Are New York City FC ready to start the 2025 season?

Welcome to the latest edition of the Hudson River Blue Roundtable, in which John Baney, Andrew Leigh, Matthew Mangam, Raf Noboa y Rivera, Mark Radigan, and Takashi Williams look at what we learned in the 2025 preseason, and what we can expect now that New York City FC are about to play their first Major League Soccer game under Head Coach Pascal Jansen

Hudson River Blue: Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room: What’s your reaction to the probable departure of Santi Rodríguez?

Matthew Mangam: It’s tough. NYCFC are losing a key player who had 22 goal involvements — 16 of those being straight goals. But the fact that NYCFC is rumored to make about $15 million from the move is great business — it’s a lot of money and New York City should use the profit to fill other positions needed, like left-back and center-back.

John Baney: Under different circumstances, this could be the type of move we celebrate. When Taty Castellanos left for a similar fee and at a similar age, it was largely heralded as a success story for both the club and the player. But when you’re not riding the high of a recent MLS Cup, when the season starts in just a few days, and when we saw how long it took to replace Taty after he left, the concern from fans is absolutely justified. David Lee needs to show us that he learned from 2023.

Takashi Williams: Definitely tough when you lose a player of Santi’s caliber, but also expected. It’s always a nice feeling knowing that you helped a player develop to a certain point where they just decide to pursue new challenges. But, alsoyou want to win. So it definitely hurts to see him go, but also the front office should have seen a move like this coming for some time now and we now have cap space to bring in a quality player as a response hopefully.

Raf Noboa y Rivera: First, good for him and the club for getting the bag. The thing is…the season starts on Saturday! It’s frustrating that this kind of business happens this close to the start of the season. The primary window’s open until April 23, but now New York City have lost four solid-to-key players in Rodriguez, Christian McFarlane, Jovan Mijatović, and James Sands, and added…no one. That’s a choice by Lee, I guess.

Andrew Leigh: Lee has been quiet and has not spent a single dollar on transfer fees for two straight transfer windows while waiting for his groups of Summer 2023 and Winter 2024 signings to deliver. Selling Santi makes business sense for the greater City Football Group but it will hurt the 2025 team. Also, the timing of the drawn-out sale saga dampens the mood right as the season begins, and as others have pointed out, frustrates you because it all but guarantees a replacement won’t be arriving before the team has played a chunk of its regular season.

Mark Radigan: Losing a player like Santi Rodríguez is a massive loss for the club in terms of on-the-pitch performance and locker-room experience. That said, you can’t turn down $15 million. For an MLS club, that’s a monstrous transfer fee and should be more than enough funding to reinvest into a suitable replacement. But that means the club has to go out and SIGN a comparable replacement, which may be easier said than done if recent windows are anything to go by.

HRB: What about the devastating injury to James Sands? He’s on loan, but is some higher force trying to get a message through to the NYCFC faithful?

AL: Going from the likely sale of the team’s best attacking player days before the season begins, to discussing the nasty long-term injury suffered by the first-ever Homegrown signing who just left to chase a career in Europe: Not the happiest of times!

MM: Poor James Sands, man. It seemed like his loan spell at St. Pauli was off to a great start.

RNyR: I’m just gutted for Sands. He was really starting to click for St. Pauli, and I thought he was a perfect fit in the Bundesliga — unlike the Scottish Premier League, which is below MLS standards. I’d be surprised if he returned to St. Pauli unless they survive relegation. Hopefully, this injury doesn’t derail his career, which is my main concern right now.

MR: You have to hope that St. Pauli still believes in him come the summer, and pick up the option to extend the loan through to 2026. Sands deserves the opportunity to prove himself on the European stage.

TW: Speedy recovery to Sands! He is NYCFC through and through, but to echo Mark here, deserves a European stint just as much as anyone else at the club right now.

HRB: Now for a gut check. What’s your feeling about this New York City FC team going into the season opener on Saturday?

JB: I’m more optimistic about the season as a whole than I am this season opener in particular. NYCFC have lost their last five season openers, so the idea of them breaking that curse on the road against the greatest regular-season side in MLS history fresh off losing their talisman feels like a tall order. If we can snatch a point from this one I’d be psyched.

MM: It’s weird to predict. I think it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what we’ll see from NYCFC on Saturday with some departures and the addition of Pascal Jansen but if the team is able to walk out Chase Stadium with a point at the very least, that’s a positive.

RNyR: I’m with Matthew and John: One point is excellent. Hell, if they lose but it’s a competitive loss, say, 2-1 with a late Miami winner, that’s fine, too. New York City have a new coach and they’re missing some solid pieces despite an otherwise OK but not deep roster, so I don’t have wild expectations for them, especially early on.

AL: The best word to describe my general vibe about the team right now would be “uncertain.” So many questions stillremain about the roster and about how the new coach will line them up, so I’m struggling to be either optimistic or pessimistic.

Definitely not confident about the first two matches to open the season, but then again, Miami will be thawing out from their Ice Clasico against Sporting Kansas City in Concacaf Champions Cup on Wednesday, and NYCFC has managed to avoid defeat every time they’ve faced Miami during The Messi Era.

MR: I’m optimistic. This team proved last season that it’s capable of competing with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. Doing so without Santi will be challenging, but if we learned anything from 2024, it is to expect the unexpected with New York City FC. A new coach with European experience looking to make a positive first impression with a hungry young squad? Sounds like the recipe for a statement performance.

TW: I think that if we come in there just outpacing and being more aggressive than the Herons, I think we could ruffle some feathers for sure. But I don’t want to suggest a potential draw to raise the hopes of the NYCFC faithful, unfortunately.

HRB: What are your takeaways from preseason training? What did we learn from Coachella?

MR: BIRK RISA on freekicks???? Jokes aside, the defense looked strong and stable, and I expect players like Risa and Strahinja Tanasijević to make significant strides this season. I also loved what I saw from Alonso Martínez. Readers know that I’ve been somewhat hard on the Costa Rican for scoring at an inefficient clip, but he sure looks posed to begin firing straight from Opening Day. If he can score 20 goals this season, then the Boys in Blue could be a major player come the end of the season.

RNyR: I like what I see on the defensive end. Yeah, it’s preseason, but keeping three clean sheets–especially against the defending champs–is excellent work. I think if the defense keeps up this level of performance in the early part of the season, it’ll go a long way toward helping Jansen figure out how to get the midfield and forward offense cooking. Again, this is where naming a coach relatively late in the offseason, which I imagine is a big part of why there were no signings in the offseason, hurts rather than helps.

JB: We learned that Alonso is still a killer in front of goal, that Jansen seems to like what Mounsef Bakrar brings to the table, and that Hannes Wolf may be seen as the Santi replacement at the No 10. What I was hoping to learn a bit more of, however, was how Jansen will sort out his midfield pivot. Between Andrés Perea’s injury and Haak still bouncing between the midfield and the back line, how NYCFC will launch the post-Sands era (again) remains to be seen.

TW: Heavy on what John said, Martínez is that guy! I think Bakrar can definitely play a pivotal role in making his job up top easier, but definitely more positives from what I’ve seen all around than negatives.

AL: Too many injury concerns popping up, especially in the defense – MLS teams can get by without their No 10 Designated Player if they have a great backline, and injuries to Thiago Martins, Tayvon Gray, and others in the defense is no way to start a season. That said, preseason has seemed successful, they’ve gotten decent results and gotten some strong performances from players they will need to excel in 2025 if it’s going to be a good season like Alonso, Matt Freese, and Birk Risa.

MM: NYCFC’s defense has looked solid. Conceding just five goals in six games and earning three clean sheets — one against reigning MLS Cup winners LA Galaxy — is nice to see, especially with the absence of Thiago Martins, who is dealing with an injury. I’m surprised by the 3-1 defeat to St. Louis, but you have to take these preseason results with a grain of salt. From what I have seen, it seems Jansen has a plan and specific style that he wants NYCFC to play.

HRB: We now have seen a little of Pascal Jansen in the press conferences and leading the team. What are your first impressions?

AL: He brings a different energy and approach to talking about his team than Nick Cushing, inevitable given they are two entirely different people, but also noticeable when you watch Jansen in action. He sticks to his core message, wraps up his answers as succinctly as he can, and doesn’t seem too interested in waxing philosophical or elaborating much on his plans or ideas. Seems to have earned the respect of his new squad and has put them through their proverbial paces during preseason, though we’ll see how it all translates now that the games will be official.

MM: The first press conference with Jansen went really well. He said some great things and clearly has a goal for this team, wanting them to have a bulletproof mindset this season. It did seem like, at times last season, that NYCFC switched off after conceding or scoring a goal, so this is a much-needed change. The players have had nothing but great things to say about Jansen as well.

JB: I agree with Matt, I think Jansen has come off well in his first media appearances. He seems cool, confident, and in control. He does seem very “City Football Group” at times in his answers, hardly spilling any more beans than required for any particular question. Flashing the shakas Héber-style helps add a bit of personality, though.

RNyR: I like what I’ve seen from Jansen thus far. I was never particularly convinced by Nick Cushing as a head coach; I never got the sense that he felt fully secure in his role as New York City coach, despite having been a pretty successful head coach for Man City Women! Jansen, though, had a solid tenure as AZ Alkmaar’s head coach and performed creditably at Ferencváros, and it shows in his confidence and demeanor. My only concern would be that if he performs really well, he’ll leave and return to Europe at the first opportunity, but that’s a good problem to have!

MR: I’m looking forward to getting the chance to interact with Jansen this season. He comes across as a cool, calm, and collected figure. I also love his confidence, his “bullet-proof” mindset comments had me ready to run through a wall. I expect Jansen to have complete control of the NYCFC operation, and the players should buy in quickly if they haven’t already.

HRB: If 2023 was a tear-down season, and 2024 was the rebuild, how do you think 2025 will be characterized?

AL: Feels like a transition season but not a full rebuild. The Designated Player situation is the most interesting thing – Santi and Talles Magno are gone and Thiago Martins is in the final guaranteed year of his DP contract — though with an option for ‘26. Jansen and David Lee have some flexibility if they’re going to recruit new players for the higher-end spots on the roster, and 2025 success might hinge on who they add and how much of a leap some of the remaining young players make or don’t make.

TW: Another rebuild year in my eyes. But maybe they will fool me wrong after five to ten matches into the campaign. We’ll see.

MM: It’s hard to say. I don’t want to characterize it as Rebuild Part II, but losing Sands and Santi, and potentially not replacing them directly will affect the club. With Jansen settling into the MLS this season and figuring out his style of play, you could classify this season as part two of the rebuild.

RNyR: I’m with Matthew. This is still a rebuilding team, and that’s OK. I think the minimum expectation is to make the (absurdly large) playoff field, and then go from there.

MR: If the club isn’t finished spending in the transfer window, then this team can reach the upper ends of the Eastern Conference standings if the right signings are brought in. But if the board decides to roll the dice with the squad in its relative current state, then the Boys in Blue will peak as a low-end playoff team, thus characterizing 2025 as another rebuilding year more than anything else.

HRB: What’s your biggest concern for this team?

TW: How will they adapt to a new system with Jansen and then the loss of a pivotal player in Santi? Especially with Sands being gone too, I definitely want players like Haak and Gray to really step up and instill a solid culture in the dressing room, along with Thiago Martins of course.

RNyR: Man, it’s got to be the roster depth. I mentioned this earlier, but if Jansen gets hired earlier, you have to think New York City would have signed at least one player, right? Instead, they’re back in the same situation they’ve been before, and at this point, it’s just a little bit frustrating. Because, let’s face it, you don’t really need to have a coach in place in order to add depth to the roster. New York City, like a few other teams in MLS, plays in a certain way, which means that a coach isn’t implementing their own style so much as executing an already-existing overarching “house” playing style.

AL: Who plays in the central midfield in place of Sands? He and Keaton Parks were omnipresent in 2024 and it’s still unsettled heading into Matchday 1 how Jansen fills out his post-Sands midfield. The need to recreate some of what was lost defensively and in possession with Sands leaving feels paramount, even more than the questions along the backline and regarding how they fill the Santi goalscoring void.

MM: It’s gotta be the depth. The fact that the team still lacks depth at left-back, center-back, and in the midfield is concerning. With no real signings, if an injury were to happen at any of the weaker positions, NYCFC would be in serious trouble.

JB: I’m worried about our offensive production if Alonso can’t replicate his white-hot form from the end of 2024. With Santi gone, our next-highest returning scorer from last year was Hannes with five goals, and he didn’t score once after Leagues Cup. Even if Alonso is chasing a Golden Boot, we’ll need at least one of Wolf, Julián Fernández, Agustín Ojeda, Mounsef Bakrar, or Malachi Jones to have a breakout year in a big-time way.

MR: Similar to Matthew, the depth, particularly in midfielder, is my biggest concern. Losing Santi Rodriguez will force 38-year-old Maxi Moralez into consistent starts from opening day. Behind him, there’s no true No 10 ready in the wings. And in defensive midfield, I’m not confident in the depth behind Parks. Can Haak be the everyday No 6 beside him? Can Andrés Perea improve enough defensively to make up the difference in metrics? There are no players in the squad I can confidently say should start alongside Parks that would be better than finding a replacement in the market.

HRB: What’s this team’s greatest strength?

MM: The team returns a lot of talent: Freese, Alonso, and Tayvon (who limped out of NYCFC’s final preseason game against Minnesota early with what seemed to be a leg injury??) all come to mind. I think the best players are solid, so I believe NYCFC’s goalkeeping and goal-scoring will be fine this season.

JB: I agree with Matt here again. This club’s biggest strength at the moment lies in its individual talents. Matt Freese is the best goalkeeper in MLS and I’ll stand on that claim ten toes down. Alonso is looking like a legit superstar in this league if his 2024 and preseason ‘25 form continues. And between Jones, Ojeda, and Fernández, there’s plenty of talent still to break through. Combine this with some solid veterans down the spine like Thiago Martins and Parks, and there’s hope that Jansen could get a lot more out of this side than Cushing was able to.

AL: Matt Freese and Alonso Martínez, these feel like the two players to pin your 2025 hopes on. They both performed at elite levels in 2024 and seem like the guys who will have to carry things again in 2025, so the strength lies directly in front of each goal and the question marks are sprinkled everywhere else around the field.

RNyR: Yes, the individual talent on this roster really stands out, and I’m stoked to see what Jansen does with it. But I’m going in another direction: CFG’s talent spotting is next-level, and I think we’ll be making some solid additions between now and April 23rd. With Santi’s departure, we have two DP slots open since Talles Magno is on loan to Corinthians.That means the talent level is only going up, in my opinion.

MR: The individual talent available both in attack and in defense could propel New York City to big wins in narrow contests. Alonso could be a golden-boot-level caliber in 2025. Freese will be in the Goalkeeper of the Year conversation in 2025. The defense boasts a dual-threat in Gray. The winger position is the deepest in the squad. It remains to be seen how this squad gels under Pascal Jansen, but there’s enough talent in the squad to compete with any MLS opponent.

TW: Definitely attacking and the transition that can be had with players such as Gray and Mitja Ilenič, who both love streaking down that flank to create opportunities. Goal scoring is up there for sure, but definitely, the defensive unit and players up top are going to bolster this team.