PURCHASE, N.Y. ā For Patrick Vieira, itās always business, never personal.
Still, the New York City FC head coach bristled at the comments his Orlando City SC counterpart Jason Kreis made following NYCFCās 3-0 victory in Orlando on Sunday night.
āIām not going to accept the personal attack because I believe the way that he talks I think it was a little bit of anger and a personal attack,ā Vieira said following training on Thursday. āThis is something I will not accept.ā
The soap opera began when Kreis took exception to Vieiraās assertion that NYCFC āwere the better teamā in Orlando Cityās two victories over their Eastern Conference foes this season. Vieira doubled down on that sentiment in Sunday nightās postgame news conference. But Kreis didn't see it the same way.
āIām not quite sure if you looked at the possession statistics that they controlled the game,ā Kreis countered after the match. āI think it was darn near 50-50. In my opinion, I think that we as coaches need to do a better job in respecting our opponents after performances.ā
While Kreis prefaced his comments by stating that he wasnāt going to say anything ācrass and disrespectfulā about NYCFC, Vieira believes the former NYCFC coach did just that in his comments.
āI will accept everyoneās opinion because I say what I think and people can agree or disagree, but I stay on the field and give an opinion on the game,ā Vieira said. āI think he should do the same and try to control himself a little bit more.ā
Vieira said the two coaches were amicable in the past ā despite Vieira's replacing Kreis as NYCFC's boss following their inaugural MLS season in 2015 ā and even in pregame warmups on Sunday.
āWe said hello, talked about the previous game, the next game, about how his team is going,ā Vieira said. āI have respect for every single coach in the league. Of course, sometimes we can disagree on the way we see the game, but the personal attack is not something I will accept. Itās disappointing, but thatās the way it is.ā
While it appears the rivalry is brewing between the two teams, Vieira said his opinion of Kreis hasn't changed after last weekend's developments.
āI had respect for him before and I will respect him again after,ā Vieira said. āThe respect of him is not going to change. Of course, I didnāt like the way that he talked about me not having respect and this is something I donāt accept.ā