NYCFC Sporting Director David Lee Pre Season Press Conference 2-4-25

Hey Mr. Lee, how are you? Happy New Year, Scott Church in Stream Punk Soccer

Talk a little bit about the decision to go away from coach Cushing and go in the direction of

Pascal Johnson and where you see 2025 going. Thank you. Yeah, hey Scott, Happy New Year

So I think, you know, as we get to the end of every season, I think there's a natural

point to evaluate where we are as an organization, where we are as a club

and most importantly how we see what we think is the best path to move the organization forward

in the coming years and so you know as we ended the the 2024 season um you know as we evaluate

everything as we do all the time we felt like there was there would be an opportunity if we were to

make a change at head coach that we could see an improved performance level and we could maybe see

some some improvement also in the development of some of our young players which ultimately will

also help us win more games and hopefully show a little bit more consistency than we saw in the

2024 season. So, you know, then once we made that decision, we felt like it was

the right thing to do was to make that decision as quickly as we possibly could at the end of

the season to then give us enough opportunity to go through an extensive coaching search

to make sure that we could bring the best candidate forward. And we're really pleased

that we were able to get Pascal appointed and hired and able to start working with the group

early into the preseason. Chris? Hey, David. Chris Cameron from the outfield

I'm kind of expanding on that. You mentioned the coaching search that ended with the hire of Pascal

Can you kind of talk into how that search went along, how Pascal was identified

and ultimately, who made the decision to hire him? Yeah, so, you know

part of the work of, I think, any sporting director is to always be aware of potential opportunities

So even though you're hopefully never in the need to make coaching changes

coaches can need to be changed because similar to maybe when Ronnie left

and because they get recruited from another club. And so part of our work is to constantly monitor coaches

And so Pascal was somebody that actually been on our radar from City Football Group for a very long time

And so we hadn't had any conversations with him, but he was somebody that from his profile

we felt like was really interesting given what he'd done at AZ Alkmaar in terms of his performance on the pitch, his development of young talent

the style of football that he played. And so once we made the decision to part ways with Nick

we then went to our database of coaches that we'd been tracking and following

And then we went through obviously getting a lot of inbound interest in the role

given who we are in MLS and being part of the City Football Group

was really attractive to an awful lot of candidates. And then we went through shortlisting from there

Pascal was part of that process as somebody that we felt like would be interesting to speak to

It's important to say that Pascal was in a really good job prior to coming to New York and was in a good job

And so we wanted to make sure that this was something that he really wanted to do

And I was really pleased and proud after we'd spoken to him and had those conversations that moving to New York

and being part of New York City FC was something that he was just as interested in doing

as we were interested in bringing him to the club. And so ultimately that decision is mine

It's my job to make a recommendation to both City Football Group on the football technical side and then our ownership group

We have an immense amount of support and collaboration from City Football Group

So the interview process is run collaboratively between both New York and City Football Group

because we work so closely together. But ultimately then, you know, as we go through that process

it's incumbent upon me to make a recommendation to City Football Group and to our owners

of the direction that I think we should go. Alex Windley? Hi, David. This is Alex Windley from AM New York

When you first hired Pascal, what stood out to you the most about his coaching philosophy

and leadership style, and what made him the right fit for NYCFC right now

Thank you. Yeah, so I think there were a number of factors that made Pascal interesting

And so, you know, as we went into this coaching search, we tried to be really clear on some of the criteria that we were going to look for in a potential head coach

And probably to summarise those, it was, you know, we feel like we've got a really talented group of players

that we think is going to be can be competitive to win trophies over the coming years

And so we wanted a head coach to add experience and experience winning. and Pascal's got that in his prior jobs

We have assembled a roster that has a lot of young talent

but also talent that we think can improve and develop. And so we wanted also to find somebody that had trust and faith

in playing young players, wanted to develop young talent as part of a winning philosophy

And again, Pascal, the track record Pascal in young player development is outstanding, in particular AZ Alkmaar

and the number of players that left AZ Alkmaar to play in the highest levels in Europe is something that was also really attractive for us

And then third, from a characteristic side, was the style of play

We assembled a roster We have a way of playing that we believe from ownership group all the way down that we would like a New York City FC team to play And we think it really important that any head coach is philosophically aligned to those to those ideals

I will say that, you know, every head coach we've had from Patrick to Domei to to Ronnie, Kush and now Pascal

there's always slight slight tweaks in style. And those things come come out as we learn about the coach and as they get used to the players and they put their demands on the players

But I think, you know, philosophically, we want to be a team that controls the game by possession, which means we're going to need to be aggressive out of possession

We want to create chances and score lots of goals. And so, you know, for us, Pascal has proven to play in a style that is similar to what we would like to see in our team

And so that felt like there was a really good overlap and mesh from that perspective as well

And then you mentioned leadership style. Head coach is the most important person in the building

Here I am at CFA every single day, and he needs to set the tone for the environment

And I think Pascal, again, has got almost 200 games of experience

of running a team, and he's got a really good demeanor with the players

He's really demanding. He has really high standards, but equally you know he's got a really good feel and a way to want to get to know the players and

be close to the players and understand them as people which we believe is also I know Pascal

believes as well is really critical to maximizing their development. We're going to go in the room

Glenn. Hey David, Glenn Crooks. So every one of your responses you talk about young players and

their development so I would imagine as you're evaluating your head coach that's going to be

something you look at specifically, but the players that come to mind are Julian Fernandez

Augustino Heda, Ilyich, and maybe Biotovic if he comes back. So are you looking at maybe how

those players in particular develop? I think we're looking at how the whole roster develops

to be totally honest. There's a focus on young players. Of course, we have assembled and we've

acquired what we believe is a group of really talented young players. I think you didn't

mention you know Maximo Carrizos, Adan Yanez, Johnny Shaw, Drew Baiera that are produced from

the academy and are just as important that we maximize their development as well and but I

think you know it is all within the context of you know this is our approach to how we believe

we can be most successful by winning you know we want to win trophies and we believe part of that

strategy from our ownership and from everybody connected with New York City and City Football

Group is to do that via developing young talent the better players you can develop the more chance

you are of winning games of football. And so developing players is a core component for us

and absolutely will be part of how a head coach is assessed

is through the work that they do and how they develop all of the players that are in the squad

not just the young players, because more senior players can develop as well

But that is a core focus of what we need our coaching environment

to look like is how those players are going to improve because we're almost never going to sign perfectly finished players

and they're going to need to improve and develop. And that's something that we are looking forward to seeing

during this season and beyond. We'll go with Oliver. Hi, thank you

This is Oliver Strand with Hudson River Blue. You've been pretty quiet this transfer window

That's in contrast to the winter window last year when you were quite active

And then in the summer, you were quite quiet again. And what can we expect this transfer window

Will there be some incoming players? Yeah, we certainly expect so. I think part of the maybe slow or quiet, as you described it, is, you know, one thing we want to do is we want to give Pascal an opportunity to work with a group

You know, in MLS, it doesn't make sense to acquire players that then block the pathway of somebody that might emerge as somebody really important for Pascal

And so, you know, we've obviously been looking at players and we have targets in mind and the window is still open for quite a long time for us right now

So we certainly anticipate signing players before the close of the window. But I do think, you know, in my experience, having gone through a couple of coaching changes as sporting director

there are always players that emerge when you change a head coach that become really important players that maybe you hadn't expected

And similarly, there are players that maybe had a really important role under a previous head coach that may not under the new head coach

And so trying to give Pascal the opportunity to work with a group and get his feel for the players and ultimately try and also get some experience in MLS and get a better feel for that, I think is an important part

we've got a pretty complete squad you know we've lost um you know in terms of really important

players that or players that played maybe significant minutes last season uh we've had

obviously james depart um we had christian mcfarlane we had jovan uh leave and so we've got um out of

those players we've got three open roster spots as it stands right now um and so you know we still

have quite a full roster when you look at look at it in totality um and so we're trying to be

really strategic with making sure that the additions that we do make are the players that

are going to come in and improve what we think is already a strong a strong and deep overall roster

we'll go with michael andrew hey dave it mike andrew from blue city radio thanks for the time uh jovan time Jovan Mijatovic loan seemed kind of abrupt Can you just tell us your side of the story of what happened there

Yeah, I think it probably wasn't abrupt from our side. We had an honest conversation with Jovan at the end of last season

I think it's quite clear that the year didn't go how Jovan expected, how we expected last season

and those things are unfortunately part of the life in professional sports

and it didn't work last season how we all hoped it would when we signed Jovan

There are a lot of factors involved in that, but ultimately Jovan is a 19-year-old boy still with a huge amount of potential

and my job is to try to make sure that we ensure that he has a pathway

to continue developing. And so we had to look at our roster and say, OK, do we really see him playing, you know, starting the season as our number nine based on where we were at the end of last season

And probably the answer to that was no, given the work, given how well Alonso had done at the end of last season

And so therefore it became maybe it made sense for I think for all parties to try to find a solution that will enable him to play more regular football

And so, you know, we think this opportunity in Leuven is a good one for him

It's a loan through the summer so he can get adjusted and adapted. I think it's also fair to say that Jovan expressed an interest to be back in Europe as well

It's his first time moving away from home. For a 19-year-old, those things are not easy

And in particular right now, I think there's a desire. And of course, we all want the instant success

And we do have to remember sometimes these are young men, young people

And we've got to help support them on their journey and development

And so we felt like it was the right thing to try to give him a platform where he maybe had a better chance of playing more regularly

We've invested significant money in him. We still believe he has an absolutely fantastic future and potential in world football

And our job now is to try to help him on the next steps in his journey. We felt like a loan would be the right situation, maybe not hugely dissimilar to the decision that we took last summer when Talas Magno wasn't playing significantly for us

trying to find a situation where he could go and play. And so far, that's been a good thing for him in Brazil

to get those minutes and get that opportunity to get himself going again after a little period of stagnation

And it's probably similar to how we felt with Jovan. We're going to go with Adam and then back to Glenn in the room

Hey, David, this is Adam with Post and ID. Can you just speak a bit to how you and the club

measure the success of a manager both on the field and beyond? Yeah, I think, you know, essentially we're trying to take into account absolutely everything that happens

And that's a difficult, maybe too broad of an answer. But, you know, the environment of the training ground, the work that we do, the connection that a coach has with the players, with the staff, of course, results are a critical part of that

In my opinion, I felt like we were a really inconsistent group last year

and we saw periods of what was an absolutely top performing group in MLS

particularly that period April-May where we won eight of nine. I said to a few people, we got 24 points in those nine matches

between in April and May, and we got 26 points in the other 24 matches

in the whole season, or 25 matches in the whole season. So that was just a sign of real inconsistency

And so that results are absolutely part of it. And I just believe that until we're trying to take into account all of those factors

And there is a there is a soft side. There is a gut feel. There is a an environmental factor that you can only really sense and feel if you're in the environment every single day

And you try and take all of that into account. You try and take into account the resources that they've had available

So, you know, in 2023, we did not make the playoffs, but we didn't change head coach at the end of that season because we know that we were going through a period of rebuilding that team

And, you know, and we didn't feel like that was the right decision at that point when we accumulate, when we considered all of those factors

And as we made that decision at the end of 2024, we came to a different conclusion. David I wonder what your feeling is about this new cash for player trades within the league and

you talked about you have three open roster spots and you anticipate you might sign a player or

players before the close of the window do you think this will be a factor at all and what do

you think of it I think it's a great great development I actually think it's one of

the bigger rule changes that MLS has seen in the last few years

I don't think that we collectively as a league will see the full effect of the rule change

and probably for another window or two as teams get familiar with it

I think we're all still learning exactly how it works because it's been implemented a little bit on the fly

But obviously already started to see some transactions happening with it. So I think the biggest thing was in MLS

there was essentially a group of players that were completely unobtainable to move inside MLS

because you could only trade your allocation money and every team has a limited pot of allocation

money. Now you can open the door to essentially recruit from inside MLS that really was quite

challenging before to assess the right value, how much allocation money you had. And now being able

to use cash for those players I think it opens up obviously possibility for DP investments and acquiring DPs from other teams Potentially that was not possible before because those values you

could never acquire with GAM. But I also think it opens up possibilities for players within the

salary cap as well. So we'll certainly explore it. We're certainly looking at it to see if there's a

right fit within the league. Obviously there's a benefit to those players being able to come in

ready to go, experience with the league already. But ultimately we still want to find the right

value to be able to bring those players into the group. Alec

Hey, David. Good to speak to you again. Alec Koss off Five Bro Footy, who gave me my questions a little bit long-winded

Recently on the American Soccer ytics podcast, the head of FC Dallas spoke about

U22 signings being amongst the most difficult signings to make just based on ytics

I would say NYCFC has had successes and failures as it pertains to first team minutes for these signings

So I wanted to ask generally, what is NYCFC's strategy as it pertains to these signings

And specifically, do you see them more as an immediate impact investment or more long-term investment

Yeah, good question. And so when you acquire any young talent, there is inherently, in my opinion, slightly more risk because young people develop at different rates

And so there is slightly more risk associated with signing younger players

So I probably wouldn't disagree with the sentiment that U22s can be risky investments

I think there also can be huge positives and upsides to those players, you know, and the opportunity to develop a young player, to sign a player that previously probably you wouldn't have been able to afford or you wouldn't have been able to afford in a salary cap now is available to you with the U22 initiative

that opens up a group of players to acquire that you hope and you believe can improve and develop and become even more important players for you over the longer term

So our strategy is we want to acquire the best talent that we possibly can using as many roster mechanisms and using as much financial resources as I'm given to be able to spend between the discretionary investments possible

to try to bring as many good players. And we do believe, and I would say probably sort of philosophically

organizationally, from City Football Group, you know, across the group we believe in acquiring and developing young talent

And so the U22 initiative is a way that we believe that you can acquire

good young talent, develop it, and ultimately that can help you on the pitch

and it can help you from a business perspective in generating revenue

for our business that I'm also asked to do each year. And so that's something that we believe is an important avenue

Of course, there is elements of risk with any signing, but maybe slightly more so when you talk about young players

But it's our job to do the work and due diligence to try to reduce that risk as much as we possibly can

And as you say, there's been some really good successes with some of those players already. I believe we have two really, really, really talented U22 players in our roster right now in Huli and Agustin

And I believe hopefully we'll see we'll see important roles for them coming up this season

Final question. We'll go with Matt. Hey, David, Matt, Megan Hudson River Blue

Of course, you mentioned the team. Pretty much all the players are turning the starters from last year, except for James Sands, you could say

So what's the general expectation for Pascal in his first year with this team, just in MLS and Leeds Cup and everything else

Yeah, so, you know, I think expectation that we discussed with Pascal, you know, our organization expectation is to be competitive

to win as many times as much as we possibly can and as many competitions as possible

We know in MLS that's not easy. You know, I use the I've said this to the staff repeatedly, but, you know

the last three MLS Cup winners did not qualify for the playoffs the year before they won

it is inherently difficult to be sort of that consistently successful that you win every year

Even if you look at the top seven teams in the Eastern Conference from 2023 to 2024, there was only three teams

that were in the top seven both years. So just repeating and maintaining that consistency is not easy

We've shown from 2016 to 2022 a really high degree of consistency

from second, third, fourth. I think one year we finished fifth in 2020 in COVID

So we've seen a real sort of high level of consistency. And that's what we want to get back to

If we're consistently in the playoffs, you give yourself a chance to win trophies

And ultimately, we want to win trophies for our fans. So the expectation of what we want to do is we want to be competitive to win as many trophies

What that looks like with the US Open Cup, what that looks like with the League Cup, I think will depend on where the roster is, injuries, all those pieces

As I say, we've got a group of really talented young players that also need opportunities to develop and play

I think we saw last year, you know, maybe the best example being Christian of a player who before the season, maybe nobody really knew

But, you know, when he came into the team, I think he showed how ready he was to be able to play at MLS level and in League Cup

He played a lot. And so I think, you know, I think that's going to be a really good opportunity for us also to give some opportunities

or for some of the young players to earn opportunities to get minutes

But ultimately, we want to try and win all those all those titles. And the job is to try and work with the resources that we have and the resources we get given to be able to build a build a strong roster as we possibly can