Major
League Soccer and the weather have been heating up as the league enters the
summer leg of the 2015 season. The
secondary transfer window, July 8th – August 6th, has
been buzzing with most of the headlines surrounding New York City Football
Club.
The
Jason Kreis coached side has made two early splashes. The first was the announcement was the signing of
32-year-old defender Androni Iraola on a free transfer. His arrival in the Big
Apple will provide the backline of NYC FC with a veteran of the Spanish first
division. Iraola made 510 appearances
for Athletico Bilbao, scoring 38 goals over a 12-season career. He will be reunited with forward David Villa
as the pair has featured previously for the Spanish National Team. New York has
also signed highly rated Manchester City starlet Jose Angel Tasande, Under-21
Youth Academy left back, to a season long loan deal. His pace and ability to fly up the flanks
will benefit their wing play greatly.
The
crowning jewel for NYC FC however, will be the arrival of English talisman
Frank Lampard. Lampard completed a loan
deal with Manchester City this past English Premier League season, scoring 6
goals and tallying 4 assists over the course of 14 appearances. “Super Frank” brings an injection of
technical and attacking class to a midfield that contains U.S. international
Mix Diskerud. Lampard turned pro in 1995 featuring for West Ham United before transferring to Chelsea FC in
2001. The 36-year-old played his way into English folklore at Chelsea F.C. by scoring
147 goals in 429 appearances while winning Premier League Player of the Decade (2001-10).
His
debut set for sometime this month will be extremely timely with the second ever
match against inner city rivals New York Red Bulls on
June 28th. The pair met in a memorable
2-1 fixture on May 10th with the Red Bulls pushing on the attack after a 36th minute red card to Matt Miazga. They were able to ride a brace from 2014 MLS Golden Boot Winner Bradley
Wright-Phillips to victory, putting this second clash into the forefront of the upcoming fixtures.
In
addition to NYC FC, the LA Galaxy will also be welcoming a former international
teammate of Lampard to MLS this summer.
Former Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, alongside Lampard, have been in the spotlight of English football dominating English Premier midfielders for over the past 10 years.
“Stevie G” had a
decorated career at Liverpool to say the least, appearing in an outstanding
overall total of 710 games while tallying 186 goals with this recording dating back to 1988. His top achievements include winning 3 League
Cups, 2 FA Cups and the UEFA Champions League in historic fashion during the
2005 campaign. All eyes of the MLS world
will be watching the LA Galaxy vs. NYCFC on August 23rd when the
former English international midfield 1-2-punch square off at the StubHub
Center in Carson, CA.
The
MLS has been swirling with potential transfers as well. Taking the headlines, again, NYC FC has been
in the hunt to add former Juventus and Italian international midfielder Andrea
Pirlo. Speculation has heated up after rumors that the three time Serié A
Player of the Year has been house hunting in the tri-state area. If this move happens, I whole heartedly believe that NYC FC will make the playoffs.
Comments
Post a Comment