Post-match: 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals Dry Run - Crew @ NYCFC - Match 12 - 5/10/26 4:30 PM

Our “good run” came from playing 3rd division and MLS bottom feeders.

 

This NYC team had the form of a fellow bottom feeder. And as stated by someone else, a short narrow field should in theory help tactically, since we play a 4-4-2 and don’t really care about possession anymore, just being direct.

A truly pathetic and alarming setback of a performance.

 

Think its the midfield combo today. Cant play both chambost and gomes together. And playing taha at the 9 neuters him.

 

My wife found a silver lining; “Only about sixty people saw this.”

 

I can't wait to watch us play our next game. I am really looking forward to Wednesday. We are such an interesting team to watch.

 

You are making my point.

The trophy guys still here are mostly MLS JAGs or old ... but still should display the professionalism needed to compete week to week and grind out results.

I seriously doubt anyone is listening to anything Zawadzki is saying ... if he is saying anything at all.

This roster needs a couple of Alpha Dog DPs in the worst way.

 

What a mess.

 

What a great game for background noise

 

I'm so tired of hearing about 'relationism' or 'relationalism' or whatever it's called. We all saw the videos of what examples of this are, and what it looms like in action. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but I don't recall a single occurrence of this ideology appearing in a game. I'm talking about the videos where his team looked like a swarm of bees playing tiki-taka at 100mph.

He didn't bring his own idea, and he can't seem to come up with other ones. Great. Even a dude like Caleb Porter has a Plan A lol. I'm gonna keep saying it, I don't know what our identity is. It's been 12 games of first team games. The season is a third over, and I don't know what the hell anyone is doing game-by-game.

It's all less than ideal.

 

Ding ding ding.

We have a winner!!

 

We went from playing the best soccer in the league to whatever we just saw in under 2 years of Issa. Time to go.

 

Here's the thing, when Bangoura has gotten minutes, especially recently, he's maybe been our most impactful player on the field.

How a coach can look at those performances and think he deserves to be benched is beyond me. I don't think very highly of HR as a tactician, but holy shit his eye for talent and critical thinking abilities seem worse.

I'm starting to think he's just a blowhard academic that can't relate to practical things in front of him. Oh, wait...

 

2 years.

 

HR's player evaluation is pretty bad. Noticed that immediately playing players in spots that nancy tried and gave up on immediately

 

For me it was watching the last Ted Lasso episode instead.

 

When will Matan be back with the team?

 

Ha my mistake! Feels like longer. Edited.

 

The good news is that this game will convince Tall to speed up his planned timeline to acquire a CB. He'll likely sign someone in 4 windows now instead of his previous plan of 10.

 

I'll keep saying it... need to fire the head coach ... the system does not work in MLS. Each loss we have we keep saying the same thing over and over and yet..... you guys make excuses for the coach.... yes, get rid of him and bring in a style that fits not only the team but the MLS (and yes, get rid of ISSA too as this team isn't good)

 

Not Arace's best article, but im gonna critique HR here (maybe arace got this quote wrong). Paraphrasing, HR said our box defending has been good based on the underlying numbers that we dont give up a lot of shots and small xG moments, but when we give up a chance, its a big chance. Not sure i agree with that. Feel like a good defending team would have the opposite numbers.

And generally, we tend to give up big chances on plays that initially look harmless and set pieces too.

 

Set pieces is a height issue.

 

Is Vito Wormgoor available? You might beat him to the ball but you'd end up with a couple broken ribs and he would laugh at the card he got as they helped you off the field..Red, yellow, PK, he didn't give a shit. Opponents tend not to be eager to engage under those terms.

Or Doomsday Danny O'Rourke, the embodiment of the old soccer phrase "you may get past me, or the ball may get past me, but both you AND the ball together are not getting past me". He\d rip your leg off and beat you to death with it.

These days, the whole defense acts like they're desperately competing for the Lady Byng.

I know a bunch of guys are man-crushing Zawadaski but to me he usually looks like he's worried about breaking a nail.