Peter Vermes and Jason Kreis did their share of verbal sparring when Kreis' Real Salt Lake side and Vermes' Sporting Kansas City were in the early years of forging their on-pitch rivalry.
The two share a mutual respect, though, and it showed when Vermes was asked how much credit for NYCFC's rise to the top of the Eastern Conference should go to first-year manager Patrick Vieira, who replaced Kreis after the club's disappointing expansion season in 2015.
“I think if Jason would have stayed there, there's no doubt in my mind that he would have gotten them in a better place this year than they were last year,” Vermes – whose club hosts NYCFC on Sunday (8 pm ET, FS1) – told reporters after Wednesday's training session.