New York City FC took the field Saturday looking like a completely different team in their 3-1 win over Montreal. Instead of playing like an expansion club who seemed lost at sea, NYCFC put together a comprehensive performance in which they controlled the match from start to finish.
Simply put, they played like a team who had finally shrugged the monkey off of their backs. Of course, before City’s win at Philadelphia last week, that monkey had grown to the size of a behemoth gorilla. At last, it seemed, NYCFC were playing without that added weight.
Now that NYCFC have shown a glimpse of what they’re capable of by stylishly downing a Montreal side that had won four of their last five, it’s time to look at what worked, what didn’t, and how the Citizens can capitalize on their newly found momentum before they face Toronto FC.
What we learned from NYCFC’s victory over Montreal is…
Tommy McNamara is a Starter
One half of the “Pair of Hair” that started the match in midfield for NYCFC, McNamara put on another confident and effective display after earning his first start and Goal of the Week honors against Philadelphia. Though he wasn’t able to follow up his wonderstrike with another tally, he was a threat to Montreal all night and was instrumental in the buildup to NYCFC’s first goal.
His combination play down the left wing with left fullback Chris Wingert and the other half of the “Pair of Hair,” Ned Grabavoy, ended with Wingert finding him near the corner flag, where he slotted a square ball into the box for Patrick Mullins. Mullins found an on-rushing Mehdi Ballouchy, who in turn found David Villa open in front of goal for the strike.
Here’s a look at that goal on the chalkboard. Quick ball movement and good decision-making in the box from NYCFC gave Montreal fits. This is only the first time:
McNamara bossed the left side of the field and completed 40 passes on the night, most of which came in the attacking third. McNamara and Wingert, who completed 46 passes himself, were key cogs in the NYCFC attack throughout the match. Their ability to combine effectively up and down the pitch is what killed Montreal’s defense, and opened up space for NYCFC took full advantage of. Speaking of which…
NYCFC Found Their Attacking Identity
And Tommy McNamara is a part of it. Normally a possession-oriented squad to begin with, NYCFC were able to turn that into possession with a purpose. One of their main problems has continued to be their passivity on the ball; their contentedness to make horizontal and backwards passes, but not really ever being able to find the killer ball when the opportunity was there.
Yesterday, the team got away from that mentality and forced Montreal’s defenders to make decisions with positive play. A key element in judging how dangerous a team is with the ball is how often they are able to get their fullbacks involved in the attack.
These are the passing maps of NYCFC’s two fullbacks, Chris Wingert (17) and R.J. Allen (27):
As you can see, both fullbacks were successful getting up and down the wings. Wingert’s combination passes with the attackers on the left side and Allen’s ability to find space and swing in balls was important for an NYCFC team that had previously had little success getting numbers into the attacking third. The added numbers in New York City’s attack forced Montreal’s defenders to commit, and as the game went on, the right side of their defense allowed themselves to get sucked in whenever City had the ball in the attacking third.
NYCFC was able to capitalize on their ability to make Montreal commit by switching the point of attack by circulating the ball quickly in the attacking half. As you can tell from Chris Wingert’s passing map, New York City found success by absolutely pounding the ball down the left wing. They drew Montreal’s defenders towards that side of the field, which opened up space on the right side of the box.
All three of NYCFC’s goals were scored from the right-central portion of the box by a runner capitalizing on the space created by the team’s ability to commit defenders on the left:
NYCFC’s collection of technical players have left a lot to be desired throughout the first portion of their inaugural season, but yesterday they all looked to be on the same page, and that cohesion showed up in the effectiveness of their attack.
Kwadwo Poku is a Future Star
It took a while for the 23 year-old Ghanaian to start having an impact on NYCFC. After some promising preseason performances, Poku was absent from City’s lineup for the first few matches of the season. When he started coming in as a second half substitution and showing vision and composure on the ball, fans immediately called for him to start. Jason Kreis wasn’t as convinced, citing concerns over his fitness and defensive acumen, but he finally gave Poku his first start against Philadelphia. In his 58 minutes, Poku completed 90.9% of his passes, went 9 for 9 on long balls, and tallied an assist on Tommy McNamara’s goal of the week.
This week, he followed up his performance with an eventful 15 minutes off the bench. He hit 6 of his seven passes, got the assist on Mix Diskerud’s goal, scored his first MLS goal, made two tackles, an interception, and four recoveries. Not a bad day at all.
He’s quickly becoming a fan favorite and it’s easy to see why. He’s a proactive attacking midfielder who understands space very well both on and off the ball.
After the match, I asked Mix Diskerud about Poku’s play. He summed it up very simply, saying, “He’s strong, he doesn’t lose the ball a lot, and he creates stuff.”
Watch what he does here on New York City’s second goal:
He closes down Lefevre and forces a turnover. Immediately, he jets off into the space created along the top of the box, drawing the attention of four Montreal defenders. Left fullback Donny Toia gets sucked in, Poku catches him ball-watching and then lays a ball across the top of the box into the path of Diskerud.
Poku’s movement was so effective in committing defenders that Diskerud has the time to take a touch and pick out a shot to the far post. That kind of gravity is going to be incredibly important for NYCFC as the season wears on because it absolutely kills defenses. When a defender has to peel off of his man to stop the ball, or when a defender off the ball gets caught ball-watching, it stretches the entire defense out of shape. That’s what we saw in the goal above and, as NYCFC proved yesterday, they’re a team that is capable of capitalizing on the creation of space with their quick and decisive ball circulation.
NYCFC created a lot of that space through quick combination play yesterday, but Poku brings the added dimension of being able to create it by himself. When he came off the bench in the 75th minute against a Montreal side full of tired legs, he showed absolutely no mercy.
Bottom Line
What we learned from NYCFC’s victory over Montreal is that there are signs of life for New York City’s expansion club. This group of players hasn’t had a lot of time to gel together, but they’ve got back-to-back wins under their belts for the first time and they look to have found a style that plays to their skill sets.
By no means are they a competitor yet, and their recent run of form is still only a small sample size. However, what these two results have done is give Jason Kreis a glimpse into what works and what doesn’t, and who works well together. Developing chemistry is paramount for an expansion franchise and they’re finally showing flashes of doing just that.
