2016 MLS Season Preview: New York City FC

With the MLS season set to begin on Sunday, theScore runs down everything you need to know about each team heading into the 2016 campaign. Here, we take a look at New York City FC.

Expansion years are hardly much fun. To be frank, they often end in disaster.

It's a slightly astonishing, then, that New York City FC had a "not too bad" first season - especially considering how disastrous it could have been. This was not a team coming in with an established front office. No one here had cut their teeth in the USL or the NASL.

This brand new franchise, under the Manchester City umbrella, was boosted by a number of star players, though. Italian maestro Andrea Pirlo, hardened Premier League icon Frank Lampard, and Spain's most prolific forward David Villa pulled NYCFC up by its bootstraps in 2015, and they'll need to do that and more in 2016.

NYCFC fired head coach Jason Kreis at the end of the 2015 campaign, which was a sensational move, all things considered. Kreis - an MLS Cup-winning coach - did little wrong last season, and expecting playoffs or trophies in the club's first season (ever!) was not fair. His successor, Patrick Vieira, is a legend of the game, and Kreis' dismissal was perhaps more to do with Manchester City's desire to bleed Vieira to the management game than anything else.

As such, surrounded by stars, Vieira is the man to watch this season for NYCFC.

2015 season

Regular season: 8th in Eastern Conference

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Nuts and Bolts

• Head coach: Patrick Vieira
• Stadium: Yankee Stadium
• Season opener: Sunday, March 6: Chicago Fire vs. New York City (Toyota Park) - 2 p.m. ET.

Key Arrivals

• Ronald Matarrita (acquired from Alajuelense)
• Federico Bravo (on loan from Boca Juniors)
• Frederic Brillant (acquired from Oostende)
• Diego Martinez (free transfer)
• Ethan White (traded from Philadelphia Union)

Key Departures

• Ned Grabavoy (option declined)
• Pablo Alvarez (option declined)
• Angelino (loan expired)
• Sebastian Velasquez (out of contract)
• Chris Wingert (waived)

Player to Watch

In the club's inaugural year, no player proved more important and symbolic of New York City than David Villa. The prolific Spanish goal-scorer took his fine form from La Liga and translated it perfectly to MLS, notching 18 strikes in his first season abroad.

Villa wasn't just a goal scorer; he wore the captain's armband with pride, and in a year that saw the club undergo a number of changes both on and off the field, Villa was a consistent presence. His demands for better performances saw the rise of Kwadwo Poku, and he played a hand in the acquisition of Andoni Iraola as well.

While Lampard and Pirlo were stars by name alone in 2015, Villa was one of the best players in MLS due to his performances - it's why he enters his second season hungry for even more.

Keep an eye on: Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and Kwadwo Poku

Projected Starting XI

Season in a Sentence

There's a whole lot of star power in this NYCFC team, with players like Pirlo, Lampard, and Villa plying their trade in the Big Apple. But Vieira's team will need more than brand-name recognition from its ranks if success is to be found in 2016 - city rivals New York Red Bulls found a winning formula without a single big-name signing, after all.