“I thought tonight was his best game by far.”
New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis once again chose not to mince words after Saturday night’s victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. After questioning the motivation and commitment of some of his older players after what could have been a season ending loss to Columbus Crew SC, Kreis gave credit where it was due after his team’s second consecutive win in a double game week.
On Wednesday, Frank Lampard scored the game-winner against Toronto FC, opening his account with the expansion club and lifting the weight of the world off of his own shoulders. Just three days later, he added an assist on Ned Grabavoy’s second goal, beating his defender to the end line and serving in a pinpoint cross that found the head of the crafty midfielder.
According to Kreis, this breakout string of performances from Lampard was always on the cards, and the much-scrutinized Designated Player looks to have finally shaken off the troubles he faced prior to and upon his arrival in New York City, using NYCFC’s recent bye-week to his advantage.
“Well, I think Frank put in a ton of extra work. He used that bye-week as a mini-preseason. He was doing a lot of extra conditioning work with our strength coach Oscar Patillas after every single training session, even so much so that we had to pull him back during the second week… Any time you do that as a player it’s going to pay dividends,” said New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis.
Whether or not Kreis was directly referring to Lampard when he questioned some of his older players and their commitment to the team remains in question, but what is undeniable is that his players responded positively to these remarks, winning two matches in three days and showing a level of energy and cohesiveness that was previously absent from their play.
Despite all of the scrutiny and doubt thrown his way by fans and members of the media, Frank Lampard is starting to show why Jason Kreis and the New York City FC organization have kept faith in him. After a lack of fitness sidelined him for most of the Summer, he’s rounding into form at a pivotal time in his club’s young history.
He’s put in two solid, perhaps game-changing performances in central midfield in a span of three days, and his 37 year-old legs carried him admirably through his box-to-box responsibilities. Though he put together his own “mini-preseason” during the bye-week, it’s enticing to speculate how a fit and present Lampard could have affected this team had he joined the club in January instead of July. Would his presence have eased the pressure on NYCFC to bring in another central midfielder like Pirlo? Could they have instead solidified their defensive corps by investing their resources in center-back reinforcements?
It’s anyone’s best guess.
However, the club’s current center-backs seem to have taken just as much from what looks to have been a season-changing bye-week as Lampard did. A recent tactical shift looks to have given their young defenders some extra comfort regarding their defensive organization.
“Two holding players in [Andrew Jacobson] and Pirlo in front of us, I think that helps us a lot having those two guys in there instead of Pirlo on his own,” said Shay Facey.
Having that buffer of two defensive midfielders also changed the way New York City attacked, according to Facey, who added, “…We have players who can hurt teams on the counterattack, and I think that’s what we did today, a lot of times we regained the ball in the center of the field, we got the ball out wide, and had some fantastic crosses and finishes… The space between the lines allows us to stay compact and counter and hurt teams.”
Central to turning that defensive work into attacking danger is Frank Lampard, who sits above Jacobson and Pirlo in NYCFC’s 4-3-3. Less of a No. 10 and more of an 8.5–not quite a box to box workhorse but not quite a classic attacking midfielder– Lampard has found his niche in dropping into the space above Jacobson and Pirlo when NYCFC create turnovers, collecting the ball and circulating it out wide to players like Ned Grabavoy and Mix Diskerud, each of whom were significantly more dangerous against San Jose than they have been in the past.
To a degree, Lampard’s role for New York City has evolved into something akin to that of Michael Bradley’s role with the US National Team: Dropping into space above the defensive players, collecting the ball, and leading the charge on the counterattack. For a strong and decisive player, it’s a role that can pay dividends.
If New York City are to pull off the near-miracle of saving their season and reaching the playoffs over the next few weeks, it will be because Frank Lampard has found his place among his teammates. His pedigree is such that, when he is on top of his game, he makes the players around him better.
Lampard might just reach those heights for NYCFC. If he does, don’t sleep on New York City FC, who will have turned a season filled with the often insurmountable obstacles faced by an expansion club into a season of which they can be proud.
