Episode 481: NYCFC Got Their Guy

2025 is upon us.  With that brings new changes for NYCFC and those changes are happening already.  The preseason starts in a week, preseason friendlies start in two weeks.  Regular season games are only 45 days away.  

Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen gather around the mics again to give their brief cursory thoughts on the big topics happening around the club during the off-season.

Episode 480:

The final Blue City Radio episode of 2024 is here.  There’s schedule talk, MLS Superdraft talk, and Ronny Delia to Atlanta talk.  

We want to also take a moment to thank the listeners.  Whether you tune in every week or once a season or even once every three years when your team faces NYCFC, your time to tune in is very much appreciated.

Until 2025… the story of Blue City Radio continues.

Episode 479:

There really is never a good time to try and take a break when you are covering a sports team.  Even though a season might come to an end and some decisions are pending, there is no way to know when those choices will be made and communicated.  

This week Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen return after a week’s hiatus to find a full plate of topics to discuss.  The amount of NYCFC news was so large that they had to invite Chris Campbell from The Outfield on the show to give us his thoughts on the NYCFC stadium groundbreaking.

Episode 478:

It is hard to imagine a worse ending to the season than losing at home to your cross-river rival and not really make the game look close.

CitiField only had a capacity of 25,000 on a cold windy Saturday night in late November.  As the game wore on the Red Bull fans that were speckled throughout the sea of blue started to gain in confidence and in voice and by the 85th minute they were in control of the Queens atmosphere.

This week Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen help each other cope with the reality that despite handing Red Bull two defeats in the regular season, when it mattered the most, NYCFC could not get the ball across the line.

There is post game audio from Nick Cushing, Thiago Martins, Justin Haak, James Sands, Keaton Parks, Matt Freese, Tayvon Gray and Mitjia Illenic.

Episode 477:

This week the guys bring you a special preview episode because on Saturday NYCFC hosts Red Bull in what is their most important MLS matchup to date and most important derby game since Thiago Andrade lost his temper in the 2022 US Open Cup Quarterfinals.  

Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen welcome former MLS player and current MLS Season Pass color commentator, Calen Carr, to the show in the second segment to get his perspective on both of these teams heading into this weekend’s game.

Episode 476:

NYCFC traveled to Cincinnati for game three of the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs and kept the number three seed in the east to a nil-nil draw. The game was decided by penalty kicks and Matt Freese proved to be just as important in the moment as he has been all season long.

This week Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen look back at round one of the playoffs and look ahead at the all-important Hudson River Derby matchup on November 23 in CitiField.

Episode 475:

NYCFC hosted FC Cincinnati in CitiField on Saturday for the second leg of the first round of MLS Playoffs and the Boys In Blue solidly defeated the higher seed opponent.

This week Mike Anderer, J.R. deBart and Mike Allen discuss the game from last week. There is plenty of post game audio as well as a conversation with Justin Haak from training in the midweek.

Episode 474:

In hindsight maybe the guys from Post90 Podcast and The City Boys have been right all along? To be fair, there was a show called City Post Game Live in 2016-2017 that had a little traction, but I digress.

This week Mike Anderer and Mike Allen turn on the mics during the last 15 minutes of the NYCFC away match in Cincinnati and then discuss their reactions after the final whistle. Included are the post game pressers from Keaton Parks and Nick Cushing as well as some discussion on where Nick Cushing might be blowing his whistle next season.

Episode 473:

In the ten season history of NYCFC, the team had only lost to Montreal twice. Once was in 2020 during the “Covid” season that will forever be tainted by the impact the pandemic had on rosters, venues, and fan support. The second time was in NYCFC’s inaugural season under head coach, Jason Kreis. Back in 2015 NYCFC was a project. It was not well-oiled machine like it’s counterpart in Manchester. But in 2024, already with a championship and an international trophy already in its case, the team should be more than a project. More than a young coach and youthful squad going through a multi-season long process. The team at this point should be “plug and play” with depth both on the roster but also in its reserve squad. And yet, here we are, again, limping into the playoffs grasping at the thin chances of advancing to the meaningful moments in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

This week Mike Anderer, J.R. deBart, and Mike Allen look at the 2024 regular season with a discerning critical eye and also recap the loss in Montreal that brought up the memories of the team under Jason Kreis.

Episode 472:

After a statement win in Harrison NJ last week, NYCFC had to host two games as the home team in the same arena. Both games the boys in blue were victorious setting up some great momentum going into the international break and then the return to Decision Day in Montreal on October 19.

This week Mike Anderer welcomes back Haylon Harroo from Five Borough Footy to give some commentary and analysis on Nick Cushing’s team as the regular season comes to an end and the post season looms on the horizon.