PURCHASE, N.Y. – David Villa looked sharp in limited involvement in an intrasquad scrimmage at training Thursday, but New York City FC’s star striker is still questionable for Sunday’s clash with the Seattle Sounders FC at Yankee Stadium (7 pm ET; Fox Sports 1).
“I think it’s a very difficult thing in this league, and I’ve always thought so, when you have extremely important players like that, that you’re allocating a lot of resources to, you need those guys on the field,” NYCFC coach Jason Kreis said. “It’s not just about what David Villa is, it’s also about what he brings to the group and how everyone feels a bit more confident and positive that plays around him.”
Villa warmed up with the full team, played in the first full-sided scrimmage, and worked with trainers along the side of the field during the second scrimmage. Originally sidelined with what was believed to be a hamstring issue, Villa has been diagnosed with right hip irritation, something Kreis said is not uncommon with veteran players.
“The real area of concern is the hip. Everything is stemming from there,” Kreis said. “It’s something we need to be mindful of. I think we’ve got it in a good place now and we need to consider it as we move forward”
While Kreis said it’s still too early to determine if Villa, who has missed the last two matches to injury, will return for Sunday, he was encouraged that forward Adam Nemec and Javier Calle, who has played well as a left back, will be back sooner than initially thought from hamstring injuries suffered in a 1-0 loss at Chicago last Friday.
Both worked with trainers on Thursday.
“The initial indication was that they would be out for several weeks, but now we’re hopeful we can have those guys back and ready for next week,” Kreis said.
Central defender Jason Hernandez, who also did side work, could return to full training as early as Friday and fullback Josh Williams, who is probable with an adductor strain, trained fully with the club on Thursday.
The rash of injuries has forced Kreis to bring in outside players – not trialists – just to have a full training squad. Gambian defender Emmanuel Gomez, who previously played for Toronto FC, defender R.J. Allen, who played for Skive IK of the Danish first division, and former Jamaican youth international Ashani Fairclough of the Wilmington Hammerheads all participated in training Thursday.
Kreis said he believes several factors – getting an entire team acclimated to living in a new area, numerous injuries and the recent logjam of matches – has resulted in a bit of a disjointed start for the expansion side.
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“If you start to consider all those things, I think you have to feel pretty good about what we’re doing,” Kreis said. “Obviously we’d like to have a lot more points under our belt, but if you look at the individual performances and you actually start to break down the individual games, I think we’ve been a little unfortunate.”
And even when completely healthy, the team isn’t quite whole, with former England international Frank Lampard scheduled to arrive from Manchester City in July. However, Kreis isn’t concerned about the club’s rhythm when the star midfielder finally joins the squad.
“By the time we get him we will have a group that has been together for several months,” Kreis said. “They should be able to support him and his changes that he’s having to make outside of the game and also should be able to support him by knowing what we’re trying to do tactically.”
