MLS: Roy Lassiter: ‘I’m not planning on going anywhere else’

MLS’s all-time leading scorer, Roy Lassiter, was traded from Miami to Kansas City today. Here’s what he says about the deal that spent him to the Wizards for Chris Henderson. Q. What was your initial reaction to being traded to Kansas City? A. It was a good reaction. I feel pretty excited about making the move to Kansas City. I think they are a first-rate club. The Hunt’s are very professional. The general manager, Curt Johnson, is someone that I went to school with and am comfortable with. Bob Gansler, his record speaks for itself, he is highly rated coach by everyone. I think things are going to work out fine. Q. It has to be a good feeling to be dealt again to an MLS Cup Champion all of a sudden. A. Yeah, the last time I joined the MLS champions we won the league again (D.C. United in 1999) the following year. I think it’s going to be a good relationship with myself and Kansas City. They have top-notch players that know how to win and are willing to work hard enough to win. Now that Kansas City has gotten a little taste of winning, I hope I can help them earn that second Cup. It would be quite a thrill for me. Q. Kansas City lost its top two forwards from a year ago, Miklos Molnar and Mo Johnston. Do you feel extra pressure having to replace these guys at forward, or does it feel good that you are the guy they tapped to score goals up front? A. I don’t feel any pressure, this is what I do. I have proven that I can do it also. With the great wing players that Kansas City has, I don’t see scoring goals as a big problem. I think I can score at the rate I’m used to scoring. The lineup changes frequently in Miami, but now in Kansas City, Bob Gansler’s system is well suited to my game. Q. Can you succeed playing in a system that features strong wing play? You have been at your best with a creative central midfielder, Marco Etcheverry or Carlos Valderrama. This will be an adjustment for you. A. I think I can be successful. I think Gansler will set the team up to accommodate me and the other forwards we’ll have this coming year. I think things will work fine. This team is very disciplined and deep. The goals are not going to come just from me, they are going to come from everywhere. Q. What do you know of Bob Gansler? Have you gotten a chance to work with him in the past at all? A. I have never gotten the chance to work with Gansler. However, I have heard nothing but good things about him. I’ve seen what he did in Kansas City, and that speaks for itself. Q. You mention Curt Johnson before, you were in college together. A. I played with Curt Johnson at N.C. State, we were ACC champions at N.C. State and went to the final four. Curt was the captain of our team. We also were on club teams together in Raleigh. Curt knows who I am, and I imagine things will work well with him. He has already talked about accommodating my family, so just that alone shows me how important not only myself but my family is to the Kansas City Wizards. Q. That has to make the transition to Kansas City even easier, knowing that a friend is the guy in charge as GM? A. I’m not planning on going anywhere else. I plan on making Kansas City my home. Things just didn’t work in Miami and I’ve moved on. I’ve already begun doing sprint workouts and preparing for next year. I will go down to Costa Rica in another two weeks to train. I will be very prepared for next season. Q. Since you are looking forward to playing for Kansas City, and it seems to be the right situation, do you see yourself scoring close to 20 goals a season again for the Wizards? A. That is always realistic for me. My average per year is around 16 goals per year. I only got eight goals last season. I’ve set the standard for goals in a season at 27, so getting eight last year was very low for me. I do expect myself to score boatloads of goals, more than 15 goals. I have high expectations of myself and I’m sure my fellow teammates will expect that of me as well. Q. You talked about settling in and getting a home in Kansas City. Do you hope this is the end of your bouncing around – this will be your fourth MLS team. Would you like to make this a permanent stop. A. For sure, I’m not planning on going anywhere else. My wife is dog-tired of moving around. It has been hard for me to find a place I can just stay in. Next year, I’m going to make every effort to see I settle in Kansas City. Q. When it became clear that you were going to be traded, was Kansas City one of the places you wanted to end up? A. To be honest with you, I thought returning to either Tampa Bay or D.C. United would be the appropriate move for me. However, with Bob Gansler and Curt Johnson in Kansas City, I realize this is an ideal situation. The players there have shown that they are winning players and people. Q. You now figure to be a full-time starter once again. You must feel like if you work hard and regain your past form, things will work out nicely for you. A. I’ve always worked hard in training and have done so to make the game situations easier. It was hard for me to pair up with Diego Serna or Welton in Miami. We just didn’t click. I am thankful now to be going into another situation. I feel like a place is mine, and I’ll work to make sure no one can take that away from me. I want to be back on top of the charts next year.