City Views – The Villa Saga
You wouldn’t arrive at a new friend’s house with muddy shoes, proceed to walk around the house and storm out; especially if you have only met the person and they’ve just installed nice new sky blue carpet throughout. This isn’t a great way to build a new budding friendship, and it’s certainly not the way I would conduct my business; but it’s the overwhelming feeling I get with the New York City – David Villa experience.
Speculation is rife that the Spanish international will return ‘home’ to New York directly after Melbourne City’s fourth game of the season. The game is not only an important clash on field, but it’s the first time the newly named City will be shown throughout Australia on Free to Air television on SBS. This is a great way for the club to continue to grow its relatively new brand of football, but come game day we will only be talking about one thing, the departure of David Villa.
Whilst ten games was never part of the deal, and questions at the initial press conference alluded to a shorter stint, fans of the club would’ve expected more than four games and are rightly entitled to feel let down not only Melbourne City, but the entire City Football Group. To have the calibre of David Villa in the A-League is great for the game, but the ensuing circus surrounding his impending departure and the nature of how this has been dealt leaves fans feeling betrayed by all parties. Melbourne City is trying to build a substantial support base, including those who were Heart fans and those new to the A-League. This appears to be yet another unnecessary hurdle for the new club to get over, and one that creates a laughing stock image of the new entity.
If David Villa returns to New York to see his family, and become the face of New York City FC he won’t return to Australia to play for some club he feels no affiliation towards. As he showed in preseason, he would much rather attend some mid city gym and conduct his own preseason. The only time Villa will return to Australian shores is if his family want a holiday along the Great Barrier Reef or similar. NYCFC aren’t going to allow their prized asset to fly halfway around the world to play in some league that means nothing to them, it simply won’t happen. NYCFC officials would’ve been concerned when they saw Frank Lampard stretchered off on the weekend in the Premier League, they simply don’t want that scenario to repeat itself with Villa in Australia.
Sadly October 31st will be a #FarewellToVilla night, I feel for those fans that purchased flights, accommodation and tickets in the hope to see a player of Villa’s quality in the first few months of our season. It’s not a great look for my new club and the costs involved in travelling away in our league are substantial.
Whilst the Villa experiment was fun while it lasted, you must wonder about the long term impact it has for Melbourne City. Promises were not broken in regards to the guest stint, but it’s what wasn’t said is the issue. Whilst it’s always a pleasure to see top quality footballers in Australia, this one leaves a bitter taste.
Adios David
Google+
