Player Focus: David Villa Bringing a Shine to the Big Apple

Given how his face has adorned every billboard trailing New York City FC’s expansion season in Major League Soccer, it was apt that David Villa should score the franchise’s first goal at their temporary Yankee Stadium home.

And what a well-crafted goal it was too. Exchanging a one-two with Ned Grabovoy as he drifted inside off the left side, the former Atletico Madrid and Barcelona forward picked his spot with a curling right-footed finish from eight yards out.

Villa also played an integral part in New York City FC’s goal in the opening day draw with Orlando City, setting up Mix Diskerud with a cute nutmeg, while putting on another assist for Patrick Mullins’ insurance strike in Sunday’s 2-0 home win over the New England Revolution.

Jason Kreis has assembled a squad of impressive MLS pedigree for his side’s expansion season, but even still Villa stands out as New York City FC’s best player by quite some distance. He is their leader, their creator-in-chief and their biggest goal threat all in one.

The Spanish forward has averaged four shots on goal per game over his first two MLS outings, contributing an average of two key passes per game over that spell. Villa’s shooting might have been somewhat wasteful in the game against Orlando, but he had tuned that up by the time he faced New England the following week - finding the target with five of his six efforts on goal.

Adam Nemec is NYC FC’s next most productive player in front of goal, averaging 2.5 shots on goal per game, with fringe forward Khiry Shelton and playmaker Mix Diskerud both averaging 1.5 shots on goal per game. Villa hasn’t been used as a central striker, but he is in many ways leading New York City FC’s line this season.

Kreis has taken to using Villa on the left-side, giving him the freedom to drift inside and link up with teammates in the way Diego Simeone tended to use him at Atletico Madrid last season. It’s a strategy which sees the Spaniard heavily involved with NYC FC’s general build-up play, with Villa averaging more dribbles per game than any of his teammates besides Nemec, who he is tied with.

On the basis of Who Scored’s match ratings after two games Villa has actually been outscored by centre-back Jason Hernandez and Diskerud, who have indeed started the MLS season in exceptional form. But that does a disservice to how important Villa has become at NYC FC.

However, there are still plenty questions over how New York City FC’s team will pan out over the course of the season. There are a number of moving parts across Kreis’ team, with the most intriguing case study to be found in midfield.

How Frank Lampard will slot into NYC FC’s central unit when he does eventually join up with his new club at the end of the Premier League season remains a bit of a mystery. Grabavoy provides the back four with protection (averaging 1.5 tackles per game), recycling the ball for his attacking teammates, while Diskerud looks to be one of the most accomplished and polished players in MLS, just two games into his NYC FC career.

So will Lampard force Diskerud out into a wider area, or will the former Chelsea midfielder find himself in a slightly improvised position for the second half of the 2015 MLS season? Wherever he plays, it will be where he can be of most use to Villa, providing Spain’s record top scorer with a supply line.

After two games New York City FC sit atop the Eastern Conference standings, although not much can be read into that. Remember, Toronto FC carried pre-season momentum into the 2014 season, winning their first two games before missing out on the play-offs.

However, with Villa in the kind of form he has demonstrated so far New York City FC could indeed be post-season contenders. Kreis once said he believed that even if the worst team in MLS signed Lionel Messi, they’d still finish the season as the worst team in MLS. That might be the case, but Villa - arguably the best player in North America - will surely have an impact on NYC FC’s league position in 2015.

Do you think David Villa can fire New York City FC to success this season? Let us know in the comments below