New York City FC midfielder Andrew Jacobson is targeting victory against Brondby on Sunday, but warned it isn’t about winning at any price.
The 29-year-old has assured fans he always wants to emerge victorious from any game, but is keen to achieve that by playing the possession-based style preached by head coach Jason Kreis.
Jacobson and his teammates have been working hard at training camp to adopt the coach’s ideas and philosophies, and he is confident the team won’t abandon those principles on match day.
“We always want to win and will always go out to win,” Jacobson said. “But I think right now in our development we also want to win in the right way. We don’t want to go out there and just lump balls in behind and squeeze out a victory. We want to do it by playing our game, establishing our style and pressing in the way we want to press.”
New York City FC laid down an early marker with a 2-0 victory over Scottish Premiership side St Mirren on Tuesday at City Football Academy, but players and staff are seeking continued improvement ahead of the Club’s first-ever game in Major League Soccer on March 8 at Orlando City SC.
“The main aim is for us to keep growing in all aspects of our game,” Jacobson said. “I thought it was a good performance last match, but I think there are things we can be better at. I think we can be better with the ball and we can be better defensively. The idea right now is to keep getting better with each match and each practice. We just want to keep moving forward and try our best not to move backwards in any way.”
Sunday’s match sees the team face off against one of the most well-known names in Scandinavian football. Brondby have won the Danish Championship 10 times in their history, have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and the quarterfinals of the European Cup.
Currently in the middle of a winter break, the team is nonetheless in the heart of their regular season and are likely to provide tough opposition for Kreis’ men in terms of fitness.
Jacobson, who spent the latter half of last season on loan in Norway, believes it will present a challenge but he’s determined to focus on his own team and not the opposition.
“They’re a fantastic team and we don’t expect an easy match,” he said. “They’re in mid-season form so they’re going to be flying and fitness won’t be an issue for them but we’re not worrying about that. We’re going to worry about what we can take care of and that’s us building as a team and playing well and defending well.
“What we do every day is to ensure we’re ready for the match and it’s a great feeling to finally walk out on the field.”
However, Jacobson is quick to point out that fans in both New York and Manchester have played a big part in making his early experiences with the team even better, and are making the preseason friendlies even more special.
“It always makes it a little easier to get up for games when you have fans chanting for you,” he said. “It was great to see so many fans watching us here in Manchester and all of those who watched online back in the States. It’s amazing to see and hear all the support we have, even before the season actually starts. We’re really grateful.”
