The era of new NYCFC head coach Pascal Jansen officially begins on Saturday as the New York City Football Club head down to Florida to take on Lionel Messi and the Inter-Miami Herons. Jansen, who took over for fired Nick Cushing at the start of the year has, for my feelings, taken a bit of a tougher approach to the squad than Cushing did, emphasizing two a day training during the preseason, high pressure and results across 95 minutes. How the team responds remains to be seen as we enter a 2025 season with the expectation of getting past the 2nd round of the players. With that, I do have some questions, some thoughts and some opinions. Lets roll.
5 QUESTIONS:
1) Will the New System Work? During Cushing’s run I did feel like the team softened towards the end of matches and would struggle if behind or trailing at half. I’m sure this is something Jansen and the remaining staff addressed heavily during this past offseason, as points were left off the board with late game collapses. Will it work? Frankly it remains to be seen. The players and Jansen have been pretty mum about how the progress has been so the proof is in the proverbial pudding and facing Miami right out of the gate is a solid test. HOWEVER:
2) Will Inter-Miami be 100% This Weekend? This is interesting, because the team on Wednesday played Sporting KC in literal 6 degree Fahrenheit (-14 for our Celsius using friends) to say nothing of Wind Chill. Being from Northeast New Jersey and having dealt with single digits this season that straight sucks. And I’m bundled up in winter gear and fat, I’m not in shorts and 150 pounds. But for NYCFC fans, the timing of that match is perfect if Messi, Suarez, etc should ending coming down with the flu going into this match. There has been push to change the MLS season to later in the year to match Europe, if Messi gets sick and ends up being off in 2025, this could be the thing that pushes that to happen.
3) The Team Is Missing Players, Can They Adapt? Captain Thiago Martins is out with injury, as is Tayvon Gray, plus James Sands is on loan (and also injured) so that backfield is an absolute question. Add to that the departure of Santi Rodriguez that can hurt up front also so the midfield is going to be under massive pressure this week.
4) How Long of a Leash Does Pascal Jansen Get? My feeling is it isn’t a long one. Expectations are high for this season and patience is low. I feel that Jansen gets a small pass for the first two matches as they’re on the road against Miami and LAFC, but for their home opener against Orlando the team I think will need to have at least 3 points by that point. If they have 1 point or worse 0 after just 3 games we might starting seeing #JansenOut. I’ll laugh if I start seeing #CushingBack as a hashtag.
