City Football Group run to tight deadlines. Jason Kreis was charged with delivering New York City FC to the playoffs in their expansion season, resulting in his firing when he failed. Now Patrick Vieira has been entrusted with revamping the entire club over a single off-season, changing the culture of a team that didn’t play ‘the City way’ – whatever that means. On the basis of NYC FC’s season opener, he has failed.
Of course, that’s somewhat unfair on the former Arsenal midfielder. Vieira picked up a win on his MLS managerial debut as NYC FC edged a seven-goal thriller against the Chicago Fire, but his side’s performance was distinctly 2015 era. If this what is to be expected for the rest of the campaign, not much has changed at all. NYC FC, just as they were under Kreis, were positive going forward, attacking with vigour and intent, but decidedly shaky at the back – most notably in the defensive midfield position. Perhaps the World Cup winner would be better playing there himself.
As was the case for much of 2015, Andrea Pirlo was defensively negligent, allowing runners to brush past him in sheer idleness. The Italian certainly wasn’t signed as a blood and thunder midfield enforcer, but his immobility is a problem for Vieira as it was for Kreis before him. Is it really worth selecting a player who, in a league as physically demanding as MLS, can seemingly only offer a set-piece delivery? At least his cross-field, diagonal passes are still on point.
The performance of debutant Frederic Brillant will also be of concern to Vieira. The 30-year-old was signed as the anchor of a new-look defensive line, but he performed some way below his lofty billing, making a series of individual errors against a Chicago team that shouldn’t have posed much of a test.
Vieira has already improved on Kreis’ opener as NYC FC boss, ticking off the win column at the first attempt, but success is judged by a different measure there. By appointing from within, hiring a man engrained in the ways of City Football Group, more is expected of the new man in charge. This, instead, was a very 2015 performance. GR
The turf got burned
There was a lot to recommend the All-Canadian clash between Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact, but there was one crucial component missing for the Impact — much like Thierry Henry before him, Didier Drogba has no wish to play on artificial turf and was duly absent for the season opener at BC Place.
Where Drogba differs from Henry is that he has dispensed altogether with Henry’s pantomime of not ruling himself out of any game. Drogba may still be an (aptly-named) Impact player, after his first full campaign with the team looked to be under threat during the off-season, but his return has not been without preconditions — one of which is that he won’t play on the remaining turf surfaces in MLS.
One of those of course, is Vancouver’s speedy surface at BC Place, which has caused its fair share of problems. Of late, those have been as much for the hosts as any of their visitors — Vancouver may set up to take advantage of attacking speed, but too often last year the game ran away from them at home. In fact it was the Whitecaps strong away form as much as their indifferent home form that helped them to their high playoff seeding.
So, no Drogba in Vancouver on Sunday afternoon, but as it turned out, no problem for Montreal, who won 3-2, thanks in part to some wonderful skill by Ignacio Piatti for the opening goal. Piatti got two including the winner on the day, as Montreal more than thrived without their famous turf-averse striker.
Perhaps Drogba can be persuaded to make exceptions anyway. Henry, after all, was content to play on Portland’s particular artificial surface — one which Seattle emulated during this off-season when it came time to relay their own field. There’s actually some debate as to how much of a competitive advantage that decision might represent — the “softer” bounce of the new surface may already be making Sounders games easier on the eye, but over the years Sigi Schmid teams have made a kind of virtue of being ready to pounce on opposition misreading the bounce of the ball.
It was Seattle who suffered from an awkward bounce off the turf against Sporting KC on opening day though — in particular the one just in front of Stefan Frei that saw the Seattle keeper allow a tame shot to squirm underneath him for the game’s only goal. The quirks of turf are always with us. But not Didier Drogba. GP
The Red Bulls better get used to shields
So much for making your home a fortress. The Supporters Shield holders New York Red Bulls lost their opening game of the season to Toronto on Sunday afternoon. Their new look plans A and B failed to find a way through a Toronto rearguard performance that their head coach Greg Vanney later described as “gritty”.
For his part Jesse Marsch sounded fairly upbeat afterwards, noting that this game followed a pattern that has become familiar at Red Bull Arena — lots of Red Bulls pressing, calculated breaks from their opponents, and at times the sense that New York could play all day and not score a goal.
The plan of course is to be able to switch to a 4-2-2-2 from the team’s favored 4-2-3-1 when needing another option up front, and with designated player Gonzalo Veron out with injury after a promising pre-season, it’s perhaps unfair to expect too much cutting edge from a team whom several players and the coach agree “just lacked sharpness”.
They’ll need all that sharpness to get past the defensive shields that will be set up against them all season at Red Bull Arena — the Red Bulls attack is no surprise to anyone, and plenty of sides will sit as Toronto did.
It’s not as if Toronto had a great deal of choice. With Jozy Altidore out, Toronto had a lot of trouble getting their lines cleared for much of the afternoon — the “grit” of new arrivals Steven Beitashour, Drew Moor and Will Johnson as they attended to their defensive duties was a big part of their performance. Sebastian Giovinco may always have the potential to make a pearl from that grit, but he’s not designed to hold up long clearances, and for 80+ minutes Ronald Zubar and impressive Red Bulls newcomer Gideon Baah were able to comfortably clean up long balls.
Giovinco only needs a minute though, and with the Red Bulls beginning to find pockets of space in attack in the dying minutes, they left enough space behind for him to make, then score the penalty that won the game, before setting up Marky Delgado for the insurance goal in injury time.
Giovinco is picking up where he left off. So too, for better or worse, are the Red Bulls. For better, Baah showed early signs that with his first touch, anticipation and confidence on the ball he may actually be an upgrade on Matt Miazga in defense. For worse, they’re still looking for the type of singular guile Giovinco eventually provided for Toronto, to unlock packed defenses — and they’re going to see plenty of those in defense of their Shield. GP
Houston may have assembled MLS’s most interesting frontline
For a team that plays in bright orange, the Houston Dynamo have the peculiar quirk of escaping attention. There was something distinctly uninspiring about the Texans last season as they struggled for an identity in the post-Dominic Kinnear age. Even an off-season reconstruction failed to spark the imagination, with Brad Davis’ departure to Sporting KC the biggest headline over the winter.
But while Davis – the Dynamo’s assists leader and captain last season – will undoubtedly be missed, Owen Coyle has perhaps done better in the off-season market than was initially acknowledged. Houston’s performance in Sunday’s 3-3 draw with the New England Revolution certainly wasn’t a complete display – with the late equaliser for the visitors a disappointment, and defences on both sides sloppy – but it was exciting. If Coyle was concerned about how he would make up for Davis’ assists and general creativity, his mind will have been put at ease with what he saw.
There were goals for Dynamo debutants Cristian Maidana and Andrew Wenger, with Will Bruin and Giles Barnes also impressing (the latter also found the net in the 3-3 draw). In truth, Houston probably deserved three points to kickstart their season, with the Revolution a little fortunate to pick up a point, but even so, there was plenty for Coyle to draw upon – not least the performance of his new midfield playmaker.
Maidana might be one of the streakiest players in the league, but he is still one of MLS’s most creative players at his best. The problem at Philadelphia was that his best was difficult to find amongst so much of his worst, but in a four-pronged attacking line he may be afforded the kind of freedom his languid style lends itself to. Flanked by Barnes and Wenger, with the energy of Bruin ahead of him, Maidana could well have found a team that plays to his strengths.
Alongside the off-season rebuild jobs at the LA Galaxy and New York City FC (even Toronto FC to a certain extent), Coyle’s efforts have gone rather unnoticed, although 3-3 draws on opening weekend tend to catch the eye. New England’s stoppage-time leveller didn’t leave an especially pleasant taste, but Houston – on the basis of Sunday’s game – are at least a team worth watching again. GR
FC Dallas have the soundest foundation of the contenders
They’re still working on setting the foundations for the new $39m National Soccer Hall of Fame Museum to be built at Toyota Stadium, but Oscar Pareja’s foundations are concrete-solid. FC Dallas fell short of MLS Cup last term, stumbling in the conference final, yet the Texans are in good shape to improve on that showing in 2016. A 2-0 season opening win over the Philadelphia Union was a good way to set that course.
It was a comprehensive performance by FC Dallas, who have become consistent over-achievers under Pareja’s charge. The Colombian’s system is his strength, and on the evidence of the win over Philly the components of that system are somewhat interchangeable and expendable. Forwards Blas Perez and David Teixeira have been moved on, with Max Urruti brought in as replacement from the Portland Timbers, and yet FC Dallas were just as settled as they were at any point last season.
It is in attack where the Texans’ season will be defined, with the defensive pairing of Walker Zimmerman and Matt Hedges anchoring everything from the back. If goals are soccer’s currency, FC Dallas have been prudent at times for a team challenging at the top, but in Fabian Castillo and Mauro Diaz they still have two of the league’s brightest creative sparks. The duo hit the heights against the Union and will be the driving force behind any MLS Cup challenge at Toyota Stadium in 2016.
Of all the teams that have something to build upon from last season – Columbus Crew, Montreal Impact to name two – FC Dallas have the soundest basis. They are not reliant on one particular player, like the Impact, or defensively questionable, like the Crew. If Pareja’s new attacking line can align itself quickly, they are solid all the way through.
Next up is an El Capitan clash against a Houston Dynamo side who made their own impression on opening weekend. That trip to BBVA Compass Stadium next week will perhaps provide a better gauge of where FC Dallas are as a team, but for the moment Sunday’s win over Philadelphia is all we have to judge, and Pareja’s side came out from that judgement shining. GR
Patrick Vieira is the new NYC FC coach but Andrea Pirlo still has problems #JHedzWorlD
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