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MLS CUP MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 17, 2008

THE MODERATOR: We have Sigi Schmid and Frankie Hejduk joining us on the call.
Sigi, fantastic season thus far. Once again, the Crew coming from behind against Chicago this past Thursday at Crew Stadium. Fantastic environment. Give us your overall thoughts on how the team's doing and also your thoughts heading up against the Red Bulls this Sunday out at MLS Cup.
COACH SCHMID: Obviously we were pleased to win the game and be the Eastern Conference champions. Chicago was for sure a quality opponent. Very tough game. I think our team showed its resilient nature in being able to make up a deficit again, and that's been something that's been very important to our success this year for sure.
For me, personally, there's for sure a special feeling with the game being played at the Home Depot. I can't deny that. Being able to come back to Los Angeles is also great. In that regard, that means I've got to come up with a lot of tickets for a lot of people. So that part of it is not the easiest, but it's also fun to be able to do that.
Again, our team has played very well all season. We've been very consistent, which is the thing I'm most happy with, and we've got a great mix of young players that have done very well, like Rogers and Gaven and Brad Evans and Danny O'Rourke. And then the veteran players represented by Frankie and Schelotto, and Pedula, and Moreno and Carroll and those guys. So it's been a tremendous mix, and that's been our success. We hope to continue it. And we want to do it for one more game.
THE MODERATOR: Frankie, you're a guy who has been with the League since it started. This is your first trip to the MLS Cup after some great years with Tampa Bay in the early years. Certainly having experienced the Supporter Shield back in 2004with the Crew and once again this season. Give us your overall thoughts, especially playing in your backyard. I know you're from a little bit south of Los Angeles, but your overall thoughts heading into the MLS Cup.
FRANKIE HEJDUK: Obviously for me it's been a long time coming. I think being here in Columbus for six years, it's been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of hard work. But with Sigi coming in and taking the reins and pointing this organization in the right direction, you know, a lot's changed. And it's going to be a very exciting game.
With the roots that I have in California, with all my family and friends there, like Sigi said, we'll need a lot of tickets.
This year I just did it a little differently. I just did for my family, because normally my friends, depends on how the waves are that day if they're going to come to the game or not. Different this year. I'll have a strong contingent of fans out there. Overall excited to be here.
As you get older, you get less and less of a chance to win championships. And I think this team's had something special this year. Each year a team sits down and sets goals for itself and obviously always every year the MLS Cup is one of them.
And having a chance to play in that doesn't happen very often. And we're fortunate enough to this season have reached pretty much, I think Sigi, I think most of our goals that we've set forth for this team and winning games at home and games on the road and coming and having that never say die attitude.
We've done that all year long. And we hope to take that into the MLS Cup. We feel, like I said, we have one more goal that remains to be taken and that's the Cup. And we're going there to try to win it. So it should make for an exciting game.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Frankie, given how your career has turned out, what does this mean to you personally to play an MLS Cup? And, secondly, why do you think, what has been the key to your personal success this season since this has been one of your best professional seasons?
FRANKIE HEJDUK: Obviously getting to an MLS Cup doesn't happen very often. And like I said before, every year you set a goal for your team and yourself to win the Cup. And to get that opportunity, it's just -- winning the Eastern Conference finals, one of the most emotional times I've had on a soccer field. And that's being just totally honest. Even with all the national team games and everything that I've played in, I mean that rates up there as one of the greatest moments for me.
So just to get a chance to win the Cup, I can't even explain right now in words how that would make me feel. It still needs to be done. But to be there and to get a chance to have that opportunity, I've just been very blessed. And it's taken it to the personal standpoint of my year, I think the reason that I've had the year that I've had and our team has had is because it's been a team atmosphere all year.
There's been no superstars or egos on this team. We've all had a great understanding for each other and we've all just had that attitude of there's no "I" in the team.
And for each of us, I mean you really don't have that often. And there's always a couple of guys who want to take it upon themselves to do something for the team. And we just had an all-around team where at different points in this season and different times in this season that someone has stepped up and been a leader. And it's been this whole team at one point or another.
And not only are we that way on the field but we all are very team-oriented, team off the field having barbecues and enjoying each other's company off the field also with their wives and families and friends that we've had. We have a real close bond with the team.
I think that carries over into the coaching staff and into the players and to the wives and to everyone. And that's the reason why I think we've had so much success.

Q. Sigi, what have you noticed about Frankie's play this year or his leadership off the field that you might not have noticed the past two years?
COACH SCHMID: I mean, Frankie, as we all are, is always evolving. And I think the more and more years that he's played on the field, the experience he's gained, his understanding of the game tactically, I think, always continues to grow and get better.
He's able to pass on that information to the players around him. The cooperation and the organization that he's been able to have with Eddie Gaven on the right-hand side of the field their understanding and being able to play and cover each other has been outstanding, and the amount of talking that he's done and organizing in terms of Eddie and that side of the field is probably something that he maybe didn't notice in the past or didn't appreciate as much in the past.

Q. Frankie, I know this is difficult to answer with Sigi on the line. Getting back to what you said earlier, how has the team changed since Sigi took over? What characterizes a Sigi Schmid team, do you think?
FRANKIE HEJDUK: Just like I said before, being the team and organized as a team, not only defensively but offensively, also. I mean, the best offense is a good defense.
And I think we've really just been a lot more solid defensively this year than in the past and in turn it's helped out our offense, I mean, to be, what -- Sigi would know this better --second in the league in scoring and third in goals against defense. And you guys probably have that stat. I'm pretty sure it's right around there.
That's something we've taken pride in. Not a lot of teams can do that. Normally, if you're taking, if you're scoring a lot of goals then you're usually taking a lot of goals also or vice versa. If you're not scoring, if you're not taking as many goals, you're not scoring as many goals.
But this team has just been an incredibly balanced team both offensively and defensively, and Sigi's really instilled that in us, especially this year.
And I say this because I truly believe this. He had a plan and a vision in his head when he got the job three years ago, and that was to build this team to where it is right now. And first year was obviously a bit rebuilding year. The second year it got much better. And the third year here we are in the MLS championship.
And I think that he truly believed that we could be here inside that plan, and he made us believers. When you have a coaching staff that believes in its players and you have players that believe in their coaching staff, you're going to have some good chemistry there. And hopefully we can take that into the final.

Q. Sigi, following up on that. Has it all been about team building over the year, has that been really the key than actually in-game coaching?
COACH SCHMID: Certainly we came in with as I've said before the first year -- the first year-ended up being a lost year with all the injuries and everything else that we had, there was just so many things that went awry that it ended up being really a year that we changed things at the end, that we weren't left with a decent end of the year to. I thought that's where we built the base of our foundation.
And except for an odd result in year two I think we would have made the playoffs and I think we would have surprised some people. We might have done last year what New York did this year. And we would have surprised some people along the way.
And certainly this year it's all come together. We were able to go into this season, into the off season looking for pieces of the puzzle, not looking for any part of the puzzle. We were now looking for specific pieces. And for us that ended up being find a left back in Gino Padula and finding a holding mid field in Brian Carroll, and complete the puzzle and the other players maturing and growing within that.
But the real thing that's been unique and special about this team is their ability to rise to challenges. There was a point in the season where we were giving up goals a little bit. And we challenged them to say, hey, can you get your goals against average under 1 a game. And the next 13 games they gave up like eight goals.
And we talked about also scoring goals at the other end, we wanted to be a good offensive team. And I think we ended up with the best goals for/to against ratio in the league. That's something we're very proud of. And the guys have responded when I've challenged them. And as Frankie said, they've been a team. We have a very good locker room, and we have a very good atmosphere around our team.
People enjoy coming in to work every day, whether it's staff or players, and that helps for a successful team.

Q. Sigi and Frankie, the Crew was considered one of the league's model franchises first to build a stadium and not a ton of coaching changes. If Sigi could comment on maybe what drew him to take the job and how much that has meant to have that front office stability. And Frankie, too, over six years what's that meant to have the stability and consistency in the team?
COACH SCHMID: I was sort of unemployed so that probably helped. No, obviously I was coaching the under 20s at the time. It was my second time around with the under 20s. And to be very honest, you know, I guess I'm a little bit of a workaholic. And I missed the day-to-day. I think coaching national teams is a lot of fun. I've enjoyed the experience every time I have them and I enjoy the players I get a chance to work with.
Especially at the under 20 level, don't tell Sunil this or Dan Flynn, it's a little bit of a kickback job. If you want to make it a kickback job, it's a kickback job. I was probably a little bored. When the opportunity came along, Mike Lapper was very influential for me here in terms of putting my name forth into the organization.
When I met with the people here I felt here's a chance to get back in the league. I thought that the Crew was committed at that point to giving me an opportunity and have the understanding that we have changed some things and they were willing to commit to that and they did.
And obviously now I think we've been able to reward them. So for me it's the day-to-day is always fun. That's what I wanted to be back at. And the Columbus Crew was the opportunity at the time.

Q. Frankie, the model of consistency on the team?
FRANKIE HEJDUK: What was the question again?

Q. Just the Crew has been one of the steady teams throughout with management, with ownership and then they really kind of toed the line what that meant without the craziness in staff consistency in the front office and the belief in what they're doing.
FRANKIE HEJDUK: Yeah, I think it's just -- I mean, obviously them being the first soccer-specific stadium in America was huge. And I think every year, I can only speak for the six years that I've been here, I've seen it just grow and grow into an incredible organization. And obviously with the addition of new GM, McCullers, and getting Sigi in there as a head coach, they were able to mesh this organization into an organization to somewhere where it needs to be.
I mean it's just little things of getting their players food after training and little simple things that I've noticed over the last six years that this organization is building, it could be a powerhouse.
And I think once you have an MLS Cup, you've somewhat got that powerhouse status. So we're really close and we're really happy to be here. And this organization and like I said the coaching staff and everyone deserves the Cup. But it's going to be up to us to go out there and get it for them. And we're going to battle our butts off for them trying.

Q. Frankie, as the guy in your early mid-30s, I'm curious to know if it's made a difference to you and to the team overall not having played as many games outside MLS as, let's say, DC played New England and Houston. Has that been a positive or does it not matter?
FRANKIE HEJDUK: Obviously the more rest you get, the better it is for you. I mean, I can't speak for those teams. I don't really care on that level for them. I can only speak about us. We've done whatever they've asked us to do. We've played in the games we've needed to play in.
And I'm sure we'll find out next year, I guess you can say. So I can't speak for them because I don't know how their travels, how everything went. Of course, the travel does affect you and the more games you play and the farther off you go, it probably does affect you a little bit. But sometimes it could affect you in a positive way in that you get a bond with the players more and the team plays together a little bit more. And it could affect you in a negative way in making some guys tired or playing guys a little bit too much and having their legs and the air travel and everything take its toll.
I really won't know until next year. But we do have a very deep team here, and I'm sure that we'll fare fine. But I guess we'll have to find out next year for that question.

Q. Sigi, could you address the same question?
COACH SCHMID: A little bit like Frankie said. It's tough to put ourselves in the other team's shoes. But I've been there with the Galaxy when I was coaching the Galaxy first eight games of the season in 2003 away. We also had CONCACAF Champions League games we were playing in as well. So we would have, because we were away all the time and it seemed like every away game we were playing was on the East Coast. It wasn't like we were playing San Jose.
So a lot of it depends on the luck or unluck of the schedule you get, because even though you might be playing a game in Costa Rica as part of your CONCACAF duties, you know, your League Game 1 might be at home for you in New England, say if you're New England and the next game might be in Los Angeles. Now you're flying all over the place rather than the games being close.
Houston, I think, has a bit of an advantage in regards to that because of their location. So it's basically if you're going south for sure every time you sort of have to fly past Houston no matter what league game you're playing. So it makes it a little bit easier in that regard.
But, again, I can't say what they've gone through. For us we've dealt with our schedule that we've had and that's been put in front of us I think over the years, I think all coaches do change a little bit and certainly I think I've changed a little bit as a coach as well. I think we've done a great job physically with our team, great job of understanding how much work they need and also making sure that they get recovery at the right times and in the right way. So we've been able to maintain ourselves and we've been injury-wise we've been pretty happy with what we've accomplished this year.
But some of that is a little bit of luck and some of that is because we've played less games. As Frankie said we'll find out next year and we'll have to find a way to manage it.

Q. Sigi, I want to talk to you about Danny Cepero. He made his MLS debut against the Columbus Crew and he's been one of the key factors for New York in the playoffs. What has impressed you about his performance to date?
COACH SCHMID: I can't remember, did he score against us in that game? I don't know. You know, obviously he's a young goalkeeper who got thrown into the mix because of the situation in New York. And he's obviously stepped up and he's responded.
He's come up with some big saves. Sometimes it's good to be young because maybe when you're unaware a little bit you don't sense the pressure or feel the pressure. So sometimes it's a good thing. Look at the success of Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley in the World Cup in 2002, and then when there's more pressure in 2006 there wasn't quite maybe the same performance.
So pressure and youth and how that all interrelates changes sometimes. But I think he's been very refreshing for them in goal. He's had a really positive attitude. That's been very noticeable. And right now, because of the success they've had in the playoff games, there's a confidence that's built between him and the team that has helped them.

Q. Frankie, same question for you, Danny Cepero made his MLS debut against the Crew. And I just wanted to know if his success in the playoffs has been surprising to you and what has impressed you about him that you've seen of him?
FRANKIE HEJDUK: Well, he seized his opportunity. In sports you have to be prepared for your moment to come at any time. It really can come at any time. And so what I think he was, was really prepared. And he was prepared for when his time and his number was called that he stepped it up.
And I think I can't speak for the coaches, but if I was as a coach I think that's what you would expect your players to do as a coach. You expect them to be ready for their opportunity when it's coming. And like I said he seized his opportunity and he has done really well. And.
A little bit on what Sigi said, what I've seen he's been really positive there. Looks like he's given a little bit of confidence to his back line. And when your back line believe in your goalkeeper, it's kind of like almost you have that extra confidence in your home team, because he's made that one or two big saves that a goalkeeper really needs to make a game for a team to be successful.
So he's done well and he seized his opportunity and hopefully he's going to be a good player.

Q. Wanted to ask, Coach, if you think it's an unfair label to say that you guys are the offensive team in this game and they are the defensive team?
COACH SCHMID: I don't know if you can say that. I know that Juan Carlos takes a lot more notes during a game than I do. I think you can say that.
I think they have, in my opinion, one of the premiere strikers in this league, if not the premiere striker in Juan Pablo Angel. He's a classic center forward. Good in the air, can hold the ball. He's lethal with his finishing. That's certainly an important weapon to have.
They're a team, for sure, that maybe has defended a little bit more than we have in the last couple of games. But they're also a team that breaks forward at the right times. I mean, there's an interesting stat that people don't give a lot of credence to, which is basically the team that usually puts together more passes in the opponent's end of the field usually loses the game. Everybody thinks it's all about position and maintaining pressure and doing that at the opponent's end of the field but that's not really always what leads to results, because you're attacking against a packed defense.
But they're very organized defensively. I think we're organized defensively. They have some explosive elements attacking-wise as well with Dane Richards, and I think van den Bergh is as good a crosser of the ball as there is in the league. From that standpoint they have some good offensive weapons in that they're not an entirely defensive team in my opinion.
I would disagree with that, but then I'm a coach, so...

Q. Do you base that partially on the regular season match-ups you have with them and none of the games were scoreless, and what do you take from those games?
COACH SCHMID: Exactly. For us the regular season match-ups with them, the first time we played them it was the second game of the year for us, their home opener at Giants Stadium. And then we played them at our place and so we lost the first one we won at our place. The last one we played them at their place again. We mixed our lineup a little bit on that particular game, but they played well.
So when you look at those games, I think when you add up all those games I think there were like 10 goals scored in those three games. So that's like averaging three goals a game. So that's pretty good.

Q. Had a question for both of you about Chad Marshall, one of our local guys here. Obviously had a great year winning Defender of the Year. I think quietly he's been one of the best defenders in MLS since his rookie season. If you could, Sigi, just talk about his season and his importance on the back line.
COACH SCHMID: I'm very happy for Chad, and I'm pleased at the season he's had and the accolade that he received, because I think he was the best defender in the league this year in terms of central defenders for sure in my opinion.
People forget that Chad's still a relatively young guy. Frankie will agree with that, because Chad's only 24. We all wish we could be 24 again. But I think he's really grown a lot this year as a player. I think the injury last year in a way helped him because it gave him a greater appreciation of the game.
But he's just matured a lot. He knows that he's had to be the leader because he's the more experienced player of our two centerbacks and he stepped into that role. He's been a good passer for us out of the back with the ball. And obviously he's come up with some very timely goals on set pieces and is a very dangerous force for us on those kind of things.
So I just think he's grown this year by leaps and bounds. I think he's always been a good player, but this year I think he's really taken a big step forward.

Q. Frankie, just talk a little bit about Chad. Obviously he's kind of -- he's not a talker. He's the opposite of you. He's kind of quiet and reserved. How does he come across on the field with communication and being a leader and all that?
FRANKIE HEJDUK: Well, I think Sigi helped. He's made huge, huge leaps this year. It's been a pleasure playing with him in the back this year from years past. I mean, it's just been -- he's been incredible. He's kind of taken, like Sigi said, that leadership role into his own hands.
Coming out of the back, I know Sigi had challenged halfway through the season and said we need you to be the one to step us up out of the back to get the line moving up. As an outside back, you can't do that as much. You need to -- you're waiting for your centerbacks to move you up so you are all in the same line. And he's taken that to an extreme. And he's really stepped it up.
And when and where and how high and how deep we step our line and when to step it and that makes a huge difference in a team defense. Obviously if you're always standing back and not stepping your line up, the team can have constant pressure on you, and it doesn't make the forwards have to work as much.
I think he's made his forward that he's marking work a lot more than in years past. And in turn it's worked wonders for him. His presence in the air is second obviously to none in the league. Both defensively and offensively. I mean, it's no secret that on set pieces he's always -- he's always the one in there getting his head on the ball and his timing on when to step to those balls and stepping around defenders has been incredible this year.
I think he's just really grown as a player. And you're definitely going to see more and more to come from him. I think the sky's the limit with him. It's how good he wants to be in. And I think he's wanting to be good. And like Sigi said he's had that year off to reflect and see which way he wanted to go with his career and I think he chose to go in the right way. And it's showing.
And his timing, his tackles have improved. Just every aspect, his all-around game has improved. And it makes it easier for us as a back four to understand each other. Like you said, he's not -- he doesn't talk a lot back there. But when you have eye contact and you're looking at each other and you have confidence that if you step that you know your outside back or you know your centerback is going to step, too, we've gotten in the rhythm where we don't really need to talk as much.
But he has even on that aspect he has improved incredibly. He's been one of the main reasons back there that we're having the year that we're having. And I'm happy for him. And like Sigi said also he deserved, he was definitely the defender of the year and he deserved it. And hopefully he can continue that and the sky's the limit for him.

Q. Sigi, kind of following up on what you said before about Angel and van den Bergh. Angel, around New York, certainly Juan thinks he's if not the top striker, certainly one of the top strikers. And can you follow up on what you said about him there.
And van den Bergh, how critical is he, in your opinion, to what they do offensively, not only in terms of the crosses he gets in, but obviously as he showed on Saturday the ability to score some pretty key goals.
COACH SCHMID: Every team has important players in this league. I mean, one of the things I say to coaches, especially guys if they call me and talk to me, guys who are starting off in this league is, I've always said every team has good players, every team has players you need to be concerned and worried about. Obviously those are two key players for New York. They're not the only ones, but they're two of the key guys. Angel's positioning is very good. He's very composed and relaxed on the ball. He's got very good timing in the air.
And his timing in the box is good. So he's a guy that you've got to keep your eye on, but he's also, like a lot of good forwards, sometimes they disappear for a little and that's often when they become the most dangerous.
Van den Bergh is just -- obviously Kansas City got rid of him. Maybe they gave up on him too early. But he's fit in New York's system very well. He's played a number of different positions for them. He's one of the better players at -- a lot of players to cross the ball have to prepare the ball inside. He's one of the better players he doesn't need to touch all inside to get a good cross in. He's able to get his foot around the ball and still curl the ball in into dangerous positions.
And he does a lot of dirty work as well for New York. I mean, he does a lot of defending on that side of the field. He pops up in different places. He doesn't restrict himself just to the wing. He's one of their key players and he's a good player.

Q. Frankie, everybody kind of jokes about how you still look like that young guy that was running around in those bad Tampa Bay uniforms back in the day. Physically do you still feel like that?
FRANKIE HEJDUK: Yeah, definitely. I think it's no secret that I take pride in trying to be physically fit year in and year out. And I think that's been one of my main attributes to my career, I've always been able to try to run people into the ground and get them off their game by running them to death.
And I'm still trying to get up and down as much as I can. And I think Sigi's given me the green light to do that. And I think eventually there will probably be a time to come where he'll say, hey, maybe don't go so much.
But as of now I feel like age is just a number. But at the same time normally only the older guys are saying that. But I still feel good. I still feel fit, and I still take pride in keeping myself that way. As long as you're eating right and treating your body right and doing the things right you should be doing as a professional, it will extend your career. I want to play this game for as long as I can.
It's the best game in the world. It's second to none. And I have no thoughts of giving it up any time soon. I'm going to keep going for as long as I can. Like I said, I'm still having fun. I'm still competitive and I still like being out there in the day-to-day grind. And adding to that winning an MLS Cup. This is a big challenge and a big step. And it's something that I look forward to. So hopefully that will happen this next weekend. But getting back to your question a little bit, no, I feel fine. I feel great. And I'm going to keep doing this as long as I can. Why would I not want to do the best job in the world?

Q. Sigi, is there any advantage at all to having a few extra days of rest?
COACH SCHMID: Last week we went into a game where we had two days' less rest and we ended up finding a way to win it. It can be advantageous because you have a little more rest. But it also means you've got to wait longer and I think players know that once they get to this point it's like let's get on with it. This week's going to take forever to get to that game on Sunday. You can't wait for it.
So having a few days' more rest, maybe it's physiologically good, but psychologically you sort of want to get to the game as quick as possible.

Q. Sigi and Frankie, can you talk about playing Chicago in that playoff game and how important it was to have that game at home, because besides not having to travel, even though Chicago would be a short hop, I think sometimes we disregard the home field advantage even if the crowd isn't that big, because you did have a big crowd but you know the sponsors and dimensions. I'd like them to talk about that particularly since they did win the Supporter Shield?
COACH SCHMID: We've said all along that playing at home was important to us and that's why we wanted to get home field advantage. I know the home team hasn't always won in the conference finals, but I'd rather take my chances at home than away.
Also, knowing my past, I know I've never lost a playoff game at home. So that was something that made me feel confident going into games and making games at home. But more so than anything it's really been the support of our crowd and our fans all year has been tremendous and there's been a real unique -- and Frankie can comment on this more so than I can, I guess -- but there's been a unique bond and relationship that's been built between that corner of the stadium and the team and that was very important to us.
And I think people in LA, they get a little bit of feeling of that. I think some people will be following us out there. It won't be as many as home games but hopefully they'll give us a feeling of a home game there as well.
FRANKIE HEJDUK: I'll comment on that, too. I think for us it's incredibly important to be at home during the playoffs. And that's the reason why you play the whole year for it and try to win that Supporter Shield is to get that home field advantage, because I think more so in the conference final than anything else, it helps out because you have that one game and that one game's at home, a little bit less so in the first round, because it's a game away and a game at home and anything can happen.
But when you have that one game just at your home and you've been playing the way we've been playing at home all year with the support we've had from our fans, I think it makes a huge difference. Like Sigi said that north deck section has just been absolutely incredible for us as a team, because they're there before the game a couple hours. They're there during the game. They're pumping us up emotionally before the game, during the game and after the game. We've really created this bond with them.
And they've had to deal with a lot of come-backs this year. So they've believed in us. They never stop singing for us throughout the whole game. And it's a reason why I think we've had a lot of come from behind victories we've never had that never say die attitude or never give up attitude because they were believing in us and we were believing in them and we didn't want to let them down so I think it was a huge advantage especially in that game because any time you go down in a game that big, some people start to get nervous or you start to doubt yourself.
At no point in that game did we doubt ourselves that we weren't going to come back. And that's just speaking honestly. Because we came into the locker room. Normally you come into the locker room going down at halftime at home. Guys are screaming what are we doing here, what are we doing there?
That game we came in like Sigi was calm, all the guys were calm. We all knew that in the back of our minds that we were going to come back. Because we've done it so many times. We've done it away from home, at home and obviously at home we knew we were going to have the support of our crowd there. And we came out and scored two goals in five minutes and it just -- it was just something that we had connected with us and the fans and everyone in that stadium that we just knew we were going to come back.

Q. Sigi, could you talk about Eddie Gaven's maturity with you. Seemed like when he was here seemed like he was going to be a franchise player for years to come. Then it seemed like he was washed up at 20. Can you talk about what he's meant for the team and how he's fit into your system there?
COACH SCHMID: I don't know how you can be washed up at 20 and be the franchise at 18. So I think sometimes we throw a lot of expectations on young players' shoulders and sometimes throw too many expectations too quickly on them. I know from coaches I've worked with in the past, with a young player you stick them out there are for a few games and you pull them out again and stick them out again because they're going to have bad games and you don't want them to lose confidence.
I think in this league, in particular, a lot of times we stick young players out there game in game out before they're necessarily ready. I mean Robbie Rogers is a good example for us where last year we stuck him out there and we pulled him off at times and this year he was ready for it. But Eddie Gaven, he's a player that does a lot of things sometimes that don't show up on the scoreboard. He's a player who gives you an honest work rate. He's much tougher than people think he is. He's very resilient at this.
Obviously he played a huge role in our win on Thursday night. And he's a player who he still -- he just turned 22. And he's a player who still has a lot of bright years, a lot of bright years ahead of him and he's a very versatile player.
And I think that's been a big thing with Eddie, over the years he's played a number of different positions and he's been very steady for us wide right. He's grown comfortable in that role and in that position and he knows he's out there game after game and playing that same position has helped stabilize his performance this year.

Q. Sigi, I was covering the Galaxy back in '04 when you were fired, and I think it was a horrible decision then and I think it's a horrible decision now that you were ever fired from the Galaxy. Couple of questions. First, do you feel any sort of vindication now that you're coming back here to the Home Depot Center back to the MLS Cup final, and also do you think that your firing was the first in the demise of the Galaxy as it were, even though they went on to win the MLS Cup in 2005?
COACH SCHMID: I mean, you know the results. The Galaxy have had over the years. Also makes me sad because I grew up in Southern California when the Galaxy was the first professional team that I coached. And I thought I would have a tenure at Galaxy like Ferguson has had and Wang has had at Arsenal. You would hope it would go along that way. But along the way that didn't happen. You can't look back. One of the big motos of our team is the next play and don't worry about just what happened, let's worry about what's going to happen.
And so that's where I've been focused on is to do that and go forward. The only thing from the Galaxy, the only thing that bothers me, to be very honest with you, being fired and all that, okay, it happens and as a coach you know you're going to get fired, I guess. But the only thing that bothers me was the insinuation at the time that we didn't play attractive enough soccer, that we weren't offensive enough. And that moniker was sort of hung on me and that bothers me because at the time we were the highest scoring team in the league.
And that was disappointing to me, because I felt my teams have always been reflective of, yes, we play good defense but we play good defense. And Frankie knows this, we play good defense so we can play good offense. You've got to have the ball in order to attack. If you don't play good defense you're not going to get the ball.
So we want the ball so we can attack. When you look at my teams they're maybe not the highest scoring team in the league but they're always in the top three or so in the league of scoring goals and that's what I've always wanted when I've had good teams.
That's the only thing that bothers me from those days and the rest of it is the Galaxy is on their path. That's Bruce Arena's baby now he's working at that and my baby is Columbus Crew and we're playing on Sunday and we're very excited about that.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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