When New York City FC started constructing their expansion club, they did it on building blocks pried out from under Real Salt Lake. So when coach Jason Kreis, two assistants and four players return to Rio Tinto Stadium for the first time Saturday, no, it won’t be just another game.
“I’m sure like all of us, [Kreis] wants to go back and prove that we’ve put a good product together here, and that we want to have success not only out there, but the rest of the season,’’ defender Chris Wingert told The Post Tuesday after training at SUNY-Purchase.
“So maybe [there’s] a little bit of extra focus going into this game. But at this point we’re really trying to work hard and focus on every match every week, because we know what’s at stake.’’
NYCFC (1-6-4) has found its inaugural MLS season far tougher than they anticipated — especially considering the resounding run Kreis and Co. enjoyed at Real Salt Lake. During Kreis’ seven-year run in Utah, he coached RSL to a 2009 MLS Cup title and a penalty kick loss in the 2013 MLS Cup final.
When Kreis took the NYCFC job the month after that heartbreaking loss — sitting out the 2014 campaign as he and sporting director Claudio Reyna pieced together the roster — he proceeded to mine the RSL talent pool, both for players and coaches.
Kreis brought in ex-RSL players Wingert, midfielder Ned Grabavoy, midfielder Sebastian Velasquez and keeper Josh Saunders, as well as assistants Miles Joseph and C.J. Brown. With that much of an RSL flavor, clearly Saturday will have extra emotion for all involved.
“You still have a lot of relationships there, and certainly not much time has passed since the end of last year, since we travel back there so early,’’ said Grabavoy, hoping to return from a pelvic injury. “But saying that, once you get there with your group, you’re fully focused on the task at hand, and what your group needs to do to succeed.
“Certainly it’ll be a different feeling than most away games for me, traveling back to a place that is close to me, a place I had a lot of success and good positive times. All those things are great, but certainly a result would make my weekend.’’
Results, predictably, have been hard to come by. Nine of the 11 MLS expansion teams finished with losing marks, and NYCFC is mired in a nine-game winless skid. But they did rally from two goals down — and a man down — to score in injury time and pull out a 2-2 tie with Chicago last Friday.
“I left on great terms with everybody. I miss everybody there,’’ Wingert said. “I can’t speak for everybody else in our organization that was part of RSL, but I’m excited to go back and see everybody. But I’m also looking forward to hopefully putting on a good performance and getting a good result out there.’’