On his first full preseason with NYCFC, Maxime Chanot is pushing hard to make sure he’s ready for 2017.
The Luxembourgian defender joined the club in July and, after a week in Jacksonville, he told NYCFC.com that he’s enjoying the training camp so far.
Chanot believes that the squad are benefitting from the facilities and the weather in Florida following the long two-month winter break.
Maxime said: “It’s going well – we are at good facilities, the weather is good for hard work, so it’s going really well. The squad is just getting to know one another.
“I was looking forward to having my first full preseason with the club – we had a two-month break which is pretty long, so as a player I’m happy to come back and start working with the squad.
“We’re all happy and working hard, so we’re really looking forward to that first game of preseason.”
Maxime also revealed that emigrating to the United States after five years in Belgium took an adjustment period but now he’s fully acclimatized, he’s loving life in New York.
“It was not easy the first two months as it was a new style of play, a new country, a new language and a new culture but with time it’s going well,” the Nancy-born defender revealed.
“I’m starting to learn about the way you live here and to be honest I like it.”
Chanot believes that preseason is an especially important time for the defenders in the group to learn one another’s games on the training field.
Frederic Brillant was a regular partner of Maxime in the closing months of 2016 and he feels they will only improve as a pair in the wider team context with this time.
“It’s really important for shape – when you start training at the same time as a group you feel much better,” he reflected.
“With Fred, as defenders it will be important to have this preseason together – it could help us to reach our goals.”
The average age of the NYCFC squad has decreased markedly over the offseason but Maxime is a firm believer that everybody on the roster has to take the same authority and work autonomously for the good of the team, regardless of seniority.
Chanot added: “Everybody has to feel responsibility, whatever your age, we’re all looking for the same thing this season.
“OK, I’m a little bit older than some of the other boys but I believe everybody has to take the same responsibility on themselves if we want to have an even better season this year.”
