The Impact has its work cut out ahead of its trip to the Bronx
Even with the snowstorm that swept across the northeastern part of the continent this week, the Montreal Impact will be in New York this Saturday to face NYCFC at 2pm (TVA Sports, 98,5FM and TSN Radio 690). After having lost their first game of the season away from home 1-0, the Blues went back to winning ways this past weekend, annihilating D.C. United 4-0.
When we talk about New York City FC, the first names that come to mind are David Villa and Andrea Pirlo. El Guaje was instrumental in the win against D.C., with two goals and one assist, while the 37-year-old Architetto pulls the strings from midfield. In two games this season, Pirlo has completed 123 passes for an 84% success rate, created 3 chances and completed 40 passes in the attacking half (70% success rate) and 14 in the attacking third (47% success rate).
“Pirlo is Pirlo, but they have a lot of quality players, they are a good collective team,” underlined assistant coach Wilfried Nancy. “We want to give clear directives when the ball comes to his feet. He thinks very quickly. We are looking to provide solutions to our players to restrain him from playing forward. That’s why we gave directives on Pirlo, but also on the players around him.”
Around him, notably, we usually find Jack Harrison and Maximiliano Morález. Since the start of the season, the two attacking midfielders each took three shots, while respectively completing 23 and 24 passes in the last third for success rates over 75%. The NYCFC offence benefited from this, taking a total of 23 shots.
“Even if the Yankee Stadium field is smaller and narrower, we need to take away space and time from their attacking players,” said assistant coach Jason Di Tullio. “We will work to stay compact and to prevent space between our lines. When we get the ball back, when it will be time to go forward, we will attack. The field is not always easy, but we will still try to unbalance them, to progress in transition and to play a better away game than in San Jose.”
