Today, US Soccer came out with their list of candidates available for selection to the US Soccer Hall of Fame. On that list are two current coaches of Sporting KC. Head coach and technical director, Peter Vermes is on the list again, as is assistant coach, Kerry Zavagnin, in his first year of eligibility. Vermes is in the final year on the "player ballot", should he not be elected to the Hall of Fame this year, he will move to the veteran ballot next year.
Vermes and Zavagnin are joined by five other former Wizards players on the players ballot, and one other is available on the veterans ballot. Two other former Wizards are like Zavagnin and in their first year of eligibility. Joining Zavagnin is Jose Burciaga Jr. and Tony Meola in their first year of eligibility. The other 3 former Wizards players available are Mike Burns, Chris Henderson, and Roy Lassiter. Burns, like Vermes is in his final year of being eligible for election on the player's ballot. Should he not be elected, he'll join Vermes and Mike Sorber on the veterans ballot. Sorber joined the veterans ballot a few years ago.
Of the former Wizards players up for election, I think Meola is probably the leading candidate to get elected on this ballot. Meola was the starter for the US in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups and has 100 caps for the US national team.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sassano Re-Signed
It's been rumored and speculated on since he pulled out of the re-entry draft, but today, Sporting KC finally made it official. Luke Sassano has signed a new contract with Sporting KC. Sassano had played in 9 league games last year in a season that was cut short by some injuries. Sassano had not had his contract picked up and had gone into the re-entry draft. But before the first stage of the re-entry draft took place, Sassano disappeared from the list, prompting the re-signing speculation. Finally it was made official today, so Sassano will return for his second season in Kansas City.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Three Trialists Heading to Arizona
Three of Sporting KC's trialists are heading to Arizona with the Sporting KC team. Goalkeepers Steve Spangler and Scott Angevine will be joined by former Michigan State midfielder, Cyrus Saydee in Arizona. The team departs tomorrow.
Sadly for Irving Garcia, Matt Kuhn, Myron Samuel, and Kevin Struck the attempts to make the Sporting KC roster end after a few days.
It's interesting that KC is taking two goalkeepers with them to Arizona as trialists. With Jimmy Nielsen signing a new contract in the offseason, and Jon Kempin being an off-budget home-grown player, Spangler and Angevine are battling for a roster spot against Eric Kronberg. In reality I see that as an extremely difficult uphill battle for both of them to make this roster.
Saydee is the third trialist making the trip, he's still fairly young, but like Spangler and Angevine, he still has a big uphill challenge to make the roster.
No mention has been made of the teams draft picks yet, so one would assume that they are all headed down to Arizona. No mention was made of Shawn Singh or Pablo Punyed who were both not at training today. So we'll see what's going on soon enough.
Sadly for Irving Garcia, Matt Kuhn, Myron Samuel, and Kevin Struck the attempts to make the Sporting KC roster end after a few days.
It's interesting that KC is taking two goalkeepers with them to Arizona as trialists. With Jimmy Nielsen signing a new contract in the offseason, and Jon Kempin being an off-budget home-grown player, Spangler and Angevine are battling for a roster spot against Eric Kronberg. In reality I see that as an extremely difficult uphill battle for both of them to make this roster.
Saydee is the third trialist making the trip, he's still fairly young, but like Spangler and Angevine, he still has a big uphill challenge to make the roster.
No mention has been made of the teams draft picks yet, so one would assume that they are all headed down to Arizona. No mention was made of Shawn Singh or Pablo Punyed who were both not at training today. So we'll see what's going on soon enough.
Training Thoughts
Today was Sporting KC's last training session in Kansas City before heading off to Arizona for a few weeks. A fairly light session for the most part, that involved two teams scrimmaging, and a third team working off to the side.
First game:
Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara
Blue team - Kronberg, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Joseph, Convey, Saad
Neutral - Zavagnin
Only one goal in this one, a Joseph Peterson and Luke Sassano worked a very nice 1-2 together finishing with Joseph flicking the ball past Nielsen and into the net. Shortly after that though, Joseph went off with an injury that he was icing later.
Second Game
Blue team - Kempin, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Convey, Saad
Green team - Sangler, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Ellis
Neutral - Warzycha
This game ended 1-1. The green team, full of trialists certainly came out the hungrier of the two teams to start, really pushing the blue team. The green team got rewarded with a goal as Konrad Warzycha played a 1-2 with Matt Kuhn and Warzycha buried his shot past Kempin. The goal seemed to wake the blue team up as much of the rest of the game was controlled by them. Warzycha got their goal as well finishing off a cross from Soony Saad. Later on, Kevin Ellis suffered what appeared to be a sprained ankle as he went for a long cross. Ellis went down and seemed to be in a lot of pain, but was helped off and left with ice on his ankle.
Third game
Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara
Green team - Angevine, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Saad
Neutral - Zavagnin
This game ended 0-0 with Saad forcing a good save out of Jimmy Nielsen at the end of the game to keep it scoreless. The orange team though was the better of play throughout this one. Saydee had to clear one chance off the line for the green team, but other than that both teams struggled to create real opportunities during this game.
Jacob Peterson, Roger Espinoza, and Paulo Nagamura were all running on the side of the field. Birahim Diop and Daneil Cyrus are both taking care of family issues (although rumors abound that Diop is going to go to Colombia to join Octavio Zambrano).
So who was impressive during the short scrimmages this morning?
The player that impressed me the most today was Konrad Warzycha. He looked incredibly comfortable on the ball. In the second game where he was on offense only he showed a good ability at being able to settle the game and pick out players on his team. Both of his finishes were well taken as well.
Matt Besler continues to step his game up. I thought he was at a different level last year, but just in the training today it seems like he's taken it to another level. Yes it was only a practice, but Besler looked intense out on the field. He also did a very good job of getting forward (although I doubt he'll be doing a ton of that in real games).
Really other than that it was hard to pick out guys who really stood out. The games were short field (they played between the 15's on the Chiefs practice field). But overall compared to last year when I attended the same practice, the level of the practice was a totally different level than it was last year. There seems to be a different level of intensity going on this year. More focus and more centered on certain things. That could come from the fact that Peter Vermes and players have driven home this week, that they've all come in, in better shape and better prepared. That means that Vermes doesn't have to spend as much time on certain things and instead can build quicker.
Finally some quick thoughts on the trialists and draft picks. Remember that these are based on just my one training session of viewing.
Scott Angevine - Goalkeeper that is trialing with the team. He's going to have trouble making the team I think though, but based off his tweets is heading to Arizona with the team.
Stefan Antonijevic - The kid is definitely big. He plays simple which is good for a defender, but the biggest thing that stood out to me was when he got shouldered off the ball by Soony Saad.
Dom Dwyer - Lots of movement teamed with Kei Kamara on his team, didn't get a ton of touches in either game though.
Cyrpian Hedrick - Hedrick did a decent job for the green team in the center of defense, did well with his distribution.
Irving Garcia - The guy was active on the field with a lot of movement off the ball, but really didn't do a whole lot when he did get the ball.
Matt Kuhn - Not going to say a lot here to avoid bias claims, (although I may be more harsh on him since I've seen him play a lot more). Kuhn had some decent play, did a good job of on Warzycha's goal for the green team. Did well getting his head up and with his passing, but could be a step quicker with decision making.
Kyle Miller - Partnered well with Kuhn in the midfield for the green team, did well getting forward and hanging back when needing to.
Pablo Punyed - Wasn't there, hasn't been there all week apparently. Looking at options overseas it appears.
Myron Samuel - Was not out there today. Didn't get any confirmation, but it seems he may already be gone.
Cyrus Saydee - The guy is small like his bio shows, Aiyegbusi size. He did a decent job down the wing, but his size is going to work against him.
Shawn Singh - Didn't realize until I was typing this up, but I didn't see KC's first round supplemental draft pick today.
Steve Spangler - Didn't make any mistakes in goal, nothing he really could have done on the goal he allowed, but he has his work cut out for him trying to make this team with KC already having 3 goalkeepers on the roster. The team isn't going to get rid of Jimmy Nielsen or Jon Kempin, so Spangler is going to have to beat out Kronberg to make this team, and I don't see it.
Kevin Struck - In these short games it's easier for the backs to get forward, and Struck did a good job of getting forward when he could.
First game:
Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara
Blue team - Kronberg, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Joseph, Convey, Saad
Neutral - Zavagnin
Only one goal in this one, a Joseph Peterson and Luke Sassano worked a very nice 1-2 together finishing with Joseph flicking the ball past Nielsen and into the net. Shortly after that though, Joseph went off with an injury that he was icing later.
Second Game
Blue team - Kempin, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Convey, Saad
Green team - Sangler, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Ellis
Neutral - Warzycha
This game ended 1-1. The green team, full of trialists certainly came out the hungrier of the two teams to start, really pushing the blue team. The green team got rewarded with a goal as Konrad Warzycha played a 1-2 with Matt Kuhn and Warzycha buried his shot past Kempin. The goal seemed to wake the blue team up as much of the rest of the game was controlled by them. Warzycha got their goal as well finishing off a cross from Soony Saad. Later on, Kevin Ellis suffered what appeared to be a sprained ankle as he went for a long cross. Ellis went down and seemed to be in a lot of pain, but was helped off and left with ice on his ankle.
Third game
Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara
Green team - Angevine, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Saad
Neutral - Zavagnin
This game ended 0-0 with Saad forcing a good save out of Jimmy Nielsen at the end of the game to keep it scoreless. The orange team though was the better of play throughout this one. Saydee had to clear one chance off the line for the green team, but other than that both teams struggled to create real opportunities during this game.
Jacob Peterson, Roger Espinoza, and Paulo Nagamura were all running on the side of the field. Birahim Diop and Daneil Cyrus are both taking care of family issues (although rumors abound that Diop is going to go to Colombia to join Octavio Zambrano).
So who was impressive during the short scrimmages this morning?
The player that impressed me the most today was Konrad Warzycha. He looked incredibly comfortable on the ball. In the second game where he was on offense only he showed a good ability at being able to settle the game and pick out players on his team. Both of his finishes were well taken as well.
Matt Besler continues to step his game up. I thought he was at a different level last year, but just in the training today it seems like he's taken it to another level. Yes it was only a practice, but Besler looked intense out on the field. He also did a very good job of getting forward (although I doubt he'll be doing a ton of that in real games).
Really other than that it was hard to pick out guys who really stood out. The games were short field (they played between the 15's on the Chiefs practice field). But overall compared to last year when I attended the same practice, the level of the practice was a totally different level than it was last year. There seems to be a different level of intensity going on this year. More focus and more centered on certain things. That could come from the fact that Peter Vermes and players have driven home this week, that they've all come in, in better shape and better prepared. That means that Vermes doesn't have to spend as much time on certain things and instead can build quicker.
Finally some quick thoughts on the trialists and draft picks. Remember that these are based on just my one training session of viewing.
Scott Angevine - Goalkeeper that is trialing with the team. He's going to have trouble making the team I think though, but based off his tweets is heading to Arizona with the team.
Stefan Antonijevic - The kid is definitely big. He plays simple which is good for a defender, but the biggest thing that stood out to me was when he got shouldered off the ball by Soony Saad.
Dom Dwyer - Lots of movement teamed with Kei Kamara on his team, didn't get a ton of touches in either game though.
Cyrpian Hedrick - Hedrick did a decent job for the green team in the center of defense, did well with his distribution.
Irving Garcia - The guy was active on the field with a lot of movement off the ball, but really didn't do a whole lot when he did get the ball.
Matt Kuhn - Not going to say a lot here to avoid bias claims, (although I may be more harsh on him since I've seen him play a lot more). Kuhn had some decent play, did a good job of on Warzycha's goal for the green team. Did well getting his head up and with his passing, but could be a step quicker with decision making.
Kyle Miller - Partnered well with Kuhn in the midfield for the green team, did well getting forward and hanging back when needing to.
Pablo Punyed - Wasn't there, hasn't been there all week apparently. Looking at options overseas it appears.
Myron Samuel - Was not out there today. Didn't get any confirmation, but it seems he may already be gone.
Cyrus Saydee - The guy is small like his bio shows, Aiyegbusi size. He did a decent job down the wing, but his size is going to work against him.
Shawn Singh - Didn't realize until I was typing this up, but I didn't see KC's first round supplemental draft pick today.
Steve Spangler - Didn't make any mistakes in goal, nothing he really could have done on the goal he allowed, but he has his work cut out for him trying to make this team with KC already having 3 goalkeepers on the roster. The team isn't going to get rid of Jimmy Nielsen or Jon Kempin, so Spangler is going to have to beat out Kronberg to make this team, and I don't see it.
Kevin Struck - In these short games it's easier for the backs to get forward, and Struck did a good job of getting forward when he could.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Sporting KC News to End Your Week
No major news out today, but here are some quick hits news wise for you on your Friday.
Sporting KC vs LA game time changed
Sporting KC's match up with LA on April 7th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park has changed times and stations. Yesterday the team announced that the game would now kick off 1 hour earlier at 3pm Central time. The move in start time is to facilitate a station move for the game, as instead of being on ESPN2, the game will be on the mothership, ESPN. It's been a long time since KC has had a game, let alone hosted one. I honestly can't quite remember when there last was one.
Collin closing in on green card
Good news for KC on the front of potentially signing more internationals. Aurelien Collin posted today on Twitter after practice that he was headed to meet with his lawyer to discuss his green card. While the part about becoming an American citizen is a ways away, the good news in Sporting KC terms is that KC will free up at least one international spot. With the spots currently full Collin getting his green card would be a boost. With Jimmy Nielsen and possibly Korede Aiyegbusi also working on their cards' KC could have plenty of international space available.
Sporting KC International News
The next few bits of news are related to Sporting KC players and their potential national team aspirations. The first has to do with Roger Espinoza, while the last two, courtesy of The Daily Wiz have to do with Lawrence Olum, and supplemental draft pick, Pablo Punyed.
Not surprisingly, Espinoza left off Honduras camp roster
With Sporting KC currently in preseason camp, this news isn't surprising, but Roger Espinoza was left off the camp roster ahead of Honduras' February friendlies. Honduras' coach named a roster today for the camp that includes the man who put the dagger in KC's 2011 season Carlo Costly. Espinoza will obviously stay with KC as they continue preseason.
Olum heading to Kenya in February?
Alex over at The Daily Wiz today posted a comment and a video link about KC's Lawrence Olum heading to Kenya in February. The timing of the trip to Kenya would seem odd considering the fact that KC will be right in the middle of preseason, but Olum has wanted to represent his country for a while at this point and this may be the best chance for Olum to appear for the Kenyan national team. Kenya is scheduled to have two matches on the 23rd and the 29th against Egypt and Togo, and one would assume that Olum would hope to make his international debut and become the 32nd player to appear for their full national team while a member of Sporting KC. Still the timing of the trip is just a bit odd being in the middle of preseason.
Punyed to Represent El Salvador U23 team?
There are some rumors out of El Salvador, that supplemental draft pick, Pablo Punyed could be looking to potentially join Teal Bunbury and Daneil Cyrus in Olympic qualifying. Rumor out of El Salvador is that the St. John's product participated in some tryouts down there for the national team in preparation for Olympic qualifying. El Salvador has been grouped with the US, Canada, and Cuba in a group that will play in Nashville.
Sporting KC vs LA game time changed
Sporting KC's match up with LA on April 7th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park has changed times and stations. Yesterday the team announced that the game would now kick off 1 hour earlier at 3pm Central time. The move in start time is to facilitate a station move for the game, as instead of being on ESPN2, the game will be on the mothership, ESPN. It's been a long time since KC has had a game, let alone hosted one. I honestly can't quite remember when there last was one.
Collin closing in on green card
Good news for KC on the front of potentially signing more internationals. Aurelien Collin posted today on Twitter after practice that he was headed to meet with his lawyer to discuss his green card. While the part about becoming an American citizen is a ways away, the good news in Sporting KC terms is that KC will free up at least one international spot. With the spots currently full Collin getting his green card would be a boost. With Jimmy Nielsen and possibly Korede Aiyegbusi also working on their cards' KC could have plenty of international space available.
Sporting KC International News
The next few bits of news are related to Sporting KC players and their potential national team aspirations. The first has to do with Roger Espinoza, while the last two, courtesy of The Daily Wiz have to do with Lawrence Olum, and supplemental draft pick, Pablo Punyed.
Not surprisingly, Espinoza left off Honduras camp roster
With Sporting KC currently in preseason camp, this news isn't surprising, but Roger Espinoza was left off the camp roster ahead of Honduras' February friendlies. Honduras' coach named a roster today for the camp that includes the man who put the dagger in KC's 2011 season Carlo Costly. Espinoza will obviously stay with KC as they continue preseason.
Olum heading to Kenya in February?
Alex over at The Daily Wiz today posted a comment and a video link about KC's Lawrence Olum heading to Kenya in February. The timing of the trip to Kenya would seem odd considering the fact that KC will be right in the middle of preseason, but Olum has wanted to represent his country for a while at this point and this may be the best chance for Olum to appear for the Kenyan national team. Kenya is scheduled to have two matches on the 23rd and the 29th against Egypt and Togo, and one would assume that Olum would hope to make his international debut and become the 32nd player to appear for their full national team while a member of Sporting KC. Still the timing of the trip is just a bit odd being in the middle of preseason.
Punyed to Represent El Salvador U23 team?
There are some rumors out of El Salvador, that supplemental draft pick, Pablo Punyed could be looking to potentially join Teal Bunbury and Daneil Cyrus in Olympic qualifying. Rumor out of El Salvador is that the St. John's product participated in some tryouts down there for the national team in preparation for Olympic qualifying. El Salvador has been grouped with the US, Canada, and Cuba in a group that will play in Nashville.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Sporting KC and the PDL
Tonight I was watching Metro Sports Zone on Metro Sports, watching a feature that was being done on Kyle Miller and Matt Kuhn and their attempts to become the 5th and 6th local players on Sporting KC's current roster. It struck a thought in my head that I'd been thinking about yesterday after an announcement from the Seattle Sounders. Yesterday, the Seattle Sounders announced that they'd reached a partnership with the Tacoma Tide that sees the Tide become the Sounders FC U-23.
The Sounders become the 5th MLS team to get a team in the PDL, joining Chicago, Portland, Vancouver, and DC. Orlando City of the USL-Pro division also has a U-23 team in the PDL. The idea of a PDL team I think is a really good idea for MLS sides. Especially with the academies becoming more and more important. Players that played in the academy but aren't quite ready to make the jump up to the first team could play on the PDL team while in college to improve their play and potentially be a later academy signing similar to Kevin Ellis, who was signed after 2 years at Barton Community College. A place for those guys to play is certainly a good thing, especially if the players know there is a linked connection between the PDL team and the MLS squad.
Some people will say that the idea of having a PDL team hasn't worked out too well for the Fire though. There were 11 players from the Chicago Fire Premier that were selected in the MLS SuperDraft in Kansas City, and the Fire didn't get the rights to those players. The main reason for that was because academy signing requirements require the player to have to have been in the academy before they enter college. Most of the Fire Premier players only joined the team AFTER they entered college, hence why they couldn't be signed by the Fire. But I think we're going to see more and more players that attend college for a year or two and continue to play with their MLS academy teammates in the summer with the teams U23 teams in the PDL.
Kansas City does have a local PDL team themselves, the Kansas City Brass. The Brass have been around since 1997, one year less than Sporting KC has been. The Brass and the Wizards have a good working relationship, the team has drafted a lot of players that have spent time with the Brass while they were in college. In fact, the past two coaches for the Brass, Jefferson and Lincoln Roblee have both assisted Peter Vermes and the Sporting KC staff at times, including during the open tryouts the past few years. The two teams also play quite often during the summer as a way for some of the reserves a chance to play.
So it's not like the two teams are at odds with each other, they have a very good working relationship. But there is something to be said about making it an official relationship between the two teams, to give a good continued path from the Juniors to the first team with a stop in between for those that may not be quite ready to step from the Juniors directly to the first team. I've seen lots of local KC players go to places like Des Moines for the summer to play with the Menace instead of staying in KC. The goal should be to keep all the best KC players, especially those tied in with the Juniors academy in town where they can be watched and coached by the Sporting KC staff.
The Sounders become the 5th MLS team to get a team in the PDL, joining Chicago, Portland, Vancouver, and DC. Orlando City of the USL-Pro division also has a U-23 team in the PDL. The idea of a PDL team I think is a really good idea for MLS sides. Especially with the academies becoming more and more important. Players that played in the academy but aren't quite ready to make the jump up to the first team could play on the PDL team while in college to improve their play and potentially be a later academy signing similar to Kevin Ellis, who was signed after 2 years at Barton Community College. A place for those guys to play is certainly a good thing, especially if the players know there is a linked connection between the PDL team and the MLS squad.
Some people will say that the idea of having a PDL team hasn't worked out too well for the Fire though. There were 11 players from the Chicago Fire Premier that were selected in the MLS SuperDraft in Kansas City, and the Fire didn't get the rights to those players. The main reason for that was because academy signing requirements require the player to have to have been in the academy before they enter college. Most of the Fire Premier players only joined the team AFTER they entered college, hence why they couldn't be signed by the Fire. But I think we're going to see more and more players that attend college for a year or two and continue to play with their MLS academy teammates in the summer with the teams U23 teams in the PDL.
Kansas City does have a local PDL team themselves, the Kansas City Brass. The Brass have been around since 1997, one year less than Sporting KC has been. The Brass and the Wizards have a good working relationship, the team has drafted a lot of players that have spent time with the Brass while they were in college. In fact, the past two coaches for the Brass, Jefferson and Lincoln Roblee have both assisted Peter Vermes and the Sporting KC staff at times, including during the open tryouts the past few years. The two teams also play quite often during the summer as a way for some of the reserves a chance to play.
So it's not like the two teams are at odds with each other, they have a very good working relationship. But there is something to be said about making it an official relationship between the two teams, to give a good continued path from the Juniors to the first team with a stop in between for those that may not be quite ready to step from the Juniors directly to the first team. I've seen lots of local KC players go to places like Des Moines for the summer to play with the Menace instead of staying in KC. The goal should be to keep all the best KC players, especially those tied in with the Juniors academy in town where they can be watched and coached by the Sporting KC staff.
Former SKC Wizards Update
A day late due to the Comets game last night, but here is this week's former SKC Wizards update. In news this week, Shavar Thomas has a new team, having signed for the expansion Montreal Impact. Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Mike Jones
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Milos Stojcev
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson
MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.
NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.
PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.
NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Scored 2 goals in the Wings 18-16 win over Milwaukee. Had a goal and an assist in the Wings 9-6 loss to Milwaukee.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Did not play in the Magic's 6-5 win over Cinncinati.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Scored a goal in Baltimore's 18-2 win over Norfolk.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Did not play in Louisville's 7-4 win over Illinois. Did not play in Louisville's 9-7 win over Ohio.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Did not play in the Comets 14-6 win over Norfolk. Did not play in the Comets 33-12 win over Syracuse.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Played in Norfolk's 18-2 loss to Baltimore. Played in the Sharx 14-6 loss to the Comets.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Did not have a game this week.
International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 76 minutes in Cruz Azul's 1-1 draw wiht Pachuca.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Did not play in Bagan's 2-1 loss to Sporting Clube de Goa. Did not play in Bagan's 2-1 loss to Prayag United.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Next game 2-1.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Did not play in North East Stars 1-1 draw with Defense Force.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Santos' 1-0 win over Jaguares.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Scored a goal in Harbour View's 2-0 win over Sporting Central.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Lost 1-0 to Bahia De Feira. Defeated Juazeirense 2-0.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes in Thrasyvoulos' 1-0 win over Vyzas. Started and played 90 minutes in Thrasyvoulos 1-0 loss to Veria.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - On winter break.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Defeated Samut Songkhram 1-0.
Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Mike Jones
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Milos Stojcev
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson
MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.
NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.
PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.
NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Scored 2 goals in the Wings 18-16 win over Milwaukee. Had a goal and an assist in the Wings 9-6 loss to Milwaukee.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Did not play in the Magic's 6-5 win over Cinncinati.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Scored a goal in Baltimore's 18-2 win over Norfolk.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Did not play in Louisville's 7-4 win over Illinois. Did not play in Louisville's 9-7 win over Ohio.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Did not play in the Comets 14-6 win over Norfolk. Did not play in the Comets 33-12 win over Syracuse.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Played in Norfolk's 18-2 loss to Baltimore. Played in the Sharx 14-6 loss to the Comets.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Did not have a game this week.
International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 76 minutes in Cruz Azul's 1-1 draw wiht Pachuca.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Did not play in Bagan's 2-1 loss to Sporting Clube de Goa. Did not play in Bagan's 2-1 loss to Prayag United.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Next game 2-1.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Did not play in North East Stars 1-1 draw with Defense Force.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Santos' 1-0 win over Jaguares.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Scored a goal in Harbour View's 2-0 win over Sporting Central.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Lost 1-0 to Bahia De Feira. Defeated Juazeirense 2-0.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes in Thrasyvoulos' 1-0 win over Vyzas. Started and played 90 minutes in Thrasyvoulos 1-0 loss to Veria.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - On winter break.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Defeated Samut Songkhram 1-0.
Kris Boyd Linked with Move to KC
Silly season continues to go on around the world, and today Sporting KC was named in the silliness. Sky Sports is reporting that the "Kansas City Wizards" are interested in Scottish international striker, Kris Boyd. The 28 year old striker was most recently with Eskisehirsqor in Turkey, where he recently had his contract canceled. He's also recently played with Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest. He was a prolific goal scorer for Rangers but since leaving the Glasgow club his scoring record has gone down.
Rumors on a Boyd move to the US started a week or two ago when he was linked with a move to the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo apparently brought Boyd into town for 3 days. The two teams couldn't reach a deal though. In fact according in the news that Boyd would not being joining the Dynamo, the release said that Boyd "would not be plying his trade in MLS this season."
That comment would certainly seem to kill the Sky Sports rumor right there from the aspect that Boyd isn't going to play in MLS. To add to the quick killing of this rumor in my mind would be MLS' discovery process. Since Boyd has already been with the Dynamo, one would assume that the Dynamo have the discovery claim on Boyd. But I'm not sure how the discovery process changes with a designated player. If KC were though, that would fly in the face of Robb Heineman's tweet the other night, about the team not having a DP this window. Meaning KC would have to work out a deal with the Dynamo most likely to get Boyd's MLS rights. And I just totally don't see it happening. I just don't see Boyd as a move that KC would be making right now.
Rumors on a Boyd move to the US started a week or two ago when he was linked with a move to the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo apparently brought Boyd into town for 3 days. The two teams couldn't reach a deal though. In fact according in the news that Boyd would not being joining the Dynamo, the release said that Boyd "would not be plying his trade in MLS this season."
That comment would certainly seem to kill the Sky Sports rumor right there from the aspect that Boyd isn't going to play in MLS. To add to the quick killing of this rumor in my mind would be MLS' discovery process. Since Boyd has already been with the Dynamo, one would assume that the Dynamo have the discovery claim on Boyd. But I'm not sure how the discovery process changes with a designated player. If KC were though, that would fly in the face of Robb Heineman's tweet the other night, about the team not having a DP this window. Meaning KC would have to work out a deal with the Dynamo most likely to get Boyd's MLS rights. And I just totally don't see it happening. I just don't see Boyd as a move that KC would be making right now.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Zusi Goal Leads US Over Panama
The US "Camp Cupcake" roster closed out their camp down in Panama today with a 1-0 win thanks to a goal by Sporting KC midfielder, Graham Zusi. Like the game on Saturday against Venezuela, both Zusi and Teal Bunbury started for the United States, while CJ Sapong found himself starting on the bench. The US got a good start, as Zusi finished off a chance in the 8th minute to give the US a 1-0 lead. Zach Loyd played the ball into the box, where Bunbury had overrun the ball. The ball hit the back of Bunbury's heal and fell right into the path of Zusi who one timed his shot past the keeper and into the net for his first international goal.
After the goal it became somewhat of the Nick Rimando show as the US defense struggled for long periods of time in the first half and Rimando had to come up with some big saves to preserve the USA's 1-0 lead. The US did have 1 other great chance those as Jermaine Jones fired in a blast from long range that the Panamanian keeper had to just knock into the air. Chris Wondolowski closed in on the rebound but somehow the keeper recovered in time to knock the ball away before it crossed the line. But the first half man of the match was easily Rimando who came to the US' rescue numerous times.
Things got worse for the US in the second half as they tried to weather the Panama attack as Geoff Cameron received a red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity for Panama. The Panamanian went down a little easy, but welcome to CONCACAF refereeing Jurgen Klinsmann. In the second half it wasn't so much that Sean Johnson, who came on for Rimando, had to come up big, but Blais Perez missed some good chances for Panama to tie the game.
For the Sporting KC players, besides the goal, Zusi had a strong game and was one of the bright spots for the US, especially in the first half, he made way in the 66th minute for a more defensive minded player in Brad Evans. Bunbury in his second start struggled once again, especially with his first touch. He's been playing himself off the national team radar it would seem with this play. Bunbury made way for teammate Sapong in the 76th minute. Sapong once again didn't have much opportunity to do much, especially as a lone forward for a team down to 10 men. Sapong though did a decent job of trying to hold up the ball when he got the opportunity to, but his chances were hurt by the fact that the US was playing with 10 men. Those 3 will now return to KC, but according to Peter Vermes earlier today, those 3 will not be at training until the team leaves for Arizona.
After the goal it became somewhat of the Nick Rimando show as the US defense struggled for long periods of time in the first half and Rimando had to come up with some big saves to preserve the USA's 1-0 lead. The US did have 1 other great chance those as Jermaine Jones fired in a blast from long range that the Panamanian keeper had to just knock into the air. Chris Wondolowski closed in on the rebound but somehow the keeper recovered in time to knock the ball away before it crossed the line. But the first half man of the match was easily Rimando who came to the US' rescue numerous times.
Things got worse for the US in the second half as they tried to weather the Panama attack as Geoff Cameron received a red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity for Panama. The Panamanian went down a little easy, but welcome to CONCACAF refereeing Jurgen Klinsmann. In the second half it wasn't so much that Sean Johnson, who came on for Rimando, had to come up big, but Blais Perez missed some good chances for Panama to tie the game.
For the Sporting KC players, besides the goal, Zusi had a strong game and was one of the bright spots for the US, especially in the first half, he made way in the 66th minute for a more defensive minded player in Brad Evans. Bunbury in his second start struggled once again, especially with his first touch. He's been playing himself off the national team radar it would seem with this play. Bunbury made way for teammate Sapong in the 76th minute. Sapong once again didn't have much opportunity to do much, especially as a lone forward for a team down to 10 men. Sapong though did a decent job of trying to hold up the ball when he got the opportunity to, but his chances were hurt by the fact that the US was playing with 10 men. Those 3 will now return to KC, but according to Peter Vermes earlier today, those 3 will not be at training until the team leaves for Arizona.
Record Setting Night as Comets Rout Silver Knights
It was a big night for the Missouri Comets as they set multiple records at the Independence Events Center in their 33-12 rout over the Syracuse Silver Knights. They set a team record for the largest margin of victory since the teams rebirth, with 21. They tied a league record with 3 players recording a hattrick (Byron Alvarez, Geison, and Vahid Assadpour). They set a record for the most points this season so far, the largest margin of victory this season, and with the Knights 12 points the teams set a record for the most combined points this season.
The Comets got the night started off on the right foot as Leo Gibson collected a rebound from a shot by Ryan Junge and fired a 3 pointer into the far corner that Eric Reed in the Knights net didn't see until very late. The 3 point goal put the Comets up less than a minute into the game. Just after 5 minutes into the game, the Knights got as close as they were ever going to get the rest of the night when Daniel Stevens turned in a shot past Danny Waltman to make it 3-2. From there the first quarter was all down hill for the Knights. The Comets controlled the game after the goal, but struggled to find a shot to really test Reed in net. About the midway point in the quarter the Comets restored their 3 point lead though. John Sosa fed Assadpour down the left hand side, his first shot was saved by Reed, the second shot Assadpour fired off Reed and the ball rolled into the net. Assadpour was given the credit for the goal though and the Comets were up 5-2.
Things got worse for the visitors about 20 seconds later, as Waltman collected a shot by the Knights and played a quick outlet to Bato Radoncic, who had gotten in behind the Knights defense. One v one with the goalkeeper, Radoncic fired his shot low into the corner to make it 7-2. A minute and a half later things continued to go worse for the Knights. Tiguinho got his first assist of the night as his shot was spilled by Reed right into the path of Alvarez who just had to tap the ball over the line to increase the Comets lead to 9-2. They still weren't done in the first quarter though as Tiguinho got on the board, although once again likely an own goal, as Tiguinho beat his man down the side and fired a shot off the wall that hit a Knight's defender and went into the net to make it 11-2 with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
The second quarter started much the same way the first ended, with the Comets controlling possession, and under 2 minutes into the quarter it was 13-2. Tiguinho played another ball into the box and it looked as if it was another own goal, but in the end Geison ended up getting the last touch, putting the ball away. The Knights got themselves back on the board just under 5 minutes into the quarter as the Knights finally got some good passing and Cory Elenio found Alex Megson at the back post unmarked for a tap in to make the lead 9.
The Knights continued to push to get back into the game and looked to have a good opportunity as Brian Harris went to the box just past the half way point in the quarter for holding. In the end though the power play back fired on the Knights. The Comets killed the penalty and right out of the box, Harris was fed by Assadpour. Reed came well off his line, but Harris did well to round the keeper and then walked the ball into the net to make it 15-4. Before the half ended, the Knights once again cut into the lead, as Elenio fed Andriy Budnyy on a 2v1 break and Budnyy beat Waltman. Still the Knights struggled to get back into the game, and even another penalty for too many men on the field for the Comets, the Knights struggled on the power play.
The Comets didn't take their foot off the pedal in the second half either. Just over 6 minutes into the half, Tiguinho led a 3v3 break as the Comets countered. Tiguinho danced around his man and then fed the ball to Assadpour. Assadpour's initial shot was saved but once again Reed didn't hold the shot and Assadpour buried the rebound. And immediately after that goal to make it 17-6, the Comets were right back down the field and Radoncic fed Geison for his second of the game to make it 19-6 as the Comets continued to punish the Knights on the counter.
At this point you really started to almost feel sorry for the Knights. And if the next goal for the Comets just made it worse. Harris started the play with a shot from 3 point range that hit Megson in the groin area. With Megson hobbled, Harris was able to collect the rebound, cut past him and feed Alvarez who buried his shot to make it 21-6. Two minutes after Alvarez's second goal, Alvarez finished off his hattrick, and as was the theme all night it came as the Comets got in behind the Knights defense. Alvarez was played behind by Gibson. Alvarez, 1v1 with the keeper made no mistake making it 23-6. The Knights thought they salvaged a little bit of pride when Nelson Santana found net to make it 23-8, but before the 3rd quarter ended, the Comets got 1 more goal, again on the counter as Tiguinho led a 3v1 break. Tiguinho fed Geison who slotted the ball past Reed to complete his hattrick.
In the fourth quarter the Comets seemed content to sit back and continue to hit on the counter as they had started to do in the 3rd quarter. Just over a minute into the quarter, Stevens got his second goal of the game making it 23-10. A little over a minute after that goal though, the Comets had restored their lead off a restart. Tiguinho fed Geison who finished his 4th goal of the game to make it 27-10. Before 6 minutes were gone in the fourth, Assadpour completed his hattrick off an assist from Radoncic. As the Comets continued to sit back, the Knights were their own worst enemies as they missed 3 or 4 chances that should have been put away, but I think the mental factor of being down that much had thrown the Knights off their game as they just couldn't find the net. Before the quarter timeout, the Comets hit the 30 point mark, as Tiguinho beat Reed again to make it 31-10. The Comets had one more goal in them just past the 8 minute mark in the quarter as Harris bundled home his second of the night off a pass from Alvarez. The Knights continued to struggle to finish good chances, one of those actually led to their final goal as a miss on a wide open net by Megson had the ball fall to Elenio who headed in from a tight angle to give the final score of 33-12.
For those that don't want to track all there, here are the Comets stats from tonight.
Tiguinho - 2 goals 5 assists (9 points)
Geison - 4 goals (8 points)
Vahid Assadpour - 3 goals 1 assist (7 points)
Byron Alvarez - 3 goals 1 assist (7 points)
Brian Harris - 2 goals 1 assist (5 points)
Bato Radoncic - 1 goal 3 assists (5 points)
Leo Gibson - 1 goal (3 pointer) 1 assist (4 points)
Ryan Junge - 1 assist (1 point)
John Sosa - 1 assist (1 point)
Danny Waltman - 1 assist (1 point)
The Comets got the night started off on the right foot as Leo Gibson collected a rebound from a shot by Ryan Junge and fired a 3 pointer into the far corner that Eric Reed in the Knights net didn't see until very late. The 3 point goal put the Comets up less than a minute into the game. Just after 5 minutes into the game, the Knights got as close as they were ever going to get the rest of the night when Daniel Stevens turned in a shot past Danny Waltman to make it 3-2. From there the first quarter was all down hill for the Knights. The Comets controlled the game after the goal, but struggled to find a shot to really test Reed in net. About the midway point in the quarter the Comets restored their 3 point lead though. John Sosa fed Assadpour down the left hand side, his first shot was saved by Reed, the second shot Assadpour fired off Reed and the ball rolled into the net. Assadpour was given the credit for the goal though and the Comets were up 5-2.
Things got worse for the visitors about 20 seconds later, as Waltman collected a shot by the Knights and played a quick outlet to Bato Radoncic, who had gotten in behind the Knights defense. One v one with the goalkeeper, Radoncic fired his shot low into the corner to make it 7-2. A minute and a half later things continued to go worse for the Knights. Tiguinho got his first assist of the night as his shot was spilled by Reed right into the path of Alvarez who just had to tap the ball over the line to increase the Comets lead to 9-2. They still weren't done in the first quarter though as Tiguinho got on the board, although once again likely an own goal, as Tiguinho beat his man down the side and fired a shot off the wall that hit a Knight's defender and went into the net to make it 11-2 with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
The second quarter started much the same way the first ended, with the Comets controlling possession, and under 2 minutes into the quarter it was 13-2. Tiguinho played another ball into the box and it looked as if it was another own goal, but in the end Geison ended up getting the last touch, putting the ball away. The Knights got themselves back on the board just under 5 minutes into the quarter as the Knights finally got some good passing and Cory Elenio found Alex Megson at the back post unmarked for a tap in to make the lead 9.
The Knights continued to push to get back into the game and looked to have a good opportunity as Brian Harris went to the box just past the half way point in the quarter for holding. In the end though the power play back fired on the Knights. The Comets killed the penalty and right out of the box, Harris was fed by Assadpour. Reed came well off his line, but Harris did well to round the keeper and then walked the ball into the net to make it 15-4. Before the half ended, the Knights once again cut into the lead, as Elenio fed Andriy Budnyy on a 2v1 break and Budnyy beat Waltman. Still the Knights struggled to get back into the game, and even another penalty for too many men on the field for the Comets, the Knights struggled on the power play.
The Comets didn't take their foot off the pedal in the second half either. Just over 6 minutes into the half, Tiguinho led a 3v3 break as the Comets countered. Tiguinho danced around his man and then fed the ball to Assadpour. Assadpour's initial shot was saved but once again Reed didn't hold the shot and Assadpour buried the rebound. And immediately after that goal to make it 17-6, the Comets were right back down the field and Radoncic fed Geison for his second of the game to make it 19-6 as the Comets continued to punish the Knights on the counter.
At this point you really started to almost feel sorry for the Knights. And if the next goal for the Comets just made it worse. Harris started the play with a shot from 3 point range that hit Megson in the groin area. With Megson hobbled, Harris was able to collect the rebound, cut past him and feed Alvarez who buried his shot to make it 21-6. Two minutes after Alvarez's second goal, Alvarez finished off his hattrick, and as was the theme all night it came as the Comets got in behind the Knights defense. Alvarez was played behind by Gibson. Alvarez, 1v1 with the keeper made no mistake making it 23-6. The Knights thought they salvaged a little bit of pride when Nelson Santana found net to make it 23-8, but before the 3rd quarter ended, the Comets got 1 more goal, again on the counter as Tiguinho led a 3v1 break. Tiguinho fed Geison who slotted the ball past Reed to complete his hattrick.
In the fourth quarter the Comets seemed content to sit back and continue to hit on the counter as they had started to do in the 3rd quarter. Just over a minute into the quarter, Stevens got his second goal of the game making it 23-10. A little over a minute after that goal though, the Comets had restored their lead off a restart. Tiguinho fed Geison who finished his 4th goal of the game to make it 27-10. Before 6 minutes were gone in the fourth, Assadpour completed his hattrick off an assist from Radoncic. As the Comets continued to sit back, the Knights were their own worst enemies as they missed 3 or 4 chances that should have been put away, but I think the mental factor of being down that much had thrown the Knights off their game as they just couldn't find the net. Before the quarter timeout, the Comets hit the 30 point mark, as Tiguinho beat Reed again to make it 31-10. The Comets had one more goal in them just past the 8 minute mark in the quarter as Harris bundled home his second of the night off a pass from Alvarez. The Knights continued to struggle to finish good chances, one of those actually led to their final goal as a miss on a wide open net by Megson had the ball fall to Elenio who headed in from a tight angle to give the final score of 33-12.
For those that don't want to track all there, here are the Comets stats from tonight.
Tiguinho - 2 goals 5 assists (9 points)
Geison - 4 goals (8 points)
Vahid Assadpour - 3 goals 1 assist (7 points)
Byron Alvarez - 3 goals 1 assist (7 points)
Brian Harris - 2 goals 1 assist (5 points)
Bato Radoncic - 1 goal 3 assists (5 points)
Leo Gibson - 1 goal (3 pointer) 1 assist (4 points)
Ryan Junge - 1 assist (1 point)
John Sosa - 1 assist (1 point)
Danny Waltman - 1 assist (1 point)
Comets vs Silver Knights PBP
Here's tonight's play by play for the Comets and Silver Knights game. Fair warning, I may mention tonight's US-Panama game for a moment or two as well.
No DP Likely This Window
Late last night, once again Robb Heineman brought us news via Twitter. This time pertaining to the potential designated player that KC was looking to sign. And that news doesn't appear to be good news. Heineman says that "unless something dramatic happens in the next two days, we will not be announcing a DP in this window."
It all seems pretty cut and dry right there, KC's plans for bringing in a DP seem to have fallen through. It's not incredibly surprising based on an earlier tweet where Heineman was commiserating an injury in Spain. The assumption is that the injury was to the Spanish DP that KC had on their radar and were looking to sign.
It's certainly a blow to fans, who had been anticipating this big move for much of the offseason, but unfortunately now KC has to go in another direction. I'm sure that Peter Vermes had plans to build the team in place that did not include the DP, but it's still a blow to the team, because it's fairly hard to replace a DP level talent. But then again there are no guarantees that the DP would have fit into the league, that he would produce on the level you expect from a designated player. It's still a blow though to the team's development of the roster heading into this season. The roster though right now looks pretty good as a whole, one or two depth moves right now and the team should be in good shape. And if things don't turn out well, KC could still be working towards a summer transfer window move.
It all seems pretty cut and dry right there, KC's plans for bringing in a DP seem to have fallen through. It's not incredibly surprising based on an earlier tweet where Heineman was commiserating an injury in Spain. The assumption is that the injury was to the Spanish DP that KC had on their radar and were looking to sign.
It's certainly a blow to fans, who had been anticipating this big move for much of the offseason, but unfortunately now KC has to go in another direction. I'm sure that Peter Vermes had plans to build the team in place that did not include the DP, but it's still a blow to the team, because it's fairly hard to replace a DP level talent. But then again there are no guarantees that the DP would have fit into the league, that he would produce on the level you expect from a designated player. It's still a blow though to the team's development of the roster heading into this season. The roster though right now looks pretty good as a whole, one or two depth moves right now and the team should be in good shape. And if things don't turn out well, KC could still be working towards a summer transfer window move.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Preseason Trialists
Sporting KC released the names today of their currently trialists that are in camp as the team prepares for preseason training out at the Chiefs indoor training facility. There looks to be some decent talent out there trialing right now, it'll be interesting to see who, if any, travel to Arizona, and which ones potentially make the team.
Here are the trialists.
Irving Garcia an attacking midfielder/right winger who is also a former draft pick by the New York Red Bulls in 2010. He appeared in 4 Open Cup games for the Red Bulls in the 2010 season before being waived. Since that time he's played with FC Tucson and Antigua GFC out of Guatemala.
Matt Kuhn. The DC United 4th round supplemental draft pick had been released before DC headed down to Florida. I hope in KC that my brother gets a better shake of things under Peter Vermes than he appeared to get from Ben Olsen and United. Kuhn spent time in college playing different positions in the midfielder as well as a forward when at Drake. He's also a former Junior's player, bringing the total in camp up to 4 with Kevin Ellis, Jon Kempin, and Kyle Miller.
Myron Samuel. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines international is only 19 years old and has already appeared 18 times for his country. He was found at Sporting KC's Caribbean combine last year. The forward's current club is based out of his home country, playing for Avenues United.
Cyrus Saydee. The former Michigan State midfielder is only 19, but has already finished his college eligibility. He was a first team all Big Ten honoree this past year. He is on the short side though, standing only 5'6", and that's without taking into any exaggeration.
Steve Spangler. The Oregon State grad is the only goalkeeper among the trialists. He's got decent size at 6'3", but his problem is that KC already seems set at goalkeeper with Jimmy Nielsen, Eric Kronberg, and Jon Kempin. So it would seem the odds of Spangler making the roster are probably slim.
Kevin Struck. Another recent college grad, this time from Lehigh University. Struck is a center back who was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011. While the Patriot League isn't the greatest conference in college soccer, that's still a feat to win it two years in a row.
Those trialists are currently training in a separate session from the veterans, and I'm sure there are a few other trialists the team hasn't mentioned, including the infamous Trialist 1.
Here are the trialists.
Irving Garcia an attacking midfielder/right winger who is also a former draft pick by the New York Red Bulls in 2010. He appeared in 4 Open Cup games for the Red Bulls in the 2010 season before being waived. Since that time he's played with FC Tucson and Antigua GFC out of Guatemala.
Matt Kuhn. The DC United 4th round supplemental draft pick had been released before DC headed down to Florida. I hope in KC that my brother gets a better shake of things under Peter Vermes than he appeared to get from Ben Olsen and United. Kuhn spent time in college playing different positions in the midfielder as well as a forward when at Drake. He's also a former Junior's player, bringing the total in camp up to 4 with Kevin Ellis, Jon Kempin, and Kyle Miller.
Myron Samuel. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines international is only 19 years old and has already appeared 18 times for his country. He was found at Sporting KC's Caribbean combine last year. The forward's current club is based out of his home country, playing for Avenues United.
Cyrus Saydee. The former Michigan State midfielder is only 19, but has already finished his college eligibility. He was a first team all Big Ten honoree this past year. He is on the short side though, standing only 5'6", and that's without taking into any exaggeration.
Steve Spangler. The Oregon State grad is the only goalkeeper among the trialists. He's got decent size at 6'3", but his problem is that KC already seems set at goalkeeper with Jimmy Nielsen, Eric Kronberg, and Jon Kempin. So it would seem the odds of Spangler making the roster are probably slim.
Kevin Struck. Another recent college grad, this time from Lehigh University. Struck is a center back who was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011. While the Patriot League isn't the greatest conference in college soccer, that's still a feat to win it two years in a row.
Those trialists are currently training in a separate session from the veterans, and I'm sure there are a few other trialists the team hasn't mentioned, including the infamous Trialist 1.
Monday, January 23, 2012
LIVESTRONG Missing Out on All Star Game
Rumors are running around tonight that LIVESTRONG Sporting Park will not be hosting MLS' all star game this year. Word out of Philadelphia is that the Union will be hosting the All Star game, at PPL Park. The game should be confirmed tomorrow in a press conference that Don Garber will be attending. It would be disappointing for the game not to be at LIVESTRONG, but sooner than later KC is going to be hosting the event.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
US Top Venezuela
Last night in Arizona, the US national team topped Venezuela in the first of two friendlies for the camp cupcake roster, 1-0 thanks to a late goal by Ricardo Clark. Sporting KC forward Teal Bunbury and midfielder Graham Zusi both started for the US, while forward, CJ Sapong came on as a second half sub, replacing Zusi.
Neither Bunbury or Zusi had spectacular performances, both had some difficulties at times, and both seemed to fade late in their shifts. Sapong brought a big body to assist on set pieces, and helped to pull 3 defenders with him on the corner kick that lead to Clark's goal.
Bunbury had a few chances, the best a turn and shot from about 22 yards out that was over the bar. He did a decent job of running at defenders and creating some opportunities, but the finishing shot wasn't there for Bunbury.
Zusi set up the best chance of the first half on a free kick, playing a ball right onto the head of Brek Shea who forced the keeper into a good save. In the second half he had a good chance himself, collecting a poor clearance, he drove in on goal, but his shot was wide of the net, not forcing the save. Zusi's biggest issue last night may have had more to do with his being played out of position. While Zusi spent a little time on the wing for KC last season, he really excelled when he was in the middle of the field. Last night Zusi was a little lost at times on the wing. He was almost invisible when he moved to the left wing for part of the first half.
Sapong had a strong short shift. He did exactly what I think everyone expected. He provided a strong body that would play back to goal, knock the ball down, and throw himself into defenders. He did that well throughout his shift.
For Bunbury it was his 3rd cap for the US, while Zusi and Sapong earned their first. Zusi and Sapong are the 30th and 31st players to be capped by their national team while a member of Sporting KC.
Neither Bunbury or Zusi had spectacular performances, both had some difficulties at times, and both seemed to fade late in their shifts. Sapong brought a big body to assist on set pieces, and helped to pull 3 defenders with him on the corner kick that lead to Clark's goal.
Bunbury had a few chances, the best a turn and shot from about 22 yards out that was over the bar. He did a decent job of running at defenders and creating some opportunities, but the finishing shot wasn't there for Bunbury.
Zusi set up the best chance of the first half on a free kick, playing a ball right onto the head of Brek Shea who forced the keeper into a good save. In the second half he had a good chance himself, collecting a poor clearance, he drove in on goal, but his shot was wide of the net, not forcing the save. Zusi's biggest issue last night may have had more to do with his being played out of position. While Zusi spent a little time on the wing for KC last season, he really excelled when he was in the middle of the field. Last night Zusi was a little lost at times on the wing. He was almost invisible when he moved to the left wing for part of the first half.
Sapong had a strong short shift. He did exactly what I think everyone expected. He provided a strong body that would play back to goal, knock the ball down, and throw himself into defenders. He did that well throughout his shift.
For Bunbury it was his 3rd cap for the US, while Zusi and Sapong earned their first. Zusi and Sapong are the 30th and 31st players to be capped by their national team while a member of Sporting KC.
Bato Two Goals Lead Comets By Norfolk
The Comets new signing Bato Radoncic made an immediate impact for the Comets in his first game, as he scored two goals as the Comets continued their push towards a playoff spot with a 14-6 win.
Bato got his Comets career started fairly quickly, as he scored just over 4 minutes into the game to give Missouri the early lead. Tennant McVea would tie the game with under 4 minutes to go in the quarter. But with 21 seconds left, Geison was able to put the Comets back on top with another 2 point goal.
In the second quarter, the Comets continued to pressure the Sharx, but were only able to add 1 goal to their lead as Ryan Junge fired in a shot off a restart from Byron Alvarez.
The Sharx came out firing in the 3rd quarter, and pulled within a goal only 44 seconds into the second half on a goal by Gary Brooks. Around the midpoint of the quarter, the Comets restored their 2 goal lead again off a restart as Vahid Assadpour found Tiguinho who fired his shot home to make it 8-4. Once again though, the Comets fell asleep after a goal, and less than a minute later it was again a 1 goal game as Matt Clare scored for Norfolk.
In the fourth quarter though the Comets put the game away. Bato scored a goal just over 3 minutes in to restore the 2 goal lead. Throughout the quarter the Sharx tried to find a way back into the game, but were unable to break down the Comets defense. With just over a minute left, the Comets basically ended the game as Geison scored his second of the game. Things didn't end there though, as Brian Harris got on the scoring sheet as well as the Comets won the ball off the ensuing kick off and Harris finished his opportunity.
The win puts the Comets at 10-8, 2 and a half games again of Wichita, who lost last night at home to Milwaukee 9-6.
Bato got his Comets career started fairly quickly, as he scored just over 4 minutes into the game to give Missouri the early lead. Tennant McVea would tie the game with under 4 minutes to go in the quarter. But with 21 seconds left, Geison was able to put the Comets back on top with another 2 point goal.
In the second quarter, the Comets continued to pressure the Sharx, but were only able to add 1 goal to their lead as Ryan Junge fired in a shot off a restart from Byron Alvarez.
The Sharx came out firing in the 3rd quarter, and pulled within a goal only 44 seconds into the second half on a goal by Gary Brooks. Around the midpoint of the quarter, the Comets restored their 2 goal lead again off a restart as Vahid Assadpour found Tiguinho who fired his shot home to make it 8-4. Once again though, the Comets fell asleep after a goal, and less than a minute later it was again a 1 goal game as Matt Clare scored for Norfolk.
In the fourth quarter though the Comets put the game away. Bato scored a goal just over 3 minutes in to restore the 2 goal lead. Throughout the quarter the Sharx tried to find a way back into the game, but were unable to break down the Comets defense. With just over a minute left, the Comets basically ended the game as Geison scored his second of the game. Things didn't end there though, as Brian Harris got on the scoring sheet as well as the Comets won the ball off the ensuing kick off and Harris finished his opportunity.
The win puts the Comets at 10-8, 2 and a half games again of Wichita, who lost last night at home to Milwaukee 9-6.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Comets Sign Bato
Sporting KC were not the only local team to announce a new signing today. The Missouri Comets also added a new player today, as they announced the signing of former Chicago Riot forward, Bato Radoncic. He's spent time in the US minor leagues and indoor games, mainly around the Milwaukee and Chicago area during his time here. Last season with the Riot, Bato was the 4th highest scorer in the league last season and was a first team all league selection. He adds more firepower to Missouri's front line and some needed size. Bato is apparently traveling with the team and will be available Saturday when they take on the Norfolk Sharx. Some highlights of Bato are below.
Sporting Announce Peterson Signing
Yesterday's rumors about KC announcing the signing of Jacob Peterson turned from rumor to fact today as Sporting KC announced the signing of the 6 year MLS veteran. Peterson had been without a team since he was allowed to entry the re-entry draft by the San Jose Earthquakes. Peterson becomes the third player with a fairly long MLS career to join Kansas City this offseason, joining Bobby Convey and Paulo Nagamura. Of the 3, this really is the most underwhelming. Peterson in his 6th season has played just around 130 or so league games. In that time he's tended to play either as a wide forward or as a wide midfielder. During his career, he's scored 9 league goals. Four of those came in his rookie year, so in the last 5 he's averaged a goal a year. That's not the type of production you want from a guy you expect to spend time as a forward.
The big worry about the Indiana University product, is how much he is getting paid by KC. Last year, Peterson made $142,000 last year while splitting time with Toronto and San Jose. As I said last night this is going to be a deal breaker for me. Really Peterson hasn't done enough in this league to really strike me as a player that deserves the salary he's earning. I would hope that Peterson's new salary is somewhere between $42,000 and the $51,000 that Luke Sassano made this year. Anything more and I'm going to feel we over paid greatly for him and he'll have a lot more to prove that he's worth it.
The big worry about the Indiana University product, is how much he is getting paid by KC. Last year, Peterson made $142,000 last year while splitting time with Toronto and San Jose. As I said last night this is going to be a deal breaker for me. Really Peterson hasn't done enough in this league to really strike me as a player that deserves the salary he's earning. I would hope that Peterson's new salary is somewhere between $42,000 and the $51,000 that Luke Sassano made this year. Anything more and I'm going to feel we over paid greatly for him and he'll have a lot more to prove that he's worth it.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Former SKC Wizards Update
Here's another week of former SKC Wizards updates. First, came word last week that Craig Rocastle will not be playing for the Missouri Comets. Instead he has moved to Greece where he's joined his former club, Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC, who is currently at the bottom of the second division in Greece. In other news, Ryan Smith has come out with his side of what happened when he left KC. While I'm sure that his mother's illness had plenty to do with why he left, I'm just not sure the full story is actually out there. But I'm glad he seems to be getting things squared away.
In other news, Rauwshan McKenzie and Mike Jones are going about the process of finding new clubs. McKenzie is trialing with Chivas during preseason, while Jones appears on his way to Denmark for trialing. I'm sure other players will be showing up in team camps soon as well. Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Mike Jones
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Milos Stojcev
Shavar Thomas
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson
MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Frankie Hejduk - LA - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.
NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.
PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.
NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Had an assist in Wichita's 10-9 win over Missouri.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Did not play in Kansas' 9-4 loss to Cincinnati. Did not play in Kansas' 10-7 loss to Detroit.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Played in Baltimore's 17-12 loss to Norfolk.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Had 2 goals in Louisville's 15-4 win over Ohio. Scored 2 goals in Louisville's 10-7 loss to Detroit.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Placed on IR for the Comets
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Played in Norfolk's 17-12 win over Baltimore. Played in Norfolk's 12-11 win over Syracuse.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Did not play in Anaheim's 28-7 loss to Tijuana.
International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 81 minutes, setting up the PK and recording an assist in Cruz Azul's 2-0 win over Atlas.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Did not play in Bagan's 3-2 win over Churchill Brothers.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Season over.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Santos' 2-1 win over Atlante.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - No game this week
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Tied Alagoinhas Atletico Clube 3-3
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Started and played 84 minutes in Thrasyvoulos' 2-1 win over Panserraikos.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - On winter break.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - No game this week.
In other news, Rauwshan McKenzie and Mike Jones are going about the process of finding new clubs. McKenzie is trialing with Chivas during preseason, while Jones appears on his way to Denmark for trialing. I'm sure other players will be showing up in team camps soon as well. Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Mike Jones
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Milos Stojcev
Shavar Thomas
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson
MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Frankie Hejduk - LA - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.
NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.
PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.
NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Had an assist in Wichita's 10-9 win over Missouri.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Did not play in Kansas' 9-4 loss to Cincinnati. Did not play in Kansas' 10-7 loss to Detroit.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Played in Baltimore's 17-12 loss to Norfolk.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Had 2 goals in Louisville's 15-4 win over Ohio. Scored 2 goals in Louisville's 10-7 loss to Detroit.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Placed on IR for the Comets
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Played in Norfolk's 17-12 win over Baltimore. Played in Norfolk's 12-11 win over Syracuse.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Did not play in Anaheim's 28-7 loss to Tijuana.
International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 81 minutes, setting up the PK and recording an assist in Cruz Azul's 2-0 win over Atlas.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Did not play in Bagan's 3-2 win over Churchill Brothers.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Season over.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Santos' 2-1 win over Atlante.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - No game this week
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Tied Alagoinhas Atletico Clube 3-3
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Started and played 84 minutes in Thrasyvoulos' 2-1 win over Panserraikos.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - On winter break.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - No game this week.
Player Contracts and Rumors
Player news is starting to pick up a little bit for Sporting KC. The team today made two announcements on player news, and a new rumor has cropped up on another player.
First, after the announcement yesterday of the trade for Michael Thomas' rights, the team today announced that they had signed the Olathe native to a contract. Probably the least surprising of the news that came out today. With the trade yesterday for his rights you knew an announcement on his signing was going to come in the next few days. As mentioned previously, Thomas was drafted by San Jose in 2010 but instead went to Sweden, playing with Halmstads and Ljungskile.
Last night I questioned why KC had to give up a draft spot for Thomas based on MLS' rules that players are only on the "college protected list" for two years. So that should have expired on December 31st, 2011. But apparently San Jose offered Thomas a contract, thereby retaining his MLS rights permanently. Thus requiring the trade.
In other player news today, Seth Sinovic was signed to a new contract. An absolutely deserved upgrade for Sporting's starting left back. One would assume that new contract is going to come with a decent bump in salary as well since Sinovic was only making $32,604 last year. A good move by Peter Vermes and KC to lock up a key part of their defense.
Finally a new rumor from Tod Palmer with the KC Star. Apparently KC is also about to announce the signing of 6 year MLS veteran, Jacob Peterson. Peterson, has appeared in 130 or so matches in his 6 year MLS career. The majority of those from 2006 through 2009 when he was with Colorado, where he appeared 92 times. After that he spent the 2010 and part of last season with Toronto before moving on to San Jose later that year. Peterson made one appearance for the Earthquakes and at the end of the season was made available in the re-entry draft, but was not selected. In his 6 years, Peterson has scored 9 goals in MLS play.
Put me in the category of not really liking this move. I've seen plenty of Peterson over the past few years playing in this league and I'm really not impressed. Now one would assume that should Peterson actually be signed he'll take a pay cut. It should probably be pretty hefty though, as Peterson earned $142,000 last year. For this to be a move that is worth it for me, Peterson needs to have close to $100,000 cut off of that salary before I even consider this move decent. He's not proven anything to me over the last few years that he's worth anywhere near that much.
First, after the announcement yesterday of the trade for Michael Thomas' rights, the team today announced that they had signed the Olathe native to a contract. Probably the least surprising of the news that came out today. With the trade yesterday for his rights you knew an announcement on his signing was going to come in the next few days. As mentioned previously, Thomas was drafted by San Jose in 2010 but instead went to Sweden, playing with Halmstads and Ljungskile.
Last night I questioned why KC had to give up a draft spot for Thomas based on MLS' rules that players are only on the "college protected list" for two years. So that should have expired on December 31st, 2011. But apparently San Jose offered Thomas a contract, thereby retaining his MLS rights permanently. Thus requiring the trade.
In other player news today, Seth Sinovic was signed to a new contract. An absolutely deserved upgrade for Sporting's starting left back. One would assume that new contract is going to come with a decent bump in salary as well since Sinovic was only making $32,604 last year. A good move by Peter Vermes and KC to lock up a key part of their defense.
Finally a new rumor from Tod Palmer with the KC Star. Apparently KC is also about to announce the signing of 6 year MLS veteran, Jacob Peterson. Peterson, has appeared in 130 or so matches in his 6 year MLS career. The majority of those from 2006 through 2009 when he was with Colorado, where he appeared 92 times. After that he spent the 2010 and part of last season with Toronto before moving on to San Jose later that year. Peterson made one appearance for the Earthquakes and at the end of the season was made available in the re-entry draft, but was not selected. In his 6 years, Peterson has scored 9 goals in MLS play.
Put me in the category of not really liking this move. I've seen plenty of Peterson over the past few years playing in this league and I'm really not impressed. Now one would assume that should Peterson actually be signed he'll take a pay cut. It should probably be pretty hefty though, as Peterson earned $142,000 last year. For this to be a move that is worth it for me, Peterson needs to have close to $100,000 cut off of that salary before I even consider this move decent. He's not proven anything to me over the last few years that he's worth anywhere near that much.
Zusi Scores Again for US in Scrimmage
Last night the US national team once again scrimmaged the US under 23 team in Carson, California. And once again for the US, Graham Zusi got a goal as the US tied 1-1 with their U-23 counterparts.
Teal Bunbury and CJ Sapong were also involved in the game. Bunbury spent the first half on the field with the U23 team, as they continue to prepare for Olympic qualifying. In the second half Bunbury moved over to the full national team and partnered KC teammate, Sapong up top. Below are the highlights, including Zusi's goal, which is just after the 2 minute mark.
Teal Bunbury and CJ Sapong were also involved in the game. Bunbury spent the first half on the field with the U23 team, as they continue to prepare for Olympic qualifying. In the second half Bunbury moved over to the full national team and partnered KC teammate, Sapong up top. Below are the highlights, including Zusi's goal, which is just after the 2 minute mark.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
KC Select 4 in the Supplemental Draft
Today was the second MLS draft, there was no ball room in Kansas City for the draft though. The Supplemental Draft took place on a conference call and took about as long as half the first round of the SuperDraft. After trading for Michael Thomas' rights, KC only had 4 picks, 1 in the first and second, and 2 in the third. In the first round, KC grabbed Shawn Singh, a defender/midfielder from UCLA. Singh can play left back and would provide cover and compete with Seth Sinovic and potentially Bobby Convey in the left back position.
In the second round, KC looked to add some depth to their midfield by bringing in St. John's midfielder, Pablo Punyed. According to Peter Vermes, Punyed is a two way midfielder that can do well in the offensive half of the field with his passing. He'd seem to provide depth in the box-to-box position in KC's midfield.
With their two third round picks, KC went back to improving their defense. First they grab Stefan Antonijevic, a 6'6" center back from Valparaiso. Antonijevic provides a big body to compete for a spot on the back line. He also has spent some time with the Serbian U-19 team while he was in college. Never a bad thing to have a kid that has a little international experience. With their last pick, KC went with a local kid, drafting Kyle Miller from Rockhurst University. Miller, another defender, is a local kid who grew up in KC and spent time with Sporting KC's juniors team. As for why KC had to draft Miller instead of filing a youth claim on him probably is because he didn't spend 2 years in the Juniors system.
I do have to apologize to Miller straight away, because with me he's probably not going to get much of a fair shake. It's no fault of his own unfortunately, it's the situation around his selection. And it's all personal so I apologize. For those that don't know, my brother, Matt Kuhn was also available in the draft. I would have loved for him to have been selected by KC. Like Miller he spent time with Sporting KC's juniors team. Kuhn though ended up getting drafted 10 picks after Miller by DC United. Like Miller, Kuhn didn't spend enough time in the Juniors system to qualify as a home grown player. My club allegiances won't be changing, I still love Sporting, but (and I'm shocking myself saying this) I will be cheering for DC should my brother make the team (except when they play SKC). That all said, I also hope Miller proves me wrong.
In the second round, KC looked to add some depth to their midfield by bringing in St. John's midfielder, Pablo Punyed. According to Peter Vermes, Punyed is a two way midfielder that can do well in the offensive half of the field with his passing. He'd seem to provide depth in the box-to-box position in KC's midfield.
With their two third round picks, KC went back to improving their defense. First they grab Stefan Antonijevic, a 6'6" center back from Valparaiso. Antonijevic provides a big body to compete for a spot on the back line. He also has spent some time with the Serbian U-19 team while he was in college. Never a bad thing to have a kid that has a little international experience. With their last pick, KC went with a local kid, drafting Kyle Miller from Rockhurst University. Miller, another defender, is a local kid who grew up in KC and spent time with Sporting KC's juniors team. As for why KC had to draft Miller instead of filing a youth claim on him probably is because he didn't spend 2 years in the Juniors system.
I do have to apologize to Miller straight away, because with me he's probably not going to get much of a fair shake. It's no fault of his own unfortunately, it's the situation around his selection. And it's all personal so I apologize. For those that don't know, my brother, Matt Kuhn was also available in the draft. I would have loved for him to have been selected by KC. Like Miller he spent time with Sporting KC's juniors team. Kuhn though ended up getting drafted 10 picks after Miller by DC United. Like Miller, Kuhn didn't spend enough time in the Juniors system to qualify as a home grown player. My club allegiances won't be changing, I still love Sporting, but (and I'm shocking myself saying this) I will be cheering for DC should my brother make the team (except when they play SKC). That all said, I also hope Miller proves me wrong.
Sporting Acquire Rights to Michael Thomas
The process that brought him in was a little unexpected, but the end result really wasn't. Today, Sporting KC acquired the rights to former San Jose Earthquakes draft pick, Michael Thomas for a 4th round Supplemental draft pick, the 73rd overall. The fact that Sporting had to give something to San Jose for Thomas is the surprising part.
I'm not sure why KC had to give up a draft pick for Thomas. Thomas was originally drafted by the Quakes in the second round of the 2010 MLS Superdraft. According to MLS' rules, San Jose held his rights through 2 December 31st's. This means their rights to Thomas expired on December 31st, 2011. So the question becomes why Sporting had to give up anything to get the rights to Thomas?
The rule states: "Unless claimed on waivers, a player who was drafted by a particular team through the SuperDraft or supplemental draft and did not sign with the League, is placed on that team’s “College Protected List” until the second December 31 following the draft in question, after which the team loses the rights to the player."
So it doesn't make sense why a trade had to be made, unless the trade was officially made last year and just not announced until today.
The unsurprising part is that KC was looking to acquire Matt Besler's college roommate. Thomas had played for KC in the last reserve league game of the season last year against FC Dallas. And rumors out of Sweden had been linking the midfielder with a move back to the US. Thomas will very likely be in camp once preseason starts for KC.
I'm not sure why KC had to give up a draft pick for Thomas. Thomas was originally drafted by the Quakes in the second round of the 2010 MLS Superdraft. According to MLS' rules, San Jose held his rights through 2 December 31st's. This means their rights to Thomas expired on December 31st, 2011. So the question becomes why Sporting had to give up anything to get the rights to Thomas?
The rule states: "Unless claimed on waivers, a player who was drafted by a particular team through the SuperDraft or supplemental draft and did not sign with the League, is placed on that team’s “College Protected List” until the second December 31 following the draft in question, after which the team loses the rights to the player."
So it doesn't make sense why a trade had to be made, unless the trade was officially made last year and just not announced until today.
The unsurprising part is that KC was looking to acquire Matt Besler's college roommate. Thomas had played for KC in the last reserve league game of the season last year against FC Dallas. And rumors out of Sweden had been linking the midfielder with a move back to the US. Thomas will very likely be in camp once preseason starts for KC.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Busy Week for SKC
It's going to be a busy week for KC in the last week of the offseason. There's plenty of information that looks like it will be coming out this week. Let's take a look real quick chronologically.
Tomorrow, as I posted earlier today is the Supplemental Draft. KC will possibly add 5 more players that would be coming into preseason this year.
Some time this week it sounds like we will be getting more announcements as well. Last week Robb Heineman Tweeted that the team was working on 3 contracts, 1 new player and 2 renewals. Those signings were not announced last week obviously, and when questioned on when we'd possibly see those signings announced, Heineman announced that they'd "probably 2-3 announcements next week." There's plenty of speculation that not only KC, but other MLS teams will be making player announcements tomorrow, so it's possible that KC could be one of those teams, making some announcement tomorrow. Either way, I'd probably expect the announcements to be made on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
The reason for that is because on Thursday preseason for Sporting KC officially get under way. Players will have their entry physicals on that date. Most players seem to already be in town, and those that aren't should be in town probably tomorrow. After the physicals on Thursday, the team will get down to business on Friday with their first training session. And you can bet that one of the things that is likely to occur on the first day of training is the dreaded beep test. Along with all the players and draft picks I'm sure we're going to see trialists 1 through 52 in camp. Although maybe not all at the same time.
Tomorrow, as I posted earlier today is the Supplemental Draft. KC will possibly add 5 more players that would be coming into preseason this year.
Some time this week it sounds like we will be getting more announcements as well. Last week Robb Heineman Tweeted that the team was working on 3 contracts, 1 new player and 2 renewals. Those signings were not announced last week obviously, and when questioned on when we'd possibly see those signings announced, Heineman announced that they'd "probably 2-3 announcements next week." There's plenty of speculation that not only KC, but other MLS teams will be making player announcements tomorrow, so it's possible that KC could be one of those teams, making some announcement tomorrow. Either way, I'd probably expect the announcements to be made on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
The reason for that is because on Thursday preseason for Sporting KC officially get under way. Players will have their entry physicals on that date. Most players seem to already be in town, and those that aren't should be in town probably tomorrow. After the physicals on Thursday, the team will get down to business on Friday with their first training session. And you can bet that one of the things that is likely to occur on the first day of training is the dreaded beep test. Along with all the players and draft picks I'm sure we're going to see trialists 1 through 52 in camp. Although maybe not all at the same time.
Supplemental Draft Tomorrow
The second MLS draft is coming up tomorrow, the Supplemental Draft is going to take place via conference call. Sporting KC hold 5 picks in the 4 round draft. KC have the 16th, 35th, 43rd, 54th, and 73rd picks in the draft tomorrow. KC currently has 27 players on their roster, although some players will still have to earn contracts, particularly Cyprian Hedrick who has not signed a contract as yet with the team. So let's take Hedrick out of the conversation right now. If KC waives no one between now and the start of the season, there are 4 open roster spots as of this time. There's already 1 known player trying to make the roster (Hedrick), and 5 more could be joining the team come Thursday, and that's not even counting the other players coming in. And it's also not counting the likely signing of Michael Thomas.
There's some talent still out there for selection including guys like D-mids, Andy Rose and Kirk Urso, and winger/forward, Evans Frimpong. And for selfish reasons, my brother Matt Kuhn, a midfielder from Drake is also available. It'll be interesting to see who Sporting select with the picks. For historical reasons I'm reposting a portion of a post I previously did on the history around KC's picks. Here's a look at those picks for KC that would fall into the Supplemental Draft this year:
FIFTY-FOURTH PICK
2000 - Brian Waltrip - Tampa
2001 - Shaun Tsakiris - New England
2002 - Jeremy Piette - Dallas
2003 - Ryan Futagaki - Chicago
2004 - Edwin Miranda - Dallas
2005 - Jason Hernandez - New York
2006 - Christopher Joyce - Dallas
2007 - Desmond Brooks - Chivas
2008 - Austin Washington - Chicago
2009 - Raphael Cox - Salt Lake
2010 - Dane Saintus - Dallas
2011 - Alan Koger - New England
Jason Hernandez is about the only consistent MLS player on this list, he's played almost 150 league games for New York, Chivas, and San Jose. Every other player at this pick has had little more than a few token appearances in league play.
SEVENTY-THIRD PICK
2005 - Noah Palmer - Salt Lake
2006 - Lawson Vaughn - Chivas
2007 - Osei Telesford - Chicago
2008 - Tino Nuñez - Salt Lake
2009 - Joe Anderson - Vancouver
All but Anderson have made some league appearances for their club, Lawson Vaughn is probably the most well known of the 5 previous players drafted at this spot, making about 50 combined appearances with Chivas and DC.
EIGHTY-FIRST PICK
2005 - Easton Wilson - New England
2006 - Keith Cauldwell - Colorado
2007 - Chris Konopka - Kansas City
2008 - Vicente Arze - Kansas City
2011 - Yannick Salmon - Chicago
None of these players made much of any appearances, Konopka's first league appearance came this past year as a league keeper playing for New York. Overall Vicente Arze's probably been the best talent at this pick and all his success has been outside MLS with Vancouver in the USL, Bolivia, and Hungary.
NINETY-SECOND PICK
2005 - Chris Lee - Columbus
2006 - PASS - Houston
2007 - Tyler Hemming - Toronto
2008 - Ben Shuleva - Dallas
2011 - Taylor Mueller - Portland
Hemming made a handful of appearances for Toronto in their first few years in the league. He's also bounced around the lower leagues. Not much at all at this pick, evident by the fact that Houston passed on this pick in 2006.
ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH PICK
2008 - PASS - New England
The only other time there's been a 111th pick in the drafts was in 2008 and the Revolution passed on that pick. So very good chances this player doesn't make the team, if KC even uses this pick. They could pass like New England.
There's some talent still out there for selection including guys like D-mids, Andy Rose and Kirk Urso, and winger/forward, Evans Frimpong. And for selfish reasons, my brother Matt Kuhn, a midfielder from Drake is also available. It'll be interesting to see who Sporting select with the picks. For historical reasons I'm reposting a portion of a post I previously did on the history around KC's picks. Here's a look at those picks for KC that would fall into the Supplemental Draft this year:
FIFTY-FOURTH PICK
2000 - Brian Waltrip - Tampa
2001 - Shaun Tsakiris - New England
2002 - Jeremy Piette - Dallas
2003 - Ryan Futagaki - Chicago
2004 - Edwin Miranda - Dallas
2005 - Jason Hernandez - New York
2006 - Christopher Joyce - Dallas
2007 - Desmond Brooks - Chivas
2008 - Austin Washington - Chicago
2009 - Raphael Cox - Salt Lake
2010 - Dane Saintus - Dallas
2011 - Alan Koger - New England
Jason Hernandez is about the only consistent MLS player on this list, he's played almost 150 league games for New York, Chivas, and San Jose. Every other player at this pick has had little more than a few token appearances in league play.
SEVENTY-THIRD PICK
2005 - Noah Palmer - Salt Lake
2006 - Lawson Vaughn - Chivas
2007 - Osei Telesford - Chicago
2008 - Tino Nuñez - Salt Lake
2009 - Joe Anderson - Vancouver
All but Anderson have made some league appearances for their club, Lawson Vaughn is probably the most well known of the 5 previous players drafted at this spot, making about 50 combined appearances with Chivas and DC.
EIGHTY-FIRST PICK
2005 - Easton Wilson - New England
2006 - Keith Cauldwell - Colorado
2007 - Chris Konopka - Kansas City
2008 - Vicente Arze - Kansas City
2011 - Yannick Salmon - Chicago
None of these players made much of any appearances, Konopka's first league appearance came this past year as a league keeper playing for New York. Overall Vicente Arze's probably been the best talent at this pick and all his success has been outside MLS with Vancouver in the USL, Bolivia, and Hungary.
NINETY-SECOND PICK
2005 - Chris Lee - Columbus
2006 - PASS - Houston
2007 - Tyler Hemming - Toronto
2008 - Ben Shuleva - Dallas
2011 - Taylor Mueller - Portland
Hemming made a handful of appearances for Toronto in their first few years in the league. He's also bounced around the lower leagues. Not much at all at this pick, evident by the fact that Houston passed on this pick in 2006.
ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH PICK
2008 - PASS - New England
The only other time there's been a 111th pick in the drafts was in 2008 and the Revolution passed on that pick. So very good chances this player doesn't make the team, if KC even uses this pick. They could pass like New England.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Comets Lose Back and Forth Game with Wings
Last night in the Missouri Comets' game against the Wichita Wings was the epitome of a back and forth game. Neither team scored 2 goals in a row all night, and there was only one lead the entire game that was more than 1 point. Unfortunately for the Comets though, the Wings ended up getting the last goal and getting the 10-9 win in front of over 8,000 fans at the Sprint Center in downtown KC.
The first part of the first half was a fairly uneventful affair as the teams seemed to be feeling each other out. Neither team really created any chances. Just over 7 minutes into the first quarter though, the Comets ended up having to play a man down as Brian Harris got a blue card for a tripping penalty on a 2v1 break. The result of the play also gave the Wings a penalty shootout. Danny Waltman though came up with a big save on Victor Quiroz in the shootout. The good vibes though didn't last long though, as the Wings took advantage of the power play, as Frederico Moojen scored. Moojen had 3 chances at it, firing two shots right at Waltman before his third attempt he turned into the far corner to give the Wings the 2-0 lead. That lead would be the largest either team would have all night. The Comets controlled much of the run of play after the goal, but struggled to get good shots off. Late on in the half though, the Wings tried to clear their end. Geison cut off the clearance with a chest trap, he took one touch and then let loose with a blast from outside the yellow line that wrong footed Sanaldo with it's movement, and the Comets were up 3-2.
Early in the second quarter, the Wings would retake the lead. Less than 2 minutes into the quarter, Fausto fired in a shot past Waltman to reestablish the Wings advantage 4-3. The Comets continued their pressure again but couldn't find a goal. Midway through the half, the Comets got their first power play of the game as Quiroz was sent to the box for tripping. The Comets pressured throughout the penalty but as time wore on, it looked like the Comets wouldn't be able to take advantage of the man advantage. But with only 2 minutes left, the Comets got their goal. Some good ball movement saw the ball go from one side of the field to the other through Leo Gibson to Lucas Rodriguez, who fed Byron Alvarez. Alvarez's first shot was blocked, but he fired his rebound across the middle of the goal. The ball took a deflection past Sanaldo and into the net, putting the Comets back on top.
That lead though would last a grab total of 6 seconds as directly off the kick off, the Wings came right back down the field and scored, with Brian Cushing getting the goal. It's a problem that has plagued the Comets all season, defensive lapses after they've just scored, and again it cost them a goal as the Wings went up 6-5. The Comets though would retake the lead before the end of the half, with some nice build up again. John Sosa played a ball in to Alvarez who had posted up on his defender. Sosa continued his run and received the ball back from Alvarez. Sosa got Sanaldo to commit to him and passed up a good shot for a better one, as he laid the ball off to Vahid Assadpour who passed the ball into the net to go up 7-6 at the break.
Into the third quarter both teams found good chances hard to come by. The Comets though had the better of the chances, forcing some good saves out of Sanaldo. It was the Wings though that grabbed the lead on some poor defense from the Comets. Bryan Perez played a ball over the top to Daniel Villegas. Villegas and a teammate were both back in behind the Comets defense. Villegas collected the ball and slotted it past Waltman to restore the Wings 1 point lead at 8-7.
The fourth quarter saw the Comets pushing for a goal to put them back in front. Early on they were back on the power play as Sanaldo was given a blue card for punching the ball outside the box. Sanaldo tried to argue that he was still inside the box, but the goalkeeper was easily a good foot or two outside his box when he punched it. The Comets though couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. Soon enough though, the Comets did find themselves back on top. Once again it was some nice build up from the Comets as Alvarez was played in behind with Rodriguez in a 2v1 situation. Alvarez slid the ball across to Rodriguez who buried his shot and once again put the Comets on top 9-8. As the half wore down it looked like the Comets might just hand on. But with just under 3 minutes left, right when the Wings were looking to pull their goalkeeper, the Wings found another goal. Kevin Ten Eyck with his back to goal was able to turn and hit a volley that beat Waltman to his far post. So instead of the Wings going with a 6th attacker, it would end up being the Comets that pulled their goalkeeper. With the extra man, the Comets had quite a few chances to retake the lead as Alvarez, Geison, and Rodriguez all had good opportunities blocked on the line. In the end though the Comets couldn't find another goal and the Wings pulled off a big win, 10-9.
The loss dropped the Comets to 9-8, with the Wings are now 5-8. With 4 games in hand on the Comets, the Wings would seem to have a very good chance to try to catch their I-35 rival for the other Central Division playoff spot.
The first part of the first half was a fairly uneventful affair as the teams seemed to be feeling each other out. Neither team really created any chances. Just over 7 minutes into the first quarter though, the Comets ended up having to play a man down as Brian Harris got a blue card for a tripping penalty on a 2v1 break. The result of the play also gave the Wings a penalty shootout. Danny Waltman though came up with a big save on Victor Quiroz in the shootout. The good vibes though didn't last long though, as the Wings took advantage of the power play, as Frederico Moojen scored. Moojen had 3 chances at it, firing two shots right at Waltman before his third attempt he turned into the far corner to give the Wings the 2-0 lead. That lead would be the largest either team would have all night. The Comets controlled much of the run of play after the goal, but struggled to get good shots off. Late on in the half though, the Wings tried to clear their end. Geison cut off the clearance with a chest trap, he took one touch and then let loose with a blast from outside the yellow line that wrong footed Sanaldo with it's movement, and the Comets were up 3-2.
Early in the second quarter, the Wings would retake the lead. Less than 2 minutes into the quarter, Fausto fired in a shot past Waltman to reestablish the Wings advantage 4-3. The Comets continued their pressure again but couldn't find a goal. Midway through the half, the Comets got their first power play of the game as Quiroz was sent to the box for tripping. The Comets pressured throughout the penalty but as time wore on, it looked like the Comets wouldn't be able to take advantage of the man advantage. But with only 2 minutes left, the Comets got their goal. Some good ball movement saw the ball go from one side of the field to the other through Leo Gibson to Lucas Rodriguez, who fed Byron Alvarez. Alvarez's first shot was blocked, but he fired his rebound across the middle of the goal. The ball took a deflection past Sanaldo and into the net, putting the Comets back on top.
That lead though would last a grab total of 6 seconds as directly off the kick off, the Wings came right back down the field and scored, with Brian Cushing getting the goal. It's a problem that has plagued the Comets all season, defensive lapses after they've just scored, and again it cost them a goal as the Wings went up 6-5. The Comets though would retake the lead before the end of the half, with some nice build up again. John Sosa played a ball in to Alvarez who had posted up on his defender. Sosa continued his run and received the ball back from Alvarez. Sosa got Sanaldo to commit to him and passed up a good shot for a better one, as he laid the ball off to Vahid Assadpour who passed the ball into the net to go up 7-6 at the break.
Into the third quarter both teams found good chances hard to come by. The Comets though had the better of the chances, forcing some good saves out of Sanaldo. It was the Wings though that grabbed the lead on some poor defense from the Comets. Bryan Perez played a ball over the top to Daniel Villegas. Villegas and a teammate were both back in behind the Comets defense. Villegas collected the ball and slotted it past Waltman to restore the Wings 1 point lead at 8-7.
The fourth quarter saw the Comets pushing for a goal to put them back in front. Early on they were back on the power play as Sanaldo was given a blue card for punching the ball outside the box. Sanaldo tried to argue that he was still inside the box, but the goalkeeper was easily a good foot or two outside his box when he punched it. The Comets though couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. Soon enough though, the Comets did find themselves back on top. Once again it was some nice build up from the Comets as Alvarez was played in behind with Rodriguez in a 2v1 situation. Alvarez slid the ball across to Rodriguez who buried his shot and once again put the Comets on top 9-8. As the half wore down it looked like the Comets might just hand on. But with just under 3 minutes left, right when the Wings were looking to pull their goalkeeper, the Wings found another goal. Kevin Ten Eyck with his back to goal was able to turn and hit a volley that beat Waltman to his far post. So instead of the Wings going with a 6th attacker, it would end up being the Comets that pulled their goalkeeper. With the extra man, the Comets had quite a few chances to retake the lead as Alvarez, Geison, and Rodriguez all had good opportunities blocked on the line. In the end though the Comets couldn't find another goal and the Wings pulled off a big win, 10-9.
The loss dropped the Comets to 9-8, with the Wings are now 5-8. With 4 games in hand on the Comets, the Wings would seem to have a very good chance to try to catch their I-35 rival for the other Central Division playoff spot.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Bunbury and Zusi Score for the US in Scrimmage
Last night, the US men's national team took on the US under 23 team in a scrimmage in LA. Both teams are currently involved in camps. The US team for their upcoming games against Venezuela and Panama, and the U23's as they continue to prepare for their upcoming Olympic qualifying. Three Sporting KC players appeared for the full national team last night. Graham Zusi started for the US team. Teal Bunbury came in around the 30th minute for an injured Juan Agudelo. CJ Sapong was a half time substitution, coming on for Chris Wondolowski. All the scoring for the US team came in the first half as they cruised to a 4-0 win. Wondolowski opened the scoring, followed by Benny Feilhaber. Then the KC players got themselves involved. Bunbury grabbed the USA's 3rd goal before Zusi finished off the scoring off an assist from Brek Shea. The US will continue to train before heading to take on Venezuela in Arizona a week from today. Then they'll be in Panama next Wednesday the 25th.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Sporting KC Select Two in SuperDraft
Today at Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Sporting KC added two new players to their roster ahead of the start of preseason next week. Not needing to draft a specific player that would be required to come in and fill a need, KC was able to look a few different directions with their pick at number 16 and even at pick number 30. There were a few positions that could use some depth. KC seemed to address their depth needs with the two picks.
With the 16th overall draft, KC appeared to get a very good steal that late in the draft. KC was able to grab 21 year old, Generation Adidas forward, Dom Dwyer from South Florida. Dwyer was a late signing to this year's Generation Adidas class, signing only a few days before the combine actually started. The Englishmen scored 16 goals in 20 appearances in his junior year at South Florida. the 5'9" forward has the strength to play with his back to goal, but would seem more destined to play a bit more wide in KC's system. But could see himself playing centrally as well, as Peter Vermes likes to have his forwards rotate positioning.
Some people are asking why Vermes went with a forward in the first round for the 3rd straight year, when KC could look to fill other spots on their roster. With Dwyer added to the forward line with Teal Bunbury, CJ Sapong, Soony Saad, Kei Kamara, possibly Bobby Convey and Birahim Diop, and any other potential signings, and the forward line is getting pretty crowded. But there are a few reasons why the Dwyer pick makes sense for KC. First, Dwyer is going to be cap exempt, he's not going to count against KC's senior roster and his salary isn't going to count against the cap either. Second, with Bunbury is likely to miss time this summer with the US Olympic team in London and Sapong on the USMNT radar now, there's the possibility of one or both being gone at any one time. Without one of them, you're depth is wearing thing. Remember KC plays with 3 forwards, if one is gone, or injured, your forward depth goes down pretty quickly, so having another forward isn't a bad thing. As has been said a few times about the 4-3-3, you can never have too many forwards.
The other worry in regards to Dwyer was his international status. The question was whether he was going to take up a precious international spot on KC's roster. Currently KC is utilizing 6 of their 7 international spots after trading one to San Jose in the Bobby Convey trade. Dwyer IS going to take up an international spot. What that means is that KC is at this time utilizing all 7 of their available international spots. Korede Aiyegbusi, Julio Cesar, Aurelien Collin, Daneil Cyrus, Peterson Joseph, and Jimmy Nielsen are the other 6. This, though, shouldn't bother you as much when it comes to the potential DP signing. A few of these guys are closing in on green cards. Particularly Aiyegbusi and Nielsen should be close to getting their GC's. Aiyegbusi in particular should really be trying to get his green card, if he doesn't then he would seem a prime candidate to be on his way out.
In the second round, KC grabbed a player that will hopefully fill the depth at center back need. KC grabbed Costal Carolina defender, Cyprian Hedrick. Hedrick was listed as a midfielder when in college, but Vermes sees him as more of a center back at the professional level. Hedrick hadn't been invited to the MLS combine, but does seem to fit some of the things that Vermes likes in a defender, having the ability to control and pass the ball well. The below video shows some of those things. The other things that some fans have said in regards to the video is that Hedrick reminds some people of Julio Cesar's composure and poise on the ball. He's a fairly unknown for most people and like a few of Vermes' previous draft picks. At this point for me, he's earned the benefit of doubt of with a few of his picks when he's been able to do fairly well in the draft.
With the 16th overall draft, KC appeared to get a very good steal that late in the draft. KC was able to grab 21 year old, Generation Adidas forward, Dom Dwyer from South Florida. Dwyer was a late signing to this year's Generation Adidas class, signing only a few days before the combine actually started. The Englishmen scored 16 goals in 20 appearances in his junior year at South Florida. the 5'9" forward has the strength to play with his back to goal, but would seem more destined to play a bit more wide in KC's system. But could see himself playing centrally as well, as Peter Vermes likes to have his forwards rotate positioning.
Some people are asking why Vermes went with a forward in the first round for the 3rd straight year, when KC could look to fill other spots on their roster. With Dwyer added to the forward line with Teal Bunbury, CJ Sapong, Soony Saad, Kei Kamara, possibly Bobby Convey and Birahim Diop, and any other potential signings, and the forward line is getting pretty crowded. But there are a few reasons why the Dwyer pick makes sense for KC. First, Dwyer is going to be cap exempt, he's not going to count against KC's senior roster and his salary isn't going to count against the cap either. Second, with Bunbury is likely to miss time this summer with the US Olympic team in London and Sapong on the USMNT radar now, there's the possibility of one or both being gone at any one time. Without one of them, you're depth is wearing thing. Remember KC plays with 3 forwards, if one is gone, or injured, your forward depth goes down pretty quickly, so having another forward isn't a bad thing. As has been said a few times about the 4-3-3, you can never have too many forwards.
The other worry in regards to Dwyer was his international status. The question was whether he was going to take up a precious international spot on KC's roster. Currently KC is utilizing 6 of their 7 international spots after trading one to San Jose in the Bobby Convey trade. Dwyer IS going to take up an international spot. What that means is that KC is at this time utilizing all 7 of their available international spots. Korede Aiyegbusi, Julio Cesar, Aurelien Collin, Daneil Cyrus, Peterson Joseph, and Jimmy Nielsen are the other 6. This, though, shouldn't bother you as much when it comes to the potential DP signing. A few of these guys are closing in on green cards. Particularly Aiyegbusi and Nielsen should be close to getting their GC's. Aiyegbusi in particular should really be trying to get his green card, if he doesn't then he would seem a prime candidate to be on his way out.
In the second round, KC grabbed a player that will hopefully fill the depth at center back need. KC grabbed Costal Carolina defender, Cyprian Hedrick. Hedrick was listed as a midfielder when in college, but Vermes sees him as more of a center back at the professional level. Hedrick hadn't been invited to the MLS combine, but does seem to fit some of the things that Vermes likes in a defender, having the ability to control and pass the ball well. The below video shows some of those things. The other things that some fans have said in regards to the video is that Hedrick reminds some people of Julio Cesar's composure and poise on the ball. He's a fairly unknown for most people and like a few of Vermes' previous draft picks. At this point for me, he's earned the benefit of doubt of with a few of his picks when he's been able to do fairly well in the draft.
With 30th Pick KC Select
With the 30th pick, KC selected defender, Cyprian Hedrick. Hedrick is a 6 foot center back from Costal Carolina University. Like Dom Dwyer, he is a junior college transfer to CCU. He is the CB depth that I thought we needed.
Sporting KC Select Dwyer
For the 3rd year in a row in the first round of the MLS draft, KC selected a forward. This year KC selected Generation Adidas forward from South Florida, Dom Dwyer. The native of Lonodon, England is smaller than KC's last two forward, Dwyer is 5'9", but another good addition to the team. Will have more, including quotes, later tonight.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
New US Open Cup Format
Today, US Soccer has announced changes to the US Open Cup that had been rumored for a few months. Plenty of changes have been made to the format and the design of the tournament. As a whole, all the moves that were made I would say were for the better.
First, all 32 professional teams in the United States will be competing in the tournament. That means all 16 MLS teams qualify for the tournament proper, no more qualifying for MLS teams. Not that it totally matters for KC this year as they would have been in the tournament proper automatically, but I like the fact that there are no longer qualifying games for the teams in the countries top division.
The second, and possibly the biggest change is the bidding process. US Soccer has changed the bidding process for the first round through the quarterfinals. Instead of teams bidding to host the game, the first round through the quarterfinals, teams will apply to host, and if both teams meet the USSF qualifications, there will be a blind draw. The semifinals and finals though will still use the same bidding process that had been used in the past.
The tournament will start on May 15th with the 32 amateur teams. The second round is on the 22nd, when the 16 NASL and USL Pro teams enter the tournament. Sporting KC and the rest of the US based MLS teams will enter the tournament in the third round on May 29th. That will be two days after Sporting host San Jose in a game on NBC Sports. The next round should KC advance would be on June 4th. The good news for KC is that KC's next league game after the 27th against San Jose is on the 16th. The quarterfinals would be on 6/26, the semifinals 7/10, and the finals would be on 8/7 or 8/8. A very condensed schedule this year for the cup.
Read the post from TheCup.us, the unofficial home for the US Open Cup for lots more information on the new format.
First, all 32 professional teams in the United States will be competing in the tournament. That means all 16 MLS teams qualify for the tournament proper, no more qualifying for MLS teams. Not that it totally matters for KC this year as they would have been in the tournament proper automatically, but I like the fact that there are no longer qualifying games for the teams in the countries top division.
The second, and possibly the biggest change is the bidding process. US Soccer has changed the bidding process for the first round through the quarterfinals. Instead of teams bidding to host the game, the first round through the quarterfinals, teams will apply to host, and if both teams meet the USSF qualifications, there will be a blind draw. The semifinals and finals though will still use the same bidding process that had been used in the past.
The tournament will start on May 15th with the 32 amateur teams. The second round is on the 22nd, when the 16 NASL and USL Pro teams enter the tournament. Sporting KC and the rest of the US based MLS teams will enter the tournament in the third round on May 29th. That will be two days after Sporting host San Jose in a game on NBC Sports. The next round should KC advance would be on June 4th. The good news for KC is that KC's next league game after the 27th against San Jose is on the 16th. The quarterfinals would be on 6/26, the semifinals 7/10, and the finals would be on 8/7 or 8/8. A very condensed schedule this year for the cup.
Read the post from TheCup.us, the unofficial home for the US Open Cup for lots more information on the new format.
Former SKC Wizards Update
Here's this week's former SKC Wizards update for you.
Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Milos Stojcev
Shavar Thomas
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson
MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Frankie Hejduk - LA - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Mike Jones - New York - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.
NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.
PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.
NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Played in Wichita's 13-10 loss to Missouri.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - No game this week.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Played in Baltimore's 21-6 win over Syracuse. Played in Baltimore's 8-5 win over Rochester.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Had 3 goals and 1 assist in Louisville's 15-5 win over Illinois.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Placed on IR for the Comets
Craig Rocastle - Comets - Did not play in either of Missouri's games.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Did not have a game this week.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Had a goal and 3 assists in Anaheim's 14-13 loss to Tijuana. Had 2 assists in Anaheim's 13-6 loss to San Diego.
International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 82 minutes in Cruz Azul's 1-1 draw with Tigres.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - No game this week.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Season over.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Santos' 0-0 draw with Pachuca.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - No game this week
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - No game this week.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - On winter break.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Tied Police United 1-1.
Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Milos Stojcev
Shavar Thomas
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson
MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Frankie Hejduk - LA - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Mike Jones - New York - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.
NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.
PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.
NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Played in Wichita's 13-10 loss to Missouri.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - No game this week.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Played in Baltimore's 21-6 win over Syracuse. Played in Baltimore's 8-5 win over Rochester.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Had 3 goals and 1 assist in Louisville's 15-5 win over Illinois.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Placed on IR for the Comets
Craig Rocastle - Comets - Did not play in either of Missouri's games.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Did not have a game this week.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Had a goal and 3 assists in Anaheim's 14-13 loss to Tijuana. Had 2 assists in Anaheim's 13-6 loss to San Diego.
International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 82 minutes in Cruz Azul's 1-1 draw with Tigres.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - No game this week.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Season over.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Santos' 0-0 draw with Pachuca.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - No game this week
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - No game this week.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - On winter break.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Tied Police United 1-1.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
LIVESTRONG Finalist for All Star Game?
Photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson
Reports out of Philadelphia today are that the bidding to host the 2012 all star game is down to the final two. Union blog, The Brotherly Game is reporting that PPL Park and LIVESTRONG Sporting Park are the two finalists, beating out BC Place of Vancouver and Saputo Stadium in Montreal. Some reports out of Philadelphia are that PPL Park has already won the bid to host the game, but the Brotherly Game article indicates that nothing has been decided.
It'd be cool to have the All Star game in KC. KC is only original city in MLS to not host either MLS Cup or the All Star game so it'd be nice for KC to finally host one of the marquee events of the league.
Monday, January 09, 2012
Most Starts for KC
More stats updates for you on Sporting KC. This time it's the most starts for KC in league play and in all competitions.
League
Kerry Zavagnin - 228
Nick Garcia - 224
Davy Arnaud - 213
Jimmy Conrad - 203
Preki - 199
Chris Klein - 183
Jack Jewsbury - 142
Mo Johnston - 142
Josh Wolff - 128
Matt McKeon - 126
Tony Meola - 125
Michael Harrington - 119
Jose Burciaga - 110
Diego Gutierrez - 108
Uche Okafor - 107
Sean Bowers - 104
Matt Besler - 68
Roger Espinoza - 67
Jimmy Nielsen - 60
Kei Kamara - 55
Chance Myers - 37
Graham Zusi - 34
Teal Bunbury - 33
Julio Cesar - 25
CJ Sapong - 22
Aurelien Collin - 21
Seth Sinovic - 20
Birahim Diop - 15
Luke Sassano - 5
Eric Kronberg - 4
Korede Aiyegbusi - 3
Daneil Cyrus - 1
Matt Besler and Roger Espinoza have a chance to make it to the 100 starts club next season, but they need to start almost every single game for Sporting this coming season.
All Competitions
Kerry Zavagnin - 281
Nick Garcia - 272
Davy Arnaud - 234
Preki - 229
Jimmy Conrad - 228
Chris Klein - 216
Jack Jewsbury - 162
Matt McKeon - 159
Mo Johnston - 157
Tony Meola - 156
Josh Wolff - 144
Diego Gutierrez - 135
Michael Harrington - 133
Jose Burciaga - 123
Uche Okafor - 116
Sean Bowers - 113
Bo Oshoniyi - 105
Mark Chung - 103
Sasha Victorine - 102
Kevin Hartman - 100
Matt Besler - 78
Roger Espinoza - 76
Jimmy Nielsen - 63
Kei Kamara - 61
Chance Myers - 45
Graham Zusi - 40
Teal Bunbury - 40
Julio Cesar - 28
Aurelien Collin - 27
CJ Sapong - 26
Seth Sinovic - 24
Birahim Diop - 17
Eric Kronberg - 12
Luke Sassano - 9
Korede Aiyegbusi - 4
Daneil Cyrus - 1
An easier task for Besler and Espinoza to make the 100 start list. As with the above list, Michael Harrington is the only active player on the list that has hit 100 starts in all competitions for KC.
League
Kerry Zavagnin - 228
Nick Garcia - 224
Davy Arnaud - 213
Jimmy Conrad - 203
Preki - 199
Chris Klein - 183
Jack Jewsbury - 142
Mo Johnston - 142
Josh Wolff - 128
Matt McKeon - 126
Tony Meola - 125
Michael Harrington - 119
Jose Burciaga - 110
Diego Gutierrez - 108
Uche Okafor - 107
Sean Bowers - 104
Matt Besler - 68
Roger Espinoza - 67
Jimmy Nielsen - 60
Kei Kamara - 55
Chance Myers - 37
Graham Zusi - 34
Teal Bunbury - 33
Julio Cesar - 25
CJ Sapong - 22
Aurelien Collin - 21
Seth Sinovic - 20
Birahim Diop - 15
Luke Sassano - 5
Eric Kronberg - 4
Korede Aiyegbusi - 3
Daneil Cyrus - 1
Matt Besler and Roger Espinoza have a chance to make it to the 100 starts club next season, but they need to start almost every single game for Sporting this coming season.
All Competitions
Kerry Zavagnin - 281
Nick Garcia - 272
Davy Arnaud - 234
Preki - 229
Jimmy Conrad - 228
Chris Klein - 216
Jack Jewsbury - 162
Matt McKeon - 159
Mo Johnston - 157
Tony Meola - 156
Josh Wolff - 144
Diego Gutierrez - 135
Michael Harrington - 133
Jose Burciaga - 123
Uche Okafor - 116
Sean Bowers - 113
Bo Oshoniyi - 105
Mark Chung - 103
Sasha Victorine - 102
Kevin Hartman - 100
Matt Besler - 78
Roger Espinoza - 76
Jimmy Nielsen - 63
Kei Kamara - 61
Chance Myers - 45
Graham Zusi - 40
Teal Bunbury - 40
Julio Cesar - 28
Aurelien Collin - 27
CJ Sapong - 26
Seth Sinovic - 24
Birahim Diop - 17
Eric Kronberg - 12
Luke Sassano - 9
Korede Aiyegbusi - 4
Daneil Cyrus - 1
An easier task for Besler and Espinoza to make the 100 start list. As with the above list, Michael Harrington is the only active player on the list that has hit 100 starts in all competitions for KC.
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Michael Thomas in Final Contract Negotiations?
A few weeks ago, comments were made publicly about Michael Thomas coming to Kansas City. As mentioned previously, the Notre Dame grad has played with multiple members of Sporting KC, including Matt Besler and Seth Sinovic. Word out of Sweden is that Thomas will definitely not be returning to club, Ljungskile SK. Reports also say that Thomas is in the final stages of negotiations with the Wizards. He'd become the 5th KC player on the roster with the previously mentioned Besler and Sinovic, and home grown players Kevin Ellis and Jon Kempin.
Thomas was drafted in the second round of the 2010 MLS Superdraft by San Jose. Instead of signing with the Earthquakes though, Thomas went abroad to Sweden. When a team drafts a player in MLS, that club holds his MLS rights for 2 seasons. When the calender switched over to 2012, San Jose's claim to Thomas expired, meaning that KC was free to work on signing the midfielder. As it stands right now, Thomas would become the 3rd new player this offseason (I'm not totally counting the re-acquisition of Sinovic from Montreal).
Thomas was drafted in the second round of the 2010 MLS Superdraft by San Jose. Instead of signing with the Earthquakes though, Thomas went abroad to Sweden. When a team drafts a player in MLS, that club holds his MLS rights for 2 seasons. When the calender switched over to 2012, San Jose's claim to Thomas expired, meaning that KC was free to work on signing the midfielder. As it stands right now, Thomas would become the 3rd new player this offseason (I'm not totally counting the re-acquisition of Sinovic from Montreal).
Most Appearances
More updating of stats for you, here is an updated list of players with over 100 appearances for Kansas City in league play and in all competitions. Also included in on this list is where the rest of the current roster stands in terms of appearances.
League
Davy Arnaud - 240
Kerry Zavagnin - 237
Nick Garcia - 224
Preki - 218
Jimmy Conrad - 204
Chris Klein - 200
Jack Jewsbury - 195
Mo Johnston - 149
Josh Wolff - 144
Matt McKeon - 144
Michael Harrington - 138
Tony Meola - 125
Chris Brown - 123
Diego Gutierrez - 119
Uche Okafor - 119
Jose Burciaga - 115
Francisco Gomez - 114
Sean Bowers - 111
Sasha Victorine - 106
Digital Takawira - 103
Roger Espinoza - 87
Matt Besler - 72
Kei Kamara - 65
Graham Zusi - 64
Jimmy Nielsen - 60
Chance Myers - 59
Teal Bunbury - 55
CJ Sapong - 34
Birahim Diop - 33
Julio Cesar - 27
Aurelien Collin - 23
Seth Sinovic - 20
Luke Sassano - 9
Korede Aiyegbusi - 8
Eric Kronberg - 5
Soony Saad - 4
Daneil Cyrus - 2
Lawrence Olum - 1
Peterson Joseph - 1
Davy Arnaud took over the number one spot on the list this season, but with his departure, Michael Harrington is the only player on the roster to appear in 100 games for KC. Roger Espinoza and Matt Besler both have good shots at hitting that mark this season though.
Now for the list in all competitions.
Kerry Zavagnin - 291
Davy Arnaud - 273
Nick Garcia - 273
Preki - 254
Chris Klein - 235
Jimmy Conrad - 230
Jack Jewsbury - 218
Matt McKeon - 183
Mo Johnston - 169
Josh Wolff - 165
Michael Harrington - 157
Tony Meola - 156
Chris Brown - 150
Diego Gutierrez - 147
Francisco Gomez - 141
Jose Burciaga - 130
Uche Okafor - 130
Sean Bowers - 120
Sasha Victorine - 114
Digital Takawira - 111
Bo Oshoniyi - 110
Mark Chung - 104
Shavar Thomas - 101
Kevin Hartman - 100
Roger Espinoza - 99
Matt Besler - 83
Kei Kamara - 73
Graham Zusi - 71
Chance Myers - 68
Jimmy Nielsen - 63
Teal Bunbury - 62
CJ Sapong - 40
Birahim Diop - 39
Julio Cesar - 30
Aurelien Collin - 29
Seth Sinovic - 24
Luke Sassano - 13
Eric Kronberg - 13
Korede Aiyegbusi - 10
Soony Saad - 6
Daneil Cyrus - 2
Kevin Ellis - 1
Lawrence Olum - 1
Peterson Joseph - 1
Shavar Thomas joined the list this year, but his and Arnaud's departure once again sees Harrington as the only player currently on the team with over 100 appearances. That will definitely change next season. In fact, 4-5 players could be joining the list next year, as Espinoza is only 1 appearance away. Besler is also very likely going to hit the mark. Kei Kamara and Graham Zusi are less than 30 games away, while Chance Myers is currently 32 away from the 100 mark.
League
Davy Arnaud - 240
Kerry Zavagnin - 237
Nick Garcia - 224
Preki - 218
Jimmy Conrad - 204
Chris Klein - 200
Jack Jewsbury - 195
Mo Johnston - 149
Josh Wolff - 144
Matt McKeon - 144
Michael Harrington - 138
Tony Meola - 125
Chris Brown - 123
Diego Gutierrez - 119
Uche Okafor - 119
Jose Burciaga - 115
Francisco Gomez - 114
Sean Bowers - 111
Sasha Victorine - 106
Digital Takawira - 103
Roger Espinoza - 87
Matt Besler - 72
Kei Kamara - 65
Graham Zusi - 64
Jimmy Nielsen - 60
Chance Myers - 59
Teal Bunbury - 55
CJ Sapong - 34
Birahim Diop - 33
Julio Cesar - 27
Aurelien Collin - 23
Seth Sinovic - 20
Luke Sassano - 9
Korede Aiyegbusi - 8
Eric Kronberg - 5
Soony Saad - 4
Daneil Cyrus - 2
Lawrence Olum - 1
Peterson Joseph - 1
Davy Arnaud took over the number one spot on the list this season, but with his departure, Michael Harrington is the only player on the roster to appear in 100 games for KC. Roger Espinoza and Matt Besler both have good shots at hitting that mark this season though.
Now for the list in all competitions.
Kerry Zavagnin - 291
Davy Arnaud - 273
Nick Garcia - 273
Preki - 254
Chris Klein - 235
Jimmy Conrad - 230
Jack Jewsbury - 218
Matt McKeon - 183
Mo Johnston - 169
Josh Wolff - 165
Michael Harrington - 157
Tony Meola - 156
Chris Brown - 150
Diego Gutierrez - 147
Francisco Gomez - 141
Jose Burciaga - 130
Uche Okafor - 130
Sean Bowers - 120
Sasha Victorine - 114
Digital Takawira - 111
Bo Oshoniyi - 110
Mark Chung - 104
Shavar Thomas - 101
Kevin Hartman - 100
Roger Espinoza - 99
Matt Besler - 83
Kei Kamara - 73
Graham Zusi - 71
Chance Myers - 68
Jimmy Nielsen - 63
Teal Bunbury - 62
CJ Sapong - 40
Birahim Diop - 39
Julio Cesar - 30
Aurelien Collin - 29
Seth Sinovic - 24
Luke Sassano - 13
Eric Kronberg - 13
Korede Aiyegbusi - 10
Soony Saad - 6
Daneil Cyrus - 2
Kevin Ellis - 1
Lawrence Olum - 1
Peterson Joseph - 1
Shavar Thomas joined the list this year, but his and Arnaud's departure once again sees Harrington as the only player currently on the team with over 100 appearances. That will definitely change next season. In fact, 4-5 players could be joining the list next year, as Espinoza is only 1 appearance away. Besler is also very likely going to hit the mark. Kei Kamara and Graham Zusi are less than 30 games away, while Chance Myers is currently 32 away from the 100 mark.