Taylor Twellman
Q: What are your expectations for NYCFC in its expansion season?
A: I think Jason Kreis is looking at the playoffs because it is the Eastern Conference and it is up for grabs. They haven’t used their third designatedplayer spot yet and their second designated player, Frank Lampard, hasn’t even come over, yet. The key is Yankee Stadium and that home field. They have to somehow turn a negative into a positive. We’re naïve if we think that’s an ideal situation. Q: How do they do that? A: It’s very difficult. I have played U.S. national team games on baseball fields and it’s going to be interesting. If there are 30,000-plus people there, it can turn into a home game real quick. But the way the field is laid out, the way the fans are further away from the field, it’s an adjustment, no doubt about it.
Q: What kind of impact will Lampard have when he shows up?
A: Their No. 1 concern for the first part of the year is finding out what they have on defense. I am not sure they are going to use their third designated-player spot until they know how the first couple of months go. So, Lampard comes over and he immediately has an impact on the midfield. What does it do to the Mix Diskeruds of the world? Where does he play? Maybe he can be a little bit more attacking.
Q: Is the confusion over Lampard still an issue?
A: It was ugly. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it; PR-wise it wasn’t pretty. But when Lampard shows up in June, does anyone care how it
went down? When he scores five, six goals, it just goes away. It’s a growing pain you are going to see because of Manchester City over there and how they run things you may have some mixed messages.
Q: What do you think was the rationale behind the highly unpopular Red Bulls firing of Mike Petke?
A: I just think they looked at it like (Tim) Cahill and (Thierry) Henry are leaving, maybe we could have an overhaul a little bit and change the identity of the team. It’s difficult to comprehend because it wasn’t like Mike Petke wasn’t successful. But it’s not like Jesse Marsch isn’t a good coach and doesn’t deserve an opportunity. I just was shocked that it came with the Red Bulls because how do you argue with what Mike Petke did. … It’s an interesting thing. I love it because it’s New York and only there would you fire a coach after taking the team to win a Supporters’ Shield and a conference final. And I do think Marsch got really done badly in Montreal and I think he deserved another oppor
tunity.