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MetroStars 10 Questions: Mike Petke | Coachspeak: Octavio Zambrano
Posted: Saturday March 11, 2000 07:38 PM
By Jeff Green, CNNSI.com The MetroStars became a far different side in the offseason. The question is: Did they get any better? That was the question posed in the introduction to CNNSI.com's 1999 season preview for the MetroStars, and it still applies. Last year's answer? A resounding "no." To the contrary, the club set an MLS all-time mark for futility. As for this year, it remains to be seen, as the MetroStars enter the Lothar Matthaeus Era. After an extended and tumultuous courtship, the 38-year-old German international and Bayern Munich legend should be marshaling his new troops when the team kicks off its 2000 campaign. He's also expected to add to his world record number of international appearances this summer with Germany at Euro 2000, missing up to eight games for the MetroStars (with echoes of Italian Roberto Donadoni in 1996).
For certain, the organization is a whole lot different. After last season's self-destruction, the MetroStars parted ways in October with coach Bora Milutinovic, the latest in a series of "trophy coaches." In total, the team plowed through nearly 80 players and six coaches in four years, but at season's end, the original general manager, Charlie Stillitano, was still on board. That ended in December when Stillitano was reassigned to other duties within Metromedia, the team's parent corporation, and put in charge of an effort to build the MetroStars their own stadium in New Jersey and plans to exercise an option for a second Metromedia-operated team. Brought in to take the reigns in January was Nick Sakiewicz, the MLS executive of the year in 1999 after helping improve the Tampa Bay Mutiny. Replacing Milutinovic was Octavio Zambrano, who was dumped by the Galaxy last year despite holding the MLS all-time-best winning percentage (.684). Matthaeus: no handcuffs requiredOver in Germany, Matthaeus -- who already had gone back-and-forth with MLS on his arrival date -- was none too pleased at the news. He accused the league of "breach of contract" after the departures of Milutinovic and Stillitano, his longtime suitor.
"Under these conditions, I have no motivation at all," Matthaeus said. "They can't take me to New York in handcuffs." Soon thereafter, Zambrano and Sakiewicz were on a plane to Europe, where they met with Matthaeus and smoothed over their differences. Now Zambrano says the MetroStars are embarking on Year 1 of what he envisions as a three-year rebuilding process. Still, he says, "This season, we're going to go out to win the championship. Any time we approach a campaign, we have to think of a championship." That's not a word the MetroStars shy away from, despite their all-time worst MLS record in 1999. Said recent acquisition Thomas Dooley, "I want to win a championship, and everybody thinks, 'Yeah, New York, give me a break.'" "There'd be nothing greater than going worst to first," said third-year defender Mike Petke. "With New York, it's a big challenge to achieve something," said Dooley. "New York must have a good team. Since the beginning, everybody's talked about that, and they've failed every year." MLS commissioner Don Garber acknowledged after he took over for Doug Logan last year that having a successful team in the New York area was a priority for the league. And this year, playing in the nation's largest media market, the often-ignored and underachieving MetroStars will be joined by the highest-profile player in league history, one who is accustomed to living-legend status in his own land and one who is notoriously opinionated and outspoken. Expect some fireworks. At least Dooley -- who gives the team its second 38-year-old German-born and Bundesliga-bred defender/midfielder -- will be there to translate, if need be, for Matthaeus, who in the past seemed less than confident with his English. To acquire Dooley in January, Zambrano sent left-sided defender/midfielder Mike Duhaney, 25, to the Columbus Crew, where Dooley and coach Tom Fitzgerald had fallen out. But that was far from Zambrano's only move. Foreign-player shuffleDays after Zambrano was hired, the MetroStars waived their 1999 top scorer, Eduardo Hurtado. The striker was Zambrano's fellow Ecuadorian, whom he had coached with the Galaxy. Hurtado, the team said, was occupying a foreign-player spot needed for Matthaeus. Flamboyant playmaker Sasa Curcic, acquired last July but injured late in the season, was discarded under murky circumstances, and defensive midfielder Mike Sorber, a Milutinovic favorite on the 1994 U.S. World Cup team, was waived in February. In February's MLS SuperDraft, the MetroStars surprised many by taking UCLA defender Steve Shak with the first overall choice. Sakiewicz called Shak's selection an example of how the club had stopped "mortgaging the future for the present." Two weeks later, the MetroStars shipped promising Colombian international forward Henry Zambrano, 26, to the Colorado Rapids for the rights to an MLS player allocation. With it, the MetroStars obtained another Colombian forward, 28-year-old Alex Comas. Zambrano had joined the team last July, days after Curcic and Iranian defender Mohammad Khakpour. Of the three, Khakpour, 31, lasted the longest. He was waived in early March, with the club citing salary-cap reasons and depth at his position. Teaming on the MetroStars' front line with Comas will be his more highly touted countryman Adolfo "El Tren" Valencia, signed in March from Greek club Paok Salonica. Valencia, 31, played for his country at the 1994 and '98 World Cups and was a teammate of Matthaeus at Bayern in 1994. Zambrano's shot at redemptionZambrano bristles at suggestions that the New York-area club might get preferential treatment from the league office, which controls all player contracts. "We're playing by the rules," he said. "Nobody is giving us any favors. We had to release in Henry Zambrano, a very good player, to get under the cap. We were lucky to find one who was less expensive and just as good." Zambrano stands to redeem himself this year if he finds success with the MetroStars. He was fired by the Galaxy in '99 after an early-season slump; Sigi Schmid then took over and led the team to MLS Cup. Under Zambrano in 1998, the Galaxy had a 24-8 record before losing to Chicago in the Western Conference finals. That year, L.A. set an MLS record for goals scored, with a stunning total of 85 in 32 games. At the same time, the Galaxy had the league's best defense, allowing just 44 goals. "That was a special group, because it was greatly balanced," he said. "Every team is different and you can't think that you can repeat everything with a completely different set of players." Different, indeed. Last year's MetroStars went 7-25, ranking last in the league in offense (32 goals) and defense (64 goals allowed). Attendance was down almost 9,000 total from 1996. Zambrano brings to the team qualities that most of his predecessors did not -- familiarity with the often-confounding MLS modus operandi and with the American player. Zambrano said he will rely greatly on a core of young American players to help turn the team around. "Quite honestly, I thought our group was not a strong group, but now I have nothing but the greatest respect for these guys," he said. "There's not one player that I can say hasn't worked hard or hasn't shown me better than what I saw on the tapes from last year." In goal, the MetroStars seem content with Mike Ammann, 29, who could be pushed by his backup, U.S. youth international Tim Howard, 20. While Matthaeus and Dooley could line up in the center of midfield or defense, the MetroStars have two other capable center backs in Mark Semioli and Petke. Left back Ramiro Corrales, 23, returns after starting 31 games last year. Having seen time in the midfield during preseason, Shak will provide depth in the absence of 24-year old central defender/midfielder Billy Walsh. Last year's team MVP, Walsh is expected to miss three to six months with a knee injury. The MetroStars' two most talented attacking midfielders are Mark Chung, 29, on the left and former U.S. international Tab Ramos, 33, on the right. While Chung, who originally balked at coming to New York, is among the iron men of MLS, Ramos has played just 65 of 128 possible games in four seasons due to injuries. One of the only two remaining original MetroStars (with Miles Joseph), Ramos inked a one-year, incentive-heavy contract for the current season. While Matthaeus will wear the No. 10 shirt relinquished by Ramos, it remains unclear who will actually fill that playmaking role on the field. So other teams will joke about aging Lotharios, the MetroStars' geriatric German liberos and the injury-prone Ramos. Meanwhile, the MetroStars, their dwindling fan base and the MLS office all exhibit renewed optimism that the Dick Clark of world soccer, the age-defying 1999 Bundesliga player of the year, will boost the MetroStars' supporting cast and boot the club into the playoffs in the newly aligned Eastern Division.
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