Jason Kreis left a comfortable situation at Real Salt Lake — it had become too comfortable — to take on the challenge of leading the MLS expansion team New York City FC.
He was unveiled as New York City FC’s new head coach at a Friday press conference at the Grand Hyatt, with the first question being why the team hadn’t won any games yet. While it was obviously a joke, Kreis knows the spotlight of New York and the pressure of winning with this high-profile club are no joke.
“We know we’re expected to win, and frankly we will win,’’ said Kreis, who went 111-87-69 in all competitions over seven years with Real Salt Lake. He won an MLS Cup, lost last year’s final in penalty kicks, and led them to five consecutive 50-point campaigns and a league-record six straight playoff berths.
But for a big-budget team owned by Manchester City and the Yankees – two of the biggest names in sports and most demanding teams on the planet – Kreis knows the job will be a challenge, even if the team doesn’t start play until 2015.
“The choice to come here at some point became not just a no-brainer, but an opportunity I could not let slip away,’’ said Kreis, who was there with his family and ex-Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts, the Knicks’ former GM. “The opportunity is in front of us, and we fully intend to reach out and take it.
“I believe that in this job, as in any other job, there comes a time when a new challenge is necessary. I’d gotten very comfortable with the surroundings at Real Salt Lake, and had done a lot of things there to build an incredibly successful franchise in an incredible community. Then when an opportunity like this becomes available, for me it’s just something that you have to take.”
New York City FC director of football Claudio Reyna — a New Jersey native who played for Manchester City and the Red Bulls — said he wanted an American coach, and added he felt the team could someday become one of the top clubs in the world, between the location and the resources.
“Why not? It’s New York City, it’s the greatest city in the world, the league is growing at an incredible pace. We believe in the future of soccer in this country,’’ Reyna said. “Why not? I think that’s the ambition of the league and our ambition as well. Maybe it can be one of the best clubs in the world. But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.’’
Kreis said he expects New York City FC would sign three Designated Players, and he’ll spend four months in England watching and working with Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini.
“In all our teams, we want to play a certain kind of football,’’ said Manchester City chief executive officer Ferran Soriano. “And the order of things is first the philosophy, first how we want to play. Then we choose a manager that likes the philosophy and is able to execute it. Then we play good football. And then we win. We cannot jump ahead of that.’’
The club already started stoking the fires in a rivalry with the Red Bulls. New York City FC hired David Lee, who left the Red Bulls, as head of recruitment and original MetroStar Miles Joseph is an assistant coach.
“Actually, that there is another team is good. There are plenty of cities in the world with rivalries that are enriching the experience. As an example, there is another club in Manchester, I can’t remember the name right now,’’ Soriano said of 20-time EPL champ Manchester United. “But Manchester is much smaller city. There is room for two clubs in New York.’’
Where will they find room for a stadium? They could end up playing in Yankee Stadium temporarily, and Reyna said they will have a training facility built by the time the team starts play in 2015.
A proposed stadium near Yankee Stadium has met with local opposition, with Reyna, Soriano and New York City FC chief business officer Tim Pernetti (formerly of Rutgers) all saying they are looking not just to build a building but find a home, so they likely will take their time to come up with the perfect spot.