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Kreis makes bold statement in introduction as NYCFC head coach

JasonKreisNYCFC1 (NYCFC)

By DAN KARELL

NEW YORK — New York City FC may not have a stadium or any players, but Jason Kreis has guaranteed that he will field a winning team.

The former Real Salt Lake head coach was formally introduced today as NYC FC’s first head coach in franchise history ahead of their inaugural season in 2015 in Major League Soccer. Despite what will be increased media and fan pressure for success due to the backing of Manchester City and the New York Yankees, Kreis believes that he can lead the expansion team to glory during his tenure.

“For me it’s a challenge I look forward to,” Kreis said at a press conference in midtown Manhattan. “When an opportunity like this becomes available it leads to something that you have to take. Of course the expectations are there, the challenges will be there, the pressures are all going to be there.

“We know that we’re expected to win and frankly we will win.”

Kreis’ first moves as a head coach were to hire his former assistant Miles Joseph to the coaching staff and add former Red Bulls performance analyst David Lee. Lee has previous history with Man City, having been recommended to the Red Bulls and former coach Hans Backe by the English Premier League club in 2011.

Those coaching moves may not move the needle, but with the powerful backing the team has, plenty expect to see some high profile stars come to MLS to play for NYC FC. During Kreis’ tenure at RSL, he built a team around team-first players instead of big-name signings.

Even if NYC FC signs a big-name player or two, Kreis expects that the team will sign players based more on their character than their skill on the field.

“I’m quite certain that New York City FC will sign three designated players and I’m also quite certain that those players will be extremely well-vetted, researched, and talked to, to make sure that they’re not only the right player for this team but the right person to fit into (Man) City Football Group’s philosophy,” Kreis said.

“I believe that you’re always talking about the right person that you’re adding. No matter what any person has done (in their career), no matter how many trophies they won or how much money they will make, there is still a character element to that person and it’s important to consider.”

While Kreis, NYC FC director of football Claudio Reyna, Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano, and Man City director of football Txiki Begiristain all pushed the idea that NYC FC would have it’s own identity, separate from Man City, the message at the press conference was clear.

The team’s soccer philosophy comes first before anything else.

“What’s very important is that we want our team to play a certain type of football,” Soriano said. “The order of things is first the philosophy, how we want to play, then we choose a manager that likes the philosophy and is able to execute it, then we play good football, and then we win. We cannot jump ahead of that. We don’t want to win without playing good football.”

One reason in part that Kreis was offered the NYC FC job was his unique philosophy with RSL, and that Reyna, Soriano, and Begiristain thought that he could take their plan and put it into action.

In order to learn more about the expected NYC FC philosophy, Kreis will, starting Jan. 20, spend the rest of the EPL season with his family in Manchester. Kreis confirmed that he would be working with and observing Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini, and the other coaching and non-coaching staff, soaking up as much as he can in order to fulfill the goals set by Soriano and co.

All in all, the opportunity to manage in New York City was a chance that Kreis admits he couldn’t afford to let slip away. After all he built in Salt Lake, Kreis said that he is ready for a new challenge and that if not for his family, he wouldn’t have left RSL. But the 41-year-old head coach kept coming back to a simple word – opportunity – for why he had to take the job.

“The choice to come here at some point became not just a no-brainer, but an opportunity I could not let slip away,” said Kreis. “The opportunity is in front of us, and we fully intend to reach out and take it.”

Comments

  1. The question is, who will be their 3dps? 2014 is the World Cup year and after Brazil many players will be open to move and nycfc starts till 2015 march.
    There’s drogba, Anelka, Ibra, kaka, robinho, ronaldinho, Rooney, ribery, Tim Howard.
    I wonder if galaxy will remodel their stadium or if Chicago will open their wallet. Times are changing in MLS, and money will talk.

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  2. I watched the press conference and I’m hooked. I love the dot as the “crest” and I really hope that’s on their kit. It’s clean and free from the faux history checketts tried to give RSL when they entered the league. It fits Jason Kries no non sense style to coaching. Kries will win and create the teams own history.

    Then there’s Kries who is going to be successful. It took him until year three to make the playoffs with RSL and their limited resources. With nycfc it will be playoffs in year one and year two they’ll be good enough to competing for MLS cup and other cups. Kries still wants to win ccl so he’ll need to get there. He’ll have enough talent this time around to win the close ones he lost with RSL.

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  3. Curious Galaxy fan, for those whom have watched a game at Yankee stadium, how does it play? Most teams, ie Houston, or LA design teams to take advantage of home field. Kreis and Man City play a possession style, in your opinion ,will the dimensions dictate building a club for Yankee Stadium or will the skill possibly talked about in this conversation trump any/all of those problems?

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  4. Honestly, are they going to be any worse than Chivas USA or the Red Bull?
    Yeah, Man City is deplorable and is trying to build the team in their image, but the other team calls itself New York for marketing purposes but plays out of state, plus was bought by an energy drink and changed their name, both sets of uniforms, and stadium to match the sponsorship. That’s hard to top.
    I won’t even go into Chivas USA.

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    • RBA is closer to most of NYC than Yankee Stadium. And yes, most people find a human rights abuser more objectionable than an energy drink company.

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      • yeah right,

        Not a fan of either club, but RBA is nowhere closer to NYC than Yankees Stadium. Your statement is just as pathetic as a Billionaire oil guy (ManCity Owner & Yankees) trying to get taxpayers money ( $200+Million + paying $0 rent or tax to NYC until 2056) for a Soccer Stadium in the Bronx.

        What a joke!!!!

        Go Cosmos!!

  5. “When an opportunity like this becomes available it leads to something that you have to take.”

    Barely a month in NY and Kreis is already talking like Yogi Berra.

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  6. Predictions:
    1. This will not be a winning team from the get go while playing in Yankee Stadium. Attended several games there, & thought it sucked for soccer. Bad sightlines, covered up infield, little to no atmosphere, expensive as all hell concessions. I think New Yorkers will take a wait and see approach with this team, and when they don’t win right away, it’s going to get very, very ugly.

    2. Yankee Stadium has more concessions than it has atmosphere. Good luck getting fans to their seats to clap and sing when they’re too busy choosing options for getting fat. That said, the $12 Miller Lights may help.

    3. We will see manipulation of the salary cap and allmighty bending of all MLS rules thereof pertaining to collusion and competitive advantage on a scale that will make the league stopping Red Bull from using privately chartered planes to fly the team to and fro seem as petty, vindictive, and useless as a third armpit.

    4. There is already plenty to hate about this team, & I am a New Yorker. The way it’s been reported here (http://m.nydailynews.com/1.1544173#bmb=1 )the team has tried to tap the Yanks old boy network in orde to recieve the same sleazy, potentially corrupt political under the table public land lease / bond deals the Yankees did while feigning poverty & hosing the city into never paying the millions it’s owed due to construction of the new Yankee stadium to begin with is at the least unethical and suspicious and at most CRIMINAL. In other countries, citizens have the guts and honor to protest this kinds of ignorant city planning & abuse of power (ie Brazil last year) in order to at minimum raise awareness. Will that ever happen here??!

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    • I waited almost 20 years for MLS to wise up and bring a soccer club and stadium to NYC. And one simple fact means I won’t be a supporter: opening in anything but a soccer-specific stadium. My guess is NY’ers who are soccer fans feel this way too. We care too much about soccer to support it done wrong.

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    • Yes, this is all true. Just make your life easier and join us. You know you want to.

      The only thing NYCFC will do is drive more fans to RBA once they witness us wiping the entire Yankee Stadium outfield with that club.

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  7. I would’ve love to have seen the intern or producer who had to tell Mike Francesa that the Yankees were having a press conference about soccer.

    Their WFAN radio deal is going to bring me endless hours of Francesa-based joy.

    I can feel it

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  8. It will be interesting to see what kind of supporting cast Kreis can pull together.

    He’ll have the MLS expansion draft, the top pick, seeminglying unlimited funds to spend on DP’s (who would probably prefer to play for a NY team not named after an energy drink, and for more money).

    Thing is, RSL was known for being a team without DP’s, but with the most well rounded roster. Arena is the master at bang for your buck, and Kreis will need to match that ability to compete with him.

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  9. So with all the cash splashing going on and the bigger names coming on board I have to wonder who NYCFC’s DPs are going to be, and whether or not they are American. Fabian Johnson and Jozy maybe?

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      • I totally hear you and OUTSIDE of the MLS structure, I would agree with you. However, I just don’t see *ANY* MLS team using a DP slot on a keeper. Unfortunately, the league isn’t there yet to be spending so much money on a keeper. The league is at a stage where it’s increasing the quality of the everyday field player but not yet at the GK position.

        As proof, name one GK who has been signed as a DP since the rule became effective. Now, list the field players who have been signed under the DP rule. There you have it.

        The league WILL get there at one point but not by 2015.

    • And, you believe this to be a good thing, if it is to pass?

      Could you imagine the interest in this league if DC United was still top dog from ’96? Not much, I suspect.

      Pro/Rel won’t ever happen in American sports landscape – owners don’t have the stomach nor the history – so, how does one imagine that the salary cap, which exists in the NFL (big bully of the US’s sports landscape) will be scraped by a single team with the pockets of a rich guy who is really focused on the BPL?

      I’d sell on this particular sentiment.

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      • Paul Allen is the richest owner in the NFL @ $15 Billion and second richest in MLS while Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan @ $31.5 Billion is the richest and thats just the Man City part of NYCFC with the New York Yankees influence on the US sports scene and long history anything is possible. I’m not saying it will happen but money is power and you can’t help but wonder.

  10. It’s true that after the 3rd DP all teams face the same financial obstacles but let’s not forget that the big difference will be that they have Manchester City behind them. if ManCity decides to really help out they would loan out upcoming players to NYCFC and at that point financial it won’t hurt NYCFC because man city can still pay the majority of the salary of those loaned to NYCFC.

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  11. Regardless of how people feel about branding–the chances that this team fields the most skilled MLS squad ever assembled in their first match is probably about 99%.

    Their DPs will be current EPL star quality.

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    • Most skilled squad ever in their first year?

      I don’t see it. If we are only going off of DPs then you could call Toronto the most skilled team we have now. With the salary cap and trying to see who fits in their scheme they will be years away from being the most skilled squad ever. 3 amazing DPs won’t offset the rest of the team that is coming through the MLS draft, waivers, or free transfers who don’t mind getting paid less than 100K per year.

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      • New CBA negotiations will most likely happen prior to them playing–and the salary cap raised. They will be bringing in top notch youth talent most likely.

      • But that’s what made Kreis so good at RSL. He could find the diamonds in the rough that would fit into his system. He didn’t have to pay them a ton, he just had to make sure they fit the role they were meant to play within his system.

    • Madden’s Chin, why do we even play 2015 ? MLS is so easy to win, they will do it in year 1.

      I think MLS takes off when people realize ( in 2015 ) that it wasn’t just the Red Bulls that were not winning…it was 10-18 teams a year, every year. MLS is VERY competitive.

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  12. However when NYCFC hits the field there may be a higher salary cap with a new CBA. And if its higher with their money they will max that team out as best they can.

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  13. Kreis’s comments indicate that NYCFC’s tone will consist of equal parts of Yankee arrogance and Man City bravado. I’m gonna love rooting against these guys.

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