New York City FC Add Andrés Mendoza

It appears that New York City FC is trying to move past the Frank Lampard fiasco. On Monday, the club announced the signing of center back Andrés Mendoza. Mendoza will be added to NYCFC’s roster for the 2015 season pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and his P1 Visa. Per MLS and team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed

Mendoza is not as big of a name as Lampard, but it shows that the club knows how to actually get a player to sign a contact. Which is quite different from the Lampard situation.

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Mendoza, a 25 year-old player nicknamed Belleza (Beauty), most recently played for Deportivo Maldonado in Uruguay. According to Mendoza himself, he has never played the sport outside of South America:

“I’ve never played outside of South America before, so this is an exciting sporting and lifestyle change for me, and I’m very much looking forward to it. I can’t wait to start getting to know the culture, the people and, most importantly, the fans in New York. I’m going to do everything I can to earn positive results for this club, and I’m thrilled to begin this new chapter in my career.”

The club had this to say as well:

“Andrés is an exciting prospect; he’s young, strong in the air and very athletic,” New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis said in a club statement. “He’s also a good passer, which will be a great benefit to us, as he can play the ball out of defense. He really ticks all the boxes that our coaching staff looks for in defenders. I’m confident he will reach his full potential playing in Major League Soccer and will make a positive impact on this league.”

New York appears to be building a more defensive styled club. Yes, I know they have the likes of David Villa who is a very accomplished goal scorer. But look at the players they have brought in on defense–Jeb Brovsky, Jason Hernandez, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Josh Williams and Chris Wingert. The club also owns the rights of former FC Dallas player George John.

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That seems about right for a Kreis led team. Focus on defense and attack the opposing team when the opportunity presents itself. This won’t help in the Lampard fiasco at all but it will show that the front office in New York knows what a contract looks like.

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