After a disappointing start to the season, New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis finds his team near the bottom of the Eastern conference and without a win since March 15. NYCFC, one of a number of teams looking to implement a new style of play this year, focuses on a high-tempo strategy both in and out of possession in a similar fashion to New York Red Bulls.
TICKETS: RBNY vs. New York City FC
Kick-off of the inaugural New York Derby between New York Red Bulls and New York City FC on Sunday, May 10, will be at 7 p.m. EDT (TV: FOX Sports 1; RADIO: RBNY English/Spanish Internet Radio). The match will be held in Harrison, N.J., at Red Bull Arena. For travel tips and further directions on how to get to the game, check out the Red Bull Arena Transportation HUB.
New York City FC
New York City FC usually set out in a 4-4-2 turned 4-2-3-1 formation, but in certain games, they’ve started in a 4-1-4-1. The selection hasn’t been consistent, with only three players featuring in every game so far. In comparison, the Red Bulls have six players who have participated in every game while Eastern Conference leaders D.C. United and New England Revolution have five each. This inconsistency in selection may have contributed to NYCFC’s poor start to the MLS season, as it restricts them from developing the continuity necessary with a new squad.
There have been signs of issues in development, as their execution of key system aspects aren’t fully accurate, leading to some strategically uncoordinated performances. It is entirely possible that the inconsistent team selection has negatively impacted Kreis’ ability to develop a new tactical system. This may prove as a factor in the match given that more consistent teams, such as RBNY, have taken to their new system more quickly than NYCFC.
The tactical system NYCFC introduces places a considerable importance upon pressing, but the team has struggled to implement the mechanisms necessary to make it defensively stable.
The above example displays exactly this. As Patrick Mullins sat on the Seattle center back, the midfield were poorly organized with no cover in the space between the lines of midfield and defense. A short combination play ensued, starting with a pass from the left back. Within seconds, Obafemi Martins was running in on goal and scored Seattle Sounders’ third goal of the match.
Due to the pace of Martins, it is clear that NYCFC’s back line were afraid of being too high, with the possibility of him catching them out and running in on goal by breaking the offside trap. However, the midfield had other ideas as they looked to push up in search of the ball. This lack of communication, along with little experience playing together, resulted in Martins’ goal.
In a high-pressing system it is crucial to maintain access to the ball. To have access to the ball means to have the ability to press the ball successfully and as much as possible. This is achieved commonly by strong positional play and coordination between the players. However, NYCFC have struggled with this to start the season and the opposition can easily exploit the space which is sacrificed when the defending team pushes up.
A key instance of this was the first goal scored by Seattle’s Marco Pappa. He moved in from the flank and had plenty of space to work with. The main issue here was the distances between the strikers and central midfielders, which was far too large. As a result, no one was able to effectively press the Sounders midfielder and he played in Martins with an incisive through ball.
Additionally, NYCFC’s possession game has had issues with synergy in attack amongst the front four. This comes as no surprise considering the infancy of the team, as they seem to lack an understanding of one another. The combination play of NYCFC suffered especially against the Sounders, as they struggled to connect third or fourth passes which resulted in loss of possession. During these moments it was evident the attackers were not in sync, with passes not matching the movements of the forwards.
More issues in the possession game arose as they frequently lacked connection between the midfield and attack. Although it is a common problem for new teams, it allows the defending team to easily block passing lanes. For the team in possession, the disconnect results in a struggle to progress the ball up-field, usually with a lack of deeper movement (as shown below with the Sounders blocking off central passes).
Against Seattle, this issue cost NYCFC the match. They gave away possession while attempting difficult vertical passes into attackers. These passes were easily intercepted and initiated threatening counter-attacks for the Sounders. In the situation below, Pappa intercepted a vertical pass from Kwame Watson-Siriboe. This resulted in a threatening four-on-four counter-attack which nearly resulted in another Seattle goal.
Conclusion
New York City’s troubles highlight the difficult nature of instilling a high-tempo playing style. Due to the high speed at which actions such as pressing and off the ball movements need to be made, it is very difficult to get a team to properly execute this game plan at such a high level without extensive practice first.
The inaugural New York Derby will be filled with both excitement and intrigue, in what is certain to develop into a fierce and passionate contest. Jesse Marsch’s Red Bulls will aim for victory by exploiting NYCFC’s vulnerable and developing system through excellent coordination on the pitch.
Tom Payne is an analyst and writer for Spielverlagerung(@spielvercom) - a football tactics website focusing on match and team analysis. You can follow him on Twitter at @tompayneftbl.
