MATT KREMKAU - EMPIRE OF SOCCER

by CHRISTIAN ARAOS

Vieira bashes All Star Game

David Villa and Andrea Pirlo will represent New York City FC at the All Star Game Thursday July 28 — and Patrick Vieira is not excited about it.

“I don’t care at all about that game,” Vieira grumbled. “I think it is really frustrating because you’re losing players who go to an exhibition game. We have games that are more important than that exhibition game.”

When asked about his memories of Arsenal and if he had thoughts of a future role with the club, Vieira said he did not want to talk about it.

“It’s a club that I spent nine years with,” Vieira said. “I love Arsenal and I will always love Arsenal.”

Matarrita, Shelton Questionable, Mendoza Recovering

Ronald Matarrita and Khiry Shelton missed training Wednesday after both players missed Sunday’s match with injuries. Matarrita re-injured his ankle against Sporting Kansas City and Shelton was injured in the final moments of the match against the New England Revolution. Vieira said both players will do conditioning work indoors this week.

“Ronald and Khiry are going to do some work tomorrow,” Vieira said. “Depending on how they react, they will spend the morning in the gym doing some work and if they are feeling better then they will go outside.”

Vieira said Mendoza is feeling much better. He expects him to train outside by the end of the week and Mendoza has an outside shot of making the 18 if he trains well.

Iraola Available for Sunday

Andoni Iraola left last Sunday’s match with an ankle injury. Though Iraola took a beating in that match, he was able to escape serious injury and fully participated in training today. Vieira said he expects him to start Sunday’s match against the New York Red Bulls.

McNamara: Conference wins are not a statement

Though NYCFC have won against the Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union and Montreal Impact, Thomas McNamara said the recent results against the top four in the Eastern Conference is not any type of grand statement.

“We prepared well for the games, we executed and came away with results,” McNamara said. “They’re all good teams and those are the teams that we are competing against in the playoffs and hopefully we can end up as high up in the table as we can be.”

McNamara said the team has been finishing better in recent games. He said their run of form has made this season more enjoyable than last year but he is not getting ahead of the moment.

“There’s a lot of things that can happen this season both positively and negatively,” McNamara said. “We need to stay grounded, we need to stay humble and remember the things that made us successful to this point. Working hard, being humble and being prepared.”