New York City FC are coming off of a disappointing 2023 campaign after winning MLS Cup in 2021 and winning Campeones Cup in 2022. The blue side of New York failed to make the MLS Cup Playoffs after a major transition year from their “old guard” to the newer and younger core they are trying to build. But just like any MLS club any season… roster decisions need to be made, let’s check out what NYCFC decided:

The Cityzens decided to exercise their club options on; Gabe Segal, Andres Jasson, Kevin O’Toole, Matt Freese, and Luis Barraza. The more notable names here for me are Andres Jasson, Kevin O’Toole, and Matt Freese. Jasson is a 21 year old Homegrown winger who really came into his own during the later stretch of this past season. Over his 1,000 minutes played for NYCFC in 2023, Jasson scored 4 goals and had 1 assist. He should play a key depth piece for the club next year. Moving past the depth pieces and looking into the starters… Kevin O’Toole and Matt Freese. O’Toole has been one of the few MLS SuperDraft picks to thrive for NYCFC. The 24 year old left-wing back eventually won the starting job during this past season. “KOT” would finish 2023 with 23 combined games played for NYCFC and I think truly made his mark on the squad, securing his importance on this role moving into the future. Similar here is Matt Freese. The 25 year old Freese seemed to be the go to goalkeeper after a mixed season of Freese and Barraza splitting time in net. The American I think proved it is his time to start within MLS and prove he can be the man in net for a full year. In 13 total games played in 2023, Freese would rack up 6 shutouts and only allow 10 goals.

NYCFC decided to decline the player options on seven players heading into 2024; Braian Cufre, Alfredo Morales, Matias Pellegrini, Stephen Turnbull, Samuel Owusu, Jonathan Jimenez, and Nico Benalcazar. As for the reasons that I listed above for Kevin O’Toole, its all the same reasons why Cufre is gone. Too much surplus at left-back and Cufre, who was good in 2023, didn’t prove enough to out play O’Toole on the left side. One painful departure for NYCFC fans has to be Alfredo Morales. One of the key veterans in this group, Morales has been around for all of the success this club has seen in recent years. But his building injury issues hurt his stock on this team, and unfortunately, NYCFC is moving on from their former defensive midfield stallworth. Matias Pellegrini who seemed to be a favorite of Nick Cushing in 2023 is also another big loss for this squad. Pellegrini was picked up after his needed departure from Inter Miami who was in roster rules trouble. Pellegrini never truly panned out as a starter (or at times a roster rotational player) for NYCFC and his time ending makes a ton of sense. The next four of Turnbull, Owusu, Jimenez, and Benalcazar are all a combination of academy/MLS Next Pro players that never truly found their way into the full first team. I personally am a little upset that centerback Samuel Owusu never got his shot with the NYCFC first team. The 22 year old defender was a constant for NYCFCII over the last two seasons and I felt deserved a shot to get into the mix, especially after the departure of Maxime Chanot last season.

The one positive that all NYCFC fans should look to is that the club has the City Football Group scouting network behind them. This scouting network has brought the likes of Taty Castellanos, Talles Magno, Nicolas Acevedo, and others into their fold. It should be interesting to see what CFG can provide to NYCFC heading into 2024.

Oct 30 NYCFC Announce End Of Season Roster Moves

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