#NYCFC’s first victory shouldn’t mask attacking woes

Ronny Deila is at a crossroads. NYCFC’s first win of the season served as the perfect example behind the coach’s dilemma.

On one hand, the 1-0 win over Inter Miami on Monday ended a 288-day drought for NYCFC without an MLS win, and surely boosted Deila’s confidence after a brutal start to the season.

On the other hand, Monday’s win was actually the team’s most anemic offensive performance of the MLS is Back tournament, with New York City managing two shots on target, converting one gilded chance for its goal. Though the team looked more aggressive going forward than in recent games, it was largely prevented by Miami from creating any clear-cut chances. The eventual result should not mask what was another toothless performance.

He finally got his result, but is Deila still willing to adapt?

Players, like midfielder Keaton Parks after the Miami game, have indicated that they’re still adjusting to Deila’s playing style that has netted one win in five games.

There may be some mitigating factors. The two 9 a.m. start times in Orlando haven’t been ideal. Alexandru Mitrita, Maxi Moralez and Heber have all missed time this tournament with injuries (NYCFC currently has a projected 20-percent chance of advancing to the quarterfinals). It’s possible — likely even — that the team’s performance has been somewhat handicapped by playing in a still-foreign system.

Still, this much is true: Deila decided to tweak a team that won the Eastern Conference last regular season and finished second in the league in goal-difference. All coaches have their preferred styles, but thus far, it looks like Deila’s is less favorable to attackers than his predecessor Domenec Torrent’s.

“For me, it’s to get in a pattern that they know exactly what to do in the different situations. They are to repeat, and repeat and repeat,” Deila said last week. “I think there [was] more freedom last year.”

While Deila’s tweaks have been only that, he admitted himself that his teams are more “structured” than Torrent’s NYCFC iteration was.

Deila hasn’t completely flipped the script that worked so well last year. He’s frequently used the 4-2-3-1 that Torrent used in the homestretch of last season, and has continued the club’s emphasis on pressing and ball retention. His (unsuccessful) use of a back three against Orlando could be construed as at least a sign he’s willing to bend. But his “structured” system hasn’t really worked offensively.

Perhaps when Mitrita, Moralez and Heber are all fit on the field together, things will fall into place. But as the early stages of this season have shown (NYCFC has returned virtually all of its main contributors from last year), it’s not enough to merely put good players on the field; though on that subject, Deila has seemingly reduced the role of Parks after the impressive youngster rose in stature under Torrent.

Deila needs to put his players in a position to succeed, even if it means sometimes abandoning his natural setup and playing to his squad’s strengths.

Regardless of what you think about Torrent, there’s no question he was adaptable last season. In 35 league games ( 1 playoff match), he used seven different formations and won with four of them. There isn’t a magic solution to fix NYCFC’s current attacking woes, but Deila should entertain a similar amorphousness to get the best out of his (extremely talented) attackers.

Deila got his result on Monday. His doubters have been silenced, or at least calmed, for a bit, and his team must trust him that much more.

Now, he needs to get in front of the problem. Because two goals in five games isn’t an aberration.

It’s time to free up Kaku

The Red Bulls play Tuesday night at 8 p.m., needing a point against expansion outfit FC Cincinnati to secure second place in Group E and advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament after being overrun by the impressive Columbus Crew last week.

They could also do with a tactical tweak or two. Most notably, the team has used a workmanlike 4-4-2 in every league game this season, which has often resigned the team to chasing games rather than controlling them.

Thus far, the Red Bulls are dead last in MLS in pass completion percentage (67.4 percent), possession (39.8) and second to last in shot-creating actions per contest (11.75), per FBref.com.

That likely has a connection with Kaku’s positioning on the left of that 4-4-2, rather than his preferred No. 10 spot behind the striker. Kaku is so far producing 2.38 shot-creating actions per 90 as compared to 4.58 last season (where he spent most of his time as a 10).

Chris Armas’ insistence on two banks of four is curious, especially given the quality center backs the team has in Aaron Long and Tim Parker. Perhaps he doesn’t trust his new fullbacks or simply thinks his team is at its best out of possession, harrying opponents.

Still, I’d like to see Kaku back in that free central role, pulling the strings. Armas may be resigning his team to its game-chasing fate by putting him anywhere else.