The positive view is it’s always good to have your players called up for national team duty. The pragmatic view is now New York City FC will have to try to snap a two-game losing streak without Mix Diskerud, the midfield engine set to miss Thursday’s game against Philadelphia at Yankee Stadium.
Diskerud has been called up to the U.S. National team for Wednesday night’s friendly against archrival Mexico in front of over 65,000 in San Antonio. It’s an exciting opportunity for Diskerud to get back into Jurgen Klinsmann’s lineup, but a headache for NYCFC coach Jason Kreis to have to juggle his.
“I’m excited to see the guys again,” Diskerud said. “It’s one of the biggest games you can play in as a U.S. national team member. We play in San Antonio, so hopefully we’ll have a homefield advantage and a lot of people will come support us. I can’t wait. It’s always been a huge game playing against Mexico.”
When the 24-year-old Diskerud, who already has 27 caps, was surprisingly left off the U.S. roster for recent friendlies against both Denmark and Switzerland, Kreis openly wondered why. Now he has more glaring questions, such as how to reconfigure his lineup without his most creative midfielder.
Diskerud has started every game so far for NYCFC, and his 7.24 rating on Whoscored.com – an analytics-based system that grades on a 0-to-10 scale – is second-best on the team. Kreis has a number of choices to plug in, although clearly none of them are Diskerud.
Midfielders Mehdi Ballouchy, Javier Calle, Thomas McNamara and Tony Taylor are all attack-minded, and rookie Kwadwo Poku may have more upside than any of them. He was solid as a second-half substitute for Andrew Jacobson in the home loss to Sporting KC, and spearheaded USL affiliate Wilmington Hammerheads’ 3-0 rout of Red Bull II on Sunday.
Whatever Kreis decides, it should involve rookie Khiry Shelton sooner rather than later. The No. 2 overall pick is a striker capable of playing out wide, and isn’t a like-for-like replacement for Diskerud in the middle. But his pace stretches the field, he’s been a difference-maker in all four games he appeared in as a sub, and he can give a needed boost to an attack with just one goal in its last 274 minutes.
“I think the same thing: Positive contributions in every match,” Kreis said when asked about Shelton’s impact. “Maybe there was one where I thought there wasn’t a real positive contribution, but regardless, for a young player I think he’s done a great job.’’
Thursday is the perfect time to change that job description to starter.
Former Red Bulls coach Mike Petke will be an on-air analyst and contributor for ONE World Sports’ broadcasts of New York Cosmos games. Petke – the Red Bulls’ all-time leader in appearances, whose abrupt offseason firing sparked a fan revolt – will make his debut in Saturday’s Cosmos home opener, joining JP Dellacamera and Shep Messing.