Gut-check time at the season's midpoint

New York City FC hit the exact halfway point of their 2025 Major League Soccer season when they came back from down by two goals to earn a 2-2 draw with Nashville SC at GEODIS Park on Matchday 17. Episode 41 starts with a review of the big moments from that exciting draw in Tennessee, as well as a look back at the miserable midweek home loss to Houston Dynamo FC that preceded the Nashville game. Reflecting on the two most recent games, hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan and producer Andrew Leigh have a lot to say about the importance of Keaton Parks, Hannes Wolf's climbing goals total, and what makes the group optimistic heading into the second half of the MLS schedule despite an up-and-down opening 17 league matches. After the break, we zoom out and take a bigger-picture look at the first half of this season for New York City FC. Andrew runs through a bunch of notable stats to emerge from the first 17 games of the MLS season, and then everyone names their first-half MVPs and discusses players they think have room for improvement in their game during the second half of the season. Is it crazy to want to see more from Alonso Martínez, the team's leading scorer? Has Matt Freese been NYCFC's best player? We have thoughts on these exact topics, so listen to the full episode and then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.