Football Season Guide

It was a familiar story for New York City FC last season as they dominated they dominated the regular season for three-fourths of the campaign, giving a good fight to Toronto FC for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, but were let down by a dip in form in the final weeks as they won just once in their final seven games to finish second before being dumped out of the Conference semifinals once again following a 3-4 aggregate defeat to Columbus Crew. Patrick Vieira oversaw very little improvement in his second season in charge of the club, though they did collect more number of points and finished in a better position in the Supporters' Shield standings, the French coach will be demanding more from his side and will hope the third time will prove lucky as he looks to help New York progress beyond the Conference semifinals. New York have embarked on a major overhaul of their roster ahead of the new season with Andrea Pirlo retiring from the game, Khiry Shelton traded while RJ Allen, Frederic Brillant, Mikey Lopez and Ethan White have also left the club. The biggest absence though will be that of Jack Harrison who has been sold to Manchester City after arguably being their best player barring David Villa over the last couple of seasons. With regards to new arrivals, Jesus Medina has arrived from Libertad to replace Pirlo as the Designated Player while Ebenezer Ofori has also being signed on loan from Stuttgart to boost their midfield options. With Vieira managing to hold on to the spine of the team, New York should once again be able to easily book their place in the playoffs though both the club and the fans will be expecting a better outcome in the postseason.