Nick Cushing believes his side must play with an attacking mentality in order to return to winning ways.
New York City FC host Orlando City SC at Yankee Stadium on Friday night hoping to end a run of three games without a win.
Before that run City had lost just once in 11 games dating back to late March, and with Cushing keen to see his side climb the table, he believes a return to their attacking mentality is the key to achieving success.
“We have to brush it off,” he said of the recent defeats.
“I think it's been a really good opportunity. We’re frustrated with the results and 100% not content, but it's been a good opportunity to really feel and see when we're good and when we win, and also when we're not so good and why we don't win.
“I think ultimately, the two things we've been good at has been the intensity that we play at and the amount of attacking football and chances that we've created - whether it be at home at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field, or away in Toronto, Philly, or the games where we went on the road and won.
“We’ve definitely seen the not-so-good side of us and now we're really clear on how we play and win.
“The intensity comes from our ability to attack games. When we don't create goal chances and when I get the datasheet from the performance analysis team and I see expected goals at 0.6 and 0.8 it is a really good marker of a team that isn't attacking in the way that we have before.
“That’s a really quick fix for us. We've got to work hard, we've got to apply ourselves properly, and we've got to play with ambition and a real attacking mentality."
He went on to add: “I think our best form of defending is attacking. I think the start of the game is critical for us.
“When you look at the Charlotte game, even though we went 1-0 down we have the first attack in the game [and then win 2-1].
“Red Bull, we score straightaway. Those are the games where we're on the front foot and we're creating chances and we're playing attacking football and we've got an attacking mentality.
“I do think in the Nashville game and the LA game our high pressure was excellent. Our ability to recover the ball and regain the ball in offensive areas from defending moments was good, we just didn’t create enough.
“We know Orlando are a top team. I had the ability to watch the Chicago game, the hour before our game. I was watching some moments and that front four is excellent.
“They have really sharp attackers, but the best form of defending for us is going in and being attacking again.”
Cushing also confirmed that the starting spot for the striker position is still up for grabs between Alonso Martínez, Jovan Mijatović, and Mounsef Bakrar.
Bakrar was handed the start last time out against Nashville SC, but all three men have at some stage been handed starts this season, with Cushing revealing the Club’s culture is helping foster a healthy fight for starting spots.
“I think our culture here is excellent so we can carry the intensity in the locker room of guys fighting for position and places,” he said.
“It's competitive. Of those three guys, Alonso Martinez has put numbers up, but he’s had opportunities, Jovan has been in and out, and Mounsef has probably had the bulk of the minutes this season.
“We're encouraging them. We're working with them. We're developing these guys because the team needs a guy to put some numbers up.
“That's ongoing and we're looking at nailing down that position.”
