Giant Killer
In 2023, Pascal Jansen toppled a titan in Rome for his signature victory with AZ Alkmaar. Can he do the same in MLS at New York City?
On a brisk spring evening in 2023, Pascal Jansen emerged from the tunnel of Rome’s Stadio Olimpico wearing a blue bubble vest over a cream hoodie that matched his Air Jordan 11 Retros. It was an almost too-casual look for a man stepping into such hostile territory. Nearly two millennia earlier, gladiators just four miles down the Tiber entered battle adorned with plumed helmets and body-length shields. Jansen, facing his own trial by combat, had no armor—only his Dutch side, AZ Alkmaar, tasked with surviving ninety minutes in Lazio’s lion’s den.
Their opponent? A footballing powerhouse fresh off conquering future Serie A champions Napoli, guided by the ever-calculating, cigarette-butt-chewing Maurizio Sarri. On paper, this was Lazio’s fight to win. But Jansen had his own weapons: a suffocating press, an organized defense, and an ingrained bulletproof mentality. By the final whistle, the underdog had accomplished the unthinkable, leaving the Olimpico with a come-from-behind victory—and a blueprint for how he might take on MLS’s giants next.
From the very beginning, Jansen made clear his plan to neuter Lazio’s offensive plans while simultaneously exploiting their defensive weakness. He deployed AZ in a high-intensity, high-line, man-marking press whenever the Romans were in possession. This not only prevented Sarri’s high defensive line from being established, crucial to retriggering his “vertical tiki-taka” offense with maximum frequency, but also eroded the defenders’ mental fortitude by forcing them into quicker and more hasty decision-making.
The key to setting up Jansen’s press was twofold. First, the front line aimed to force the opponent to one side of the field as frequently as possible, halving the number of available passing windows and shrinking those that remained. This was primarily the responsibility of the front two players of the Dutch side. One, either the center forward or the attacking midfielder, would approach the ball-carrying centerback from the inside. When the ball was forced towards one extreme, the co-conspirator would similarly push the nearest outlet midfielder from the center of the field.
The front-two square their shoulders to the sideline or corner flag, keeping their marked opponents in front to avoid the risk of a ball played behind. The defense is immediately confronted with a question just seconds after gaining possession near their goalmouth—what now?
That’s where the second prong of Jansen’s press came into play—whenever the Roman back line tried to escape the corner, tight man-marking on any supporting run applied even more pressure. Any Lazio midfielder attempting to alleviate the strain was immediately tracked by one of the two Alkmaar central midfielders while any Lazio winger trying to provide an outlet on the sideline was closely marked by the wide defensive back.
Marking from behind, rather than cutting off passing lanes, almost dares the opponent into making a mistake—’please pass here, please pass here’ ad infinitum—overwhelming the center-backs with a Cheesecake Factory menu’s breadth of choices. Jansen set Lazio’s kitchen on fire and handed them buckets of confetti to put it out—all without his players touching the ball. This psychological squeeze-and-disguise tactic, forcing the opponent to back themselves into a corner, is the true weapon of a giant killer. Talent, wages, transfer values—none of it matters if you can make the opponent beat themselves.
And beat themselves they did—after 43 minutes, AZ’s pressing finally bore the sweetest fruit. Following a short goal-kick, Lazio’s right centerback, trying to outfox the press, played a pass into the second-level of the midfield before sensing any pressure. What he didn’t realize was that Alkmaar had already set the trap—it was in their bones. Before you could blink, Tijani Reijnders, the do-everything man in red, scarfed up the ball and sent it forward for his teammates to roll into the net
This was the Dutch side’s first shot on target—further proof of how outmatched they were, making Jansen’s idiosyncratic approach all the more valuable. Catching the opponent on the backfoot in such dangerous areas creates chances that are much more likely to score. When his team were against a side that wouldn’t give up many chances, the priority was to turn a battle of volume into a battle of quality.
The press did not relent. 15 minutes into the second half, AZ had Lazio trapped in their own corner once again, forcing the Italian side into another desperate gambit.
With an anaconda-esque grip on the ball carrier, his only choice was to desperately boot the ball with a low-percentage cross-field pass. Wrong choice. A trailing runner pounced on the ball, setting up yet another goal.
Another display of Pascal Jansen’s devious machinations—if you can’t win on talent, make your opponent choose from fewer and ever-worsening options.
When Lazio managed to escape the press, their task hardly became easier. Alkmaar’s preference for athletic, iron-lunged defensive backs paid off, as they sprinted and covered ground with discipline, preventing the Roman columns from exploiting the gaps that often stretch opponents. When the holding midfielders dropped back, they created a compact numerical advantage against Sarri’s five-man phalanx, forcing shots into tight spaces and heavy traffic. Another hallmark of a giant killer: never make their job easy.
With low-quality chances came frequent goal kicks for the boys in red, setting the stage for the final act in Jansen’s toppling of the titan. As the coach reflected afterwards:
Everybody around us thought Europe was finished for AZ, but I could see that the Italian way of playing – for the majority of their teams, at least – leaves a lot of space between the lines…We played possession and made them run after the ball, something they had not experienced.
Jansen’s buildup struck a perfect balance between risk and reward, trusting his players' instincts to drain the air, time, legs, and minds out of the Stadio Olimpico. He positioned his center-backs extremely wide, creating overloads along the wings, while one central midfielder dropped deep to assist in distribution. The other, Reijnders, parked himself in that ‘lot of space,’ a specter haunting the midfield. The flying Dutchman ran himself out of trouble, kept the ball circulating safely, and threw himself into counter-pressing challenges.
AZ found themselves in an auspicious position—leading on the road against a superior opponent. Most coaches would bunker in, dropping all 11 men behind the ball. But Jansen is not like most coaches. His side won the possession battle in the first half and finished with a near-even 48% of the ball. Their relentless pressing and covering sprints continued at an exasperating pace until the 75th minute, leaving Lazio with little time to construct an attack and no energy left to execute one. When Alkmaar did ease off, they didn’t retreat; they disrupted—fouling ball carriers and breaking Sarri’s rhythm in the final 15 minutes.
In his first press conference as New York City FC head coach, Jansen brought up a term he’s repeated often since:
I would like that we have a bulletproof mindset… A bulletproof mindset, in my opinion, makes you work from a standard that you feel like you can handle anything in any stadium under any circumstance.
Even after conceding an 18th-minute goal on a Lazio counterattack, even in a hostile atmosphere, even with the pressure of a European knockout competition, even when counted out, AZ Alkmaar embodied that bulletproof mindset and emerged the better side. And that resilience wasn’t just in the players. In his only substitution window, Jansen didn’t opt for a conservative defensive switch. Instead, two of the four he brought on were teenage forwards.
The bubble vest may have been polyester but the brain was pure Kevlar.
Jansen walked into the Stadio Olimpico unfazed by the occasion, and his squad played with the same fearless attitude. With a suffocating press, meticulous discipline, and an unshakable mentality against the toughest of foes, AZ Alkmaar didn’t just steal a victory against Lazio—they dictated the terms of battle.
Now in MLS, Jansen faces giants of a different name. His NYCFC side opens the year on the road against Messi’s Miami and recent champions LAFC. He’ll have to navigate a top-heavy Eastern Conference, contending with a revamped Cincinnati, perennial powerhouse Columbus Crew, and others—all while hoping his DP-deprived, youthful squad can stay afloat above the playoff line.
But if his night in Rome proved anything, it’s that gaps in talent and money can be bridged with the right tactical edge and a ‘bulletproof mindset’. The real question isn’t whether Jansen will succeed—it’s which titan will fall first. ❧
Image: H.L.M., Thor's Battle with the Frost Giants
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