New York City announced four additions to its sporting staff today, and three of them are already quite familiar with the man they'll be working for in the Five Boroughs.
Javier Perez and Christian Lattanzio will be assistant coaches on Patrick Vieira's staff, while Kristian Wilson and Matthew Cook signed on as performance coaches.
Perez was the head coach of the United States Under-18 National Team and a former youth coach at Real Madrid, while Lattanzio, Wilson, and Cook worked alongside Vieira at Manchester City's Under-21's, known as the Elite Development Squad (EDS). Former New York City defenders Shay Facey and Angelino are products of the EDS system.
Lattanzio once worked under Fabio Capello with England's national team. Wilson worked as a performance coach with both Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, while Cook is a strength and conditioning expert that has trained Great Britain's Olympic teams for swimming, squash, and cycling.
Vieira was pleased on the occasion of the announcement:
"I am delighted that Javier, Christian, Kristian and Matt have agreed to join the team. They are high caliber coaches who understand my approach and philosophy and will make a significant contribution to this Club. It was important for me to work with people I know and trust, but also, in Javier, to bring in someone alongside [goalkeeping coach] Rob Vartughian who has an excellent understanding of US Soccer and MLS.
"I am really looking forward to getting started next month and to be working with such a strong coaching team."
Like Vieira, the new coaches will join New York City on January 1st, pending visa approval for Lattanzio, Wilson, and Cook.
Sporting Director Claudio Reyna, who worked alongside Perez while serving as Youth Technical Director for U.S. Soccer, was bullish:
"In Christian, Javier, Kristian and Matt, we have added four top-class professionals with tremendous experience in football across the world. They have learned from some of the best minds in the game.
"They all have had success working with young players and building up squads at the highest level – which will be key as we develop our roster. I am greatly looking forward to working with this group as we prepare for our second season in MLS."