Here’s what you don’t want to do against New York City FC. First, don’t let them get behind your defensive line up the middle or through the channels. The Sky Blues like to push players inside to create space outside, then they either power through with slick passing or play balls to wide runners who cut back or dink in short crosses.
Second, don’t get your back line pushed deep. Dome Torrent has his team aggressively running at the back four in attacking transitions to create space in midfield. This opens a gap in front of the defense, and Maxi Morales and Jesus Medina are excellent and finding passing lanes into that gap and then lowering the boom on a scrambling back line.
Third, don’t hold a mirror up to David Villa. He’s clearly a vampire that never ages and will continue scoring goals long after the rest of us have dined at the restaurant at the end of the universe.
There are, however, some things you absolutely want to do against NYC, especially when they come to your place. The biggest one? Take what they give you.
Although they are nigh unbeatable at home, once they leave the House that Ruth Built this pass and move team has a few issues. It may seem a bit odd since the numbers don’t exactly reflect a weak team on the road, but it’s important to remember that the four trips new head coach Dome Torrent has made were to Chicago, Orlando, Seattle, and Toronto. They fell to both the Fire and Sounders, were outplayed for significant portions by an Orlando side that would surprise nobody if they gave up significant TAM for an actual traffic cone to upgrade the defense, and played up a man for 80 minutes against the defending champs after Jozy Altidore earned an early shower.
Back to what you do: The Sky Blues give you the wings, and they do it for good, logical reasons. It’s harder to threaten the goal from wide areas, and the touchline acts as a space-limiter. Additionally, if you are overloading the wings, you may leave the center exposed and believe me when I say that a recipe blog about disasters would prominently feature NYC’s central transitions against defenses that don’t stay horizontally compact.
So take the wings, but do it strategically. As Alejandro Moreno said on a recent ESPN broadcast, the most important players for NYC’s system are the wingers because they have such a wide variety of duties to fulfill. If you get a winger to commit high and break lines to a player behind him, NYC suddenly has some difficult decisions to make.
Plays like this are made possible by the difficulty NYC’s midfield can have adjusting to adult-sized soccer fields. Field coverage that leaves small horizontal gaps between players at Yankee Stadium leaves small+ gaps everywhere else, and passes through these gaps paired with well-timed wide runs present opportunities for inside-out moves that can quickly push New York City’s defense back and disrupt their attempts to control the field by making it very small in midfield.
Another thing to do? Keep Maxi Moralez on the wings whenever possible. The diminutive Argentine is dangerous any time he’s on a soccer field, but when he’s in the center facing goal he becomes absolutely frightening. Minimizing space between the defensive and midfield lines can often encourage Moralez to drift wide. When this happens, NYC’s wingers quickly recognize the situation and pull into the middle to create space for Moralez and the oft-overlapping fullbacks. This is annoying for a defense, but it’s far less dangerous than having Moralez sending balls through gaps in your defense for 90-plus minutes.
A third must-do? Be patient in the final third. It’s extremely difficult against a team that protects the center of the box so well, but it’s better than taking tight-angled shots for 90 minutes.
Under Patrick Viera, NYC gave up 2.6 shots per game from the center of their box. Under Torrent, it’s down to 0.9. Part of that can be attributed to quality of competition, but the rest is good tactics. NYC’s central midfield duo will drop incredibly deep to protect the middle of the box, leaving extra space for players outside of the box. The thinking is probably something like, ‘It’s hard to score from outside of the box unless you’re a great and accurate shooter, and there are not many great and accurate long shooters in Major League Soccer.’ After all, even Alexander Katai has cooled off after hitting just about anything into the net to start his Chicago Fire career.
Last thing: Keep tabs on Alex Ring. Playing in a deep role, the NYC midfielder can hurt you in a number of ways. First, his long distribution means that if you don’t keep his head down, you’ll find your defense bypassed in a hurry, and in the moments it takes to move across the pitch, NYC will push men forward.
How do they play
Fast. Like, really fast. Under Torrent, NYC’s touch-to-pass ratio, which reflects how long they’re dwelling on or carrying the ball compared to moving it along with passes, has already dropped from where it was under Viera. In England, the team with the lowest touch-to-pass ratio was, as you might expect, Manchester City, where Torrent worked. The new coach has his team moving the ball with incredible pace around the back, and forward passes into midfield beget quick exchanges in which one player passes the ball and immediately looks to advance up the pitch to be in position to receive a return pass or, more likely, to find space that opens up when someone commits to the pass’s receiver.
NYC was a bit left-leaning under Viera but since Torrent has taken over they have found balance and play through Tinnerholm with more regularity. This ability to attack up either flank highlights the flexibility NYC can show offensively. At times, they spread their wings high and wide and allow the fullbacks to make underlapping runs in the space through the channels. However this can change at times when Jesus Medina plays on the wing. The young attacker can play as a central playmaker, so Torrent can elect to play with narrow wingers and look to open the wings for advancing fullbacks. When this occurs the major worry is the space left on the flanks for transitions, and NYC’s deeper midfielders had difficulty helping slow transitions on the edges while also protecting the center.
The other defensive issue NYC can have on the road is controlling the central spaces in transition. The wings are asked to read and cover when someone like Moralez is caught high after a turnover, and if that defensive response is slow, the advanced position of the fullback means susceptibility to counterattacks.
Key men
David Villa. This is an easy one. Villa’s ability in tight spaces allows him to draw a defense in before finding a teammate with a short drop pass that can quickly become a throughball. The Spaniard can also get off a shot from just about anywhere if given even a yard of space, so staying tight to him can open gaps for others in the final third.
Alex Ring. The versatility of this midfielder makes him a difficult matchup. Starting in the deepest midfield role, Ring can act like a Beckenbauer in midfield and sneak forward unmarked, with Ebenezer Ofori covering. Ring can also sit deeper and spread the ball around if he’s not pressed. His mobility means he is also a primary defensive weapon forcing the ball wide and slowing down counterattacks before they build steam.
Maxi Moralez. Dude is having himself a season. Moralez is a space-creator in buildups, moving out of the middle when it’s crowded and sliding back inside once the fullbacks advance. In the final third, however, Moralez rolls inside as a central hub of activity.
Big ideas
Speed of play. The ball moves fast when NYC possesses it, and just as importantly it moves across the whole field. All of NYC’s attackers are very good at opening their body in tight spaces, so they can constantly find back side options that may be restricted for other teams.
Control of the center. In both their defensive and attacking third, NYC wants to dominate the numbers game in the center. Look for them to push as many as three players narrow when playing through the middle third and add a fourth once they get to the final third.
Attacking flexibility. The goal of Torrent’s system is to create enough dynamic movement that defenders get stuck in difficult decision-making scenarios that lead to hesitations and mistakes. Based on how they are defended and where the ball is, wingers and fullbacks occupy the wings and half-spaces or trade positions. Similarly, Ring can drop into the defensive line and push the center backs wider if a numbers advantage is needed in the buildup phase.
Overall, the big moments will certainly be transitions. If the Union can get the ball out of trouble quickly once they win it, they can create chances. Similarly, if they can force NYC’s first pass backward, they can set up their defense and keep the Sky Blues from penetrating the center.
