New York City FC head coach Pascal Jansen is focused on enhancing the team’s consistency and attacking prowess as they prepare to face Atlanta United this weekend.
City heads to Georgia riding a three-game unbeaten streak, most recently earning a goalless draw against the Columbus Crew. Determined to build on that momentum, Jansen acknowledged the fresh challenge his side will face at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"We're always looking for ways to win games and stay in the game," he said. "Columbus obviously was a very tough game for us, especially the level that we brought to the game. Losing Keaton Parks within the first half hour had a huge impact.
"Now, we have to quickly shift our focus to another serious contender, Atlanta, in an away game that presents a different kind of challenge.
"Playing on the road has been a key area for us to improve, and these are the moments where we need to show that we can establish a level of consistency throughout the season."
Jansen also discussed the evolving role of the team’s wingers. Alonso Martínez leads the team in goals this season, with wide players Julián Fernández and Hannes Wolf close behind. Speaking on the role of wide players in his system, Jansen expressed his belief that the wingers can attack in multiple ways.
"It's something that we're trying to add to our game, into our play style, being aware of which areas we can expose weaknesses in the opponent," he explained.
"We have wingers who are strong in 1v1 situations but can also challenge defenders by making runs in behind."
City are still looking for a first road win of the 2025 season, and are hopeful that after two draws, they can pick up all three points on Saturday.
"We’ve had a few games now to see how we perform on the road. I think we did an okay job in Miami," he admitted. "In general, I thought our possession was off in Columbus, which made us defend more than we would have liked.
"If the dynamics of a game go that way, you have to deal with it and make sure that you stay in the game, and that's what we did overall. But we would have liked a different game in Columbus; that’s quite clear."
