Conference Call Guests: Miami Fusion Head Coach – Ray Hudson Tampa Bay Mutiny Head Coach – Alfonso Mondelo Alfonso Mondelo’s Opening Comments: “We’ve had a rough start to the season with a lot of injuries and players who have been suspended for games. For one match, we ended up with seven starters out. Little by little they’re recovering. I’m happy to report that only three players will be missing for this following week with Chad McCarty, Steve Trittschuh and Kevin Anderson slowly recovering. Everybody else will be healthy. So we’re making strides in that department. We have a game coming up tomorrow evening against Fulham. While we look forward to international competition, it’s not coming at the best time for us because of the number of games we’re having and the fact that we don’t have a full roster. So we’ll be looking to give an opportunity to some young players who we’re looking at and other players training with the team. “Heading into this weekend’s derby with the Fusion, that’s one of the most exciting things in soccer. To be able to have that local rivalry in the state of Florida between Tampa Bay and Miami is very good for MLS and soccer in general. We know that Miami is a team that is very hot right now and has one of the hottest strikers in Alex Pineda Chacon and the team is a much improved team from last year. We look forward to giving them a good run Saturday night.” Ray Hudson’s Opening Comments: “We’re very fortunate to be in the position that we are. We got off to a real fast break which we felt was imperative for a number of reasons. Thankfully we’ve had a little bit of luck on our side which has been backed up by some tremendous individual performances. It’s a collective performance from the squad, not just the 11 on the field. It’s a great spirit we have, a lot of belief, a lot of confidence and we feel we haven’t even hit stride yet. I genuinely believe we’ve got a couple of gears to find within this team but we’re happy right now with the way everything has gone. So far so good. The new additions to the team have been outstanding and have fit like a hand in a glove and have done the club proud. “In terms of putting on an entertaining product in Lockhart Stadium, that’s been priority number one and we’ve done that. We’re playing with a lot of guile and a lot of energy and are playing some lovely, lovely soccer. We’re looking forward to getting back in action with the Tampa Bay Mutiny. We have all the respect for that organization and the tremendous individual players they have. We know Alfonso (Mondelo) is going to put together a tough team to crack on Saturday. I’m really excited to see us get back on track against Tampa. Hudson on the measuring stick provided by the match against Fulham: “It really is hard to defend a score line as slanted as 5-0. You’d think it was an absolute shellacking which it was in the second half. The first 40 minutes, when we played against Fulham with our full-strength team, we were completely, utterly and sincerely the far better team. I say that with my hand on a stack of bibles. We played outstanding football and reduced Fulham to just kicking it away from their back line. They couldn’t play it through us, they couldn’t get behind us, and we were having our way with them at will. Then when we got the sending off of Carlos Llamosa, the game went to the dogs after that. That was right before halftime and it was 1-0 at the break. Then we started throwing in the substitutions and the game then got away. The field that it was played on also must be held responsible to some extent. It was a really bad playing area with the baseball diamond. I was very, very disappointed with that. I noticed from the tone of their coaches and management that they were super-impressed on the way we performed. In that regard it was a very good exercise for us but disappointing. We made 10 changes in the second half.” Hudson on the challenges of facing Mamadou Diallo: “This is an individual who for me is worth every penny of the charge of admission wherever he plays. He’s a bonafide star and a powerful and excellent soccer player that I would pay to watch. We’re going to have our hands full with him and we do every time we play him. He has a great supplier in the likes of Carlos Valderrama and Steve Ralston and several other players. The Mutiny are not just a one- or two-man team. It comes down to Pablo Mastroeni, Carlos Llamosa and Ivan McKinley who have been fabulous for me this year. They will be looking forward to the challenge of bottling up Diallo. They see this as a personal challenge and that part for me is an enticing element to this game. It should be an outstanding derby this week.” Mondelo on the improvements seen in the Fusion: “In the first few games I like the attitude of the team going forward and the way they hold strong in the second half. They’ve become a second-half team. They’ve been strong all the way through the end and those are some of the positive things I want to see coming from us: the attitude of the team going forward, not giving up when we’re down by a goal. The fighting and the spirit: those are the positives in the Fusion.” Mondelo on the defensive challenge posed by the Fusion: “The Fusion’s success has been based a lot on their defense. They’ve been very strong all season long and we know we’re going to have a difficult time going through them. But Mamadou and other players are hitting stride right now. Ali Curtis has come in and given us a couple of good goals this season. So we’re expecting players to step up and we’re not relying solely on Mamadou to crack them down.” Hudson on status of unsigned draft pick Cory Gibbs: “Cory Gibbs is an exceptional young talent who we’re very, very keen on and we’re really hopeful that the time he’s had with us is going to turn into him coming here for good. We just had him in the office today with Doug Hamilton (Fusion GM) and myself and we had a good chat with him. The kid seems very keen to stay. He’s got a solid offer from St. Pauli in Germany and it’s up to him. The ball is in his court but he loves it here and he loves being with our players. There is a great atmosphere which he’s taken like a duck to water. He’s a good all-around defender, a good player and a lovely kid and I would love to have him on board. The decision is up to him whether to jump over the pond now or to really hone his game with the Fusion. I’m getting a feeling that he wants to stay with the Fusion which I think would be a great feather in MLS’ cap. But the Bundesliga is beckoning and whether he makes that decision, only Cory knows. I think we’ve got a real great chance of keeping him on board. We just have to keep our fingers crossed.” Hudson compares the NASL’s Tampa Bay Rowdies/ Fort Lauderdale Strikers rivalry to MLS’ rivalry: “For me Tampa has always been like showing a red flag to a bull. I’m always looking to milk that for all its worth with my players. I was the same way when I played the Rowdies and I’ll be the same way this week. This means something to us. This is for the Florida bragging rights. Our boys are aware of that. We’re sorry we only play them twice a year because it is developing into a great rivalry. But the fact that we have them twice is all well and good. We have to really take it to them. But Tampa always gives us a hell of a game and the records don’t mean anything. I’m sure their feeling is that they want to be the top dog in Florida and we feel the same. It does mean something. Anytime you get a team from Tampa coming into Lockhart Stadium, you’re going to get a lot of people who remember. They (Tampa Bay) stuck it to us too many times. I wouldn’t say there’s bad blood but definitely bad sentiment among us which is great for the league and great for the two teams. It will be a rumble and we’ll be bringing our best game. I’m sure they’ll bring their standard and tell us to bring it on.” Mondelo on Diallo’s emotions on the field: “We have definitely spoken to him. Diallo plays with a lot of passion and gets very emotional about what happens in a game. Sometimes that takes him a little over the edge and the opponents use it to egg him on. The suspension he had earlier this season is something that carried over from the previous season. What happened this Saturday in Colorado was that he was walking off the field going at it with the officials after the game. Someone from the stands yelled things that were really hurtful toward Mamadou and he reacted in a way he shouldn’t have. It hurts us if he’s not there for us. He’s an important part of our team and the team functions differently when he is there. We are not the same thing without him. It’s difficult when you don’t have the same lineup from one day to the next, but that’s what we have to deal with.” Hudson on comparisons between the NASL and MLS: “The sentiment toward the old NASL is very sincere and very fond. I’ve never heard anything except the fondest of memories and the greatest of times. It was a very special league at a very special time with all the great Gods of soccer who were in that league. It will never be recaptured or reconstructed anywhere in the world. Anyone who was involved or watched the NASL in those days was privileged to be a part of it and privileged to see the talent that was being showcased throughout the country back then. But it is Noah’s Arc days and it will never return. It’s hard to draw comparisons between the NASL and MLS. MLS is so much more solid and has a systematic structure. The quality of players coming to MLS and who are showcased in our league is improving every year but I don’t think there should be any taboo about the reunion games. A lot of the soccer fans who come to MLS were big NASL fans. They’re not biased one way or another. If MLS can stimulate them to come back to our league, that’s all well and good. I have no problem with Cosmos and Rowdies reunion games. They’re wonderful nostalgia with serve as a walk down memory lane. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Mondelo on what he witnessed happen to Diallo on Saturday: “I was walking with Diallo away from the referees but I didn’t hear what was said. There was a lot of commotion and a lot of noise as we were walking off the field. I saw him run over toward the sideline and I grabbed him and told him to calm down but I didn’t hear anything. What he told me was that there were some incendiary words that were said there.” Mondelo on how he would defend Clint Mathis: “It’s great that American players are beginning to make their presence felt in the league and are beginning to stand out. And it’s not only Clint Mathis but also Josh Wolff and other players who are really getting more confident with the league. That’s great for the league to be able to develop the new stars of U.S. Soccer. As far as defending Mathis, you have to pay close attention to him because he is a player who has a lot of mobility and can hurt you in many ways. In one game he scored one goal with his right foot, left foot and his head. So this is a guy you have to keep a close eye on and not let him get as much of the ball as you can.” Hudson on stopping Clint Mathis: “I’d take a different approach with Mathis. I’d knock him out. Bind and gag him, put him in a safe and send him to the bottom of the ocean. Then maybe I’d be able to contain him. When a kid hits stride the way he has, playing with all the confidence and verve that he has, he’s virtually indefensible in a lot of ways. You can only try to contain him. He only needs that crack in the door and he will kick it in. Mathis is playing with that much ability right now. You can go man-to-man with him. I’m looking forward to Pablo Mastroeni wrestling with him this year. Pablo has done a wonderful job with Clint in the past and I think Pablo will be up to the task but he’s going to have his hands full as he will with Mamadou on Saturday. That is going to be a real good test. But with Mathis, he’s a golden boy for this country and this league and he’s got everybody’s admiration and everybody’s respect. I think I’ve got the players to take him on the next time we meet the MetroStars. It takes a good player to mark out a good player and we’ve got pretty good defenders on our team.” Mondelo on the restructuring of the Metropolitan Oval in New York City: “It’s one of the meccas of soccer in the New York area. To be able to have it restored and built up is great for New York soccer. It’s a place where so many great things happened when there was no other soccer around. The Metropolitan Oval would fill up with fans on a weekend and they would go out and watch some of the best local talent and local leagues at the time. The Super Soccer League was the premier league in the United States. Now we see it rejuvenated and brought up to the modern day. It’s great to keep those soccer meccas alive.” Hudson on MLS teams playing international games and the impressions that are made: “It’s an age-old problem. When we (NASL’s Strikers) played against Lazio, Manchester City, Ipswich and Sao Paulo, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. One week we play them and beat them and their country’s newspaper would say that the team was on holiday and didn’t care. Take the Mutiny. They’ve been under a lot of strain with injury and they’ve got a game against Fulham (on Wednesday May 16) in which they want to produce good stuff. Can you go into a game concentrated in a meaningful game like this? It’s not a fair, level playing ground for either team. Smart people look at it and say ‘How did they compare in certain situations?’. The score doesn’t reflect that. It’s very difficult. These other teams do come in with a different attitude and we are playing half-cocked in a lot of situations. We’re throwing in a lot of the young kids in. It’s a great experience for them. But in all honesty, we were at the measure of Fulham when the game was on a level playing field. That’s all you can take away from it. It’s unfortunate that people look at it as a real barometer for MLS because it truly isn’t. Los Angeles is going to be up against competition this year (FIFA Club World Championship) in a real bonafide tournament. That can be construed as a good barometer. That’s the way you can draw good comparisons: with meaningful tournaments in a point of the year where you’re not distracted or concerned about injury or anything else other than the score line. It really does have to be meaningful competition. These friendlies are good exhibition games. That’s all they are – purely exhibition games.” Hudson on the English views of American soccer: “You have to ask the likes of Ian Bishop and other players who have been in the trenches and in the fire of the English Premier League. That’s the true barometer of where our league stands. Ian wouldn’t say anything but the real deal and he will tell you that MLS soccer compares very favorably to English league soccer right now. I know the English. They’re very cynical people when it comes to soccer and no one is better than the English. Let me tell you that English Premier League soccer, outside of Manchester United, is no great shake. We’ve got a lot to be proud of. English domestic soccer is very exciting and it’s very cut-and-thrust and thunder-and-blunder. But I know my team played Fulham off the park for 45 minutes of soccer and only went down 1-0 with 10 men. I think the cynicism in England is directed by the culture in England to a large extent. And I have no time for that.” Hudson on traveling soccer fans in the U.S.: “Geographically it’s an obstacle that cannot be overcome. How many fans do you see flying around the NFL or NBA? You don’t get a lot of migrating supporters bundling onto buses from New York to Miami. But with our game on Saturday, a lot of people from Tampa do make the trip down to Fort Lauderdale. That is why the rivalry with the Mutiny and ourselves means more to the fans. It’s something you can do and just jump on the bus and get a group of guys in the vans and come down, state your colors, and get behind your team. When we take our supporters up to Tampa or New York it’s great in binding the fans to our clubs. But I don’t know if that’s going to happen in big numbers and whether that’s geographically feasible to do it in this country. How much that takes away from the game I’m not sure. The partisan fans that D.C. United, Chicago and Los Angeles has, they built their home team base support and there’s a lot to be said for that. We love going into those stadiums and see those fans get behind their players the way our fans do at Lockhart.” Hudson on preparing for Saturday’s game not knowing if Diallo will be in the game: “We just hone in on the fact that we’ll be playing against the Mutiny and Diallo will be playing. If he isn’t playing then it’s a great boost for us because he is such a spearhead for that team. He’s a great leader and he bubbles his team up by his presence alone, let alone his ability. He can beat you just by looking at you. Without him on the team that would be a big impetus for us to feel good about ourselves. We’ll just prepare for Diallo to be playing and whatever else happens, happens. But we’ve got to prepare for him to be suiting up on Saturday at Lockhart.” Hudson on what forward Alex Pineda Chacon has brought to the team this season: “Alex has been fabulous for me. Everything I saw from him in all my trips to Honduras has come about. He’s a wonderfully balanced soccer player. He can run on snow and wouldn’t leave footprints. He’s a beautiful, delicate, little player. He’s a butterfly of a player and a very insightful passer. He’s very precise and a very reliable player. Alex rarely gives the ball up and he is always looking for that right moment. The one thing that Pineda Chacon has that you cannot coach and cannot induce into a player is that little bit of fantasy football. When he’s got possession of the ball, some players instinctively know the right time to shoot and the right time to chance the pass to set up another player. I love that about his game. It’s something that is a very rare commodity. It’s that little bit of voodoo, like Carlos Valderrama has. It’s that little bit of magic. Preki has that element. I think Alex brings that to our team that we never had in a player up front. He’s very, very clever.” Mondelo on the U-17 national team players who could be MLS prospects: “I think there are two or three players who are very interesting. Craig Capano is a player who has special qualities with his vision and the special things you cannot coach. Justin Mapp is another player who can be dangerous coming out of the midfield. He has special attributes. I like the kid in the back, Griffin Gray. Those three are outstanding in their positions and as soon as they get involved in a professional organization, that will help them to develop to become tremendous players for the U.S.”