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Four questions with Oliver Strand of Hudson River Blue

Published

10 months ago

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Photo by Carl Gulbish
After an important win over Nashville SC on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Union will return home tonight to take on NYCFC. With points in the Eastern Conference up for grab, the Union will want to get all three at home against a lesser opponent.
We reached out to Oliver Strand and our pals over at Hudson River Blue for a deeper look at the Union’s next opponent.
Philadelphia Soccer Now: Ties, ties, ties. NYCFC has seven draws in its last eight games. What’s going on up there?
Oliver Strand: Who doesn’t love the drama of a 1-1 draw? So much better than an easy win. This NYCFC are just giving the people what they want.
In all seriousness, look at the scorelines of those draws and you’ll see that NYCFC don’t give up many goals, or score many goals: New York City scored eight goals in those eight games, but allowed seven. This is a team without a consistent scoring threat — although that might change now that the team just signed a very promising, clinical striker in Mounsef Brakar from the Croatian league. This is also a team with a good defense, but one that always has a mistake in them.
And it’s a young team that is still learning how to close out a game. NYCFC gave up a stoppage-time equalizer away to Atlanta United, then did it again a few weeks later away to a 10-man Columbus Crew. You learn from experience, and the hope is that it won’t happen again. Or if it does, it won’t happen the time after that.
PSN: City picked up their first road win a few weeks back when they won in Montreal, 1-0. Tell me about how they look on the road.
OS: They look good at times, shaky at others. But even when they look good, they don’t get the result. (See: Atlanta, Columbus.)
The fact is, this season has been all about the team’s away form. NYCFC have played 13 road games (it’ll be 14 after Saturday’s match against Philadelphia), and the team’s road record ain’t bad: 1 win, 7 draws, 5 losses. Four of those draws coulda, shoulda been wins, which means this team coulda, shoulda have-a 5-3-5 road record.
But we’re not talking about a team that beat Atlanta at the Benz, New England at Gillette, the Timbers in Portland, Columbus in Ohio. We’re talking about a team that has just one road win all season, although it was a good one against a tough Montréal at Stade Saputo.
Last week, NYCFC created chance after chance against a fully stacked Columbus and had nine shots on target. That’s a team that could take the game to Philadelphia at Subaru Park. Although those nine shots on target were sometimes lacking in quality, and I hear the Union have a good goalkeeper.
PSN: For as low as NYCFC is in the standings, their goal differential is just -4. Is the team better than the points column suggests?
OS: Short answer: Yes. According to some wonks, NYCFC should have 31 points, not 26, which would put them in eighth place ahead of DC United.
This is a young team, and an unlucky team. But it’s a highly skilled team that is starting to show real chemistry and cohesion on the field. The team is playing like NYCFC, and even if they no longer have a Taty Castellanos or Alexander Callens to muscle the ball into the net and grab a result, they can hold their own or even outplay any club in MLS.
PSN: Will NYCFC have any notable absences? What are your lineup and score predictions?
James Sands is likely going to sit this one out after playing 120 minutes for the USMNT twice this week. Center back Thiago Martins returned from injury but hasn’t yet appeared in the Starting XI, and my guess is he’ll begin this game on the bench. Brakar also might be on the bench, which could make for some late-game excitement.
Talles Magno – Santiago Rodríguez – Gabriel Pereira
Keaton Parks – Alfredo Morales
Braian Cufré – Justin Haak – Maxime Chanot – Tayvon Gray – Mitja Ilenič
Luis Barraza
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Joe is a junior at Penn State studying journalism and sports studies, among other things. He's covered the Union since 2017 and has written for Brotherly Game / Philadelphia Soccer Now since 2019. He seeks to answer life's greatest questions, such as, "How did I get here?" and "Where is that large automobile?" You can find Joe on Twitter (iamjoelister) or via email (jlister2021@gmail.com).

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