NYCFC's perfect return from World Cup break, what to make of Luighi

No easing back into it, New York City FC is back and is already two matches and two wins into the post-World Cup portion of the Major League Soccer season.

Hosts Mark Radigan and John Baney and producer Andrew Leigh get straight back into the NYCFC results, with plenty of takeaways to be shared from the 2-1 win in Columbus and the 3-1 home win over the Chicago Fire at Yankee Stadium.

There's Talles Magno, back healthy and reinventing himself once more as a center-forward, and what that means for newly-arrived Designated Player Bénie Traoré. The debut was underwhelming for Traoré in Columbus, but the show tries to put that debut in context, while also focusing on Traoré’s slightly more promising second appearance against the Fire.

The unsung, or maybe under-sung, heroes coming out of the World Cup get their praise, including Agustín Ojeda, in the midst of a breakout season. There’s also James Sands slotting seamlessly back into the center of the defense, and there’s still Nico Fernández Mercau, who now plays as a No 10 but is still capable of outrageous, camera-destroying golazos.

For the transfer portion of the program, it’s sharing the latest on NYCFC's possible loan signing of Luighi from SE Palmeiras in Brazil. There' also a report, unanimously doubted by the show that claims Nico Fernández Mercau wants to leave the club, following a separate report claiming there’s a team interested in signing him for a $18 million transfer fee.

From roster talk to a New York City FC match preview, and this time it's the club's red rivals from north of the Canadian border, Toronto FC. Josh Sargent hasn’t lived up to the $22 million price tag, and TFC is winless across the last 12 matches in all competitions, and winless across six straight meetings with NYCFC. Form and recent history might be on NYCFC’s side, but how does the show see NYCFC vs Toronto FC playing out?

Listen to the full episode, then find more of our coverage at nysoccerjournal.com, or on Bluesky @nysoccerjournal.com, Twitter @nysoccerjournal and @NYSJPodcast, and on Instagram @newyorksoccerjournal.

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