in June we'll sign a 9 and by September maybe go on a playoff run? But right now.... feels bad.

 

[KevinJRogers]

We have to remember how young and inexperienced we are. It shows. A lot of guys are getting the ball on the attack and then deciding what to do with it instead of already having an idea where to go before they receive it. Same thing with bombing the channels -- guys are either making their runs too late or not at all.

A bona fide striker solves a lot of that by providing a focal point. But in the meantime, we still can create shots. We're just not doing it. Something isn't translating from the training ground to the games.