Mayra Madrigal
Ronny Deila, coach of New York City FC, and his assistant Efraín Juárez will head to European football after leading the New York franchise to their first title last season.
New York City FC announced on Monday, June 13 that Norwegian tactician Ronny Deila will depart the club after two and a half years as their coach. The reason for his departure is due to an offer made by Standard Liege of the Belgian First Division A, which was accepted by Deila.
The Belgian team, who finished 14th last season, saw the coach as a way to improve on that performance in the following season.
Ronny Deila is 46 years old, and in addition to making New York City FC champions, he also had a good spell at Celtic, with whom he won two Scottish Premiership titles, as well as the Scottish League Cup. His first achievements were in Norwegian football, where he made Stromsgodset champion in the Tippeligaen and the Norwegian Cup.
From the MLS Twitter account in its Spanish version, it was also reported that Ronny Deila will be accompanied by his assistant, the Mexican Efraín Juárez, who has accompanied him during his time with the New York squad.
Likewise, it was announced that Nick Cushing will be the interim technical coach of the current MLS champion.
Ronny Deila and Efraín Juárez say goodbye to the Big Apple
The arrival of the coach was also announced on social media by the Belgian team.
Before the game, Deila thanked the institution and the fans, and although he acknowledged that it hadn’t been easy to make the decision, he now feels confident to take on a new challenge in his coaching career.
Certainly, this was not an easy decision for me and my family. However, I feel this is the right time to take on this new challenge and return to Europe. … I would like to thank the New York City Football Club and the City Football Group. This is an incredible organization with extremely talented players, an amazing sporting department and fantastic leadership across the club including Ferran Soriano, Marty Edelman, David Lee and Brad Sims. Thank you to the fans: the passion you have for the club has fueled us on the field, and we couldn’t have accomplished what we did last season without you.
Deila leaves NYC FC in the hands of Cushing and as leader of the Eastern Conference with 26 points, after recording eight wins, two draws and three losses in 13 games played.
