North American Pro Soccer 2015

[Gothamite]

Nobody is going to bail on an expansion team that often plays like an expansion team.

We're just so excited to have a club representing our city, we party exactly the same in the streets after every home match, win or lose. Next year, we'll worry more about wins and losses. Right now, we're too busy building something.

[Dexter Morgan]

Isn't odd Red Bull fans knock NYCFC by calling them City Lite. When they are one of 4 or 5 Red Bull owned teams with a similar name. There stadium is an exact replica of Red Bull Salzburg stadium in Austria.

[Gothamite]

Yeah, I was really disappointed in that tifo.

They had a much better one right before that: three banners reading "The Big Apple/Red to the Core/Since Day One". They should have developed that line instead of whatever the Dopey thing was supposed to be.

"Man City Lite" isn't a bad idea. In fact, they were selling clever shirts that were worlds better than that uninspired tifo. They should have mocked up a huge beer can with this label:

Maybe even add a slogan: "TASTES BAD, LESS HISTORY". That would have shown some wit.

If they wanted to knock Yankee Stadium, they could have gone with something like "THIS IS WHAT A SOCCER STADIUM LOOKS LIKE." So much great potential, but they dropped the ball. This was just... dopey.

[Nyk33]

Nobody is going to bail on an expansion team that often plays like an expansion team

I never said the ones that jumped ship are going to bail. I just said I wanted to see how they might feel after that embarrassing performance.

.We're just so excited to have a club representing our city, we party exactly the same in the streets after every home match, win or lose. Next year, we'll worry more about wins and losses. Right now, we're too busy building something.

I'm not buying that. You wouldn't be pulling the "we'll worry more about wins and losses" card if you had actually won yesterday.

There's losing and then there is being utterly embarrassed by your local rivals. I don't care what sport it is and what the circumstances are I would not be happy with a performance like that in an important game that everyone had circled on their calenders. I wasn't expecting much from NYCFC yesterday based on their recent form and even I was disappointed.

As for the atmosphere last night, I would give a lot credit to both fanbases for doing a good job. I thought the Red Bull tifo was okay (I don't quite get the Dopey reference) even though everyone in the MLS subreddit seems to be raving about it.

[Gothamite]

Nobody is going to bail on an expansion team that often plays like an expansion team

I never said the ones that jumped ship are going to bail. I just said I wanted to see how they might feel after that embarrassing performance.

.We're just so excited to have a club representing our city, we party exactly the same in the streets after every home match, win or lose. Next year, we'll worry more about wins and losses. Right now, we're too busy building something.

I'm not buying that. You wouldn't be pulling the "we'll worry more about wins and losses" card if you had actually won yesterday.

Sure I would. I've been saying that all season, after win, draws and losses.

It's not embarrassing for an expansion team to lose by one goal to one of the better teams in the league (the loss last week against the Sounders was much tougher). Sure, it sucks that they couldn't capitalize on the man advantage. But we were in the game right up until the end, and while I'd rather we walked away with points, I'm not willing to call that an embarrassing loss.

I can't stand Reddit - what was the point of Dopey, specifically? Is it a reference I'm not getting? Because of their three statements, that was by far the weakest.

[Nyk33]

It's not embarrassing for an expansion team to lose by one goal to one of the better teams in the league (the loss last week against the Sounders was much tougher). Sure, it sucks that they couldn't capitalize on the man advantage. But we were in the game right up until the end, and while I'd rather we walked away with points, I'm not willing to call that an embarrassing loss.

You guys were extremely lucky to lose by just one goal. It should have been 3-1 if it wasn't for that BS offsides call and Red Bulls had 2 other opportunities to extend the lead with only 10 men

As someone who watched the Seattle game and well aware of the fact that they are an expansion team missing one of their best players (Lampard) I didn't expect anything and I was still disappointed.

I can't stand Reddit - what was the point of Dopey, specifically? Is it a reference I'm not getting? Because of their three statements, that was by far the weakest.

I have no idea what the point of him was or why /r/mls likes that tifo so much. It's not the worst tifo I've ever seen but it wasn't comparable to the stuff Portland or Seattle put out.

Hopefully the security at Yankee stadium won't hamper your abilities to do a response tifo too much next month.

[Gothamite]

Maybe it's not the worst Tifo I've seen in MLS, but it's sure close. Terrible tagline, muddy message. Disappointing, especially since they had two other designs in play, either of which was much more clever, more biting and more succinct.

It's not embarrassing for an expansion team to lose by one goal to one of the better teams in the league (the loss last week against the Sounders was much tougher). Sure, it sucks that they couldn't capitalize on the man advantage. But we were in the game right up until the end, and while I'd rather we walked away with points, I'm not willing to call that an embarrassing loss.

You guys were extremely lucky to lose by just one goal. It should have been 3-1 if it wasn't for that BS offsides call and Red Bulls had 2 other opportunities to extend the lead with only 10 men

And NYCFC has been very unlucky in losing some of its other games. So what? That's the way the ball bounces. The fact remains that City was in the game until the very end with a chance to tie one of the best teams in the league. Not bad for an expansion side.

[pcgd]

My favorite part of the game was "El Plastico" trending on Twitter. Neither team has any room to diss the other when it comes to being a independent club. Both are single entity franchises of the MLS with borrowed identities owned by other teams. You can say it's not a big deal all you want (and you are mostly right because who cares? You team is your team...) but you both have the exact same model so it's beyond silly to rip the other. It's like one McDonalds making fun of another for having Golden Arches on their signage.

Also: USL to Cincy and NASL to Hartford in today's lower division expansion news.

[Corvus]

I think the best thing the MLS could do for the whole NY situation is just shut up about it and let things develop organically. The atmospheres and fan rivalries they want to have weren't manufactured, they evolved. The Cascadia teams had been around for years or decades either continuously or on and off before entering MLS and those fanbases and supporter cultures developed organically. Orlando seems to be the same situation. It sort of seems like either MLS or NYCFC want so bad for something like that to exist there they're coming off looking fake and unnatural about things. The Redbulls have history, strange as it is, but City is a brand new thing.

Just chill out about it, the whole thing is a little overexposed on the league's media channels.

[Gothamite]

Well, I don't think you can blame MLS all that much. They've been looking forward to this for five years.

Neither team has any room to diss the other when it comes to being a independent club. Both are single entity franchises of the MLS with borrowed identities owned by other teams. You can say it's not a big deal all you want (and you are mostly right because who cares? You team is your team...) but you both have the exact same model so it's beyond silly to rip the other. It's like one McDonalds making fun of another for having Golden Arches on their signage.

Precisely why we don't do it.

It sort of seems like either MLS or NYCFC want so bad for something like that to exist there they're coming off looking fake and unnatural about things.

Funny you should say that, because it was all coming from the west side of the Hudson River.

I thought it was interesting that Red Bull was really talking up the rivalry, trolling on Twitter and taking out a ton of ads, while NYCFC didn't say anything. They even dropped the regular promotional efforts they do for every other game to let us develop it on our own. Empire of Soccer had a good bit on it: http://www.empireofsoccer.com/banter-needed-bulls-34630/

[CubsFanBudMan]

Yeah, I was really disappointed in that tifo.

They had a much better one right before that: three banners reading "The Big Apple/Red to the Core/Since Day One". They should have developed that line instead of whatever the Dopey thing was supposed to be.

"Man City Lite" isn't a bad idea. In fact, they were selling clever shirts that were worlds better than that uninspired tifo. They should have mocked up a huge beer can with this label:

Maybe even add a slogan: "TASTES BAD, LESS HISTORY". That would have shown some wit.

If they wanted to knock Yankee Stadium, they could have gone with something like "THIS IS WHAT A SOCCER STADIUM LOOKS LIKE." So much great potential, but they dropped the ball. This was just... dopey.

Shirts like these look cool in theory, but if you wear them as a Red Bull fan you'll look like an NYCFC fan at a glance. Sort of like the old C-ORK shirts in the shape of the Cubs logo. You just look like you're wearing a Cubs logo to the casual observer. This would look like a beer shirt in "rival" colors.

But a better potential tifo for sure.

[Nyk33]

It's not embarrassing for an expansion team to lose by one goal to one of the better teams in the league (the loss last week against the Sounders was much tougher). Sure, it sucks that they couldn't capitalize on the man advantage. But we were in the game right up until the end, and while I'd rather we walked away with points, I'm not willing to call that an embarrassing loss.

You guys were extremely lucky to lose by just one goal. It should have been 3-1 if it wasn't for that BS offsides call and Red Bulls had 2 other opportunities to extend the lead with only 10 men

And NYCFC has been very unlucky in losing some of its other games. So what? That's the way the ball bounces. The fact remains that City was in the game until the very end with a chance to tie one of the best teams in the league. Not bad for an expansion side.

What' I'm trying to say is that the 2-1 scoreline doesn't tell the full story of that game. I never had any doubt during that game that Red Bull weren't going to take all 3 points even though they were down to 10 men. It was an embarrassing effort even for an expansion team IMO. You disagree and that's fair enough I suppose.

My favorite part of the game was "El Plastico" trending on Twitter. Neither team has any room to diss the other when it comes to being a independent club. Both are single entity franchises of the MLS with borrowed identities owned by other teams. You can say it's not a big deal all you want (and you are mostly right because who cares? You team is your team...) but you both have the exact same model so it's beyond silly to rip the other. It's like one McDonalds making fun of another for having Golden Arches on their signage.

Also: USL to Cincy and NASL to Hartford in today's lower division expansion news.

You can thank Cosmos fans for making the "El Plastico" hashtag happen.

[NJTank]

I always wished the RBNY would have been the Cosmos, but now that there is a NYCFC they need a rebrand. Jersey Bulls!!!!

[MJWalker45]

Once Red Bulls finds a buyer they'll be changing agin. Hopefully they keep the red and white colors or go back to red and black.

[Gothamite]

Saying it now - they'll drop the city name and become "Metrostars FC". Black and red shirts.

[MJWalker45]

If that happens I could see MLS trying to make the matchup look like Inter vs AC Milan. I'd prefer red shirts with thin horizontal stripes, black shorts and white or black socks. Yes it's copying Manchester United somewhat, but it also hearkens back to their original look before they went to the vertical stripes and after that monstrosity that was Nike's first year in the league.

[Nyk33]

Saying it now - they'll drop the city name and become "Metrostars FC". Black and red shirts.

I would say Metropolitan FC or SC personally.

Hopefully if/when RB Leipzig gets to the German topflight Red Bull sees their NY affiliate as an unnecessary burden and sell it off. They would do a much better job getting their brand out there if they were in the Bundesliga and getting Champions League places on a regular basis then being stuck in MLS where they aren't welcomed even by most of their fan base.

Personally I would love to see something like this comeback (I'm a huge fan of Gremio's jerseys)

[IanC]

Not sure where to drop this but as it is from a MLS game I will leave it here.

http://www.unilad.co.uk/nsfw/guy-who-tried-to-revive-fhritp-gets-sacked-from-100k-a-year-job/

Reporter confronts fans after being vulgar on live feed.

[Gothamite]

I think I read that guy was fired as a result.

[IanC]

Yeah he was.