NEW YORK CITY — After training on Monday, New York City FC head coach Dome Torrent described how both he and his players have achieved a comfort level with each other. The result: 13 matches without a loss in all competitions.
“I remember our first year in Manchester was not easy for Pep [Guardiola] and for me,” Torrent said. “But the second year was much butter and the third year much better. This is normal especially when you want to play positional, right? It’s very important for me to play positional because that is the reason they can understand the different shapes what is expected.”
Torrent and his players have displayed impressive tactical flexibility in 2019 changing formations throughout games to achieve the greatest possible advantage over opponents. NYCFC has just one loss through 15 Major League Soccer games this season. Torrent entered 2019 as a potential hot-seat candidate. Now, his team looks like a contender.
“You need time to know your players, and your players need to know you,” the manager said.
“We are happy right now,” the manager continued. “I say [to] the players and my staff and myself, don’t relax, because in soccer, in one second, everything changes, and I have experience in that. My feeling right now: We are in the right way to try to win something or to try to improve, especially our team. If you are able to improve the team, you have more possibilities to win something. If not, it is not possible in this year.”