Nick Cushing believes his side has plenty of opportunities to achieve their goal of improvement in what remains of the season.
New York City FC are back in MLS action this weekend after their Leagues Cup campaign came to an end against Columbus Crew.
City will welcome the Chicago Fire to Citi Field this weekend with the hope of recording a ninth home win of the campaign. Three points would pull City level with their points total from last season with a number of games still to play.
Eager to surpass every benchmark City set last season, Cushing expressed his belief that the team could show clear improvement with good performances in the games that remain.
“I think what we've done is - throughout the season – we’ve set ourselves markers that we believe will give us a solid league position,” he said.
“For us, it's about showing the improvement and having the hunger and the desire and the ambition to be better than we've been and that starts with last season.
“The level was far too low. The achievement was below standard. Originally we had the marker of 11 wins. We eclipsed that on game 21.
“We then had the marker of 36 goals. We equaled last season's goals scored total against Orlando in game 25. Now there are many opportunities for us.
“We're on 38 points. We had 41 points last year. We went against Chicago. We equaled last year's points with eight games in in the pocket.”
He later added: “So the team is well aware that these small milestones, achieving them, week by week, is going to solidify our league position.
“Having the ambition and the hunger to achieve these, starting with 41 points on Saturday, gives us the ability to move on to the next moment.”
Chicago are still in with a shout of being part of the playoffs and will be eager to secure a victory on Saturday. A win for Frank Klopas’ side, along with positive results elsewhere, could slingshot Chicago up the league, with Cushing not taking his next opponent lightly for that very reason.
“I think Chicago are a really difficult team to play against,” he said.
“We experienced that when we played at Soldier Field, whether they play five in the back or four in the back.
“I have huge respect for Frank Klopas because his team is improving every week. They have a lot of dangerous players.
“Hugo Cuypers, Brian Gutiérrez – a top young player – they added Kellyn Acosta a top midfield player, and in Ariel Lassiter they added a dynamic quick winger.
“We're going to have to be at our best because we know that everybody is fighting for position, everybody is trying to add points and Chicago Fire are a really difficult team to play against."
