The Fifty-Eighth Minute
With NYCFC fading in the Eastern Conference Finals, Ronny Deila made three early second-half substitutions that reinvigorated the NYCFC attack and sent the Pigeons towards MLS Cup glory.
Ronny Deila does not make substitutions lightly. His selectiveness for in-game changes has been such a topic of conversation since he entered the league that he was already “tired of talking about substitutions” after his 13th match in charge.
Deila hasn’t let the criticism that he waits too long to go to the bench alter his management though. During his tenure, NYCFC have averaged the latest time of substitution (73’) of any team in MLS. When Deila makes changes, particularly early ones, you know there’s a damn good reason why.
So Deila dropping triple barrel substitutions before the 60th minute against Philadelphia is as clear an indicator as any how displeased he was with NYCFC’s performance at that stage of the Eastern Conference Final. Even if the Pigeons could be forgiven for struggling to stave off the physical and mental exhaustion expected after surviving a 120-minute battle five days prior and a whole season in the rearview, few could argue that the starting eleven was in dire need of a boost.
NYCFC didn’t manage a single shot from open play in the first half even against an opponent crippled by a COVID crisis. Outdated protocols forced players who played 51.4% of the Union’s regular season minutes out of the lineup. Those eleven players produced +1.24 non-interrupting g+ above average, while the available group combined for a less-than-inspiring -8.94. The core of Jim Curtin’s defense that ranked 9th in xG conceded was decimated by the circumstances, forcing him to reanimate Aurélien Collin to lead the backline despite only playing a single minute of first-team soccer over the last 50 months.
Nevertheless, Philadelphia remained a formidable foe more than capable of stifling NYCFC’s attack. Given their 21st-placed ranking in possession, the Union are already comfortable playing without the ball and leaned even harder into that philosophy. They managed only 37% possession of their own, their 4th lowest value of the season, and challenged the visitors to play through congestion.
The 4-3-2-1 Christmas-tree formation Curtin deployed focused on maintaining narrowness. The attacking midfield line of Jamiero Monteiro and Dániel Gazdag
was in a perfect position to shepherd the space NYCFC’s double pivot of Alfredo Morales and James Sands which limited central progressive play for nearly the entire first half.
Wide progressions were encouraged as a result and the Pigeons’ left-side dominance only became more extreme with 47% of attacks focused down that flank. That trend is likely due as much to Santi Rodríguez, and not Jesús Medina, existing there as it was in an attempt to pin back Olivier Mbaizo, the lone remaining member of Curtin’s preferred backline.
Whatever the reason, anchoring the attack to the left side of the pitch made Malte Amundsen a critical component of NYCFC buildups. Unfortunately, he struggled to carry that burden, with telegraphed passes or hesitancy on the ball stagnating multiple sequences.
The first half floundering can not be laid solely at the feet of Amundsen as widespread dysfunction propagated throughout the team. In his first start since September 2019 in place of suspended Taty Castellanos, Héber’s typical activity was still hidden under the rust he accumulated in his recovery from knee surgery. Jesús Medina’s influence was isolated to set piece sequences where he produced two key passes, but was entirely unproductive in open play offensively.
A pair of positive sequences that ended in shots from the aforementioned trio early in the second half didn’t do enough to change the decision Deila knew was necessary. Philadelphia had come out of halftime strong and the first half play that “didn’t attack space at all” could not continue. So the manager who maintains the status quo longer than any other in MLS didn’t wait to change it. Deila spurned his own tendencies and called a cavalry in the form of Talles Magno, Gudi Thórarinsson, and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi in the 58th minute.
Within five minutes of the move, the ball was in Sean Johnson’s net. An innocuous-looking possession lulled NYCFC into letting their guard down, and Dániel Gazdag was allowed to loiter in space to measure a tricky in-curling cross. Alexander Callens last gasp effort prevented the pass from reaching Kacper Przybyłko, but he did the striker’s job for him by deftly placing the ball in the side netting.
As hearts sank into stomachs among the NYCFC fanbase, Deila’s substitutes were simply stretching their legs before making their presence felt. And they didn’t wait long to do so.
Talles Magno and Gudi Thórarinsson combined with Maxi Moralez and Santi Rodríguez to once again overload the left flank, pulling the second line of defense to the sideline. Maxime Chanot stepped into the vacuum of space left in the midfield after the ball rotated central and teed it up from 33 yards out. Matt Freese parried the confounding knuckleball into the 6-yard box and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi pounced on the rebound, his shot deflecting to Maxi Moralez to hammer home.
Momentum continued to build in NYCFC’s favor after the equalizer. James Sands and Alfredo Morales reaffirmed control of the game as the substitutes kept providing the boost the team craved in the first half. Thórarinsson solidified the left side, Tajouri-Shradi looked closer to the best version of himself than we’ve seen in recent memory, and Magno provided the missing element of “running in behind”, according to Sands. The triumvirate contributed eight final third entries and four shot-creating actions from open play, a significant increase from the four and one, respectively, produced by the players they replaced.
Yet penalties beckoned all the same as Philadelphia’s makeshift defense bent but didn’t break deep into regular time. The Union’s final grasp at glory came and went as Nathan Harriel’s far post header cleared the crossbar by inches, their only significant chance since Deila had gone to his bench. Minutes later, Maxi Moralez’s speculative ball up the left wing was the straw that broke the camel’s backline. Thorarinsson seized upon Mbaizo’s hesitation and picked his pocket with space to run towards Freese. His pass across the six-yard box found the on-rushing Magno, and the rest is history.
NYCFC’s second-half ascendency can reasonably be attributed to several things. Philadelphia’s goal could have awoken a previously-dormant sense of urgency in the Pigeons. Maybe the Frankenstein monster of a lineup Jim Curtin cobbled together was due for an inevitable demise.
But it’s just as sensible to credit Deila’s substitutions as a primary force that changed the tide. Whether that gives too much credit is up for debate. What is not up for debate is that the team on the field from 58’ onward was far superior to the one beforehand. After being outshot six to four before the substitutions, NYCFC outshot the home team eight to two over the final 32 minutes plus stoppage time.
So whatever buttons Deila pushed in the second half, they were the right ones and helped usher NYCFC into their first MLS Cup. Maybe this guy knows something about substitutions after all. ❧
Image: Paul Cézanne, The Card Players