QUEENS, NY — New York City FC survived Toronto FC 5-4 at Citi Field in Queens, NY Sunday evening, after initially conceding twice in the first half and going down to 10 men in the second.
NYCFC has struggled as of late to perform consistently without Maxi Moralez. Moralez is one of the best midfielders in Major League Soccer history since he joined NYCFC in 2017 from Club León in Mexico. He makes up for his 5-foot-2-inch stature by being an excellent playmaker, keeping the ball, and providing his forwards with clever chances in front of goal.
Both players are currently injured resulting in a huge surprise when they destroyed Real Salt Lake 6-0 at Yankee Stadium recently. It felt like a turning point, NYCFC was about to find a rich vein of form. However, the comeback wins against Toronto points at two main issues.
1. There is too Much Attacking Talent
NYCFC has always been a club with foundations in fast-paced counterattacks. Whether it was 2015 David Villa, 2019 Hebér, or 2021 Santiago Rodriguez, this club thrives on players who can get forward quickly.
Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Rodriguez hasn’t really figured out a style of play that can fill Moralez’s shoes. With a starting front three of Thiago Andrade on the right, Taty Castellanos at the number nine up top and Talles Magno on the left, Rodriguez’s attacking role gets greatly diminished. The works gets gummed up when so many special attacking talents all want to shoot their shot at goal. Talles isn’t really a left-winger, Taty doesn’t play much of a number nine, and Thiago works more of an inside forward role.
City has too many attacking talents and not enough defensive stability. Everywhere on the pitch, there is attacking talent.
On defense, Alex Callens is an aerial threat. Nico Amundsen is an attacking full-back. Grey loves taking on the opposition’s left-back in one-on-ones. New York has some of the best defenders in the league, but don’t play from the back that well. Without Maxine Chanot on defense, the club lost a commanding, physical presence during their 4-2 aggregate loss to Seattle Sounders in the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL). Swedish right-back Anton Tinnerholm has made the position his own and is rehabbing his ruptured Achilles.
Put all this together, you get a team that can score five at home but concede four to their opposition.
2. Complacency While in the Lead
NYCFC can often score goals while the iron’s hot. It’s defending that poses an issue.
Alfredo Morales, who is typically a defensive mid, has been shoe-horned into a makeshift center-half role. A player who better suits a makeshift defender role was right above him in the midfield: Keaton Parks. A calmer presence on the ball, better in the air and has played there before. A big reason for conceding four goals was the lack of cohesion between Callens and Morales as defensive partners, the red card given to Morales in the 90’ minute a strong indicator.
This is nothing new either, a goal separated CD Comunicaciones of Guatemala from beating the MLS Champions in the CCL while they were in the lead.
Losing defensive homegrown talent James Sands to Rangers on loan moved the dynamic of the midfield into being the sole outlets to get balls forward. Consider new acquisition Thiago Martins won’t be that guy, as he is suffering from a body injury and a poor run of form.
No Chanot, no Tinnerholm, no Martins and not enough solid defensive replacements. The question remains, who can be relied on to keep goalkeeper Sean Johnson from trouble? Who will step up if the two best defenders in the league last season, Callens and Chanot, get injured?
What’s Next
A win is a win either way and it’s too early to say that NYCFC can’t fix their style of play soon as the injured players return to the side. It’s only a matter of time before we see the best of New York City and company.
Now, NYCFC sit No. 11 in the Eastern Conference. They will face the San Jose Earthquakes on May 1 at Yankee Stadium. San Jose just beat Seattle in a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory at home and currently sits at No. 13 in the Western Conference. This is a chance to see two talented sides play against each other with points up for grabs.
