NYCFC Falls Out of Playoff Picture After Loss to Inter Miami
Despite a winless streak and dropping below the postseason cutline, head coach Pascal Jansen indicates the team will not alter its approach.
New York City FC has fallen out of the Major League Soccer playoff picture following a 2-0 road loss to Inter Miami, a team led by Lionel Messi. The defeat, coupled with a previous loss to Chicago, has placed NYCFC outside the postseason qualification spots with only five matches remaining in the regular season.
Despite the team's current struggles, head coach Pascal Jansen stated that the club does not plan to change its fundamental approach to game planning. "That is assuming we don’t do this as a staff going into every game," Jansen said. "We do that when we make our plans and try to put a winning team out there every game. So that makes no difference going into the stretch of five that is that remains to be played."
NYCFC has not secured a victory since mid-September, when they defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0. This win stands as their sole regular-season triumph since the Leagues Cup break in August, and the team has seen numerous leads diminish in the second half of matches.
In Wednesday's game against Inter Miami, the home team established their lead in the first half. Germán Berterame scored following effective ball movement by Miami, and Rodrigo De Paul extended the lead with a strike past NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese in first-half stoppage time.
Adding to NYCFC's difficult stretch, Nicolás Fernández Mercau had a penalty kick saved in the second half's stoppage time, which would have broken Inter Miami's shutout.
"It remains a very bad stretch and you can see the confidence in the team is a little weaker at the moment, which is something that is explainable given the stretch we’re in," Jansen acknowledged. "But [our] strengths and weaknesses, I don’t think they have either been more exposed or become different throughout the stretch, that is something I don’t believe."