Patrick Vieira stood stoically on the New York City FC sidelines for much of Saturday's Hudson River Derby against the New York Red Bulls, arms crossed, clearly dumbfounded at what he was watching.
His team had played some of the best soccer in the league heading into Saturday's derby, and he fully expected his players to be able to stand toe-to-toe with their cross-river rivals in the weekend's marquee MLS match.
They didn't show up. Instead, they were thoroughly dominated by the Red Bulls in a 4-0 shellacking that looked like a mismatch just four minutes into the contest, with NYCFC already trailing by two goals.
"This is the reason why I'm really quite frustrated," Vieira admitted after the match. "I'm really frustrated about the competitiveness, about the desire we had on the field. You know, I'm prepared to accept that we can lose games, but the way we lost today, with the lack of conviction, the lack of competitiveness is something that I can't accept."
NYCFC simply couldn't match the Red Bulls energy and aggressiveness, particularly in midfield, but it wasn't just the midfielders who had a day to forget for NYCFC. Defensive breakdowns paved the way for the Red Bulls to score three first-half goals while the NYCFC attack managed just one good chance before halftime.
"If I had the chance to change all the 10 players on the field, I would have done it at halftime," said Vieira, who made two changes at the break. "I wasn't really happy with every single player on the field. I just made these two changes and tried to change the tactical side of the game and went three at the back, but it didn't work."
At times, the match felt very much like the Red Bulls' 7-0 destruction of NYCFC in 2016, Vieira's first derby match as NYCFC coach. On that day, the Red Bulls overwhelmed NYCFC at Yankee Stadium, scoring at will and dominating an NYCFC side going through its first season with Vieira in charge.
Saturday's loss felt just as humbling because NYCFC went into the match with plenty of hype and with the label of being the best team in NYCFC's brief history.
"We have no excuses. We tried to come here and play a little bit. We didn't bring heart and energy, and that's what happens," NYCFC midfielder Alex Ring said. "Everyone knows we can do much better. This is a game we have to forget fast. We didn't bring our passion and the energy we're used to bringing. We thought we can come here and play flick-ons and shit like that, and this happens."
Brad Penner
"Something that is really difficult for me to accept as a coach is that the other team want it more than us," Vieira said. "I think this is something that, at this level, you can't accexpt."
Vieira refused to single out any individual performances for criticism, though his decision to pull central defender Maxime Chanot at halftime — after he had a hand in two of the Red Bulls' three first-half goals — made it clear the French defender was one player who didn't perform. Asked about David Villa's uncharacteristically quiet night, Vieira cited a lack of service for at least part of the reason for Villa's invisible outing, which ended in the 66th minute.
“I don't want to talk about a single player,” Vieira said. “I think it was tough for David. He didn't have the support that he normally had. We didn't play as well as we could from the back. I think it was more a collective nightmare than just an individual.”
NYCFC won't have much time to dwell on Saturday's loss. A tough road trip to California to take on Los Angeles FC awaits on Saturday. In the meantime, Vieira will spend some time thinking about how to ensure his team doesn't lay another egg like the one it laid on Saturday, especially not the next time the club faces the Red Bulls, which will be on July 7 at Yankee Stadium.
"This is something I will have to reflect on," Vieira said. "When you play the Derby you know that you will have to compete. We know the way that they are playing, and it will be important for myself, but overall for the players, as well, to reflect on that because if we want to bounce back; if we want to keep doing well in this league, we have to change the attitude because the attitude wasn't good tonight."
