New York City FC head coach Pascal Jansen has underlined the importance of staying prepared as his team gears up for their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 match on Wednesday.
City will travel to Highmark Stadium to face the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, and Jansen, speaking to the media on Tuesday, made it clear that mental readiness is crucial, no matter the situation.
“Wherever we go, how long the trip will take, how many trips we have to make—it doesn’t matter. We have to be ready always,” he said. “That is also a huge part where I believe in the mental preparation for the games. Don’t make that topic any bigger than it needs to be.”
He added that the team’s approach to the match remains consistent with their league preparations.
“Our preparation hasn’t been any different than going into an MLS game so far. We take this game just as serious as any other game. It’s a massive opportunity for us as well, because if you do well in the next five games in this tournament, you get a very nice ticket and you get some silverware.”
Coming off an impressive win over FC Cincinnati on Sunday, NYCFC returns to action just three days later, with another fixture against Montréal looming this weekend. Jansen was asked whether squad rotation might come into play.
“You’ll have to see who we’re going to put on the pitch for tomorrow,” Jansen explained. “But I mentioned this also after the Cincinnati game—we have potentially nine games [this month]. That’s what we’re looking for, and we’ll take it game by game. Cincinnati was finished, then we put our focus on this opponent, and that will be the same after Wednesday night."
“I see my boys train every day, and the guys that travel with us now to this cup game have earned their place in this roster and are ready to play. I have no concern whatsoever. As I mentioned to one of your colleagues just now, it's been the approach from day one, whenever we have to play—if it's 3am or it's two in the afternoon—my guys have to be ready always, and that is what I expect tomorrow.”
Reflecting on the team’s preseason, Jansen pointed to the groundwork laid in California as instrumental in building the squad's resilience.
“We created a solid foundation from day one in our preparation in January,” he explained. “So getting players ready to play three games every seven or eight days is something that we work for on a daily basis."
“There’s a lot of emphasis on the performance team to make sure that they have everything in order, in place, to help the players get their regen spot on and make sure that they are ready to play each and every game.”
With confidence high and motivation clear, Jansen expressed optimism about the team’s prospects in the tournament.
“We’re very, very ambitious and looking forward to competing with this team,” he said. “But we have our own targets and our own goals set for this game. No matter who we play in this tournament, that will never change.”
