New York City FC dominated Atlanta United last Sunday in the first round of the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs with a new style of play. Gone were the familiar play-out-of-the-back sequences, an approach originally put into place under Patrick Viera, continued by Domènec Torrent, and maintained until recently by Ronny Deila. Instead, the Pigeons got the win by a combination of pressing and direct long balls: NYCFC, long a possession team, is now a counter-attacking, high-pressing team.
It wasn’t just this one game. In the final five matches of the regular season, an unbeaten run that firmed up NYCFC’s spot in the playoffs, the Pigeons dominated possession just once, in the 6-0 thumping of DC United on October 23.