Great Expectations

Apr 05, 2023

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

If Dickens was on NYCFC Twitter, he would think that his first sentence never made it to print.

Coined by Billy the Butcher, last season was the Summer of Vibes. It was the season to not worry. To just enjoy that beautiful star and the beautiful game. I took the season off from writing about NYCFC as three other book projects swallowed my time. I removed the analyst's glasses and just enjoyed the game.

After the exit of our key players in the off-season, I resigned myself that this was the Season of Low Expectations. Only to make the playoffs to keep that record intact. The team was shifting to a much younger profile, doing something I have been advocating for years; Stop chasing retiring talent from Europe and focus on the academy system and develop the youth. Like investing in your 401K, this is planning for the next five to ten years, not just one season of brilliance. For the record, I will still be excited if Messi joins the league. It would be a rebuild season. And I would sit in 211 and enjoy watching the young talent grow during the season. That plan appears to have changed. Although I took away the next day deadline and promised myself that the posts would be brief, high-level, more fun - less work content. I am still going to enjoy the team and the sport I love.

So let’s get to the positive points for this week.

Fact Check

If you saw some of the tweets during the match against New England, you would think that the side was the last-place team in the Sunday pickup league.

“Worst #NYCFC since 2015” It’s not. You forget how bad that season was. No defense at all, a keeper that had the distro skills of a blind seal and was shaky between the posts, a skipper who cared more about being friends to the stars, and a DP who physically went to hell in the off-season and spent more time on the bench than scoring goals.
“Barazza has to go”, over and over and over again from the same account. We get it, you don’t like him, but he gave up two goals, one was the best own goal I have ever seen and the other was a technically perfect shot from a Spanish sniper. I like Freeze but Barazza is better than people want to give him credit. He has a much different style than Sean Johnson, and we were, and still are, used to Sean. A lot of us soccer bloggers seem to be former keepers, myself included, and most of us see something in Barazza. The more times I see him, the less nervous I feel about him. Except for some faulty distro, which let’s be honest here, SJ wasn’t that great with his feet and was losing a step, I haven’t seen anything to make me want him pulled. Although I would like to see the Iceman a few times to see what he’s like in blue.

Positive Points

A point on the road against the conference leader. We knocked them down to 3rd, which is just a bonus. We could have, and maybe should have gotten three points. Take away that amazing save against the first header and that’s a goal. And being physically tackled by the last man, at the top of the box, that keeps you from being in on goal is a penalty all day, every day, in my book.
The one-on-one defensive recovery by Martins was strong. Hustling back with enough pace to be able to plant both of your feet in front of a freight train heading to goal and then making the play is a positive sign from any defender.
The new kids are going to be all right. I liked what I saw from all of them. A bit of Welcome to the Bigs jitters, but they all had moments that showed quality.
I don’t like the plan, but everything seems to be going the way the Front Office wants. Like last year, the goal is the playoffs and as long as we are above that line the season is preseason. Chemistry is starting to form between certain pairs of players and I think the team is starting to gel with each match under their belt.
It appears we are still on the hunt for a proper striker. If we get someone who the defense has to mark, someone who will score goals if given half a chance, the back of the net will be rippling for a lot of our boys.

Hail and Farewell

Thank you, Andrade, for one of my favorite memories at RBA. The speed you displayed as you left a defender in your wake the time you and SJ went Route One, is forever etched in my mind. And I agree with Brenda…