MLS executive vice president Ivan Gazidis, New England forward Eric Wynalda and MetroStars defender Mike Petke Ivan Gazidis’ Opening Comments “I have a couple of different announcements to make today, a couple of good ones. First of all, congratulations to MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano and his coaching staff, who will oversee the East team at the 2000 MLS All-Star game on July 29 in Columbus. ôWe’ve previously announced that Kansas City’s Bob Gansler will coach the West team. Both of these coaches have earned the honor by having the most points in their respective groups as of July 9. Octavio is the first coach in MetroStars history to earn the honor of coaching the Eastern squad, so we congratulate him and his coaching staff.” “Congratulations are also due to new Vice President of Business Operations/General Manager in Los Angeles. The club has named Timothy J. Luce as its new Vice President of Business Operations/General Manager. His first day on the job will be July 31. He will head up the teams strategic marketing and development, as well as media planning. Sigi Schmid will continue as head coach and VP of soccer operations, responsible for all player personnel matters.” “We’ve already announced this week the signing for the New EnglandRevolution of the former Real Madrid player Jose Luis Morales. He is 26-years-old, and the fourth international player on the Revs roster, givingthem a full complement of internationals. Along with Eric Wynalda, he should provide a pretty good striking threat for New England as we go toward the postseason.” “Lastly, best wishes to the U.S. National team, who have been called into camp as World Cup qualifying kicks off on Sunday in Guatemala. Ten of the 18 players on the roster are from MLS so we are well represented. We look forward to that game and subsequent games.” Eric Wynalda’s Opening Comments “First of all, I am really excited to be here in New England, this deal gives me a chance to play with some old friends. Fernando Clavijo is a guy that I have played with, a lot of respect for him and won’t have any problems working with him. Also, being reunited with John Harkes is nice.” “This team has made some acquisitions in the last couple of months, additions like Mauricio Wright and with our new signing today, we have a chance to win a championship. That is exciting.” “My health is getting better everyday, going to call it day-to-day at this point. We had problems finding out exactly what it was, but have figured it out. I’m in very good hands in New England and I’m confident I’ll be on the field sooner rather than later.” Mike Petke’s Opening Comments “The team is doing really well. The acquisitions we’ve had have really sparked us. We have to keep it in perspective, because its only halfway through the season right now. We hope to continue the way we are playing heading into the playoffs.” Wynalda on the challenges of World Cup qualifying “I think that the way I looked at things in the past, when we qualified for the 1998 World Cup, is that we had a good core. Everyone will agree now that we have much greater depth now. I think right now, Bruce has got 40 or 50 guys. We have a tremendous amount of depth right now. Bruce has done a tremendous job of getting the team prepared. I’m excited for Tab Ramos, he belongs there and is one of the best players in the league. It will be a difficult situation in Guatemala.” “We should not struggle in these kind of situations, we might tie down there if we don’t score, but we shouldn’t lose. It’s a lot of pressure, but the league has helped guys prepare for this. But, anything can happen when you travel. One time at Costa Rica, Paul Caligiuri got some kind of mace thrown on him and Alexi Lalas took a battery upside the head. It’s unfortunate that stuff like that happens.” Petke on playing without Mathis and Ramos “It’s not going to alter the way we play, obviously it’s two very important parts of our team. I remember my first two seasons here, I could count on one hand the number of games Tab played. Tab was always in the training room and hour before and after practice. To have him back and up with the National Team, it’s incredible.” “Clint has given me and the team something, a forward that’s willing to go forward. In the past, we’ve had guys that didn’t add up to what they are expected to. Clint has come in a taken the bull by the horns. We are going to miss then a lot, Saturday at New England. I think we’ll make up for it, with the players that we have coming off the bench. We shouldn’t skip a beat.” Wynalda on Wednesday night’s game “We’ve made a decision for me to stay in New England and got some extra therapy. I will not be in uniform for Wednesday night, it would have been pushing it. We are going to shoot for Saturday. That’s our thinking right now.” Wynalda on his future “My contract does run out at the end of the year, but I’m going to keep my focus on this season. Those decisions will be made at the right time. I’m very excited to be part of this team, we’ll see how it goes. I do believe that even though the MetroStars are on a high right now, we’ll give them a run. We are going to try and win some games here. My first goal is to get back on the field and play and make other decisions at the right time.” Petke on Long Island having an MLS team “It’s going to be great to go home there (for an exhibition with the Long Island Rough Riders). I have a lot of friends and family going to the game. Since I was a kid, Long Island has been such a hotbed for soccer, it’s an MLS franchise waiting to happen if all things go well on the business side. I’d love to have a team on Long Island. There’s a lot of potential fans out there that don’t make it out to Giants Stadium.” Petke on the MetroStars many acquisitions “I think that its not only the acquisitions of the four guys from Los Angeles, but with Octavio coming in we’ve really gotten a boost. It has provided a spark with a team that needed a spark. The change in the front office. Nick Sakiewicz brings an attitude that all pro sports teams should have. There’s an attitude that we are not going to lose. That has dripped down to the coaching staff and the players. After the games, even when we lose, as long as we worked hard that’s what counts. We are putting everything out on the field and that’s big reason why we are successful.” Wynalda on his minutes from the calf injury “On returning Saturday, it’s always a tough call to make. We’ll know more at the end of the week. I don’t believe that I’ll be starting, but coming in as a substitute will be fine. I have a lot of confidence in Fernando in using me the right way. We want to make sure I’m not trying to be a hero, coming back for one game and missing a few more. I need this team more than they need me. The team is playing well, and I’m excited to be a part of it.” Wynalda on his recovery “I’ve been doing a lot to recover. You get there an hour early and leave an hour late. The only thing I’m missing is my first and second step, the explosiveness. The strength is back. The injury is right at the tendon. I was kicked in the upper calf, got some nerve damage. Some of the therapy we were doing was counter productive, but it took a while to figure that out. We are getting real close now. I’m starting to feel like a soccer player again.” Wynalda on leaving Miami “I have no problems with Ray Hudson. I think he’s a great guy, a wonderful motivator for that team. However, the only thing I did not appreciate was that my injury was not treated with the utmost seriousness. I didn’t feel that efforts were made to get me back on the field. I didn’t appreciate him making a mockery of my health.” “I need to be on the field, I don’t like watching games, especially when your team is losing. The comment that I made was ‘I don’t see anything funny about being 10th out of 12 teams’. I do wish I could retract that, I was frustrated and want to be playing not watching. I don’t think they are a losing team or a bunch of losers, I think they have a great bunch of guys.” Wynalda on interest in playing in New England “I’ve been rumored to be traded to New England since the inception of MLS, one of the reasons were my connections with Reebok. It never really worked itself out. I wanted to play with Joe-Max Moore when he was here. We just couldn’t make it happen. Now that I’m here, my best friend in the game, John Harkes is here. It’s a wonderful situation to be in. It’s a place that I have a lot of great memories of playing here with the National Team. I’ve always had a lot of success here.” Petke on marking Kansas City’s Miklos Molnar “I remember from the two previous games, both losses, the thing that impresses me most is that he’s not overly fast or a one-on-one player but he’s always in the right place at the right time. I think that we had a great win over Kansas City and I’m glad he wasn’t playing. He would have added a little more to the attack. I consider Mamadou Diallo the fastest and strongest player I have every played against in MLS. When you play against someone like that, it makes you raise your game.” Petke on MetroStars much-improved defense “Steve Jolley is a player that I was playing with since I was a kid. Daniel Hernandez is also a guy I’ve played with before. We are all the same age, we have a type of bond. For the first time in three years, I’ll sit around in the locker room and talk with the guys. It’s a good feeling that all three of us are really into it. This is more of a tight-knit group.” Wynalda on playing under Clavijo “I think that when you play for someone that once played with you, they know your strengths and weaknesses and how to get the most out of you. Fernando is someone who I have a great deal of respect for. I am going to wear number 21, in part because that was Clavijo’s number for the national team. Playing for someone that knows you well, the communication never seems to breakdown, you don’t feel like you have to hold anything back. It’s a more productive environment.” Gazidis on San Jose allocation “We unfortunately don’t have anything to announce on that, although we had hoped to finish something. We were in talks with Jan-Aage Fjortoft, as was widely reported. He’s a Norwegian player, playing in Germany. Those talks have not been brought to fruition, as quickly as we would have liked. They are not dead yet, but we are looking at a number of different possibilities. We recognize the need to get something together quickly now. It has dragged on far too long. We are still hopeful of getting something done soon.” Gazidis on controversial refereeing “I haven’t seen that Miami-New England game from last week. I can say with regards to Noel Kenny, is that he is one of our best referees and gets among the highest ratings. We have Joe Machnick on board full-time, someone who’s responsible 100 percent of the time to raise the level of our referees.” “The referees that we have are improving with experience, just like our players. The problems with referees aren’t confined to the U.S. You can look at any European game and find controversial refereeing decisions. Our refs are getting better year in and year out. Our referee pool is getting smaller, and that helps us to improve to improve the quality of our officiating.” “We see when we bring in referees from overseas, the quality of oversees refs are not always better than the guys that we have. Our referees are much better than people make them out to be. Our referees get very good grades when they go work internationally. The referee bashing has gotten out of control. That being said, there is always room for improvement.” Gazidis on teams losing players to international duty “There are a few teams in the league that are going to have a rough couple of weeks, by losing players to international commitments. One of the drawbacks of having good, international caliber players is losing them for World Cup qualifiers.” “It’s part of the agreement that we all have through FIFA, we support national teams and international competitions. Obviously, this will require some adjustments from all our teams.” Wynalda on nagging injuries “I certainly hope it’s not mental. That’s another reason why I’m so happy that we have enough players to play for the National Team now. I don’t feel that six or seven guys will get really beat up anymore. I think things will work out over the next couple of years for me.” Wynalda on lack of MLS success “I think the only problem I ever had with a coach was Laurie Calloway. Without a doubt, the injuries have definitely worn on me. It’s important for me to get it right. There have been mistakes made by myself, maybe in my schedule. Now, I’m going to make sure I pace myself. I’ve learned through the process and not let it happen again.” Gazidis on Albright incident in Dallas “We did get a report on the incident in Dallas, and I am aware of the situation. We are looking into it, and I don’t want to say anything more about that, don’t want to pre-judge it.” Wynalda on his role on the field “We really haven’t addressed roles at this point. At this time, I don’t have preferences at all.”