Matt Freese gets his USMNT chance

Matt Freese has been overdue for a call-up to the United States men's national team, but Mauricio Pochettino's first January camp as coach finally sees Freese get a chance with the USMNT. We have a lot to say about Freese's opportunity and our hopes of seeing someone from the NYCFC roster grow into a regular presence with the USMNT, maybe in time for the 2026 World Cup. Episode 20 also includes more talk about Pascal Jansen, as we react to his official unveiling as the sixth head coach in New York City FC history. Among other Jansen topics, we discuss his past success at AZ Alkmaar and elsewhere in the Netherlands coaching up promising young players and wonder about his impact on NYCFC's crop of Homegrown and Under-22 signings. Things wrap up this week on a less-than-cheery note as we discuss Jovan Mijatović crashing his car into a pedestrian while spending his offseason in Belgrade, Serbia. A scary accident that's left us wishing for the best for the pedestrian and hoping that Mijatović can get something good to break his way in the wake of what's been a rocky first year as a NYCFC player. After you’ve listened, make sure you’re following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter (X), and reading all our coverage 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.