I feel physically sickened after what happened today. I should be checked into New York Presbyterian. Everything terrible that could have happened today did (except for an injury, though one to Ned Grabavoy would be nice). The highlight of the day was the I Love Lamp mini-tifo. I write my response in order of terribleness from least to most. And it honestly may be out of order, like I said, physically sick.
The Angelino-Villa-Angelino-TMac combo for the 2nd goal was one of the most beautiful plays we've put together. On the overhead replay it looks even more spectacular.
It was good to see Lampard finally on the field for NYCFC. He was rusty but with time he will be able to mesh with Pirlo, Villa, Mix, Poku & Co. He had brief moments of brilliance today.
The applause to success ratio of Pirlo's corner kicks were a bit off. Too much applause to for little success. But yeah, he's a living legend, he's going to get the applause.
Tim Cahill was in the NYCFC locker room taking photos of himself and his kids with Pirlo and Lampard. I'm sorry, but I don't think Manchester City lets ex-Manchester United players in their locker room to take pictures with Hart, Aguero, and Yaya. Nobody in their right mind should allow an ex-Red Bull to infiltrate the NYCFC locker room.
I do not think our CBs selections have played more than 3 games together. Wingert-Facey, Facey-Hernandez, Facey-Hernandez, Menu-Hernandez, Menu-Facey. Yes, Menu-Facey didn't look too good versus Orlando, but against a speed team like Montreal, you cannot put Hernandez in that role. Especially when Jacobson came off the field for Lampard, Montreal had a lot of counters that got very dangerous.
Saunders made mistakes, which in part was due to the lack of awareness/timing/togetherness of the CBs. The first goal was absolutely Saunders fault. Commit. Even if the ball ends up in the goal, commit. Going to both plays half the time leads to nothing all the time.
There may be too many voices in the ear of Jason Kreis (I'll get to him later). This is a team for stars to be on the field. In the MLSsoccer.com article, Kreis said his training staff thought Lampard should only play 20 minutes. It then said they negotiated to have him play 25 minutes. CFG wants stars to be on the field. I could care less if we have 1 or 3 DPs on the field. I just want a team that wins. CFG, Claudio Reyna, Training Staff, and least on the totem poll, the fans. We wouldn't be complaining if Lampard didn't play if we would have won today.
That Piatti PK call was bullshit. Saunders was in the process of gaining possession and it looks as if Piatti kicked Saunders before Saunders half went and "accidentally" grabbed Piatti who dove. I hope to see this overturned on Instant Replay. Simon Borg can't change the outcome of games, but the refereeing of this match was all over the place and absolutely terrible.
I like to also call attention to the Oduro penalty. He was "injured" and fell to the ground. The training staff came on and we went to the non-bench sideline. He walks back onto the field, the ref didn't seem to let him back on, and immediately charges and fouls Pirlo. I don't see how this isn't a yellow card. Iraola pulled the same bullshit a few weeks ago when he was sent to the sidelines and then came on when the ball was going towards him.
Pending any tactical changes to match up better against an opponent, our best formation seems to clearly be a 4-2-3-1. Angelino and Iraola are clear at the wings. Menu and Facey appear to be the right CBs. Pirlo and Jacobson work well together as the 2. Villa is is the 1 up top. The 3 is the difficult part. You have many options here: Lampard, Mix, Poku, TMac, Calle, even Mullins, Khiry (if we want to keep Villa on the field). However, Grabavoy is not a net positive to this team. We are not running the RSL system in New York City. We are running the CFG system in New York City. Jason Kreis's choice of Grabavoy over Mix Diskerud or Kwadwo Poku is an absolutely disgrace to this club, its fans and the city it represents.
I do not trust that Jason Kreis can lead NYCFC to an MLS Cup victory. And if he can't do that, there's no point in having him be the coach of this team.
As
Midas Mulligan said, I do not think Jason Kreis can handle the pressure to perform consistently in New York. I don't care that it's only been a year, or that new/star players are only on the squad now. Every MLSsoccer.com reporter picked us to win this game. I don't think this was an upset for Montreal. This was just a let down at the hands of Jason Kreis and what he put on the field.
As I said in the pregame thread, Mix and Poku seemed visibly upset that they weren't starting. If there isn't a players only meeting at some point soon, there is a problem with the club. Though, Ned Grabavoy would be a rat and tell Kreis everything. I'm full #KreisOut #NoMoreNed. Yes, we will win more games this season, but I don't think that it will be at the genius of Kreis.
As for the playoffs, I'm not putting any hope in that anymore. I think we're too far out with not enough time and not in the right mindset. If we do great, I will be happy. But it's not working now, maybe 2016. CFG invested a shitload in this club. Villa-Pirlo-Lampard ends after 2016, if we don't win an MLS Cup or Supporters Shield, this would have been a complete failure...
I demand a team that wins games, not just sells jerseys.
For the sake of my health, I'm going to try and not want/read too many highlights, reports, videos, etc. etc. of this match. And if we lose or even really tie the Red Bulls next week, it's going to be long time until March 2016 for the next campaign, hopefully under a different coach and system.
