Since seeing his side eliminated from the postseason, Jason Kreis has been on the hot seat at New York City FC, and it appears that the club has found a high-profile potential replacement.
Goal USA reported Thursday that NYCFC is in discussions with Fabio Capello regarding the team’s head coaching position. Goal went onto report that NYCFC isn’t the only MLS team to have approached Capello, as two further clubs have made contact with the Italian coach.
Capello most recently served as manager for the Russian national team from 2012-15 after assuming the same role with England, where he managed current NYCFC star Frank Lampard from 2008-12. The Italian’s career has also seen him take charge of AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus while claiming the 1993-94 UEFA Champions League, five Serie A crowns and two La Liga titles.
If hired, Capello would replace Kreis, who led NYCFC to a 10-17-7 record in the club’s inaugural season. The club is reportedly interested in replacing Kreis with a high-profile manager.
That manager is reportedly unlikely to be Patrick Viera, who has been linked with the job in recent weeks. Goal USA reports that Viera’s chances of being hired are considered “slim.”
What do you think of the Capello news? How would he fare in MLS? Would Capello be a good hire for NYCFC?
Share your thoughts below.
I would bet the house that one of the other clubs is Montreal.
kreis deserves to be treated respectfully and hopefully the NYCFC ownership have already talked to him about dismissing him- not sure the owners have that quality of integrity- we already have seen a lot of manipulation from them as they treat the MLS/NYC as a playground
i hope kreis does move on to a better opening, but i am not convinced he would take on the chicago job because of its owner- would he return to RSL?? TFC? Colorado?
what a waste of a season if Kreiss is gone!!!!! Fire KLINSMAN!!!!! Fire capello!!!
Seems NYCFC is starting a long tradition of dysfunction in the MLS NYC market. Because we all know, merry-go-round Coaches work well in MLS.
If Kreis gos, send him to Chicago. I would glad make the 3 hour trip to Toyota Park to watch a Kreis coached team.
It’s going to take Capello a year to figure out how to operate a team under the salary cap system. Guess what? The results will be worse.
Hire him = waste money
He is a loosing coach. Only “lost mind” people hire him
MLS system is way too different to bring a foreign manager who has not played or coached in the USA or Canada. BUST of major proportions is the likelihood, just like the Dutch guy Ruud Gullit who coached the Galaxy.
Kries cant get away from this joke of a franchise fast enough.
Hey, Mankees, MLS 2007 called. They want their playbook back.
First and foremost I think it’s classless for NYFC to fire Kries after one season. No coach would have done better with that roster.
Next I think Capello would be a disaster. Just hanging out for the paycheck. Every report I’ve read about him says he’s and ass to work for. The Chelsea staff and workers at the stadium said he was an ahole and would never acknowledge anyone.
Can they even afford him? Didn’t he get paid $12M a year when he coached England? I’m sure he got paid well by Putin as well.
Not convinced that a big-name coach is the answer. Carlos Queiroz, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Ruud Gullit… None proved to be that much of an upgrade over American coaches.
It would be a cool experiment. Would a renowned coach make a mediocre team great? My guess is that, just like with the national team, the quality of the coach is irrelevant if the players suck.
This would be a mistake. Not because FC is a bad coach, but because JK is a good coach who knows this league. NYC is a poorly constructes team due to massive bucks being spent on great, but older players by management. They have no depth. Give him a couple of more years to build this EXPANSION team into a Real club and he will do it. No matter what you think, MLS is not set up to allow you to buy titles. Not even LA.
One thing Capello or any other manager cannot do is to make Lampard or Pirlo any younger. One benefit a new coach would have is that he could start the next season with all his DP’s in place. If Kreis does get fired, expect some savvy club to pick him up right away. He is much too good to stay unemployed long.
i would like to see an international coach succeed in MLS; based on their superior ability to coach & manage, while a seasoned MLS GM or FO staff manage the MLS-specific duties.. but I am not a believer just because it is such a different job compared to any other league in the world. Go for it and good luck! It would be really interesting if they could pull this off!
Also Kreis has not been fired, right? Other two that have contacted Fabio? – i’ll guess Atlanta and Toronto, maybe Montreal or LAFC?
If Cappello does his homework, I’d be shocked if he accepts any offer once he views how MLS is set up and all of convoluted intricacies associated its structure.
I have to imagine it’s incredibly unwelcoming to foreign managers of any renowned prestige.
At the end of the day this is a business decision. If you can improve by replacing a player or coach you do it. FC is a better coach than JK. If I were the owners I would make the switch…especially in this very demanding NYC market.
Sounds to me like doubling down on the Old & Expensive DP approach. Rather than put Villa together with some younger and currently better DPs, as well as a better supporting cast, you double down with a coach with Serie A history, who, what, is supposed to know how to motivate the handful of stars atop the roster? What about a coach who would understand organizing a team and getting performance from everyone on a cap budget?
I’m sure a few of these high profile coaches find the US interesting, but this is not a spend your way out of trouble league. The successful DP Big Clubs in the league like LA are there as much for how well they identify and exploit the supporting cast as for the DPs on the roster. So it’s a little bit of a unique animal.
he probably wouldn’t do all that well given the challenges MLS presents unless he has a great supporting cast. that said, that cannot continue to be the excuse for not bringing in foreign coaches. especially ones like Capello. this is a big name, a guy who has proven to be a good coach. MLS needs that, in addition to the American coaches, to continue its growth.
even though this will probably get blasted, it would not be a bad move for an MLS club to make, IMO.
I know this may sound crazy but on the flip side, Kreis has proven himself as an MLS coach. I’m all for a team bringing in Capello and would hope he would buck the trend of international coaches having little success in MLS. I just don’t think Kreis should be made into a scapegoat for NYCFC results this season. Then again, I felt (and still do think he should’ve been given an opportunity) that Petke shouldn’t have been replaced by Marsch last Jan and look how that turned out.
yeah man, i think it’s way too harsh on Kreis. but the article does say, “NYCFC isn’t the only MLS team to have approached Capello,” so my comment was more meant for those other MLS clubs.