Nick Cushing: “I’Ve Been Hugely Impressed with Our Preseason Progress.”

January 26, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – New York City FC News Release

New York City Head Coach Nick Cushing says he is pleased with his side’s attitude, application and camaraderie so far in preseason.

Preparations for the 2023 MLS campaign are underway, with the Boys in Blue currently enjoying warm-weather training in Santa Barbara, California.

City have also clocked valuable game time with warm-up fixtures against Minnesota United and San Jose Earthquakes, and Cushing says he has been impressed with what he has seen from his players so far – both on and off the pitch.

“We have a strong squad here,” he stated. “It’s a great time to be away – we spend a lot of time together. It’s about making sure we’re prepared for the 25th February (the MLS season opener). I’m really pleased. We’re on our second tour in California and I’m pleased with how preseason’s gone.

“The nature of preseason, and having so much time off between the season end and start of the season, you can’t just expose first-team players to 90 minutes. We started off the Minnesota game with 30 minutes, then we grew that to 45 minutes. We have to phase players in to get them to the physical level they need to be at. To do that, you need to make the squad bigger, so it’s the perfect time to bring in our MLS II and our Academy players.

“You have the chance to develop the style, to give the same message to everybody, to get game minutes. It’s a really enjoyable experience for those guys. We’re really happy as a coaching staff for the guys who weren’t in the first-team squad last year but have made the step up in preseason.

“It’s a bright future because the younger players, the MLS II, the first-team players have all integrated and we’re happy with the performances on the training field and in the two games.

“I couldn’t be happier with the attitude of the group, the atmosphere in the camp, the relationships being built within our squads across all of our teams. I’ve been hugely impressed with all of them.”

While the off-season saw a number of long-serving players depart for pastures new, Cushing has already brought in two new faces in the form of Tony Alfaro and Gabe Segal, while Matías Pellegrini also re-signed. The Head Coach expressed his delight at securing their services, adding the Club are keen to bolster the squad further to aid our hopes of silverware.

On Alfaro and Segal, he hailed: “Of course, they are talented in their individual roles in defense and forward. We see potential to…