Montreal Postmatch

[ManhattanValley]

- Saunders probably had his best game of the season tonight. And that's despite him being his usual wacky self, and being at fault for the goal. Still can't kick to save his life, but some of his throws were excellent, definitely helped us counter a few times.

- The game appeared to completely pass Pirlo by. I don't think he made a single meaningful contribution tonight. I want it to work so badly, but every game makes me more dubious about his role in this team.

- Villa worked his ass off. He's not without his flaws (watching him try to do it all when he gets frustrated is just maddening) but it's obvious how much he cares

- RJ Allen was just fantastic. Fully deserved a goal.

- That Mix screw-up at the end summed up our season so far

- Shelton looks bereft of confidence. He takes an extra half second to realize he needs to make space for himself and it costs him big time. He has a long way to go.

- Best part of the game is a tie between the floodlight malfunction in the first half and Lampard being booed on the big screen at HT

 

[Jock]

I think so, I think it was part of the goal celebration. It mainly just felt odd, must look even stranger on tv.

There was a time about 5 minutes or so in, when the play was right down in the Chicken Bucket corner where a bunch of the lights dimmed for a few seconds. I had no idea what was going on, but then every time I assumed it was some kind of short circuit.

For the record, i'm ok with doing it after a (home) goal.

 

[gbservis]

Did anybody else see Saunders run to midfield by the bench towards the end of the game and get into a heated exchange with somebody? I couldn't figure out why he'd leave his net when we were about to have a corner or free kick (don't remember which). It was just bizarre.

Yeah it was strange, he had a lot of odd moments tonight.

 

[Drainyoo]

Ugh...

 

[ManhattanValley]

Almost forgot about the incredible botched national anthem. Hilarious.

Thought the atmosphere was pretty dead tonight. Anyone catch the attendance?

 

[Ulrich]

Yeah it was strange, he had a lot of odd moments tonight.

Odd as in he actually saved 1 of 2 shots on goal rather than letting in both, or that he could have released a streaking Mendoza at the end of the game with a long throw and instead held up and wasted time telling everybody to settle down?

 

[Tony L]

Saunders probably had his best game of the season tonight.

?!

The little hesitation by Saunders at the beginning of the free kick is the difference between 3 pts and 1

https://twitter.com/x/status/725502250664222720

f+ck Saunders ... that is all

 

[Lasker]

We adopted a more defensive posture, and to my surprise, it actually worked.

As I said in the chat I think Pirlo is better utilized farther back where he gets more touches and more time on the ball, he did nearly nothing today and missed two tremendous chances in the box.

I want to see Johansen start as much as the next guy but to my eyes Saunders actually showed some improvement. As Manhattan Valley said above, he was much faster to throw/roll the ball and it really helped get our attack started. Between that and a forcing some midfield turnovers we had a couple actual counters - amazing.

Shelton has real potential. He isn't just fast, he has genuine technical skills as well. Once again he had several strong dribbles. Still, he need to make better passes and perhaps even more importantly, he needs to make some runs! It looked like players were looking to him when they had a little time on the ball in midfield but he just stood there. Mendoza also played well.

Anyway, it was a disappointing result but we were miles ahead of a very good team in the run of play. Better than I expected.

 

[Keith Putnam]

Almost forgot about the incredible botched national anthem. Hilarious.

Thought the atmosphere was pretty dead tonight. Anyone catch the attendance?

If I recall, they reported it as just over 23,000.
The atmosphere was pretty dead, but I wouldn't say *more* dead than usual. I don't think we'll ever whip up a stadium-wide atmosphere with any consistency until we have our SSS.

That said, the Chicken Bucket chanting was the loudest and most widespread (two full sections?) that I've heard it. I hope it spreads to the whole stadium.

 

[Ulrich]

If I recall, they reported it as just over 23,000.
The atmosphere was pretty dead, but I wouldn't say *more* dead than usual. I don't think we'll ever whip up a stadium-wide atmosphere with any consistency until we have our SSS.

Chilly Wednesday night. Not surprised at all. Probably 15-18k in the stands. That 23k number is just sold tickets, not actual butts in seats.

 

[NYCFC_Dan]

we did this odd thing when counter-attacking where the front four would all burst forward and the back six just sit there and let them do it

With how high up we play I can't comprehend how we never bring bodies forward on counters. For fuck sake our backline sits on the midfield but on a counter it's just villa and the wingers. Da fuck?

 

[21Architect]

-surprised no one has mentioned the play just prior to the equalizing set piece

-RJ Allen was bad before he luck boxed into a goal. Outstanding play from T-Mac and Villa leading up to the goal.

-Montreal is held scoreless for 75 minutes, Pirlo is replaced because he's a "defensive liability" and then bye bye 3 points at home.

-how can NO ONE on this side get a fucking head on a corner kick? My sons 10U team gets more heads on corners

-Villa with another game where he has several moments of brilliance but he just can't get the ball in the net. I'm not faulting him. That would be very short sighted. It's just frustrating.

 

[21Architect]

- Saunders probably had his best game of the season tonight. And that's despite him being his usual wacky self, and being at fault for the goal. Still can't kick to save his life, but some of his throws were excellent, definitely helped us counter a few times.

- The game appeared to completely pass Pirlo by. I don't think he made a single meaningful contribution tonight. I want it to work so badly, but every game makes me more dubious about his role in this team.

- Villa worked his ass off. He's not without his flaws (watching him try to do it all when he gets frustrated is just maddening) but it's obvious how much he cares

- RJ Allen was just fantastic. Fully deserved a goal.

- That Mix screw-up at the end summed up our season so far

- Shelton looks bereft of confidence. He takes an extra half second to realize he needs to make space for himself and it costs him big time. He has a long way to go.

- Best part of the game is a tie between the floodlight malfunction in the first half and Lampard being booed on the big screen at HT

Dear God, man.

There's no way you were watching the match I was watching.

 

[Ulrich]

-surprised no one has mentioned the play just prior to the equalizing set piece

-RJ Allen was bad before he luck boxed into a goal. Outstanding play from T-Mac and Villa leading up to the goal.

-Montreal is held scoreless for 75 minutes, Pirlo is replaced because he's a "defensive liability" and then bye bye 3 points at home.

-how can NO ONE on this side get a fucking head on a corner kick? My sons 10U team gets more heads on corners

-Villa with another game where he has several moments of brilliance but he just can't get the ball in the net. I'm not faulting him. That would be very short sighted. It's just frustrating.

I disagree on RJ - he was solid all night on both defense and his forays on offense. Felt like we actually had a right back playing

 

[ManhattanValley]

Dear God, man.

There's no way you were watching the match I was watching.

Re: Saunders, can you name a game this season he was better in? This is a pretty low bar we're talking about here.

Seriously, Saunders is garbage, but a lot of the criticism he gets on here seems like more of a reflex than a genuine assessment of his performance. He's the Grabavoy of the Month, it seems.

As for your other quibbles, Allen was voted MOTM so I'm not alone in that. I personally thought we looked a lot better when Shelton came off for Mendoza and I genuinely don't remember anything that Pirlo did other than a few wayward through balls and about four more fruitless corners. It's a game of opinions, and Goose Island IPA.

 

[LionNYC]

- Mike Piazza was in attendance tonight. As he walked to his seats I said, "Hey Mike, wrong stadium." He smiled. Also some Jets or Knicks players too, though I don't know who they were.
- I think the hat trick saying is a curse. I told Villa today to score a hat trick, he laughed. He didn't get a single goal. Also gave Mata a high five.
- Midas Mulligan or someone from the Batter's Eye crew spotted me wearing my new Johansen jersey (#StartEirik) and screamed out "Lion, tell Patrick to take out Lopez." A non-regular in the section shouted back "I agree with you." To whoever that was, I watched the replay and Lopez looked like he deserved a red but I'm fighting to have Johansen starting. That's what I'm committing to telling Vieira every minute of every game. I can't fight multiple battles.
- RJ owned tonight. A great goal and well deserved. Good footwork throughout the match.
- The Yankee Stadium lights after the goal was amaze-balls.
- Saunders, you're a goalie. You run into that ball, punch it, save us two points and get a damn concussion. Also, Saunders, if you could get a red card that would be really helpful.
- It's hard to root for this team. It's hard coming to the stadium and being optimistic about gameday and see shit happen that gives me all the wrong feels.

- Pitchside Moment of the Game: After the Donadel challenge on RJ, the ref plays advantage for NYCFC. After the ball goes out, he comes back over to the site of the foul where RJ and Donadel are on the ground. I'm yelling, "Give him a yellow! Give him a yellow." No response. Then I get out my MetroCard and scream "Hey REF!" and hold up the MetroCard (it was actually lime green for some reason, I don't know what the MTA is doing). He sees me. I know he sees me. He takes it out of his pocket and eventually shows Donadel the card.

- NYCFCfan noted that Vieira may want to blow up the roster after the end of the season. I agree and said this last game, it's time for the nuclear option. Anyone over $100K deserves to be on the line to be cut.

 

[dark knight]

This game reminds me of something my high school soccer coach used to say - you are only as good as the worst player on your team. Saunders is a convenient scapegoat, but he's just not good enough. Okay shot stopper but just not good enough in so many other areas.

 

[21Architect]

Manhattan Valley

The only reason RJ Allen was MOTM was because he luck-boxed into our only goal. Beyond that, all he did was pass the ball to the other team at really crucial times.

Saunders needs to punch the equalizing goal out at any expense. It was not his worst match but it wasn't his best. That equalizer was a kick in the groin.

As far as your assessment of Pirlo, I don't even know where to begin.

 

[Dnigly13]

Why is their nobody marking the near post. Last minute of the game you bring everyone back and mark the near post.

 

[sbrylski]

The only reason RJ Allen was MOTM was because he luck-boxed into our only goal. Beyond that, all he did was pass the ball to the other team at really crucial times

I think you're alone on this. Allen completed 85.2% of his passes, third behind Shelton and Mendoza.

Though Matarrita was more involved than Allen, I thought it was one of his poorer games. His crosses were all over the place. Whoscored.com says only 1 of 8 were accurate.

I haven't seen him name mentioned when I skimmed this thread, but quick shoutout to Tommy Mac. Great assist, and he looked better than I thought he would on the wing. I think the experiment was a success.