May Player of the Month

The month of May was not kind to the Wizards this year, and with it over, it's time to look at who is going to be named the Down the Byline Player of the Month for May. As I mentioned, the month of May was not kind to KC, the Wizards went 0-4-1 in the month of May, scoring 4 goals while giving up 12 in those 5 games. Of the 4 goals the Wizards did score, 3 of them were scored by Kei Kamara, the fourth came from Josh Wolff. Wolff also picked up an assist in May, along with Ryan Smith, Teal Bunbury, and Davy Arnaud.
As the stats show, it wasn't exactly a good month for the team, winless, only 1 point, averaging less than a goal a game, while allowing over 2 a game, not the type of month a team wants to have, especially after things started so much better in the months of March and April.

Really when you break it down, there really aren't that many choices for player of the month. In fact I'm really only putting one name out this month as a real candidate.photo courtesy of Thad Bell

This month the Down the Byline player of the month is Kei Kamara.

Kamara was basically the Wizards offense for the month of May, outside a good individual effort by Arnaud to set up Wolff's goal in Salt Lake, Kamara's the only one that scored for the Wizards this month. Hopefully the month of June treats the Wizards better than May has, and there's more debate for who should win the award for that month. But for May it's hard to make an argument for someone ahead of Kamara.

Monday After Stats

Back in KC, and it's technically Monday at this point, so here is your Monday after stats. Quite a few marks hit this week, with more to come in the coming weeks.

Josh Wolff's goal was his 84th in all competitions in his MLS career, tying him with Steve Ralston for 14th place on the all time list.

Wolff's goal was his 4th against Salt Lake as a Wizard, tying him with Scott Sealy for the most goals by a Wizards player against Salt Lake.

Wolff made his 136th start in all competitions for KC, moving him past Diego Gutierrez.

Jack Jewsbury made his 175th appearance for the Wizards in league play.

Davy Arnaud's red card was his 3rd of his Wizards career, tying him with Jose Burciaga and Mo Johnston for the second most in team history. Arnaud also became the 6th Wizards player to pick up 2 red cards in a single season, joining Johnston, Nick Garcia, Roger Espinoza, Tony Meola, and Uche Okafor.

The red was also Arnaud's 4th in all competitions giving him sole possession of the second most red cards in team history behind Garcia.

Michael Harrington made his 110th appearance in all competitions for KC, tying him with Bo Oshoniyi for 20th place on that list.

Harrington also made his 103rd start for KC in all competitions, passing Sasha Victorine and tying him with Mark Chung for 17th place overall.

Jimmy Conrad made his 184th start for KC in league play, moving him past Chris Klein into sole possession of 4th place on that list.

Time to Talk About Vermes Time?

With the loss against Real Salt Lake last night, the Wizards are now 2-5-2 on the season. That puts the Wizards just under a third of the way through their season. Next week the team will be one third done. They could have as many as 11 and as few as 8 at the 1/3rd mark of the season. triple either of those numbers and it's a woefully low number and isn't going to be enough to get the Wizards to the playoffs (40-45 is usually the bottom of the table for the 8th seed in the playoffs). The team hasn't won in two months, the same length of time they basically went in the 2009 season from the middle of June until September.

Since taking over the head coaching position, Peter Vermes is now 5-11-5 as head coach, a total of 20 points in what is getting close to a full 30 game season in control of the team. The team outside of the game against DC to open this season has had the same offensive troubles getting goals and creating offensive chances. And while overall the team has looked better on the field, you don't get any points for style or for holding possession. Vermes has brought in "his" players at this point, only one international player remains from Curt Onalfo's time in charge of the team. Only 13 players remain from the Wizards roster the day after the 6-0 loss to Dallas last season. Being almost a third of the way through the season now it's hard to justify that the team is still "gelling" as a unit or that they haven't had all their pieces, as up until the past few weeks the team had been relatively healthy minus the loss of Zoltan Hercegfalvi. It's time to seriously look at Vermes and see if he's going to be the guy that can take this team to the next level. He's taken the team from the poor play under Onalfo to being competitive, but can he take the team to the next step and get them to actually create and finish chances? I struggle to see it at this point, I've given Vermes time to change this team, take it that next step, but he hasn't and I wonder if the team ever will. It would certainly appear he has the talent on the field to get this done, but something isn't working. Does he need to scrap the 4-3-3 for a more traditional 4-4-2 with Kei Kamara up top with either Josh Wolff or Teal Bunbury and Ryan Smith on the left wing and Davy Arnaud on the right playing an empty bucket? How much more time does Vermes have before he needs to go?

Another Loss for KC

Greetings from Salt Lake City International Airport, sitting here waiting on my flight back to KC I figured I'd get my post game write up out. Stat report will be coming out late tonight or tomorrow depending on how I feel when I get home. I came out here not expecting the Wizards to pull this result out last night against Real Salt Lake, but the way the Wizards did it was very disappointing. A lack of basic fundamentals by the Wizards led to all 4 of Salt Lake's goals last night. From herd ball, to poor goalkeeping, to poor marking, to poor passing the Wizards just didn't look good enough at all. And that is on top of the team's continued in ability to create very dangerous chances and some piss poor touches by players all over the field (the most obvious as I look back on the game was Chance Myers twice letting the ball go out off his foot when he had no one around him). This team has a basic lack of fundamentals when it comes to basic things right now and it's hard to see those things getting fixed at this point.

The Wizards had some possession and some half chances early on but didn't really test Nick Rimando that much in the RSL net. Then in the 31st minute, the first fundamental breakdown came, as 3 Wizards converged on Andy Williams as he had the ball leaving Fabian Espindola wide open. Williams fed Espindola who beat Jimmy Nielsen to his far post giving RSL the 1-0 lead early on. Instead of staying with his runner, Jonathan Leathers went to Williams with Jimmy Conrad and Michael Harrington leaving Espindola open for RSL. Espindola was finding space down the Wizards right all the first half and if not for some close offside calls, RSL likely would have been up more early on. Still only a few minutes after RSL's first goal, Espindola once again got down the Wizards right, leaving Leathers in the dust. Espindola played a cross into the box that Nielsen tried to catch instead of punch clear. The ball went through his hands to the back post where Alvaro Saborio beat Harrington to the ball and put it into the empty net doubling RSL's lead. Salt Lake could have added a third in the first half if not for a nice save by Nielsen.

Referee Ricardo Salazar let the game play and may have let the game get a bit out of hand as Davy Arnaud seemed to get beat up quite a bit on plays without a Salt Lake player picking up a card. Eventually a persistent infringement card needs to come out, even if it's not the same player doing the fouling. Arnaud though played a big part in the Wizards goal late in the first half. Nat Borchers was lazy with the ball at the top of his own box, Arnaud came in and got the ball away from Borchers and dribbled into the box. Arnaud picked out Wolff who slid the ball underneath Rimando to give the Wizards a life line in the game.

In the second half the Wizards came out trying to find the equalizer early on. They had their chances and appeared to equalize when a long ball from about midfield looked like it drifted into the net before Rimando cleared it away. The referee didn't make the call and the linesman was poorly positioned to make a good call on the play. RSL also had their chances to add a third but Nielsen again came up big to make saves and keep the Wizards in the game. Late in the game a questionable foul on Matt Besler just outside the penalty gave the Wizards two problems, first it gave RSL a free kick deep in the Wizards area. Second, Arnaud came in to argue the call, bumped into Salazar and then made some colorful commits to the referee which drew him a second yellow for dissent and his marching orders after he'd picked up an earlier yellow on a weak call. After Arnaud had gone off the field, Javiar Morales stuck a nice free kick that Nielsen did well to keep out with a kick save. Unfortunately no one followed the RSL runners on the back side and Robbie Russell came in and knocked home RSL's third of the game.

All night KC had been playing a little dangerously with passes across the back line with passes just been a half step away from being picked off for a break away and in second half stoppage time it finally bit KC. Graham Zusi played a hospital ball back to Besler that was intercepted by Ned Grabavoy who walked in and slotted the ball past Nielsen. Zusi up to that point had actually been doing well and had made a great run earlier in the half, but it's that play from this game that will be remembered. Once again, another game that the Wizards did not deserve to win takes their winless streak to 7 games now. It's now been 50 days since the Wizards last won a game and will be almost 2 months since their last win when they take the field next Saturday against Toronto. It's to the point where it's beyond frustration for many Wizards fans, they're tired of the poor results and the lack of offensive play. This team really misses Stephane Auvray in the middle of the field, he helps keep those situations like what happened with Espinodola from happening as he's marking Morales tighter. Jack Jewsbury just doesn't control the midfield the way Auvray can.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jimmy Nielsen - It's getting old, but without him this is another 6-0 loss against Dallas. He made some very good saves to at least attempt to keep the Wizards in the game and outside of his poor decision on the second goal there was little he could do on the other goals.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 5, Leathers 3, Conrad 3, Besler 4, Harrington 4, Jewsbury 4, Arnaud 4, Wolff 4, Smith 4, Bunbury 4, Kamara 3. Subs Myers 3, Zusi 4, Diop NR.

Stadium Model

For those that haven't seen it yet, the Wizards have posted stadium model pics over on Hillcrest Road. It's not full renderings, but it does give you another look at what the Wizards stadium will look like to some extent. It's pretty cool to see the model, a few people have already asked about getting a copy of it for themselves. I'd settle for small miniature one that I could put on my desk or something.

Road Trip!

Tomorrow the Wizards take on Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium. I'll be there live for my first MLS road trip of the year and my first trip to Rio Tinto (or Salt Lake in general outside their airport). Real Salt Lake comes into the game having won their last 4 league games, including 3 at home. So Salt Lake comes into this game on a very big high. They also have not lost at home since the Wizards went there in May of last year and defeated Salt Lake 2-0 on the back of a pair of goals by Josh Wolff. There is a little good news for KC as they head to Salt Lake, and that's that it appears Salt Lake will be without Robbie Findley who is with the US team, and more importantly, Kyle Beckerman who appears set to miss this game due to injury.

While Salt Lake is hot right now, the Wizards are extremely cold. They are winless in 6 games, and have only scored 4 goals in the last 7 games (1-4-2 in those games). It's difficult to see that changing this week as Salt Lake is just that good at home. The Wizards will continue to be without Roger Espinoza as he is with Honduras. Zoltan Hercegfalvi and Stephane Auvray continue to be out with injuries. I don't expect to see many changes to the lineup that took the field against the Crew, although I could see Josh Wolff making his way back into the lineup for Teal Bunbury potentially. I could also see either Craig Rocastle or Birahim Diop for Graham Zusi potentially, but I'll go with no changes for tomorrow.

Nielsen
Leathers - Conrad - Besler - Harrington
Zusi - Jewsbury - Arnaud
Bunbury - Kamara - Smith

Key Match Up - Jack Jewsbury vs Javier Morales - Morales is the point man of the RSL attack and Jewsbury will have his hands full with him. Auvray would have been a very good guy to have in the middle dealing with Morales, but with him out, Jewsbury gets to step up and attempt to stop his attacks.

PREDICTION - As I said, I'm traveling to the game with a few other Cauldronites, and that means that a win is not going to happen. It's been a long time since the Cauldron has traveled to an away game and seen a Wizards win, I know it hasn't happened in any of the games I've gone to since 2005 (and I've only missed one Cauldron road trip). Hopefully that changes tomorrow, but I can't really see that happening tomorrow.

KC - 0
RSL - 2 (Morales, Saborio)

Byline 2 Back Post

This week's Byline to Back Post is now up for you on iTunes and Posterous for you to download and check out. This week due to the number of topics we talked about we divided the podcast up into two different parts.

In the first part we discuss MLS news, the Todd Durbin interview, the US 23 man roster and the KC Star editorial by Matthew Schofield.

In part two we discuss Wizards player news including the Jamar Beasley signing being official along with the game against the Crew, the scrimmage against the Brass, and the upcoming game in Salt Lake. Enjoy.

Espinoza Makes Late Sub Appearance in World Cup Warm Up

Roger Espinoza came off the bench for a seven minute appearance today for the Honduran national team today in Austria. Espinoza came off the bench in the 83rd minute for Julio Leon in Honduras' 2-2 draw with Belarus in Villach. All the scoring was done by the time Espinoza entered the game as Honduras took an early lead before conceding twice. They found the equalizer through Georgie Welcome in the 71st. This was the first of 3 friendlies in Austria for the Honduran team. They'll also be playing Azerbaijan and Romania before heading down to South Africa.

Former Wizards Update (UPDATED)

The former Wizards updates continue, although the numbers will start to get a little smaller now as the "fall to spring schedule" clubs end their season. The big news this week is that Herculez Gomez has made the US 23 man roster for the World Cup after scoring a goal yesterday in the USA's 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic in Connecticut. Eddie Johnson though was not as lucky as he missed the cut. Also joining the list now it Mauro Fuzetti who is back playing with the Michigan Bucks. I've also updated the Wizards registry with Jamar Beasley on the list now, Igor Kostrov updated, along with Gomez's club. Remember I'm always looking for updates on where players are, so please feel free to comment or email me if you know where former Wizards are. Here's the rest of this week's update.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 1-0 loss to Toronto.
Adam Cristman - DC United - Started and played 45 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to Houston.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 1-0 win over New England.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in RSL's 2-1 win over Chivas.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-0 loss to San Jose.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 1-0 loss to LA.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 3-1 win over New York. Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 1-0 win over KC.
Chris Klein - LA - Started and played 70 minutes, getting an assist in LA's 1-0 win over Dallas.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 3-0 loss to New York in a US Open Cup qualifier.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 2-1 win over Chivas.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Started and played 45 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to Houston.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in San Jose's 1-0 win over Seattle.
Carey Talley - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to Houston.
Shavar Thomas - Philadelphia - Did not have a game this week.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 1-0 loss to San Jose.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 2-1 loss to Baltimore.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 70 minutes in Minnesota's 1-0 loss to Miami.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Baltimore's 2-1 win over Portland.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 2-0 loss to Vancouver.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 2-1 win over Puerto Rico.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Portland's 2-1 loss to Baltimore.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 90 minutes in Miami's 1-0 win over Minnesota. Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Miami's 3-1 loss to Austin.
Lance Watson - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 3-1 win over Miami.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 69 minutes in Charleston's 4-3 win over Pittsburgh. Dressed but did not play in Charleston's 2-1 loss to Harrisburg.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 87 minutes in Richmond's 3-1 win over Charlotte.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Started and played 90 minutes for Pittsburgh in their 4-3 loss to Charleston.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 3-1 win over Charlotte.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 4-3 win over Pittsburgh. Dressed but did not play in Charleston's 2-1 loss to Harrisburg.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Started and played 90 minutes in Ocean City's 1-1 draw with Northern Virginia. Came off the bench and played 54 minutes, scoring a goal in Ocean City's 2-1 win over Central Jersey.
Mauro Fuzetti - Michigan - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Michigan's 1-0 loss to Dayton. Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Michigan's 3-1 win over Kalamazoo.
Michael Todd - Long Island - Started and played 90 minutes in Long Island's 1-0 win over New Hampshire.


USASA (Open Cup)
Ryan Barber - KC Athletics - Next Open Cup game is in the middle of June.
Boris Pardo - KC Athletics - Next Open Cup game is in the middle of June.
Brian Roberts - KC Athletics - Next Open Cup game is in the middle of June.

National Teams
Herculez Gomez - USA - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes, scoring a goal in the USA's 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic.
Eddie Johnson - USA - Started and played 45 minutes in the USA's 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic.

International
Vicente Arze - Club Aurora - Bolivia - Aurora beat Jorge Wilstermann 2-0.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Season is over.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Beat Rudeš 3-1.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Started and played 90 minutes, in Waterford's 1-1 draw with Cork City.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Season is over.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Started and played 72 minutes in Aalesund's 3-1 win over Strømsgodset.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Columbia - Season is over.

Nielsen Up for Save of the Week (Again)

Wizards goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen is once again up for the NAPA Save of the Week for his stop on Eddie Gaven with his feet and posterior. Get out there and vote for the White Puma.

Potential Rule Changes Coming

This news came out yesterday, but I wanted to just touch on it real quick because I like the ideas being brought forth, especially one in particular. Earlier this week, MLS executive VP, Todd Durbin talked about some potential rule changes that could be coming to MLS soon. The biggest one to me was the potential return of the reserve league. This is something I've harped on a little bit on here, but more so on the podcast. The lack of the reserve league hurts the developing players in the league, it hurt the Michael Kraus' and Rauwshan McKenzie's of the league and it could hurt the Graham Zusi's of this league from developing. Having the Swope Park Rangers playing regular games with some competitiveness to them is greatly needed. Even if that's just putting the reserves into the PDL or something (NCAA rules allow college kids to play against pros and keep their eligibility). Basically the reserve league needs to return in some form, whether it's in it's previous form, set up a more regionalized league, similar to the MLB farm team structure, or a different design where multiple teams contribute to 1 reserve team. Personally I'm for the more regional approach. Whether that's setting reserve teams up in PDL divisions or making some sort of a regional reserve league agreement with the NASL/USL. There needs to be a place to get real games for the young players, especially with all the new rules for home grown players, not all are going to come in and become starters in their first season like Bill Hamid.

The league is also looking at potentially changing their loan rules that they have. Previously loans were only allowed if there was a future potential for MLS clubs to buy the player. That's since been relaxed to only season long loans, but even that may be relaxed to try and get more young Europeans to come over to MLS in the January window and improve in the league and still getting back to their parent club for the start of the new European season.

Finally, Durbin also talked about the fact that teams ARE allowed to pay transfer fees for designated players. So if the Wizards wanted to go after a player currently under contract, they could pay a transfer fee to get them out of their contact at their current club. Unlike the Red Bulls the Wizards don't have transfer fee money hanging around from a previous transfer out of the club like the Red Bulls do with the Jozy Altidore transfer money.

We'll see how the potential reserve league and loan rule changes play out, but I for one hope we see some sort of return to help the league to continue to develop.

Jamar Beasley Official

The KC Star is reporting that the Wizards have officially signed former Chicago Fire and New England Revolution midfielder/forward, Jamar Beasley. Rumors had been around for a few weeks now after the announcement of his trial with KC and his brother DaMarcus tweeting that the Wizards had signed him. The Wizards haven't officially announced the signing, but did state today while tweeting about the game against the Brass that an "official announcement" would be soon. That announcement will likely be coinciding with the waiving of Igor Kostrov which has also yet to be officially announced by the team. According to coach Peter Vermes in the Star article, Beasley isn't expected to be playing for a few weeks as he's got to get up to match fitness of outdoor play, let alone MLS play as he's been playing mainly indoor for over 5 years now. It is a return to KC though as Beasley played indoor with the Comets from 2003 to 2005.

Rangers Top Brass

Today out at Swope Park, the Swope Park Rangers pulled out a 2-0 win over the KC Brass. Goals on either side of half time from Jamar Beasley and Sunil Chhetri helped the Wizards to the win over the local PDL side. Based off of what I was told the Rangers got the full 90 minutes today, with Josh Wolff being the only regular starter to play today. The team also included a few trialists as well. Beasley scored in the 20th minute on a breakaway, slotting the ball in the corner. The Brass created their own chances, hitting the bar and creating other chances against the Rangers. In the second half the Brass continued to press and take advantage of the Rangers "shaky" back line. Chhetri worked a good 1-2 with Chance Myers and scored his 8th goal in scrimmages that the Wizards have had against college and PDL teams. With the Wizards scoring chances you do have to question when and if Chhetri will get his chance with the first team soon.

Stadium is Coming Along

It's one thing to get onto the Wizards website daily and look at the progress of the Wizards stadium via webcam. It's quite another thing to actually be out at the Legends and see the site in person. The webcam is wonderful to get your daily fix for the development of the stadium, but it's so much better to get out and actually see the site. Sunday was no different it's amazing to drive by and see just how much work has really been done at the site. You get to see from different angles and much closer than what the webcam allows. For those that didn't make it out to the game yesterday, check out the photos done by James over at KCWFans.com yesterday before the game. He got photos from all sides of the stadium, some good shots that let you see just how much has really gotten done. Also something else to add to your weekly reading is the Wizards new weekly construction updates that they're doing now, including documentation from Turner Construction. Finally for those of you that did make it out to CAB on Sunday or don't live in KC, you missed the Wizards do a quick update on the stadium during the pregame Sunday. Check out the segment below.

Sunday of Stats

Here's your stat fix from today's game against the Crew.

In the 78th minute of the game today, Jimmy Conrad moved past Chris Klein for the number of league minutes played for the Wizards. Conrad finished the game with 16394 minutes played for KC.

Conrad also made his 183rd league start for KC today, moving him into a tie with Chris Klein for 4th on that list all time.

Josh Wolff made his 148th overall appearance for KC, breaking his tie with Diego Gutierrez for 12th place on that list.

Michael Harrington made his 102nd start in all competitions for KC, tying him with Sasha Victorine for 18th place on that list.

Teal Bunbury made his first league start for the Wizards.

Can We Finish?

It seems like there have a few games this season where KC has outplayed their opponent, but come up with nothing. Once again today out at Community America Ballpark, the Wizards controlled possession and out shot their opponents, but couldn't get anything out of the game. The Crew scored off a corner kick about half way through the second half and held on for the 1-0 win.

The best chance early on fell to Eddie Gaven who got in behind the Wizards defense on a broken offside trap, but Jimmy Nielsen came up with a big save in the 1v1 situation to avoid giving the Crew the early lead. Both teams continued to have some chances to take the lead as the half continued, as they traded possession. The Wizards best chance though would come right before stoppage time when Kei Kamara laid a ball back into the path of Davy Arnaud. Arnaud's shot sailed just wide of Will Hesmer's post and the teams went into the half tied 0-0.

The Wizards came out strong in the second half and had a few chances within the first couple minutes to take the lead with Kamara and Graham Zusi both going close on assists from Teal Bunbury. KC continued to press the attack as the second half went on, but it was the Crew who grabbed the lead in the 64th minute. On a corner kick from Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Emilio Renteria was left unmarked right in front of Jimmy Nielsen and easily headed past the Dane giving Columbus the lead. Rewatching the goal, there are a few people to blame. Jimmy Conrad didn't pick him up and Nielsen didn't force anyone to pick him up as a keeper should. Nielsen probably could have made a play to try and grab or punch the ball as well. KC continued to press after the goal holding possession and creating half chances, but no really good chances. Josh Wolff came on as a sub and looked dangerous, creating a few chances. Unfortunately the entire team couldn't create real chances to really test Hesmer in the Columbus net.

And that's been the real issue for the Wizards as of late, the team in their press releases will talk about their "offensive efficiency" and how they're putting such a high percentage of their shots on net, but the Wizards are the 3rd worst in the league when it comes to actually putting the ball in net. Only the expansion Philadelphia Union and DC United have scored fewer goals this season than the Wizards. Since the 4-0 win over DC, the Wizards have scored only 4 goals in the next 7 games. On top of that those 4 goals have only come from one source, Kamara. It's been 650 minutes since someone other than Kamara scored a goal. When the Wizards next take the field on Saturday against Real Salt Lake, it will have been 63 days since Jack Jewsbury's PK against DC.

Other than that, I really want to lay into the team, but it's hard to, the team overall played well today, the defense is strong, we controlled the ball well, we kept Columbus to mostly half chances minus the goal. It's just in the final third where things need to improve greatly. Is it time to give Sunil Chhetri a try up top in a league game, see what he can do? The question Robb Heineman posted a little while ago on Bigsoccer, do we need that designated player to just be a guy that can consistently finish? It's just frustrating watching the team play well in the back 2/3rds of the field but then fall apart once they get about 20 yards from goal.

Wizards Man of the Match - Michael Harrington - Moving back over to the left back position, Harrington had a solid game keeping track of his runners and controlling the left side of the field. He was also able to get forward some and try to bring something to the attack as well.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 5, Leathers 5, Conrad 5, Besler 5, Harrington 6, Jewsbury 5, Zusi 5, Arnaud 6, Bunbury 6, Kamara 5, Smith 5. Subs Wolff 6, Rocastle 4, Diop NR.

Crew Come to Town

Tomorrow at CAB, the Wizards are back in league action as they'll take on the Columbus Crew. With this game, the Wizards only have 4 games left before the World Cup break that MLS is taking this year. Columbus will be without two of their starters for the game as Chad Marshall and Robbie Rogers are still with the US national team after being named to the preliminary roster. Columbus also come into this game on the back of a 3-1 win over New York in New York on Thursday night. With the short rest and Marshall and Rogers being gone would seem to put things in the Wizards favor. But Columbus looked good in their win over the Red Bulls and even did it without their best player, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who was suspended for the game for an elbow in the Crew's game against Chivas.

The Wizards have a World Cup absence of their own, with Roger Espinoza with the Honduran team. KC also will be without Stephane Auvray who is having a scope done on his knee. Overall, KC has not been playing their best soccer as of late, the team hasn't won a game since the second game of the season and no one other than Kei Kamara has scored since opening day against DC. Those are two disturbing factors that the Wizards need to address. Not Kamara's scoring, because he's having himself a very good early season, but KC needs guys like Ryan Smith, Davy Arnaud, and Josh Wolff to start finding net as well or this season isn't going to turn out much better than last year. Other than Auvray and Espinoza (and Zoltan Hercegfalvi of course) the team appears to be pretty healthy and ready to go. The big question is who's going to take over Espinoza's position. Here's my thought on what I think we'll see, although with the way Vermes has played it lately, I could see Pablo Escobar in place of Matt Besler.

Nielsen
Leathers - Conrad - Besler - Harrington
Zusi - Jewsbury - Arnaud
Wolff - Kamara - Smith

Key Match Up - Conrad vs Steven Lenhart - I could go with Schelotto vs someone, but I think the Conrad v Lenhart match up will be the one to watch. Lenhart is becoming an important part of the Crew's offense and shutting him down will be very important for the Wizards.

PREDICTION - Columbus is a good team, and KC hasn't exactly been lighting things up lately. The game against New York on Thursday was very impressive. Without Auvray to help contain Schelotto it'll make things difficult for KC. KC has not won in KC against the Crew since 2007 at Arrowhead, a 3-2 victory. Since then the Wizards only have 1 point in KC against the Crew, a draw in the 2008 playoffs. I struggle to see the Wizards breaking that trend tomorrow out at CAB, I want it to happen, but I just don't see it.

KC - 1 (Kamara)
CLB - 2 (Lenhart, Schelotto)

New Byline 2 Back Post

For those that missed the tweet earlier today, there's a new Byline to Back Post out for you on iTunes and Posterous. We talked about the all star voting, Igor Kostrov, the game against Chicago and the upcoming game on Sunday against Columbus. Enjoy.

Auvray Out with Surgery and Other Minor KC News

This word is just out from the KC Star, that Wizards midfielder, Stephane Auvray will be missing 10-14 days as he is having arthroscopic knee surgery on his right knee. Auvray had missed last week's 2-2 draw with Chicago due to knee pain and will now look to remedy it with a quick surgery. If he has the surgery tomorrow, and it does take 10 to 14 days for him to return than he's only likely to miss the Columbus and Salt Lake games. If it takes longer for him to come back, he could also miss the Toronto game on June 5th. Hopefully he's not out for long as his presence in the center of midfield has helped take some pressure off the back line.

In other minor KC related news, things aren't looking so good across the state of Missouri. AC St. Louis, who the Wizards had started to try to form a rivalry with appears to be in some major financial trouble. Basically it appears that Jeff Cooper, who had been behind St. Louis' MLS bid, and his other investors for AC St. Louis and St. Louis Athletica are struggling with money issues and both teams may not be able to make it through the season. It would be a sad ending for St. Louis fans and the potential rivalry. In a way it does vindicate Don Garber and his decision not to award Cooper a franchise, if he's struggling to make it through 1 season having both a division 2 men's team and a women's team, he likely didn't have the capital to survive in MLS.

Former Wizards Updates (UPDATED)

Foreign leagues are winding down for the summer, while the PDL is bringing in a few other former Wizards players. Also included now are some reports on former Wizards trying to qualify for the US Open Cup. Edson Elcock was named the USL-2 player of the week this past week and Lance Watson scored his first professional goal. Overall it wasn't a bad week for former Wizards, with 5 goals, 6 assists and 2 shutouts from Wizards still playing the beautiful game. Here's the rest of your former Wizards update. There will be an update to this report as there is a Canadian Championship game, USSF Division 2 games, PDL games, and a a foreign game or two as well.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in New England's 0-0 draw with San Jose.
Adam Cristman - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 1-0 loss to Colorado.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 0-0 draw with LA. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Toronto's 0-0 draw with Vancouver in the Canadian Championship.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in Salt Lake's 3-1 win over Houston.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-0 win over New York.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 1-1 draw with Philadelphia.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Columbus' 1-0 win over Chivas.
Chris Klein - LA - Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in LA's 0-0 draw with Toronto.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Dressed but did not play in Colorado's 1-0 win over DC.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in Salt Lake's 3-1 win over Houston.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Started and played 80 minutes in DC's 1-0 loss to Colorado.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Dressed but did not play in San Jose's 0-0 draw with New England.
Carey Talley - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 1-0 loss to Colorado.
Shavar Thomas - Philadelphia - Dressed but did not play in Philadelphia's 1-1 draw with Dallas.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 1-0 win over New York.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Baltimore. Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Portland's 1-1 draw with St. Louis. Did not play in Portland's 1-0 loss to Montreal.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not play due to suspension in Minnesota's 1-1 draw with Miami.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Started and played 90 minutes, getting an assist in Baltimore's 1-0 win over Portland. Started and played 39 minutes in Baltimore's 2-1 loss to Austin. Came off the bench and played 11 minutes in Baltimore's 1-0 win over Rochester.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 1-0 loss to Baltimore Wednesday.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Baltimore. Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Portland's 1-1 draw with St. Louis. Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Montreal.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 90 minutes in Miami's 1-1 draw with Minnesota.
Lance Watson - Austin - Started and played 83 minutes, scoring a goal in Austin's 2-1 win over Baltimore. Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 3-3 draw with Tampa Bay.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Did not play in Charleston's 2-1 win over Pittsburgh.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes getting a goal and an assist in Richmond's 2-0 win over Real Maryland.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 2-1 loss to Charlotte. Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Pittsburgh's 2-1 loss th Charleston.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 win over Real Maryland.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 2-1 winn over Pittsburgh.

PDL
Michael Todd - Long Island - Started and played 65 minutes, getting a goal and an assist inn Long Island's 6-1 win over Vermont.
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Ocean City's 2-2 draw with Hampton Roads. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Ocean City's 3-0 loss to Ironbound Express.

USASA (Open Cup)
Ryan Barber - KC Athletics - Started and played 120 minutes, converting a PK in the shootout in KC's 3-3(5-3) PK shoot out win over AAC EAgles in a US Open Cup qualifier.
Michael Kraus - 402 Nebraska - Started and played 120 minutes, scoring a goal and converting a PK in the shootout in Nebraska's 5-5(4-2) PK shoot out loss to Detroit United in a US Open Cup qualifier.
Boris Pardo - KC Athletics - Did not play in KC's 3-3(5-3) PK shoot out win over AAC Eagles in a US Open Cup qualifier.
Brian Roberts - KC Athletics - Started and played 120 minutes in KC's 3-3(5-3) PK shootout win over AAC Eagles in a US Open Cup qualifier.


International
Vicente Arze - Club Aurora - Bolivia - Did not dress in Aurora's 2-1 win over Oriente Petrolero or their 2-2 draw with Bolivar. Lost 2-1 to The Strongest tonight.
Eloy Colombano - Ferrocarril Sud - Argentina - Ferrocarril's season is over.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Harbour View's 2-1 win over Tivoli.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Defeated Mosor 3-2.
Eddie Johnson - Aris FC - Greece - His club season is over as he's now with the US national team preparing for the World Cup.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Started and played 90 minutes in Waterford's 1-0 loss to Wexford Youths.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Started and played 76 minutes, scoring a goal in Aldosivi's 3-1 win over Boca Unidos.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 76 minutes in Randers 3-1 loss to Brøndby.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Did not play in Mughan's 2-0 loss to Olimpik.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Aalesund's 3-0 loss to Vålerenga
Matt Taylor - FSV Frankfurt - Germany - Season ended last week.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Columbia - Did not play in Quindio's 1-0 win over Deportivo Pereira.

Save of the Week

More voting for Wizards fans today. Today you can vote for Jimmy Nielsen for Save of the Week for his stop on Patrick Nyarko. It's the first save in the video below. So get out and go vote.

All Star Voting Open

Today MLS opened up voting for this year's All Star game in Houston against Manchester United. There are plenty of options for Wizards fans to choose from, and the Wizards have some deserving candidates as well. Some of the guys for the Wizards that are on my list are Roger Espinoza, Stephane Auvray, and Jimmy Nielsen. All three have played well enough to be at least considered for the all star game. Even Kei Kamara needs to get some votes as well as he's currently third in the league in scoring with 5 goals.

Speaking of Manchester United, the opponent for the All Star game, today manager Sir Alex Ferguson spoke about United's upcoming tour of the US, the growth of the game here, including playing in "Kansas". See some of the highlights below.

Kamara Up for Goal of the Week

Kei Kamara's first goal from Saturday night against the Fire is up for Goal of the Week this week. The goal has some stiff competition with goals by Fredy Montero and Danny Mwanga but get out and vote for Kamara's 4th goal of the season. Check the goal out again below.

Kostrov Waived

The Wizards are still working to sign forward Jamar Beasley to a contract, and while the deal isn't done, it's sounding likely it's only a matter of time. With Beasley's signing, that means that the Wizards will have to create a roster space. It appears that the Wizards have made that move. According to MLSsoccer.com the Wizards have waived Igor Kostrov. Kostrov had been brought in in the preseason along with countryman Alexi Casian. Kostrov had gotten himself offered a contract while Casian had not. Kostrov didn't make any appearances for the Wizards, nor did he make the bench. He appeared in a few of the Wizards scrimmages, scoring a few goals including ones against Baker and Tulsa.

Sunday After Stats

Here's this week's Sunday After Stats update, lots of stuff going on this week, and more coming in the next couple of weeks as well so keep a look out.

Kei Kamara's first goal was the 9,000th goal in all competitions in MLS history.

Kamara's second goal was his 25th in all competitions in his MLS career.

Josh Wolff made his 250th appearance in all competitions in his MLS career.

Wolff made his 147th appearance in all competitions, tying him with Diego Gutierrez for 12th place on that list.

It was also Wolff's 126th appearance in league play for KC, breaking his tie with Tony Meola for 10th place.

Wolff also made his 135th start in all competitions for KC tying him with Diego Gutierrez for 11th place on that list.

Michael Harrington made his 101st start in all competitions for KC, moving past Kevin Hartman into 19th place.

Athletics into Open Cup (UPDATED)

Last night after almost everyone went home after the Wizards and the Fire tied 2-2, another Kansas City vs Chicago game took place, as KC Athletics took on AAC Eagles out of Chicago in a "Win and You're In" US Open Cup qualifier. Unfortunately I was unable to get any sort of lineup or roster so I don't have any player names or lineups to work off of. Athletics game from a goal down twice and gave up a lead in the second half, but ended up finishing off the Eagles in penalty kicks the same way they finished off the Des Moines Menace USASA in the previous round. The Eagles grabbed an early lead in the 6th minute as the Eagles played a ball over the top that the Eagles forward brought down, took into the box and beat Athletics keeper. There were shouts for a hand ball that easily could have been called, but was not and Athletics found themselves down 1-0 very early.

KC found the equalizer in the 27th minute as they pounced on a rebound in front of goal and the teams were back level. Throughout the rest of the first half, the Eagles were the more dominating side as they controlled possession and kept the Athletics chasing the ball for much of the half. KC would occasionally break out but were unable to find net. Late in the first half the Eagles retook the lead on a shot taken from the right side of the penalty area that the Athletics keeper seemed to expect to go wide as he didn't make a move on the ball. Instead the ball rolled into the back post restoring the Eagles lead.

After the half time break, KC came out and almost immediately found the equalizer. Attacking down their left hand side the Athletics had a shot that was well saved by the Eagles goalkeeper, but the parried shot went right into the path of an Athletics attacker who scored on the half volley as the Eagles goalkeeper didn't have enough time to recover after the initial save. KC continued to push to find another goal as the second half went on, and were rewarded in the 59th minute. The Athletics 3rd goal was the best of the night by far and started on the Athletics left side with a cross. The cross went to the back post where it was then redirected back into the middle where it was meant by a diving header from around the PK spot that hit the underside of the crossbar and in. The header had enough pace on it that even though it was right above the keeper's head, he had no time to react and get his hand up to save it.

After grabbing the 3-2 lead, KC sat back a little bit more absorbing move pressure from the Eagles and trying to spring on the counter. Both sides had their chances, and with 15 minutes remaining the Eagles were the ones that found net, again on a rebounded shot that was tucked in by a back post runner. Both teams had a few chances in the final 15 minutes, but none really tested either keeper much so on to extra time it went. In extra time the Athletics had the better of the chances forcing the Eagles' goalkeeper and defenders into a few good saves, but neither side was able to find net so it went onto penalty kicks.

In penalty kicks the Athletics led off and scored, followed by the Eagles. In the second round, KC again put the ball away making it 2-1. The Eagles second attempt though was saved by the Athletics keeper giving the Athletics the advantage. The two teams traded goals for the next 2 rounds, so they headed into the fifth round with the Athletics leading 4-3. The Athletics buried their 5th and final attempt giving the Athletics the victory on penalties 3-3(5-3). The Athletics now enter the Open Cup proper in the first round which is set to take place on June 15th. Congratulations to the Athletics on the win and advancement. Good luck in the first round and hopefully the match will be in KC for fans to come out and see.

UPDATE: I got more information from the KC Athletics on who the goal scorers were for the Athletics, Kyle Perkins scored Athletics first and third goal, while Marty Johnston scored Athletics second goal. In the PK shootout, Stephen Hoffman, Josh McDaniel, Ryan Barber, Geoff Miles and Marty Johnston all scored their PKs.

I was also asked to pass along the Athletics gratitude to the Wizards organization for allowing them the chance to play at Community America Ballpark. And they also want to thank all the fans that stayed around in the rain to cheer them on, they appreciate the support.

Kamara Atones

Last night out at Community America Ballpark, the Wizards looked set to fall for the first time at home this season. Thankfully, Kei Kamara pounced on a ball rolling in front of ball, burying it in the net for his second of the game in the 89th minute to give KC a 2-2 draw with the Fire. Kamara atoned for his miss against the LA Galaxy a few weeks ago in a similar situation with that goal as the Wizards came back from 2 down to get the draw.

Things didn't start well for KC, as Chicago came out as the more pressing side and were rewarded for their pressure early on. Marco Pappa was played in behind the defense and sent a great ball into the back post where Julio Martinez had beaten Roger Espinoza to the ball and beat Jimmy Nielsen to give Chicago the early lead. The Fire continued to pressure and Nielsen was called upon to make a big save on Patrick Nyarko shortly after the goal. KC started to come into the game, and should have equalized in the 26th off a Ryan Smith corner. Andrew Dykstra dropped the ball as it went into his hands and it fell to Pablo Escobar who had his first shot saved off the line by Wilman Conde. The ball came back to Escobar who scuffed his shot into the path of Jimmy Conrad who had his shot blocked. The ball went into the path of Jack Jewsbury who had one shot blocked by a defender and a second shot saved nicely by Dykstra.

KC had thought they'd equalized in first half stoppage time, but mere moments before Davy Arnaud hit a 30 yard rocket that found net, referee Michael Kennedy blew his whistle as Conde was down in the box for Chicago and had been for a good minute. I don't have a huge problem with the play being blown dead as Kennedy likely saw the Conde injury as serious enough to stop play. My problem is how long Kennedy waited until blowing the whistle.

The second half didn't start well for the Wizards either, as they found themselves down 2-0 early in the second half as Nyarko found substitute Brian McBride in the box with a ball that was partially deflected by Escobar, McBride was completely unmarked in the middle of the box and made KC pay as he beat Nielsen to the near side doubling the lead. KC responded well though, as only two minutes later Kamara scored his first of the night getting the ball at the top of the box, turning and firing into the net past Dykstra who was frozen in the middle of the goal. The shot at first glance appears to take a bit of a deflection off of Conde and into the net.

KC continued to be the dominate team in the second half, and Ryan Smith had a couple chances to get the Wizards level, but was twice stopped by some good saves by Dykstra. It was good to see Smith playing well again, he was going at defenders in 1v1 situations, beating players on the dribble and doing a lot of what we'd seen against DC, but not as much since, hopefully he's starting to figure out what he can get away with in MLS before getting hit. He's just got to get that final touch right on his shots. KC's equalizer in the 89th will go to Kamara and there won't be an assist, but that play was made entirely by Teal Bunbury who received a throw in at the corner of the box, turned his defender, beat another with a quick burst of speed, shrugged off a challenge and fired a shot at the near post that deflected off the post and rolled in front of the goal right where Kamara had made his run, and Kamara had an easy tap in that he wasn't going to miss this time.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kei Kamara - Kamara has completely put the LA game behind him and continues to be extremely dangerous for the Wizards every single game. His first goal was extremely well taken and well set up as he turned to score that goal. His second was a pure poachers goal, being in the right place at the right now, a nice finish.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Harrington 5, Conrad 5, Escobar 3, Espinoza 4, Zusi 5, Jewsbury 5, Arnaud 6, Wolff 4, Kamara 8, Smith 6. Subs Bunbury 6.

Remember Today

Remember today is a triple header of KC vs Chicago out at Community America today. The 3 games starts with the U-16 Wizards Juniors taking on the U-16 Fire Juniors. Following that is the main event, the Wizards vs Fire game that is also going to be on FSC. Pregame starts at 7pm on FSC and they want fans to be behind the FSC stand that will be on the party deck in right field. The night finishes with the "Win and You're In" US Open Cup Qualifier between KC Athletics and AAC Eagles. The Athletics team, as pointed out in the article, has a few players whose names should be familiar to Wizards fans. Included on the roster are former Wizards Boris Pardo and Brian Roberts. Also on the roster is Geoff Miles who trialed with the Wizards. The team is also made up of a lot of former KC Legends players.

Wizards Back in Action Against the Fire

After having last weekend off, the Wizards are back at CAB hoping to break their 2 game losing streak and 4 game winless streak. In that stretch, the Wizards have only scored 1 goal and that was in second half stoppage time in their last game. Tomorrow the Wizards take on the Chicago Fire. The Fire have 1 more point than the Wizards with one more game played. In their last game over the weekend, the Fire lost 4-1 on a very windy day up in Toronto. Chicago will be still be without John Thorrington due to injury and appear likely to be missing Tim Ward and Baggio Husidic, who have both been getting plenty of minutes for the Fire. Their forwards Brian McBride and Collins John have struggled a bit early this season, while Patrick Nyarko has been a good offensive weapon for them. Even with their struggles, the Fire is always a difficult team for the Wizards to face.

The Wizards are also suffering from some injuries and it would appear that they could be without two starters. Both Davy Arnaud and Stephane Auvray are listed as questionable for the Wizards and could leave big holes in the Wizards midfield on Saturday. Replacements for Arnaud and Auvray could be Santiago Hirsig, Craig Rocastle, Birahim Diop, or Graham Zusi. Two of those guys appear set to make the start on Saturday if Arnaud and Auvray can't play. The team will miss both players in midfield. Arnaud's absence was noticed in the losses to Houston and DC. And while Auvray only missed the end DC game, his style of play and ability on the field will definitely be missed. This will also be Roger Espinoza's last game with KC before he departs for the World Cup camp with the Honduran national team. Based off of Tweets from Wednesday's scrimmage and some guesses here's my take on the starting lineup.

Nielsen
Harrington - Conrad - Besler - Espinoza
Rocastle - Zusi - Jewsbury
Wolff - Kamara - Smith

Key Match Up - Kei Kamara vs Wilman Conde - Kamara's been the Wizards leading goalscorer and probably their most consistent attacking player, his play will be a major part of the game tomorrow as he goes up against Chicago's best defender in Conde. With the inexperienced Andrew Dykstra behind him, keeping Kamara in check will be a big key.

PREDICTION - This isn't a complete must win, but if the Wizards really want to compete for a top spot in the East, they need to win their home games. Getting the full 3 points at home is a big must in regards to being a top seed, especially against other teams in the East. The Fire, like the Wizards have struggled with consistency issues. Hopefully the Wizards can break out of their scoring slump, after beating DC 4-0 on opening day, the Wizards have only scored twice.

KC - 2 (Wolff, Kamara)
Chi - 1 (McBride)

New Byline to Back Post

This week's Byline to Back Post is up for your enjoyment. Thad and I discuss the World Cup rosters for the US and other countries with MLS representatives on them. We discuss Wizards player news and finish up by talking about the games coming up this weekend against teams from Chicago that will take place out at CAB.

You can get the Podcast on iTunes or here.

Wizards Set to Sign Beasley?

We've known that former New England Revolution and Chicago Fire player, Jamar Beasley, was training with the Wizards. Today we heard some interesting news from Beasley's younger brother, DaMarcus. The younger Beasley posted on Twitter that the Wizards were set to sign his older brother tomorrow. Beasley last played in MLS with the Chicago Fire back in 2001. Since than he's played with a few lower level teams in the US, but he's mainly played indoor. His last team he played with outdoors was the Milwaukee Wave United back in 2004. Since than he's played strictly indoor, with the KC Comets, St. Louis Steamers, Detroit Ignition, and Rockford Rampage. Beasley has also played on the US Futsal team.

Should the signing be officially announced, the Wizards would have to create some roster space, either by waiving a player, or getting creative and potentially moving a player to injured reserve. We'll see what happens and if the move is officially made or not. Below are some highlights of the 2006-2007 Detroit Ignition season, Beasley's MVP season with the team.

Former Wizards Update

Another week of former Wizards updates. The biggest news of the past week is the announcement of the preliminary US roster that has two former Wizards on it, Herculez Gomez and Eddie Johnson. In other leagues around the world, Chris Konopka continues to get shutouts for Waterford in the Irish second division. Here's the rest of your former Wizards update.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 3-2 loss to Columbus. Dressed but did not play in New England's 3-0 loss to New York in a US Open Cup qualifier.
Adam Cristman - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 1-0 loss to Dallas.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Dressed but did not play in Toronto's 4-1 win over Chicago. Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 1-0 win over Montreal in the NCC Canadian Cup.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 3-0 win over Philadelphia.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 4-0 loss to LA.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Dallas' 1-0 win over DC.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 3-2 win over New England.
Chris Klein - LA - Started and played 63 minutes in LA's 4-0 win over LA.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Did not have a game this week.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in RSL's 3-0 win over Philadelphia.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 1-0 loss to Dallas.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Came off the bench and played 5 minutes in San Jose's 4-0 win over New York.
Carey Talley - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 1-0 loss to Dallas.
Shavar Thomas - Philadelphia - Dressed but did not play in Philadelphia's 3-0 loss to Salt Lake.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 4-0 loss to LA.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Did not have a game this week.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 69 minutes before being red carded in Minnesota's 2-1 loss to Montreal.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Came off the bench and played 33 minutes in Baltimore's 0-0 draw with Vancouver.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Dressed but did not play in Rochester's 2-1 win over St. Louis.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 83 minutes in Carolina's 1-1 draw with Miami.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Did not have a game this week.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 63 minutes, scoring a goal in Miami's 1-1 draw with Carolina.
Lance Watson - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 2-2 draw with Tampa Bay.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 78 minutes, recording an assist in Charleston's 3-1 win over Harrisburg.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Real Maryland.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Did not have a game this week.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Real Maryland.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes inn Charleston's 3-1 win over Harrisburg.

International
Vicente Arze - Club Aurora - Bolivia - Did not play in Aurora's 4-4 draw with San José.
Eloy Colombano - Ferrocarril Sud - Argentina - Started and played 86 minutes in Ferrocarril's 3-2 loss to Sp. Las Parejas. Started in Ferrocarril's 3-0 loss to Sp. Las Parejas.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Harbour View tied Waterhouse 0-0, but clinched the Jamaican league title.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Drew 1-1 with Lucko.
Eddie Johnson - Aris FC - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Aris' 4-2 loss to AEK. Started and played 42 minutes in Aris' 1-1 draw with AEK.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Waterford's 1-0 win over Shelbourne. Did not play in Waterford's 9-0 win over Tralee Dynamos in the EA Cup.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Did not play in Aldosivi's 1-0 loss to Belgrano.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Randers' 3-1 win over OB.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Did not play in Mughan's 3-1 win over Simurq.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Aalesund's 2-1 loss to Molde. Came off the bench andn played 64 minutes in Aalesund's 3-2 loss to Old Grenland.
Matt Taylor - FSV Frankfurt - Germany - Did not dress in Frankfurt's 1-1 draw with Koblenz.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Columbia - Did not play in Quindio's 2-0 loss to Envigado. Quindo beat Juventud in the Copa Colombia 3-0.

Wizards Defeat Brass

Out at Swope Park today, the Wizards defeated the KC Brass 4-0. In the first half, it appeared that the Wizards played more of a first team lineup again as Kei Kamara and Josh Wolff got the goals in the first half. The Wizards apparently were the more aggressive side throughout the entire half. Wolff went close a couple times, as did Kamara and Graham Zusi. Kamara scored the first goal off of an assist from Wolff. Wolff doubled the lead later in the first half off an assist from Ryan Smith. In the second half it looks like the Rangers took the field, and it became the Sunil Chhetri show. Chhetri scored both the Wizards goals in the second half, giving the Wizards the 4-0 win over the local PDL side. He even did enough to impress James over at KCW Fans, who is finally starting to come around to the Indian.

Wizards at the World Cup

Wizards defender Roger Espinoza, became the 6th Wizards player to be named to a World Cup roster while playing for the Wizards. He becomes only the second Wizard to play for a foreign national team, following in the steps of Uche Okafor, who played for Nigeria in the 1998 World Cup in France. In the 4 World Cups that have taken place since the birth of the league in 1996, the Wizards have been represented at every one of them. In 1998 it was Okafor and Preki. In 2002, it was goalkeeper Tony Meola. For the 2006 World Cup Jimmy Conrad, Eddie Johnson, and Josh Wolff all went to Germany. Of those 5, only Meola did not make an appearance at the World Cup, as he was the US team's third keeper.

Fourteen other former Wizards players have made their country's World Cup roster before they came to play with the Wizards. The US is again the most well represented obviously, with Brian Bliss (90), Mike Burns (94, 98), Bob Gansler (as coach, 90), Chris Henderson (90), Frank Klopas (94), Alexi Lalas (94, 98), Mike Sorber (94), and Peter Vermes (90). Meola (90, 94) and Wolff (02) also played at World Cup's before coming to KC as well. Of the foreign national team players, Samuel Ekeme played for Cameroon in 94, Richard Gough (86, 90) and Mo Johnston (90) both appeared for Scotland in the World Cup. Claudio Lopez appeared for Argentina in 98 and 02. Molnar appeared in 98 for Denmark and Refik Sabanadzovic played for Yugoslavia in 90. Okafor also appeared for Nigeria in the 94 World Cup as well before joining KC.

Espinoza Named to Honduran World Cup Team

It looks like the Wizards will have to deal without Roger Espinoza for a little while at least. According to Diez, Roger Espinoza has been named to the Honduran 23 man roster for the World Cup in South Africa. Espinoza has started the first 6 games of the season for the Wizards in the left back position for the Wizards and will look to continue the good form that he's started the season with as he goes to the World Cup. The Honduran team will train in Germany in late May before heading down to South Africa. Congratulations to Roger on a call up, a just reward for the form that he's been in to start the season.

KC will have a gap to fill at left back with Espinoza leaving for the cup. What happens with the Wizards back line? There are a few options. Michael Harrington could slide back to the left and Chance Myers or Jonathan Leathers can slot in on the right. Or Matt Besler can slide left and Pablo Escobar can partner Jimmy Conrad in the center of defense.

Saturday is Now a Triple Header

Over the weekend, we found out that the Wizards-Fire game this weekend would be a double header. Today we find out that it's in fact a triple header. Along with the 7:30 start time for the Wizards-Fire game, and the 9:45 start time for KC Athletics vs AAC Eagles the Wizards U-16 Juniors team will take on the Chicago Fire Juniors U-16 team in a US Soccer Developmental Academy league game. Fans can go to all 3 games with a ticket to the Wizards-Fire game and will be able to go in and back out after the Juniors game. It's a chance for Wizards fans to see US U-18 roster player, Jon Kempin in goal for the U-16 Juniors team.

Byline to Back Post

This weekend for the podcast, with the Wizards not having another game this weekend, Thad and I invited James Starritt from KCWFans.com and Charles Gooch from the KC Star and The Full 90 blog to join us to discuss the Wizards season so far. We also got to talk about the official announcement of the Wizards vs Manchester United game coming to Kansas City this summer. Part one of the podcast is the discussion of the Manchester United game, along with other league news. Part two we discuss the DC United game and the Wizards season so far.

Quick Wizards News

Some quick house cleaning news here late on your Saturday night. First, I have had confirmed the news I posted earlier tonight about the Wizards-Fire game being a double header with the KC Athletics-AAC Eagles US Open Cup qualifier game. So all of you planning on coming to the game next Saturday night, please plan on staying at least for a portion of the second game that will feature the Athletics go for qualification into the US Open Cup. It should be a good time and worth the extra time.

In more news related to the Wizards, for those that missed it tonight, FSC talked about the upcoming tour by Manchester United in the United States. During the broadcast tonight, they announced that the Wizards vs Manchester United game would be shown on Fox Soccer Channel, so the Wizards will get at least one more nationally televised game this year after next Saturday's game against Chicago. So for those interested, they will actually be able to watch the game later and see how the Wizards did against United.

Double Header Next Weekend?

It looks like there may be a double header out at Community America Ballpark next Saturday. According to the website of AAC Eagles, out of Chicago, they will be playing their US Open Cup qualifier against KC Athletics out at Community America Ballpark after the Wizards take on the Fire that same night. This would be a nice idea for both the Wizards and Athletics, as it allows the Wizards to develop a stronger relationship with the local soccer community by helping host this game for a team trying to qualify for the Open Cup. It's a good idea for the Athletics because it gives them the opportunity to play in front of a larger crowd, and even though there will be a nice group of Chicago fans at the game, should provide the Athletics with a bit of a home field advantage. I'm trying to get official confirmation of this, but I like this idea.

Chicago Game Moved for United

We knew this was coming, but the Chicago Fire have confirmed that the Wizards vs Fire game schedule for the day before the Manchester United friendly has been moved. The game against the Fire, which was originally scheduled for July 24th at Toyota Park, has now been moved to Tuesday October 12th at 7:30pm. As the Star says, this makes for a busy schedule for the Wizards as they'll play Seattle at home on the 9th before traveling to Chicago, then head on to New England to take on the Revolution on the 16th, making for a busy end to the season with games in New York and at home against San Jose sandwiching those games in.

Former Wizards Update

A day late today with the former Wizards update due to the Wizards game last night, but here's this week's former Wizards update. Ryan Pore continues to be the early season MVP of the USSF Division 2 as he was named the player of the month for April as he got 2 more goals against Vancouver this past week. While Yura Movsisyan has scored again for Randers as they continue to try to push themselves away from relegation. Here's the rest of this week's update.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 1-1 draw with Dallas. Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 4-0 loss to Chivas.
Adam Cristman - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to New York. Started and played 71 minutes recording an assist in DC's 2-1 win over KC.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Did not dress in Toronto's 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in RSL's 2-1 win over Toronto.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-1 draw with Columbus.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Dressed but did not play in Dallas' 1-1 draw with New England. Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Dallas' 1-0 win over Houston.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 1-1 draw with Seattle.
Chris Klein - LA - Dressed but did not play in LA's 3-1 win over Philadelphia. Dressed but did not play in LA's 1-0 win over Colorado.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Colorado's 1-0 loss to San Jose. Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Colorado's 1-0 loss to LA.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 2-1 win over Toronto.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to New York. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over KC.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Dressed but did not play in San Jose's 1-0 win over Colorado.
Carey Talley - DC United - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 loss to New York. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over KC.
Shavar Thomas - Philadelphia - Did not dress in Philadelphia's 3-1 loss to LA.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 1-1 draw with Columbus.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Portland's 2-1 win over Vancouver.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 85 minutes in Minnesota's 2-1 loss to Austin.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Dressed but did not play in Baltimore's 1-0 loss to St. Louis.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Dressed but did not play in Rochester's 1-1 draw with Carolina.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Came off the bench and played 12 minutes in Carolina's 1-1 draw with Rochester.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Portland's 2-1 win over Vancouver.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 90 minutes in Miami's 1-1 draw with Tampa Bay.
Lance Watson - Austin - Started and played 89 minutes in Austin's 2-1 win over Minnesota.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 63 minutes scoring a goal and getting an assist in Charleston's 2-1 win over Charlotte.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 45 minutes in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Pittsburgh.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 1-1 draw with Richmond.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Pittsburgh.
John Wilson - Charleston - Did not dress in Charleston's 2-1 win over Charlotte.

International
Vicente Arze - Club Aurora - Bolivia - Started and played 90 minutes in Aurora's 2-1 win over San Jose.
Eloy Colombano - Ferrocarril Sud - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferrocarril's 1-1. (4-2) penalty kick win over Def. Belgrano
Herculez Gomez - Puebla FC - Mexico - Puebla's season is over.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Harbour View defeated Boys Town 2-1 last night.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Vinogradar defeated Junak 2-0.
Eddie Johnson - Aris FC - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes in Aris' 2-0 loss to PAOK.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Started and played 90 minutes in Waterford's 2-1 loss to Longford Town. Started and played 90 minutes in Waterford's 0-0 draw with Athlone Town.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Did not dress in Aldosivi's 2-1 loss to Ferrocarril Oeste. Did not dress in Aldosivi's 2-1 loss to Platense.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 90 minutes in Randers' 1-1 draw with Nordsjælland. Started and played 87 minutes, scoring a goal in Randers' 3-1 win over AAB.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Did not play in Mughan'ns 2-0 win over Standard.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Aalesund's 2-0 win over IK Start.
Matt Taylor - FSV Frankfurt - Germany - Did not dress in Frankfurt's 0-0 draw with Rot Weiss Ahlen.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Columbia - Did not play in Quindío's 0-0 draw with Real Cartagena. Loss to Deportes Tolima 3-1 in the Copa Colombia.

Athletics One Win From Open Cup Berth

The KC Athletics moved within one win of qualifying for the US Open Cup over the weekend. Saturday up in Des Moines, it took penalty kicks, but the Athletics defeated the Des Moines Menace USASA team 4-4 (6-5) at Cownie Soccer Park. All the Athletics have to do to qualify for the Open Cup now is defeat AAC Eagles out of Illinois in a game tentatively scheduled for May 15th in KC. The Eagles defeated Fire SC out of Minnesota 8-3 in the previous round. Doing a quick Google search of some of the players listed in the lineup for their game against Des Moines, there look to be quite a few players (nine) that have played with the Legends in Kansas City during their club career. Good luck to Athletics in against the Eagles, I'll post again once the game time's been announced. Hopefully they can get a nice crowd out to cheer a KC based team into the Open Cup

United Game Official

The news today wasn't that surprising to followers of this blog, but today MLS and the Wizards confirmed that the Wizards would be playing Manchester United at Arrowhead Stadium on July 25th. Along with playing the Wizards, United will play Celtic in Toronto at the Rogers Center, the Union Lincoln Financial Field, and the MLS All Stars at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Wizards season ticket holders get first stab at getting their tickets for the game and will be able to use special game tickets for the game. The rest of the tickets range in price from $30 to $200 on May 15th.

As I've said previously, I love the fact that the Wizards got this game. It's been tough for the Wizards to get games like this to come to KC. I mean KC has only have a few friendlies against teams from outside the US in KC, and none of them were from England or even Europe (the two friendlies were against Mexican clubs). It's going to be a great time.

Check out Wizards President Robb Heineman, who broke the news over the weekend, speak about the game.

Wednesday of Stats

Not a whole lot from today's game against DC, but here are a few stats for you from the game.

Josh Wolff made his 125th league appearance for KC, tying Tony Meola for 10th place on that list.

Michael Harrington made his 100th start in all competitions for KC. This ties him with Kevin Hartman for 19th place on that list.

Possession, Shots, and Corner Kicks

Winning all those means absolutely nothing if you can't put the ball in the net, and that's what once again was KC's probably against DC tonight as they handed United their first win of the season thanks to a couple very poor plays in the defensive third. You read that right, DC, the team KC beat 4-0 on opening day lost to DC 2-1. Even though KC held more possession, had more shots and had 10 more corners than DC, the Wizards once again made a rookie goalkeeper look all league in him MLS debut.

KC made 3 changes to the team that started against Houston as Chance Myers and Jimmy Conrad came on for Kei Kamara and Matt Besler and Santiago Hirsig came on for the suspended Davy Arnaud. While KC held possession early, it was Danny Allsopp who grabbed the early lead as he pushed Pablo Escobar aside and as Conrad backed off, Allsopp took the space into the box, made a move around Conrad and has Conrad slid to recover, Allsopp shot. The shot deflected off Conrad and past Jimmy Nielsen into the net to give DC their first home goal and their first lead of the season. Myers has the Wizards best early chance after being played in by Ryan Smith, but Bill Hamid made himself big in goal. Myers overall struggled with poor touches and passes in the first half, not really showing much into why he should have been starting. Roger Espinoza seemed to get forward more than he has in previous games and really tested Hamid with a long shot that was well saved. Shortly after that shot though, KC found themselves down 2-0. Escobar played a poor hospital ball to Stephane Auvray that Adam Cristman stepped in and stole. Cristman played in Allsopp who beat Nielsen and made it 2-0. Allsopp could have had a hattrick in the 40th, but Nielsen made a nice save to deny the Australian. KC had one more good chance in first half stoppage time as Jack Jewsbury had a shot well saved by Hamid after a long ball by Jimmy Conrad was headed on by Hirsig.

KC made one change at half time, pulling Hirsig and bringing on Kamara. Only 5 minutes into the second half, KC made another sub, pulling off the ineffective Myers for Teal Bunbury. Kamara once on made an immediate impact, forcing a quick save by Hamid and hitting side netting all in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Kamara also should have been the one responsible for putting the Wizards up a man in the 58th, but Christian Castillo only saw yellow for a poor tackle on the Sierra Leone forward after he worked a give and go with Bunbury. The Wizards continued to control possession as DC sat back a bit to defend their league. Still a free kick by Castillo ended up hitting the post, almost putting DC up a third goal. KC finally broke through in second half stoppage time when Wolff found Kamara with a ball from the left that Kamara got a leg to to break up the shutout late on. But it wasn't enough and KC goes their 4 straight game without a win after starting 2-0.

Wizards Man of the Match - Roger Espinoza - Espinoza was extremely solid tonight, he's taken very well to the left back position. Tonight he got forward very well, much more so than he has in the past few games and he looked good doing it. He also did well with his defensive responsibilities tonight, even though others did not.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 5, Espinoza 6, Escobar 3, Conrad 4, Harrington 5, Hirsig 5, Auvray 4, Jewsbury 5, Myers 2, Wolff 3, Smith 3. Subs Kamara 5, Bunbury 4, Rocastle 4.

Nielsen Again Up for Save of the Week

Once again, Wizards goalkeeper is up for Save of the Week, this time for his save on Luis Angel Landin last Saturday in Houston. Watching the video, (and I know I'm bias) but Nielsen's save is easily the best of the week, getting back up off the ground and knocking that ball away, well done by the Dane.

New Byline to Back Post

With the game tonight, Thad and I got together to record another podcast. In it we discuss the announcement of the Manchester United game, the Houston game, and the DC game. Enjoy.