Santiago Rodríguez and Richy Ledezma believe there is more to come from their exciting partnership, with the pair developing their on-field connection week by week.
The midfield duo have played key roles in New York City’s four-game unbeaten run since joining up with the squad in March, helping the Boys in Blue to back-to-back home victories over Nashville SC and FC Dallas.
Rodríguez bagged a brace in Saturday’s triumph over The Hoops, while Ledezma marked his first MLS start with an assist against the Tennessee side, and the two City stars say there is still room for improvement.
“It is great,” Star of the Match Rodríguez said of playing alongside his American counterpart. “We could always play together. He is a similar player to me.
“He has a lot of qualities that are similar to mine, and we feel very comfortable playing together.”
Ledezma, who lined up for his fifth NYCFC appearance, was equally complimentary of his Uruguayan teammate, hailing Rodríguez an ‘amazing’ player.
“Defensively, we were practicing in training, and me and Santi work really well together defensively,” he echoed.
“Offensively, I think we still have a little bit of work to do because I know we could score a lot more goals tonight.
“Other than that, I like playing with Santi. He’s an amazing player – you saw it: two goals – and you know when he’s feeling himself, he’s feeling himself.
“I’m happy for him, and we keep going.”
Rodríguez’s double saw the midfielder move top of City’s goalscoring charts for 2023, before Talles Magno drew level with the third of the game against Dallas.
The Uruguayan admitted he has had to adapt his role, but asserts he can see the benefits of the positional switch.
“I honestly had doubts about the position that Nick [Cushing] chose for me,” he explained. It is a bit different to what I am used to.
“I felt uncomfortable the first couple of minutes and more than anything, I felt frustrated in terms of not having the ball.
“After that, I started to adapt more into the game, and that served me well to get the two goals.”
Meanwhile, Ledezma is increasing his gametime each week, as he settles into life at NYCFC, completing 64 minutes of Saturday's win.
Developing his fitness and form, he is already becoming an important cog in the City machine, and feels he is thriving in his new environment.
“I feel good,” he continued. “I think I could have gone a little bit longer but it’s the coach's decision. I know he did it for a reason – to take care of me because I haven’t started a game in a while.
“He really wants me to push for those 90 minutes, and I’m working really hard in training to get that done.
“I like it here. It feels like home already. I love New York. I'd never been to New York. This is actually the first time I’m really here, and I'm enjoying it so far for sure.”
With NYCFC unbeaten at home so far in 2023, winning three of our four games, including the last two on the bounce, both Rodríguez and Ledezma spoke of their love of playing on home soil.
However, Cushing’s side now face a four-game away stretch, and Ledezma insists the squad are working hard to take their impressive recent form on the road.
“We have to keep training hard, and getting the team chemistry together, and working every day with each other and helping each other,” he stated.
“I think we have to take that on away games to take some points away on the road.”
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