Mo Johnston

Asked to elaborate on his impression of the Portuguese midfielder, Carlos Fangueiro, Johnston said, "He can play beneath the strikers. I don't want to discuss someone else on another team, but he's a major upgrade to someone else on a certain team. He moves very, very easily, he's got a great shot on him, he's very accurate. He was one of the best on show last week, clearly, by a mile. Obviously we're speaking to the agent, he's shown that he wants to come in to training camp. If can add him to the squad, he's a major upgrade. He's a very good player." He was also asked about the forward situation, having traded away Ante Razov the previous day. He said, "We're looking at adding two forwards to be honest. If we get the right two, I'll be more than happy. There's a few in Europe, but there's a few in this league as well I would like but until such notice it's not happening. We're working on some things."

Despite all the talk about the players who were present and their potential impact on the upcoming season, the story of the day remained the continued absence of Guevara. Both the head coach and GM sounded cautiously optimistic when discussing the issue. Said Johnston, "I would've liked him to be here on the first day, when you have everyone it shows commitment for the guys, everyone's here and obviously he's not. He'll be here soon, it's not a problem." Lalas, who claimed he had yet to hear from the mercurial midfielder or his representatives, offered the same tone initially, with the possibility of reconciliation in mind. "Amado obviously is not here, and we expected him here, but we're going to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that there is a very good reason." He added, "If Amado truly wants to be a MetroStar, he needs to prove it on the field and off the field, and if he does that, we will welcome him with open arms." When asked about the war of words he and Guevara waged in the press, Lalas responded, "He's a big boy and I'm a big boy and we don't take any of that stuff personally. We need players who play like men and act like men on and off the field and we also need an organization that does that. If that means sitting down and hashing things out and apologizing and doing whatever we have to do in order to make sure we have a good team and quality players, I'm all for that." The Metro GM did, however, make it clear that there would be consequences should Guevara not show up at all this week. "Then he's in violation of his contract and we're not going to pay him. It's as simple as that. I'm not going to go to the ends of the earth to track down Amado Guevara. We have a bunch of other players who right now are working very hard for opening day and it's not fair to them to spend all our time trying to figure out what's happening to Amado Guevara. It's a distraction and we won't have that." Elder statesman Meola was the only player who commented on the situation. "I don't know what the deal is. If he wants to play here, then he should come here, and if he doesn't want to play he shouldn't be here. Those were the rules that everyone was given the day we left here. Figure out if you want to be here, and if you don't, then let me know," said the goalkeeper.

In review, Lalas and Johnston appear to have accomplished the first phase of their plan. They've stolen the spotlight in MLS through a series of high-profile moves, and have brought in a group of new players hungry to compete for a position in Johnston's revamped system, players that have the fans talking and the media engaged. Considering the number and quality of additional players scheduled to meet the team in Florida, this season's MetroStars squad could end up being the most capable team the club has ever fielded.