NYCFC Player Injury & Late Goal: Soccer Highlights

Hey, Coach. David Lee said preseason that it's smart for the team to wait for you to get a grasp on the roster before the team makes additions on the transfer window

So ultimately, is it your decision to give the club your blessing or to open up moves forward with adding talent

No, it's not only about my blessing. It's in conversation with each other

I think David has told you this also. For me as a coach coming in, a new coach with a roster I don't know

You always have the opportunity in preseason to get to know each other

But from the first day on, we're in conversation how to strengthen the squad

and how we can create more depth in the squad. So that's an ongoing conversation, and it's not only my decision

On to the Zoom. We'll go with Scott. Hey, Coach. How are you

Scott Shurkin, StreamPunk Soccer. Appreciate the time. Hi, Scott. Hey. Talk a little bit

Obviously, eight minutes in, Kayvon had to come out. how is he doing and how did that change the entire course of the match

Thanks. Yeah, interesting question. We're still dealing with Tavon's situation. There is no clarity on what happened exactly

but he felt pain in his right leg. And we're trying to examine him and find out what the problem is

So we'll have to wait and see first. Michael Allen. Hi, Coach

Michael Allen, the first talker. Thanks for the time. Hi, Mike. Tough results out there tonight

Hi. Just obviously there's been two games now where you've given up a late goal

in the final minutes of the match after playing a pretty good match on the road

in a tough situation. Just wondering what you said to the team tonight after the match

and what are the steps that you need to take, Nick, to correct this you know caving at the end of the matches Yeah also a very interesting question The one thing I will say what we shared after the match in the dressing room is that you can play an even match because I think the game was in balance

over the time of the match. But details will always make a difference once the game is in balance

It can be a set piece in offense or defense. And now it was one moment where they're in attack

and we don't have the situation under control yet. and we give away our advantage in being in a good position, and we get punished for it

So it's a detail in this game that makes a difference, and playing games, as I said, in balance will always be decided by Diva

So that's also the case looking at the game from last week in Miami

and I believe my guys are quick learners, and unfortunately this is a moment where we still have to understand

that different behavior is required in order to stay away from this type of situations

Alex? Good evening, Pascal. This is Alex from AM New York. Hi, Alex

Hi. What were your overall impressions of the team's performance tonight, and where do you feel the game got away from you guys? Thanks

Well, I mentioned to your colleague just now, I think the game overall was in balance

A tough game away, LA, strong squad with good players. but I think it was a very competitive game, a very tight game

And as I explained to your colleagues just now, details will make a difference when a game is in balance

And unfortunately, one detail when we conceded a goal, we switched off for just one or two seconds and got punished for it

So that's the biggest difference in this game. Michael? Pascal it Mike Andrew from Blue City Radio Thanks for the time as well Hi Mike It second game in a row You take out Maxi Morales and the team seems to lose its connectivity

How concerning is it that the team seems to hinge on one player and you don't seem to have any options

Well, I disagree. We have options. Pepe came on. Pepe is also being prepared to play 90-minute games again

I had to make a decision in this game in order to create a different situation

a different dynamic in midfield, and that's why Pepe came on. So it's not a situation where I kicked off Maxi

On the contrary, because I don't kick out any player. I just look at the game and I think about solutions

how we can get the game to go forward in our direction

and that's why I chose to bring on other players. Anthony? Hey, Coach Anthony Merced, AJM Sports

Hi, Anthony. Hi. You mentioned this a little bit when answering the previous question

It seemed like some of the substitutions you made late in the game were to make an attempt to open up the game a bit more

especially since it seemed like it was a bit of a stalemate in the middle of the field

Can you talk a little bit about what your intentions were in the midfield to change the flow of what seemed like a really tight game

Well, if you watch closely, and I think you did, we had an overload situation in midfield

We were playing three against two the majority of the game, and the guys in the middle played that quite well

But the movement off the ball from midfield was something I was looking for with Pepe

He has the quality to play in similar areas as Maxi but also can make some more movement off the ball in supporting Alonso So that was one of the reasons I put in Pepe in midfield

And if you look at the sub with Agu and Mounsev, creating a different dynamic on the flank in the wide area

So we put in Agu from a situation and a perspective that he could play 1v1 in the wide area just a little bit better

and more specific than Munsev could. And on the right side, with Guli coming in for Hannes

as you mentioned, the game opened up, and that means there's always more room for attackers

and fresh attackers can bring fresh energy and more threat towards the goal of the opponent

So those were some of the ideas behind the subs. Final one, we'll go back to the room

Coach, a question about Munsev, Baccarat, Alonso Martinez. We saw in preseason in California here

you had them up top two strikers for a little bit, and then they switched on and off

It sounded like it was a little fluid. Here, it looked like Baccarat was playing more of the left wing, but maybe pinched in a little

bit more. Is it up to them to determine their kind of formation, or is it something that you tell

them, depending on what the defense is showing? No, we address these things in training, obviously, and playing with Munsev in this position

there was a specific situation that I was trying to create with the team on and off the ball

In possession, Munsev had the freedom to go a little bit closer to Alonso

and create the 1v1 situation in the middle. The opponent, however, started with three central defenders, so that changed just a little bit

But out of possession, we have to reset in a new shape. And there were two choices for Munsef to either play next to Alonso

or come down and play next to Keaton or Justin out of possession