51黑料

51黑料 City SC鈥檚 1-0 loss to Houston on Tuesday in the CONCACAF Champions Cup may not count in the Major League Soccer standings, but that doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 not on the team鈥檚 mind.

The team is trying to look forward to its game Saturday with New York City FC (7:30 p.m., Apple TV Season Pass) at CityPark, and there鈥檚 plenty to forget from the Houston game: being outshot 13-5, playing on its heels for a lot of the game, and only really snapping out of whatever it was in after Houston went ahead in the 60th minute.

鈥淲e feel that we have in the first two games,鈥� City SC coach Bradley Carnell said, 鈥渨e鈥檝e shown glimpses of what we can do. We鈥檝e shown tons of energy. Our counter-pressures and our actions around the ball are a lot higher than last year. Take out the Houston game, our PPDA (passes per defensive action) was on average with the whole of last year. So, we look at all these things and compare ourselves to ourselves because that was a good barometer. That鈥檚 a good level to compare ourselves to. Obviously we鈥檙e not looking back, but the Houston game, we let ourselves down in that department where we didn鈥檛 show the signature of our team. And that鈥檚 what we were most disappointed about.鈥�

PPDA is one of Carnell鈥檚 go-to numbers. It counts how many times a team passes the ball before the defending team, in this case, City SC, does something, be it a tackle, an interception or a foul. A high-pressing team like City SC wants that number to be low, which would reflect them quickly challenging the ball and making something happen. If there鈥檚 one number that best says when City SC is on its game, it鈥檚 PPDA.

鈥淥bviously the last game was frustrating,鈥� said City SC midfielder Chris Durkin. 鈥淎nd like coach said, I think, it just didn鈥檛 feel right. But, we鈥檙e all still continuing to make partnerships and getting that rust off and getting to know each other. I think the energy is there. It鈥檚 just, I think, a couple more things need to get together and then I think we鈥檒l start to be flying.鈥�

Carnell pointed to another telling stat from the postgame analytics: Shots in transition.

鈥淭here were some moments,鈥� he said, 鈥渨here we鈥檙e looking to combine in short, tight spaces, and we鈥檙e looking to be us. And then obviously, our game, our bread and butter, is the transition. The whole of last year we had 5.5 shots on average, per game, in our transition phases. Over the first two games, the (first) Champions League (game) against Houston and against RSL, we had seven shots (on average) in the transition phase. So, thinking about what we鈥檙e trying to do and what we鈥檙e trying to achieve in those moments, we鈥檙e up from last year as averages and last year was a pretty high standard. So, against Houston, it went down to two in the transition. So again, a day and night difference from the three games, from the Houston game to the first two competitive games that we played this year.

鈥淪o, yes, there鈥檚 a lot to work on. For sure. There鈥檚 a lot of rust there, and we鈥檙e working through these things, but I would be a lot more unhappy if we weren鈥檛 getting into the final third entries, box entries. We see Tomas Ostrak getting in twice against Houston, we have Sam (Adeniran) going twice alone with a goalkeeper. We have moments right where we make these opportunities count and then we have a totally different conversation sitting right here. So I think it鈥檚 on that edge, so we鈥檙e very early in season and we still ironing out those kinks.鈥�

There will be more time for ironing now. With the busy schedule of the first two weeks, there wasn鈥檛 a whole lot of on-field practice time, especially with the full group. Thursday鈥檚 practice had 10 field players, with the rest doing separate regeneration work after the Tuesday night game. Instead of playing eight games over the first four weeks of the season, with a game coming up with Columbus on Wednesday had City SC advanced, the team will play six.

In the first week of the season, no team that had a midweek Champions Cup game won on the weekend. Now, City SC鈥檚 next midweek game won鈥檛 come until mid-May. (It also became official Friday that City SC won鈥檛 be taking part in the U.S. Open Cup this season 鈥� though team president Diego Gigliani said they wanted to 鈥� which also would have given it midweek games.) The game Saturday will still reflect a lineup being affected by the crowded schedule that came before, but the team should settle into a regular rhythm after that.

鈥淲e knew the schedule coming into the into the season,鈥� Carnell said. 鈥淲e knew it鈥檚 going to be challenging. We knew it鈥檚 gonna be tough. We鈥檝e been dealt some of the hands that we鈥檝e been dealt and we have to make the best situation out of it. That鈥檚 a matter of fact. So now, just looking ahead, how do we mitigate? How do we manage? How do we compensate for whatever鈥檚 going on right now and we鈥檙e optimistic and positive that we鈥檒l get over this little hurdle that we鈥檝e been dealt with. We can always make an excuse and reflect and talk about staggered preseason, players not in camp, players in camp. We can look at some injuries, but we don鈥檛 want to be about that. We want to be about looking forward. We believe we have a competitive roster and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to try and put out.鈥�

NYCFC, which finished 11th in the Eastern Conference last season and didn鈥檛 make the playoffs, lost its opening game last weekend on the road to Charlotte, 1-0.