NYCFC get back on track

Columbus and New York City had almost identical records coming into Sunday’s tilt in the Bronx. Both teams needed a win to right their faltering season trajectory and New York City rose to the occasion off a hat trick from Hannes Wolf.

New York City started early scoring in the twelfth and seventeenth minutes with Wolf finding himself in the perfect spot to one touch balls home off good passes from Agustin Ojeda and Nicolas Fernandez Mercau. From there on they were in the drivers seat with Columbus trying to cobble something together to get them back in the match.

Although NYCFC lost the possession battle, their defense looked stout and resilient, something that had been questionable in the past few games. They caused Columbus loads of trouble off the counter, looking dangerous again and again by making use of Ojeda’s speed up top. Keaton Parks added a spark in the midfield getting his fist start in several matches because of an injury to Aiden O’Neil. He was more than up to the challenge, serving as a conduit for quick passes froward off Columbus turn overs.

After the match Pascal Jansen was careful not to forget what had gotten them into this slump in the first place.

“That’s going to be the challenge for the third block of games. This game was the first start going into the third block [of games], against a good opponent, who have also just gotten back on their feet because they have had a tough start to the season. How do we prevent ourselves from going back into the issues that happened during the second block [of games]? That’s something we’ve discussed obviously, and we are convinced that 90 percent of it is a mentality issue. I used the word casual at some point as well. You see the games we played in the second block, there were quite a few good games, but there were also one or two that were way below our standards. Charlotte [FC] and [FC] Cincinnati games stand out. If you score four goals against [FC] Cincinnati the way we did, that can never be a draw. That’s a mentality thing. If you have Charlotte [FC] here in New York City and they have zero shots on target, but we’re not clinical in finishing our moments, then one shot on target might be enough. That’s something we are very well aware of going into this third block. The mentality we showed today on-and-off the ball was better, and that helps going forward.”

Wolf echoed his sentiments. “I think if you look at us last season, the strongest thing we probably had was the mentality to defend as a team; 11 guys blocking crosses and really trying to see with urgency what can happen when they cross the ball. I think that was way better today. We worked on that. We had a lot of videos where we saw this too. I know this team didn’t just get worse overnight, so it was just a bad moment; we want to be ourselves again now in the future.”

NYCFC have a tough road stretch before the World Cup break. It is a series of games that will prove if their recent slump was just a “bad moment” or if the team is indeed themselves again.