Just want to give a quick shout out to The Outfield. I love the articles, and this year I love the publishing of the Pascal press conferences.
I find the player interviews sometimes entertaining - Ilenic is always good for a smile. But generally I skip them as they are much less insightful. But Pascal I find fascinating to listen to every time.
Thank you guys for sharing them!!
I find the player interviews sometimes entertaining - Ilenic is always good for a smile. But generally I skip them as they are much less insightful. But Pascal I find fascinating to listen to every time.
Thank you guys for sharing them!!
Ditto. I'm a proud subscriber myself.
And a double ditto on Pascal. Our gaffer knows his business. Once he has a complete, professional squad to work with, look out.
For some reason the club hasnt been posting them on social like they did in years past.
Keaton Parks doesn’t light up the stat sheet—but that doesn’t mean he’s not elite. Paul Harvey breaks down why Parks remains the most impactful American midfielder in MLS, even if casual fans overlook him. Keaton Parks is Still The Best, Dammit
Just dropped a new shirt in The Outfield Store: the Chubby Pigeon, drawn by our very own Rory Kirke.
This was, admittedly, a very self-serving project—I mostly just wanted something cute for my kids. But we loved how it turned out and thought some of you might too.
Check it out and let us know what you think.
The Chubby Pigeon
Introducing our latest merch drop from Rory Kirke—because greatness is overrated, and consistency waddles.
www.theoutfield.nyc
Attachments
Pascal’s Wager
The story of how playing without a left back for two months forced Jansen to build around Justin Haak—a patch job that eventually became stability for a much-improved NYCFC defensive line.
www.theoutfield.nyc
Wrote way too much on how Thiago Martins, Hannes Wolf, and Justin Haak have shaped our play especially defensively the last two months playing without a left back
The smart money is always on belief.Pascal’s Wager
The story of how playing without a left back for two months forced Jansen to build around Justin Haak—a patch job that eventually became stability for a much-improved NYCFC defensive line.
Wrote way too much on how Thiago Martins, Hannes Wolf, and Justin Haak have shaped our play especially defensively the last two months playing without a left back
Put together some tape on our new DP: Welcome to New York City, Nicolás Fernández Mercau
Your piece got a well deserved shout out from Doyle (and NYCFC got a feature) on mlssoccer.comPascal’s Wager
The story of how playing without a left back for two months forced Jansen to build around Justin Haak—a patch job that eventually became stability for a much-improved NYCFC defensive line.
Wrote way too much on how Thiago Martins, Hannes Wolf, and Justin Haak have shaped our play especially defensively the last two months playing without a left back
NYCFC's new look, Miami's impressive return & more from Matchday 22
A great day for Justins
Kevin takes a look at the last loss against Montreal: The Poutine Hits the Fan
Wrote about how NYCFC adjusted after losing Risa with Kevin O'Toole giving his best Philip Lahm impression: No Risa for the Weary
Really good piece.
Paul Harvey with a NYCFC-centric primer for the 2025 NCAA Season with games starting today: Varsity Blues
New from Trey Fillmore on David Lee: Grading a Ghost
How do you evaluate someone when you don't know what their actual job was?
How do you evaluate someone when you don't know what their actual job was?
ZYanksRule
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Really enjoyed the writing on this one and agree fully with all the sentiments about access. What MLS and NYCFC don't understand is that if they allowed us in more, the fandom would grow.
Good piece. Among other things, I was not aware until reading this plus the linked article by Laurel Pfahler the extent to which MLS has been adopting NYCFC's hostile approach to independent coverage.
For the first 5-6 years of club existence, I thought and wrote a lot on this forum about CFG's closed bubble, antiseptic culture, and generic by-the-numbers "City" branding. I stopped because I don't care as much. It's not getting better it's getting worse. Barring a change (and it might be too late) I doubt NYCFC will ever be fully woven into the culture of the city. Yes they had external obstacles but their corporate culture and decisions had a bigger hand. I think they will make a lot of money at the stadium but it's going to end up like hockey at best: a niche product that most of the city routinely ignores. You can blame the salary cap, poor TV exposure, the dominance of teams in existing Big 4 sports leagues, big market challenges, newcomer issues, competition from foreign soccer leagues and other factors. But LAFC and Atlanta United prove that none of those need to be disqualifying.
Are any other CFG teams similar to NYCFC in that they had no existence before CFG? I guess Melbourne was around for merely 5 years, roughly, before CFG bought them and I'm not sure how much they bonded with the city before then.
What I'm getting at is CFG has shown it can take over an existing club, impose its generic City brand (which they stupidly don't even own), and still inherit a ton of loyalty and goodwill despite some grumbling and defections at the edges. But have they ever really succeeded at building from scratch a bond between team and city anywhere?
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If you don't already, I'd recommend the Blue Balls pod, Trey features on it. It's the only NYCFC pod I listen to, I look forward to it every week
Great point, and a great question.
A key factor in the dynamic may have been the lack of our own park. It's really tough to gain traction on the back pages as a vagabond club. A nice, shiny, ultra-modern stadium right across the street from a rollicking Citi Field could be just the ticket. At least that's what I'm hoping.
I'm hoping having Marcelo Claure in the ownership group will make us less bloodless, too. The man can sell, and he does it belly to belly. Having his all-natural approach rather than the ultra-processed menu CFG offers might really help.
But that's just a hope. And if MLS is truly adopting the same mindset and the same approach to public relations — here's what you're getting, and you'll like it — hoo boy, we got problems.
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