SuperDraft 2017: Reyna & Vieira Reaction

Sporting Director Claudio Reyna and Head Coach Patrick Vieira were both delighted at how MLS SuperDraft 2017 played out.

NYCFC used General Allocation Money to move up the order to secure the services of Jonathan Lewis and Kwame Awuah in the first round, before bringing in Jalen Brown in the second.

Vieira told NYCFC.com: “I’m really pleased because in the last three days we had a clear plan about the players we wanted to pick – players who could play the way we want to play.

“It wasn’t easy at all to bring in these players but I have to say that David (Lee), Claudio (Reyna) and Khaled (El-Ahmad) did a great job to allow me to have the players I wanted to work with – all credit to them because they made it happen and they’ve been really smart with these moves.

“They know all the little tricks better than I do and they did a fantastic job.”

Patrick believes that all three are blessed with the potential to compete for minutes in the upcoming season.

“Jon Lewis is a perfect fit for the way we want to play – he’s a proper winger with pace who can come inside and beat people,” Vieira said.

“He can score goals. We will have to work with him as he needs to develop his talent but he will be a really good fit for the way we want to play.

“Kwame is a really interesting player who can play as a left-back, in the midfield or as a winger. He’s left-footed, he’s really tough and he’s a good worker. The fact he can play in different positions is really good.

“Jalen is another one who we believe has tremendous potential. He’s got good pace and we’re looking forward to working with him.”

Reyna echoed Patrick’s words and discussed what the new players will bring to NYCFC.

Claudio added: “We’re really pleased – we were aggressive in getting players we wanted and it turned out to be a successful draft for us. We strengthened positions we needed to and we got Jonathan who is a player who can fit into our system well and play on both sides of a 4-3-3.

“He brings speed one vs one and good linking up.

“They impressed all of the technical staff – we only had the 38^th pick but we had the allocation money we earned last year – without the development of our academy or a USL team just yet, the drafts last year and this year were really important to us.”