NYCFC invited The Post’s Kyle Schnitzer and photographer Anthony J. Causi to catch a glimpse at how the team prepares for its 2,472-mile, cross-country trip to Los Angeles to face the Galaxy. From packed commercial flights, to makeshift hotel fitness rooms, to staying focused away from home, this is the life of a NYCFC player on the road.
David Villa sits quietly, reading. Surrounding him are a woman with too much travel gear, a man too big for his seat and a crying baby bellowing in the row behind him.
The World Cup champion looks up from his book when a star-struck flight attendant asks for an autograph for her nephew. He easily could say no, but he has a hard time saying no to fans. He obliges every request, including dozens of pictures and autographs with fans before and after the flight.
He isn’t assigned to the middle seat in row 14, but a French family with four children had scattered seats on board the American Airlines commercial flight. Before he even gets to his seat, the family claims the row as its own, forcing both Villa and coach Patrick Vieira to find others.
Normally, that would cause an uproar on a packed flight headed for Los Angeles, but the pair, two of NYCFC’s most recognizable figures, give up their seats without a word.
Once a decorated player in Spain for powerhouses Barcelona and Valencia, Villa says he’s accustomed to the traveling and is unfazed by the autograph hounds in airports and the league-mandated coach seating on team flights. Sometimes Major League Soccer will allow charter flights, such as in the playoffs, but MLS Commissioner Don Garber told the Orlando Sentinel that charter flights are “less of a priority” for a league trying to grow.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Villa says about traveling. “I enjoy the trips and the travel with the team because new cities and new places [are] good. It’s a little bit longer than it is in Spain, but I don’t care. I enjoy it.”
These instances are strikingly uncommon for professional teams in the United States, but for NYCFC, weird flight smells and crying babies are the norms aboard coach flights.
“I think everybody kind of embraces the fact that the situation is what it is right now,” goalkeeper Sean Johnson says. “But I think [NYCFC] puts us in the best position to play well as far as travel.”
Last Wednesday afternoon, NYCFC arrived at JFK Airport straight from practice at SUNY-Purchase, a full three days before the team was set to face the Los Angeles Galaxy on Aug. 12. NYCFC decided it was best to fly earlier so players could get acclimated to the time change while addressing concerns over cramped legs.
When they step off the bus in front of Terminal 8 in matching gray shirts with the team’s badge emblazoned on their chest, it becomes fairly obvious this is a professional team walking through the airport. There is no way to disguise Andrea Pirlo’s flowing hair or Villa’s recognizable face. As the players approach TSA together, they stand in line with other travelers who look on in disbelief.
“Is that really him?” one traveler asks as he pointed toward Villa.
Another clamors at the sight of Vieira.
“That’s him! The Arsenal great!” says a giddy traveler, referring to Vieira’s playing days with the English club.
It isn’t the first nor is it the last time these players receive this kind of attention.
“I was surprised [to see Villa],” says Montserrat Fernandez, who grabbed a photo with the star before boarding for Paris. “He was nice about it, too.”
Dozens of fans hound two of MLS’ most recognizable faces as they accept each request with grace. It’s in the waiting areas at the gate where players are most often approached as they sit together as a team near a window.
Alex Ring gets in a quick FaceTime call with family members before the flight. Johnson, Ben Sweat, John Stertzer and Andre Rawls play an enthusiastic dice game on the floor while Tommy McNamara stops for a quick snack at Brooklyn Deli. Johnson starts downloading episodes of “Ozark,” the popular Netflix show, to binge-watch on the six-hour flight.
From there, they board American Airlines Flight 133, but where they will sit is anybody’s guess.
“We just get assigned wherever,” says Jack Harrison, who explains how NYCFC try to group the team together. “But on occasion, last year Frank [Lampard] sat next to this one guy who just asked him questions about his career the entire flight.”
This flight, however, is relatively quiet. Villa studies from a book, which he keeps to himself, with a light on for the entire flight, while Vieira reviews footage of the team’s win against the Red Bulls the week before. Others stand near the rear of the plane to avoid cramping after training earlier in the day.
“Most of the guys will see the training room when we get to the hotel,” Ethan White says.
Finally, NYCFC has landed. And after a brief wait at the airport, the team heads for a hotel just 10 minutes from LAX to begin preparation for the match that weekend.
Free time
The Belamar Hotel, a beach-vibe spot, is where NYCFC stay for the road trip. The hotel isn’t the first choice. MLS assigns each traveling team to a specific hotel. The one the team stayed on during its only visit to Los Angeles in 2015 is undergoing renovations. But the Belamar, in Manhattan Beach, is a short bike ride from the Pacific Ocean and away from the distractions of Los Angeles.
It’s an ideal place for NYCFC to prepare and focus on relaxation before the Saturday match.
It also acts as the team’s mobile headquarters. Before the team traveled to L.A., a pre-approved menu was sent to the hotel by NYCFC’s nutritionist detailing what could and could not be served. The group eats three meals a day together and conducts multiple team meetings to review training video while players adapt their bodies to the time difference and the travel.
Most players will nap multiple times a day. RJ Allen likes to stay up on his current events. He’s also reading Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho’s latest book. It’s a loosened vibe that fits the SoCal scene, but some players find it a bit too lax.
“I need to do things other than nap or lay in my bed because you get tired of it,” says Rodney Wallace, who likes to go for walks or work on projects on his computer. “For me, it’s about staying more active than being too chill.”
Some players will grab a midday coffee or a bite at a diner. On this road trip, Vieira gives the team Thursday night to escape the team meals and have a night to themselves.
“You can build some team spirit in that way,” Vieira says.
That night, some of the team walks along the glistening, sun-soaked Manhattan Beach Boulevard. On team nights, it isn’t uncommon for players such as Villa to take some teammates — or even the whole squad — out to dinner. But on Thursday, he walks along the hilly road with Yangel Herrera and Alexander Callens, while Vieira and his staff waits outside a restaurant for a seat.
Vieira doesn’t have to worry about his players. With Villa as the poster boy, he knows the team’s leadership forces the rest of the players to make smart decisions.
“They don’t have a curfew,” Vieira says. “[But] they are professionals. They know that we have rules when we are going on the road.”
Room 200
Many players laud NYCFC’s commitment to their physical well-being on the road.
“Some teams only travel with one trainer,” says head athletic trainer Kevin Christen.
In Room 200, Christen and two other staff masseuses offer two-hour sessions, three times a day to players before and after training. It’s in there where players can get knots rubbed out or receive the proper tape job.
“The compression pants are the most popular,” Christen jokes. “Some players even try to take them back to their rooms.”
Christen’s biggest concern is the flight. With multiple players experiencing lower-back pains, Christen says it’s important to adjust the players’ posture from where it was pre-flight so they don’t aggravate it once they get back to training.
The room also offers a source of entertainment, specifically spirited matches of Mario Kart between the medical staff and players.
Mario Kart is the team’s game right now. While they eagerly await the latest FIFA soccer game release, Harrison, Callens and massage therapist Luis Mata battle it out to a room full of laughs as other teammates and medical personal intently look on.
When the room is asked for the team’s best player, all fingers point one way.
“No question! No question! From Peru!” yells Callens, who defeats teammates in four consecutive races.
‘That’s a foul!’
Away from the hotel and under the high palm trees and electrical lines is where NYCFC prepare at the practice fields of the StubHub Center in Carson. They’re focused on how to address the speedy Galaxy forwards — specifically Gyasi Zardes and Romain Alessandrini — who have Vieira worried.
“In training, we’re looking at the relationship between our back four [defenders] and the midfield and how important it is for us to move as a unit regarding the position of the ball,” Vieira says before practice. “We’re trying to work on not giving them space in between the lines or players.”
With the extended travel, Vieira issues a light workout based on the tactical aspect of the Galaxy’s game. In front of 20 traveling season-ticket holders, the squad splits into two smaller groups to focus on a two-touch drill, where two players stand in the middle of a circle trying to intercept the ball while others in the circle ping it back-and-forth like a pinball machine.
The players who remain in the circle at the end — Mikey Lopez, Kwame Awuah, Callens and Jonathan Lewis — are light-heartedly punished with 10 pushups.
Once the team addresses the defensive shape and fine-tuning, it’s time to unwind. Villa stands on one of the coach’s shoulders while participating in a circus-like heading drill for the cameras while Vieira calls Sean Ugo Okoli over to the bench so Lopez can dump a bottle of water on his head.
As players start to exit the field, Villa calls over the entire team to take a picture with the traveling fans.
“You see how the group is upbeat every single day,” Wallace says after practice. “It’s going to be like that. The positive energy carries on for the whole week.”
Match day
A morning team stroll is the main activity on game day, with an uncharacteristically late 11 p.m. EST start because of TV commitments.
Equipment manager Daniel Laroche arrives five hours before kickoff to set up the locker room. After each match, he washes the jerseys before the next. On match day, he’ll have three jerseys ready just in case a player trades with an opposing player mid-game. Laroche individually presses every name and number on the back of the shirts and has a meticulous way of preparing each locker.
“I’ll kind of guess what the players will want to wear for the game,” Laroche says when predicting which cleats the players will wear. “I’ll put it on the left hand side of the locker. For the shoes I don’t think they’ll actually wear, I’ll put the shin guards standing in front of their shoes.”
Each locker has a jersey hanging from a bar and two sets of shoes neatly placed in front of the chair. All but Villa’s, which contains the match day flag and captain’s armband, are exactly alike. When the team eventually arrives more than an hour before the start, Laroche greets them all with unique handshakes, except for Villa and Pirlo, who go for a traditional handshake.
From there, players leave the cramped visitors locker room at StubHub Center and walk through the tunnels for a pre-match inspection of the field.
“Some people want to check out the field and the environment,” Wallace says. “But sometimes, there’s just a lot of time in between when you get here too early. [The locker room] is a small place.”
Then after some lull time, they enter the field. Fireworks erupt and the match kicks off. NYCFC implement what they had worked on all week. A slow start to the game had the team on its heels, with fantastic saves from Johnson needed to keep the Galaxy scoreless.
When the second-half whistle blows, it all suddenly changes. Lewis, a rookie, notches his first career goal with a miraculous bending shot off the cross bar. Villa continues his brilliance adding his MLS-leading 18th tally about 20 minutes later. Johnson remains stout, or “in the zone” as he says, keeping the clean sheet in a 2-0 win, a friendly reminder for Bruce Arena, the U.S. national team coach in attendance, about a possible nod for World Cup qualifying in September.
But accolades aside, NYCFC get what they wanted.
Says winger Khiry Shelton: “We can take those three points home with us.”