New York City FC manager Patrick Vieira has defended his questionable in-game decisions in side's 2-0 first-leg playoff defeat at Toronto FC on Sunday.
Vieira, whose squad cultivated an attacking style of play throughout the regular season, changed tact in the opening match against Toronto, opting to start star midfielder Frank Lampard on the bench and subbing star striker David Villa out for Khiry Shelton with the game still scoreless.
Though the Arsenal and France legend introduced Lampard at the hour mark, Toronto scored two late goals to take control of the tie and open Vieira for criticism afterward.
"I make the decision to choose players, to a different system and this is your job to tell me if I was right or wrong. You judge by the result and I have a different perception of that," Vieira told reporters on Thursday, before doubling down on his strategy. "I think if I had to do it, I would make the same call again."
Among Vieria's other puzzling moves was his decision to start Eirik Johansen in goal ahead of the more seasoned Josh Saunders.
"If you look at the last two games Eirik played, I think he had a good game," Vieira said. "If you look at the last call I make with Mikey Lopez in the midfield, I think Mikey had a good game as well."
Villa led the team with 23 goals this season, 11 more than any other NYCFC player. Vieira defended the 2010 World Cup winner's removal against Toronto.
"I make a decision. I think David is terrific and he's massively important for us," Vieira said. "But you get a time where I have to make a decision and I made a decision. I didn't see anything strange in that."
Vieira said he was pleased with his team's performance, save the final 10 minutes, and cautioned the final score didn't accurately reflect the balance of play.
"I was really pleased with the performance that we had as a team, until we concede the first goal at 84 minutes," Vieira said. "Then in the last 10 minutes we lost our concentration, we felt sorry for ourselves and we forget there is another game to play. ... I think the 2-0 doesn't reflect the game."