New York City FC welcomes Charlotte FC to Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon aiming to build on Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over Columbus Crew.
City earned that win in dramatic fashion, twice coming from behind before Julián Fernández struck in stoppage time. The substitute combined with Agustín Ojeda, who provided the assist, to deliver three points and extend the team’s strong run at home.
For Jansen, the performance underlined the character and resilience building within the squad.
“Mentality wise, I think we’re in a good place at the moment,” he said.
“We had a minor bump in the road against D.C. [United] at home, but we’re playing at a pretty decent level at the moment.”
Reflecting on the midweek win against Columbus, Jansen pointed out several key factors that define the team’s mentality.
“You could see the mental state that the team is in at the moment,” he said.
“Never giving up—we went down twice, came back, and obviously scored the winner in the dying seconds.
“I think overall, we’re in a good place at the moment, and the stretch is tough, but we’re looking forward to it. Obviously, coming back from a win against Columbus, and especially the way we did it is quite impressive.
“But like I mentioned just now, it’s only 24 hours [to reflect on that], and now we have an early game against Charlotte, and there’s a lot at stake, and we’re hungry for more.”
New York City welcomes Charlotte to Yankee Stadium for a Saturday lunchtime kickoff. The visitors are enjoying an impressive run of form in MLS right now, and that has Jansen anticipating a tough test.
“You can see their defensive structure is really impressive, very disciplined, very dedicated and a very hard-working team,” he noted.
“The discipline and the determination out of possession is something that I find very impressive, and it’s helped them get through this stretch so far.”
New York City has a busy end to the month coming up with games against Inter Miami CF and Red Bulls before October. That means rotation will be key, with Jansen noting the importance of substitutions, both tactically and in terms of keeping the group fresh.
“A few things tactically [changed],” Jansen said when asked what motivated his decisive changes against Columbus. “We moved Nicolás Fernández Mercau into the middle.
“It’s something [the freshness of the players] that we’ve been addressing in the previous weeks. Knowing that Alonso has been asked a lot playing for the national team, and obviously playing for us—the amount of games that he’s played so far, we have to make sure we get everybody ready in this stretch of games.
“Maxi is also on four yellow cards. So there’s also a different thought process in that. But mainly the decision was made because I wanted to have fresh energy up front in the team, and it paid off.”
That approach again highlighted the impact of the bench, with substitutes stepping up to decisive effect.
“When you make subs as a coach or coaching staff, you always look for subs to come on and have an impact on the game, and that’s what these guys have done in the recent games,” Jansen said. “It’s good to see that guys like Seymour [Reid], Trapito, Ojeda and Julie come in and have the impact that we’re looking for. So it keeps us very close together and very, very dedicated to what we’re trying to achieve this season.”
Elsewhere, Jansen praised goalkeeper Matt Freese, who signed a new long-term contract with the Club earlier this week. The U.S. international committed his future until 2030 and earned recognition from his coach for both his progress and professionalism.
“Matt is one of our key players. He’s grown so much over the period that he’s been with us,” Jansen said.
“He’s a true professional, very dedicated, very open-minded and willing to learn. He got himself into the starting 11 and now as the number one goalkeeper in the U.S. One thing is for sure, he’ll keep working as hard as he does, always in order to become even better.”
