NYCFC Strive To Make Sure Home Opener Isn’t “Going To Suck”
By Matt Hoffman
Yankees president Randy Levine spent his week trying to downplay caustic remarks, Mark Teixeira’s principally among them, about the current stadium sharing situation between the Yankees and NYCFC.
It was Teixeira, speaking to the New York Daily News, bemoaned the effects of sharing the stadium on the infield turn and decried, “it’s going to suck.”
“It’s going to suck, but you have to deal with it. It’s going to tear up the infield, but there’s nothing we can do about it”
While most Yankees players have striven to come across as conciliatory, Teixeira’s remarks reminded us all that the Yankees/NYCFC are not a happy family. We’ve already reported about how Yankee restrictions have already infuriated the NYCFC fans, Teixeira’s remarks have galvanized fans in a way that few men coming off a season where they only hit .216 do.
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What’s ironic is that, as a first baseman, Teixeiraseldom runs (he has just one stolen base in the last two seasons).
The resulting brouhaha continued to spin as NYCFC coach Jason Kreis quipped to the Daily News: “I could turn it around, ask [the Yankees] if they’d take care of [the field] for us.”
Trying to retain calm, Levine praised the stadiums ground crew before saying : “Man City, who are soccer experts, and their crew also advised us on how to keep the field in good shape.”
Levine told the media that, with only a one exception, there will be a three-day period between NYCFC and Yankee matches.
“My mother told me not to worry about what I can’t control,” Kreis said adding: “And I don’t think they’ll put me on the grounds crew.”
Jason Kreis and his technical staff watch
So let’s get back to the things Kreis can control and that starts with the game against the New England Revolution. The Revolution got hot last year and rode into the MLS Cup Final losing to the LA Galaxy which is the only game the Revs have lost without Jermaine Jones in the lineup.
Jones was not in the lineup against last week at Seattle and it showed. The Sounders were ran all over the Revolution and the resulting 3-0 scoreline did not seem indicative of the mayhem wrecked by Obfemi Martins, Clint Dempsey and Co.
Jones will not be in the NYCFC match and neither will Teal Bunbury but last year’s MVP candidate, Lee Nguyen, has resumed full practice and should be ready for the match.
The biggest concern for City is getting David Villa involved. His MLS introduction was underwhelming. The Spaniard DP attempted only two shots–both well outside of the box and neither on target. Kreis needs to find a way to improve the linking between Villa and the rest of the team.
Sunday’s contest will challenge City in ways that last week’s match against Orlando never could. Besides getting Villa involved, the team needs to learn how to kill off a game.
That’s a lot to ask from a young, expansion team. But such are the expectations of the club given the club’s earnest desire to spend the money to pluck a coach of Kreis’s caliber and to sign a striker like Villa in the first place.
And with the money being spent, the message is clear: it shouldn’t suck no matter what Mark Teixeira says.