NEW YORK – He is the same person who guided Real Salt Lake to two MLS Cup appearances and its first title in 2009. But is Jason Kreis the same coach with New York City FC as he was for six successful seasons with RSL?
Yes and no, according to Chris Wingert and Ned Grabavoy, two former Salt Lake players Kreis hand picked to join him in at the expansion team in New York.
“He’s very similar. He’s still the same guy, but he’s a very ambitious person,” said Wingert. “Because of that, he’s always learning and growing as a coach. He’s still a relatively young guy so he’s going to be getting better all the time, especially after experiences like he had at Salt Lake and spending time in Manchester.”
Last January, Kreis spent six months in England, immersing himself in the “Manchester City way.”
While he learned more about how the English Premier League side operates, Kreis sought out similar personalities at NYCFC as he did at Real Salt Lake.
“Jason’s a guy that wants to have high character, good talented players, players who are going to buy into the club, what is being asked of them, to play a role for the team to ultimately be successful,” said Grabavoy. “For me, it’s more the principles in place. Those have not really changed with him. All those things that were important to him at RSL in players, in a group, is still there.”
Because it was a new team in preseason, Grabavoy said the focus was different with more time dedicated to the film room than in previous training camps he has participated in.
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“We worked more this preseason on shape and organization and some of the things that when you have a group that has that understanding and has worked together for 4-5 years, you don’t maybe have to do that as much on a daily basis,” Grabavoy said.
Much has been made of Kreis employing the same 4-4-2 diamond formation as he did in Salt Lake, but Kreis has proved early in his campaign with NYCFC that he is willing to change, and adapt, depending on the situation.
It is a different wrinkle for the veteran coach.
“That’s a credit to him that he’s willing to do whatever it takes and is open-minded to learning what the best system is for this team,” Wingert said.
