It's the dawn of a new Major League Soccer season and the Hudson River Blue Podcast has one more big preview-centric episode to get you ready for a new year of New York City FC soccer.

We start by discussing two players who won't be on the 2025 NYCFC roster, Santiago Rodríguez who is about to join Botafogo in Brazil, and James Sands, who just suffered a rough injury while away on loan in Germany.

Then we preview the first match of the 2025 season, a trip to face reigning Supporters' Shield winners Inter Miami. Will their midweek Concacaf Champions Cup game in the extreme freezing cold in Kansas City give New York City FC a slight edge over Lionel Messi and company? More importantly and more uncertainly, how will NYCFC even line up for their first match of the season? There are Starting XI predictions and eventually score predictions shared for the big season opener in Fort Lauderdale.

There's also some time spent reflecting on what the expert MLS pundits out there think will come of this New York City FC season. Expert sentiment is that Pascal Jansen has a fringe playoff team on his hands, and we get into whether that's a fair assessment or not while dropping a few of our own predictions for how the 2025 season shakes out.

Episode 26 wraps up with our final preview of a specific group of NYCFC players, this time the team's forwards. Our big questions for the attacking players involve who starts on the wings, how much better Hannes Wolf can be in his second season, and if Alonso Martínez and Mounsef Bakrar will really see the field at the same time.

Listen to the full episode and then make sure you’re following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and reading all our coverage at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

We're collectively on high alert for a Santiago Rodríguez transfer away from New York City FC, with rumors intensifying that the attacking midfielder could leave for Botafogo in Brazil's Série A.

Episode 25 begins with an unpacking of all that a Santi sale would mean for NYCFC and some attempts to figure out what's actually going on with his rumored big-money move.

The Santi talk leads our hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan into a discussion of NYCFC's ongoing preseason, which is noticeably missing Santi Rodríguez but is full of other storylines. Will Pascal Jansen really deploy Alonso Martínez in his attack at the same time as fellow striker Mounsef Bakrar? Will any of the unsigned MLS SuperDraft picks start the season by earning contracts with the NYCFC senior squad? 

It's also new 2025 MLS kit week, so time is spent discussing the bright New York City skyline-inspired Excelsior Kit just unveiled by NYCFC. That includes a lot of talk about the fact that the old NYCFC club crest remains on this year's new jersey despite the team unveiling a redesigned crest during the summer of 2024.

We wrap up our 25th episode by continuing our series of 2025 previews for different NYCFC position groups, this week covering the team's midfield. The absence of James Sands is a big topic, as is the need to figure out a non-Maxi Moralez option in the central attacking midfielder role, especially if Santi Rodríguez does end up leaving.

After you’ve listened to this episode, make sure you’re following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and reading all our coverage at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

This week Pascal Jansen met the New York City FC media for the first time since becoming the team's Head Coach, so this episode starts with close readings of some of what Jansen – and NYCFC Sporting Director David Lee – had to say in their preseason press conferences.

That included Jansen laying out his goals to give his team more edge, intensity, and sense of invincibility, a "bulletproof mindset" as he put it, which all made him sound, to us, like a coach ready for the challenges of Major League Soccer and New York City.

Our hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan also sounded encouraged by David Lee's insistence the team will be signing some new players, but they wonder whether the Sporting Director is making the right move by waiting until possibly beyond the start of the new season to bring any major new reinforcements in for Jansen and company.

Talk then shifts to one player who will not be reinforcing Pascal Jansen's squad: Jovan Mijatović, as we discuss the young striker's departure on loan for OH Leuven in Belgium. With the Jovan saga concluding (for now), we took a few more minutes to offer shakes of our collective heads over just how badly his time with NYCFC went.

Episode 24 wraps up by continuing to preview the 2025 New York City FC squad, this time by taking a deep dive into the defense. We single out the defenders we expect to stand out this season and all share our preferred defensive lineups. That lineup-making also leads to us continuing the years-long debate over who should be the team's starter at right-back: Tayvon Gray or Mitja Ilenič?

After you’ve listened, make sure you’re following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and reading all our coverage at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

New York City FC will compete in both the US Open Cup and Leagues Cup in 2025, but it's not so cut-and-dry for a lot of other Major League Soccer teams.

Both those Cup competitions just got new and slightly complex qualification criteria, and we spend the early part of Episode 23 trying to make sense of who gets into the Open Cup, who gets into Leagues Cup, and who gets left out. Given that we're talking trophies, we also answer the burning question: Which Cup would we pick if we had to choose one for NYCFC to win in 2025?

Another big topic this week is another player leaving New York City FC, this time 18-year-old Homegrown defender Christian McFarlane. There's talk of what's in store for McFarlane now that he's a Manchester City FC player, how his departure impacts the 2025 NYCFC team, and what to make of another deal between two City Football Group teams.

We wrap up this episode by starting in on a series of position group previews ahead of NYCFC's 2025 season, putting a spotlight on the team's goalkeepers. There's a no-doubt starting goalkeeper in place in Matt Freese, but with Luis Barraza gone, questions linger over who serves as Freese's backup on NYCFC matchdays. Will it be Alex Rando, or Tomás Romero, or maybe Greg Ranjitsingh?

After you’ve listened, make sure you’re following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and reading all our coverage at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

The transfer market is hot elsewhere in Major League Soccer, but there's not a lot of exciting transfer movement going on around New York City FC.

This episode starts with an attempt to get to the bottom of why we've seen so little transfer activity from NYCFC during this offseason, an offseason that has seen lots of big-name talents – like Wilfried Zaha and possibly Miguel Almirón, to name two – make the move to the MLS Eastern Conference.

We cover NYCFC's tendency under Sporting Director David Lee to make their winter signings closer to or after the start of the MLS regular season, but also wonder if this quiet winter is a side effect of the team's heightened transfer activity during the winter of 2024 and summer of 2023.

There's also the Pascal Jansen factor, as in: Could NYCFC be holding off on making more roster changes until the new coach has joined up with the team for preseason and has had a chance to get a better feel for his new squad?

After our big transfer window chat, we wrap this episode up with a discussion of the United States men's national team, specifically how little we saw of NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese during this January USMNT camp. Freese didn't play a single minute in either of the team's two friendlies and was the only previously uncapped player in January camp to not make his senior national team debut. Mauricio Pochettino, that is no way to treat the 2024 MVP of New York City FC!

After you’ve listened, make sure you’re following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and reading all our coverage at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

The 2025 preseason officially started for New York City FC, with the team jetting off to Santa Barbara, California with a 34-player preseason roster, but a roster that does not include striker Jovan Mijatović.

The 19-year-old is still in Europe and not joining up with his teammates for preseason while rumors swirl about a potential loan transfer from NYCFC to a European club. Hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan have lots of thoughts about the difficult Mijatović situation, wondering why it's gone so poorly for him with New York City while also speculating on how this drama between Jovan and the team will resolve itself.

Not content to only discuss a potential Jovan Mijatović transfer, things then shift to the moves New York City has already made, like re-signing Maxi Moralez, adding a backup goalkeeper, and formalizing Homegrown contracts with two young players. There's also some discussion of a possible Matt Freese transfer since the NYCFC goalkeeper finds himself in the rumor mill, linked with interest from clubs in the Netherlands and Germany.

Episode 21 wraps up with the show's producer Andrew Leigh running through numerous changes to the MLS roster rules the league announced before the start of the 2025 season. No MLS podcast episode is complete without a discussion of new twists on player trading and allocation money, contract buyouts, and oh so much more.

After you’ve listened, make sure you’re following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter (X), and reading all our coverage at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

Matt Freese has been overdue for a call-up to the United States men's national team, but Mauricio Pochettino's first January camp as coach finally sees Freese get a chance with the USMNT.

We have a lot to say about Freese's opportunity and our hopes of seeing someone from the NYCFC roster grow into a regular presence with the USMNT, maybe in time for the 2026 World Cup.

Episode 20 also includes more talk about Pascal Jansen, as we react to his official unveiling as the sixth head coach in New York City FC history. Among other Jansen topics, we discuss his past success at AZ Alkmaar and elsewhere in the Netherlands coaching up promising young players and wonder about his impact on NYCFC's crop of Homegrown and Under-22 signings.

Things wrap up this week on a less-than-cheery note as we discuss Jovan Mijatović crashing his car into a pedestrian while spending his offseason in Belgrade, Serbia. A scary accident that's left us wishing for the best for the pedestrian and hoping that Mijatović can get something good to break his way in the wake of what's been a rocky first year as a NYCFC player.

There's no easing into a new year, as the first Hudson River Blue Podcast episode of 2025 had a lot of ground to cover.

That happens when news of a new New York City FC coach and James Sands's second departure break on New Year's Eve and Day, respectively.

First, hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan discuss the reported arrival of Pascal Jansen to replace Nick Cushing as NYCFC manager. There's talk of what the Jansen hire means for New York City, the statement of intent made not just in hiring Jansen but in buying him out of his contract with Ferencváros, and what we might expect from his NYCFC based on his previous coaching stints.

After first impressions of the newest coaching arrival, we shift into goodbye mode and react to James Sands's loan move to FC St. Pauli in the German Bundesliga. It's all praise for Sands, who our hosts say earned his move back to Europe, but his exit raises lots of questions about how New York City FC will look in 2025. Is a defensive midfielder now the team's most pressing need during this winter transfer window?

To wrap up Episode 19, we discuss the five players NYCFC recently selected in the MLS SuperDraft, with some unanimous hype around First Round pick Max Murray out of the University of Vermont.

After you’ve listened, make sure you’re following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter (X), and reading all our coverage at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

Episode 18 of the Hudson River Blue Podcast is also the final episode of 2024, so end-of-year reviews are top of mind for hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan.

Before the conversation turns to a review of 2024, there's news to discuss and it's about Leagues Cup. The tournament between MLS and Mexico's Liga MX is changing in 2025 and our episode starts with a discussion of one major change that's been confirmed, namely that Leagues Cup will no longer be played during a month-long break, but will shift to a midweek tournament played while the MLS and Liga MX seasons continue concurrently. 

This being the MLS offseason, we also touch on some juicy transfer news and rumors, like NYCFC selling midfielder Nicolás Acevedo to Bahia, rumored interest from Brazilian clubs in Santiago Rodríguez, and reports of a return to MLS for former NYCFC head coach Ronny Deila, this time with Atlanta United FC.

John and Mark then conclude our final 2024 episode by handing out their final grades to NYCFC's top and bottom performers, and to the team as a whole. How harsh of a curve are we grading on? You'll have to listen to find out.

Once you've listened, make sure you're following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter (X), and reading all our coverage at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

Offseason has fallen across all of Major League Soccer, but this episode begins with a look back at the final match of 2024, the MLS Cup Final that saw LA Galaxy win a sixth Cup by vanquishing the New York Red Bulls.

Hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan discuss what a loss in the league's championship game means for the legacy of the Red Bulls franchise, as well as what it means for the always-entertaining rivalry between Red Bull and New York City FC fans.

With MLS Cup discussion done, talk moves to the offseason, which has started in earnest with signings, trades, and rumors. NYCFC has contributed to the rumor mill already with the trade of goalkeeper Luis Barraza to DC United and the ongoing negotiations over a possible return in 2025 for midfielder Maxi Moralez.

John and Mark also touch on the simmering rumor that former Philadelphia Union coach and longtime NYCFC rival Jim Curtin might be a candidate to replace Nick Cushing. How welcome would Curtin be as New York City FC coach?

Episode 17 concludes with one final bit of early offseason drama: The MLS Expansion Draft, which saw NYCFC lose Brazilian winger Thiago Andrade in a classic MLS transaction, with Thiago drafted by San Diego FC but then immediately traded to Toronto FC.

We once again are left scratching our heads at the absurdity of the Expansion Draft and the MLS roster rules, but that doesn't stop us from breaking down this strange turn of events for a player who had been loaned out by NYCFC during each of the last two seasons.

When you've finished listening, be sure to follow Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter (X), and read all our coverage at HudsonRiverBlue.com.