It would be easy to simply complain about NYCFC’s loss on Sunday at Yankee Stadium to Seattle. All one would have to do is cut and paste the avalanche of sound, fury, and invective that lit up the twitterverse after the beat-down by Clint ‘Deuce’ Dempsey and Obafemi Martins.
Ever tried, ever failed. No matter. Instead, let’s take this moment, when NYCFC’s failures seem countless, to look for the positives about the Bronx’s favorite expansion team.
Let’s start with RJ Allen. What an impact. The guy signs on Friday and is subbed in on Sunday. Big, strong, took balls away from attackers, made attacking runs, and got back on defense. Tremendous. Also loved the way he and Alvarez worked together. With Watson-Siriboe out on red card, fans should be happy to have him as an option for the next game.
Speaking of Alavarez – love this guy. Loved the way he attacked and wasn’t afraid to shoot when he was subbed on in the Portland game, really love the way he kept shooting and driving all during this game. Absolutely made a case for himself in this match – as manager Jason Kreis admitted. His play with Allen as mentioned above was terrific. His attacking was great, and when Villa came on, their communication was something to be optimistic about.
Villa was back. Sure, he only played the last 36 minutes, and no, he didn’t score, but he had five shots, which was as many as he’d had the entire Philadelphia game (the last time he played a full 90). Best of all, this wasn’t a “mercy sub” – you know, where a coach puts a guy on just to get the crowd riled up in a hopeless cause. Although his appearance on the sideline brought everyone in Yankee Stadium to its feet. No, this was the real deal – Villa, looked fit and ready to play. Probably why the report is that he’ll be starting on Sunday in Harrison.
NYCFC are developing a deep, experienced bench. Because of the injuries and red cards, multiple combinations of players are learning to play with each other in real-game situations, in ways many of them probably wouldn’t have under normal circumstances. This will be invaluable as the season wears on – and as injuries, call-ups and suspensions plague NYCFC as they do all teams. More importantly, it will give Kreis more flexibility when facing different teams throughout the season.
Every game, Shelton gets better. Yes, he’s got more to learn, but sometimes it’s hard to believe this kid’s a rookie. For someone that big (6’3”) the ball stays on his feet through traffic like it does for much smaller, lower center-of-gravity players. He’s always creating chances, has speed that continues to surprise defenders, and is gaining confidence. He may not have scored yet, but with ten shots on goal – including 3 against Seattle – it’s bound to happen soon.
They shot more again this game than in last game. The team had 20 shots against Seattle, up from eight against Chicago, and with better accuracy than against Portland. And those shots were not of the dawdling, dribbling, pissing-away-the-opportunity variety that plagued NYCFC earlier in the season. They were one-timers, two-timers – the kind that freeze defenses and that made Seattle goalie Stefan Frei unleash a string of invective upon his back line in the first half that actually earned some respect from the Third Rail Supporters he was playing in front of.
More than 25,000 at the Stadium – that’s more than would fit into Madison Square Garden, again. More than would fit in the new Avaya Stadium in San Jose by 7,000. NYCFC are third in attendance this year, averaging over 28,000, which is better than every NBA team, every NHL team, and 13 MLB teams. Not bad.
They won’t have to face Seattle again this season. Not unless NYCFC make the playoffs, and probably not even then, really. Seattle’s not coming back to the Bronx, and the Citizens are not going to CenturyLink any time soon. And that’s a very good thing, because Sunday showed just what a beast that team can be.
NYCFC are literally running out of new ways to lose. Chicago was the clownshow where everything went wrong. Seattle was the straight-up beat-down. Portland was the last minute disaster. Philadelphia was the “how is Conor Casey leveling Josh Saunders in the box NOT a yellow card.” SKC was the “Jesus Christ it’s cold.” Short of “Aliens zapped us with laser guns” or “the League has insisted NYCFC spot opposing teams a 3 goal lead” or even “the entire team overslept and missed the game” it would appear the Citizens are pretty much bound to start winning.
If for no other reason than that they’ve pretty much run out of other options.
