New York City FC are limping into their Eastern Conference semi-final against Philadelphia Union on Sunday night but will lean on their behavior, instilled by first-year head coach Pascal Jansen. The club will be missing key players such as Aiden O’Neill, Andres Perea and Alonso Martinez. However, there is a confidence in the club as they have weathered difficult situations in the past.
“Behavior is a big part of (team culture),” said Jansen to the media on Friday. “I have a very clear vision of how we can grow into the next level and beyond. I made that picture clear from day one and explained why we’re going in that direction and what I expect from the dressing room.”
a “bulletproof” mentality is one of those mindsets that Jansen has instilled in the club. While they have had moments of lapses throughout the season, they’ve also shown a strong ability to rebound and galvanize in key moments. Just this last playoff series against Charlotte FC exemplified that. The team won both games away from the five boroughs, allowing only one goal across all three games. Players like Nico Fernandez stepped into the spotlight, showing just what kind of dynamic play he can bring to the field.
Key losses will certainly be front and center against the Union. The absence of Martinez won’t go unnoticed but Jansen and the club have dealt with injuries all season. There were even stretches where Martinez wasn’t able to play and the club pulled through brilliantly. Now they will have to prepare in a similar fashion with players like Hannes Wolf, Agustin Ojeda and Julian Fernandez needing to take a bigger role in the game’s outcome.
“You work all year to come to this point,” said Wolf. “Our group is great, maybe the best group of guys that I have ever come across in my career. We have a great mentality, great guys and we just want to go to the finals.”
City will travel to Subaru Park on Sunday night against a Union team that is looking to cash in on their regular season success. The best team in the MLS regular season will hope to gain a measure of revenge against an NYC team who eliminated them in the Conference Final in 2021.
photo from NYCFC