Earlier this afternoon, New York City FC Head Coach Pascal Jansen held his first press conference of the 2026 season, speaking via Zoom while the club are in preseason training in Tampa, FL. Jansen answered a broad range of topics, from his evolving relationship with new Sporting Director Todd Dunivant, to Academy product Drew Baiera's emergence as a replacement for Mitja Ilenič, to his request that the club find another No 9.
Here are seven takeaways from the media roundtable.
Note: The following statements were edited for length and clarity.
1. Holes to fill in the roster at defense, No 9
Well, as every transfer window, there's a possibility that players might come in or might leave. Justin [Haak] made a decision to leave us, and that is his right to do that. We wish him all the best in LA for us.
We already anticipated a few things because we knew Justin was going to be out of a contract at a certain point in time, so that's when we brought in Raul Gustavo, who can play left-center, back, and left fullback.
I also put in a request with the board in order to think about a possibility to bring in a player that might suit that profile of what Justin brought to the back four. So that is something we're still looking into. But other than that, we have all positions occupied. Mitja obviously is gone on loan, but we have one of our talented kids, Drew Baiera, come into the roster of the First Team, and he is competing with Tayvon at the moment. So everything looks quite comfortable.
Alonso is injured, obviously, and we've started our pre-season. So we have Seymour Reid as a young talent, dealing with that position. Once Alonso got injured, we played in the playoffs with Nico Mercau in that position.
But it's our desire and our wish to find somebody with the perfect profile to come and support this dressing room again. So, this is one of the other requests that I had brought to the board and to the CEO and the sporting director, to look into the possibilities to bring in a new No 9 as well.
And that's looking good so far. We're in the process, and hopefully we can move soon.
2. Working with the Toddfather
Well, the general thought is very positive. Todd [Dunivant] came in, obviously, from Sacramento in a similar job, but coming to an MLS franchise like New York City FC, that is something different. So we also have to allow Todd to adapt, and we are all there to support him.
Me and my staff, obviously, but also everybody in each role is willing to help Todd whenever he needs to be helped out. So that is something that I've seen. Over the past few weeks, Todd has been very open, very curious about several things going on within our club.
And like I said, just now, we try to help him to the best we can in order to get acquainted with everything and adapt as soon as possible. But it's nothing else other than positive.
Obviously, there was a different relationship with David Lee because he was the one who did all the research in order to get me involved in this project in the first place.
David is doing a great job now in Kansas, and Todd has walked into our building, which means we have to establish a new relationship because we didn't know each other before Todd came to work for us. The daily situation is something that I would describe as something that has to go organic and in a very natural and relaxed way.
So, he asks a lot of questions. He's very interested in who I am, what I've done. Obviously, he's seen how we have performed last season. He has an impression of me as a coach. He was curious about a few things. We've sat a couple of times already and chatted about a million things. And the same goes for me because I'm curious about Todd and what he's done before, and what drives him, and what he expects from all of us, and what he is trying to add to our organization to become even more successful.
Those are very interesting conversations. Now, in a period like preseason, it gives you even more time because you're on the road with each other. You sit in the hotel, you have your training sessions, you have your preparations, you have your conversations about roster building and all kinds of stuff.
Being here together, this close, helps to create the relationship that we need in order to go forward.
Hudson River Blue Staff
3. Planning to play the kids (again)
It's quite a big group, so I won't go through all of them, but the kids that made a good impression last season, obviously, were Jonny Shore, Seymour Reid, Máximo Carrizo picked up at a certain point. They all returned really well, very competitive again in training.
And as I mentioned just now, Drew Baiera is going be part of our roster now since Mitja left. So that has opened up a pathway for Drew as well. He came back very solid, very strong, very motivated, and is very competitive at the moment in training. So, it looks good. It looks pretty decent with the youngsters.
And, there are a few college kids that came in and trying to present themselves as positively as possible. So, we're looking into several situations now, but the ones I mentioned, they're doing perfectly fine.
Mark Radigan
4. Roads to recovery for Keaton, Malachi, Andrés
Keats is doing well, step by step. Sometimes it's a big step, sometimes it's a smaller step, but he's doing really well.
Malachi has been out of the game just a little bit longer, so there have been some minor issues, but the medical staff is taking good care of him. Sometimes we have to hit the brake just a little bit more, be a little bit more patient. For both players, we're not in a rush. We have to make sure that they fit in, and stay in the program so they can add their qualities and personality to the group again.
Andrés is a different story. Obviously, he got hurt in the game against Charlotte, had surgery, but it's going really, really well. He's slightly ahead of schedule, and he's very motivated in his rehab now, in order to challenge the medical staff and make sure that they are on their toes, and doing the best they can in order to help him get ready.
So, it's looking good, but we have to be aware of setbacks, or other things that might occur. But it's looking good, and hopefully you keep this up.
5. New York City FC's objectives, identity
One of our main ingredients within how our culture works and how work on a daily basis: The word is energy, and the team has come in very energetic. Every training session so far has satisfied me in a big way. Also, the new kids coming in, they understand what is demanded, and they try to do just that every day.
But it also goes for the staff. So, for me, it's a different approach, of course, because when I came to the club in January '25, I didn't really know what to expect in certain areas. But that is different this year, and allows us to raise the bar again because the compliments are there for last season, but the reality is it's only it's only an impression so far. There were no end results, if that makes any sense. So that is something that we're going try to do better this year. And it all starts with the energy that everybody has to bring to the team.
It's very clear that once you're part of New York City FC, that the goal or the objective is to be part of the playoffs. So that is the goal every season. That doesn't change, even though we don't have the four key players available who were in the squad last season. That doesn't change.
The challenges for this season? Some are the same, some have changed. If you look at the away stretch, which was an item before I came, it is something that we did quite well in last season, but it doesn't give you any guarantees for the coming season. So, I'm looking forward to seeing new challenges come to the horizon.
But there will be a few challenges that will be similar to last season. Our main goal is to be better than we were last season. So, it's not always about the challenges ahead, it's also about challenging yourself in order to be better than we were before. And that is the biggest challenge that we control ourselves.
Hudson River Blue Staff
6. Lessons learned
I think the biggest lesson and the biggest takeaway [from last year] is that we were on the right pathway throughout the season. You could see that the team was growing game by game in the final stage of the season.
We were still very competitive. And that brought us all the way to the [Eastern Conference] Final. As I mentioned, there were no prizes won at the end of the journey last season, so that is something that we'll try to do better this season. But we're convinced that we have taken the right road, and heading in the right direction to be successful and stay competitive again this season.
However, there are a few things that have changed, even though I know the majority of the players knew what to expect when this preseason was about to start. The team has had to replace four key players that are not available anymore for several reasons. So it's a good opportunity during preseason to make sure that we find the right rhythm again, get everybody to play in their best role and their best strength in order to be a better team '26.
The games against Charlotte and the game against Philadelphia [were my proudest moments]. Given the fact that we were dealing with some severe setbacks, losing a couple of players with severe injuries, and the team's resilience after, and the way they adapted to the new ideas that we had to implement during those games, and how we prepared for those games.
That made me very proud because that is something that I've been preaching from day one, that we have to be flexible and adapt to situations quickly, learn fast, and still be very competitive, and try to be successful. So, in those two games, those were proud moments to be honest.
Hudson River Blue Staff
7. Not sweating what the pundits say
I wasn't aware about the ideas from last season, and I'm not aware of the current situation going into '26. It's something that I leave to the experts and the pundits to discuss, and from our end, we just focus on, like we said, last season.
And that is the same. I'm going tell you guys now, going forward into this season, we are trying to build a very competitive roster in order to challenge top teams and go for trophies and be very successful. That was the idea going into last season. That was one of the reasons why I chose to go and enjoy this project, and that is still one of the reasons why I believe '26 is a season where we can be even more successful.
But a few things will remain the same. As I mentioned just now, replacing four key players from the team that we had last season is a challenge for us. But, we're all working very hard behind the scenes in order to get that job done and then go into the '26 season with a lot of confidence that we can be successful again, and hopefully more successful than in '25.
Oliver Strand
