{"id":581,"date":"2016-09-15T15:00:10","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T19:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsoccer.com\/?p=581"},"modified":"2016-09-15T14:44:58","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T18:44:58","slug":"what-went-wrong-for-nycfc-new-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2016\/09\/15\/what-went-wrong-for-nycfc-new-england\/","title":{"rendered":"The Boston Rag: What Went Wrong for NYCFC in New England"},"content":{"rendered":"

I could say \u201cI told you so\u201d but that would be immature. And more to the point, it wouldn\u2019t explain what went wrong for NYCFC<\/strong><\/a> in Saturday\u2019s match against the New England Revolution<\/strong><\/a> at Gillette Stadium<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And what went wrong for NYCFC started early. Before the team even hit the pitch.<\/p>\n

The Boston Rag: What Went Wrong for NYCFC in New England<\/h2>\n

It started with the starting XI <\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Why Steven Mendoza<\/strong> over Tommy McNamara<\/strong>? Why Jefferson Mena<\/strong> on the backline instead of Maxime Chanot<\/strong> and Jason Hernandez<\/strong> over R.J. Allen<\/strong>? And why Federico Bravo<\/strong> in the midfield over Andoni Iraola<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Was it to rest those players as the team heads into the final matches in a tight divisional battle that involves essentially<\/em> every team?<\/p>\n

But why rest them for this<\/em> match? Why rest them for a match against a weak divisional rival who was undoubtedly distracted by the opportunity to salvage its season in the US Open Cup a few days later? Why not pull out all the stops, play the best XI you had, try and take a point on the road, and then<\/em> rest key players on Saturday against FC Dallas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Because let\u2019s face it, the Dallas match is \u2013 or should be \u2013 essentially meaningless. Yes, of course, wins are what the side is after. And yes, of course, a win is better for the playoffs than a loss. And of course, Dallas will have just played that same US Open Cup Final a few days earlier, and may be suffering some kind of hangover.<\/p>\n

But if you can\u2019t beat the Revolution, then why in God\u2019s name do you think you can beat a team that looks poised to win the MLS treble? What kind of sense does that make? That\u2019s like saying \u201cI\u2019m gonna take it easy against Donald Duck over here because, worst case scenario, I still like my chances against Muhammad Ali next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. Maybe that wasn\u2019t Patrick Vieira\u2019s thinking at all. Maybe he thought this combination would confuse the Revolution. Add a little spark. Create a little energy.<\/p>\n

Yeah, not so much.<\/p>\n

Because Saturday\u2019s match in Foxborough was like watching the Orlando City SC<\/strong> match, but with less rain and more muskets. Except for a few brief minutes at the beginning of the second half when RJ Allen subbed on, the team had no passion, no fire, no nothing. All that wonderful momentum from the match against D.C. United<\/strong> – gone.<\/p>\n

And Something Else Gone Too<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Take a look at two stats on W<\/strong>hoscored.com<\/strong><\/a> for a second. They\u2019ll tell you the whole story of what went wrong for NYCFC in New England.<\/p>\n

The first stat is the points Whoscored.com gives out to every player, a grade, if you will of their performance. Now, without clicking away, who do you think got the highest marks for NYCFC? Goal scorer Frank Lampard<\/strong>? Captain David Villa<\/strong>? No. Josh Saunders<\/strong>. Josh Saunders who gave up three goals and still<\/em> his grade was at least a point higher than all but one other player on NYCFC. Look, no one’s been a stronger\u00a0supporter of Saunders than me, but\u00a0when your goalie \u2013 who got shellacked<\/em> \u2013 is putting in that much<\/em> better a performance than the rest of the team,\u00a0it\u00a0means\u00a0things were worse for the team than the final score would indicate.<\/p>\n

And the other stat? It\u2019s more of an observation, really. Look in the \u201cMatch Report<\/a>\u201d where the strengths each team demonstrated during the match are listed. Do you see what it says for NYCFC?<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating chances through individual skill\u201d.<\/p>\n

Excuse me? \u201cIndividual skill?” It wasn\u2019t \u201cindividual skill\u201d that beat the Los Angeles Galaxy<\/strong>. It wasn\u2019t \u201cindividual skill\u201d that beat the New York Red Bulls<\/strong>. And it wasn\u2019t \u201cindividual skill\u201d that dominated the Colorado Rapids<\/strong> or that came back not once, but twice<\/em>, against D. C. United.<\/p>\n

It was \u201cteam play\u201d. It was team skill. Because when New York City FC play like a team, they are almost unbeatable.<\/p>\n

And when they don\u2019t, they lose to seventh place sides like the New England Revolution.<\/p>\n

Which is why now, Saturday\u2019s match is almost a must-win.<\/p>\n

Sure, Soccerstats.com<\/strong><\/a> tells us that NYCFC can still make the playoffs if, in their remaining five matches, they at least draw twice. And with a schedule that includes games against the three worst teams in MLS, even someone as superstitious as me has to believe that\u2019s at least likely.<\/p>\n

But how do you want NYCFC to go into the playoffs? As a bunch of individuals in free fall, eking out meager draws against teams they should destroy, only to find themselves in a road play-in game against the Red Bulls?<\/p>\n

Because the nature of the loss in New England means that these are the questions facing NYCFC again, questions they should have put to bed long ago.<\/p>\n

And that<\/em> is the most important thing that went wrong for NYCFC.<\/p>\n

Oh, and yeah, I told you so\u2026<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n