Leading his team onto the pitch at Rio Tinto Stadium as a foe may have been a completely new experience for Jason Kreis, but what transpired on the field is becoming all too familiar for the New York City FC head coach.
A 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday night followed a similar script to NYCFC’s previous six losses this season.
“I thought we started out really well. I thought we played pretty well for long stretches of the first half, created some really nice chances,” said Kreis, who played and coached at RSL, leading them to the 2009 MLS Cup title, before leaving after the 2013 season to take the NYCFC job. “Unfortunately, it was another game where I feel like with all that positive momentum we have to capitalize on it and score a goal. We don’t get that job done.”
In addition, a defensive breakdown led to a 25th-minute goal by Real Salt Lake's John Stertzer. It is the sixth time in seven losses the expansion side has conceded the game’s first goal in the opening 30 minutes.
“What felt like their first real opportunity, which comes off a breakdown from us, losing the ball right in the middle of the field, they score a goal on,” Kreis said. “We’re in a familiar territory where we come back at halftime and we’re down 1-0.”
The deficit was doubled four minutes into the second half, when Luke Mulholland had time and space to play a cross into the box where Alvaro Saborio split central defenders Jason Hernandez and Chris Wingert and headed past goalkeeper Josh Saunders.
“We allow a goal that probably we need to look at how it happens and we need to sort it out,” Kreis said. “We’re just allowing too many goals against us at the moment.”
Conversely, David Villa put NYCFC’s only shot on frame. The Designated Player also slotted a pass to Mix Diskerud, who spun and hammered a shot off the crossbar in the first half for the team’s best scoring chance.
“It’s frustrating. We came in here thinking we were going to get a positive result after last week’s come-from-behind [tie], but we still took some positives away,” Saunders said, referring to a dramatic 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire last Friday. “There’s some good tactical play, we’re creating some chances."
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Ultimately, Kreis and NYCFC’s host of former RSL players left disappointed on their first return to Rio Tinto, but not before sharing greetings and hugs with those who shared in all of RSL's success in his time there.
“It was odd," he said. "It was definitely odd to be on the other side of the bench, the other side of the field. It was odd to look out at all those players and see that they were opponents and not my players. But that was really about it. Obviously I think a terrific crowd again, great atmosphere for a game. I tried to enjoy it as much as I could, and certainly that’s not going to be much when you lose 2-0.”
Kreis credited his team for again not giving up, but the winless streak is now 10 games. With the Houston Dynamo coming to Yankee Stadium in a week, NYCFC said it’s time to get back to work – with some urgency.
“I think we just need to push each other in training,” said rookie Connor Brandt, who came off the bench for the final nine minutes in his MLS debut. “We actually just talked about that in a team meeting, that we probably need to be on each other a little bit more in training to get better, and hopefully it will show in the games.”
Dylan Butler covers New York City FC for MLSsoccer.com.
