New York City FC coach Patrick Vieira has hit back at criticism from Jason Kreis, calling the postgame comments from his Orlando City counterpart a "personal attack."
Kreis was upset following NYCFC's 3-0 win in Orlando on Sunday that Vieira had insisted in the leadup to the game that his club were superior despite two previous defeats to Orlando earlier in the season.
Kreis, whom NYCFC fired after the 2015 season to make way for Vieira, had asked that MLS coaches "do a better job in respecting our opponents," but the former Arsenal star felt that request crossed a line.
"I'm not going to accept the personal attack because I believe the way that he talks I think it was a little bit of anger and a personal attack," Vieira said on Thursday. "This is something I will not accept.
"I will accept everyone's opinion because I say what I think and people can agree or disagree, but I stay on the field and give an opinion on the game. I think he should do the same and try to control himself a little bit more."
Vieira also said he has never previously had a bad relationship with Kreis despite replacing him at NYCFC, and that their meeting before the game was friendly.
"We said hello, talked about the previous game, the next game, about how his team is going," Vieira said. "I have respect for every single coach in the league. Of course, sometimes we can disagree on the way we see the game, but the personal attack is not something I will accept. It's disappointing, but that's the way it is.
"I had respect for him before and I will respect him again after. The respect of him is not going to change. Of course, I didn't like the way that he talked about me not having respect and this is something I don't accept."