by COLEMAN LARNED

Lead Analyst

In the third meeting of NYCFC and New York Red Bulls, the occasion was marked by the first simultaneous starts of NYC’s newest, international stars: Villa, Pirlo and Lampard. The match had polarizing elements pitted against each other, in NYCFC’s newly implemented talent with little time to gel contrasted by Red Bull’s industry and strengthening understanding of responsibility and shape.

The latter weathered the initial pace set by NYCFC, and outplayed the visitors on the day.

As the home side, Jesse Marsch set out his standard 4-2-3-1 shape populated by trusted players who have been evolving within his system. In direct reaction to opposing shape and personnel, Lawrence stayed true to his defensive duties and sagged into the back four, more than usual, to account for Diskerud’s presence on his flank, and McCarty was chosen to be more disciplined in the #6 hole to account for Lampard occupying the #10 hole for NYCFC.

With probably the trickiest team selection Jason Kreis has had all year, the NYCFC skipper chose a 4-2-3-1 shape as well.

Jacobson was chosen to pair with Pirlo above the back four, as Diskerud was shifted wide to accommodate for Lampard’s attacking midfield role, centrally.

Can the Jacobson-Pirlo combination be successful?

Jason Kreis has no other option but to play Andrea Pirlo, and his job is to find the best location and potential partner for the Italian. Both Jacobson and Pirlo originally started quite flat and parallel to each other. This invited pressure from RBNY and crowded the distribution space that is so key to Pirlo’s game.

Since Pirlo is clearly not going to provide defensive dynamism, the partner or partners surrounding him must compensate out of possession with workrate and selfless acts of balance. Jacobson himself prefers to dictate tempo and check deep towards the ball in order to be the midfield fulcrum. This will not be structurally possible with Pirlo occupying the same space. Juventus rarely deployed a holding midfielder beside Pirlo to share the possessive load but usually had an inverted triangle with 2 skillful workers above him or a pinched diamond:

Spieverlagerung – Champions League: Juventus 3-2 Olympiakos: Champions League Nov 4, 2014

Zonal Marking – Real Madrid 1-1 Juventus: Champions League May 13, 2015

Zonal Marking – Juventus 2-1 BDortmund: Champions League Feb 24, 2015

RBNY dominant midfield rotation, Villa compensating by dropping too deep

By stubbornly maintaining a shape and mentality throughout the season, Jesse Marsch has fostered on field chemistry in the most dynamic area on the soccer pitch: the midfield. RBNY’s balanced midfield rotation was on display against NYCFC and the opponents couldn’t counteract it. Felipe and McCarty seamlessly compensated for each other’s bursts forward, with McCarty doing most of the holding, and Kljestan’s understanding of what space he needs to occupy to both receive the ball in dangerous positions and compensate for his wingers making tucked, internal runs were unmatched.

Villa recognized this issue early in the match and frequently checked into his own half with the ball. His runs allowed him to see more of the ball, but in deep, ineffective areas as he condensed his teams vertical depth. There was no compensation by his wingers to balance his runs by occupying the space he would leave, as McNamara is used to tucking inside to combine and Diskerud is a stranger to life on the wing. Although Villa’s technical ability in possession, willingness to defend from the front with intelligence and work rate and scoring rate have made him one of the most individually talented players in the league, he has struggled to lead NYCFC’s line in isolation all season, and it was on display against RBNY.

RBNY’s spine in opponent’s half is becoming one of league’s best

Stemming from McCarty, progressing to Kljestan’s ability to float in between the lines and ending with Wright-Phillips’ nose for goal and ability to compliment various playing styles, RBNY has one of the best offensive spines in the league. As McCarty is relieved of the responsibility to burst forward beyond Kljestan and eventually Wright-Phillips, his distributive and positional strengths shine, and Felipe is free to affect the match in deeper areas.

As Grella and Sam vary when and where there runs are made – either pinched towards the shape or wide to draw out defenders – Kljestan is able to float above the opposition’s defensive line to replace wingers or provide the reference point from which the same wingers can make their runs off of. The small variations of the McCarty-Felipe partnership, how deep Kljestan plays and Wright-Phillips end point of his run now can be effectively tweak according to how the opposition plays, and it makes all the difference.

It was always going to be hard for Jason Kreis to figure out an ideal shape, especially in the midfield, to fit all of his new aquisitions. The Jacobson-Pirlo partnership crowded Pirlo and nullified Jacobson’s skillset, Diskerud was lost on the wing and did his best work internally, Lampard was insignificant for the majority of the match and looked off the pace, and Villa had to check deep into his own half to consistently find the ball.

The RBNY shape keeps progressing, the spine is growing stronger, but the back four was porous in the first 15 minutes of the match and NYCFC failed to capitalize. Both Lade and Perrinelle are concerns defensively against better offensive opposition, and could be worries moving forward. Jesse Marsh’s philosophy, shape and ability to motivate his team to commit to his ideals are starting to deserve coach of the year considerations.