New York City FC will have plenty of expectations cut out for Jesus Medina, but even his acclimation should be immensely productive.
New York City FC integrated recently-departed (as in… to Manchester City) Jack Harrison into their attack, post-first-round-pick, with a degree of caution, but there comes a point in time when there is no point waiting when he is clearly up for the job.
For Harrison, that came very early, about midway through his first season with the club. It became apparent that he was ready to contribute alongside David Villa and has been outspoken about the impact that the Spanish legend had on his career.
Harrison was a magician on the ball, and losing him to Manchester City is going to sting for awhile, but the Sky Blues wasted no time replacing him on the prospectus scale, turning to Paraguayan youngster Jesus Medina.
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Medina was secured right at the turn of the new year after weeks of speculation and despite the presence of plenty of other candidates, Medina is the go-to for anyone searching for the void that Harrison left.
New York City FC also signed Ismael Tajouri-Shradi as well as the ever-reliable returnees Rodney Wallace, Jonathan Lewis and Tommy McNamara. But given the style that Vieira employed last year, with Harrison using speed and width to their advantage, with left-footed Harrison cutting in, running defenders through a cheese-grater and having his way in the box, Medina is the most capable, the most exciting and the most logical immediate replacement.
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That doesn’t mean that he is going to fall right into line though. As has been established, New York City FC want to allow Medina time to acclimate. But the best part about that is he has time to do so.
All that being said, Medina showed in his opening match against Sporting KC just how ‘golden’ the position he walked into actually is. With the quick-strike capabilities of this NYCFC club, all Medina has to do is settle in, pay attention and take his chances. The rest will fall into place.
And yes, it may well be that easy.
The hardest part about his match against Sporting KC was the physical toll. He looked a bit gassed when he came off just past the hour mark, but before that, he was making his runs, flowing with the attack and combining with all the institutions already in place with this attack.
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So long as Medina can do the simple things while the club patiently wait for him to settle, he is still going to be performing at a high enough level to make an impact. Confidence breeds results, and that confidence should be building up pretty quickly.