New York City FC will miss out on the MLS Cup Playoffs for the second time in three seasons after their 1-1 draw with CF Montreal on Saturday at Citi Field. The stoppage time goal was a difficult pill to swallow as the club has surrendered an uncomfortable number of points before the final whistle. Now, head coach Pascal Jansen has work to do as the club still has one more regular season game against DC United before regrouping for the 2027 Sprint Season.
“There are many reason why we didn’t qualify,” said Jansen after the game this weekend. “I will not shy away from excuses. I will never make excuses. I’ve never done that since I started working here and I won’t have any excuses now. At the end of the day, when you have to play in high-performance culture, a high-performance environment, results are expected. This year we didn’t meet our challenges or goals.”
Jansen did mention the club battled availability issues. Alonso Martinez didn’t return until the final third of the campaign, club legend Maxi Moralez suffered a major knee injury during the first Hudson River Derby and Keaton Parks continued to miss time with injuries as well. The club did bring in reinforcements in Benjamin Traore and Matt Miazga but they didn’t perform as well, or if any, to help the team reach their goals.
Now comes the internal choices that will haunt the club as the off-season approaches. Many players, including current captain Thiago Martins, have contracts set to expire at the end of December. Transition will also continue to cloud decisions as the team transitions towards their new home in the summer at Etihad Park.
“We didn’t get the results we expected,” said midfielder Andres Perea. “That’s in the past now. We need to focus on working, improving and starting a new process.”
photo from NYCFC