NYCFC MOCKED AS A RETIREMENT HOME

Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard’s image at the MLS just keeps getting messier.

The 38-year old UEFA Champions League winner has lots of thing going wrong for him in the US. The $6m-a-year star midfielder got a poor response from his team’s supporters when he was called on to help the team last weekend.

They were already 5-0 down to their bitter city rivals New York Red Bulls. The game eventually ended 7-0 but the reception to the former England international was not one off as the fans are getting tired of the player at the club.

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First, Lampard arrived late to the club despite being unveiled much earlier. His defense was that he was asked to stay at Manchester on loan to Man City for six months. He finally did arrive in New York in July last year despite being unveiled in the summer of 2014. The fans were not particularly happy with the excuse and his spate of injuries did nothing to endear him to the fans.

His resumption at the club was not stress free as the fans were angered with the cloud of administrative controversy that followed his delay. The franchise owned by Sheikh Mansour and pals made the deal and Manchester City admitted that Lampard had never officially signed for NYCFC in the first place, but simply agreed a “head of terms commitment.” This made fans feel the decision for him to stay in England was because the club owners gave a higher priority to city compared to NYCFC.

He finally started with the games and played 10, scoring three goals. This year he has been largely unavailable due to injuries with suspicions that his commitment to the club wasn’t as it should be. The perceptions that his salary exceeds the entire wage bill of his club’s immediate rivals, the Red Bulls is not helping as it hasn’t reflected in his performances.

His arrival drew a lot of fans and expectations that have not been met. This made the city rivals mock the club as a retirement home as the club has other non performing stars like Andrea Pirlo, though Villa has been adored more since his arrival.