New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis keeping faith in Adam Nemec despite goal-less start

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Adam Nemec ticks off all the boxes for New York City FC coach Jason Kreis in what he wants from a center forward.

“We’ve looked at his performances and said they’ve been really good ones for us and he serves a very important role for us,” Kreis said. “His work rate has been great, his passing ability, his ability to hold the ball up for us, the decisions he’s been making are all good.”

There’s been just one thing missing for the Slovakian international – his first Major League Soccer goal. The 6-foot-3 forward has started five matches and played 396 minutes and still hasn’t found the back of the net.

“Of course, any one of us would like to score, but sometimes you just don’t score,” Nemec said. “Sometimes every ball you touch is in the net, sometimes you just don’t score from two yards out of the goal. It’s just like that. One time you’re up, one time you’re down.”

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As a former forward, Kreis understands Nemec’s frustration, which isn’t limited to the 29-year-old who had 14 goals in 64 appearances for Union Berlin in the 2.Bundesliga before signing with NYCFC in February. 

“Having been a striker you go through patches where it seems you can’t hit the side of a barn and you go through patches where everything wants to go into the net for you,” Kreis said. “I think unfortunately for us we have a lot of guys right now who are having a bit of a difficulty getting the ball over the line, between the posts. But I feel like if we get one, we’re going to get a bundle.”

Nemec has partnered with David Villa in Kreis’ first-choice forward pairing, and his skill-set has meshed well with Spain’s all-time leading scorer because Villa likes to drift wide.

But that partnership, much like others on the field for NYCFC, still needs time to grow.

“It’s not just between the two of us, it’s everyone. The entire group is brand new here,” Nemec said. “We have some injuries, we’re changing lineups. It takes time. We’re all working pretty hard during practice to stick together and I hope we all get better soon.”

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Nemec had one of his most productive games in a 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union last Thursday. He matched a season-high with three shots, including a header off a Javier Calle corner from the edge of the six-yard box that sailed just over the crossbar.

After playing the full 90 minutes against the Union, Nemec was an unused substitute in a 1-0 loss to Portland on Sunday with Kreis opting to go with Patrick Mullins and Tony Taylor up front.

“I think you need to look at as many sensible options for a rotation as you can when you play this many games, four games in 13 days,” Kreis said. “You have to take a look at your squad and see who looks like they’re ready for the opportunity and if they are, let’s go ahead and give them one. We tried to do as much rotation as we felt comfortable with.”

With Villa (hamstring) likely out and Taylor suffering a season-ending knee injury against Portland, Nemec should again get a chance to score his first goal Friday night in Chicago (8 pm ET; UDN/UnivisionDeportes.com) and try to snap NYCFC’s five-match winless streak.

“Of course we are believing that,” Nemec said. “We’re working on that. We all believe that it’s coming.”