Patrick Vieira was concerned about the inexperience of his backline heading into a fourth round U.S. Open Cup showdown with the New York Cosmos.
As it turned out, it was his forwards who let him down.
For a second straight year, NYCFC lost to the Cosmos in the same round of the tournament. And for Vieira, there was plenty of blame to go around after the 1-0 defeat at Fordhamās Coffey Field.
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āI gave some players a chance to perform, to show me they deserve to play more and they didnāt show it today,ā Vieira said. āThatās why Iām quite really frustrated because the trust I had in them, I didnāt get it back. Itās difficult for me to accept.ā
Vieira said he shares the blame because of the starting XI he chose.
āAs a manager, Iām the one who made the selection and I am the first one to put my hand in the air and say I made a mistake when I made the decision to rest so many players,ā Vieira said. āIām the first responsible for the performance of the players.ā
It was another situation Vieira said his forwards, in this case Khiry Shelton, Patrick Mullins and Kwadwo Poku, didnāt show enough humility in the attacking third.
āIf you donāt show [humility], you have to be [like] Monsieur Ronaldo, to have the quality to do it,ā Vieira said. āWhen you donāt have that quality to do it, you have to keep the game simple, be humble and work hard for the team. When we donāt do it, we donāt have any chance to win games.ā
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Itās a bitter pill for the players to swallow, a second straight loss to the Cosmos.
āThis is 2-out-of-2 against the Cosmos in this fashion where weāre left disappointed,ā Mullins said.
While fans might question the clubās desire to win the U.S. Open Cup with so many first team regulars not even dressed for this budding rivalry, Vieira said thatās not the case.
āWhen you look at our cabinet, it is empty,ā Vieira said. āThis is a competition you can get to the final just by playing five games. It was an important competition for us. Iām frustrated, really disappointed and Iām upset.ā
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