New York City Defender Malte Amundsen says the squad are relishing the chance to set the season back on track.
The Boys in Blue welcome D.C. United to Red Bull Arena on Wednesday night, looking to return to winning ways following Sunday’s frustrating last-gasp defeat to Orlando City.
Amundsen says the team are ready to put the disappointment behind them and issue a statement of intent, as Nick Cushing’s side look to end the season strongly, with a heavy fixture schedule offering the opportunity to build momentum quickly.
“We all really want to play and we’re eager and hungry to go out and show that we want to win football games,” the defender declared.
“We were used to that and this is what we want so having a lot of games right now is nice because we come off a worse stretch than what we want and we’re able to change it very quickly.
“We’re looking forward to going onto the period coming now with a lot of games.
“We have a good environment here. We work hard so the togetherness is something we just have here.
“People bond well together and we work hard. We look at the difficult times and we look at the good times we had, and that getting together – people liking each other – helps a lot with good connections within the team.”
While Amundsen, who has started 20 MLS games in 2022, admits the Pigeons’ recent run of form and uncharacteristic shipping of goals has been a cause of frustration, he adds the squad are aware of what they need to do to eradicate the errors.
“With the effort we put in the games, we’re doing well but of course, we’ve conceded too many goals and that leads to not having the results we want,” he stated.
“We’ve been giving up too many goals and going forward, it is the small details we’ve got to focus on.
“We’ve got to change some things. ‘Stay focused and stay together’ is what has been said and this is what we aim to do throughout the whole game.
“This could be the way we want to control the game with and without the ball in terms of how we press, how the backline and the two sixes are connected to the backline off the ball, how the winger and the full-back work together… Something like that, something Nick is very big on that we do better.
“We need results as of the moment right now. 100%, we will try our best to change that. We know it’s a difficult moment but we can change the situation, starting off with a win [on Wednesday].”
