It’s one thing to lose at home against your biggest rivals, but it’s another to get absolutely thrashed in front of your fans. That’s exactly what happened this past Saturday where New York City FC lose 0-7 in a new version of the Hudson River Derby against New York Red Bulls at Yankee Stadium.
Patrick Vieira’s team looked absolutely overmatched right from the start, and Dax McCarty’s quick goal in the third minute set the tone for what was going to happen the rest of the way. Bradley Wright-Phillips added two more goals before the break – including a stunning bycicle-kick goal just before halftime – and strikes from McCarty, Alex Muyl, Gonzalo Veron, and Gideon Baah sealed the deal in the second half.
New York City needs to improve for future matches, and there’s no question they will bounce back sooner than later. With that being said, in which specific areas do they need to be better to leave this huge loss behind them? It turns out there are three things they must do if they want to get back to winning ways.
Do a better job defending set pieces
I am pretty sure every team spends time trying to figure out the best way to defend set pieces, but that didn’t appear to be the case for the Citizens. Of the seven goals they conceded, four came on set-piece situations, and by the time they were down 0-5, they weren’t defending anymore. There’s no way to justify such a terrible defensive performance, and Vieira will surely try to fix this during the week.
Find a way to get Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard more involved
The duo of highly-priced playmakers has yet to make an impact for the team this season. Even though Pirlo has contributed with a few assists here and there, he’s noticeably uncomfortable in the pitch, and he even told reporters that “there’s too much pace and not much play” in MLS, so it wouldn’t be farfetched to think he could be on his way out of the team.
As for Lampard, the Englishman made his season debut this past weekend and was booed by the fans, as they believe he’s just sitting on the sidelines making money instead of recovering from the multiple injuries he’s sustained in recent months. They were signed as Designated Players for a reason, and they need to do a better job in the pitch if the team wants to be successful.
Most importantly, forget what happened in this game
This one is the most important of all. New York City FC might have been outplayed in this game, but they need to realize they are not as bad as the score said so. After all, NYCFC is still in a good position to make the playoffs if the season ended today, and they also have one of the league’s top goalscorers in David Villa with eight goals. It’s easier said than done, but New York’s ability to bounce back after this loss could define their future in the 2016 MLS season.