Nycfc V Houston Motm & Post Game Discussion

[Mario]

Someone tell Jeb you aren't allowed to look like an idiot and suck at what you do. Shave the damn mustache... And retire when you're finished shaving that shit. I swear he could have 8 goals this season with the back post runs he's made.

Can I just point out that nemec is our best striker.

And on a more important note, Jacobson should join brovsky and Mullins in retiring asap. Hands down the worst players to be considered professional soccer players.

Still waiting for poku to start. And I think he might as well start at striker

 

[Tom in Fairfield CT]

Poku shifts the game from our half to theirs. When he is not on, we cannot figure out how to get across midfield. The cbs stand there shrugging their shoulders while everyone is covered, then either launch a pass that is immediately intercepted or Hernandez tries a long ball and embarrasses himself. Poku is like give me the ball, actually dribbles, crosses midfield while fighting off two defenders. And guess what? when defenders have to move to stop a dribbling threat it opens holes for others.

He creates chances EVERYTIME he is on the field. I want to kick kreis in the nuts when he gives his excuses about pokus development. We have one win! I blame that squarely on the absolutely embarrassing starting XIs he puts out.

 

[typicalcity]

So we're both right. But I'm more right because trotting out another team's players during our match is horse shit. And Villa acted like a *****.

Just for your information the entire nycfc squad went to the city game and four went onto the pitch at the etihad in February to be interviewed where they recd a warm round of applause from 40,000 fans.why don't you watch the video?

 

[The Toe]

Here are some thoughts from an eternal optimist.

Having Nemec in the lineup was one of the things that made our offense look manageable for the first time in many games. He really earned that penalty. The headers he wins, how he wins them, laying the ball perfectly into someone's path, his work rate... It's all very very important to the flow of the offense, and it's sorely missed when he isn't in the lineup. Even if he is a 60-minute player, he allows the team to get into a groove and keep the ball going upfield. He made some great defensive plays, as well.

Poku looked like Poku, but I wish he'd pull the trigger from ~20 yards. He'll keep getting better with more PT. Saunders had a great game, too. It sucks that 80% of the goals we've given up have been shots nearly impossible to stop, within 7 yards or on a completely blown assignment. Facey and Hernandez central next weekend, please, they looked very comfortable with eachother. Adding Calle eventually and possibly Williams will give us a good enough back line, should they continue to gel. Jeb and Wingert give us some versatility off the bench.

Speaking of Jeb, he's got to finish those chances. It took a fantastic save to deny the header, though that second opportunity was a back-breaker. That said, he was in perfect position for both of those chances, and it took some fantastic play from Poku to set those two plays in motion, and Jeb was there -- the ball just didn't find the net. I see that as a big plus.

This was the worst I've seen players slipping in a long time -- any sport. On a dry night, there really isn't any reason everyone should be falling. It was a complete buzzkill, and makes the game, the team, MLS look bad to have to play like that. I figured it was customary to water the field before each half, but that just seemed to compound the issue. Felt bad for the players, especially Mullins, as slipping and falling down in the run of play is really embarrassing.

There's work to do, but last night was the best this team played together in a while. Seems like they're finally getting it. And we keep showing up as fans.

 

[Rand]

If you noticed Villa stopped coming down the infield side after slipping a few times, I'm guessing it has more to do with the grass being put down, and taken up between the yankees and NYCFC games.

 

[NYCFC914]

Am I the only one who was pleased with the formation last night ? 4-1-2-1-2 with Velasquez in CAM ? I think it was our best formation yet. I am going to guess that it helps Villa that they both speak spanish & became good friends. I think coach K should build off of last nights formation. I know everyone wants to rush back here and talk negative about each match but seriously take a good look at the condensed match on MLS. Things were even looking better in the back field. Still a few giveaways but that will hopefully stop in due time and so can Jeb missing the back post runs. We cant let our pride stop us from remembering that this is still only our first season. I hate when I read that but its true. This is the most confident I have been after a match.

 

[Tom in Fairfield CT]

Villa lost the ball to launch the move that eventually ended in the Houston goal. When he lost it, he had an opportunity to immediately challenge. Instead, he stood at at the same spot with his hands on his hips and watched the entire move without so much as picking up one foot.

The MCFC players were honorary captains and trotted out for several minutes. I guess they expected s heroes' welcome. Mostly no one cared one way or the other, but I just found it off-putting for Crazy Joe Hart, the corpse of the Player Formerly Known as Vincent Kompany and David Silva (love him, for sure, great player, but why?) to be trotted out as honorary captains during the prematch photo, etc.

I'm not going to kill villa for that play. Why is he having to get the ball at midfield anyway? There were ten guys behind him to stop that attack anyway, do I really need him playing defense? No. He does more than enough to excuse some frustration occasionally. I like that he is the only one that will rip into our guys when they need it.

Can I make another poku comment? He's not afraid to run an attack without constantly looking for Villa.

 

[danger]

If you noticed Villa stopped coming down the infield side after slipping a few times, I'm guessing it has more to do with the grass being put down, and taken up between the yankees and NYCFC games.

Rootless sod over the infield is definitely not an ideal playing surface and can cause slipping. This article is old but it gives some perspective on the problem from Gold Cup matches a few years ago: http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/the-green-green-sod-of-home/

 

[Lasker]

I do think that starting with Nemec up front and bringing in Shelton and Mullins later is our best bet right now. If we were doing better playing the ball through the midfield maybe Shelton and Mullins would make more sense but as it is we need someone who can bring down the long balls as Nemec has consistently done.

Not sure where your enthusiasm for velasquez comes from. He did have a nice 1-2 with Villa in the opening minutes last night but did he really contribute after that?

 

[NYCFC914]

I think people are misunderstanding his frustration. A player of his caliber doesn't take losing easy. He puts EVERY OUNCE of the weight on his shoulders. I would imagine that he is mainly upset with himself and I just hope that the other players know this. In the first few matches I was thinking his actions were the reason for so many turnovers. Players end up with too much pressure to make the play to him and when they don't make the play , they get upset and nervous that Villa will be upset. Coach K needs to find a way to get Villa to control his outbursts or at least have him inform the players that he's upset with himself.

I do think that starting with Nemec up front and bringing in Shelton and Mullins later is our best bet right now. If we were doing better playing the ball through the midfield maybe Shelton and Mullins would make more sense but as it is we need someone who can bring down the long balls as Nemec has consistently done.

Not sure where your enthusiasm for velasquez comes from. He did have a nice 1-2 with Villa in the opening minutes last night but did he really contribute after that?

He made some decent runs as well. Villa just decided to hold the ball and make poor shots/passes. His energy is also amazing. His head is always on a swivel, he is always feeding motivation to the guys between whistles and he's not scared to get physical for his size. No fear. He has great potential IMO

 

[Ahab_Flanders]

I think people are misunderstanding his frustration. A player of his caliber doesn't take losing easy. He puts EVERY OUNCE of the weight on his shoulders. I would imagine that he is mainly upset with himself and I just hope that the other players know this. In the first few matches I was thinking his actions were the reason for so many turnovers. Players end up with too much pressure to make the play to him and when they don't make the play , they get upset and nervous that Villa will be upset. Coach K needs to find a way to get Villa to control his outbursts or at least have him inform the players that he's upset with himself.




He made some decent runs as well. Villa just decided to hold the ball and make poor shots/passes

There were also a few moments, especially in the first half, where Villa had options in the box but tried to play through traffic himself. To me that says he doesn't trust his teammates. You can't really blame him considering, but supposing they improve and he's still being selfish because he doesn't trust them, then we're missing opportunities.

 

[thesauerchise]

Am I the only one who was pleased with the formation last night ? 4-1-2-1-2 with Velasquez in CAM ? I think it was our best formation yet. I am going to guess that it helps Villa that they both speak spanish & became good friends. I think coach K should build off of last nights formation. I know everyone wants to rush back here and talk negative about each match but seriously take a good look at the condensed match on MLS. Things were even looking better in the back field. Still a few giveaways but that will hopefully stop in due time and so can Jeb missing the back post runs. We cant let our pride stop us from remembering that this is still only our first season. I hate when I read that but its true. This is the most confident I have been after a match.

He finally played the diamond midfield and it made a noticeable difference. No more "square pegs, round holes" issues. Especially with wingert at LB again.

The revelation to me was Jacobson, he was fantastic.

 

[mgarbowski]

Nemec deserves way, way better than his Voopl score right now. He routinely gives us a shot on long goal kicks, and would be even better if Saunders were better at directing the kicks his way. But it's not just that he wins them, he is extremely good at flicking it with a purpose, with the amazing part not so much being his touch but his vision. I'm very impressed at how he can focus on the ball in flight yet be aware of exactly where one of his teammates is streaking by and then he puts the ball right on point. One very nice sequence in minute 25 I think: he won a long ball flicked it to Villa who made a one touch pass to Velasquez which led to a shot. Velasquez sent it straight to Deric, but to be fair he was closely marked by Taylor. I remember a similar sequence but not sure when it happened or who the other two players was but Nemec head-flicked a long kick to Player A, who flicked it to Player B in stride, but B wasn't ready, and had this "Oh, soccer? I was just running." look about him.
OTOH, while skimming through the broadcast this morning my favorite line happened on a play when Nemec took a throw in, fought off a defender, but then fell and lost the ball, and our announcer says something like "Nemec using his size to his advantage, but betrayed by his abilities." He has his limitations, but his strengths give us chances that we sorely miss without him.

 

[ManhattanValley]

What did the black banner in the Third Rail section say? Couldn't see from where I was standing, first word was 'Supporters'

 

[D_RoyJenkins]

As usual I was watching from the supporters section so I wasn't looking at individual performances but I thought AJ was sub par again. I'm gonna watch the match on DVR for a better assessment

 

[D_RoyJenkins]

What did the black banner in the Third Rail section say? Couldn't see from where I was standing, first word was 'Supporters'

It said "Supporters ≠ Criminals
I was right behind it

 

[danger]

Were there any post match interviews on the Yes broadcast? I don't see any on the NYCFC website

Edit: nevermind, I always look in the wrong section of the website

 

[FootyLovin]

Nemec Pros
* Work rate
* Big target
* Physicality

Nemec Cons
* Ball at his feet
* Any touch after his first

All things considered, I think those work well for us, especially when combined with this lineup:

Villa Nemec
Lampard
Mix Shelton
Pirlo
Calle Facey Hernandez Brovsky

After losing 4 more matches for longest winless streak in MLS history, NYCFC shocks the world by winning their final 17, and the treble of Open Cup, Supporters Shield, MLS Cup.

It could happen.

 

[NickA]

I can see both sides of the Villa argument. He's frustrated with the players around him, that the team can't win and he can't score. But. His body language is ridiculous. He is paid a lot of money to be the leader here. He knew what this league was. Set an example. Great leaders/players elevate the team around them, not stand still for 5 seconds with your hands on your hips shaking your head. How does that help the team? I see Kaka and Giovinco making the players around them better, getting them involved. They don't play this victim crap when something negative happens.

Yes he's obviously the best player on the team but maybe in watching a different game, cause I really haven't seen him do whatever it is that you all are so impressed about.

 

[NYCFC914]

I honestly believe that Villa underestimated the league. MLS is not a walk in the park. It may not be in the same lane as some of the big leagues but its still very difficult. Just because the talent level is lower doesn't make it easy. If anything imo its harder.The minor differences will make it a horrible transition. He just needs to relax and get back to playing a sport he loves. Too many of the guys are tense. In the Team Aguero vs Team Villa video everyone seemed to be having fun and really enjoying themselves. I truly hoped that the fun would take away the pressure and stress so they could go out onto the pitch and play fresh. If you are frustrated and try to overcompensate , you will only fail again.