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Miami Fusion 10 Questions: Pablo Mastroeni | Coachspeak: Ivo Wortmann
Posted: Friday March 17, 2000 12:51 PM
By Jeff Green, CNNSI.com For the first time in the club's history, the Miami Fusion isn't entering a new season counting on an unknown Brazilian striker to save the offense. In 1998, the club's inaugural year, an extended wait brought striker Paulinho McLaren in midseason, who was replaced in 1999 by the hobbled Roberto Gaucho. He lasted through May. This time, the Fusion has more firepower than ever before, boasting what is potentially one of the deepest strike forces in the league. Potentially, that is. As the season approached, newly acquired Roy Lassiter, the all-time leading scorer in Major League Soccer, was ignoring his contract and holding out for more money. The Fusion's own all-time leading scorer, Colombian Diego "El Humvee" Serna, was still recovering from a serious knee injury. It wasn't the offense, however, that worried coach Ivo Wortmann.
"I think we are set from midfield, and offensively," he said. The defense, however, "is a big problem." "We are not set yet," Wortmann said. "We need an experienced defender." Exactly two weeks before the start of the season, Wortmann received word that the Fusion would not be acquiring a defender the league had pursued. "There was a chance to get an experienced and well-known player," he said. "But just right now the management told me that it is not possible because the guy didn't accept the offer, so we have to go another direction." Efforts to trade for a defender already in the league, which Wortmann said was his preference, also had failed. The retirement of Edwin Gorter, a Dutchman who split time at playmaker and sweeper last year, has left the Fusion with a leadership void. The team's other notable departure was Colombian bruiser Arley Palacios, waived from an already thin backline. Fusion enters post-Valderrama eraLast year, Gorter provided leadership and experience to a young team wracked by the early-season departure of Colombian playmaker Carlos Valderrama, 38, who clashed with Wortmann literally from Day 1. In 1998, Wortmann took over Argentine coach Cacho Cordoba's struggling team 19 games into the season. The Fusion went on to make the playoffs, getting knocked out in the first round by D.C. United -- a fate the team repeated in 1999.
With the Fusion unable to trade Valderrama, MLS commissioner Doug Logan unilaterally reassigned Valderrrama to the Tampa Bay Mutiny ("under the powers vested in me..."), leaving the Fusion to wait for future compensation. That compensation arrived later in the season in the form of forwards Eric Wynalda and Welton, plus Palacios. Cuban-American midfielder Henry Gutierrez, 31, filled the playmaking role for much of the rest of the season, picking up team MVP honors with six goals and 14 assists and earning a look from U.S. national team head coach Bruce Arena. Andy Williams: 'The difference'This year, Wortmann said he envisions Gutierrez sharing offensive midfield duties with Jamaican international Andy Williams, 22, a veteran of World Cup '98 who counts as a full international. The Fusion traded the third pick in February's SuperDraft to Columbus for Williams, who had spent considerable time in Crew coach Tom Fitzgerald's doghouse. Wortmann has high expectations for the young Jamaican. "He can make the difference," Wortmann said of the silky playmaker, "If he is motivated." Behind Williams and Gutierrez, in a more defensive role, are third-year midfielder Pablo Mastroeni on the right and Guatemalan international Martin Machon on the left. Depth problems could force Mastroeni into central defense, putting veteran Jim Rooney in defensive midfield. The Fusion picked up Machon in the second round of February's SuperDraft in what could turn out to be draft's biggest steal. Formerly with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Machon is returning to MLS from the Mexican first division. On defense, Wortmann said Leo Cullen and lefty Brian Kamler are sure starters. He also heaped praise on 1999 MLS rookie of the year Jay Heaps, who will work as an outside defender and midfielder. "I think Jay has a guaranteed spot also, because he is doing great," Wortmann said of Heaps, an attacking player out of Duke University, where he was also a basketball walk-on. At 5-foot-9, Heaps can outjump most opponents. In goal, Jeff Cassar is the No. 1 after recovering from the knee injury that hampered him off-and-on for the last two years. Garth Lagerwey is the backup after nearly securing the starting job last year in Cassar's absence. In addition to Lassiter and Serna on the frontline, Wortmann has U.S. national team all-time leading scorer Wynalda -- who recovered from a knee injury last year and played for the U.S. in the recent Gold Cup tournament -- plus fleet Brazilian Welton. Despite their new-found firepower, Fusion players did not exude confidence during preseason. Tyrone Marshall, a forward at Florida International who has played in midfield and in the back for the Fusion, said that the team lacked the sense of optimism and "killer instinct" that he had hoped for going into camp. Cullen, a steady, unimposing defender with good ball skills, said the backline's performance will benefit once the offense begins to click. When the offense is able to hold the ball, he said, the perception of the defense will improve. After Valderrama's departure, Wortmann endured considerable abuse from fans last season, the final year of his contract, but he agreed to a new deal with investor-operator Ken Horowitz. Why come back? "Because I didn't finish what I started with the Fusion," Wortmann said. "My first year was just to get the playoffs. The second year, I put my [self] on the line to make this team better. Even with the up-and-down season we had, we got the playoffs. I won't be happy this year if the Fusion won't be one of the best four in this league." The front office, meanwhile, is trying to get out of the bottom two. The team ranked 11th in the league in attendance last year, averaging just 8,689 fans per game, down from 10,284 the year before. Only Kansas City was worse. After getting off to a slow start before the inaugural season -- when the team didn't start renovation work on Lockhart Stadium until three months before opening day -- the Fusion front office is still struggling to catch up.
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