NYCFC has one aim this year as they embark on their 11th campaign in Major League Soccer.
After finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference, Inter Miami knocked out the Boys in Blue in a 5-1 defeat during the conference finals last season, but Pascal Jansen said, “We’re trying to establish a winning culture within NYCFC.”
“We did a pretty decent job [last season]…but we want more,” Jansen. “We want to be successful — that means we have to do better than last season. We reached the conference final…but at the end of the day, we didn’t win anything.”
The Pigeons kick off their season against the Los Angeles Galaxy in Carson, CA, this Sunday evening, where Brooklyn native and former Blue Justin Haak will face his former side following his switch to the West Coast this offseason.
Here’s what to look out for in each area of the pitch.
The No. 9 role
“If you were to ask me what’s the one big question mark I have going into the season for NYC, it’s definitely the striker position,” Dax McCarty, a former New York Red Bull and analyst for MLS Apple TV, told amNY.
After Alonso Martínez tore his ACL during the November international break last year, the Boys in Blue were without their star striker, who had already broken his career season record with 19 in the league. NYCFC only created three big chances across the conference semifinal and final without him.
What is more troubling is that NYCFC has only scored two goals against MLS opposition this preseason, and McCarty believes that “goals scored and patterns of play are an important indicator [for] the regular season, so it is a little concerning.”
An attempted deal to bring in Malian striker Moussa Sylla from Schalke fell through at the medical stage, and Jansen is now left with two senior options up front: Nicolas Fernandez Mercau and Talles Magno — traditional wingers who have done a job upfront before, but who are “not out-and-out strikers and goalscorers,” McCarty said.
Magno returned to NYC after failing to impress in his native Brazil. He has not been able to find that 2021 and 2022 vein of form where he starred in NYCFC’s MLS Cup win, and “NYC coaches haven’t been able to rely on him in the past to be consistent,” McCarty said.
Another option is 19-year-old Seymour Reid, who scored his first senior goal away in Chicago last season and polished off a penalty against Sporting Kansas City a week ago in a 2-1 loss. He is a physical presence in the box but hasn’t been given many minutes.
“You have to expect a little bit of inconsistency from young players,” McCarty said. “The few opportunities that Reid got last year, he looked really dangerous, and that’s the one thing that you want to ask your strikers to be — consistently dangerous.”
The midfield
Andres Perea is still out after suffering a leg break during Game 3 of NYCFC’s first-round playoff matchup against Charlotte. Aiden O’Neill and Jonathan Shore had a small injury scare each during preseason in California, but have returned to training, according to Jansen.
Both are expected to compete for parts in the midfield pivot alongside Kai Trewin, who was brought in from fellow City Football Group side Melbourne City to bolster the depth in midfield defence.
However, the squad is boosted by the return of “one of the most dynamic central midfielders in Major League Soccer” — Keaton Parks. He is going to be like a new signing for Jansen after being ruled out in May due to a blood clot. Parks can play all over the midfield and is expected to take away minutes from young Shore. He is “a key to Jansen’s playing style,” and “will soften the blow of losing Haak,” according to McCarty.
The back four
Haak started at left center-back for most of 2025, playing there under former coach Nick Cushing when the defense was short, and regularly starting next to Thiago Martins under Jansen.
He’s left a burdening role in the back line, not just because of his ability to read the play and make the tackle, but because he provided so much going forward for the Boys in Blue. He would regularly start the build-up and push high up the pitch, acting as another midfielder alongside O’Neill and Perea.
However, with Parks back in the picture, that ball-playing ability is checked off. Jansen might have accidentally signed Haak’s replacement already in Raul Gustavo, who joined the side over the summer transfer window.
Also a left-footed defender, his 6-foot-2 frame will make him and 6-foor-1 Martins “one of the most physically imposing back lines and center back combinations in Major League Soccer,” McCarty said.
Trewin can play in the backline as well, but has traditionally played in front of the back four, so one can assume Jansen has already found a solution to Haak’s departure.
Teams can still sign players until March 26, a month into the season, so NYCFC might have more cards to play up their sleeves.
