NEW YORKāRodney Wallaceās mentality didnāt change, even if his spot on the team did a little more than an hour before New York City FCās 3-1 victory over Minnesota United FC at Yankee Stadium Thursday night.
āYou have to mentally prepare to play from the time the lineup sheet comes out, the practice before the game,ā Wallace said. āEven if Iām not on the starting list, I have to prepare as if Iām going to come in and change the game and raise the level in training for my teammates who are starting and for those who arenāt to make sure weāre all in tune and connected because anything can happen.ā
Wallace wasnāt in Patrick Vieiraās original starting XI because the NYCFC coach said he felt the Costa Rican āneeded to rest a little bitā after a hard-working shift in a 2-0 win over the Red Bulls on Saturday.
The idea was to have Wallace on the substituteās bench and have fellow Tico Ronald Matarrita start on the wing.
But when fullbacks RJ Allen and Ethan White were late to a pre-game meeting at Yankee Stadium, Vieira had to change his lineup.
āWe just have some rules that weāve been talking about during our preseason and one of them is that any player who will be late in the team meeting on the day of the game is not going to take part in the game,ā Vieira said. āRJ was supposed to start the game, so he went to the bench and Ethan went to the stand.ā
And Wallace went back to the wing, where he has been so influential this season for NYCFC. For the second straight game, Wallace picked up an assist when he played a perfect cross to the back post and Jack Harrison headed in what proved to be the winner in the 52nd minute.
Wallace also assisted on Harrisonās first-half goal against Red Bulls.
āI think Iām in a good groove right now, but I have to keep improving,ā Wallace said. āThereās always things to improve.ā
While Wallaceās insertion into the starting lineup and Matarrita starting at left back was a seamless change, things got complicated when Matarrita went down with what Vieira called a āmetatarsalā injury after just nine minutes. Matarrita left Yankee Stadium with his right foot in a boot and under the aid of crutches.
Vieira was forced to scramble and put Mikey Lopez in at right back, while moving Ben Sweat back to his natural left back position. That move, along with Christian Ramirezās early goal, could have had an adverse affect on NYCFC.
Instead, they rallied again, scoring three unanswered goals, to win their fourth straight game and match a franchise-best for consecutive victories.
It was yet another character win for a team Wallace believes is special.
āWe have a special locker room with a bunch of talented guys,ā Wallace said. āItās not just talent alone that wins championships. Itās the bond that we have and our work rate and how much we want it are important keys to winning a championship. Thatās our mission and weāre on our way to doing that.ā