Is it time to push the panic button on NYCFC’s season?
New York City FC are 0–4 in MLS play and have only scored once
In the past, when New York City FC trailed in a match, I had enough faith and optimism in the 11 guys on the field to take back control and pull off something special. Late game deficits worried me a bit but early game deficits didn’t faze me in the least. So when Orlando City’s Chris Mueller dominated NYCFC and netted two goals in the game’s opening 10 minutes, it definitely bothered me, yet I still had high hopes for the Boys in Blue going forward.
Orlando went on to win the game 3–1, putting a damper on NYCFC’s hopes of qualifying for the MLS is Back tournament knockout round. For the first time in a while, NYCFC is on the receiving end of its MLS fixtures, something fans haven’t experienced for a while. City has finished in the East’s top three since 2016, having lost seven home games in that stretch. The team’s performance has been guided by some of the league’s top goalscorers, goalkeepers, and even a league MVP. And NYCFC executives have done a good job of keeping the key players around for a long time.
Roster consistency appears to be the secret to long-term MLS success, and NYCFC’s starting group has barely changed since the start of the 2018 season, a group which finished in first place a year ago. They stuck to what was working and it led to a franchise record of 64 points. However, while 2019’s roster is nearly identical to that of 2020, the club’s front office and coaching staff endured many changes. Former Sporting Director Claudio Reyna assumed the same role for the 2021 expansion side Austin FC and former coach Domènec Torrent and his staff left the club after a very successful season and a half.
From an outsider’s perspective, Reyna’s departure doesn’t seem to have affected City’s on field performances, even though he was a part of the club since it was founded, establishing a successful vision for the club’s operations. Both the first team and the academy were performing at a high level, making NYCFC one of the country’s most attractive soccer organizations. His replacement, David Lee, formerly the club’s technical director, has also worked for the club since the start and his leadership has situated NYCFC in a great position heading forward.
The publicly stated reasons behind Torrent’s departure were unclear. He’d stated many times throughout last season that he wasn’t happy with a lot of MLS-specific circumstances, mainly the team’s occasional weekly Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday schedule. However, he wasn’t unhappy coaching the team. The bond between his players was reported to be quite strong and City delivered its best performances as a result. Torrent and his assistants parted ways with NYCFC just 16 days after the 2–1 playoff loss to Toronto FC.
The difference between the team’s hiring of Ronny Deila versus the hiring of Torrent and Patrick Vieira is that Deila was not associated with the City Football Group, the partnership NYCFC has with its part-owners Manchester City. Torrent was an assistant to Man City coach Pep Guardiola, while Vieira worked with the club’s Academy. The City Football Group is something unique to MLS and helps define NYCFC’s playing style, with guidance from its European allies. So that’s why it didn’t take long for Torrent and Viera’s tactics to show results on the field. They knew the system.
Also Deila’s hiring came at a tough time. He had very little time to adjust to life in the States before having traveled to Orlando to run his first training camp in January. On top of that he had to get to know his new assistants, review last season’s film, and prepare for the team’s Concacaf Champions League opener, less than a month away at the time.
NYCFC defeated Costa Rican side A.D. San Carlos 6–3 on aggregate. Deila’s inaugural match saw the team win 5–3 in Alajuela. It was a sloppy performance on both sides but it confirmed that NYCFC were still the attacking threats they were a season ago. Since the San Carlos games, New York has only scored once in their last five games in all competitions.
In last season’s early stages, NYCFC hovered around the East’s bottom three spots and in the end they climbed their way to first. However, in 2019, the club had only lost one game in their first six matches with the other five being draws. And it only went on to lose four more games the rest of the season. But this year, the thought that City is experiencing another temporary early season struggle is slowly fading after the Orlando loss on Wednesday. They were outplayed in the game’s opening 20 minutes by one of the more mediocre sides in the league. They hadn’t been dominated like that since last March’s 4–0 defeat in Toronto, and although they finally found the back of the net, there were few positive takeaways from Tuesday night’s embarrassment.
This season’s first three losses suffered against Columbus, Toronto, and Philly, each by a 1–0 margin, still didn’t call for immediate concern. In Columbus they played down a man for 87 minutes. In Toronto, Sean Johnson’s eight saves almost helped City leave BMO field with a draw. And in the MLS is Back opener against Philly last week, NYCFC dominated the game and created numerous goal scoring chances; they just couldn’t convert.
In 2019, of NYCFC’s most effective attacking strategies, the most productive was the club’s use of the width and getting the fullbacks involved in the attack as much as possible. The pairing out wide, Ronald Matarrita and Alexandru Mitrita on the left and Anton Tinnerholm and Valentin Castellanos on the right, were lethal offensive weapons that worked in almost every game last season. And so far in 2020, Deila has seemed to do the opposite by having the center backs play beyond the midfield and send long balls to Héber, who isn’t the best at winning 50–50 headers.
It seems that Deila still can’t figure out the best way to line up the front three. He’s rotated all the possible starting wingers in and out of the lineup, even moved Héber out wide, and still only has one goal to show for it. I recognize that Deila wasn’t able to carry out a full-team training for four months, but excuses are limited when your whole forward line is the same as it was a season ago.
As far as NYCFC’s hopes to qualify for the knockout round as one of the four best third place teams, it’s nearly impossible. The team has a minus 3 goal differential and four other third place teams have at least a point.
NYCFC faces Inter Miami on July 20 in what could be their last game for the foreseeable future. With a slim chance of advancing, this game is definitely an opportunity for City to once again make the case that it should be considered a contender in the East. Also, I’d like to see Deila play some of the young players. Maybe give Joe Scally a start over Tinnerholm, who hasn’t looked to be at his best shape.
It’s hard to say whether fans should be concerned over NYCFC’s losing streak. This hasn’t been an ideal season so far to say the least, but the roster is still one of the most talented in MLS. So all eyes will be on the Cityzens against Inter Miami on Monday to see whether Deila and the players can begin to overcome an unusual deficit.
