Hey everyone. I was bored with the 2 feet of rain that has come into SC this weekend, so I decided I would do a team preview of each team in the Eastern Conference. Since the first team to clinch was the Metros and since at this second that I'm writing the only other Eastern Conference team to clinch a playoff spot starting with the Metro's makes sense.

NYRB Team Stats:
1.76 Goals Scored per Game: 1st in MLS
1.7 Points per Game: 1st in MLS
+15 Goal Differential: 1st in MLS
38 Goals Allowed: 1st in Eastern Conference

Formation: 4-3-3
Style of Play:The Metros style of play is dictated by their high pressure defending. The Metros pressure their opponents constantly and they pressure all over the field. This high pressure is to create a large number of turnovers by their opponents and potentially more goal scoring opportunities than other teams that choose to sit back. Every other tactical decision by the Metro's is based off of their desire to create turnovers and recover the ball in either their attacking third or in the middle third of the field.

Attacking Point of Emphasis: Bradley Wright-Phillips
It should be no surprise to anyone that the Metros focal point on offense is BWP. BWP scored 27 goals last season and currently has 15 this season.

The Metros have one large tendency when attempting to get service to BWP. The tendency is whenever the ball the Metros have the ball in the middle third, more specifically when the ball is at Dax McCarthy or Felipe's feet, they look to find a long pass behind the opposing team's back line.

This tendency plays right into the style of the Metros. Even if the pass fails the ball is deep in their opponents territory and they can apply immediate high pressure to try and get the ball back.

Attacking Weak Link: Mike Grella
Mike Grella is an excellent pressuring winger and can generally make good decisions after recovering the ball from his pressure, but any time the Metros are not in transition and are forced to do a slow buildup Grella is the team's weakest decision maker. In the first 15 minutes of the OCFC match last week I had marked down that he had lost possession 5 times for the team.

Metros Defensive Weak Points:
Strong target strikers- This weakness is because with so many players pushing up the field to pressure a target striker gets to have a 1v1 matchup with a CB. If a striker can win the ball more often than not they can start a transition with most of the Metros defenders in the attacking or middle third.

The wings- The Metros tend to play their Outside Backs in 1 of 2 ways depending on whether they are ahead or behind. When ahead the Metros tend to have their outside backs play defensive. This leaves a good amount of space between the Wingers pressing high up the field and the Outside Backs sitting back to prevent quick counter attacks.

The way the Metros start each match though is with their Outside Backs aggressively supporting the press up the field this helps create more turnovers versus teams impatiently trying to break the pressure and prevents opponents from having any open space to penetrate with the dribble on the wings. When they are playing this way you can find space on quick counter attacks in the wide parts of the field where the Outside Backs have vacated.

Keys to beating the Metros:
The Metros are far more vulnerable before they get a lead, but their high pressure can create early goals and put teams in a hole quickly. So starting any match versus the Metros strong is critical. Having a patient and confident back 4 to break the pressure is also important . The Metros don't allow teams to simply break their pressure by finding a central player or by switching the field, so if you try to force a pass that's not their you will be punished. The Metros front 4 will pressure from minute 1 to minute 90, so limiting your mistakes is the real key to beating them.