Jason Kreis stepped in front of the cameras after the first preseason training session of the season and offered a raspy explanation.
“Lost my voice already,” he said. “Not used to yelling at anybody.”
Kreis hasn’t had to do much yelling these last couple of months. Most anybody would call that a blessing. But not a coach.
“We spent an inordinate amount of work as scouts in the offseason and we’re tired of that,” Kreis said. “We prefer to be coaches.”
The hours on the scouting trail seemed well spent as the Lions took the pitch Monday. On the sidelines, media quizzed each other as they pointed at the new faces sprinting through drills, hoping to attach each with the proper name.
Among the spoils from their scouting were forward Stéfano Pinho and midfielders Cam Lindley and Chris Mueller. And of course, Young Designated Player Josué Colmán.
“We spent a lot of time in the recruitment phase on Josué. The coaching staff is extremely happy to have been able to add him,” Kreis said. “We need to say a big, big thanks to [Club owner Flávio Augusto Da Silva] for putting forth the requisite resources to sign a player like that.”
The 19-year-old looked comfortable in his first day on the pitch as a Lion. He was confident on the ball and showed the vision and passing ability that lured Kreis & Co. all the way to Paraguay to get him.
But on Day 1, everything comes with a grain of salt.
“It’s difficult to make any kind of impression this early,” cautioned veteran defender Jonathan Spector.
Spector was one of City’s headline acquisitions last winter and he spoke highly of the other new faces on the team – in particular, one with a mustache.
“I think signing Sacha [Kljestan] in particular was a really good signing for us to add that sort of experience within our team.”
More excited for Kljestan than Spector, though, is forward Dom Dwyer.
“It’s very exciting to have a guy who’s led the league in assists for a while,” said Dwyer, who signed a three-year contract earlier this month. “I know Sacha pretty well. We’re not new to each other.”
That should bode well for the Lions. Among the many challenges facing this team is that it’s so new that getting to know each other will take time. Good thing for the Lions, a preseason training camp escape to Jacksonville is right around the corner.
“That’s going to be a big focus for us right away when we’re in Jacksonville,” Kreis said, “maybe even arguably more so than the soccer, will be to get these players to understand who each other are and to gel and be willing to sacrifice for each other.”
Two sessions remain until City heads north. For now, the Lions are just soaking up the excitement.
“It was good to be back,” Spector said. “A lot of new guys, new faces so that’s exciting. A lot of enthusiasm. I think we’re all looking forward to tomorrow.”
