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Toronto Postmatch
- Thread starter NYCFC_Dan
- Start date
-We clearly played for the draw (intentionally or unintentionally) after Toronto smacked in the equalizer. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
-Mendozza was garbage. My nickname for him is the NYCFC Counter Attack Killer
-The B-Team is what we thought they would be. Yes, Poku is still on the B-Team even after that beauty of a goal.
-Saunders is either really good (tonight) or really bad (plenty of other nights).
-I feel like we're very fortunate to leave Toronto with a point. We had very few chances in the area tonight.
-Mendozza was garbage. My nickname for him is the NYCFC Counter Attack Killer
-The B-Team is what we thought they would be. Yes, Poku is still on the B-Team even after that beauty of a goal.
-Saunders is either really good (tonight) or really bad (plenty of other nights).
-I feel like we're very fortunate to leave Toronto with a point. We had very few chances in the area tonight.
This. I really liked him early in the season/preseason. But last night, not only on the goal, there were multiple times he ball watched leading directly to excellent chances and the goal.
Not this. I don't think you can judge these guys playing with the B squad. You give either one of them major minutes with our A team and they'll look much better, much more threatening than they did last night.
Not this. He had a GREAT game last night. But the game just before that he gave Portland 2 looks at an OPEN net. We are extremely lucky they whiffed on both. I'll take the Saunders of last night any day. But it's a fantasy to claim his wobbles are distant history.
This.
Not this.
This.
Nerve wracking to watch. Happy at the final whistle. Important road point. Same game at home, I'd be disappointed. On the road, happy with the result.
Our disagreement is minor. I do think this was our best tie ever, and I will take 7 points from 3 Away games in a heartbeat. The second half of the game just left me flat, but I've no real issue with the result (except it wiped out my 4-game winning streak prediction).
Bradley was basically invisible on offense. that was a result of our mix. Bradley is a very good CDM and limited mixs time on the ball but he was still able to start the goal sequence, and get a shot six inches from a goal.
Another game where did did the dirty work. Certainly better than poku did. Poku should be a forward. I really don't see what quality he had that makes him a midfielder. Ballouchy still sucks. White is not a RB, king of weird to keep playing him there.
Overall a great tie. Or recent result allowed us to rest guys and even six points in this to would have been awesome. To pull off a draw while resting our starters is a really great result.
Another game where did did the dirty work. Certainly better than poku did. Poku should be a forward. I really don't see what quality he had that makes him a midfielder. Ballouchy still sucks. White is not a RB, king of weird to keep playing him there.
Overall a great tie. Or recent result allowed us to rest guys and even six points in this to would have been awesome. To pull off a draw while resting our starters is a really great result.
Mix, like any beautifully coifed work of art, will always be interpreted differently. For what it's worth, at the half Janusz Michallik shared that he felt Mix was pressing too high and creating space behind him that Toronto was exploiting, and would need to stay in formation better and read the press from Mullins instead of roaming freely
Yesterday morning, still riding the high of a 3 game winning streak, I was hoping for a win. I figured the way we had been playing we could beat anyone. However, after the lineup was released, I was hoping to not get blown out, and in that case, I was very happy with the draw, especially on the road.
I was pleasantly surprised how well the team looked in the first half. Echoing others sentiments, I thought Bravo was a wrecking ball in the middle. I also thought Mix looked good, but that could also be that Mehdi and Poku were pretty invisible to me. Brilliant had some miscues, but I am always struck by how commanding he is in the air, something I never noticed last year with our CBs
It is also nice to see how much better our depth is this year compared to last year. We had no DPs on the field for 70 minutes, and a few of our starters didn't even make the 18, and yet we put out a competitive side.
I was pleasantly surprised how well the team looked in the first half. Echoing others sentiments, I thought Bravo was a wrecking ball in the middle. I also thought Mix looked good, but that could also be that Mehdi and Poku were pretty invisible to me. Brilliant had some miscues, but I am always struck by how commanding he is in the air, something I never noticed last year with our CBs
It is also nice to see how much better our depth is this year compared to last year. We had no DPs on the field for 70 minutes, and a few of our starters didn't even make the 18, and yet we put out a competitive side.
Agree on Poku. I like the suggestion above about a free role also. He obviously has genuinely special offensive talents, but either doesn't want to or can't function in a structure. Ballouchy is boring and had some horrible give aways, but did cover for Poku a lot.
Agree on White, though I suppose I take his physicality over Iraola. Check out how Gio is eviscerates Iraola on the bouncing ball in the air before the double save towards the end. Brutal. Mostly we need RJ to stay healthy.
I agree. I was going to say I see him as a CAM or CF, but then deleted everything and started over. He's not a CAM either. A good CAM is a creator (Ozil/Payet). When Poku gets the ball, there's one thing on his mind. You know exactly where he wants to go, and he will go through anyone in his way to get there. He's bloodthirsty for goals, not for creative passes.
Since he's done his first interviews with the team he's said he wants to play like Yaya. Lots of media came out at the start comparing him to Yaya. He's not Yaya, he's a graceful (that shot last night...) wrecking ball.
This match showed the drop off between our outside backs in Mata & RJ vs. any combo of White/Iraola/Martinez. Granted, Martinez didn't play horribly, but he didn't play well either. Also looked dead around 55 minutes into the game, and then got subbed off first while searching for something called oxygen. Could just be due to not playing often, but he was shot after only 2/3 of a soccer game. White is at best a cover in case of injury or just an extra sub in the 90th minute of a game where we have a one goal lead. Caught ball watching way too often. Iraola... is just too damn slow and can't really play defense all that well. Or, he should never pass the midfield line since he can't recover when the other team has the ball and counters us.
Brillant has definitely helped improve this defense. Yes, he does have a few errors on getting turned easily, but him & Hernandez are looking like a pretty decent pair. Would not mind dropping Mena and Iraola and getting a decent chunk of salary back for those failed purchases. Not sure if we can drop them in the summer or would have to wait until the end of the season for the cap space though.
Decent game from a B team though going up against one of the better teams in our conference. I'm fine with the point.
Brillant has definitely helped improve this defense. Yes, he does have a few errors on getting turned easily, but him & Hernandez are looking like a pretty decent pair. Would not mind dropping Mena and Iraola and getting a decent chunk of salary back for those failed purchases. Not sure if we can drop them in the summer or would have to wait until the end of the season for the cap space though.
Decent game from a B team though going up against one of the better teams in our conference. I'm fine with the point.
Yeah, this was not the week to bring Matarrita and McNamara into my fantasy team or make Gio the captain, but I will take that last one.
Some random thoughts:
This game demonstrated how deep our bench is. Very few teams would be able to replace most of their starting XI and not get run off of the field by a team like Toronto. I don’t think PV was punting points, I think he truly believed this group could win or at a minimum draw. I like the confidence and the fearlessness of the decision.
I thought that the color guy Janusz was way too dismissive of PV’s decisions and critical of the play. I’m ok with announcers being fair and not necessarily showing bias or giving too much benefit of the doubt, but I thought that he was a bit too far in the other direction. Maybe it was just me.
What impressed me most about Bravo was not his usual defensive snarl, but the way he stepped into Pirlo’s distributor quarterback role and excelled.
Though one dimension we missed without Pirlo was his role as a safety valve. He is an always available outlet and seemingly omnipresent when his teammates need to unload the ball under pressure. Last night there seemed to be several plays where defenders or midfielders were waving, shrugging or yelling after having no one show for a pass. Bravo did a great job of helping out, but Pirlo is exceptional at this.
Something about Mendoza’s play has always appeared slightly off to me and I could never pinpoint it, and it finally clicked for me last night (well, I have to give credit to the critical Janusz for pointing it out). He is a one-footed player and it isn’t just that he prefers his strong foot, he avoids his weak foot at all costs. This causes him to cut-back when he should be pushing the ball further forward or crossing the ball, or taking another unnecessary touch rather than shooting with his weaker foot. It’s a tremendous detriment to his play and I believe it is what causes many of his play killers. This may have been obvious to many, but I never put it all together.
Brillant and Hernandez really work well together. Having a tandem who know and trust one another was sorely missing last season.
Oh Poku. One second he is thrilling and the next he just seems lost or indifferent. I still lean towards impact sub. Maybe it is just the way he carries himself and for some reason he appears aloof. But I think he just has a game that is a mixed bag of great and flawed. That is still enough to make a substantial impact in the right role, whatever that is.
Man, Gio is one of those rare players who I just presume will hurt us every time he touches the ball. I just wait for the worst every time until it doesn’t happen. As 80% of you on here would call it, a rebuttable presumption.
You can’t be unhappy with taking a point there. Great call PV, and well done boys.
This game demonstrated how deep our bench is. Very few teams would be able to replace most of their starting XI and not get run off of the field by a team like Toronto. I don’t think PV was punting points, I think he truly believed this group could win or at a minimum draw. I like the confidence and the fearlessness of the decision.
I thought that the color guy Janusz was way too dismissive of PV’s decisions and critical of the play. I’m ok with announcers being fair and not necessarily showing bias or giving too much benefit of the doubt, but I thought that he was a bit too far in the other direction. Maybe it was just me.
What impressed me most about Bravo was not his usual defensive snarl, but the way he stepped into Pirlo’s distributor quarterback role and excelled.
Though one dimension we missed without Pirlo was his role as a safety valve. He is an always available outlet and seemingly omnipresent when his teammates need to unload the ball under pressure. Last night there seemed to be several plays where defenders or midfielders were waving, shrugging or yelling after having no one show for a pass. Bravo did a great job of helping out, but Pirlo is exceptional at this.
Something about Mendoza’s play has always appeared slightly off to me and I could never pinpoint it, and it finally clicked for me last night (well, I have to give credit to the critical Janusz for pointing it out). He is a one-footed player and it isn’t just that he prefers his strong foot, he avoids his weak foot at all costs. This causes him to cut-back when he should be pushing the ball further forward or crossing the ball, or taking another unnecessary touch rather than shooting with his weaker foot. It’s a tremendous detriment to his play and I believe it is what causes many of his play killers. This may have been obvious to many, but I never put it all together.
Brillant and Hernandez really work well together. Having a tandem who know and trust one another was sorely missing last season.
Oh Poku. One second he is thrilling and the next he just seems lost or indifferent. I still lean towards impact sub. Maybe it is just the way he carries himself and for some reason he appears aloof. But I think he just has a game that is a mixed bag of great and flawed. That is still enough to make a substantial impact in the right role, whatever that is.
Man, Gio is one of those rare players who I just presume will hurt us every time he touches the ball. I just wait for the worst every time until it doesn’t happen. As 80% of you on here would call it, a rebuttable presumption.
You can’t be unhappy with taking a point there. Great call PV, and well done boys.
I often wonder how you feel about a new stadium coming on line. Seems like it could damage your brand equity.
Here's why I think Mullins was moved left, and it has to do with why Villa was brought in at the end. Sure, there is always the chance that El Capitan will knock in a goal, but I think the real reason he was there was to mark and harass Michael Bradley. Go back and watch. Villa followed Bradley around like a puppy. He kept MB90 from getting the ball and was all over Bradley if Michael did get the ball. Big reason why we closed out the game with a minimum of drama, and it only works if Villa is setting up centrally.
Indeed. Though he did manage to get the ball onto his left foot for the cross that led to the Poku call (via a partial Mullins header). Didn't do much for the subsequent 70 mins to be sure though!
Seemed like we decided pretty early that a point would be just fine thankyouverymuch.
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