MetroFanatic: Luis, your story was told a lot last yaer, how you came to this team. How surprised were you to come to New York?
Luis Robles: I think, the surprise, more than anything, was that it went so quickly. I know that with the allocation draft, I was in the dark. I didn't know who was going to take me. I knew a couple of teams that were very interested, New York wasn't necessarily one of them.

MF: That's the weird thing: they were interested in you in the preseason...
LR: And what I mean by that, is I just heard rumors through my agent, which teams really wanted me. They did have Bill in there, Bill was doing well in goal, and I think they just started to realize that Ryan was hurt pretty badly, and if anything, they need to bring cover for Bill.

MF: And then during the playoffs, you might have been the team's best player...
LR: I wish I could have done more, because we didn't advance. The playoffs were a bittersweet experience for us, obviously. We got a good chance to go against our rivals in DC, and unfortunately giving up that late goal, but not just that, you guys saw, the second half, it was nuts.

MF: Yeah... we saw the second half. This team has had a history of heartbreak...
LR: That's something I'm learning more and more, as far as the history and the tradition of this club. But looking around, looking at the personnel, looking at the coaching staff, we can't help but be optimistic. I know that's probably something that's been said a lot, but not looking at all the details of preseason, I think it went pretty well. The good thing about the preseason, we recognize the things that need to be fixed, and we're gonna fix those. But just from a personality and personnel standpoint, there's a lot of things to be excited about.

MF: So what things need to be fixed from preseason?
LR: Well, we have a lot of new players. The trick of all of it is, you need to get all of those players on the same page, and that's what we're working on right now. If we can solve that early, then we're gonna be dangerous for a long time.

MF: Ryan is still not healthy, but in theory he will be healthy at some point. How do you feel about the competition?
LR: You always expect competition. You don't want to be on the team where you're the one single one, because nobody is pushing you. Ryan and I get along great. Regardless if I'm the one in goal, or he is the one in goal, I know that I'm gonna be working hard every single day, and help the team in every manner they call on me upon.

MF: Super-nerdy question, why #31?
LR: It was what was given to me.

MF: But #1 is open right now...
LR: I didn't even ask. I think in that situation, it was, with the very European mentality that #1 is reserved for the starting goalkeeper, and last year they didn't know, and bringing me in didn't necessarily fix that either, they just want to see what's gonna happen in the future. A number doesn't dictate my performance.