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NYCFC pleased to land Diskerud, might not add 3rd DP until summer

Mix Diskerud USMNT 29

Photo by Kelley L Cox/USA Today Sports
 

By FRANCO PANIZO

LAUDERHILL, Fla. — The conversations with Mix Diskerud began a little over a month ago, but New York City FC has had its eyes on him for much longer.

Diskerud became the latest member of NYCFC on Tuesday, signing a deal that gives the expansion MLS club a player it has thought about signing since early 2014. NYCFC’s brass knew back then that Diskerud’s contract with Norwegian club Rosenborg BK expired this winter, and was hopeful of landing the 24-year-old midfielder who had twice previously been linked with a move to MLS.

NYCFC got its man, adding a U.S. Men’s National Team player to its roster, and did so without using a Designate Player slot.

“I think we have to go about this with the plan that the salary cap structure is going to be the same as it is now, maybe a moderate increase,” NYCFC head coach Jason Kreis said, referring to the upcoming collective bargaining agreement, “so we have allocation money and I think we’ll be using that for him.”

Kreis was visibly happy while talking to media about Diskerud during the final day of the MLS Combine on Tuesday, and with good reason.

In Diskerud, NYCFC is getting a seasoned player whose role with the U.S. has been increasing in recent months and who Kreis thinks fits perfectly with the club. More importantly perhaps is the fact that Diskerud is versatile enough to play in several spots in the midfield, which should help make up for Designated Player Frank Lampard’s absence during the first half of the MLS season.

Kreis said Diskerud is equally pleased with the move. Born in Norway, Diskerud has long had an affinity for living in the United States. He previously had talks with the Portland Timbers and Columbus Crew to make a move stateside, but neither club was able to finalize a deal.

“I think he’s really excited and pleased,” said Kreis. “I think he and I and everybody involved are very happy people today. In my chats with him, he has mentioned that he really, really likes the idea of being part of New York City FC and living in New York.”

As far as adding a third Designated Player goes, Kreis said the club still intends to do so but that it might not happen until later in the year. NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna had said back in November that the club felt “comfortable and confident” that they’d have a third DP by their first game, but that apparently is no longer the case.

“I don’t know that we’ve ever said we expected to have that by the start of the season,” said Kreis. “I think we’ve always been clear that we will have three DPs, but the timing of it has never been exact. I think there is one thing that we have been clear on and we continue to be clear on, that we’re not going to add any player, regular player or Designated Player, because we’re against some timeline.

“I think that would be a faulty decision. We’re going to add the right player and the right third DP.”

Comments

  1. Ali Curtis’ 300pg plan –

    pg 1 – get rid of most successful coach in history
    pg 2 – alienate every fan you have
    pg 3 – hire your buddy as coach in an impossible position after 1 and 2
    pg 4 – miss out on a great non DP signing – Mix
    pg 5 – miss out on top signing of “homegrown” Altidore
    pg 6 – look for any last scraps of the organization to screw up that have not been already trashed through the years
    pg 7-300 – blah blah blah, some statistics to back up middling player acquisitions that only best friend new coach understands, blah blah blah blah

    Appendix – moving forward to make NYCFC look even better relatively speaking into the future

    Reply
  2. Someone clue me in. Is Villa not on a DP deal? Or is Lampard not?

    Because if they have Villa, Lampard, and Mixx as DPs… why do they need a third… unless one isn’t coming…?

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  3. Overrated. Maybe it’s his hair and boy band-aristocratic posturing and Jurgen’s crush on him that people rate. This guy is a chav, not a respectable footballer of any consequence. I don’t get what the rage is about.

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  4. If the 3rd DP comes til the summer, then it must be someone in a big team. Could it be jozy or some big Europe player.
    Any words who red bull wants, they can take me 🙂

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  5. “I don’t know that we’ve ever said we expected to have a team by the start of the season. In accordance with the wishes of our ‘sister’ organization, we have determined that it is best for us, and for the league, that we take field in July. This will put us on a better timing schedule to feed, I’m sorry, transact with our ‘sister’ organization.

    Let me be clear that I was clear on my previous statement that being clear is clearly the way to be clear on the fact that we have been clear on and we continue to be clear in the future.”

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      • Maybe but it could be the best thing. Living in a culture where his every tweet or movement isn’t cared about at all. Less social pressure maybe he clears his head and plays better then mls sells him back to Europe. If that happens maybe other players would consider MLS at a younger age.

  6. i like Mixx, but I don’t know if he’s as amaaayzing as many people seem to think.
    Watching him play is like seeing a rag doll on marionette strings running box to box.

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    • I like Mix myself, but I think he’s a bit of a lightweight. His work rate tracking back is middlin’ at best and he seems like a lot more of a 60-minute than a 90-minute player at this juncture. He’s creative and dangerous going forward and can score and set up.

      Actually I think MLS might well be the perfect place for him. People rag on our technicality – which he definitely has – but it’s also a very physical, athletic league, far more so than Norway…and he’s going to have to get some genuine steel if he wants to do more than be a spot sub…which is not exactly what NYCFC or Kreis are paying him for.

      People ragging on MLS in general need to maybe get some context going. No, it is not the EPL. It is even not yet Liga MX or the French Ligue 1. But it’s growing at a steady rate of 7%, attendencewise, it’s about to get on an entirely different income structure with its new TV deal, and this past offseason alone the league acquired guys like Kaka, David Villa, Frank Lampard, Stephen Gerrard, (probably) Jozy Altidore, and a host of others – and this was after adding Jermaine Jones at the end of last year – while adding a host of less-heralded but still very effective Internationals across the league. Quality is flooding in, every year, and MLS is structured so the rising tide is being forced to lift all boats. And we’re also seeing guys like Diskerud and Klejstan returning because the money is finally there. We’re also seeing managers like Owen Croyle coming into the league now too.

      The arrow on MLS is straight up.

      Folks, it was not long ago MLS was playing on rented football fields – with the lines still showing – and there were starters earning $20-$30K, in front of crowds of a couple thousand. David Beckham didn’t enter the league until 2007. 2007! Now we got Kaka, Lampard, and Gerrard all in one offseason, added two more expansion teams, and I still see the same tired old narrative about MLS being a fourth-rate kicker league.

      No other league on the planet is showing this kind of massive progress.

      Reply
      • well said. the league is looking up my chicago fire have added two players from the swedish league who may light it up. one is on the ghana national team which is no joke. a few years back players went the other way to sweden and denmark but no longer

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