Nick Cushing is prepared for a challenging fixture when his side take on CF Montréal on Wednesday.
City enjoyed a 4-2 win in their last outing against Orlando City SC and will be keen to extend their run on Wednesday when they take on Montréal at Citi Field.
Speaking to the media on Monday afternoon, Cushing confirmed his staff had applied their usual analysis process in preparation for the difficult challenge Montréal represents.
“I think first and foremost we have watched Montréal now over the last day and a half,” Cushing said.
“We've done our scout reports and all our analysis. I think Laurent has done a great job in taking a team and making them really difficult to play against,
“Obviously, in the first part of the season, they have to contend with a lot of away games, and I think he's done a great job building a team that's really well coached.
“It's going be a really difficult game for us. I think the similarities are that we're facing a team that has five in the back with two midfield players so the system is very similar.
“For us, it's about looking at previous games like Columbus Crew, those types of games where we have faced the same or similar systems and those similar types of games and using that to improve us.
“I was pleased with major parts of the Columbus game and off the back of a really positive or underperformance, I think, you know, we'll make sure that we prepare the players to play against a really difficult Montreal team.”
Cushing was also asked to reflect on the team’s current position after 20 games played.
City are currently 5th in the Eastern Conference and eager to push higher in what remains of the MLS’s regular season, with Cushing acknowledging he is pleased with huge elements of the Club’s current performances.
“It's a really tough question to answer because it's a good question,” he said.
“As the coach, you have a huge desire to be better all the time and to be one place higher than you're currently in.
“I'm pleased with huge elements of the performances. I’m pleased with the development of the team in the sense of how we develop the attacking mentality, and how our defensive strategies are all around attacking and creating goal chances.
“We’ve given ourselves an opportunity to continue to push hard and solidify our league position.
“Wednesday is another great opportunity because not all the teams play so it's a chance to make up some ground on some teams above us and push away from some teams below us.
“I say all the time to the group, I really believe with the individuals that we have in in the group and with the potential that we have in the group.
"What we want to achieve is down to us, we can achieve whatever we want to achieve, but we have to be humble and honest and we have to keep our feet on the floor and continue to work.”
