New York City FC: Alexandru Mirtita setting up special expectations
Alexandru Mitrita scored another sensational goal in New York City FC’s preseason win over FC Cincinnati on Friday. The newest DP signing is setting up truly special expectations.
The departure of David Villa often felt like it could completely de-rail New York City FC’s 2019 season. He was the club captain, the face of the franchise, the record goalscorer and one of the principal pieces in all of Major League Soccer. Losing a player of that talismanic status can be hugely detrimental to a team’s hopes.
Nevertheless, Domenec Torrent and New York City FC knew that this was coming and have smartly planned for the post-Villa era.
And they did so buy investing in Alexandru Mitrita, a young Romanian attacker who has the talent and giftings to take MLS by storm. Mitrita was signed to a multi-year contract and cost a reported $8.5 million, which is the most any team not named from Atlanta United has ever spent on an incoming player.
Now, Mitrita was never going to be a like-for-like replacement for Villa. He is a different type of attacker, he plays the game with a different style, and he likely is not of the same calibre as the Spanish World Cup-winner. But he is likely to now be the leading attacking instigator that New York rely upon.
And if his preseason form is anything to go by, it would reasonable to assume that Mitrita has a propensity for the sensational. He has scored two goals already this preseason, both of which are outstanding moves and strikes.
https://twitter.com/NYCFC/status/1099125560498884608
https://twitter.com/NYCFC/status/1093886535445958658
Obviously, a couple of excellent strikes in the preseason means little for a whole season. The games lack the same intensity as regular-season contests and they are such a small sample size that there is very little to parse out.
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Nevertheless, the fact that Mitrita is capable of goals like these is encouraging for his time in New York. With Villa gone, another player with an eye for the spectacular, NYCFC will need someone to produce game-changing moments like Mitrita has during preseason. Systems and tactics and shape and managerial structures are all well and good, but it is players that ultimately win and lose matches, and in Mitrita, NYCFC have a player who can single-handedly win them matches.
New York needed to find a player — or players — who can replicate those moments that Villa was so brilliant at creating. Jesus Medina has the talent but not the injury record or consistent. Maxi Moralez is an excellent creator from the midfield but is not the goalscorer that Villa was. The attacker capable of the sensational was missing in Villa’s absence.
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Perhaps, then, Mitrita can continue to produce the spectacular and take the place of Villa. He is proving he might just be capable in preseason thus far.