ZYanksRule
Registered
I've actually heard that, in year one, they actually paid pretty decently all things considered. Maybe they've since cut their rates, but in year 1 they were pretty good.
General MLS Discussion
- Thread starter Shwafta
- Start date
I've actually heard that, in year one, they actually paid pretty decently all things considered. Maybe they've since cut their rates, but in year 1 they were pretty good.
I would think next year will be telling. World Cup year in the US. A long term view would have them testing a bunch of stuff this year to be polished next year to capture the surge. But maybe not. Maybe they are ready to implement whatever they have in mind.
Or maybe they plan to cut even more next year. But I think 2026 will be interesting to watch.
Or maybe they plan to cut even more next year. But I think 2026 will be interesting to watch.
Good piece here on fixture congestion.
www.inquirer.com
MLS knows its players are playing too many games, and thinks it has a ‘sensible solution’
Did Tuesday's announcement for its Leagues Cup tournament serve as an admission from MLS that players are playing in too many games? It appears so.
www.inquirer.com
I wonder how many would show up at the airport for Taty (assuming he'd be the best bet of returning players drawing a crowd).
I'm guessing zero show up in Newark. Maybe a few at JFK, a few more at LaGuardia. But that display in Atlanta is really impressive. I suppose if Third Rail organized you might get a good sized group.
Thanks! But paywall. What's the 'sensible solution?"Good piece here on fixture congestion.
MLS knows its players are playing too many games, and thinks it has a ‘sensible solution’
Did Tuesday's announcement for its Leagues Cup tournament serve as an admission from MLS that players are playing in too many games? It appears so.
Limiting teams to a maximum of two cup competitions per year. Which does make sense as far as it goes, but considering the expanded playoff format, some tweaks are in order.
A few people have mentioned spreading Leagues Cup out so it's something like the FA Cup in the Prem, which I think would be advisable. There may be a way to work some more breaks in that way. But I must admit, I haven't really dug into the schedule to work it out on paper.
Thx for the summary. But unless I'm missing something this has no effect on most teams. There's usually broad participation for USOC and Leagues Cup. But a very few make CCL and even more rarely CWC.
So for about 2 dozen teams every year this is a zero effect rule?
Last edited:
Yeah, there's not much to it. Sensible rule, but most teams are already there.
MLS preseason predictions are up.
www.mlssoccer.com
Consensus has NYCFC finishing 8th. Miami, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Columbus make the top 4.
www.mlssoccer.com
Seven of the nine predictions for NYC are below 8th place and range from 9 to 11. The team is dragged up to 8 by one vote for 5th place by Osvaldo Alonso. The RB contingent has us in 10th or 11th and I can't fault them with this roster.
Top 4 in the west are LAFC, Seattle, Galaxy and Minnesota.
Expert predictions: 2025 MLS Eastern Conference & Western Conference standings | MLSSoccer.com
Just like that, the 2025 MLS season is upon us.
www.mlssoccer.com
Consensus has NYCFC finishing 8th. Miami, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Columbus make the top 4.
New York City FC 2025 Season Preview | MLSSoccer.com
2025 Schedule - First game: Feb. 22 - 2:30 pm ET at Inter Miami CF - Home opener: March 8 - 7:30 pm ET vs. Orlando City SC - Full schedule - Watch on MLS Season Pass - Buy the 2025 jersey
www.mlssoccer.com
Seven of the nine predictions for NYC are below 8th place and range from 9 to 11. The team is dragged up to 8 by one vote for 5th place by Osvaldo Alonso. The RB contingent has us in 10th or 11th and I can't fault them with this roster.
Top 4 in the west are LAFC, Seattle, Galaxy and Minnesota.
MLS preseason predictions are up.
Expert predictions: 2025 MLS Eastern Conference & Western Conference standings | MLSSoccer.com
Just like that, the 2025 MLS season is upon us.
Consensus has NYCFC finishing 8th. Miami, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Columbus make the top 4.
New York City FC 2025 Season Preview | MLSSoccer.com
2025 Schedule - First game: Feb. 22 - 2:30 pm ET at Inter Miami CF - Home opener: March 8 - 7:30 pm ET vs. Orlando City SC - Full schedule - Watch on MLS Season Pass - Buy the 2025 jersey
Seven of the nine predictions for NYC are below 8th place and range from 9 to 11. The team is dragged up to 8 by one vote for 5th place by Osvaldo Alonso. The RB contingent has us in 10th or 11th and I can't fault them with this roster.
Top 4 in the west are LAFC, Seattle, Galaxy and Minnesota.
it's very difficult to get excited about this team and feel good going into this season. we haven't made any exciting signings. preseason games have showed us less than nothing since we've basically watched the kids play, and we've lost key players in significant positions.
All we have to hope on is that some of the guys coming back somehow developed in the offseason and have a monster year, that jones returns and continues on his way upward trajectory like he never missed a beat, and freese has yet another incredible season.
8th place seems generous to me, at this point.
ZYanksRule
Registered
I know it's been a disappointing offseason losing Sands and Santi with no signings, but I still think we are underestimating NYCFC.
I still believe NYCFC's starting XI can get results. A front-line of Ojeda, Maxi, Wolf, and Martinez with Bakrar, Jones, and Fernandez on the bench can score goals. Parks and Perea is an above average defensive-mid pair. Risa and Martins are above average CBs. Freese is the best keeper in the league. Gray has been very good on fullback, as has O'Toole.
We can't suffer any injuries because our depth is gone, but NYCFC is absolutely still a playoff team and we just have to hope for additions at some point before the end of this window. Calling NYCFC a non-playoff team seems a little crazy. We are not at the level of Atlanta, Cincy, Columbus, or Miami, but we are absolutely in that next tier.
I still believe NYCFC's starting XI can get results. A front-line of Ojeda, Maxi, Wolf, and Martinez with Bakrar, Jones, and Fernandez on the bench can score goals. Parks and Perea is an above average defensive-mid pair. Risa and Martins are above average CBs. Freese is the best keeper in the league. Gray has been very good on fullback, as has O'Toole.
We can't suffer any injuries because our depth is gone, but NYCFC is absolutely still a playoff team and we just have to hope for additions at some point before the end of this window. Calling NYCFC a non-playoff team seems a little crazy. We are not at the level of Atlanta, Cincy, Columbus, or Miami, but we are absolutely in that next tier.
Santi led the team in both goals and assists, tallying 22 G+A with an xG of 11.07. Martinez and Wolf rounded out the top three with 19 and 13, respectively. That’s a significant amount of production to replace, and for at least a solid stretch to start the season, it looks like the team will have to find solutions from within the current roster.
NYCFC finished last season with 50 points, only 10 points above the 40-point playoff cutoff. But heading into this year, there are major concerns. Jones is still out, Martins is injured, Santi is gone, and Maxi is now 37. On top of that, the team has to adjust to a new coach, replace Santi’s production, hope Martinez can maintain his world-class scoring rate, and ensure there’s no defensive drop-off from Sand's departure. If any of those areas falter enough to cost more than 10 points, NYCFC will be on the wrong side of the playoff line.
Oh, and while most MLS teams made significant moves this offseason to improve, NYCFC did nothing. There are plenty of reasons to think this team will regress and the gap from 6th to 10th last season was not that large. There is nothing crazy about calling this a non-playoff team.
I can reasonably see NYCFC finishing 7th to 11th, and most likely a playoff bubble team depending on injuries and possible acquisitions.
Here is some added context to last year: NYC played very slightly above but mostly very close to xGd and xPts. No real over or under performance or good/bad luck. Further, at +5 GD they tied for 14th best in MLS while finishing 13th in points, so again just oh so slightly above.
Looking at the 2024 Tables - the playoff line was roughly 0 GD. One team with a positive GD missed the playoffs (the Philadelphia Union +7) and 2 with negative GD made it (Montreal and Atlanta). That's in both conferences, as the West perfectly aligned +/-0 GD with playoff participation.
Together these suggest 2 things to me: First, we played so close to our underlying numbers that an outlier run of good or bad luck could easily mask or amplify a meaningful rise or fall in fundamental play. Second, outside of luck, NYC's cushion for making the playoffs is about 5 GD. Santi is worth considerably more than that, so we need to make it up somewhere. If coach can tighten the defense without making offense worse, that's a solid accomplishment and could be the difference between playoffs or not.
Here is some added context to last year: NYC played very slightly above but mostly very close to xGd and xPts. No real over or under performance or good/bad luck. Further, at +5 GD they tied for 14th best in MLS while finishing 13th in points, so again just oh so slightly above.
Looking at the 2024 Tables - the playoff line was roughly 0 GD. One team with a positive GD missed the playoffs (the Philadelphia Union +7) and 2 with negative GD made it (Montreal and Atlanta). That's in both conferences, as the West perfectly aligned +/-0 GD with playoff participation.
Together these suggest 2 things to me: First, we played so close to our underlying numbers that an outlier run of good or bad luck could easily mask or amplify a meaningful rise or fall in fundamental play. Second, outside of luck, NYC's cushion for making the playoffs is about 5 GD. Santi is worth considerably more than that, so we need to make it up somewhere. If coach can tighten the defense without making offense worse, that's a solid accomplishment and could be the difference between playoffs or not.
Last edited:
It's so hard to assess where we are. It looks challenging right now, but with a solid No. 10 and everyone healthy, and the young guys playing up to their potential, I could see us actually being really good. But a lot has to go right.
This strikes me as spot on. If we don't leak goals and have any kind of attack, we're good enough to get over the line. We don't need to bunker up. We just need to play smart.
This quote from the ASA gives me a small amount of optimism:
"Jansen represents a departure from the more rigid and positional approach that defined Cushing’s tenure; his preferred 4-2-3-1 is loose and constantly changing, requiring players to be comfortable in a number of different roles in a given moment. He also prefers the more aggressive press that is a hallmark of City Football Group clubs, whereas Cushing would do most of his defending in a mid-block. The Jansen approach is more analytically optimal, and more in line with the setup that brought New York City a cup in 2021."
In the history of the club, the team has always been at its best when playing a free-flowing style with a solid high press. When push came to shove Cushing's instinct was always to choose the more conservative option and we slowly differed away from our core style under his leadership. It sounds like Pascal likes to set up the team much more closely to the team's traditional identity. I'm excited to see him steer us back that way, even if it leads to some struggle at least it will be more fun to watch than 0-1 Cushing ball.
ZYanksRule
Registered
You're assuming, in this comment, that we won't make any additions this spring. We've all been following this team for long enough that we know they do things late. The window is open through April. We have two months to make signings. The roster today will not be the roster on May 1. It would be insane to make absolutely no signings after the departures of Sands, Jovan, and Santi.
I believe this will be a playoff team, and that this team will be in the second echelon of teams in the East, because when those signings come in it will improve things.
Now if you have no faith that those signings will be good, then I would understand why you think we'll miss the playoffs. But I believe we will sign at least one good player -- and hopefully more -- who will help us in a position of need.
This is true, and probably a function of Nick being the guy who had to navigate us through a transition and, at the same time, keep us competitive. We must acknowledge how weak the team was for a substantial chunk of his tenure.
That's inevitable in a transition, so I'm not throwing any rocks over it, neither at Cushing nor Lee. But the plain truth is, we missed the playoffs because we just weren't good enough. In fact, we were pretty bad.
Then came last year. We started out poorly, which wasn't a surprise, but each match we got incrementally better. By the time we had that stretch of games where we were piling up the points, we looked like we were really on our way, the pressure was off and everyone -- Nick included -- was getting excited.
Then it came apart (we shouldn't underestimate what we lost when Malachi went down) and Cushing, probably traumatized by the horror of 2023, wouldn't play the kids, went with the most risk-free options he could find, and that was that.
So, I'm curious to see what Pascal brings, too. Is he going to find out we're not actually good enough to play the style he wants to play? Will he be forced to adjust the same way Nick did? If that turns out to be the case, it's buh-bye David Lee.
Last edited:
We already have enough challenges stacked against us that missing the playoffs is a real possibility. We have a history of slow starts under new coaches, and our player acquisitions tend to be both late and sluggish. 2023 showed that Lee is comfortable leaving glaring roster gaps after key departures while searching for replacements at his own pace.
Lately, I’ve been wondering—what if Lee, not CFG, is making the final decisions on all signings? If he’s the one who chose Magno, Jovan, Fernandez, Bakrar, and Ojeda from CFG’s scouting lists, then this season is make-or-break for him. His repeated insistence that “this roster is good” suggests he’s betting on Fernandez, Bakrar, and Ojeda to succeed. That also explains his reluctance to sign players who might "block" up-and-coming players. Having already blamed Cushing last season, he’s out of excuses. I wouldn’t be surprised if he drags his feet on new signings, hoping one of these guys breaks out and salvages his poor track record.
I'm unable to think of one player NYCFC signed in 2023 or 2024 after the season started but during the primary window, outside of super draft or academy players. Possible I missed someone but unlikely anybody major. We did sign Pereira in March 2022. But I believe he's the only one over 3 years. Maybe Santi desperation forces a change to that SOP this Spring.
We've also never AFAIK signed someone to a restricted spot like U22 or DP to replace someone on loan with the exception maybe of Mitrita. He was very much a special case who by mutual agreement and his request was never coming back. I'm not sure Lee is ready to write off Jovan or Talles yet.
The following is good news for Jimmy but complicates the idea that NYCFC signs a replacement for him now. Sands hopes to be back playing by mid-summer:
I think we get a new DP for Santi in July, and maybe a new TAM player for Sands also in July if he does not in fact heal by then. Jovan will only be replaced if sold IMO. Talles a big wildcard also, but IMO unlikely to move or inspire an NYCFC acquisition until July.
Similar threads
