NYCFC coach Dome Torrent calls team meeting about poor late-game management

New York City FC coach Dome Torrent was pleased with his team’s will and desire to capture three valuable road points after a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids Saturday night, the club’s first victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

His good feelings, though, ended with Alexandru Mitrita’s go-ahead goal in the 83rd minute. What he saw after from his team was so troubling, Torrent felt it warranted a team meeting to address it before training Tuesday.

At 2-1 against a Rapids team that was reduced to 10 men when Sebastian Anderson was sent off for a rash tackle on Ronald Matarrita in the 33rd minute, Torrent said his team’s mentality should have been about possession and using the width of the field.

“We have technical players in that moment on the pitch — Jesus Medina, Keaton [Parks], Maxi [Moralez], [Ebenezer Ofori], and when that happens, you have to keep the ball, pass the ball and play simple,” he said. “It’s don’t rush when the result is 1-0, 2-1, 3-2.”

That’s not what he saw though.

“In the last five minutes, the game is over. If you want, its over,” Torrent said. “If you want its about keep the ball, respect the position, play simple. My opinion is we want to finish all the time, quickly to play. And when the result is just one goal and you have quality in the field you have to keep the ball.”

He showed his players several occasions when they won a ball only to give away possession seconds later with a long ball up the field.

“I say many times to you, to the players, how fast the ball goes, the faster the ball comes back,” Torrent said. “I remember two or three actions we lose the ball, and they played quickly and after that one player can create opportunity against four, and that’s happened because you don’t have the ball.”

Otherwise, Torrent said he was pleased with the nearly 78 percent possession and the 29 shot attempts. There were chances to ice the game earlier, a gilt-edged opportunity Heber missed in the second half the most glaring. Torrent labeled that a mistake he can live with. It’s his team’s game management late that caused concern.

“If you move in the pitch so much you have difficulties to find the ball, when you stay, the ball finds you 100 percent,’” Torrent said. “Especially when you have quality on the pitch and the result is about that, you have to take the control of the ball and pass the ball.”

“It’s not good what happened in the last five minutes,” Torrent added. “And they know that.”