Link. Ewan Chester interview is towards the end of the programme.
Great article on Joe Scally's move from ESPN's Jeff Carlisle: https://www.espn.com/soccer/new-york-city-fc/story/3988507/joe-scallys-move-from-nycfc-to-gladbach-is-a-sign-of-whats-to-come-from-mls-academies
Here's one interesting snippet in an article full of interesting info on NYFC and the current transfer market for young MLS players:
> Reyna sounded almost exasperated as to why there isn't a greater willingness on the part of MLS clubs to sell youth players like Scally, assuming the desires of the selling club, the buying club and the player all align.
>
>"There's sometimes some sensitivity to [selling young players] here, and I don't' understand why," he said. "If you go to Holland or Germany or Portugal or Italy for that matter, if you're not the biggest club in that country, you're very open to telling a player that at some point, if they're doing well, they'll move on to perhaps a bigger club and a bigger stage. Countries and leagues that have been around much longer than us have been doing this. I don't really know why we wouldn't act in the same way."
I'm not sure if this was posted before. Very interesting to see that Villa wanted to stay one more year but they felt it was time to move on. http://www.espn.com/soccer/video/latest-videos/600/video/3848826
Just got this email from NYCFC:
"New York City FC invites you to participate in our first NYCFC City Hall Meeting next Thursday, February 28, at the Helen Mills Theater in Manhattan. This is your chance to hear from CEO Brad Sims, Sporting Director Claudio Reyna, and NYCFC Captain Alex Ring, as we prepare to kick off our fifth season." Date: Thursday, February 28
Has NYCFC done an event like this before? I plan on attending but what should City Members expect?
Why does everyone seem to dislike Claudio Reyna? I know the exact responsibilities of the position are a little foggy but for the major decisions he is supposed to make he seems to be doing pretty good if you ask me.
Player depth: He's done a decent job with this roster. Our first choice lineup is extremely competitive with the ability to bring guys like Mitri/Izzy/Taty/(previously) Lewis/Parks/Ibeagha off the bench. Every position seems to have a pretty serviceable back up. The only question mark really is right back depth, and Dome has said he rates Scally highly enough to guarantee him minutes this year. As far as Medina goes: he was good under Vieira. I know a lot of people seem to forget, but in the first 23 games of last season he had a reasonable 6 goals and 4 assists. His downturn in form only happened when Dome showed up. I'm not saying this is all Dome's fault, but it very well might be a coaching style problem, and not a talent problem.
As far as youth academy: Our academy is one of the best in the league and has already turned out impressive players that are getting shouts with the youth national teams. They won the U19 championship last season against a Galaxy team stacked with guys that are now playing in Germany and with multiple national teams. There is no denying they're talented. I've heard some people grumble that he didn't sign his son Giovanni Reyna, but that's a pretty big conflict and any father would've urged his son to do what he felt was best for his own career, not for NYCFC.
The only thing I could fault Claudio for is being slightly better with communicating with fans about some things, but even that doesn't necessarily fall squarely on his plate, so much as the NYCFC communications department.
