New York City FC are back on the road this week as they prepare to face Orlando City SC.
Pascal Jansen's side suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat away to Charlotte FC on Saturday, and will be keen to bounce back when they take on the Lions on Wednesday. Reflecting on the result against Charlotte, Jansen expressed his belief that the game was decided in both penalty boxes.
“One of my colleagues mentioned it was the game called the Battle of the Boxes, and I totally agree,” Jansen said. “First half, we were okay. In the second half, I think we were pretty decent, but the moments were decided in the box, obviously.
“There’s one moment in the first half where we get several opportunities to prevent that moment [the goal], and at the level of detail, we didn’t, which is unusual for us, because on the defensive side, we’ve been quite balanced throughout the season so far.”
Despite the scoreline, New York City's head coach was encouraged by several aspects of the performance against Charlotte, and believes there are positives for his side to build on heading into the midweek clash at Inter&Co Stadium.
“That made the difference, even though we played a pretty decent away game — creating our moments, controlling the game like we like to do — we didn’t get what was necessary. That’s what we’ve been talking about today with the team,” he said.
Monday marked the group’s first session back on the training pitch, and Jansen was pleased with the energy and intensity on display.
“Well, today was a very important day. It’s the first day the boys came in again after traveling back from the previous game. Everything looked very good in training. Everybody was available, apart from Máximo Carrizo. So, we have a few choices to make going into the next game,” he said.
“Of course, the focus is now on Orlando and making sure that we have a good team on the pitch again to start off this game. It’s going to be an important game for both teams, I guess. Today has given us a lot of information going into this game, and tomorrow the final calls will be made.”
Jansen was also able to provide an update on new arrival Nicolás Fernández Mercau. The Argentinian midfielder joined from Spanish side Elche CF last week, but is not yet eligible to play.
“No, he’s not eligible to play yet, so we’re working on the details,” Jansen said. “Hopefully we will get things done as soon as possible, but he will not be available to play on Wednesday.”
Elsewhere, Matt Freese spoke to the media following his return to the Club. Freese spent the summer representing the United States Men's National Team at the Gold Cup and returned to the squad last week before playing in Saturday's game against Charlotte.
“I mean, obviously it’s a quick adjustment back to things here," he said. "It felt good to be back with the guys, very comfortable. The staff handled it really well, gave me a good transition period to make sure I got the legs back under me, and made sure I’m healthy going into the game. Then, just normal game-day preparations,” he said.
“It was obviously a unique summer for me [representing the U.S.], but I think it’s important for me to continue just doing what I’ve been doing for the last two years in terms of preparation.
“Since January, I had been working with the goal of being ready to play those games [in the summer], but not having the expectation that I would be playing in those games.”
Looking ahead to the trip to Orlando, Freese emphasized the team’s focus on what’s immediately in front of them.
“We’re focused on this game in Orlando, and then on the back burner, obviously thinking about the next game on the road again,” he said. “But really, it just has to be one game at a time at this point in the season. You can’t look too far ahead.”
