MetroFanatic: Bob, some people don't understand the trades of Pope and Clark for allocation money. Can you please explain that to the layman?
Bob Bradley: It would be hard to explain perfectly, because it would involve a lot of detail about the salary budgets. But I think that the salary budgets are a part of the way MLS works and you're constantly looking to make decisions that take into account how to best use your salary budget, and those decisions to ultimately trade Ricardo and Eddie still were based on many of those things.

MF: Who is Abdoulaye Ibrahim, and why him out of all the players you've looked at?
BB: Abdoulaye is a young striker with some special talent. He is young, so therefore it's important to be cautious and not say too much, but he impressed everyone with his quickness, with his cleverness around the goal, and we're all constantly looking for players that bring something different. When you look around the world, the top clubs, the ability sometimes to find players from a different part of the world, from some African nations that have so much raw talent, was again, when you have a small salary budget, and you have to be creative in terms of how and where you find talent. And Abdoulaye is a young player that we hope can bring some special qualities to the MetroStars in the future.

MF: A year ago, you told me that Sergio Galvan Rey is a "special player". And now, what are your feelings on him?
BB: Well, last year was a difficult season. Sergio has clearly been a very special player throughout his time at Once Caldas. For whatever reason, his adjustment into our team and into Major League Soccer was a difficult one. We're hopeful that that one year of experience has helped him understand better what will be needed to be successful. And we are continuing to challenge him and hold him to a high standard, because in order to be a very good team, a player like Sergio has to give us more than he did a year ago.

MF: There's still some money under the cap to sign some new players?
BB: There is some money. We will continue to work, to find talent. I think that the way our league operates, that work doesn't stop at the beginning of the season, it actually carries on through the summer signing period, so we recognize the need to continue to work, to make our team better.