Does a slew of changes signal a new era for the MetroStars or are the latest moves just one more false re-start?
By Ridge Mahoney, Executive Editor
Soccer America Magazine
It was in early summer last year that the careening, leaky MetroStars had – apparently – finally and belatedly, righted their wildly swerving ship.
The Harrison stadium project, beset for years by political storms into which general manager Nick Sakewicz defiantly proclaimed eventual triumph, had been revived yet again. The midfield, reformed several times since Bob Bradley took over as coach in late 2002, purred seductively as Amado Guevara adroitly prompted and prodded. A bevy of attackers was scoring goals, the defense did well enough to register positive results.
And then the 2004 season, as had been the case so many times in the past, collapsed. The Metros staggered through their final 10 games (2-6-2) and were ousted by D.C. United in consecutive 2-0 playoff defeats. More changes were wrought during the offseason, and they have not abated.
''When I got here, people were saying there's been a lot of turnover,'' says defender Jeff Agoos, acquired during the winter in a trade with San Jose. ''Judging by the past couple of weeks, the turnover is still happening.''
To avoid yet another ersatz midseason revival, operator-investor Anschutz Entertainment Group dramatically raised the stakes last month while tacking on a dose of star power the franchise has seldom displayed. Sakewicz was out. Rising executive Alexi Lalas, whose MLS playing career included the Meadowlands among his four stops, was in.
Less than 18 months after AEG shockingly installed him as president and general manager of its lame-duck San Jose franchise, AEG brought Lalas back to the Big Apple amid decrees from President Tim Leiweke that the time is ripe for MLS to splash out big bucks for big-name players.
''I certainly feel that with the talent that has come through the MetroStars, it's inexcusable that we have yet to deliver an MLS Cup to some of the best fans in the league,'' says Lalas of a team that has only finished above .500 three times despite listing such stars as Tab Ramos, Roberto Donadoni, Lothar Matthaeus, Clint Mathis, Tim Howard, Branco, Thomas Dooley and Tony Meola on its all-time roster.
Enough big names have passed through the Meadowlands portals to stock a world all-star squad, but so far the team has escaped being dubbed the second coming of the Cosmos. For the time being, Lalas and Bradley will have to make do with in-season additions of Ante Razov, Ryan Suarez and Meola – who is also back in Jersey – along with veterans Youri Djorkaeff and Agoos, and precocious youngsters Eddie Gaven, Michael Bradley, Mike Magee and Tim Ward.
If nothing else, upon his arrival in the Meadowlands Lalas played the goodwill and publicity tunes as passionately as he wielded guitar during his ballyhooed musical career. The man who prior to his stint in San Jose hadn't marketed anything but himself has broadened his allure.
With a MetroStars scarf draped around his neck for his home GM debut, he signed more autographs and posed for more pictures in a few hours than Sakewicz did in his entire five-and-a-half-year tenure. Two weeks later, he publicly declared that a Freddy Adu meltdown in D.C. and subsequent move to New Jersey – star power, remember? – would be a great thing.
United general manager Kevin Payne duly delivered the requisite rebuke and accusations of tampering. ''Alexi and I are friends and we talked about it,'' says Payne after he registered a complaint with the league office that will probably result in Lalas being fined but won't prompt an Adu change of address. ''It's done with, and I don't feel any need to talk about it further.''
The NASL Cosmos are long gone, but their legacy remains, ratcheting up the pressures of producing success in New York. The Metros set a league record in 1999 by losing 25 games. Prior to the 2005 season, the team's all-time record was 113-137-24. They were hovering just above .500 as Lalas assumed the helm.
''It's pretty hard to anoint yourself as a super-club,'' says Payne, whose team has won four of nine MLS Cups awarded since the league began play in 1996 and established an identity within its city no rival has matched. ''You get there by developing something over a long period of time and having a great deal of success and doing things the right way. ''I believe New York is the most difficult market that we have in our league. It's the most demanding market, and unfortunately that team still exists a little bit in the shadow of the Cosmos. Not necessarily that people remember the Cosmos, but they're aware the Cosmos were this very special, iconic team.''
SPECTERS, NOT ICONS.
The Metros fans have few icons to admire, and years ago, upon being referred to as an icon, Lalas replied, ''Yeah, let me know when he gets here.'' For devotees of the Meadowlands, there are specters, not icons.
Brando picking up three red cards in his 11 total appearances. Meola and Peter Vermes drawing up how to defend corner kicks in the locker room before the team's first game because then-coach Eddie Firmani hadn't bothered to cover that little detail. Nicola Caricola, after scuffing an own goal into the net from outside the penalty area, claiming a bad bounce and the wind were to blame. Lothar Matthaeus deriding the furniture in his team-furnished apartment and charging the team several thousand dollars to replace it. Sasa Curcic, whose notorious party behavior somehow escaped the league's scrutiny prior to his signing, requesting the team buy him a WaveRunner so he could scoot back and forth on the Hudson River between his New Jersey apartment and the Manhattan clubs he favored.
Official figures notwithstanding, crowds have dropped noticeably the past two seasons. Midway through 2005, the Metros average about 16,000 fans per game yet for most games the fans actually in attendance are about half that number. At about $200,000 per game in costs to play in the Meadowlands and total annual expenditures of approximately $10 million per year, according to sources, the team is losing a few million per year despite being in the top quartile in local sponsorships and average attendance.
''There are fixed costs associating with playing in a big facility that unless you draw big crowds most of the time you can't recover,'' says former Crew GM Jamey Rootes, who works for the NFL Texans and is consulting on efforts to place an MLS team in Houston. ''With the size of the typical MLS crowd, teams like the MetroStars can't make it in those big stadiums.''
The Metros also train most of the time in the Meadowlands, and thus are subjected to a punishing turf surface several times a week rather than just on game days. Older players like Djorkaeff and Agoos aren't so resilient as their younger teammates and suffer the wear and tear associated with artificial surfaces quite severely.
''Playing on it isn't the worst part, although it isn't great,'' says Agoos. ''We're training on it every day. You can't go full-out in practice because there's just no give in the SportTurf. Any grass option would be better than what we have in Giants Stadium.''
The long-term future of the franchise extends far beyond where and on which surface the team will play. A deal in Harrison is expected to finally be finalized before the end of the summer. Making it in the New York market while living in the shadow of the Cosmos, and attaining the summit of MLS are the primary objectives of Lalas and AEG, star power or not.
''It's still a little bit of what we saw last year with Freddy,'' says Payne of the crowd increases in most MLS cities triggered by America's young prodigy last season. They haven't been repeated this year. ''We had a lot of teams that had very large crowds when he played and didn't after that. Those things are great but we need to find more ways to translate that into consistent, steady growth.
''We should all remember that the Cosmos had six or seven great years, several years in particular where they were the toast of the town and drew very large crowds, and then the league went out of business. I don't want to see the same thing happening here.
''We're in a much better position than that league was. Our ownership is stronger, the soccer support in this country is much greater, the pool of available American players is much better and much larger, but we could easily put ourselves on the road to ruin if we're not careful.''
YALLOP ADMIRER.
The returns of Meola and Lalas aren't the only changes to come. In addition to players, Lalas has not proclaimed any undying faith in Bradley and among the former MLS coaches he's known to admire is Canadian national team coach Frank Yallop, who won two titles with San Jose during his three seasons as an MLS head coach.
''Changes do need to be made and they will be made in order to make us a stronger team,'' says Lalas, who refuses to speculate on a coaching change. ''There's a recognition, not only on behalf of AEG but everyone involved with this league, if we want to take that step to the next level, we're certainly going to have to throw some resources at our product and at players, especially our international acquisitions.
''There's a willingness to do that but it's certainly not going to happen overnight. If Luis Figo or David Beckham wanted to come play in MLS, we would make it happen.''
This story originally appeared in the July 18, 2005 issue of Soccer America Magazine