New York City Football Club Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing believes his players' hard work will help turn around the current run of form.
The Boys in Blue fell to a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Charlotte FC on Wednesday night to leave them winless in three league games. While disappointing, Cushing also said afterward that his side can take confidence from last season and the difficult form that came before they embarked on a memorable run to MLS Cup.
“Every time you lose and when you start to lose back to back you start to get really frustrated,” he said. “But when I look in the guys’ eyes, they're so hungry and so motivated to fix this and you see it in the way that they work. We’re not going to overthink this; it’s three defeats in a very good season.
“For us, it's about being frustrated, but also about drawing on the experience from last season when we went through this really difficult spell. We need to understand that it's about recovery, it's about resetting the mindset, it's about sticking together, and it's about understanding that we're a good football team and not overthinking. We'll get back on the training pitch that will make sure that we prepare well for Chicago.”
Cushing also stressed the need for his players to refocus their minds as they prepare for a trip to face Chicago Fire on Sunday. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 6:00PM ET, as NYCFC take on a Chicago side coming off the back of a 4-1 defeat to Philadelphia Union last time out.
“We have to refocus and get back on the training pitch,” Cushing said. “It’s been a really busy season for us. When you lose players you have to keep rolling with players you have to keep pushing them, and of course changing coach and maybe a slight change in style there’s opportunities where you're going to make individual errors. I have so much belief so much confidence that we’ll overturn this run of form.”
