Photo by Andy Marlin/USA Today Sports
By RYAN TOLMICH
NEW YORK – The 2015 season has not always been easy for Ned Grabavoy, or New York City FC for that matter. But Saturday night, everything just seemed to click in the most unlikely of ways.
At times vital, at times maligned, Grabavoy is the type of player that tends to fly under the radar, doing the little things that may not always show up on the highlight reel. Yet, Saturday the midfielder found his name on the scoresheet. Twice.
Grabavoy scored a pair of goals in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes, his first since October of 2014. In a midfield loaded with the starpower of Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard, Mix Diskerud and the cult hero Kwadwo Poku, it was Grabavoy that made the difference Saturday night.
The veteran midfielder will be the first to tell you that this season has, at times, presented a series of difficulties. As things stand, NYCFC sits out of the postseason, but, with performances like Grabavoy’s on Saturday, the club still has a fighting chance.
“I think it’s been a struggle for everyone,” Grabavoy said. “We’ve been towards the bottom of the table most of the season in the conference, so I wouldn’t look myself in the mirror and say that everything has been spectacular, as I’m sure the rest of the group wouldn’t collectively across the board.
“I think the last game I had a few chances in and around the box where I may have put some other guys in, and certainly tonight I was lucky to get two great goals. “
For Grabavoy, the past three or so games have presented a major shift, for both he and his team.
Attempting to squeeze into a jam-packed midfield, Grabavoy says he’s being asked to get into a more attacking role than earlier this season. Generally viewed as a key midfield cog, Grabavoy has been far from a goalscorer, but he is now being asked to fight his way into the box as often as possible.
Playing off David Villa, Grabavoy says, has been wonderful, but adjustments have had to be made in recent weeks. Those adjustments paid off in a major way Saturday, as Grabavoy put forth his best NYCFC performance to date.
On his first finish, it was a perfectly worked one-two with the Spaniard that yielded a breakaway finish. On his second, it was a headed effort off a Frank Lampard cross, despite his status as one of the smaller guys on the field.
Still, Saturday’s performance is just a starting point, as the midfielder, and NYCFC, continue to build rhythm and chemistry as the season inches towards its grand finale.
“I know what it meant for me. I couldn’t be happier for anyone else because I know how hard he works,” NYCFC defender and Grabavoy’s former RSL teammate Chris Wingert told SBI. “I’ve been playing next to him for eight years now. I just know that he deserves everything that he gets, and more, because he doesn’t get enough credit for the work that he puts in. He does exactly what he’s asked to do. When we were younger, he was more of a goalscorer, a No. 10, and in Salt Lake, he knew that to fit in with that team and play all the time, he was going to have to bust his ass and play defense.
“He filled that role perfectly, and I know it better than anybody because he played right in front of me. There are times when he gets on the scoresheet too, and tonight was one of those nights and those were two great goals. It was pretty exciting for the team.”
That excitement is something that both Grabavoy and Wingert hope can carry on through the coming weeks.
Facing off with contenders in the Vancouver Whitecaps next weekend, NYCFC has just four games to mount a playoff push.
An 11-year MLS veteran, Grabavoy knows the league as well as any. Having claimed two MLS Cups in his career, the midfielder knows that things are far from settled in the Eastern Conference.
“It’s a weird league. It’s certainly a weird and different league,” Grabavoy said. “The parity, the things the separate a team that finishes eighth in the conference and third. People may look and just say that team’s not very good and that team’s great, but it’s very few details, small details that make the difference.
“We can only control ourselves. Obviously, we’re going to need some help from other teams. For me, we could have laid down two or three weeks ago and died, and I think we’ve done the opposite, so I think that’s the most positive thing.”
For a team built on legends and starpower, NYCFC is still very much that, a team, one that will only continue its push if it proves to be even more than a sum of its parts.
“Any team needs that, any successful team,” Lampard said. “It was the same on Wednesday, and same today. You can go through the team and see good performance everywhere.
“It’s easy to talk about players that have played in Europe and come here, but we rely just as much on the other players on the team and in the squad. For Ned to do that today, it’s exactly what it’s all about.”