Vieira’s story so far

Ahead of the New York derby – live on Sky Sports – we assess how Patrick Vieira has done so far in charge of New York City FC.

Vieira took the New York City FC job in January with the objective of leading the Major League Soccer franchise to their first ever play-offs after predecessor Jason Kreis had managed only an eighth-place finish in the club’s inaugural campaign.

Ahead of Saturday’s Rivalry Week clash with the New York Red Bulls, we take a look at how the former Arsenal midfielder has done so far…

The off-season

The expectation levels at New York City FC are high; the club has financial backing from Manchester City’s holding company, City Football Group, as well as Yankee Global Enterprises, who own the iconic baseball club the New York Yankees.

Vieira’s brave decision to step into football management led him to New York City, and was selected by director of football Claudio Reyna. Like Vieira, Reyna spent playing time at Manchester City and he wanted to appoint the former elite development squad’s coach to lead the MLS club.

Vieira was announced as the new head coach on November 9 last year and took charge on January 1.

Former Spain international and ex-Valencia, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid striker David Villa joined the club at the start of last season and was an immense success.

He scored 18 goals in 29 MLS appearances in his first season. However, Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard both joined in the summer last year, and had less than successful starts to their respective careers stateside.

Vieira’s first job would be to successfully integrate the new stars into a workable system while also building a strong supporting cast around them.  

His first signing was …

continue reading in source www.skysports.com