‘We were never able to recover’

MetroStars defender Mark Semioli has been with the team for the past two seasons and looks back on another rough campaign.

Soccer America: When the season began, did you feel this could be a good season for the MetroStars? Mark Semioli: They did bring in a lot of new players during the offseason, and they had already hired a world-famous coach in Bora Milutinovic. We had a long, two-month preseason, which we thought gave us a jump on other teams, and we started off great (3-1). The best MetroStars’ start in history. But the wheels fell off shortly after that, and we were never able to recover. Soccer America: Has the team quit? Mark Semioli: Despite what people on the outside may think, we’ve still been playing hard. This team hasn’t given up. It’s been an unfortunate set of circumstances throughout the year that has led us to where we are now. Soccer America: What circumstances do you mean? Mark Semioli: We didn’t score critical goals when we needed to, and gave up critical goals in other games. We lost a few games in the final minutes. We went without three foreigners for six to eight weeks in the middle of the season. By the time they came, it was too late. Most recently, our problems have been with injuries. It’s been myriad things for us this year. It’s a story, not a one-line answer. Soccer America: Is a front-office shakeup in order? Mark Semioli: I try to stay out of that, but I find it really difficult to come to terms with who’s really making the decisions. I do feel deep in my heart that MLS has a lot of say when it comes to foreign players. That was a big factor in our spiral, us losing two foreigners and not getting anything back for six weeks. I think we got denied a lot of times on players that we wanted, or it took longer than expected. Soccer America: How do you rate your season? Mark Semioli: I had a good year, not a great year, and remember last year I didn’t get to play much at all. I think I’ve proven I’m still a valuable player. by Soccer America senior editor Ridge Mahoney