#StartEirik

[Seth]

but refrain from the profanity if you're going to respond to me

Oh FFS

No comment!

Seriously though, take a look at the goals (if you can bear it, that is). Seems hard to blame any keeper, no matter who it is, for all those set piece goals. A keeper can only, and is only supposed to, guard a portion of the goal. There should be defenders marking the other team's players. That's what they're there for, to guard the parts of the goal the keeper won't be able to reach. In addition, if there's mayhem in the six yard box with four NJ players in there, it's the defenders' job to clear them out of there. No keeper is going to be able to defend the goal against four opposing players. To me it feels like you're taking your anti-Saunders bias and going off the rails with it. I'm not saying Saunders should be on the US National Team or anything, but pinning the blame for that debacle on him seems a bit unfair. Uncontested bicycle kick from 8 feet away. Oh yeah, must be Saunders fault. Unmarked redhead putting in two set pieces. Yup, must be Saunders too.

Sometimes teams just score goals and there's nothing the keeper can do about it. To me most if not all of the seven goals from yesterday were like that. Our defending was awful yesterday. And this playing out of the back is making me crazy having to watch it. Heck, it may even be that Johansen's a really good keeper, although we don't really have much evidence to support that either way. Can't see how you can blame Saunders for last night though. It's not like we lost 1-0 on a crappy howler of his. At a minimum five of the goals were simply unstoppable, no matter who we had in net. That's not saying they shouldn't have been stopped of course, but that's on the defense.

 

[Ulrich]

No comment!

Seriously though, take a look at the goals (if you can bear it, that is). Seems hard to blame any keeper, no matter who it is, for all those set piece goals. A keeper can only, and is only supposed to, guard a portion of the goal. There should be defenders marking the other team's players. That's what they're there for, to guard the parts of the goal the keeper won't be able to reach. In addition, if there's mayhem in the six yard box with four NJ players in there, it's the defenders' job to clear them out of there. No keeper is going to be able to defend the goal against four opposing players. To me it feels like you're taking your anti-Saunders bias and going off the rails with it. I'm not saying Saunders should be on the US National Team or anything, but pinning the blame for that debacle on him seems a bit unfair. Uncontested bicycle kick from 8 feet away. Oh yeah, must be Saunders fault. Unmarked redhead putting in two set pieces. Yup, must be Saunders too.

Sometimes teams just score goals and there's nothing the keeper can do about it. To me most if not all of the seven goals from yesterday were like that. Our defending was awful yesterday. And this playing out of the back is making me crazy having to watch it. Heck, it may even be that Johansen's a really good keeper, although we don't really have much evidence to support that either way. Can't see how you can blame Saunders for last night though. It's not like we lost 1-0 on a crappy howler of his. At a minimum five of the goals were simply unstoppable, no matter who we had in net. That's not saying they shouldn't have been stopped of course, but that's on the defense.

Oh geez, there is a huge difference in writing FFS as an intro compared to lacing a post every other sentence in full written display. Especially when it means For Friendly Sakes.

To your other points, a keeper is only as good as his positioning, and his positioning was bad on every set piece.

 

[Viewfrom226]

To your other points, a keeper is only as good as his positioning, and his positioning was bad on every set piece.

If I had a stronger stomach, I would go back and watch the goals again to form my own view on this question, but do those critical of Saunders think the bad positioning is poor judgment on his part or poor tactical planning by the team?

Saunders has shown the ability to take direction in at least one respect. Clearly he is trying to play the ball out only because he's being told too. He looks so completely uncomfortable, but keeps doing it.

Do people think the positioning issues lend themselves to better set piece strategy, or are those situations so dynamic that you can't really plan and the keeper needs to make a real time decision?

 

[felixgnr]

5/21 never forget
Bench saunders

Its gonna be my sign for the next match

 

[Tom in Fairfield CT]

He's slow as shit, watch the bicycle kick replay. He looks like a forty year old jeter waving at a grounder up the middle. He doesn't know when to come out and get the damn ball when it's bouncing around in the box. And guess what, he's in charge of setting guys up for the set pieces. He's horrendous, and has been since he got here.

 

[LionNYC]

When Saunders dives for some shots, part of me thinks he's just doing that to show he tried.

 

[Seven]

Can't blame Saunders for all 7 of those goals, but I still don't understand why he didn't come out and get the ball that BWP ended up biking in. Should the defense have done better on it? Yeah, sure. But when you have a ball go way up in the air around the 6 yard box, the goalie should be the only one who comes down with that. No one is going to out jump a goalie.

Hell, he could have even punched it out, since we know how much he likes to do that.

 

[BxLio91]

Can't blame Saunders for all 7 of those goals, but I still don't understand why he didn't come out and get the ball that BWP ended up biking in. Should the defense have done better on it? Yeah, sure. But when you have a ball go way up in the air around the 6 yard box, the goalie should be the only one who comes down with that. No one is going to out jump a goalie.

Hell, he could have even punched it out, since we know how much he likes to do that.

On a FK we conceded in the 2nd half, not sure which because I refuse to rewatch any parts of the game but the ball curved in front of the goal, SAUNDERS came out halfway out of his goal and just watched the ball till a RB guy poked it in like 2 feet from the goal on the far post. Josh was still in no man's land. He has the LOWEST SAVE PERCENTAGE for a reason. That means he's not good enough. I can't see how anyone is still defending him. Yesterday was not entirely his fault, but he's part of the problem. How can we play from the back with a goalkeeper who looks like a deer in the headlights when he has to play the ball with his feet? He's slow, sluggish unable to make a quick decision. The few times he manages to catch the ball he changes his mind 3-4 times, wastes 20 seconds to play the ball to a defender which gives the opposite team time to get set up to press. It's the same shit every single time. He has awful awareness, awful passing, awful kicking, awful reflexes, awful reflexes etc to use FIFA terms. Even if Eirik is exactly the same as SAUNDERS right now, he's only 24/25 which means it's better to go with him right now as he's going to get experience as opposed to Josh who cant improve anymore at 35 years old. And if you try Lurch and it doesn't work at least you know in time for the summer transfer window that you need a GK. For fucks sake

 

[Midas Mulligan]

If I had a stronger stomach, I would go back and watch the goals again to form my own view on this question, but do those critical of Saunders think the bad positioning is poor judgment on his part or poor tactical planning by the team?

Saunders has shown the ability to take direction in at least one respect. Clearly he is trying to play the ball out only because he's being told too. He looks so completely uncomfortable, but keeps doing it.

Do people think the positioning issues lend themselves to better set piece strategy, or are those situations so dynamic that you can't really plan and the keeper needs to make a real time decision?

I've said this a long time and posted it here before, but he looks like he has no ball sense. Not soccer iq, just ball sense. He looks to have never played a game of yard ball of any type. If he had, he would understand chances. He doesn't. He's really fucking dire, man. There is no goddamned excuse, regardless of what people post.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Let me put this another way: everything he knows about keeping is because someone told him the exact scenario and told him exactly where to be and his tortoisespeed brain pulls back the blueprint in time.

That is not a first division keeper. In any league. Including YSL.

 

[Ulrich]

Let me put this another way: everything he knows about keeping is because someone told him the exact scenario and told him exactly where to be and his tortoisespeed brain pulls back the blueprint in time.

That is not a first division keeper. In any league. Including YSL.

Yves Saint Laurent? Is that the fashion league?

 

[Viewfrom226]

I've said this a long time and posted it here before, but he looks like he has no ball sense. Not soccer iq, just ball sense. He looks to have never played a game of yard ball of any type. If he had, he would understand chances. He doesn't. He's really fucking dire, man. There is no goddamned excuse, regardless of what people post.

I wasn't at all arguing he is good. Just asking where the blame lies for a particular failing that was very clearly evident his weekend and several times earlier this season.

 

[ktdNYCFC]

The keeper is supposed to organize the defense. I don't think he's doing a good enough job of that. I don't put the set pieces entirely on him, but he's not off the hook either.

As for playing out of the back, that's on PV. Anyone who follows MLS even just a little would tell you that RB's most defining characteristic from last year was the high press. When you combine that with the shittiest execution of playing out of the back I've ever seen, you get scored on 7 times. And then he has the balls to come out and say he's not changing our strategy in the post-game presser.

And then we come to the real culprit in all of this - the whole front office. Anyone who follows MLS even just a little would tell you that NYCFC's most defining characteristic from last year was our fuck awful defense. They simply did not do a good enough job of refuckulating the back line this offseason. Hernandez has been generally better this season, but that they didn't come back this year with an entirely new back line AND keeper is shocking. They asked for this.

 

[Kjbert]

The keeper is supposed to organize the defense. I don't think he's doing a good enough job of that. I don't put the set pieces entirely on him, but he's not off the hook either.

As for playing out of the back, that's on PV. Anyone who follows MLS even just a little would tell you that RB's most defining characteristic from last year was the high press. When you combine that with the shittiest execution of playing out of the back I've ever seen, you get scored on 7 times. And then he has the balls to come out and say he's not changing our strategy in the post-game presser.

And then we come to the real culprit in all of this - the whole front office. Anyone who follows MLS even just a little would tell you that NYCFC's most defining characteristic from last year was our fuck awful defense. They simply did not do a good enough job of refuckulating the back line this offseason. Hernandez has been generally better this season, but that they didn't come back this year with an entirely new back line AND keeper is shocking. They asked for this.

In watching Barcelona yesterday, the way we play vs how they play is incredible (obviously). They don't have a target man up front. They have 3 really quick guys and guys in the middle of the pitch who can move the ball. Lopez, Shelton, McNamara, Allen, Hernandez - NONE of them get rid of the ball quick enough. They have no sense of where the next pass should be.

 

[Ulrich]

In watching Barcelona yesterday, the way we play vs how they play is incredible (obviously). They don't have a target man up front. They have 3 really quick guys and guys in the middle of the pitch who can move the ball. Lopez, Shelton, McNamara, Allen, Hernandez - NONE of them get rid of the ball quick enough. They have no sense of where the next pass should be.

So you're saying we're doing things wrong?

 

[canchon]

And then we come to the real culprit in all of this - the whole front office. Anyone who follows MLS even just a little would tell you that NYCFC's most defining characteristic from last year was our fuck awful defense. They simply did not do a good enough job of refuckulating the back line this offseason. Hernandez has been generally better this season, but that they didn't come back this year with an entirely new back line AND keeper is shocking. They asked for this.

Blame the FO. Look across the river, RBNY lost their two starting center backs, tried to get by and saw it wasn't working, had a lot of injures - and then went and picked up Collin for Orlando who has started every game for them (and looked decent yesterday - not to say that he's a fantastic player, but is an MLS veteran who used to be a top defender). You know what that cost them? A conditional fourth round draft pick. Basically a bag of balls.

 

[Fantazma]

Blame the FO. Look across the river, RBNJ lost their two starting center backs, tried to get by and saw it wasn't working, had a lot of injures - and then went and picked up Collin for Orlando who has started every game for them (and looked decent yesterday - not to say that he's a fantastic player, but is an MLS veteran who used to be a top defender). You know what that cost them? A conditional fourth round draft pick. Basically a bag of balls.

i question why orlando agreed to this. you basically gave him away for nothing.

 

[Viewfrom226]

i question why orlando agreeing to this. you basically gave him away for nothing.

Likely salary cap relief for Orlando given that he had fallen out of favor. I believe Orlando ate a bunch of the salary, but still got something like 250k off their books.

 

[canchon]

Likely salary cap relief for Orlando given that he had fallen out of favor. I believe Orlando ate a bunch of the salary, but still got something like 250k off their books.

Yeah it was a salary dump, Collin makes 500k. But if Orlando ate 250k of it and RBNY got Collin for 250k and a fourth round draft pick, versus NYCFC paying 220k to Mena to not even make the 18.

Brilliant also makes 260k or something like that. Iraola makes 200k. Bad use of funds all around.

 

[Kjbert]

So you're saying we're doing things wrong?

We don't have the personnel, especially on our small field, to play that way. Our wide players (Allen, McNamara, Shelton, Mendoza) are miserable decision makers. By the time the ball gets to them, they need to know what they're doing with it. It should look like a hot potato or keep away game. Instead, the ball stalls.

Unfortunately, we don't have a target man or a superior player in the air to play it up the middle either.