The following are quotes from the Nov. 2 MLS media teleconference, which featured MLS executive vice president of player relations and operations Ivan Gazidis, Dallas coach David Dir, Dallas forward Ariel Graziani, Los Angeles coach Sigi Schmid and Los Angeles goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. Gazidis Opening Comments “I’m delighted to announce that Major League Soccer has re-signed Tampa Bay Mutiny midfielder Carlos Valderrama to a new contract that will cover the 2000 season, with options for the years beyond that … He is one of the most recognizable symbols of MLS, and he has been and continues to be an enormous asset to this league … We look forward to seeing him on the field in Tampa Bay next year … The negotiations were very cordial … We’ve developed a great relationship with him, as he’s given a lot to this league … He loves the United States and as long as he is able to be involved with the game here, we welcome him, even after his playing career is over.” Schmid Opening Comments “We’re excited to still be playing at this point in the season … Dallas is a very good team, as we saw in the series against Chicago … The first game of our series was a closely contested, hard-fought contest, and game two will be the same … I was disappointed in our performance and I look for us to play better on Sunday in Dallas … Overall, we’re pretty healthy with the exception of Cobi Jones, who took a knock in the back of the legs and is questionable for this weekend … We’re looking forward to a great game in Dallas.” Hartman Opening Comments “Our experience showed in the game against Dallas, although we didn’t play well, we managed to win … We look at it as a step along the path … We’re excited, it’s a huge contest on Sunday, and we can play better than we did last week … We’re looking forward to Dallas, we know they will be prepared.” Dir Opening Comments “We probably feel the same as Los Angeles, with the fact that we didn’t play very well on Sunday … We didn’t give our best effort … We came in to L.A. with trouble adjusting from the series before (against Chicago) … It took us a while to get our legs … We’re proud from an effort standpoint, but the execution wasn’t what we’re used to … You have to give the Galaxy credit, as (midfielder Roy) Myers was the big difference for Los Angeles … He and (goalkeeper Kevin) Hartman played very well and we will have to be aware of them in game two on Sunday.” Graziani Opening Comments “I believe that the first half of Sunday’s game, we didn’t play well, we weren’t communicating well from our defense to the midfield to the forwards … “In the second half, we won the midfield battle and got in touch … Hartman played a heck of a game … We battled well, and hopefully in game two we will get the win.” Graziani on the differences between playing in Argentina and Ecuador and MLS “Argentina soccer is more dynamic, with more skill than Ecuador … In MLS the pace is better than in Argentina, with not as much skill but more physicality and tackles with bad intentions … MLS is a quick, fast-paced game, very physical and very athletic … There are teams like Chicago and Dallas that have good touch on the ball … My only complaint is the fouling and the lack of protection for players.” Dir on Graziani’s impact to the Dallas squad “It’s self-explanatory … We’ve opened up enormously … Earlier in the year, teams were aware that Jason Kreis was having a spectacular season, so they would concentrate on him to take away that avenue … Graziani opens things up in the box and gives Jason a dangerous partner up top.” Schmid on Graziani’s impact “The Burn are a much tougher team to play against since his arrival … Kreis was on his own up front, so teams could really concentrate on him, and if they were successful in shutting him down, you could have success … Since Graziani came in, he opened up more options … Sometimes it seems that he isn’t involved, but the moment you leave him alone, he’ll burn you.” Dir on the speed of defenders Brian Haynes/Mark Santel “Haynes is our most experienced player … He has the pace to deal with someone like (Galaxy midfielder/forward Cobi) Jones, but he’s also calm and can distribute out of the back … It’s not fair to him or Santel after one day of practice to throw them in the mix, but they just went back there and played (due to the injury of Brandon Pollard in the Chicago series) … Haynes has played defender in practice, but never in a game … I guess you have to be creative as a coach.” Dir on keeping up the intensity of the team “We might have been running on fumes last week … But when you get to the conference finals, intensity isn’t an issue … Games of this magnitude should be enough to get up for … “As Sunday’s game wore on, we loosened up and got our legs and got our game going … Losing players is added incentive for us … That’s helped our motivation … We don’t want to let down our injured players by losing.” Graziani’s reflections on the trade from New England “I’m very fortunate to be in Dallas … Here, we have a different style of play … New England played over the top a lot, in the air … Dallas plays through a very good midfield, giving me a lot of chances.” Gazidis on Diego Sonora’s contract situation “I met briefly with (D.C. United defender Diego) Sonora after the game … He expressed the desire to come to our offices in New York later this week to discuss some things … I’m not sure if that will come up in the meeting.” Gazidis on Carlos Hermosillo’s contract situation “That will wait until after the season, when we reflect with (Galaxy Head Coach) Sigi Schmid and talk about what changes will be made for next year … It’s not appropriate for those discussions to take place until the season is over and we have a chance to reflect.” Gazidis on Graziani playing overseas when the Burn season is over “We haven’t had lengthy discussions … Everyone is focused on the Quest for the Cup, trying to get to MLS Cup ’99 in Foxboro on November 21 … the appropriate time for those discussions is after the season is over.” Schmid on what he attributes his success to “Success is always attributed to good players … They are the ones who play and put into practice changes made during the week … We’ve had shorter practices with more intensity, with an emphasis on possession and being direct … But the main reason is that the players were very receptive and that’s what has made things work.” Schmid on leaving the security of his UCLA job “A factor was staying in Los Angeles because of my family situation … As far as UCLA goes, leaving was somewhat of a risk … I was always involved with national team programs, enabling me to coach on a year-round basis, and that is what appeals to me … That’s why I haven’t become a soccer administrator … The opportunity to coach in MLS with a league that is very important to the development of the sport in the United States was one I looked forward to … Whenever you take a risk, you expect greater financial compensation … But I did not make this decision based on finances … My earnings power at UCLA was comparable to that at MLS.” Hartman on contract status “It’s in the back of my mind right now … We’re concentrating on MLS Cup, which is one of my short-term goals … As a goalkeeper you reap the rewards in your late 20s … I’m definitely going to negotiate with the league after the season and make the best decision … I have to mature as a ‘keeper.” Gazidis on keeping the Galaxy team together after this season “There is a typical range of issues with Los Angeles as with any team … Ever since 1997, we’ve had these issues during every offseason … I don’t feel undue concern with respect to those issues and how they affect the Galaxy … With respect to Cobi Jones and Kevin Hartman and Carlos Hermosillo, no one is focused on it during the season … The players involved wanted to wait until the conclusion of the season before their contract status is discussed.” Gazidis on red cards “missed” during Sunday’s games “I didn’t see that (Paul Broome’s takedown of Cobi Jones) as a red card offense … All of those incidents are being reviewed … It concerns me when I hear elegant and artistic players like Ariel say they don’t get protection … This is a constant issue, not a new one, one that will be revisited during the offseason … We can always do a better job, and we will keep an eye on those things as we go forward.” Schmid on Cobi’s health “We’re trying to see how he responds … He didn’t practice yesterday or today, and we’ll see how things are on Wednesday … He took a pretty nasty shot to the back of his legs.”