The Portland Timbers head to Yankee Stadium to face NYCFC in their first away match of the season.
After a disappointing 2-2 draw against D.C United at home, the Timbers are looking to continue their undefeated streak playing in NYC.
NYC is coming off of a less than mediocre season, and although they’ve added some new key players to the lineup, they haven’t had the most ideal start losing their first two games along with being goalless on the year.
Taking a look at the new additions and storylines from NYCFC as well as what they do tactically can provide a clear picture of what to expect Saturday afternoon.
The Boys In Blue
The third year head coach and former long time Manchester City Women’s manager Nick Cushing has his work cut out for him.
Cushing’s tenure started out well enough, leading NYC to a third place finish in the Eastern Conference and Conference Final appearance after taking the reigns from Ronny Deila, who had previously won the 2021 MLS Cup beating the Timbers.
Following a disappointing 11th place conference finish last season, NYC hasn’t started any better after two shutout losses to Charlotte F.C and St. Louis City.
Cushing’s coaching philosophy this season has been to work on the physical side of the game saying they “want to play an aggressive style of the game and we want to be an exciting team”, and they might've taken that philosophy too much to heart getting two yellow cards and a red in their last match against St. Louis as well as giving away a penalty against Charlotte.
NYC brought in a couple of new additions to the club, including:
Jovan Mijatović (F) - 18 year old striker coming in from Red Star Belgrade who arrived on an $8.6 million transfer. Currently competing with second year striker Monsef Barker for the #9 spot.
Hannes Wolf (MF) - Formerly a wonderkid in the Austrian youth squad, injuries had made it difficult to realize his potential. He had last played for Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach
Agustín Ojeda (F) - The Argentinian winger comes from Racing Club in his home country, and arrives as NYC’s latest South American prospect.
Andrés Perea (MF) - A half season loan player last season from Philadelphia, Perea was signed permanently in the winter after an impressive performance.
Tactically they utilized a 4-2-3-1 against a Charlotte and a 4-3-3 against St. Louis, changing up their central midfield switching Hannes Wolf to right forward side replacing Julián Fernández and placing Andrés Perea in the central midfield spot. Midfielders James Sands and Keaton Parks switched horizontal positions on the right and left.
Striker Monsef Bakrar at the #9 spot and Santiago Martinez at the wing stayed as is and the defensive back line of Kevin O’Toole, Birk Risa, Thiago Martins and Mitja Ilenic remained the same as well.
James Sands will be out of this match after his red card last week, while star Maxi Moralez, Rio Hope-Gund, Talles Magno are out with injuries.
Availability and Tactics:
Evander is back from injury for this match and he’s expected to start in the #10 role, while Felipe Mora and Claudio Bravo remain out.
Eryk Williamson was a surprise addition to the injury list being unavailable due to a hamstring injury.
The lineup is largely the same as last season, with the only change being Evander debuting in his #10 role. He had seemed to find some success in playmaking during preseason and the expected distribution between him, Antony, Moreno and Asprilla will be exciting to see.
Paredes has been a great stand-in the last two games, and fully deserves another start backing up Williamson.
The Timbers will look to work their possession this match, being the team with the lowest possession percentage in the league. They’ll also focus on limiting NYC’s possession who’ve hogged the ball in the last two matches despite the lack of scoring. The attacking front should have a field day, and Evander should take advantage of the poor defending that’s plagued NYC these last two games. NYC is weak in finishing, which the back four and Crepeau should have no problem keeping in check. They’ll also want to take advantage of NYC’s aggression and sloppiness and look to draw fouls when possible, also taking into account the fact that it’s NYC’s home opener and they’ll be looking to make a statement.
Conclusion:
Yankee Stadium is never a great place to play for the players. It’s very narrow while also having the worst playing ground in the MLS, and the team is sure to be eager to move to the brand new soccer-specific stadium being built near the Mets’ Citi Field in 2027.
Given that, the Timbers unbeaten record at the baseball park is remarkable, and the Timbers have no reason to bring an end to it given NYC’s poor form these first two matches and key absences in Sands and Moralez.
While the Timbers have never lost in Yankee Stadium, Head Coach Phil Neville has never won in the ballpark after leaving Inter Miami without a win. With the learning experience of last week, and the strong start of the Timbers, Neville is primed for a first in his career.
The Timbers play NYCFC away at Yankee Stadium Saturday, March 9th at 11am PST. The match is available to stream on Apple TV+ and on radio at 750 The Game.