BSJ goes one-on-one with Revs manager Brad Friedel

FOXBOROUGH -- Welcome to our first one-on-one feature, and it's fitting we get to sit down, formally, with former United States international goalkeeper -- and first-year Revolution manager -- Brad Friedel.

Friedel is a rather personable and down-to-earth guy, and it was good to get a few minutes with him as we discussed his philosophy on picking the squad, the potentials of bringing in another player to the roster, as well as other notes about the first six-plus weeks of his Revs' stewardship. Here's what he had to say:

BSJ: I wanted to ask you about your philosophy because I find it very interesting with what you’ve said about, ‘You don’t care about your last name, you don’t care about what they did in the past.’ Where did all of that come from? Was it from stops at (Aston) Villa, was it stops at Blackburn, was it the stop at Tottenham?

Brad Friedel: Everything. You can’t have complacency creep in sports. That’s any sport. And you can’t allow anything other than hard work, focus, determination, and skill allow you to pick your teams. And it’s as simple as that. I think if you do it another way, you lose the respect of the players who are working really hard every day, and I’ve been in many locker rooms before where certain players had gotten certain preferential treatment. There’s resentment that goes through the locker room, and it’s just a philosophy that I think ... I think all players on that front should be treated in that same manner. If people aren’t pulling their weight, then they shouldn’t be on the field.

BSJ: When you sat down in late October/early November with team president Brian (Bilello), general manager Michael (Burns), and with Jonathan (Kraft) —

BF: Robert (Kraft) was there, too.

BSJ: Oh, excellent. What was the message that was relayed to you about this football club? Was it a reclamation project (because of) the last two years?

BF: First and foremost, especially Robert and Jonathan, they want to win. Contrary to what some people might think, they want to win. They knew after meeting with me, I’m obsessed with winning, as well. In sports, you’re not going to win every single game, but you want to put yourself in a position where you possibly can. I think that was the first thing. The second thing, they told me all the plans they have going forward with training facilities, stadiums, and also with mine and my staff’s contacts around the world, and with discretionary TAM (Targeted Allocation Money) now coming into the game, we knew we could put together a really good squad and make some additions to an already very good squad. It was a challenge me and my staff wanted to take on, and we were delighted that Robert and Jonathan and Brian and Mike chose that this was the staff they wanted to go forward with.

BSJ: I know a couple of weeks ago, probably around the start of the season, there was the potential of bringing in another player. Is that still alive?

BF: Yeah, yeah. It is. And it’s not easy getting certain players over the goal line. We’re hoping, if we can, possibly, to get one in before May 1. Then if not, that player would come in July.

BSJ: Are you thinking international or domestic?

BF: We’re speaking with both. We have two roster spots available.

BSJ: I know you have that international spot which is obviously key.

BF: Yes. We’ve done a good job with formulating our squad to give us that flexibility to have that international spot and another domestic spot, and we – and when I say we, Brian and Mike have done an outstanding job with the salary cap and the budget as there are funds there to spend.

BSJ: As the first-team manager, and I know a couple of weeks ago, the Youth Academy went down to (the Generation Adidas Tournament) in Texas and came back with a minus-37 goal difference. Does that concern you as the first-team manager? And what role do you have in working with the development academy to get more homegrowns into the first team?

BF: That kind of scoring, yes, that’s a concern, and we have a lot of communication – and when I say we, me and my staff – with Bryan Scales and the academy staff. One thing I will say with academies, and this happens all over the world, is sometimes you have certain age groups that are stronger than others. Some of it is concerning, some of it is not as concerning. We are a lot stronger at other age groups than perhaps that age group. So it is an area that I wouldn’t say it’s an area of concern, but it’s an area of progress and development that we want to get better.

BSJ: Is there a target (of homegrowns over) a number of years that you want?

BF: It’s hard to put a target on the youth development, like saying, ‘We’d like to have two a year.’ Because you just don’t know what’s going to be coming through. But what I can say is we are looking around the area, we’re looking outside the area, and we’re looking within the current club at what players can come up with the first team, always. So yes, it is an area that we want to be very strong.

BSJ: Twenty-one years ago you were with Columbus and you’ve been around the world; you’ve played at Villa, you played at Blackburn, you played at Tottenham, you played at Galatasaray… what is the main difference between 1997 MLS when you were playing up the hill in the old barn (Foxborough Stadium) and now?

BF: There’s not one main ... the quality of player, the quality of coaching, and the overall expectancy of the fans and the media. It doesn’t equate to back then; it was hardly existent back then, and now there are very good forums for people to have their opinions, and very good forums for people to see the games, watch the games; understand your club, understand your rival. It’s completely different, and for the better.

BSJ: Thanks for your time, coach.

BF: You're welcome.