NYCFC v Philly Postmatch
- Thread starter NYCFC_Dan
- Start date
Have you even watched the games or are you just trying to stir the pot? Because with the exception of Columbus and last night, NYCFC as a whole, excluding the GK, has played far better soccer than anything last year under Kreis. The team may not be able to score, but they were leading the league in shots prior to yesterday, and they have limited the number of shots against to far fewer than last year - it just so happens that Saunders is actually the worst keeper in the league, so the defense's improvement is forsaken. The team still has garbage players, just like last year, and Saunders has somehow convinced the coach he has to start every game, just like last year, and Villa is as selfish as he ever was last year. But to say Kreis is better than Vieira is foolish - last year I knew at kickoff we didn't stand a chance based on the lineups - this year the only time I've thought that was last night.
And regardless of what precedent was set last year, firing a coach every year is bad business - it's bad in soccer and it's bad for any company to constantly hit the reset button. Firing Kreis for not making the playoffs was PR - there were more underlying reasons for his dismissal, namely he had a dicey relationship with his bosses and he lost the locker room - neither can ever be fixed once undone. CFG loves Vieira and he'll have a longer leash, more than a single year after inheriting Kreis' roster.
I wonder if the reason for this, similar to starting Poku, was that PV needed to try certain things as much as anything to justify sticking with other players. I suspect that Lopez has played himself out of ever starting again, and Poku may have as well. Difference being that Poku represents a powerful force to release in the last 30 minutes of a game. Lopez represents a powerful force to release to the free agent market at the end of the season.
Lopez is doing everything he can to line up a spot as the official spokesperson for Red Card Inc. Unfortunately for him, they just signed a Dutchman on a long-term deal. In the meantime, he's moonlighting as the social media & snapchat guru for Quality Benches Ltd.
We can only hope the same can now be said for Saunders and Vieira has seen enough. 6 winless games in a row should be the straw that broke the camels back for a guy statistically regarded as the worst in the league.
Much better result for NYCFC without Pirlo and his 1 or 2 brilliant passes right, Tom?
It was a total miracle that Philly wasn't up 2-0 10 minutes into the game.
Not stirring the pot. Just posting facts. We have conceded six more goals at this point in the season than last!
Defensively this team has gone backwards. You can only give Saunders so much of the blame. A team that is properly set up will protect their GK as much as possible. Instead, we have an amateur playing two very slow CB's in a very high defensive line. It is just suicidal and not by accident that we are conceding so many goals. Even from kick off it's obvious the team is not set up well to defend. His 11's have been awful since GD 2 or 3. It took him this long to realize a midfield trio of Pirlo, Mix, and Tmac doesn't work without a back three. But his solution to that was only a worse idea!
Last season we were at least in games for the first 60 minutes. Now we are getting outplayed in the majority of them. This game we had an okay 45 minutes and then just stopped playing after that. I just fail to see any improvement. I was impressed at first when he went with a back three and utilized Pirlo for the first couple games. But he's moved away from that for whatever terrible reason and we have gotten worse ever since.
I'm already looking forward to the MLS 2017 schedule release to see which teams will benefit from NYCFC's annual early season winless streak
Hey Angela, first MTL is the acronym for the Montreal Impact. Its very well known that Kreis wanted to go after Yura Movsisiyan who came back to Real Salt Lake this year after spending a handful of years in Europe, after getting his start with RSL under Jason Kreis. Yura was very successful with RSL and one of their top players before he left and he and Kreis have a very good relationship. Kreis thought of him as someone who can complement David Villa up top, after the debacle that was Nemec.
When word got around that Pirlo was coming, JK was non to pleased, and he knew that Pirlo and MLS wouldn't be a good fit. So far he has been proven right. While Pirlo is a world class player, and still has some great touch to the ball, MLS is way to athletic and fast for his style of play. Pirlo is used to playing in leagues where the defense had to worry about top offensive talent from whole starting eleven (Obviously take out the 2 CBs and the GK). Yes even the LBs and RBs in most of the top European leagues are a threat and go forward which adds to more individuals needing to be considered by the defense, on top of the already great offensive touch and skill set that a lot of the forwards and attacking mids have. With this in mind, defenses were not allowed to pressure Pirlo like they do here because it would leave them very vulnerable in the back end. In MLS the offensive talent isn't nearly as good, and players are not nearly as good with the ball at their feet, so they can pressure guys like Pirlo for 90 minutes and be physical with him and they are much less susceptible with through balls in the air and on the ground, long balls, etc. So you can tell Kreis was not very happy with the signing and he started to make comments, questioning players drive and willingness to win in this league, and questioning whether folks really wanted to be here. He was pointing his ire towards Lampard, Pirlo etc. especially after the MTL game.
If you remember Prilo had a number of lazy attempts on defense in that game, one of those times cost us a goal, and then the really lackadaisical attempt on the corner really sealed it.
So yes in sort, JK never wanted Pirlo, never really opened up to the idea of Pirlo and honesty after seeing Pirlo with us for about a season now, I am sure we can all understand why.
No. We can't.
This is exactly what the cap system prevents us from doing. 3 of those 1mm guys would be considered our DPs, and we'd buy down 1 guy's salary much like we are with Mix. And then the next 2-3 guys eat up the rest of the cap space. So we have a roster of 7 guys. I'd say we don't have enough depth, but its pretty obvious since we don't have enough to field a team. And god forbid any of them get called up on international duty.
So, no. We can't.
However, we might be better off spending 4mm on each of our DPs for quality 25-30 year old guys that could contribute to the team. I mean if we are going to waste 6mm on 35+ year old guys who are in it for one last payday we could at least spend 4mm on guys who would realistically be worth 2mm. Because $2mm guys don't want to play in the MLS they would rather be in tier 2 europe hoping to get onto an EPL team where they dream of becoming the next Leicester city. If we overpay they might come here with a chance to showboat and still make it to tier 1 Europe someday. Sure we'd be overpaying by 6mm for 3 players but is it any worse then the 15mm we are overpaying?
Last edited:
Whatever terrible reason? Like the fact that we don't play on kid size pitches on the road?
we should be begging to front load our season with western conference teams. Loses suck but at least we won't be giving points away in our conference digging an insurmountable hole for ourselves.
I am fortunate that my kid had a baseball game at kickoff, so I didn't subject myself to watching this one.
That said, I have two questions for the crowd (some of whom have addressed one or the other of them).
1. Do we have better personnel than last year?
2. Are we playing better than last year?
I think the answer to #1 is yes. I think Bravo is an upgrade over Jacobson, Matarritta an upgrade over Brovsky/Angelino, Mix in the center an upgrade over Mix on the wing, TMac an upgrade over Ned, etc. etc.
I think the answer to #2 is more complicated. I think we were clearly better the first few games, but have been getting worse over time. We have been possessing more, shooting more, and generally playing harder. We've conceded more goals, which I think in part is because Saunders hasn't been making as many saves this year as last. It's also a sign of the coach's stated intention to concede more so that we can score more.
My big concern is that our play has gotten worse over time. We started strong for the first game-and-a-half. After that, we were playing well, but not getting the ball in the net. Now, we've dropped two in a row and you have to wonder about player morale. I am not sure why we've slipped. It's a long season, and a lot can change. I worry that coaches are figuring out how to counter the new roster and some of Vieira's unusual tactics.
We have the quality of players to do a lot better than this. Let's see what the players and Vieira do to improve things.
That said, I have two questions for the crowd (some of whom have addressed one or the other of them).
1. Do we have better personnel than last year?
2. Are we playing better than last year?
I think the answer to #1 is yes. I think Bravo is an upgrade over Jacobson, Matarritta an upgrade over Brovsky/Angelino, Mix in the center an upgrade over Mix on the wing, TMac an upgrade over Ned, etc. etc.
I think the answer to #2 is more complicated. I think we were clearly better the first few games, but have been getting worse over time. We have been possessing more, shooting more, and generally playing harder. We've conceded more goals, which I think in part is because Saunders hasn't been making as many saves this year as last. It's also a sign of the coach's stated intention to concede more so that we can score more.
My big concern is that our play has gotten worse over time. We started strong for the first game-and-a-half. After that, we were playing well, but not getting the ball in the net. Now, we've dropped two in a row and you have to wonder about player morale. I am not sure why we've slipped. It's a long season, and a lot can change. I worry that coaches are figuring out how to counter the new roster and some of Vieira's unusual tactics.
We have the quality of players to do a lot better than this. Let's see what the players and Vieira do to improve things.
Wow! Thanks for your Reply! I got a lot out of it! Most of all your kind but true words for my Andrea! You were very respectful to my Andrea! Unlike those on this forum who chose to Hate on Him Relentlessness! No Andrea is not at all meant for Defense he never has been ! He just needs to be smack in the middle doing what he does best! So JK had the right to be concerned ! Now as for PV ....I can't help but wonder if Andrea's not that constant nagging reminder or his Loss to Italy of WC 2006?? So in the back of my mind he might try to set him up for defense just to make him look bad and that's bad for the team going forward!! Thanks Again for your time! Have a Good Week !
I agree with you on point #1. As for question 2, I don't think we are getting worse, I think Orlando showed the entire league how to beat our system and we have done little to adjust:
1. Let us have all the possession we want
2. Have one forward press high and try to force mistakes from our goalie and D as we try to play from the back
3. If we successfully cross midfield drop back and make us try to break you down
4. Use the possession you are giving us to draw our FBs into attack and our CBs as far forward as possible as they try to maintain our high line defense.
5. When the ball turns over counter and finish
6. Once the lead is secure park the bus
Currently PV still seems to see having possession and chances as a success and doesn't change the approach under the assumption that goals will come and we are just unlucky. It will be interesting to see which comes first success within the current system or a dramatic change in tactics.
I hate to keep talking about this game, but it really felt like Poku was playing too far back, but I wonder if that's because he knows he'll get chewed out if he doesn't play defensive at times. It was kind of a shame to see him get the ball 40 yards from Villa, when you know he's so good playing 15-20 yards from him.
I agree with the plan against us, I think we have been unlucky not to score first which would allow us a much better game. We have no answers once we are down, and we have been down 6 games in a row now.
I would say our talent is much better than last year, and if last year's pattern holds, once we start to mesh and play better, I think we will be better than we were last year. Hopefully, better enough to make playoffs, where the hot team wins.
Similar threads
