New York City FC early season review
The inaugural season of NWO has started successfully from the organising point of view and for NYC FC it has reached a quarter mark - 10 games played out of 40 predicted. Before the season began the manager set only one goal and it was finishing in the position that guarantees the return of Div 1 football in New York season.
The first 10 games (W2 D3 L5, GD 7-13) in NWO for New York City FC and its young manager have proved to be a painful and at some moments pretty frustrating learning curve. The biggest problem in this period turned out to be goal scoring. After going scoreless in the first four games, goals have started to appear at a steady but still not acceptable pace of little over one per game. To make things worse only one goal has been scored in front of ever needy New York City FC supporters. At this pace the crowds might start to shrink which would put a financial strain on team's income and future transfer plans. To put an end to these problems big hopes have been put in the latest addition - Graziano Pelle. After appearing in 2 games (both as a substitute) for Div 1 side Shandon Luneng he was sold to Chievo Verona. When Kristaps Zvirbulis found out that he would be available for cheap, he pulled the trigger to get a player who can hopefully put a stop to the team's problems up front.
Another worry that has came up in this early stage of the season is lack of leadership and communication between the lines. Graziano Pelle (since his arrival), Ron-Robert Zieler (three man of the match accolades) and Marco Parolo (one of the team captains) have put in good performances here and there to try and guide the team to success. In manager's mind chemistry is something they have struggled with and it (great chemistry) is something he would take over talent at any given day. It is something that will hopefully come with time as players will get more used to each other, as the team has not been together long enough to write off anyone in this team at this point.
On the plus side, there has been a some good to even great reaction on reserves/youth performance in the Cup game against Div 2 team Colo Colo. A line-up that featured only reserves and youth players managed to keep the game in balance and only went down on penalties. The manager thought they played really well after being thrown into the action after not featuring much or in same cases at all in league. There was a lot of positive that was taken away from the heartbreaking loss and hopefully the future stars of the team will be able to keep building on this experience.
Performance:
Grade 'D' – a few snatched draws where one goal could have brought 3 points is hard to take but the poor form at home is even more painful.
Stand-out Players:
1) Ron-Robert Zieler has shown class in goal trying to keep the team in games with all the struggles of scoring.
2) Graziano Pelle has been a rare bright spot up front since his arrival.
Under performers:
1) Lazar Markovic has not been effective in chance creating and set-pieces, getting a straight red didn’t make him a fan favourite either.
2) Maxi Moralez (pictured), just like Markovic, has been almost non-existent into goal creating chances and as one of the co-captains he has been leading the weakest line in the formation.
