AFTER NYCFC’S SEASON OPENING LOSS, ARE FANS WORRIED?

Photo courtesy of Jim Dedmon, USA TODAY Sports

 

Article by Scott Churchson

Columnist and Host of The Sports Den on Spanglish World Networks, Spanglish Sports World & Zingo TV

 

New York. - They New York City Football Club’s season opener fell short last night after a 1-0 loss to Charlotte FC at bank of America Stadium. After the struggle that was the 2023 season for the Gents in Blue (and now smashingly awesome black) fans had a tepid confidence going into the new season. A full offseason that allowed new additions Mounsef Bakrar, Birk Risa and more to better gel with their new teammates, the addition of highly touted 18 year old Striker Jovan Mijatović gave fans hope that 2023 was simply a burp in the growing legacy that is NYCFC. However after giving up the first and only goal just 8 minutes in their new season, the feeling of more than the same crept into the loyal fanbase.

 

Overall it was a fairly meh performance aside from the work of increasingly impressive goalkeeper Matt Freese, who is clearly showing that he is the goalie of the future for the squad. His stop on a penalty kick at the 68th minute kept the match from going 2-0 and kept his squad in it:

 

After week 1, the numbers are intriguing, as while most are willing to wait things out a bit (including myself in this case) but over one quarter said yes, the team is doomed. This to me speaks more than the group that felt it’s a long season as 1 game does not a season make. And yet, in this case, for many fans still hurt over last season it does.

 

Next week the team travels to St. Louis to face the Missouri team for the first team. This is a mixed bag, as St. Louis had a spectacular first season, but questions remain as they are now in their sophomore season. One thing I think is for certain however, if NYCFC loses again next week expect the top option in that survey to skyrocket.

 

We’ll see.