It's like we're playing with 10 men. He's shit on free kicks, he's shit on corners, he's shit on defense, and he tops out at a 3 mph jog. He might be 36, but any objective observer without access to a google search would probably say he's 53.
NYCFC v Columbus - Postmatch
- Thread starter Falastur
- Start date
It's like we're playing with 10 men. He's shit on free kicks, he's shit on corners, he's shit on defense, and he tops out at a 3 mph jog. He might be 36, but any objective observer without access to a google search would probably say he's 53.
I agree.
Face it ladies and gents, this is what our team is going to be until the time comes when Pirlo and Lampard are off the books.
When that time comes, then perhaps CFG can show me some of that genius I keep hearing about and get us a couple of DP's who don't have to be baby sat on the field, or (and how's this for thinking outside the box?) can actually get on the field.
I'm not ready to join Tom in Fairfield CT in my Pirlo hate but I am ready to say his signing has been a failure. We can't use what he has left to offer and he can't deliver most of what we need.
But really, who among our roster has outperformed our realistic expectations?* Villa has been about break even at best. I'm a Mix partisan -- he's among our best -- but I have to acknowledge he hasn't met my hopes.
With Poku it depends on where you start the expectations: at the moment he signed little was expected but he showed flashes of brilliance in the first preseason and has at best remained at that level - sporadic flashes of brilliance- since.
In my mind only TMac, a flawed, limited player, has outperformed what I expected and hoped for from him since the beginning. Everyone else, including those who have been objectively better, have failed to shine beyond what we could have reasonably expected.
* nobody has come close to the wildest fanboy hopes routinely voiced here
ETA RJ Allen is another who has been consistently better than hoped, and it's a shame he started the season hurt.
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Bravo so far is the real deal. And truthfully, I fully expected Mendoza to be horrible and he's admirably lived up to those expectations and then some.
I actually agree about Bravo but excluded him only because he hasn't played as much as I'd like, which might be unfair to him, I guess. I also edited my post while you were posting to add RJ Allen. I think it's fair to say he has been more than just about anyone hoped.
I think the 4-2-3-1 makes more sense with Pirlo than the 4-3-3 we have been playing. If we play Bravo and Pirlo in the double pivot, we can sub one of them off for Poku in the second half.
We either have to stop this play out of the back stuff with Saunders or replace him.
Mendoza is utter garbage. Shelton needs to be starting. I don't know if we can realistically expect Harrison to come in, but we need a boost on the wing. I love Tony Taylor but he is more fit for a bench role than starting on the wing.
We either have to stop this play out of the back stuff with Saunders or replace him.
Mendoza is utter garbage. Shelton needs to be starting. I don't know if we can realistically expect Harrison to come in, but we need a boost on the wing. I love Tony Taylor but he is more fit for a bench role than starting on the wing.
We were garbage and deserved to lose that game. A few things that stood out to me:
We insist on playing out from the back,but the short passes stop once we get towards halfway. Short passes backwards and sideways around the defense, then a killer world cup ball over the top which gets intercepted. This needs to be switched around or at least adapted, because in every game, the opposition have got wise to it and close our defenders down and make them panic.
Further to that, when we attack, we are STILL so wide! Any time we got the ball, we literally had players standing on each touchline, so we cover the width of the pitch. This means that when players are being closed down the only option is to try a long ball to someone so far away.
Another thing that affects that is our lack of effort - not closing down opposition players, not running with or in to space for your team mate. At one point when we were losing, the ball broke on the edge of the area. I think the players were not certain if the ref was making a call or not, so were slow to react, but when it was clear he hadn't, one of our players started to counter and I counted SIX guys standing or walking on the edge of the area, letting him do it. That was completely unacceptable. Our counter attack was therefore 3 v 8 and a complete waste of time.
And finally, ball watching. Happened far far too often. We had 11 players all watching the ball and letting Columbus players run off the ball in to space. A completely disorganized defense leant itself to this - no one talking and Columbus running rings around us.
I blame Vieira for this, this seems like terrible tactics and set up, although the players deserve to be panned for not stepping up to the plate.
We insist on playing out from the back,but the short passes stop once we get towards halfway. Short passes backwards and sideways around the defense, then a killer world cup ball over the top which gets intercepted. This needs to be switched around or at least adapted, because in every game, the opposition have got wise to it and close our defenders down and make them panic.
Further to that, when we attack, we are STILL so wide! Any time we got the ball, we literally had players standing on each touchline, so we cover the width of the pitch. This means that when players are being closed down the only option is to try a long ball to someone so far away.
Another thing that affects that is our lack of effort - not closing down opposition players, not running with or in to space for your team mate. At one point when we were losing, the ball broke on the edge of the area. I think the players were not certain if the ref was making a call or not, so were slow to react, but when it was clear he hadn't, one of our players started to counter and I counted SIX guys standing or walking on the edge of the area, letting him do it. That was completely unacceptable. Our counter attack was therefore 3 v 8 and a complete waste of time.
And finally, ball watching. Happened far far too often. We had 11 players all watching the ball and letting Columbus players run off the ball in to space. A completely disorganized defense leant itself to this - no one talking and Columbus running rings around us.
I blame Vieira for this, this seems like terrible tactics and set up, although the players deserve to be panned for not stepping up to the plate.
I'll start by saying that was a very disheartening performance. Until Poku came on, the team seemed to lack any desire to make a come back -- if you didn't know the score you'd think we were winning by the way we sat back and the Crew continued to pressure the ball. As someone previously stated, our guys seemed ok to just watch the ball.
We've now played 2 matches on the road on bigger fields and our defense has been shown to be a shambles. Two matches played and 3 goals allowed in both instances. The back line has no organization or positional awareness. They scramble all over the place and create space you could drive a truck through. Columbus was the most complete team we've faced: when they wanted possession they took it and they held it. When they wanted to counter they were ruthless and we couldn't do anything to stop it. We are legitimately lucky it wasn't 4 at halftime and 7 by the end. Also fortuitous that voopl is down because there would be some very very low ratings to go around.
My MOTM was Matarrita -- I don't care how many goals he was responsible for, taking out the linesman like that was priceless.
We've now played 2 matches on the road on bigger fields and our defense has been shown to be a shambles. Two matches played and 3 goals allowed in both instances. The back line has no organization or positional awareness. They scramble all over the place and create space you could drive a truck through. Columbus was the most complete team we've faced: when they wanted possession they took it and they held it. When they wanted to counter they were ruthless and we couldn't do anything to stop it. We are legitimately lucky it wasn't 4 at halftime and 7 by the end. Also fortuitous that voopl is down because there would be some very very low ratings to go around.
My MOTM was Matarrita -- I don't care how many goals he was responsible for, taking out the linesman like that was priceless.
I couldn't watch last night and just finished watching the condensed replay. That bit of business around the 13:20 mark where (1) TMac passes it back to Saunders from almost midfield and (2) Hernandez does a poor job of screening Kamara, then (3) Saunders performs his usual footwork magic to nearly gift a goal to Columbus is, well, damn.
That's two games now where TMac has made a back pass without looking at the opponents position. Unless he truly becomes a mullet messi with a goal a game, he's not tactically savy enough to be starting in the center of the midfield.
The only thing I would add as a very partial (like 20% partial) defense of Tommy is that I think he expected Hernandez to take the ball and Hernandez just let it roll.
The problem isn't Pirlo. The problem is you have two morons who had/have no idea how to use him properly. He's a square peg trying to be forced in a round hole because the coaches are too inept to use him properly. The same thing happened at Milan years ago. They thought he was finished because of the tactical set up. But he became world class again over night as soon as he was used properly at Juve.
The same would happen here if you didn't stick him in a extremely weak midfield with zero cover. And have two slow and older CB's right behind him trying to play a high line where they will lose the foot race 80% of the time.
The same would happen here if you didn't stick him in a extremely weak midfield with zero cover. And have two slow and older CB's right behind him trying to play a high line where they will lose the foot race 80% of the time.
I'm content with benching both TMac and Hernandez. Neither are net positives for the team as starters.
My only quibble on Hernandez is whether we have a better option at the moment.
I think we have the best bench in MLS. Literally 5 of our starters are bench players! We should move them to where they belong (warming the seats) because we have actual starters that would be great. The only issue is where are we going to find them starting caliber players.
So a 3 man back plus sometimes Bravo? I could be convinced of that.
Vieira won't single out poor performance on the field. That being said goalkeeping is a singular player so Vieira won't speak poorly of Saunders. That's why NYCFC never chooses it as the question for the postgame interview, the press never asks about it, he never talks about it.
Still, Johansen deserves a shot.
Still, Johansen deserves a shot.
This might come out a little jumbled but here is what I think about our tactics, positions and personnel.
For Pirlo to be effective he cannot be sitting directly in front of the defensive line, he must be higher up the field. This exposes our defense so Bravo/Lopez will be a necessity. I think mix is the best choice to line up next to Pirlo. They can flip-flop back-and-forth left to right as needed. So kind of a 4-1-2-3.
TMac shined bright for a while but has certainly faded, so I think he needs to be out. Mendoza is certainly not up to snuff, so he's out. Villa is just not a holding forward. I think Poku could work well as a false nine. He certainly has the strength and field presence to play that role as a force in the middle up high. Put Villa on the left and Shelton on the right. We know from last year that Villa by himself doesnt work, he needs someone up there with him. So, we have a true defensive mid, and Pirlo can concentrate on the attack.
As far as building out if the back, i think everyone is a bit too eager to get up the field. Once (if) the ball gets out of the back line, it goes to Pirlo and... nobody is there to support him. Everyone is too far away, or not trying to get free from coverage. Tighten up a bit, move without the ball. Everyone expects a Pirlo miracle every time he touches the ball.
For Pirlo to be effective he cannot be sitting directly in front of the defensive line, he must be higher up the field. This exposes our defense so Bravo/Lopez will be a necessity. I think mix is the best choice to line up next to Pirlo. They can flip-flop back-and-forth left to right as needed. So kind of a 4-1-2-3.
TMac shined bright for a while but has certainly faded, so I think he needs to be out. Mendoza is certainly not up to snuff, so he's out. Villa is just not a holding forward. I think Poku could work well as a false nine. He certainly has the strength and field presence to play that role as a force in the middle up high. Put Villa on the left and Shelton on the right. We know from last year that Villa by himself doesnt work, he needs someone up there with him. So, we have a true defensive mid, and Pirlo can concentrate on the attack.
As far as building out if the back, i think everyone is a bit too eager to get up the field. Once (if) the ball gets out of the back line, it goes to Pirlo and... nobody is there to support him. Everyone is too far away, or not trying to get free from coverage. Tighten up a bit, move without the ball. Everyone expects a Pirlo miracle every time he touches the ball.
Exactly. Can play either a 343 or a 433 depending on how the other team is playing. Could even drop TT/KS/Jack into the midfield from the wing and a 442 or 352 is available. Gives us the most flexibility to adjust without making a sub.
