Everyone who proudly wears Man City Blue and is happy to see the door hit April in the behind, please raise your hand.
Motion carried.
April is the Cruelest Month: NYCFC 0 – Fire 1
Back in March, NYCFC had a possible 12 points and picked up five – not wonderful by any means, but hey, this is an expansion team, full of guys who’d never played together. Five points – a draw on the road with Orlando, a draw on the road with Colorado, and a win at the home opener against New England – was frankly very promising.
But the team started April flat after a bye week and turned a draw into a last minute loss in Philadelphia. Then less than a week later, a last minute draw at home against that same Union turned 3 points into 1. Then a last minute loss to Portland, followed by the bloody disaster in Chicago. And thus 1 measly point out of a possible 12.
But wait. It could get worse.
Because while May offers a possible 15 points, the boys in blue kick off against Seattle (currently sitting third in the powerful West) followed by the first ever NYC Derby at Red Bull Arena on Mother’s Day. Then 5 days later, they welcome Chicago – the same team they just lost to – to the Bronx. And then there’s a fun little jaunt to Rio Tinto for the “Jason Kreis-Ned Grabavoy-Josh Saunders-Sebastian Velazquez-Chris Wingert Homecoming party and Burning in Effigy”. Which, because it’s at Rio Tinto, will be at 4,500 feet elevation after a 5 hour flight. And then they wrap up the month at home against the Dynamo – the same team that beat them in Charleston in the Carolina Challenge.
Which means they could enter June with roughly as many points as they have right now.
Are we being too pessimistic? Too harsh? Too negative? Then consider this: NYCFC hold the longest winless streak in MLS right now at six games. They haven’t scored in over 200 minutes. They haven’t WON in over 500.
And then there was the Clown Show in Chicago.
Now sure, there were extenuating circumstances. The terrible backpass by Brovsky that Meara mishandled and that Accam easily put in – is that EVER going to happen again? And isn’t that just the kind of thing you’d expect from two players who’d never played together before – one of whom didn’t know until that day that he was getting the start?
Furthermore, Jacobson’s straight red demonstrated how important he is to NYCFC, even to those who still weren’t aware. He is the transition from the back line to the midfield. He’s also the anger and the passion and the energy. Without him doing what he does, Mix drifted further and further back – which hampers the attack and puts more stress on the defense. Plus NYCFC played a man down for over an hour.
And did we mention it was bucketing down rain? Not just pouring, it was like they were playing in a car wash. So that a possession team like NYC is (or, well, is supposed to be) is at a disadvantage, as the ball skips and slides unpredictably, and timing is all shot to hell because they can’t get the traction they expect to make the runs they need to make.
And Villa was not on the pitch. Nor Hernandez, who has been a bright spot on the back line. And Nemec went out in the 34th minute and Calle (who has been a dervish on the pitch) went out in the 38th. So you had a lot of guys on the pitch who hardly knew each other’s names.
But take nothing away from the Fire. They had an opportunity, they took it, and they held on to the points – something NYCFC have not been able to do.
And in spite of everything there were still a few bright spots. Matthew Dunn, for example, the player NYCFC picked up from Chivas in the dispersal draft, was like a mini (if that’s possible) Dax McCarty when he came on. And except for the blunder in the first half, Meara actually had an exceptional game, keeping it far closer than the box score would indicate. And the team as a whole went more directly to goal a lot more than they had in previous games – at least before Jacobson got sent off.
So maybe you think we exaggerate. That this cry of pain of the inner consciousness of a people laying itself bare for an instant to reveal the mood of beings who feel their isolation in the face of a universe that wars on them with winds and seas is, is just sound and fury and signifies nothing.
You could be right. For what is it they say about April Showers? That they bring English midfielders? No? Damn.
Main Photo courtesy of chicago-fire.com
