NYCFC, Nick Cushing: "We are a strong team, we want to be ready for the start of the season"

New York City FC is preparing for the new season in Santa Barbara, California. Nick Cushing spoke about his team's progress:

"We have a strong team here," he said. “It's a great time to be away – we spend a lot of time together. It's about making sure we're prepared for February 25th (the MLS season opener). I'm really happy. This is our second tour of California and I'm happy with how the preseason has gone.

“The nature of the preseason and having so much free time late and early in the season, you can't just expose first team players to 90 minutes. We started the Minnesota game with 30 minutes, then grew to 45 minutes. We have to gradually introduce players to get them to the physical level they need. To do that, you need to grow your squad, so it's the perfect time to bring in our players from MLS II and the Academy".