Article by Matt Lichtenstadter
Much of the focus in MLS this season has been on LAFC’s league-wide dominance, and rightfully so. They should still easily win the Supporter’s Shield despite a recent blip. Atlanta United’s up-and-down year has also attracted attention, as it should. The Galaxy’s wild swings have also drummed up intrigue.
But MLS’ second best team, and a legitimate Cup favorite has been waiting in the weeds all year and is now bearing its teeth: NYCFC. NYCFC had built up quite a style and image under Patrick Vieira. They were a possession-based team with intricate patterns of play, a dedicated style and a dedicated devotion to it that caused them much heartbreak and heartburn against the New York Red Bulls and in the playoffs. In 2018, the Pidgeons were on their way to doing the same, when Vieira left for Nice. His replacement was one of Pep Guardiola’s trusted leftenants, Domenec Torrent.
When he arrived, he began immediately changing the way NYCFC played, with disastrous results. City did win five of the first six under Torrent, but only won three of the next 13, and were easily dispatched by Atlanta United in the playoffs. 2019 started out slowly at Yankee Stadium too. They drew five out of their first six and looked incredibly sluggish. They were just as poor as they were in the second half of 2018. But when the Brazilian forward Heber arrived, something changed. Their style of play crystallized in the typical City Football Group way, and with that spine and backbone, they’ve lost only five games all season and have roared to the top of the East.
They’ve done it from back to front, starting with Sean Johnson emerging as one of the best goalkeepers in the league, to a defense featuring Maxime Chanot and Alexander Callens as a premier centerback duo, with a midfield featuring homegrown player James Sands, Benfica loanee Keaton Parks and Alex Ring anchoring a team that has becoming nearly impossible to play through on the narrow Yankee Stadium pitch. Domenec Torrent deserved criticism for the way he broke his team’s style down last year and deserves equal amounts of credit for building it back up again this season.
While this team has no true superstars, and two of its DP’s have been underwhelming, it hasn’t mattered that much. When contributions come in from players like Tati Castellanos, Ismael Tajouri-Shrad and that depth can be trusted in critical situations, it becomes something most teams can’t cope with. Heber has 14 goals and could win newcomer of the year, Maxi Moralez would win MVP in any other with seven goals and 18 assists and an attack that could conceivably have four 10 goal scorers, NYCFC have built something new and just as good as what came before it in only a year. And because of their unique homefield advantage at Yankee Stadium, should they win the East, they will truly control their own destiny in a way that most other teams cannot. Atlanta has 70,000 fans right on top of you, but NYCFC’s narrow pitch is almost impossible to play on and prepare for, especially in the short windows of preparation time in the playoffs.
Torrent has built a team that has mastered how to play on that narrow pitch, giving his team a home field advantage no one else can match. And if something should slip, Sean Johnson is one of the best goalkeepers in the league. Their build was methodical and a slow burn, and their success has almost snuck up on the East, which felt like it was waiting for a team like NYCFC to emerge, and when they did, the nearly lapped the field. Their final four games are all against teams playing for playoff positioning, three are away from home, and their schedule could be wonky in the playoffs thanks to the Yankees themselves. But what NYCFC has done to emerge at the top of the East is legitimately impressive, and for a team that has done it without the flash of other big teams in the league have done makes it even more so. The road through the East will go through the Bronx, and that is a scary thought for the rest of the league.
