Houston 2 - 1 New York City FC - CCC'15

CAROLINA CHALLENGE CUP 2015

Game 2

Houston 2 - 1 New York City FC

Well we decided to go ahead with the game even though the weather was, putting it nicely... Ridiculously attrocious, and still we put in a shift again and this does mean that another 90 minutes again is under the belts of the players.

Before the substitutions in the 61st minute there was little to be please about. Facey and Poku were my two highlighted players that were in the team and when i say they were good, they were very good. Yet again Poku showed how hes focussing his game on his role model Yaya Toure as he drove forward well with the ball and was able to dribble his way out of alot of tight spaces in the center of midfield. His final ball may not be there just yet but he is looking very promising for a player who wasnt known as a midfielder until the start of pre season. Facey also had another good game, he kept the ball well at the back and was a very solid player in the game. He tracks back and with a good speed he was able to cover for Brovsky who seemed to give up with alot of defensive work in the game. Also great news is that Facey has signed a contract now, so we can feel very relieved for the team to have a more stable line up at the back now.

I dont think im the first and im certainly not the last who will say that the 4-2-3-1 formation worked really well for us defensively. We were strong and stable and we were able to break out on the counter very well. This did mean that we were unable to have as much of an attacking threat as we like, but maybe with a player like Taylor who showed he could hold the ball up yesterday as well as have those determined runs at the defense, with Villa and Velasquez maybe in a wider positon this could mean a new formation for us to be using in the future. Something many have spoken about with our ability to change formations easily.

I think out of everything what we viewed yesterday we have to be exteremely pleased with the substitutions which came on. Every player which entered the pitch had some sort of impact, Mix with the goal obviously was a stand out player and showed why hes in the USMNT at the present time. Also with the delivery from Calle, yes it was only 2 or 3, but we got a good glimpse of whats to come from our new man. These were only 2 of many from a very good performance. I've got to say that we have a very good chance with our strongest XI out. I expect to see a good mix between the 2 squads we've seen in the CCC so far, so hopefully we'll be another step closer to the starting lineup on March 8th!

Also added to what we saw yesterday i have to say i was a bit dissapointed with a few players. Khiry Shelton showed how much he needed to develop against a higher level of players, maybe meaning a more impact role. Alvarez also had very little end product, alot of our play broke up from passes he missplaced and his set pieces were extremely poor. However, it is only pre season and there will of course be many changes and more developments as i've spoken about in the past and as we all know, pre season is the time to get these issues out and work on them in training!

Onto the next game on Saturday!!