Apr 16, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; New York City FC forward Patrick Mullins (14) reacts against the Columbus Crew SC in the second half at Mapfre Stadium. The Crew 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Wild back and forth action in Mapfre Stadium on Saturday night saw the Columbus Crew edge New York City FC 3-2. Goals from Ethan Finlay, Kei Kamara and Justin Meram led the Crew over a helter skelter defensive line assembled by Patrick Vieira.

If you were watching the game Saturday night, I’m sure you’d agree that the stat line shows a game much closer than the play actually displayed. This was no doubt one of the worst displays of defending in the history of the club. It was seen throughout the match, players from the Crew, Finlay, Meram and Higuain in particular were getting forward and making passes at ease with no defenders around them for yards.

The NYCFC backline, not communicating not only with each other, but deaf to the midfielders as well, making runs forward with no regard for covering the space being left behind. This was seen in particular on Kamara’s goal in the 49th minute that gave his club a 2-1 lead, Ronald Matarrita made a very aggressive run out of his left wing-back position to the middle of the pitch nearly in a strikers role.

When the Crew got the ball back from his run, they played a long ball to Kamara on the right side, who was completely unmarked, no one within 15 yards of him put the ball past a diving Josh Saunders. As bad as the defending was, Columbus botched many opportunities to put this match away.

Down 3-1 in the 87th minute, David Villa capitalized on a penalty shot as Michael Parkhurst of the Crew committed the foul and was sent off. All of a sudden, NYCFC saw themselves a goal down and pressing for an equalizer. NYCFC nearly got that equalizer in the 91st minute when a whipped-in cross met by Patrick Mullins was saved off the line by Clark and that just about squandered all hope.

Aside from the backline, the midfield was flat lined this match prior to bringing Kwadwo Poku in. Mix Diskerud and Thomas McNamara were rarely getting touches on the ball, which is ultimately not good for Villa as well. When Poku entered in the 58th minute, he instantly brought some sense of calmness to the midfield, winning challenges and effectively distributing the ball better than any other midfielder before his entrance.

It’s time for Vieira to truly think about what he’s doing with Poku because in my opinion, the reasons for not playing him have shrunk to zero, if there ever was any.

The boys in blue are now six games in to Vieira’s tenure and have captured only a mere six of a possible 18 points. Something I noticed during this match is that NYCFC was playing as if “not to concede” or “playing it safe”. The back line was often seen dropping deeper and deeper on the pitch, eventually dropping the midfield and strikers as well.

Vieira’s 4-3-3 formation should never be played with this type of mentality. If we are going to continue playing with this formation, the players should be aware that they need to be in a high press for the entire match as you need to be aggressive and safety is in the back of your mind.

In this style that Vieira wants to play, our offense has to be our best defense, by pressing up high the whole match, you force your opponent into making contested passes and runs all match resulting in some released pressure off the backline.

However, for this philosophy to be played effectively, it takes certain characteristics in players. NYCFC currently does not have the speed or pace to play this philosophy effectively in that high pressing manner. It will be interesting to see moving forward what adjustments Vieira makes in the formation, or possibly just waiting to make more roster moves come summer time transfer window.

NYCFC’s next stop will be on Saturday April 23rd against the Philadelphia Union and try to end it’s five game win-less streak.