NYCFC Have Problems on the Pitch and With the Pitch

It was a huge lump of turf that went flying up in the middle of the first half as New York City Football Club played Montreal at home. It was a game that was supposed to be a sure fire win for NYCFC. Montreal was coming off a drubbing last week and playing with out their star player. NYCFC has something to prove, or so they all said, after a lopsided loss on the road to Toronto. NYCFC finally had a striker. He was ready to play, but the turf swatch that plopped up in the middle of the game turned out to be the perfect metaphor.
The huge clod of turf that came flying up in such an embarrassing way was dry and lifeless, much like NYCFC’s attack in Toronto and against Montreal. It had been put there by an uninspired grounds keeper just like the the team’s starting formation seemed to be created by an uninspired coach. Inexplicably, Jesus Medina and Taty Castellanos found themselves in the starting eleven and proved to so many frustrated fans that they could lay lifeless just like that huge patch of grass on the pitch. Combined with Jonathan Lewis and Alexandru Mirita, NYCFC’s attack was standing most of the match, easily guarded and lacking the creativity to give the attack any life. The team was predictable in the build up and uninspired going forward. Even when Montreal went down to ten men NYCFC could not find a way to get even one shot on goal.
The substitutes were bright spots on the day for the team. Ismael Tajouri-Shradi showed why he should be a no brainier in the starting line up shortly after he was subbed on. He put a ball in the back of the net off a nice run to the far post. Sadly, for NYCFC, the goal was called off sides by a slim margin. Heber played for close to thirty minutes and looked like he had the inclination to shoot the ball and the ability to get free, but his passing lanes and space were choked by they lack of positive runs by his teammates and a Montreal team that had parked the bus. Keaton parks came on for the final fifteen minutes and showed well. His performance left many fans questioning why he was not in the starting eleven to begin with.
All in all, it was the worst the pitch at Yankee stadium has ever looked in club history and the club is now off to their worst start in club history. Going forward the groundskeepers must take more care to create a pitch that is not embarrassingly dangerous, and Dome Torrent must find some creative answers or it is going to be a long season all around.