MLS Quote Sheet

Published on May 7, 2002 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release

Today's guests:
MLS Deputy Commissioner - Ivan Gazidis
Dallas Burn forward - Jason Kreis
New England Revolution General Manager - Todd Smith
D.C. United and U.S. Men's National Team defender - Eddie Pope

Eddie Pope's opening comments:

"Training camp is going really well. To compare it to 1998, I think team chemistry is quite a bit better. The team spirit is a bit better as well. There are quite a few more smiling faces walking around right now. We're a little more focused and sharp. Those of us who were involved in 1998 are attempting to use that experience to our advantage. The things that we've learned from that experience are being applied in this training camp. The mistakes that were made are mistakes that we don't want to repeat."

"I feel like I have a lot more professional experience. The guys who have been here to build the League and those World Cup runs from before when there wasn't a professional league to speak of, will certainly agree with me on that. The fact that we do have a professional league and that we are able to play on a consistent basis and train on a consistent basis with other professional players has certainly helped this World Cup team. It's helped my preparations and I think its helped a lot of guys like Clint (Mathis), Landon (Donovan), DaMarcus (Beasley) to prepare for this World Cup."

"As far as D.C. United, I think we just have to get back on the winning track again. Sometimes losing can be contagious. I think everyone is still positive there and that Ray (Hudson) has helped the team out quite a bit. Once we get a little more team chemistry and start winning a little bit we'll get on a roll."

Pope on his relationship with Bruce Arena:

"I don't think our relationship has changed too much. He uses the same principles and has the same demands of me as a player. The only difference would be that he has cranked it up again and expects more of me and I'm ready for that challenge. He's a great people person as far as being a player's coach. We've had a good relationship and hopefully it will continue to grow."

Pope on the difference between this year's team and the 1998 U.S. World Cup Team:

"We just have better team chemistry among the guys. Any one guy can hang out with any other guy, even though there are age differences, guys who play in Europe and guys who play over here. I think we have a really good mix and I think that is so important. Sometimes it's as important as the X's and O's happening on the field. That's been a huge plus for us. I think we have to take that into the World Cup, especially for guys who may not start. You have to be positive and supportive and guys have done that."

"It's still exciting. For me, having MLS has been extremely valuable in allowing me to gain more professional experience. The coaches I've seen along the way over the past four years have brought me along as a player. I've learned from mistakes, and I've been coached through them. People have had confidence in me and that has helped me a become a better player."

Gazidis on negotiations with Paul Daglish:

"We had some discussions in the past to get an idea of the numbers. It's not appropriate for me to comment on where those discussions are and whether or not they are continuing. He's obviously a player D.C. has expressed some degree of interest in."

Gazidis on the suspension to Milton Reyes:

"The rule has been on the books since the introduction of the points system. It's based on the same rule I believe they have in Scotland, which I think is the same as in England. I think this rule could be a point of debate, but anyway you look at it, Milton Reyes received five yellow cards in three games. Obviously he needs to look at amending his behavior. There is an element of double jeopardy to this, but the rules are designed to discourage consistent foul play. It's not something we'd change during the season but we'll probably look at it again in the offseason. At the same time, if we change it we'll be going out of step with the other countries that have a caution points system."

Pope comparing U.S. goalkeepers Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller:

"For me, there not too much of a difference, they are both world-class goalkeepers. I think they are probable the best two goalkeepers in England. All of the defenders feel comfortable with either one of them in goal. I certainly feel comfortable with either one of them in goal. They are both extremely vocal and both are good leaders. They can tell you exactly where you need to go and where you need to be, which helps our quite a bit. They have great vision and can even help place the midfielders where they need to be. They both obviously have great shot stopping abilities. I don't really have a preference, I feel comfortable with either one of those guys back there."

Gazidis on receiving offers for Clint Mathis:

"Both teams, Perugia and Bayern Munich, have been in touch with us, but they aren't the only ones who have expressed an interest in Clint. Clearly there are a lot of teams watching him. I would suspect that nothing will happen before the World Cup. Our first preference, as we've said all along, is that Clint will sign a long-term contract with Major League Soccer. He has a lot of options. I will say that we are not looking to sell him this season and if he were to be transferred overseas that would most likely happen at the end of the season, in the same way as the Stern John transfer. I think everybody's focus, ours and certainly Clint's, is on the challenge that he has in Japan and Korea. The talk of contracts and team will follow that rather than proceed it."

"There have been a number to express interest to us, and there have been a number that have spoken with Clint and his advisor as well. It is no secret that he is a very exciting young American player and that there are many teams watching him. A lot of what happens will be determined by what happens on the field in Korea and perhaps the later rounds in Japan."

Pope on the opportunities he had to play in Europe:

"Certainly Europe would be an option for me. I think at the time, the whole situation wasn't right for me. There were a lot of circumstances that were involved. I've talked with several guys on the team about playing in Europe. Right now, I just want to focus and concentrate on what's ahead and making the country and MLS proud. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

Todd Smith's opening comments:

"Any time you open up the season with four games on the road, or a significant road trip, it kind of defines where you can go from there. Everybody has been anxious here. We've put together what appears to be a very good team on paper. We were fortunate with the way the start lined up with the Allocation and Dispersal Drafts and I'm not going to apologize for that. We've been fortunate in a sense that with this four-game road trip and a team that is just getting into the process of knowing each other, we've fared very well. I'd like it to be better but under the circumstances it's great. I've seen some good things in the team. I've seen a lot of fight. I've seen some goal scoring ability. I've seen some good talent with the younger players and I've seen the older players stepping up as leaders on and off the field. I'm excited about the product, which leads me to Saturday."

This Saturday we'll open up CMGI Field, which is a $ 325 million facility that has been financed by the Kraft family. As the stars are aligning in New England, this is all coming in the wake of our big brother, the Patriots, winning the Super Bowl. We get to put on the first event at the stadium, it's kind of crazy right now, we just moved our offices in at the end of last week. People have to remember that the entire stadium itself is not complete."

"This is a time where a lot of owners are saying that if we are going to succeed in this business we need to build soccer specific stadiums and scale down the crowd, facility expenses, everything. What we are trying to do is make a niche in the nicest facility in the country. We have a lower bowl that is 30,000 seats. We've taken that down to 21,000 seats, which we think is a manageable number. Through that, we've kind of designed a stadium within a stadium. That number of 21,000 will stay consistent for all Revolution stand-alone games. Our goal is to build a demand in this market so that hopefully our customers become more in tune with buying tickets early. Going into a new facility, we're one of the few teams that has raised our prices only 10 percent as opposed to 50 or 60 percent. We're happy about that and we're thrilled about the possibilities here. There will be challenges, customer relations and otherwise but I think it's the right policy moving forward in a bigger stadium.. We're trying to create an intimate atmosphere and build the demand for the value of a Revolution soccer ticket."

Jason Kreis' opening comments:

"We are feeling very good about our road win against the MetroStars. We're a team that feels like we've deserved better results than we've gotten during the past couple of weeks. We've now tied three in a row and then won one, so we have a little unbeaten streak going. We feel positive about that. Things are headed in the right direction, but I also feel like we are a pretty new team with some new faces and that we are still working to come together in that respect."

Smith on the profitability of the Revolution's stadium situation:

"In our situation, our owner controls all revenue streams from this facility. It makes economic sense to downsize the 68,000-seat facility in order to accommodate our crowd. There are substantial expenses that go along with staffing a bigger facility. From our standpoint, we do control all the revenue streams, so there isn't an issue in terms of what we are losing when we scale down this model."

Gazidis on the profitability of the Revolution's stadium situation:

"Here we have an investor-operator of Major League Soccer also owning the facility in which the team is playing and all the benefits derived from that remain in the family. We also have a stadium that is built with absolute respect for soccer and with soccer in mind. It's a stadium where issues like scheduling are understood better and where the field width is better. We'll have more flexibility with respect to the field condition that we have in other stadiums. In a perfect world we'd go out and build 25-30,000-seat stadiums up and down the country that have nothing in them except soccer. That just isn't the world we live in. Stadiums these days have to be multi-functional and one of the things that people are looking for with stadiums is filling them up with dates. Obviously Major League Soccer is a great benefit to Kraft family in that way."

Smith on if the Revolution will break even this season:

"I wouldn't go out on that limb just yet. Our responsibilities, as every GM in this League, are to make our business plan work and start to move in the right direction. Financially, our goals here are lofty. But at the end of the day, managing our expenses and seeing what actual revenue with the number of people entering our stadium is what is going to be the most critical factor at this point. I would hate to speculate on where we will be at the end of the year."

Smith on Fernando Clavijo's future with the Revolution:

"There has been no ultimatum necessary. He is doing a very good job. He has done a good job of bringing together a group of very good players. We have opened on the road for four games. We have three games in hand on some teams. We will find our way. I will never be in a position four games in to a season where I can say things need to change."

Kreis on his goal against MetroStars:

"I looked at it on tape. I've caught quite a few derisions from my camp telling me the goal could have been scored by a standing header. It is difficult for me to say that was an excellent goal. It is far too early to say that it could be Goal of the Year. Again, I would like to reiterate that the pass from Vaca was outstanding and that it was easier to score than it was to miss."

Kreis on his success against MetroStars:

"I'm not sure why I do well against them. I have a lot of respect for their defense. They have some outstanding defenders in (Mike) Petke and (Steve) Jolley that have been there a long time. They both play against me very well. I'm not why space seems to open up for me against them."

Smith on possibly opening up seats for holiday games:

"For us in this market, and I know that Colorado and Los Angeles have done fabulous on July 4th, we are not in that position. It would not be good candidate to open this up to 30,000 seats. The goal is to stand firm and build the concept in our consumer's minds that for Revolution games maximum attendance stands at 21,000. Part of doing this is that not everybody has been happy. Not everybody has been happy, they are used to going to Foxboro and getting tickets the day of the game. There has never been a reason to buy a season ticket because of the availability of seats. The value of the season ticket package has not been there because of the lack of demand based on the supply. We have received some criticism, but when people get used to it, they will be in a position where they can benefit from purchasing tickets earlier. As a partner in this venture, we are going to benefit from that same process. It will just take some time. The biggest thing that we will have to get past is the fact that it isn't 68,000 seats, but for us it is 21,000."

Kreis on the Revolution and the quality of play in MLS:

"I'm extremely impressed with the Revolution attacking options. It is a very scary prospect to play a team like that. This will be our biggest challenge this year to go in and face a very talented team and also a very emotional team. Obviously with their stadium opening and the sellout crowd. The level of talent and play in MLS has gotten better every year. This year is no exception. Every team has become deeper and five six seven guys can come off the bench and do special things on the field."

Kreis on trends in goal scoring:

"I've always felt that teams spend a good deal of preseason discussing how they are going to defend and exactly how their team is going to be organized to not allow goals. Typically at the beginning of the season, you see teams really focusing on their defending and not exactly as much on how they are going to create an attack. It is something that will come and we are starting to see that bit by bit in Dallas. I see it more so on a daily basis that we are getting more organized and have a better idea on how we are going to have create chances as each week goes by and that will eventually show up in the scorebook."

Smith on trends in goal scoring:

"In this country everyone seems to be focused on goal scoring in the sport of soccer. From my standpoint the only criteria that make important sense is whether or not the quality of play is improving on the field and at what rate that is happening over that course of time. This year whether or not there are anomalies where there is goal scoring or there is no goal scoring, the bottom line is that the level of play in this League and this country is being raised. That is a benefit in the long run, not only in building interest in this sport, but also in continuing to better the "American" level of play."

Gazidis on trends in goal scoring:

"I agree with what Jason is saying in terms of teams taking a little bit longer to gel together, particularly after contraction, on the offensive end more so than the defensive end. MLS is a high scoring league in general, one of the highest scoring leagues in the world. At the same time, on a year-to-year basis, 1998 was our highest goals per game average and 1999 was our lowest goals per game average. There really is not a pattern to it. It is easy to try and read too much into that raw statistic. It is not a statistic that can really tell what's happening on the field and how exciting the games are. By the end of the season we will be back up where we have always been. It is just to early to say. This is going to fluctuate on a week-to-week basis. This could be one of our good years in terms of goals per game or it could be one of our low years. I'm much more focused on what I'm seeing on the field. The quality of the goals and the quality of play is up again this year. There is no question about that."

Kreis on his resurgence:

"No I don't feel this is a resurgence. I feel that I am playing a little bit different position-wise this year as opposed to last year. It makes more sense to me that last year I was playing more of a supporting role and doing a lot more defensive work. This year, with the addition of Bobby Rhine and Ronald Cerritos, I can share more of that defensive responsibility and spend more of my time worrying about attacking and finishing chances rather creating them. I think my role has changed this year. Of course I am happy about it, but I was happy last year with what I was doing. I am just trying to contribute to my team and help it get to where want to go. Coach Jeffries made it pretty clear to me during the offseason that my responsibility was going to be to score goals and make assists and at the end of the day I was going to be judged by that. The writing is pretty clear on the wall that those are going to be my main objectives and the more important things I focus on. I am encouraged by that. I like to have a set goal and I am concentrating on that.

Major League Soccer Stories from May 7, 2002

• MLS Quote Sheet - MLS
• MLS Teams Coping Just Fine - MLS
• Dwayne De Rosario Called up to Canadian National Team - San Jose Earthquakes

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.