Control Freak

Pascal Jansen's conservative approach has turned a skid into a spiral.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world

William Butler Yeats

The May 3rd loss against D.C. United was one of the ugliest games that New York City Football Club has ever played. The fact that it happened on home soil made it more unpleasant; a team expected to dominate conceded an early goal and spent the remainder of the game struggling helplessly to overcome a defensive block. D.C. United isn’t a defensive powerhouse either, yet NYCFC created the season’s lowest expected goals (xG) total. This result follows an equally dismal game against CF Montréal, a team whose only other wins had come over rivals Red Bull.

This defeat marks a seven-game winless skid in the league, turning a promising start into a genuine concern. Pascal Jansen’s response has been to institute a game plan focused on controlling games and reducing downside risk, selecting personnel to match. It’s not an uncommon impulse; when each game is an opportunity to stop the bleeding and gain much-needed momentum, the appetite for risk vanishes first. NYCFC dominated possession and field tilt in the last two games in particular, but looked nowhere near creating a reasonable scoring chance.

Controlling games through possession is an established tactic, but it is far more common in Europe. MLS’s relative parity makes ball-dominant play harder to execute successfully. In recent years, many managers have come into the league expressing a desire to play with the ball, but often find that leads to stagnant attacking and killer transition opportunities for their opponents.

Atlanta egregiously followed up Tata Martino’s dominant run to open their time in MLS with the iron grip of Frank De Boer, who promptly led the team to a downfall that continues to this day. San Diego won the hearts of fans with their possession-dominant style in last year’s expansion season, but is falling apart this year as they control games but create few chances. One of the few exceptions to the rule, Wilfried Nancy managed to find that balance and turn a very controlled team into the best in MLS. He did it through the brilliance of Cucho Hernández, as well as some inspired movement out of the back line from players like Steven Moreira, creating danger from places the defense least expected. In doing so, he created cascading risks that required well-choreographed rotations, but his inability to replicate them at Celtic led to his firing.

This approach has led to problems at NYCFC as well. Despite boasting that he’d rather win games 5-4 than 1-0, Ronny Deila’s initial approach was to control the ball rather than take offensive risks. It took a player revolt for him to change his approach, and eventually, NYCFC won a championship by taking a backseat in possession. Nick Cushing never quite found a way out and was fired. There has to be a balance between players who try shit and those who are more consistently reliable, and Jansen has so far failed to find that balance in 2026.

Jansen’s turn toward conservatism and small-mindedness under pressure is most evident in his player selection. He repeatedly selects players who pose less risk to his possession-heavy approach, even though those same players can’t deliver danger when it’s needed. Three of the top-five performers by non-penalty xG per 96 minutes (npxG/96) are players he won’t start.

Chief among these choices is his reluctance to play Talles Magno. Magno came into the season adrift, returning from an extended loan to Corinthians without a clear path to his next career step. His status as a Designated Player meant that rostering Magno came with an opportunity cost. At the same time, the team reiterated its trust in him and stated that he would play a role this season. Despite that statement, Magno has yet to play more than 30 minutes of any league game he’s appeared in. Nonetheless, he’s performed well with two goals and a team-leading npxG/96 without any sort of positional consistency. Even after a U.S. Open Cup hat trick against Westchester SC, Jansen did not give him the start in the next Cup game. It’s clear that Jansen does not trust him, and while Magno earned a start against D.C. before a calf injury pulled him out, Jansen is unlikely to give him further leeway. He does not hustle like Hannes Wolf or Malachi Jones, and he takes far more risks as a dribbler and passer.

Seymour Reid, the only true center forward on the roster, also finds himself on the outside looking in. He has been disappointing over 103 substitute minutes this season, particularly against the Philadelphia Union, where he could not score on two breakaways (and on one, he never even got a shot off). He struggled in the Open Cup game against Westchester SC as well, disappearing for large portions of the game, not factoring aside from an early assist on a cutback pass. At the same time, he can break free at any moment, using his physicality and speed to challenge older and more experienced defenders. For a team that has no striker at all, he can keep back lines somewhat honest. The false 9 approach, which has been yielding diminishing returns, is not an effective substitute. Reid may not be the most polished striker, but he is still an 18-year-old learning to play professionally. He is one of the most promising young attackers in the league, and many MLS teams were willing to open the checkbook to pry him away from NYCFC this offseason. Each chance he receives is an investment in his development that can pay dividends down the road.

There’s no personnel decision more baffling than Jansen’s decision to bench Keaton Parks. At first, there were some questions about fitness, considering Parks is returning from surgery. That was put to rest when Parks confirmed to Trey Fillmore that Jansen prefers Kai Trewin and Aiden O’Neill as starters. Andrés Perea’s return and 36th-minute replacement of O’Neill showed Parks has fallen entirely off the holding midfield depth chart. Again, Parks is fundamentally a riskier player than the other options; he is a much riskier passer and dribbler, constantly trying to provoke pressure rather than simply make a safe pass and keep possession moving. His attacking runs do open up space that needs to be covered, and he lacks the pace to get back to help if things go awry.

This tactical cam replay captures Parks at his best, breaking the press with the vision to see spaces few other players see and the creativity to exploit them, all in three passes that end in a goal:

Jansen’s preferred midfield partnership of Trewin and O’Neill is a poor combination. Trewin’s inability to play central defense at an MLS level (where he has made crucial marking and defensive mistakes that have cost goals in multiple games) means that he must play midfield. O’Neill is a Jansen favorite but offers little beyond defensive work and safe possession play. The two create a conservative midfield that struggles to break lines with movement, ball carrying, or passing. While Perea can bring something different — finding space in the box with attacking runs — he cannot replicate Keaton’s exceptional passing and dribbling, nor is he as effective in the air. He covers more ground, appealing to Jansen’s conservative turn. Regardless, it’s not working. Over the last two games, NYCFC has looked incapable of generating quality chances, and it starts with the two below-average midfielders running the pivot.

To be fair, Parks, Magno, and Reid have not been perfect and in some games have not been good at all. At the same time, Jansen holds them to a standard no one else on the team shares. Man management is tricky, but punishing some players for mistakes while ignoring others, and failing to reward genuinely good play, is an approach that has a time limit. If you’re going to play favorites, you need to pick the right ones.

This was supposed to be the easiest stretch of the season, where New York City could build a substantial lead heading into the international break. Two consecutive home losses to struggling sides mean NYCFC is well below where they need to be to secure a home playoff spot. Instead, Pascal Jansen is choking it away. ❧

Image: Harry Clarke, A Descent into the Maelstrom