Photo by Adam Hunger/USA Today Sports
By MICHAEL PENG
Josh Saunders has been a busy man for New York City FC this season.
The 34-year-old goalkeeper currently ranks second in the league with 111 shots faced, and while he is also among the league leaders in saves made with 74, it’s the 33 times he has had to pick the ball out of his own net that have put a damper on his performance and NYCFC’s season.
Last weekend’s 3-2 loss to the Montreal Impact marked the fourth consecutive time NYCFC has given up at least three goals at Yankee Stadium. While the home team has put up a four- and a five-spot during that stretch to match or overwhelm the defensive lapses, it cannot afford to win via shootouts week in and week out.
The three goals scored by the Impact also upped NYCFC’s total of goals conceded at home to a league-worst total of 23, and the late defensive additions of Angelino, Andoni Iraola and Jefferson Mena have not seemed to alleviate head coach Jason Kreis’ headache one bit.
For months, Kreis has stressed that while NYCFC could boast one of the most potent offenses in the league – with the likes of David Villa, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and Mix Diskerud – the defense needs the most patching-up. However, 22 games through the season, it is evident that there is still work to be done.
Kreis has tried to address the issues by constantly changing the defensive personnel, but maybe too much so. The 2009 MLS Cup-winning coach has trotted out 14 different starting backlines this season, and that kind of shuffling has not helped with cohesion and chemistry, especially for a brand new club.
Granted, NYCFC has had to deal with some injuries along the way – like the nagging hamstring problem that is bothering Kreis’ defensive stable Chris Wingert – but the team has also placed a couple of players out of position as well hoping to fill in the gaps.
Javier Calle and Sebastian Velasquez, both of whom are offensive-minded midfielders, have each attempted to protect Saunders this season to no avail. And others like Angelino and Mena tend to push forward a bit too much at times, leaving them vulnerable to the counter-attacks.
There might not seem to be much room for optimism, but the club could help its defense by containing the ball better and not letting up the pressure as a team late in games.
Out of the 34 goals the team has conceded on the season, nine of them have come in the final 15 minutes of the contest. One might think that having smaller dimensions on the field at Yankee Stadium would make defending a bit easier, but NYCFC has been beaten in a variety of fashion, be it through long balls in the air or on the ground, off set pieces, turnovers, and more.
Fixing all that is wrong with NYCFC’s defense will not be an overnight effort, but there is still enough time left in the season for Kreis’ squad to get things together to make a push toward the playoffs.
All the pieces are finally in place, but now it’s up to Kreis to figure out how to finally get them playing consistently well together.
Nope. They plAy to win at home and play for a draw on the road.
It’s not a big mystery at all.
NYCFC have scored 22 goals at Yankee Stadium, and their opponents have scored 23.
The same roster has scored 9 goals on the road, and their opponents have scored 11.
So isn’t is obvious that the smaller field is allowing both NYCFC and their visitors to create significantly more chances?
(I for one, don’t mind high scoring games.)
For some reason, teams are hesitant to add DP defenders. I can’t understand why. I understand the theory is attacking players put more butts in seats but nothing is better for generating interest than winning. A stud defender would help NYCFC a lot more than Fat Frank.
There is lots of talent in the back. Mena is a stud. They will need some time to solidify.
Defenders are underappreciated in all leagues. Look at Madrid haggling with Sergio Ramos over his contract.
I understand, and its not just about butts in seats. First, offensive players have much more ability to impact a game based on individual effort, particularly in a league with subpar defending. There are numerous examples of that in MLS now. Second, defense must be played as a unit to be effective. Adding one star central defender to a medicore supporting cast will not accomplish much if the rest of the defense is pourous or if the offense can’t keep possession. A central pairing might help, but with limited DP slots teams are right to use them to improve their attack. Third, it is very difficult to judge defending (even more so than goalkeeping). Not even the best teams in the world are great at it — they shuffle defenders all the time using players presumably and the highest level. The best use of a “defensive” DP would be a solid holding mid (Jermaine Jones), an attacking fullback (Dani Alves would be a great DP), or a multi-position player like Javier Mascherano or David Luiz. Short of that, I would never use a limited DP slot on a pure defender.
Wow. I guess we just fundamentally disagree about how to build a winning soccer team.
There have been about 100 DPs so far. No MLS Cup winner has featured a non-American DP on defense. You don’t have to spend large sums to get good quality MLS defending. That’s the bottom line. The bigger question is whether you really need to spend huge money on attackers to win. Red Bulls are trying out that theory.