MLS - September 14 - D.C. (Away)
- Thread starter LionNYC
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3 wins in 19 games this year to go with 1 win in 17 games last year. Hey at least Cushing improved!
I am getting to the point where I want NYCFC to lose and miss the playoffs so that donkey can get fired. What a mediocre manager skating by.
That's the last puzzle piece to fall into place: finishing closely competed matches with a win rather than a draw, especially on the road. We're not quite there yet. Maybe had Malachi not gone down it would be a different story, but we're still a very good team. We just have to travel that last 15 percent on the development curve to become truly imposing.
As it is, to be in the scrum for something like 4th through 6th in the table in mid-September after starting 1W-1D-4L is pretty, pretty, pretty good.
I’m gonna be honest, this is not usually my normal line of thinking, but I think the Ref and the AR on the far side were pretty poor this evening. They seemed so inconsistent with calls and I think the AR got it wrong twice on offsides. But they were pretty bad both ways so I guess it evens out? But they definitely lost control of the game at around the DC penalty
We are not a very good team. This was a DC squad that is leaking goals, and we didn't really test their keeper at all. Our one goal came on a penalty. I can't really fault our defense, other than the brain dead tackle from Sands.
Why does it feel like every time Martínez gets subbed out, we lose all ability to attack and start giving up goals?
Our guys need to quit with the embellishing. Several times, we were on an attack and tried to get a foul call, which didn't come. If a ref ain't buying it, quit it and fight through challenges.
Why does it feel like every time Martínez gets subbed out, we lose all ability to attack and start giving up goals?
Our guys need to quit with the embellishing. Several times, we were on an attack and tried to get a foul call, which didn't come. If a ref ain't buying it, quit it and fight through challenges.
I don't know about that. DC United had won four of their last five. They're in decent form. O'Toole almost certainly would have scored had he not been chopped down for the pen, so that's a wash. Alonso had a goal waved off when he was onside. It was close, but to my eyes it was a perfectly timed run. And he had two more shots which didn't miss by much.
But you're right about the drop-off in attack when he comes off. And it's clear, Bakrar just ain't it when it's time for trench warfare, like the last third of the match tonight. He's not physical enough and he doesn't have the feet when it's getting tight and chippy.
I remain convinced the team needs to bring Maxi off the bench as a super substitute.
Maxi can either turn the pressure up or slow the game down. Having him fresh in the last 30 would help with losing leads.
Maxi can either turn the pressure up or slow the game down. Having him fresh in the last 30 would help with losing leads.
Matty Lawrence made a good point on the radio broadcast tonight. Santi doesn't work as a winger. So I think our best lineup is Santi at the 10, Maxi off the bench.
Strongly disagree with this. We are not a very good team right now, but we are a good team. We're just slumping. Seems to be a yearly thing where we slump late in the season. Hopefully we can get right against Philly on Wednesday and go give Miami a scare on Saturday. We're a good team that isn't playing well right now.
most of our signings have been for attackers. yet somehow, we are handicapped in the attack. losing jones as turned out to be absolutely HUGE. he was a budding star and I truly believe if he was still in the squad, he'd be influencing most games.
For now, we have martinez who is lively and looks dangerous almost every game. I fail to understand why he needs to come off at 70 mins? why can't he play the 90? if you want to rest him for rotation, then give him a rest the next game or something. I don't know why cushing always plans a bakrar sub at the 70 min mark. sure, if we are up by a few goals. go for it. but the difference in quality at the 9 is huge once martinez comes off.
then we have our wingers. with maxi on the field, santi sorta plays as a winger, but sorta doesn't. they both float and move about to find the ball. it sorta works to control the midfield and maintain possession, but it handicapped our attack because we are short a true, dangerous winger type. Clearly, they are both great players, they don't need to be on the field at the same time. Especially, if it sacrifices having a true winger on the left. Maybe it just shows how low cushing rates Ojeda?
On the right, we have wolf. we got him on a free and it seemed like people were pretty positive about him, but i honestly fail to see anything to get excited about. Every time he gets the ball, he seems to be in a panic and either misplays a pass or dribbles into a player and loses it. He doesn't seem to be a very talented dribbler and he's not exactly a visionary with the passes either. So, is he simply on the field because he's the only other attacker in the squad that has the intelligence to execute a press? because otherwise, i'm not sure what he does for us.
And with that - our attacking front line is essentially martinez, who has proven to be fantastic. we have been dominating the midfield when sands, parks, maxi, and santi are on their game, but it has not resulted in more goals scored and I think it's because we don't have a front line of ruthless attackers. all bark. no bite.
For now, we have martinez who is lively and looks dangerous almost every game. I fail to understand why he needs to come off at 70 mins? why can't he play the 90? if you want to rest him for rotation, then give him a rest the next game or something. I don't know why cushing always plans a bakrar sub at the 70 min mark. sure, if we are up by a few goals. go for it. but the difference in quality at the 9 is huge once martinez comes off.
then we have our wingers. with maxi on the field, santi sorta plays as a winger, but sorta doesn't. they both float and move about to find the ball. it sorta works to control the midfield and maintain possession, but it handicapped our attack because we are short a true, dangerous winger type. Clearly, they are both great players, they don't need to be on the field at the same time. Especially, if it sacrifices having a true winger on the left. Maybe it just shows how low cushing rates Ojeda?
On the right, we have wolf. we got him on a free and it seemed like people were pretty positive about him, but i honestly fail to see anything to get excited about. Every time he gets the ball, he seems to be in a panic and either misplays a pass or dribbles into a player and loses it. He doesn't seem to be a very talented dribbler and he's not exactly a visionary with the passes either. So, is he simply on the field because he's the only other attacker in the squad that has the intelligence to execute a press? because otherwise, i'm not sure what he does for us.
And with that - our attacking front line is essentially martinez, who has proven to be fantastic. we have been dominating the midfield when sands, parks, maxi, and santi are on their game, but it has not resulted in more goals scored and I think it's because we don't have a front line of ruthless attackers. all bark. no bite.
Also, Martinez's goal seems to be clearly onside, at least according to the replays. I dunno how much the camera angle or my fandom affects this conclusion, but it seemed clear as day to me. Isn't there an automatic VAR review when a goal is disallowed for offside? Does that mean VAR saw it from many angles and concluded the offside call wasn't a clear and obvious mistake that needed to be reversed?
Yeah. MLS doesn't draw lines or anything so it has to be clear and obvious from the angles they have to the naked eye. Personally, I think the standard was met but obviously the VAR didn't.
Ultimately, D.C. United had a goal wrongly ruled off earlier in the first half, so that's why I'm not livid about this goal getting waived off; the game had the correct result.
We're mediocre. It's a step up from the bad team last year, but not good. In a 29 team league NYCFC ranks
17th in goals
9th in goals allowed
11th in xG
10th in xG allowed
14-15th in Shots Taken
17th in Shots on Target
14th in Goal Differential
14th in the Shield Table
14th in xPts
At the same point in 2021 after the big slump they ranked
8th in goals
7th in goals allowed
4th in xG
5th in xG allowed
1st in Shots Taken
Unk in Shots on Target
5th in Goal Differential
9th in the Shield Table
2nd in xPts
2024 NYCFC is not where they are because of a slump. This is who they are. It might be more obvious if the wins were more evenly distributed. Instead we had 7 games at 0.71 PPG, then 9 games at 2.67, then 12 games at 0.92. Put another way, outside of the 9 game streak, this a 0.84 PPG team over 19 games, more than half the entire season. If you don't think the streaks are random, then this is a bad team and the 8 wins in 9 games was the fluke, not the other way around. I think the streakiness is part random and mostly a result of the schedule. The 9 games featured 6 at home, plus away to Toronto, New England, and Philadelphie, who rank 17, 27 and 28 in home points. The entirety of the schedule says this is a mediocre team.
Matt Doyle:
In this particular game, I’d point the finger at a sort of disconnect between center forward Alonso Martínez and the midfield. Over the longer sample size, the issue has been a sudden malaise from the wingers, as over this seven-game stretch they’ve collectively managed just one open play goal (from Hannes Wolf, way back on July 20). They’re simply not getting into the box enough:
- Agustín Ojeda managed 7.01 box touches per 90 before the start of this skid. He’s at just 2.63 per 90 since.
- Wolf has gone from 5.44 down to 4.35.
- Santi Rodríguez, who’s split time between the wing and the 10, has gone from 4.2 to 3.27.
The rest of these guys need to be more direct and aggressive when opportunities present themselves. Right now there’s too much waiting for the perfect chance instead of playing with decisiveness in order to put the opposing backline under pressure.
To me this is further damning evidence against Lee and Cushing. On top of a No 1 striker who cannot hit the net, we collected a full set of timid attackers and have a coach who can't change that. If those players improve this can be a good team. I don't know if they can right now. The evidence is just not there, which does not mean it can't happen. But believing it will happen is largely a matter of faith, not evidence. I like to have faith. Outside of a few specific realms I prefer evidence.
Losing him arguably had a bigger effect than getting Maxi back, though as with the streakiness it's hard to say given the schedule factor.
I actually think the first DC goal was correctly ruled against but I also think NYCFC were incredibly lucky because that foul committed by the offsides player didn't actually impact the result IMO.
weibe on instant replay thought it was rightfully chalked off. i think it could go either way but i lean toward it was the correct decision because even if sands likely would not have made it there in time to block the shot, he probably could have gotten there enough to potentially put off the attacker instead of him having a clear shot. but, like i said, i think it's reasonable to make the call either way.
i do think we kind of got shafted on the martinez goal. apple only provided one angle. it'd be nice if they did what the EPL does and shows us what the VAR is looking at too, even if they aren't drawing lines. MLS needs to catch up with offsides.
