{"id":745,"date":"2016-09-19T15:52:24","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T19:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsoccer.com\/?p=745"},"modified":"2016-09-19T22:31:40","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T02:31:40","slug":"bravo-for-iraola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2016\/09\/19\/bravo-for-iraola\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Forward the Answer is Not Federico Bravo for Andoni Iraola"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bravo for Federico Bravo<\/strong>, but, looking toward the playoffs,\u00a0Andoni Iraola<\/strong> is the more important player for\u00a0New York City Football Club<\/strong>. Perhaps as \u00a0Important as Andrea Pirlo<\/strong>, Frank Lampard<\/strong> and David Villa<\/strong>. Looking at the past two NYCFC<\/strong> matches\u00a0shows us why.<\/p>\n

Going Forward the Answer is Not Federico Bravo for Andoni Iraola<\/h2>\n

Stark Contrast in Play<\/h3>\n

In New England<\/strong>, NYCFC were exposed and outplayed in what could have been a blowout loss to the New England Revolution<\/strong>. \u00a0Bravo was\u00a0by no means the worst NYCFC player\u00a0in that game and played with energy and drive that, on the surface, seems like everything you would want from a starting defensive midfielder. \u00a0However, a look\u00a0at Saturday’s 2-2 tie with western conference leader, FC Dallas<\/strong>, shows a different story when Andoni Iraola is on the pitch. \u00a0Iraola offers patience on the ball that Bravo does not and makes the team better and more stable as a whole.<\/p>\n

Iraola’s style of play and defensive presence of mind allows Pirlo to play with a more\u00a0offensive focus \u00a0and not have to track back as much to defend. \u00a0He provides a solid foundation to build the attack. \u00a0 Pirlo, Lampard and Villa can race forward and overwhelm the defense with faith in\u00a0\u00a0Iraola’s distribution and control behind them. \u00a0Iraola’s stability and skill with the ball at his feet give a kickstart to the NYCFC attack. Bravo simply does not have that stability as of yet. \u00a0He is a younger player than Iraola by far and is still growing on the pitch. \u00a0He may develop that awareness eventually but right now Iraola provides veteran presence and support\u00a0that NYCFC sorely need in front of a shaky backline.<\/p>\n

Iraola’s statistics are not flashy, but against Dallas he committed only one foul and was solid throughout. His passing percentage was excellent. \u00a0He showed a presence of mind to let the attack develop and to make the simple pass rather than the flashy one. \u00a0Bravo got sent off in the later part of the New England match and effectively left the team without a hope in the final minutes of that game.<\/p>\n

To be clear, \u00a0Bravo is not to blame. He is giving his all when he gets a chance, but, with an injured Maxime Chanot<\/strong> and now possibly Frank Lampard, NYCFC must go with the more stable Iraola going forward. It is good to have given the aging Iraola some rest, \u00a0but now he is a must start for the final games at NYCFC chase a first place playoff seat.<\/p>\n

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