Pascal Jansen must rely on these players when NYCFC faces Philadelphia

New York City FC is still in the MLS Cup Playoffs and will play this weekend after they defeated Charlotte FC in the Round One Best-of-3 series. The team must play the Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, who won the MLS Supporters' Shield when the teams last met at the end of the regular season.

Of course, NYCFC lost that game, and fears are growing about whether they can compete with the Union when they play on Sunday. Pascal Jansen has some decisions to make about the Starting XI. The Bronx side will be without Aiden O'Neill, who might be one of the underrated signings in Major League Soccer this year. He is out due to yellow card accumulation.

However, the Boys in Blue will be missing two players due to serious injuries: Andrés Perea and Alonso Martínez. Perea suffered an awful lower leg injury in the final match against Charlotte, and Martínez is believed to have torn his ACL, with NYCFC only confirming a knee injury at this time.

Pascal Jansen must figure out the NYCFC Starting XI

Truthfully, the Pigeons should be okay without O'Neill and Perea. Sure, their performances and Perea's versatility to play in multiple positions will be missed, but Justin Haak and Jonathan Shore can play in the defensive midfield. The only concern would be the lack of playing time in the second half for Shore.

At the same time, Jansen must decide whether he wants to play with two defensive midfielders. He has utilized five at the back, and might want to do so with Shore or Haak in front of the backline. Ideally, based on mistakes and issues in the past, he will not start Strahinja Tanasijević.

The big question for NYCFC, though, is who will be the starting striker? The only other true center-forward on the roster is Seymour Reid. While he has plenty of potential, he has only played a little bit in MLS this year. Most of his playing time came with NYCFC II. Putting him in the front line in a challenging playoff game would not be fair. He could come off the bench, but Jansen should not start him by any means.

That means the head coach will have to play around with his front three. Nicolás Fernández Mercau and Hannes Wolf will start. But who will start with them? Who will play as the number nine player? Julián Fernández or Agustín Ojeda will likely be the options to play as the third attacker.

But will NYCFC play with somebody as the striker? When Martínez missed the last Hudson River Derby, Fernández Mercau, in a way, played up front and center. But there was plenty of rotation in the final third. Still, he has played there on a few occasions in his career. There is also the option of playing two attackers at the top.

Jansen will have to go to the drawing board with this one. But no matter who starts for NYCFC, one thing is true: everyone must play at their very best if they want to beat Philadelphia.