I think it’s just going to be fun. We’ll turn it off, but at the end of the day we respect each other. There’ll be respect on both sides, on the field and off the field, so we’re just looking for hopefully an entertaining game and one that we come out on top. – Kyle Beckerman
SANDY — Familiar faces return as foes Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium, when Jason Kreis and expansion side NYCFC take to the pitch in Sandy.
“I think tomorrow night will be the test to see how I feel,” Kreis told reporters prior to his team's training session. “It’s something that I’ve thought about from the moment I announced I was leaving, and made my decision to leave. I thought gosh what’s it going to be like to walk into that building as an opposing coach.”
18 months have passed since Kreis elected to trade the confines of Rio Tinto and Utah for the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple. Thus far, NYCFC is struggling to find its groove, boasting a less than stellar 1-6-4 record on arrival to Utah.
Most folks imagined Kreis at the helm of NYCFC would translate into success from the get-go. Kreis himself lamented he should have seen this coming, having been through the grueling task of building a top-tier franchise with RSL.
“Truthfully, I should have known that. I should’ve been in it from the beginning and said, Look this is going to be tough, so get ready for a lot of trying times,” said Kreis. “But for some reason I fooled myself into thinking that maybe this won’t be tough. Maybe this will be special. Maybe this will be different. Maybe I’ve learned so much that I’m just such a good coach that this will be easy, and that’s certainly not been the case.”
A hopeful Kreis admitted that although it’s been an emotional and trying challenge to relocate and start from the ground up, there’s still plenty of room for success in his NYCFC saga.
“It’s been difficult, but I knew that going in. My wife and I made a very conscious decision to take a challenge, and this is a challenge,” said Kreis. “We’re in the middle of it, so we’re still hopeful and still see that at the end of it all there’s going to be a big success story here.”
Kreis was hardly alone in his departure from Salt Lake to New York. Former RSL coaching staff, trainers and even players followed Kreis to the big-market club. Two pillars in the RSL franchise, Chris Wingert and Ned Grabavoy, joined Kreis in the Big Apple after being scooped up in expansion draft.
“I think that I’ll always look back at my time here as one of the most significant times of my life. Unless something crazy happens, I hope it does, and we play another five years and were still at NYCFC, there’s not going to be another club that we play at that is going to be as significant part of our career as that was,” said Wingert.
“In general, we’ll always look back on this stadium and the people in a really good light. I feel blessed, and I appreciate the fact that I was able to be here for so long with such a great group.”
RSL captain Kyle said he’s looking forward to an entertaining match Saturday, one filled with laughs, respect and hopefully three-points after the final whistle.
“I think it’s just going to be fun. We’ll turn it off, but at the end of the day we respect each other,” said the RSL captain. “There’ll be respect on both sides, on the field and off the field, so we’re just looking for hopefully an entertaining game and one that we come out on top.”
For Kreis, even with the hype and emotions surrounding his return to Salt Lake, this is just like any other match Saturday evening.
“We’ve had some emotional games already. You can imagine playing the first-ever game in franchise history in Orlando in front of 60,000 and then turning around and playing the first ever home game in Yankee Stadium in front of 50,000,” said Kreis. “Those were pretty big emotional affairs, and I had to speak a lot to the guys about keeping their nerves in check. I don’t think it’s something we're going to be too concerned with tomorrow night.”
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