The Soccer Journal Podcast

Time spent without New York City FC matches means the focus of the latest Hudson River Blue Podcast wanders to some other competitions, namely the Concacaf Gold Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Episode 44 starts with talk of the Gold Cup and the United States men's national team, specifically the USMNT's starting goalkeeper Matt Freese. Freese made his first big mistake since becoming the Gold Cup starter in goal for Mauricio Pochettino, handing Haiti a goal in what was still a 2-1 USMNT victory. What will the gaffe do for Freese's place in the Starting XI, and how warranted is some of the criticism being thrown the way of the NYCFC goalkeeper?

Hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan and producer Andrew Leigh have a lot to say about Freese's USMNT status, as well as the divided opinions among USMNT fans about striker (and college buddy of our own Mark Radigan) Patrick Agyemang of Charlotte FC.

Our Gold Cup talk also includes some previewing of the big quarterfinal match that's next up for the United States, a New York City FC Derby of sorts pitting Freese's USMNT against Alonso Martínez and Costa Rica. NYCFC will get one of its two MVPs back after that quarterfinal, but we spend some time wondering who needs a good performance for their national team the most between Freese and Alonso.

The other big non-MLS focus in this episode is the Club World Cup, which is just getting to its knockout rounds but is proving more captivating than we first anticipated. Is this tournament better than we thought, and able to overcome the off-field baggage that's hounded it before and during the matches?

Club World Cup proved pretty difficult to navigate for the three MLS teams who qualified, with Inter Miami CF and their trio of superstar ex-Barcelona players the only MLS squad to escape the group stage. Miami advanced to the knockouts and became the first Concacaf team to ever beat a team from UEFA to get there – and earned some $21.5 million in prize money in the process.

We discuss what Miami's success says on behalf of MLS on the global stage and get into a wider discussion of some of the off-field pros and cons of the Club World Cup – from DAZN to the underdog teams to Saudi Arabia's involvement and beyond.

Finally, after a big stretch without one, there's another New York City FC match to preview. We get you all caught up on what's going on with CF Montréal as New York City prepares to head north of the Canadian border to try to earn a second road win this season. We wonder about Pascal Jansen's personnel and lineup choices for the trip to Montréal, but also all sound bullish on NYCFC's chances in this last MLS match in June.

Listen to our full Cup-centric episode and then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

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Things look to be trending in the right direction for New York City FC after that emphatic 4-0 win over Atlanta United, a result Pascal Jansen's team earned with four regular members of the Starting XI still missing due to ongoing national team duty.

Episode 43 begins with a breakdown of that dominant display by NYCFC in the Ronny Deila Derby, one made more impressive due to it occurring without leading goalscorer Alonso Martínez at striker, nor with the always reliable Matt Freese in goal.

Hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan and producer Andrew Leigh have wondered all season where the non-Martínez goals would come from, and the win over Atlanta added to a growing body of evidence that the team's next best option in attack might be Hannes Wolf, who now leads the team in goal contributions and who could be rounding into the best form of his MLS career to date.

Our Atlanta win wrap-up also includes some more talk about Pascal Jansen's tactical creativity and flexibility, given his defensive line against Atlanta included four players you'd consider center-backs, and given that, on top of the international absentees, Jansen was also missing injured midfielder Keaton Parks.

The New York City coach has been pushing all the right buttons, and he might need to keep doing it, because following a break, we run through updates on how NYCFC's remaining international call-ups are faring, namely the two Gold Cup participants, Martínez with Costa Rica and Freese with the United States, plus Mitja Ilenič at the UEFA U21 Euros with Slovenia's U21s.

Finally, we wrap up this episode by discussing the new soccer circus that came to town in recent days: The FIFA Club World Cup. Do your hosts have growing cases of Club World Cup Fever, or is this whole thing one big mess that we'd rather not get involved with?

Listen as we dive into some of the many interesting, sometimes perplexing, sometimes infuriating angles of the Club World Cup, especially as it pertains to the three participating MLS teams and the matches taking place in our backyard at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Check out this latest episode and then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

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A very special guest on the show this week: Atlanta United FC's head coach Ronny Deila. The man who guided New York City FC to its first MLS Cup in 2021 joined us before making his first trip back to Yankee Stadium as an opponent.

We covered a lot of ground, like how Ronny feels about coming back to face NYCFC for the first time since leaving the club in 2022, what went into his departure from New York City back in 2022, and what happy memories stick out the most from his time with NYCFC, including and in addition to the biggest one, when his team won that 2021 championship.

After our conversation with Ronny wraps up, hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan and producer Andrew Leigh shift things in the direction of previewing the game Deila's team will play against Pascal Jansen's NYCFC.

Both managers will have to make tough lineup choices given the game falls right during a busy period of international games, with many Atlanta and New York City players called up and active with their national teams and likely unavailable for the rare Thursday night game. We run through all the key absentees and possible absentees on both sides of the game and attempt to guess how New York City might line up while missing key starters like Matt Freese and Alonso Martínez, to name just two.

Speaking of Matt Freese, we wrap up this episode by discussing Freese's debut with the United States men's national team in the friendly against Türkiye, and wonder if he'll see more time during the Gold Cup, especially given how bad the USMNT looked with Matt Turner in goal in the heavy loss to Switzerland.

Listen to our full Ronny Deila Episode and then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

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New York City FC hit the exact halfway point of their 2025 Major League Soccer season when they came back from down by two goals to earn a 2-2 draw with Nashville SC at GEODIS Park on Matchday 17.

Episode 41 starts with a review of the big moments from that exciting draw in Tennessee, as well as a look back at the miserable midweek home loss to Houston Dynamo FC that preceded the Nashville game.

Reflecting on the two most recent games, hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan and producer Andrew Leigh have a lot to say about the importance of Keaton Parks, Hannes Wolf's climbing goals total, and what makes the group optimistic heading into the second half of the MLS schedule despite an up-and-down opening 17 league matches.

After the break, we zoom out and take a bigger-picture look at the first half of this season for New York City FC. Andrew runs through a bunch of notable stats to emerge from the first 17 games of the MLS season, and then everyone names their first-half MVPs and discusses players they think have room for improvement in their game during the second half of the season.

Is it crazy to want to see more from Alonso Martínez, the team's leading scorer? Has Matt Freese been NYCFC's best player? We have thoughts on these exact topics, so listen to the full episode and then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

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The eight-match month of May is coming to an end and New York City FC has a chance to close out their springtime run through the gauntlet on a high note.

Chicago Fire FC proved no match for New York City on Matchday 15 at Yankee Stadium, and there's now one home and one road match left, against Houston Dynamo FC and at Nashville SC, before a much-deserved break in MLS action.

We begin Episode 40 by revisiting New York City's 3-1 win over Chicago, a topsy-turvy one that saw the Fire take an early lead but then throw the game away thanks to a Brian Gutiérrez elbow to Aiden O'Neill's face and an ensuing red card.

New York City had a man advantage most of this match but still got three different goal scorers and dominated Chicago, so hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan and producer Andrew Leigh have lots of positive thoughts on what the result said about non-Alonso Martínez attackers like Hannes Wolf, Mounsef Bakrar, Julián Fernández, and even substitute Agustín Ojeda.

Speaking of substitutes, New York City will soon need to rely on a few more of them thanks to the looming Concacaf Gold Cup, and the call-ups coming for Matt Freese from the USMNT and Alonso Martínez from Costa Rica. We go through the United States roster situation Freese faces as he joins their June training camp, and also discuss the signing of 17-year-old striker Seymour Reid to a Homegrown contract with the New York City First Team as a likely hedge against Martínez absences while with Costa Rica.

Our final segment in this episode is a double-preview of sorts, looking ahead to the midweek meeting with Houston followed by the quick turnaround on Saturday afternoon in Nashville. How will New York City handle two very different opponents, and will they end their busy May on the highest possible note?

Listen to Episode 40 to find out how we think it will go, and then find all of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

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The first Hudson River Derby of 2025 belonged to New York City FC. Their big 2-0 rivalry win over the Red Bulls provided plenty of narratives for our latest episode, which includes plenty of talk about the rivalry game at Citi Field in front of a lively crowd of 30,804 fans.

First, your hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan, plus their producer Andrew Leigh, discuss the importance of the Hudson River Derby win given the context of New York City FC's recent struggles without any goals scored in hundreds of minutes played, and given the fact that the Red Bulls knocked New York City out of the playoffs at this same stadium some months ago.

Then we're into analyzing the nuts and bolts of what was NYCFC's best performance of the season, the first game they've won all season by more than one goal, and the first time they've managed to score more than one goal since way back on March 29, a streak of eight matches. We spend time talking about that incredible early Alonso Martínez goal, strong recent play from New York City's defensive backline while anchored by Thiago Martins and Justin Haak, and what this overall showing in the highest-pressure game of the season to date tells us about the 2025 edition of New York City FC.

The Hudson River Derby sufficiently covered, we briefly discuss the news that James Sands is staying with FC St. Pauli in Germany's Bundesliga through the end of their upcoming 2025-2026 season. Among us, there's a unanimous approval for his continued stay in Germany, mixed with some concern about the severity of the ankle and leg injury that's sidelined Sands since February.

Then our attentions turn to the next NYCFC opponent, Chicago Fire FC, who enter Sunday's afternoon matinee at Yankee Soccer Stadium riding a streak of four consecutive wins across all competitions. Our preview of the Fire game also leads us into a discussion about new New York City signing Aiden O'Neill, with John particularly impressed by what the Australian midfielder has shown in his early games in MLS.

It's a loaded episode. Listen to the full show then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com. 

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All is not well with New York City FC after losing back-to-back matches against teams they were expected to beat. The positivity is lacking among our usual trio of hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan and producer Andrew Leigh following two straight 1-0 losses, first away to Pittsburgh Riverhouds SC to crash out of the US Open Cup, then at home to the previously winless CF Montréal.

Mark Radigan called the loss in Pittsburgh "one of the most frustrating games" while lamenting that a rotated New York City lineup still, on paper, looked to have enough firepower to get past the USL Championship's Riverhounds – but couldn't.

As for the match against Montréal, it left us wondering if something's up with Alonso Martínez who suddenly can't buy a goal, and if the New York City midfield can cope with the injury absence of Keaton Parks, even as Aussie Aiden O'Neill made his MLS debut.

DC United is up next for NYCFC and we preview the latest away day, including the challenges of dealing with imposing striker Christian Benteke and balancing the midweek trip to the nation's capital with the huge home game that awaits back in Queens this weekend.

Yes, the Hudson River Derby returns to Citi Field and our final segment of this episode is all about the Red Bulls and this latest chapter in the cross-river rivalry. We talk to Michael Battista, Hudson River Blue's senior writer and resident New York Red Bulls expert, who catches us up on everything new with the red side of the rivalry in 2025. How legit was that recent 7-0 blowout of the LA Galaxy, how potent is the Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Emil Forsberg attacking duo, and who will bring the spice to the table in this usually testy affair now that John Tolkin is gone?

It's a jam-packed episode that's got lots to say about four different NYCFC matches. Listen to the full show then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com. 

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New York City FC picked up their best win of their season to kick off a congested three-match week that includes a return to the US Open Cup plus a potential MLS trap game against lowly CF Montréal at Yankee Stadium.

Episode 37 starts with a deep dive into New York City's somewhat surprising yet undeniably impressive 1-0 win over a streaking FC Cincinnati team at Citi Field. We discuss some parts of the tactical chess game that played out between coaches, including Pascal Jansen making changes to his NYCFC's formation to open the match.

There's also lots to say about the early-game loss of Keaton Parks to another foot problem, as well as the goalscorer and lightning rod for both praise and criticism, Julián Fernández. Is Julián on the cusp of finally breaking out, or will he go back to being a maddeningly inconsistent hot-and-cold attacker?

With seemingly every angle of the Cincinnati match covered, we move on to talking US Open Cup and a first-ever match against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The million-dollar questions, as they usually are when NYCFC enters the Open Cup: How seriously will the team take the tournament, and how many regular fixtures in Jansen's Starting XI will we see on the pitch in Pittsburgh?

NYCFC will be the favorites in Pittsburgh and they'll definitely be favored to win when MLS play resumes over the weekend and Montréal visits the Bronx on Matchday 12. With one win over an elite Cincinnati team already in the bank, we look ahead to these two matches against lower-division Pittsburgh and struggling Montréal and wonder if this simply has to be a "three matches played, three matches won" week for New York City.

Episode 37 has all our thoughts and opinions on Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Montréal and more, so listen to the full episode and then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

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The wind was whipping in Toronto and it might have blown New York City FC in some new directions, as the team finally won a game on the road and finally made an exciting new signing for us to discuss.

Episode 36 begins with hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan and producer Andrew Leigh breaking down NYCFC's gritty, slightly boring 1-0 win over Toronto FC that came thanks to another Alonso Martínez goal, and despite gale-force winds blowing inside BMO Field in Ontario, Canada. The win was helpful and important but also didn't inspire a ton of confidence, and left us wondering when, or if, we'll see more goals and assists from players like Agustín Ojeda and Julián Fernández, and if Pascal Jansen might be considering other tweaks to his formation or to his preferred personnel after 10 games in charge.

A good time for that aforementioned Argentine duo to start scoring might be Matchday 11 when FC Cincinnati comes to Citi Field. Pat Noonan's Cincy squad is scorching hot, winners of five straight games and now sitting atop the MLS Eastern Conference table. We preview this rematch of Round One of the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs and wonder just what it will take to slow down Evander and Kèvin Denkey when they show up in Queens.

This episode wraps up with some more talk about NYCFC's newest signing, Australian midfielder Aiden O'Neill. The consensus among our hosts is that it's a breath of fresh air, or maybe a fresh gust of wind, to see the team sign a seasoned veteran to fill a roster hole, rather than roll the dice on another promising, untested youngster.

Listen for our full thoughts on O'Neill, the win in Toronto, and the match vs. FC Cincinnati, then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

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This episode of the Hudson River Blue Podcast drops the same day the MLS Primary Transfer Window closes, so our conversation is dominated by talk of New York City FC and transfers.

Before wading deep into transfer discussion, hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan and producer Andrew Leigh review New York City FC's depressing 2-0 defeat at Gillette Stadium against New England Revolution.

Nothing went well against the Revs so we've got plenty of (bad) things to cover, like failed Pascal Jansen lineup experiments, the team's continued attacking struggles when playing away from home, and whether or not NYCFC's season is already approaching or in a downward spiral.

That discussion of what went wrong in New England naturally blends into transfer talk, because the performance again highlighted glaring NYCFC weaknesses that could use addressing by way of new player signings.

Knowing what we know about New York City FC nine games into the 2025 season, and without a wave of new signings set to burst through the door on Transfer Deadline Day, we try to answer an important question: How good can this year's team really be, and what should expectations be given how little there's been in the way of incoming transfers since the summer of 2024?

That gets John Baney going on a solid rant about City Football Group and the NYCFC front office's approach to team-building and the disparities between how the team talks and acts publicly, and how they actually operate with their transactions or lack thereof.

We spend less time than usual in this episode previewing NYCFC's next match, blame the transfer deadline, but we do share our predictions for the trip across the northern border of the United States to face Toronto FC – a team with only one win this season but one, like New England, with just enough momentum and motivation to cause NYCFC problems.

Listen to the full episode and then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com.

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