Throughout their first four years in MLS, the identity of New York City FC was undeniably tied to their attack, in particular to forward David Villa. With the other-wordly striker having departed this offseason, in 2019 this team could well be defined not by scoring goals but by keeping them out of their net, with a cohesive defense that could potentially be among the league’s best.



Building on consistency at the back was clearly a focus for NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna going into this year, with all four members of the team’s 2018 first-choice back line and goalkeeper Sean Johnson returning to form the same unit in 2019. In order to make this happen, left back Ben Sweat and center back Maxime Chanot were both given new contracts.



The building of this group has been two years in the making. Both Sweat and centerback Alex Callens were signed during the offseason ahead of the 2017 season. Right back Anton Tinnerholm, a Swedish international, was...