Episode 492:

One of the most famous names in baseball is Wally Pipp.  Ask a true baseball fan and they’ll tell you the story not of Pipp’s success as a player and World Series Champion as a New York Yankee, but about his headache that kept him out of a game on June 2, 1925.

In NYCFC lore there are a few memorable substitutions of note for both good and bad reasons.  One of the most negative of those occurred Sunday afternoon when Birk Risa was removed from the match in the 40th minute and replaced by Strahinja Tanasijevic. It was a move that ultimately did not change the outcome of the match, but it hopefully will have a positive impact on the rest of the season for NYCFC.

This week the guys are back to breakdown the 1-2 home loss at the hands of the Loons.  Suffer through the highs and lows with Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen.

Episode 491:

NYCFC lost on Saturday in Atlanta.  That’s not breaking news to anyone who follows the team, but the collapse from the club is indicative of a much bigger issue.  David Lee has not given head coach, Pascal Jansen, enough resources to make tactical adjustments necessary to win games.  It is that simple.  

This week Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen are back to dive deep into what is happening with NYCFC’s depth deficiency.  The trio also give their thoughts on the leadership from captain, Thiago Martins.

Episode 490:

Blame it on the injuries.  Blame it on the playing during a FIFA window.  Blame it on David Lee for not signing any players to replace James Sands, Santi Rodriguez or Jovan Mijatovic.  

NYCFC crawled into Lower.com Field on Saturday night to face the Columbus Crew and it was not a prototypical NYCFC game.  The team was outshot 24-4 and only had 40% of the ball.

The bright spot of the game was seeing the team close out the draw by the hairs on their legs with three 17 year old players on the field, two of which were playing their debut minutes.

This week Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen take a look back at the 0-0 draw in Columbus and also spend some time discussing the USMNT losses (yes, plural) at home to Panama and Canada.

Episode 489:

Ten year’s to the day from NYCFC’s historic home-opening game at Yankee Stadium the club welcomed back to the house that Jeter built for another match.  New England limped into this game missing their newest signing and star striker, Leo Campana.  The Revs also have lost the first three games of the 2025 campaign to build upon the streak of losing the last four of 2024.

It would be New England that took the early lead off a Thiago Martin’s own-goal, the third of his career with NYCFC, but goals from Julian Fernandez and Alonso Martinez gave New York all three points on the day.

This week the guys are back to recap last week’s exciting match.  They also share thoughts on how this team is evolving away from the underwhelming style of Nick Cushing into the attack first mindset brought in by Pascal Jansen.

There is audio from NYCFC head coach, Pascal Jansen, as well as players Keaton Parks, Matt Freese and Hannes Wolf.

Episode 488:

It’s an anniversary moment ten years in the making.  NYCFC versus Orlando, but this time the Boys In Blue were the home team and the victors on the day.

Pascal Jansen took his “Team First” mentality and pushed the squad to raise their intensity and two second half goals were the difference in NYCFC’s eleventh home-opener and the penultimate event at Yankee Stadium.

This week Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen are back to break down the game, share their fondest memories of the past 10 seasons and highlight some player audio captured post-game from Yankee Stadium.Artwork

Episode 487:

There was an excitement about NYCFC under Pascal Jansen after last week’s game in Miami.  The team played with intensity and was clinical in their finishing.  

This past weekend in California the Boys In Blue look to have regressed to resemble their weakest moments under Nick Cushing.  There were long stretches of possession that did not result in chances.  There were players out of position and a midfield without a talisman to close out the match.  It was quintessential 2023 NYCFC.  

Mike Anderer, Mike Allen and J.R. diBart take a look back at the performance and share audio clips from head coach, Pascal Jansen, and midfielder, Keaton Parks, to highlight some of the biggest opportunities from the game.

Episode 486:

NYCFC went into Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale with zero designated players available for their season opener against Inter Miami FC.  Just hours before kick-off on Saturday night the team officially announced the departure of midfielder Santi Rodriguez and captain, Thiago Martins, was still recovering from a preseason injury.  Even without the presence of those key players, the Boys in Blue were able to fight back from a one goal deficit to equalize and eventually take the lead for a large portion of the second half only to concede the equalizer in the last minutes of play.

This week Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Michael Allen breakdown the choices made by David Lee and by Pascal Jansen this week.  There’s also audio post-game from Mitjia Illenic and our annual list of over/under lines for 2025.

Episode 485:4

As the days remaining to NYCFC’s first game of the season tick away, the squad is getting younger on average thanks to a little addition by subtraction.  The pending loss of Santi Rodriguez means an already young team will be even younger with the departure of the veteran midfielder.

This week Mike Anderer and Mike Allen look at the impact that Santi’s departure will have on the decisions Pascal Jansen will have to make in his starting XI.

Episode 484:

It has been just over a month with new head coach, Pascal Jansen, in charge of the club and already some keywords are already starting to permeate the preseason camp.  Top among them is “bullet-proof mindset”.

This week Mike Anderer and J.R. diBart are joined by Adam and Justin from Post 90 Podcast to dive into the preseason mindset of the Boys in Blue.  J.R. traveled out to the Coachella Invitational and collected some audio from Justin Haak, Mounsef Bakrar and Tayvon Gray.

Episode 483:

NYCFC enter the Coachella Valley Invitational looking to put a bow on their post season but also to answer a lot of preseason questions.  

Who will replace James Sands in the midfield?

How many minutes can Maxi play?

Will Martinez be the leading goal scorer in 2025?

Mike Anderer, J.R. diBart and Mike Allen take a look at some of the recent changes for the club as they continue their preseason.