NYCFC is back in the Bronx looking to overcome the 4-0 loss at the hands of Toronto FC on the road last week, Dome Torrent reflected on some of the factors that may have played into the loss but also looked ahead, as the team prepares to face the next opponent in Montreal Impact.
"It’s always difficult to play when you're missing 10 players on the team, and maybe my mistake was to choose the players who traveled long trips and maybe they were tired," said Dome. "Maybe it's my mistake, I didn’t choose the right players to play, it’s about that when I say forget about the players because it’s my fault. It’s about that, maybe I didn’t choose the right players.”
Although Dome was quick to take responsibility for the result in Toronto, he and the team are ready to switch their focus to getting the first win of the season - hopefully, against Montreal Impact at home in the Bronx.
"We have to prove and we have to fight, we will try to win the two halves," he said. "When you are not able to play well, because maybe the opponent is better than you, you have to play with energy, you have to play compact, and you have to try to win the duel - it’s about that. I’m sure the next game, we’ll be able to play in that way - especially in Yankee Stadium and we have to win, quickly, because we need to win."
When it comes to changing the teams perspective and focus, Dome often looks to his captain, Alex Ring to be the bridge between him and the team. The Ringleader, not only leads the team onto the field every game, he leads them in the locker room and in training. The team looks to him for guidance on and off the pitch.
“I’m really happy with Alex Ring because he’s a leader, not just on the pitch, even in the locker room. It’s very important to work with these kinds of players because they have character and they have the quality to lead our team because he’s a fighter on the pitch, he’s a leader in the locker room," Dome said.
Not only did he praise Ring, but he was also quick to give a nod to our newcomer, Héber. The striker is in contention to make his debut for the Boys in Blue on Saturday, but although his start is not guaranteed, his performance in training has left everybody impressed, especially his new coach.
“Héber is a good, good player for us. He’s our striker and he’s able to score many goals for the team. He has been here for the past few training sessions, we have two more training sessions to decide if he’s ready to play in the XI or maybe in the last 3 or 4 minutes.
“When these guys of players join us, it’s much better for the team. Everybody knows right now in the training session, he’s a scorer. Our feeling is much better with him because he’s a different player. For us, it’s a different style - for him, being able to play like a number nine DP, keep the ball, he attacks all the time behind them and if you need to keep the ball, he’s able to keep the ball as well.
"He’s an important player for us, but everybody knows Héber here and Saturday… I don’t know if he’s ready to play 90 minutes,” said Dome.
After their return from Toronto, Dome had time to sit down and review Montreal's 7-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City.
He reflected: "You can have a bad day, and New York City had a bad night but at the same - Montreal, it’s like an accident. It’s not normal to lose a game 4-0, or 7-1.
"They have a good team, they play really well but after that, soccer is soccer. You can lose, not every single game 7-1 or 4-0 but sometimes that happens because the opponent is better than you.
"When I watched Montreal it was an accident because it was a balanced game for 40 minutes, after that in two minutes they conceded two goals and the game’s over. It’s the same against Toronto, we played better than Toronto for just 20 minutes in the second half, we couldn't score and after the penalty, the game is over."
Now we move past last week's result and we switch gears to focus on getting our first win and solidifying those first three points of the season.
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