Agreed. But that also what led to him losing his job. He wore out Maxi and Wolf and didn’t give the young guys any chance to develop on the field in game action.
Pascal Jansen Named NYCFC Head Coach
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The only logical explanation was that they were bubble wrapping him. Didn’t want another Malachi situation.
My tin foil hat theory is that they are under strict to instructions to only play McFarlane if we have no other options because he's going to City. It sounds crazy but not only does McFarlane never start if OT is healthy, he doesn't even get subbed on at the end of games when OT is barely back from injury and completely gassed.
That would be a real gut punch if that were the case, but he didn’t even get cameos after this.
I agree Nick was very poor about squad rotation down the stretch and it cost us. I don't agree that he didn't give Ojeda (11 starts, 23 appearances) and Fernandez (6 starts, 23 appearances) a chance.
We weren't contenders to win MLS Cup, but we had a good season. I thought all year that we were no worse than the 4th best team in the East, and even though we finished 6th, we made it to the final four in the East.
I really think our fanbase is being overly harsh on 2024. We were inconsistent, and unacceptable on the road, but we had a strong result to the season and for all his shortcomings, Nick had a great record in knockout tournaments.
Jovan did start 2 of the 3 Leagues Cup group stage games, and subbed in the other. He averaged 56 minutes in those 3 games. He was a DNP for Tigres and Columbus.
We have only so many minutes to give to the kids. We have 4 attacking spots after allowing for a 4-man backline and 2 non-attacking mids. Assume 4 Leagues Cup games, which is a near certainty under the 2023-24 format (with 2025 format unknown):
4 slots x 38 games x 90 minutes = 13,680 minutes total
Last year Santi (3160), Martinez (1650), Moralez (1200), Wolf (2750) and Jones (500) accounted for 9250 of those minutes (all rounded, and counting the first 4 LC games).
Let's assume for 2025, over 38 games:
Santi 2900 (slightly more rest)
Martinez 2400 (big jump but only 63 minutes per game)
Maxi 1500 (assuming full season but many fewer per game)
Wolf 2000 (big drop, and he'll be unhappy)
Jones 1500 (40 minutes per game which is just below his average in the last 9 games before he was hurt)
That's 10,300 minutes, leaving 3,380 for Bakrar, Ojeda, Fernandez and Jovan. Counting Leagues Cup, they played 3,700 last year. We can't even play them as much as in 2024 without a big change, and I've already cut minutes for Santi (a bit), Maxi (pro rated) and Wolf (a lot).
To get more minutes for the 3 kids I see these options:
- Offload Bakrar (1350 last year) and do not replace him, which means we're going all in on Jovan as our only backup striker. Then Ojeda, Fernandez and Jovan get 1100-1200 each, on average.
- Let Maxi go.
- Transfer Wolf.
- Play Malachi Jones much less than he was playing before injury.
- Don't play Santi or Martinez as much as they deserve and the team needs.
- Someone gets hurt.
- Any other ideas?
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Looking back to 2024, I don't see a worthwhile argument that Cushing should have played Ojeda, Fernandez or Jovan more. Whose minutes get cut?
- Maybe give up on Bakrar sooner but those minutes go to Martinez.
- Wolf? He scored all 5 of his goals between games 13 and 25. Cut his minutes before then and you lose goals. Cut his minutes after that and people complain you benched a guy who just scored 5 goals in a dozen games.
- Where else should those minutes have come from?
Well, not to bring bad Juju before the season starts, but I think most teams should anticipate at least one to two players going down with a season ending injury similar to what happened to Jones. I also think Maxi will be a super sub. It’s not really his best role. But I think he would be more impactful in this portion of his career to help unlock a parked the bus defense when running at tired legs in the last 20/25 minutes of a match when chasing a goal.
My only other thought is basically have two different offenses and shift them in based on rest and opponent. Like your first one is Bakrar, Jones, Ojeda, Santi. And your second is Wolf, Martinez, Maxi, Fernandez (I really just put 4 names together so don’t read too much into that). So during practice no one is a starter and no one is a bench player. Heck you can have one focused on speed and counter attacking and pressing, and the other one focused on breaking a press and playing through a defense. Each group of four gets to really know their squad and play cohesively. And as injuries occur then you can fiddle with it. However, unless you really make Maxi a super sub this would leave one player out. In my example above it’s Jovan. So I’m not sure what’s the best way to slice it.
My only other thought is basically have two different offenses and shift them in based on rest and opponent. Like your first one is Bakrar, Jones, Ojeda, Santi. And your second is Wolf, Martinez, Maxi, Fernandez (I really just put 4 names together so don’t read too much into that). So during practice no one is a starter and no one is a bench player. Heck you can have one focused on speed and counter attacking and pressing, and the other one focused on breaking a press and playing through a defense. Each group of four gets to really know their squad and play cohesively. And as injuries occur then you can fiddle with it. However, unless you really make Maxi a super sub this would leave one player out. In my example above it’s Jovan. So I’m not sure what’s the best way to slice it.
Good point. I remember thinking at the time, "I hope the kids are paying attention here." I had it pegged as a pathfinder game, but in the event, I was wrong. You got it: Nick did indeed go veteran after that.
I would have run him out for all of them and pushed him to the full 90. He needed to get out there and bust a nut, push through his second wind and third wind and past the point of exhaustion. The kid's not going to find it until he spends some time in the physical wilderness.
As to the rest of it, I think that was the central problem Nick couldn't figure out. He said it repeatedly during the year (I'm paraphrasing): "The hardest part of my job is picking the team every match." If I had to guess, I'd say that's the primary reason Lee ultimately lost confidence.
Now it's Pascal's job to solve the puzzle. The good news is, he's starting with a blank sheet of paper. He's coming in from outside the organization, with no emotional strings attached from a stint as an assistant or in the player development system or as a coach at one of the sister clubs.
They played Jovan the full 90 in two open-cup games. I don't disagree that the next best place to give him time was the Leagues cup, but at some point, you can't keep putting him out there when he's clearly not playing with full effort.
Lots of focus on whether the younger players were getting minutes. Less focus on why they weren't playing very well.
Was that because they were just bad signings? or were they not getting the guidance and coaching they need to develop?
Talles Magno was very good his first season under Deila. He was nowhere under Cushing. Players need more than just minutes to develop and thrive.
Was that because they were just bad signings? or were they not getting the guidance and coaching they need to develop?
Talles Magno was very good his first season under Deila. He was nowhere under Cushing. Players need more than just minutes to develop and thrive.
That, to me, is the point. It's not so much a matter of him not playing with full effort, although I can understand why it looks that way. He does drift a lot.
Part of it is the way he learned the game, I'm sure; he's a classic striker looking for service rather than the kind of high-work rate, pressing center forward we're used to seeing. It's actually a little comical to watch him constantly just run the central channel and stick his hand in the air on every change of possession. (Well, maybe not that funny.)
But I think there's a deeper reason: he just doesn't know where the threshold is. He needs a physical breakthrough. He needs a string of four or five starts in a row where he goes the route and finds that hidden well of energy and stamina so he knows he can run.
And beyond the stamina issue, his body needs to shake loose, too. I profiled a lot like that at his age: 6', 212 lbs., all muscle. It took a lot to get all the beefaroni cooking, and often I started pretty slow. But in the last third of a game -- no matter what sport I was playing -- I was an absolute load.
My suspicion is Jovan is the same, so if he gets subbed off at 60', he's coming off just as he should be getting imposing. Leave him out there.
If he gets that kind of run and he's still ineffective, then we definitely have an issue. My argument is that we just won't know unless and until he does.
EDIT: I also should say, he needs to fail. But that's a separate issue.
Yes -- this is the question. It's not about minutes -- the minutes will be there if the players are developing. We have a very deep attacking group, but we also have a lot of weekday games this season when you include Leagues Cup. There will be minutes for everyone, but only if they're earning those minutes.
Pascal's big question is what he will do differently with Jovan, Ojeda, and Fernandez.
Trapito and Julian are likely here to stay. We can rotate wingers pretty seamlessly. Striker is the issue. It's a waste to carry three strikers and have one of them glued to the bench all year.
So, we're back to musical chairs. Pascal is going to have to pick two coming out of camp and then we'll have to see what happens with the odd man out. The easiest solution would be to send Mijatovic to the Deuce to develop, but that should have been the move last season, and it didn't happen. (For whatever reason.)
Not sure if I wrote this elsewhere or just thought it but I wonder if Julian can be converted to a LWB if we truly play a full attacking wingback system under Pascal. He's got the size and speed for it and he seems most comfortable playing along the sideline. If they bubblewrap McFarlane again as
Revfugee so aptly put it we are going to need coverage on that side for OToole.
