New York City boss backs Lampard

The coach fully understands the midfielder's decision to delay his move to America until July and remain in England with Manchester City

New York City FC holds the No. 2 pick in next week's MLS draft, but as interesting as it may be to ponder what coach Jason Kreis might do with that pick, the main topic on most people's minds has been the ongoing Frank Lampard saga.

Although Lampard issued a statement Friday making it clear he plans on playing for NYCFC starting in July, the perception of continued contradictions has left a cloud of uncertainty around his eventual arrival at the New York club - uncertainty that has left Kreis a bit perplexed.

"I think it's been confusing for a lot of people and I'm not sure that I understand why," Kreis told reporters Friday. "For us, we've been certain all along that Frank is coming in July. He's done extremely well, I think probably better than any of us would've thought he would've done and it's a matter of circumstance. These things happen in soccer.

"So what was originally going to be he was going to be here from day one of the pre-season now changes to July, and in some ways that's a very positive thing for our team, for our group and for MLS in general that we're able to attract those types of players."

Kreis made it clear that he and the technical staff at NYCFC had input in the final decision.

"As I said before, the decision was made by our parent company and it was a decision that was made for the best of the entire group, so we support the decision and we move on," Kreis said. "Through myself and [sporting director Claudio Reyna], it was a decision that was made by the entire group. We have to provide our opinion by what we think and what we want, but we also support the decision. It's all one group.

"At the end of it all, it's a good thing for us. Obviously Manchester City is benefitting from it right now, and it's a good thing for the league that we can, at the end of the day, say we can attract players like that to come into our league."

Kreis has changed his tune from statements last year when he made it clear he believed there were many benefits to having Lampard join NYCFC from the first day of pre-season, as opposed to the new arrangement, which will see him miss half of the club's inaugural season.

"It creates a little bit of a challenge for us to think about, in particular, the system that we'll use and how we'll adjust that when he comes in," Kreis said. "I look at it as almost a good thing, a good challenge that there'll be other players that are going to need to step up and take responsibility, and always look to build teams based on the concept that the team is much more important than any individual piece.

"If that player's name is Frank Lampard or David Villa or Cristiano Ronaldo, I still think that the most important thing is the team. So we move on, and we focus on the team and we do everything we can to put out the best possible team we can to represent the city properly."

Kreis shot down the notion of NYCFC garnering any added benefits from letting Lampard stay with Manchester City.

"We're all one family. We're not trying to negotiate with Manchester City for what they're going to be able to give us," Kreis said. "We were part of that decision and, at the end of the day, we understand the decision that was made. We're not trying to gain anything. That doesn't make any sense."

Lampard's continued success at Manchester City has raised more questions about whether he is leaving the Premier League too soon. His performances have helped City push Chelsea in the league title race and also reach the Champions League round of 16.

While that success has contributed to the public relations nightmare faced by NYCFC and Manchester City, Kreis clearly prefers that to the alternative.

What if he had gone there and not done well at all? Then he comes and you're kind of saying, 'Wow, we're not getting that high-level player that we thought we had,'" Kreis said. "We, in particular New York City, are trying to glean the positives from it."