The two weeks in between Major League Soccer matches for New York City FC can be a bad thing or it can be a necessary respite.
For the Club, which travels to Philadelphia on April 11, the bye week is the latter.
“One of the main things is to get guys rested and recuperated who have been carrying small injuries,” head coach Jason Kreis said after Wednesday training at SUNY Purchase. “We’re also afforded the opportunity to play a friendly match. For the guys who haven’t gotten to play matches since the preseason, it’s important they have the opportunity to compete and show us what they deserve in front of them.”
New York City FC (1-1-2; 5 points) was without six players for the 1-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City at Yankee Stadium this past Saturday evening.
Forward David Villa, midfielder Sebastian Velasquez and defender Josh Williams were sidelined through injury. Forwards Adam Nemec (Slovakia) and Khiry Shelton (United States Under-23) were unavailable due to international call ups. Defender Shay Facey was suspended after acquiring two yellow cards a week earlier in a scoreless draw at Colorado.
“They’re all moving forward and everything is going according to the plan which is to have them available for full training at the start of next week and to prepare for the match at Philadelphia,” Kreis said of the players dealing with injuries.
Against Sporting KC, Kreis awarded debut starts to three players – defender Kwame Watson-Siriboe, forward Patrick Mullins and midfielder Javier Calle – and first-team debuts to a trio of substitutes – forward Tony Taylor and midfielders Tommy McNamara and Kwadwo Poku.
Kreis said the first-team minutes will prove vital for each of those players as the season progresses.
“It’s good to get them minutes under their belts so hopefully they don’t have the nerves next time they step on the field,” Kreis said. “As you go further into the season, you know you’re going to have injuries, suspensions through yellow card accumulation or national team call-ups, so you’re going to have to rely on other guys.”
