NYCFC as the Generals
I’m still tingling from the funnest game of recent memory, the Vancouver loss from the weekend. Why can’t they all be like that (results notwithstanding)?
NYC is tied for first in the eastern conference winners of their last three, David Villa has as many goals as Giovinco, and somehow Pirlo is still playing. Will we see Lampard play? (answer : don’t care).
Really I should just cut and paste this preview right here, but I’m lazy to even do that.
At least the mighty Robins are wearing their home kits at home.
Bold Predictions :
- People will stop oohing Pirlo before the game’s end
- Babouli will get an assist or a goal tonight
- Less people will turn out than usual for a Wednesday night
On to the Match :
16’ – GOAL – Poku gets wide on the right and loops a ball for the far left corner. Damn. Don’t fault Beitashour for closing him down cuz it was a crazy shot.
ROBINS 0, CITY-LITE 1
39’ – YELLOW – Bradley gets booked for a roughish tackle with Mix “Mix” Diskerud. We believe that Bradley has warned the official that he will be fined $500 for booking the US international. Also, we believe that Diskerud will not be allowed to play at Copa America, as per Bradley’s instructions.
42’ – GOAL – Babouli sends in a great cross, Chapman gets a lunging slide to put it back into front for Johnson to pop it in. Also, went to get a drink when it happened so you’re welcome. #badluck
ROBINS 1, CITY-LITE 1
43′ until 45+2′ – stayed away, just in case it were true. Sounded like there were two legit chances for Toronto. Almost more ‘you’re welcome’. But not quite.
Half Time Mood : took them 35 minutes to wake the hell up.
2 mins of extra time
90+2’ – SUB – Chapman off for Lovitz
Full Time : Toronto 1, New York 1
Second half was far more dominant from the mighty Robins. Plenty of chances, but nothing came to pass. Mostly because I was watching, apparently.
Man of the Match : Will Johnson, not just for the goal but his hustle was all over the box
Goat of the Game : I have no one. Can I say collectively Toronto FC for the first 30 minutes, they were so listless?
Ref Rating : 3 out of 5. No critical mistakes though Giovinco was getting some stupid calls against him.
I Am Not The Gaffer, But… : I would’ve taken Morrow off for Morgan after 60 minutes just to change it up. He looked a bit tired
In Case You PVR’d It : see the first goal, skip ahead til about 35th minutes and watch the second half.
Kit Spotting : Baggio may have been on the back but it was Brescia on the front.
Bold Predictions Results :
- Crushed It (technically) as Pirlo never got on the pitch
- Blew It but Babouli came close a few times, and if it were hockey assist rules, I totally would’ve got this.
- Blew It. May not have been 100% full, but getting 98% on a Wednesday night ain’t nothing. Well done crowd
Babouli and Chapman are an interesting duo. You can see that there’s some quality there, some footballing intelligence. Maybe I’m jonesing for a new academy breakthrough story, but I feel as if they’re on the cusp of being ready for full time play. Maybe not starting every game, but rotating in and out, bagging a few goals here and there. Quite often they’ve connected on the pitch and they’re chemistry seems to show it. They usually find one another in a mess of traffic, one led to a goal (not for either of them, but…) and a bunch of ambitious chances throughout the game. One of these days, The Babs & Chappy Show (TM) will take off and you’ll see them put on a helluva performance. Kinda wished I’d seen them playing for TFC II.
Endoh had a tremendous game threading the ball, cutting apart the defence. Fun to watch… Major League Soccer? How “major league” are you when you get bumped up in time for a basketball game? I get it, but that’s weak. Glad we all thought through the consequences of a schedule loaded with an overwhelming majority of evening games, huh?… Toronto Til I Die unless Pirlo shows up. Hilarious. He was definitely a bump on the attendance judging by the number of Juve shirts… The goal Toronto conceded wasn’t all that different than the fourth goal Vancouver scored on Saturday : defender marking on the an attacker on the right, wide unlikely shot that got around Irwin from an even more unlikely angle… I feel as though you can set your watch to Beitashour having one howler moment and then being a rock. Last night, I’m not sure if he had a blown pass, but he was excellent in the second half… if NYCFC doesn’t want to start David Villa and/or Pirlo, then we should all chip in and send them some flowers. That was very kind of them, even if it did troll the people who came out specifically to see them play.
Player Ratings : Irwin 6, Beitashour 7, Moor 6.5, Williams 6, Morrow 6, Bradley 6.5, Chapman 7, Johnson 7.5, Endoh 7, Giovinco 7, Babouli 6.5
May 19, 2016
Pirlo still looks still like he was secretly the drummer for Premiata Forneria Marconi. Which I guess means he is a Chocolate King.
Lots of Reds taking heat over this game and I don’t really see why. Yeah, there was a lot alternates in the NYC lineup and the Reds were missing Altidore, Oso and Delgado and Duncan’s favourite, Perquis. What we did get was the Babouli Cut, he did a very good job on the wing getting some clearance and putting that ball into the scoring lanes. BTW – Mo got grief for doing that good work, left-footed too.
Now the Reds will need to convert the many chances they earned with the crosses
Yeah, Stocia seemed to be all hawkeyes when the Reds were throwing-in. The trend around the globe is to just get the game going and keep it going, I also didn`t understand when Martinez, I think, hauled Seba out of the way and then fell over, all by himself and earned a foul!