Pascal Jansen says that Saturday's opening match against Inter Miami is the moment that his FC team of New York City has prepared.
Jansen has replaced Nick Cushing, who left NYCFC after a run to the semi -final of the conference in the MLS play -offs from last season.
NYCFC was defeated by their local rivals, the New York Red Bulls, which finished second in the La Galaxy in the MLS Cup final.
They start their 2025 campaign with a trip to Chase Stadium to cope with MLS supporters' Shield holders Miami, who are also under new management, in which Javier Mascherano Gerardo Martino replaced.
Mascherano will supervise his former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets this term, while Miami wants to build on a record-breaking campaign in 2024.
However, Jansen will not be overrun when he takes on the most consistent MLS team of the last term.
“This is the moment we prepare,” he said.
“Once we started on the first day, we mentioned that February 22 is the time to be ready as a team.
“So we are going to progress every day, and once we are ready for February 22, there is to compete again in MLS.
Only one thing in our thoughts. pic.twitter.com/svg3xdajya
– New York City FC (@NewYorkCityFC) February 19, 2025
“My vision is to form a team that is compatible for every game in MLS. To be more consistent during the MLS competition.
“So that's a big challenge, but the chemistry that is there helps.
“Having young players on the Roster who grew last season and will be more mature this season helps a lot.
“I have to say, the learning capacity and the openness and the willingness to exchange new ideas has been fantastic so far. That is something we are looking forward to as soon as we start to become competitive again next week.”
Miami was in action on Wednesday and defeated Sporting Kansas City 1-0 in the first stage of their Concacaf Champions Cup First-round Tie with a Messi goal, in a match that took place in temperatures of -13 Celsius.
They wanted the cold. We have brought the warmth pic.twitter.com/uimituVTB1
– Inter Miami CF (@intermiamicf) February 20, 2025
Players to watch
Inter Miami – Lionel Messi
Messi is of course the Talisman of Miami, who scored 23 goals and set up another 13 in all competitions last season.
Stopping the eight times Ballon d'Or winner is of course easier said than done, and the defenders of NYCFC will have their work cut out.
NYCFC – Hannes Wolf
Wolf enjoyed a good season in 2024 and contributed to 11 goals in all competitions for NYCFC (five goals, six assists).
He created 74 opportunities, which are only behind Santiago Rodriguez (85) in NYCFC's team.
Match forecast: Inter Miami Win
Miami has only won one of their 11 all time meetings with New York City (D3 L7), although the last three meetings have all ended in similarity.
However, the herons are big favorites for this.
They gathered an MLS record 74 points during the regular season 2024, while they were also equal to the record of the competition (22-also the New England Revolution in 2021). Miami set another MLS record by getting nine Come-From-Behind last season.
NYCFC starts their season on the road for the 11th time in their 11 ml seasons. They have lost his season opener in each of the last five years and do not score in the last three.
Opta wins probability
Inter Miami – 54.4%
New York City – 22.1%
Drawing – 23.4%
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