New York City v St. Mirren Thread (inc Preview)
Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 12:41 pmI swear I will write a preview about City soon…
Be kind to me on this one as I have already written this once only for the site to delete it and ask me to log in again.
New York City v St Mirren
Chorlton Football Academy, 7pm KO
What can you write about a team that has never played a game of football? Tonight in East Manchester, New York comes to town as City try to drum up interest in their sister club who kick off their MLS season on March 8th away to fellow expansion club Orlando City. As I’ve just had a refund of £12 from City who’ve slashed prices for tonight’s game from £10 to £5 to £3 (try doing that for some Champions League ties City) I’m guessing that a game between an American club and Scottish opposition in mid-week has failed to ignite the imagination of the match going public.
[align=center]Head Coach: Jason Kreis
Too often is the temptation of outsiders when they enter a new league is to bring in people who don’t understand the local landscape. When British businessmen bought and attempted to revive the New York Cosmos as an MLS club they failed to impress the natives with billboards of Eric Cantona and guest XIs for the Ginger Pigs testimonial as no one in America had heard of Cantona.
City have done well to appoint Jason Kreis who has played more than 300 games in MLS and has experience of being involved in expansion teams when he was traded from the Dallas Burn to become Real Salt Lake’s first ever player. He became the manager of Real Salt Lake in 2004 at the age of 34 and led them to the MLS Cup in 2009 before reaching another final in 2013. Kreis also has experience of continental football taking Salt Lake to the final of the Concacaf Champions League in 2011.
He’s been shadowing Manuel Pellegrini for the last 12 months since taking the job in 2014 so what we know for sure is that they’ll never score from set pieces and that half the squad will always be injured. In all seriousness, the new manager is expected to play with a diamond in midfield and has selected player with plenty of MLS experience.
Players to Watch
Where MLS differs to the rest of the footballing world is that aside from three designated players the league operates as a single entity structure with a strict salary cap meaning that NYCFC cannot simply open the chequebook. As a result Kreis looks to have selected experienced players with plenty of MLS experience.
George John – Defender – Drafted from FC Dallas
A 6ft 3in centre back, George John, 27, was drafted from FC Dallas where he made 119 appearances for the club. He also had a brief loan spell with West Ham United in2011 and was subject to a failed £1.2m bid from Blackburn Rovers.
Andrew Jacobson – Midfield – Traded from FC Dallas
One of the clubs first trades they brought in Andre Jacobson, 29, from FC Dallas last summer and loaned him to Stabaek such was their desire to secure his services. He has MLS experience having played for DC United, Philadelphia Union before making almost 100 appearances for FC Dallas.
Khiry Shelton – Forward – Drafted #2 2015 MLS Superdraft
(I really want one of those scarves)
The beauty of American sports is that it’s the most ironically socialist of ventures where the worst teams in all the major sports each season are given the first opportunity to pick the best American collegiate players. With the second pick of the 2015 draft (Orlando City were given the #1 pick) they selected forward Khiry Shleton from Oregon State University. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact the player will have in his first season in MLS as of the last five number picks only three have made any impact (with success I’m not qualified to debate) but NYCFC look short of experience and quality up front should David Villa get injured.
ROLL CALL: A friendly on a Tuesday night in February whilst City’s season is in the toilet might not get the blood pumping but its sure to be an interesting night as how often do you get to see the beginning of a clubs history?
Be kind to me on this one as I have already written this once only for the site to delete it and ask me to log in again.
New York City v St Mirren
Chorlton Football Academy, 7pm KO
What can you write about a team that has never played a game of football? Tonight in East Manchester, New York comes to town as City try to drum up interest in their sister club who kick off their MLS season on March 8th away to fellow expansion club Orlando City. As I’ve just had a refund of £12 from City who’ve slashed prices for tonight’s game from £10 to £5 to £3 (try doing that for some Champions League ties City) I’m guessing that a game between an American club and Scottish opposition in mid-week has failed to ignite the imagination of the match going public.
[align=center]Head Coach: Jason Kreis
Too often is the temptation of outsiders when they enter a new league is to bring in people who don’t understand the local landscape. When British businessmen bought and attempted to revive the New York Cosmos as an MLS club they failed to impress the natives with billboards of Eric Cantona and guest XIs for the Ginger Pigs testimonial as no one in America had heard of Cantona.
City have done well to appoint Jason Kreis who has played more than 300 games in MLS and has experience of being involved in expansion teams when he was traded from the Dallas Burn to become Real Salt Lake’s first ever player. He became the manager of Real Salt Lake in 2004 at the age of 34 and led them to the MLS Cup in 2009 before reaching another final in 2013. Kreis also has experience of continental football taking Salt Lake to the final of the Concacaf Champions League in 2011.
He’s been shadowing Manuel Pellegrini for the last 12 months since taking the job in 2014 so what we know for sure is that they’ll never score from set pieces and that half the squad will always be injured. In all seriousness, the new manager is expected to play with a diamond in midfield and has selected player with plenty of MLS experience.
Players to Watch
Where MLS differs to the rest of the footballing world is that aside from three designated players the league operates as a single entity structure with a strict salary cap meaning that NYCFC cannot simply open the chequebook. As a result Kreis looks to have selected experienced players with plenty of MLS experience.
George John – Defender – Drafted from FC Dallas
A 6ft 3in centre back, George John, 27, was drafted from FC Dallas where he made 119 appearances for the club. He also had a brief loan spell with West Ham United in2011 and was subject to a failed £1.2m bid from Blackburn Rovers.
Andrew Jacobson – Midfield – Traded from FC Dallas
One of the clubs first trades they brought in Andre Jacobson, 29, from FC Dallas last summer and loaned him to Stabaek such was their desire to secure his services. He has MLS experience having played for DC United, Philadelphia Union before making almost 100 appearances for FC Dallas.
Khiry Shelton – Forward – Drafted #2 2015 MLS Superdraft
(I really want one of those scarves)
The beauty of American sports is that it’s the most ironically socialist of ventures where the worst teams in all the major sports each season are given the first opportunity to pick the best American collegiate players. With the second pick of the 2015 draft (Orlando City were given the #1 pick) they selected forward Khiry Shleton from Oregon State University. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact the player will have in his first season in MLS as of the last five number picks only three have made any impact (with success I’m not qualified to debate) but NYCFC look short of experience and quality up front should David Villa get injured.
ROLL CALL: A friendly on a Tuesday night in February whilst City’s season is in the toilet might not get the blood pumping but its sure to be an interesting night as how often do you get to see the beginning of a clubs history?