Jason Kreis is back!
The previous New York City FC coach is back in MLS after almost a year of looking for a club. Orlando City SC announced on Tuesday that Kreis will become the club’s second coach in history.
“We are very excited that we have got our man. Jason is a progressive thinking and highly ambitious coach, who is very familiar with success in MLS,” Orlando City SC president and founder Phil Rawlins said. “Jason’s playing philosophy is the same attack-minded, possession-oriented style of soccer that we have built our club around. He is a winner who checks all the boxes for us.”
Kreis had a great coaching career before his “flop” with NYC. He led Real Salt Lake to two MLS Championship appearances, winning one of them. In addition, he directed the team to a CONCACAF Champions League appearance.
On Twitter, Kevin Kinkead, a Philly U informant, tweeted “Those RSL teams played good defense and had a core that stayed together for YEARS. Beckerman, Morales, Rimando, Beltran, Borchers, etc”… and he is exactly right. Kreis had a dominant group at RSL and, whether you like it or not, this played a huge role in the overall success of the club.
But in my opinion, Kreis is walking into another NYC situation. NYC didn’t qualify for playoffs – you can tell the team really didn’t gel together and who knows what went on behind the curtains. Lampard came into the team half way into the season and you can see the frustration in David Villa’s eyes. Orlando City also depend on star power – Kaka, Larin, Brek Shea – to get anything done; Kaka has been battling some injuries all year that is literally why they are sitting 8th place.
I’ve only been watching MLS for a couple of years and never saw the “Kreis era,” but Kreis is beloved by MLS fans and knows the league already. The board of directors in Orlando are clearly content with this decision and hopefully will be behind him going forward.
