NYCFC v Chicago Postmatch

MOTM

  • TMac

    Votes: 86 69.9%
  • Shelton

    Votes: 7 5.7%
  • Tony Taylor

    Votes: 7 5.7%
  • Saunders

    Votes: 11 8.9%
  • Mix

    Votes: 29 23.6%
  • Matarrita

    Votes: 5 4.1%

  • Total voters
    123
Setting aside the macro debate around Pirlo, we people surprised that Vieira left him out there for 90+ in a game where we were leading but defensively vulnerable?

Around minute 70 we were up 4-2. I would have thought that was a natural time to take him out and bring in Bravo perhaps. It seems like a sensible move for seeing out the game, plus managing wear and tear on Pirlo.
Maybe part of it is how he is tactically used? Pirlo could be defensive help, if he's not used in a defensive role, if that makes sense.

Look at it this way, bringing on Bravo and Lopez in defensive roles, may allow Pirlo to play slightly higher up the field, and as an outlet. Pirlo is obviously fantastic on the ball and making great passes to set players up (I know he had some bad turnovers on Sunday) so he can help us defensively by helping us maintain possession.

I guess it depends on what PV was directing from a tactical standpoint.
 
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Maybe part of it is how he is tactically used? Pirlo could be defensive help, if he's not used in a defensive role, if that makes sense.

Look at it this way, bringing on Bravo and Lopez in defensive roles, may allow Pirlo to play slightly higher up the field, and as an outlet. Pirlo is obviously fantastic on the ball and making great passes to set players up (I know he had some bad turnovers on Sunday) so he can help us defensively by helping us maintain possession.

I guess it depends on what PV was directing from a tactical standpoint.

I would love to see Pirlo used a bit higher up the pitch with a true d-mid. Two of the best games we played year were home against Tor and SJ and what was notable about the average player position charts is that they were two of the only games where AJ was deeper than Pirlo. I don't expect to see that as our primary strategy any time soon, but I agree that it might be nice to use to help kill a game because, you are quite right that, possession is a defensive strategy on its own.
 
Here's the Khiry goal: Great speed, horrendous first touch, incredible second touch. I'll leave you to decide on the final kick. Looks like stumbling to me, and based on his previous attempts at goal, I'm not ready to give the benefit of the doubt. Hope I'm proved wrong :)
Still think you are being a bit too harsh. The first touch he could have done better but the rest I thought he did great. But I agree I hope he uses this as a step to really amp his game up. We need him to.
 
Well, I feel better know that I'm not the only one that couldn't figure out the final touch. Either way, though, I thought this play, and his play generally, was a meaningful net positive. There was another point earlier in the game where he drew a foul in a semi-dangerous spot by running at defenders. Khiry is a one of a kind on our team in that we don't have any other players like him and so it is huge to me if he steps up, even if it isn't always particularly pretty.
I think TT is nearly as fast but a better dribbler. Together they present severe matchup problems for any opponent. The CB tandem can't simply focus on Villa because they have to provide coverage the the outside back (kind of like what Hernandez was supposed to do for Brillant). If our midfield can get clear passing lanes, TT and KS and especially Villa (notwithstanding his recent flubs) should have quite a few track meets each game with clear 1v1 opps.
 
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I wish I had the stats tools of Elias. In this game we had three players who each had a goal and an assist. I think that has to be about as unusual as a triple play. Can anyone shed light?
Here is my light: never would have happened last year because our manager was wedded to a system that we couldn't play and he failed to.effectively implement.

When I have a plan that I fail to implement effectively or fails in its effectiveness after implementation, I adjust. It is what managing means, IMO. I don't always get it right the first time, but I am not so egomaniacal that I don't see where I screw up. I think, on some level at least, the difference between good and bad managers isn't always getting it right the first time out. It's recognizing your mistakes earlier. To me, that is how I evaluate my more localized management centers: it's not how many mistakes you make. It's how early you recognize your mistakes.

Kreis was a zero at that. He never was willing to recognize or even acknowledge his own mistakes. That makes for a person I can't deal with, and once again, leads me to the conclusion that his termination, at the point it occurred, was truly the only decision one could reach.

There is a lesson there for anyone. Whether the manager or the hirer/firer of managers, you have to be willing to adapt your paradigm of success and evaluation, and even your theory of attack. If not, then you aren't really managing. You're simply dictating an old text book. And that is a dangerous, yet comfort-inducing echo chamber.

I live it every day. I know you do, too. Man, it sucks to be stuck with people who think their experience and last successes are the defining benchmarch for future performance, evaluation and decision-making. You should be informed by past experience, not a slave to it.

Organizationally, one man's hubris can take down a great company. And NYCFC did a great (and difficult) thing by cutting out the cancer early.
 
I have a theory about Khiry's touch: He purposely plays a long touch because he can cover more ground in 3 full, non-dribbling steps than any defender and helps him utilize his speed.
 
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I agree wholeheartedly. We were getting overrun, something that stopped once Lopez came on. Pirlo wasn't being used anyway as we played up the wings.

Of course, the presence of Pirlo in the middle might be one reason the wings were so open. Still, I agree with Viewfrom226 Viewfrom226 that subbing him off once we were up 4-2 probably made sense.

I think TT is nearly as fast but a better dribbler. Together they present severe matchup problems for any opponent. The CB tandem can't simply focus on Villa because they have to provide coverage the the outside back (kind of like what Hernandez was supposed to do for Brillant). If our midfield can get clear passing lanes, TT and KS and especially Villa (notwithstanding his recent flubs) should have quite a few track meets each game with clear 1v1 opps.

I agree. I think you can see on a couple of our goals that the defense's respect for Villa opened things up for other players. On both TMac's goal and Mix's goal, the defenders were focused on Villa and left a lot of open space that the goalscorer used to finish.

I have a theory about Khiry's touch: He purposely plays a long touch because he can cover more ground in 3 full, non-dribbling steps than any defender and helps him utilize his speed.

Yes, and he should, but that first touch on the goal was still slightly heavy as it almost reached the goalkeeper.

What we should want out of Khiry is slow improvement over the next couple of years. Better judgment, better touch, better finish. All incremental, and with the occasional backstep. If this happens, he will be a top player by 2018, and yesterday's game was right in line with what we should want.