New York City 2016

[PrezIke]

Played very well today. Fairly impressive for an mls club.

[PrezIke]

NYC just beat red bulls 2-0. Decent result and good to see frank villa and pirlo all play.

Top of the league.

Just possible that Vieira learned a lot from the previous drubbing and put things right. Well done Patrick

Somethings happened. He still loves to play out from the back in the tight confines of Yankee stadium, but confidence seems higher.

Lampard and pirlo are contributing now which makes a difference but some others playing better.

[john@staustell]

Glad they got their act together. They were dominating games before but losing.

No longer Paddy out, Paddy in again!

[Pretty Boy Lee]

They play some attractive football don't they? Pirlo is still a joy to watch.

[Nigels Tackle]

reading some great things about jack harrison... they true?

edit: article added
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2016/0 ... r-england/

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Another win last night beating New England 0-1 at their place.

That's 4 wins on the bounce now and three clean sheets in a row to boot.

[PrezIke]

Could have had two more goals as well, one brilliant VIilla strike off the bar and then Shuttleworth taken out by the New England keeper very late in the game to earn a red card, although NE could have gotten at least one goal. Lampard with a clever flick with his foot/leg to score the goal. He's turned things around after being a huge lightning rod of criticism since joining.

I had to miss the game, but caught the highlights, and there is a bit of a buzz being generated ever more after the horrific performance at home against Red Bulls.

Harrison was quite brilliant in the last derby. It is against lower opposition, but the team play was quite fluid at pleasant to watch.

[PrezIke]

Here's a quote from a fan on Harrison and the team's performances of late from the NYCFC forum after yesterday's match:

Harrison has transformed this team.

He takes so much pressure off everyone, organizes the attack, allows Pirlo and Villa to be creative and for Lampard to drift into dangerous positions. These games have been really enjoyable to watch, lots of creativity, lots of possession and different looks on attack.

Harrison was an exceptionally smart draft pick by Vieira and Reyna. They knew his talent and knew they could adjust the lineup accordingly instead of drafting a defender. They deserve *** a lot of credit *** from the fans.

I am very happy Lampard is proving his worth on the scoreboard.

... No more hot takes about how NYCFC doesn't understand "the intricacies of MLS." Now teams have to shut up and figure out how to beat us.

[john@staustell]

I noticed Khaldoon spoke of the idiocy of the MLS selection system in his own very diplomatic style.

Surely he only did that as there is some plot to normalize it?

Everything in America is money money money. Yet the sports selection systems are basically communist.

Most odd.

[gillie]

I noticed Khaldoon spoke of the idiocy of the MLS selection system in his own very diplomatic style.

Surely he only did that as there is some plot to normalize it?

Everything in America is money money money. Yet the sports selection systems are basically communist.

Most odd.

I like the system it gives every team a chance to win the competition. Unlike our leagues in Europe where in most cases you can pick the league champions out of a group of 2 to 3 teams.

[john@staustell]

I noticed Khaldoon spoke of the idiocy of the MLS selection system in his own very diplomatic style.

Surely he only did that as there is some plot to normalize it?

Everything in America is money money money. Yet the sports selection systems are basically communist.

Most odd.

I like the system it gives every team a chance to win the competition. Unlike our leagues in Europe where in most cases you can pick the league champions out of a group of 2 to 3 teams.

Me and Khaldoon like to narrow the odds a bit!!

[PrezIke]

I noticed Khaldoon spoke of the idiocy of the MLS selection system in his own very diplomatic style.

Surely he only did that as there is some plot to normalize it?

Everything in America is money money money. Yet the sports selection systems are basically communist.

Most odd.

I have said the same thing for ages, yet it's actually not odd, as it fits in with our own inconsistent feelings about socialism and capitalism. The phrase "the sanctity of sports" is thrown around quite regularly, and also plays into ideas about who deserves to become rich and who does not.

It's why we have so-called amateur level "college sports" where coaches earn millions and universities billions, yet the players are only allowed to be awarded a "scholarship" to cover the costs of school that is not even guaranteed, nor even worth much at all when most only attend, at the highest levels, to become professionals and have been found to earn university level degrees that leave the athletes generally uneducated and are then supposed to be grateful for this.

We are also obsessed with "fairness" in sports here hence all of our use of instant replays as well. It's the one place we like to play make believe and pretend normal things that most people do in the real world/free market -- like be able to negotiate a better salary based on what the market offers -- should be taken away, which allows for things like a "salary cap" because we tend to have less sympathy/empathy for professional athletes, yet we don't seem to have a problem with owners who are handed clubs ownership down because their daddy gave it to them.

Baseball is the closest you get to international football, and it's not surprising because their players union is the original ones to fight for athletes' workers rights, and are the most powerful union in American sport.

[PrezIke]

Harrison just scored a brilliant individually created goal. Wow.

Wonderkid ex-United academy product budding at NYCFC? Good news is we would surely have an inside angle if he keeps this up.

[john@staustell]

Montreal 1 NYC 3

Villa Harrison Lampard

Another win for Paddy's boys

[PrezIke]

Watch on youtube.com

You may want to mute the music. I have no idea why some of these posters feel the need for one clip to add music instead of the person calling the game on the tele.

[PrezIke]

Montreal 1 NYC 3

Villa Harrison Lampard

Another win for Paddy's boys

Villa's goal was quite classic Villa, but Lampard's was a bit silly, really. He was in a good position but the goal came from a good pass from Villa on the left into the box towards another NYCFC player and Lampard, immediately to his right, which the first player missed. Lampard then had a somewhat heavy touch that a nearby defender was able to get a foot on, which then sent the ball towards Lampard's leg ricocheting off it, lobbing the ball over the keeper into the back of the net.

However, Lampard has been scoring every game of late, and when it came it was quite a key moment, as it had been 2-0 at halftime. Montreal scored early in the 2nd and seemed like they might get a 2nd. Instead a good counter attack from some poor attempt by two Montreal players to win the ball created by Pirlo and Villa led to Lampard's in the 85th that sealed the victory.

Vieira gave a thumps up at one point, and quite interestingly NYCFC has the most wins in the league away, and almost seem to perform better when the pitch is wider, making sense given the style of play he employs. His value is also clearly rising.

[halnone]

Vieira has done wonders when you compare this NYC team to last year.

[Wonderwall]

Vieira has done wonders when you compare this NYC team to last year.

Kries wasn't a hard act to follow though and he has some talent to work with. It's such a shame Angelina had to spend the season with Kries and not Vieira as it's well documented he likes him.

[mr_nool]

Vieira has done wonders when you compare this NYC team to last year.

Kries wasn't a hard act to follow though and he has some talent to work with. It's such a shame Angelina had to spend the season with Kries and not Vieira as it's well documented he likes him.

Do we have any kids on loan there now, or has the lack in progress in Angelino and Facey made us more cautious about MLS loans?

[Wonderwall]

Vieira has done wonders when you compare this NYC team to last year.

Kries wasn't a hard act to follow though and he has some talent to work with. It's such a shame Angelina had to spend the season with Kries and not Vieira as it's well documented he likes him.

Do we have any kids on loan there now, or has the lack in progress in Angelino and Facey made us more cautious about MLS loans?

No none. Which is really strange as they worked under paddy for years and now he gets a decent job we don't send anyone.