Kansas City Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad understands the importance of keeping a core group together at any soccer club.
The 33-year old veteran believes any successful club needs to have a group of experienced players at the forefront of the squad and with a mix of youth and new recruits, results should be positive more often than not.
"I think it's a combination of both," he told Soccer365. "The teams that have been successful in MLS have had a lot of veteran guys. We have a group of guys who know the league, know what it takes to be successful.
"I think the staff did a good job of getting everyone on the same page in the preseason and in bringing in guys who had been professionals elsewhere."
Conrad also knows that when you have a group of players together for the first team that they have to be able to adapt to different formations and situations and he believes the current crop of Wizards players have that ability.
"You have to adapt to what kind of team you have and the players you have," he added. "I think we're in a formation now that plays into our strengths. I think we've put ourselves in a position to have success.
"However, we can adapt. I think we have a team with the flexibility to help us moving forward. We have the 4-3-3, which we can pull back into more of a 4-5-1, or we can even go with three at the back if we need to."