San Jose, CA — August 5, 2016. San Jose Earthquakes take on New York City FC.
After a stinging defeat to Toronto at home to end their season, the future looks bright for New York City Football Club and 2017 could see the team go even further into the playoffs. From this point forward Patrick Vieira truly gets to shape the team into his vision of a club and the changes are already starting to happen.
With the addition of Sean Johnson the team gains an all star USMNT keeper in the prime of his career. Johnson seems excited to come and compete for the starting spot against Josh Saunders and Eirik Johanson. With his proven skills and ability to play out of the back it is likely he will succeed.
USL MVP and Golden Boot winner Sean Okoli is a welcome addition to the club making up for some of the firepower lost with the retirement of Frank Lampard and the release of Stevin Mendoza and Tony Taylor. Again, with Okoli, Vieira has signed a proven point man and striker more in position to complement David Villa and push players like Khiry Shelton and Jack Harrison to new heights. It should be a pleasure to watch the reigning MLS MVP and the reigning USL MVP team up for some goals in 2017.
Johnson and Okoli are both younger, dynamic players with something to prove. These two players represent a movement to a younger and quicker team able to play the style Vieira wants to play. Will 2017 finally be the year that NYCFC is fast enough to recover on the short Yankee Stadium field and keep teams like the Red Bulls from running up 7 goals? I am sure Vieira hopes so.
Another question is how to strengthen the defensive line and make up for the loss of defending midfielders, Federico Bravo and Andoni Iraola. There is a chance Bravo might return with the defender saying that a decision will be made soon, but for now he is back in Argentina and weighing his options. NYCFC must bring in a defensive hold up man to back up Pirlo and solidify the midfield. With several options available, it will be interesting to see who they target in the winter transfer season.
With a third DP spot open for the team, the big question is who NYCFC will get to fill it. Which way will they go? Younger and upcoming or another proven commodity and star like Lampard or Andrea Pirlo. Vieira said just last month ” You are not going to believe how many players would love to come and play with New York City FC and we are going to have some difficult decisions to make.” Which ever way he goes, it should be exciting to see the team Vieira fields in their friendly in Ecuador against Emelec on February 8
