Alfredo Pedulla, a journalist in Italy posted earlier today that a move by Italian giants, Juventus for Sporting KC defender, Erik Palmer-Brown was close. He explained that the club has reached a deal with Sporting and it's just a matter of negotiating with MLS to secure the deal. The deal would not go through until the 2015 summer transfer window, because Palmer-Brown does not turn 18 until April of 2015 and does not hold a EU passport. The combination of factors means that Palmer-Brown would have to wait until the summer to move abroad.
On the surface this would be a great move for Palmer-Brown who would get to play for a team that has great defenders like Alessandro Birindelli, Antonio Cabrini, Fabio Cannavaro, and numerous others. Palmer-Brown would likely start out going out on loans to other teams in Italy, probably in Serie B or Serie C to get him further experience.
The deal would net Sporting KC over $1.2 million dollars, the second highest transfer fee of the year after KC got around $1.5 million for Oriol Rosell earlier this year.
Personally I am still a little skeptical of the report. Why? Mainly because Pedulla has been reporting since January that a deal between Sporting and Juventus was "nearly done" since January when the rumor really started to crop up. Pedulla seems to write a story every month or so with an update on the situation without really giving an update (he provided an "update" in September). And I'm to the point where I'm tired of hearing the reports from him without any other media reporting it, without referencing back to him.
I'm not saying that the deal won't happen, or even that Sporting hasn't talked about selling Palmer-Brown to Juventus. Cause both are false. Sporting reportedly turned down a deal in January, and Juventus representatives were at Sporting's preseason to watch the American youth international.What I'm saying is that I'm going to take anything that Pedulla says regarding Palmer-Brown with a grain of salt until I see another reputable news source report it is a done deal without referencing back to Pedulla.
For me, Palmer-Brown will eventually make the jump to Europe as long as he continues to develop. While he showed his inexperience this year at times with the Sporting first team, he also showed the ability, athleticism, and skill that has made him one a member of the US U20 roster at 17 and has him on the radar of a club like Juventus. I'm just tired of the same reports coming out from the same person month after month.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Comets Lack Intensity but Still Cruise
It's not often that you say a blow out win was less than impressive, but that's exactly what tonight's Missouri Comets win over the Harrisburg Heat was. Playing their only game of the regular season under the old multi-point scoring system, the Missouri Comets brushed aside the winless Heat 24-10, but overall the performance just felt flat watching the game. This feeling was shared by at least one of the Comets players, Max Touloute, on Twitter who asked after the game "why does this feel like a loss."
The Comets did come out with some fire though, scoring two goals within two and a half minutes of the game starting with Robert Palmer and Leo Gibson both being set up by Touloute to make it 4-0. The Heat struck back to make it 4-2 before the three minute mark. Palmer quickly restored the Comets two goal lead just after three minutes. From there the Comets seemed to settle into the game content to play around. Bryan Perez did add another goal on the power play to make it 8-2 near the midpoint of the half. It looked like if the Comets wanted they could blow the game wide open, but they never got out of first gear. With less than a minute left in the quarter Milan Ivanovic scored from inside the box to make it 10-2 at the end of one quarter.
The second quarter saw the Comets continue to but do so in a very laid back manner. Just 18 seconds in though Andrew Braithwaite made it 12-2 for the Comets. Palmer finished off his hattrik around the midpoint of the quarter making it 14-2 by the media timeout of the quarter. Late in the quarter the Comets allowed the Heat to cut the lead back to 10 at 14-4 where the teams went into halftime at.
The third quarter saw no scoring as the Comets continued to stay in first gear. Whether that was by design or struggle to get up against an inferior opponent is one that could be debated. Counting tonight's 24-10 (12-5) win, the Comets have won their four games against teams in the old PASL by an average of 8 goals a game. Their other win was a 9-7 win over the Milwaukee Wave.
The fourth quarter saw the teams come out scoring after the scoreless third. The Comets rattled off three goals in the first three minutes with Perez, Vahid Assadpour, and Stefan Stokic all finding the net, two were assisted by Gibson giving him four on the night to go with his one goal. After the Heat cut the lead to 20-6, The Comets scored twice more in less than a minute to go to 24-6 with Braithwaite and Assadpour both finding net for the second time. In the last five minutes the Heat made the score closer, scoring twice to end the game at 24-10.
Still the game never felt that close, the Comets just never seemed to really turn their game on. They'll have to turn it on come Friday when they return home to take on the Chicago Mustangs who surprised the Wave tonight 5-4 to give the former PASL teams their first win over one of the MISL's "big 3" (Baltimore, Milwaukee, Missouri).
The Comets did come out with some fire though, scoring two goals within two and a half minutes of the game starting with Robert Palmer and Leo Gibson both being set up by Touloute to make it 4-0. The Heat struck back to make it 4-2 before the three minute mark. Palmer quickly restored the Comets two goal lead just after three minutes. From there the Comets seemed to settle into the game content to play around. Bryan Perez did add another goal on the power play to make it 8-2 near the midpoint of the half. It looked like if the Comets wanted they could blow the game wide open, but they never got out of first gear. With less than a minute left in the quarter Milan Ivanovic scored from inside the box to make it 10-2 at the end of one quarter.
The second quarter saw the Comets continue to but do so in a very laid back manner. Just 18 seconds in though Andrew Braithwaite made it 12-2 for the Comets. Palmer finished off his hattrik around the midpoint of the quarter making it 14-2 by the media timeout of the quarter. Late in the quarter the Comets allowed the Heat to cut the lead back to 10 at 14-4 where the teams went into halftime at.
The third quarter saw no scoring as the Comets continued to stay in first gear. Whether that was by design or struggle to get up against an inferior opponent is one that could be debated. Counting tonight's 24-10 (12-5) win, the Comets have won their four games against teams in the old PASL by an average of 8 goals a game. Their other win was a 9-7 win over the Milwaukee Wave.
The fourth quarter saw the teams come out scoring after the scoreless third. The Comets rattled off three goals in the first three minutes with Perez, Vahid Assadpour, and Stefan Stokic all finding the net, two were assisted by Gibson giving him four on the night to go with his one goal. After the Heat cut the lead to 20-6, The Comets scored twice more in less than a minute to go to 24-6 with Braithwaite and Assadpour both finding net for the second time. In the last five minutes the Heat made the score closer, scoring twice to end the game at 24-10.
Still the game never felt that close, the Comets just never seemed to really turn their game on. They'll have to turn it on come Friday when they return home to take on the Chicago Mustangs who surprised the Wave tonight 5-4 to give the former PASL teams their first win over one of the MISL's "big 3" (Baltimore, Milwaukee, Missouri).
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Mravec and Teammates Walk Out on Seattle Impact - Former SKC Wizards Update
For those that haven't been following my Twitter feed, you've missed a lot of news regarding indoor soccer, specifically the Seattle Impact, an expansion team in the new MASL, which the Missouri Comets are also part of. The TL;DR version of the story is basically that their owner, Dion Earl is a part of a lawsuit against him, the team, and the league for sexual assault. Really the story as a whole is like bad TV, if you haven't read up on it, just read this interview he did with Deadspin, it's just crazy.
Anyway, I bring that up, because former KC draft pick Michal Mravec had signed to play with the Impact this season. His stint with the Impact though lasted just one game as he and 22 teammates walked out on the club because of Earl's conduct. Earl referred to it as a "mutiny." The Impact found more players that have allowed them to continue playing at this time.
In other indoor soccer news, one former player has replaced another on the roster for the St. Louis Ambush. For the second year in a row, Jamar Beasley is out in St. Louis. This year he at least played one game for the Ambush before leaving. Replacing him on the Ambush roster is KC's 2014 second round pick, Adnan Gabeljic. Gabeljic had been without a club since being waived by the OKC Energy.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Jamar Beasley
Federico Bessone
Jose Burciaga
Toni Dovale
Edson Elcock
Andy Gruenebaum
Mechack Jerome
Peterson Joseph
Neal Kitson
Eric Kronberg
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Akeem Priestly
Scott Sealy
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
Sal Zizzo
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, recording a goal and an assist in New England's 2-1 win over New York.
Bobby Convey - New York - Did not dress in New York's 2-1 loss to New England.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 8-7 win over Chicago. Waived by St. Louis.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Just signed with St. Louis.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 27-0 win over Harrisburg.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Started in Wichita's 13-3 loss to Missouri. Started in Wichita's 3-2 OT loss to Dallas.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 2-0 loss to Plauen.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring two goals in Chivas' 2-1 win over Morelia.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Argentina - No game this week.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Offseason.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 2-0 loss to Jaguares. Started and played 56 minutes before being red carded in Cucuta's 2-1 win over Atletico Bucaramanga.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Started and played 70 minutes in Wigan's 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough.
Herculez Gomez - Tigres - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 8 minutes in Tigres' 2-1 win over Toluca.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - América RN - Brazil - Did not play in America's 1-0 win over Nautico.
Will John - Maghreb Fes - Morocco - Tied Raja Casablanca 1-1.
Igor Kostrov - Veris - Moldova - Defeated Academia 3-0.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in San Martin's 1-0 loss to Cesar Vallejo. Came off the bench and played 16 minutes in San Martin's 1-1 draw with Juan Aurich.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 62 minutes in Servete's 1-1 draw with FC Schaffhausen.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Started and played 88 minutes, recording an assist in Spartak's 4-2 win over Mordovia Saransk.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - Just signed for the club.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Sporting's 5-0 win over Espinho. Did not dress in Sporting's 3-1 win over Maribor in the Champions League.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in Blackburn's 2-1 win over Leeds.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 90 minutes in Sarajevo's 2-0 win over Sloboda Tuzla.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 89 minutes in Saarbrucken's 1-0 win over Homburg.
Anyway, I bring that up, because former KC draft pick Michal Mravec had signed to play with the Impact this season. His stint with the Impact though lasted just one game as he and 22 teammates walked out on the club because of Earl's conduct. Earl referred to it as a "mutiny." The Impact found more players that have allowed them to continue playing at this time.
In other indoor soccer news, one former player has replaced another on the roster for the St. Louis Ambush. For the second year in a row, Jamar Beasley is out in St. Louis. This year he at least played one game for the Ambush before leaving. Replacing him on the Ambush roster is KC's 2014 second round pick, Adnan Gabeljic. Gabeljic had been without a club since being waived by the OKC Energy.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Jamar Beasley
Federico Bessone
Jose Burciaga
Toni Dovale
Edson Elcock
Andy Gruenebaum
Mechack Jerome
Peterson Joseph
Neal Kitson
Eric Kronberg
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Akeem Priestly
Scott Sealy
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
Sal Zizzo
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, recording a goal and an assist in New England's 2-1 win over New York.
Bobby Convey - New York - Did not dress in New York's 2-1 loss to New England.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 8-7 win over Chicago. Waived by St. Louis.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Just signed with St. Louis.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 27-0 win over Harrisburg.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Started in Wichita's 13-3 loss to Missouri. Started in Wichita's 3-2 OT loss to Dallas.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 2-0 loss to Plauen.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring two goals in Chivas' 2-1 win over Morelia.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Argentina - No game this week.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Offseason.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 2-0 loss to Jaguares. Started and played 56 minutes before being red carded in Cucuta's 2-1 win over Atletico Bucaramanga.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Started and played 70 minutes in Wigan's 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough.
Herculez Gomez - Tigres - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 8 minutes in Tigres' 2-1 win over Toluca.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - América RN - Brazil - Did not play in America's 1-0 win over Nautico.
Will John - Maghreb Fes - Morocco - Tied Raja Casablanca 1-1.
Igor Kostrov - Veris - Moldova - Defeated Academia 3-0.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in San Martin's 1-0 loss to Cesar Vallejo. Came off the bench and played 16 minutes in San Martin's 1-1 draw with Juan Aurich.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 62 minutes in Servete's 1-1 draw with FC Schaffhausen.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Started and played 88 minutes, recording an assist in Spartak's 4-2 win over Mordovia Saransk.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - Just signed for the club.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Sporting's 5-0 win over Espinho. Did not dress in Sporting's 3-1 win over Maribor in the Champions League.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in Blackburn's 2-1 win over Leeds.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 90 minutes in Sarajevo's 2-0 win over Sloboda Tuzla.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 89 minutes in Saarbrucken's 1-0 win over Homburg.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Three Academy Graduates Still Alive in College Cup
The NCAA tournament first two rounds have completed and heading into this weekend, three graduates from the Sporting KC academy are still alive. Eric DeJulio and Creighton received a first round bye and then beat Oregon State 1-0 to advance to the next round. They will host Xavier in Omaha this coming weekend. The other two still alive, Zach Wright and Andy Lopez both at North Carolina. Lopez has not played this season for UNC, while Wright came on as a substitute and recorded an assist in UNC's 6-0 win over James Madison. Wright didn't play in UNC's 2-1 win over Charlotte. The Tar Heels will now play Clemson in the next round.
Class of 2010
Brandon Fricke (Butler University) - D - RSr - Season over.
Class of 2011
Eric Hymer (Fort Hays State) - D - Sr - Started in Fort Hays 1-1 (3-2) shootout win over Northeastern State. Started in Fort Hays 3-2 loss to Quincy.
Raymond Lee (Saint Louis University) - MF - Sr - Started in Saint Louis' 2-0 win over Tulsa. Started in Saint Louis' 2-1 loss to Louisville.
Eric Moore (Rockhurst University) - D - Sr - Season over.
Michael Oakley (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - Sr - Season over.
Paul Oliver (California Baptist) - D/MF - Sr - Season over.
Jordan Rideout (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - Sr - Season over.
Taylor Vinnage (Benedictine) - GK - Sr - Season over.
Class of 2012
Andrew Brown (Bradley University) - MF - Jr - Season over.
Eric DeJulio (Creighton University) - D - Jr - Started in Creighton's 1-0 win over Oregon State.
Daniel Hare (Loyola University in Chicago) - D - Jr - Season over.
Andrew Lightner (Dayton) - D - RSo - Season over.
Andrew Miller (Baker University) - D - Jr - Started in Baker's 4-1 loss to Rio Grande.
Nate Opperman (University of Evansville) - F - Jr - Season over.
Derek Schrick (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - Jr - Season over.
Chris Tuso (Baker) - MF - Jr - Did not play in Baker's 4-1 loss to Rio Grande.
Shane Woods (Drury University) - F - Jr - Season over.
Class of 2013
Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - So - Season over.
Chris Arce (Neosho CC) - MF - So - Season over.
Matt Bernard (Drake) - MF - RFr - Season over.
Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - So - Season over.
Seo-In Kim (Duke) - MF - So - Season over.
Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - So - Season over.
Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - So - Season over.
Wes White (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - RFr - Season over.
Austin Wilcox (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - So - Season over.
Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - So - Started in Fort Hays 1-1 (3-2) shootout win over Northeastern State. Started in Fort Hays 3-2 loss to Quincy.
Kyle Vassar - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - RFr - Season over.
Class of 2014
Darby Cronin (University of Missouri Kansas City)- MF - Fr - Season over.
Andrew Dittemore (Missouri State) - GK - Fr - Season over.
Andy Ericks (Colorado School of Mines) - MF - Fr - Season over.
Heath Honold (Wake Forest) - F - Fr - Did not play in Wake's 0-0 (3-2) shootout loss to UMBC.
Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - Fr - Season over.
Blake Levine (Baker) - F - Fr - Came on as a substitute and scored a goal in Baker's 4-1 loss to Rio Grande.
Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - Fr - Started in Fordham's 2-1 loss to Dartmouth.
Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - Fr - Did not play in either of UNC's games.
Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - Fr - Season over.
Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - Fr - Season over.
Cole Stevenson (Denver) - F - Fr - Did not play in Denver's 1-0 loss to Oregon State.
Austin Williamson (Northeastern State University) - GK - Fr - Did not play in Northeastern State's 1-1 (3-2) shootout loss to Fort Hays State.
Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - Fr - Came on as a substitute and had an assist in North Carolina's 6-0 win over James Madison. Did not play in North Carolina's 2-1 win over Charlotte.
Class of 2010
Brandon Fricke (Butler University) - D - RSr - Season over.
Class of 2011
Eric Hymer (Fort Hays State) - D - Sr - Started in Fort Hays 1-1 (3-2) shootout win over Northeastern State. Started in Fort Hays 3-2 loss to Quincy.
Raymond Lee (Saint Louis University) - MF - Sr - Started in Saint Louis' 2-0 win over Tulsa. Started in Saint Louis' 2-1 loss to Louisville.
Eric Moore (Rockhurst University) - D - Sr - Season over.
Michael Oakley (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - Sr - Season over.
Paul Oliver (California Baptist) - D/MF - Sr - Season over.
Jordan Rideout (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - Sr - Season over.
Taylor Vinnage (Benedictine) - GK - Sr - Season over.
Class of 2012
Andrew Brown (Bradley University) - MF - Jr - Season over.
Eric DeJulio (Creighton University) - D - Jr - Started in Creighton's 1-0 win over Oregon State.
Daniel Hare (Loyola University in Chicago) - D - Jr - Season over.
Andrew Lightner (Dayton) - D - RSo - Season over.
Andrew Miller (Baker University) - D - Jr - Started in Baker's 4-1 loss to Rio Grande.
Nate Opperman (University of Evansville) - F - Jr - Season over.
Derek Schrick (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - Jr - Season over.
Chris Tuso (Baker) - MF - Jr - Did not play in Baker's 4-1 loss to Rio Grande.
Shane Woods (Drury University) - F - Jr - Season over.
Class of 2013
Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - So - Season over.
Chris Arce (Neosho CC) - MF - So - Season over.
Matt Bernard (Drake) - MF - RFr - Season over.
Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - So - Season over.
Seo-In Kim (Duke) - MF - So - Season over.
Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - So - Season over.
Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - So - Season over.
Wes White (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - RFr - Season over.
Austin Wilcox (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - So - Season over.
Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - So - Started in Fort Hays 1-1 (3-2) shootout win over Northeastern State. Started in Fort Hays 3-2 loss to Quincy.
Kyle Vassar - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - RFr - Season over.
Class of 2014
Darby Cronin (University of Missouri Kansas City)- MF - Fr - Season over.
Andrew Dittemore (Missouri State) - GK - Fr - Season over.
Andy Ericks (Colorado School of Mines) - MF - Fr - Season over.
Heath Honold (Wake Forest) - F - Fr - Did not play in Wake's 0-0 (3-2) shootout loss to UMBC.
Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - Fr - Season over.
Blake Levine (Baker) - F - Fr - Came on as a substitute and scored a goal in Baker's 4-1 loss to Rio Grande.
Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - Fr - Started in Fordham's 2-1 loss to Dartmouth.
Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - Fr - Did not play in either of UNC's games.
Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - Fr - Season over.
Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - Fr - Season over.
Cole Stevenson (Denver) - F - Fr - Did not play in Denver's 1-0 loss to Oregon State.
Austin Williamson (Northeastern State University) - GK - Fr - Did not play in Northeastern State's 1-1 (3-2) shootout loss to Fort Hays State.
Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - Fr - Came on as a substitute and had an assist in North Carolina's 6-0 win over James Madison. Did not play in North Carolina's 2-1 win over Charlotte.
Sporting KC a Number of Roster Moves
Sporting Kansas City made their first set of offseason moves today, declining options on six players, announcing four others out of contract, and mutually terminating the contract of Lawrence Olum.
The termination of Olum's contract paves the way for his move to Malaysia that came out yesterday. The move will allow Sporting to retain the Kenyan's MLS rights should he return to MLS.
Of the four players out of contract that Sporting is extending offers to, Aurelien Collin was already known. He's joined by the team's second homegrown player, Kevin Ellis, and forwards Jacob Peterson and Soony Saad.
Collin's contract discussions have already been well documented. He's looking for a pay increase, and with his center back partner, Matt Besler, signing a Designated Player contract during the season, you can bet that Collin is looking for something similar or at least a max. salary. That's something that I'm not sure that KC is going to give to Collin. Unless the new CBA is going to bump the salary cap a lot, I can't see KC using that much cap on their two starting central defenders.
Kevin Elllis had a break out year for Kansas City. With all the injuries and call ups along the back line, Ellis played all four of the defensive positions along the back line, partnering Matt Besler, Collin, Erik Palmer-Brown, Chance Myers, and probably others I'm forgetting. A bump in salary for him would either see him moved to the senior roster year, or take KC's other HGP slot above the minimum. With his play this year, he deserves the bump.
Jacob Peterson was another player who saw play all over the field for KC this year due to injuries. While Peterson has the work ethic that Peter Vermes loves, he plays a position (wing forward) that KC desperately needs to upgrade this season. Peterson though did prove himself to be capable as a fill in as a wing back for KC. At this point I wonder if that may not be the position he'd fill for KC. He'd still be able to get forward in KC's system, but he'd open up the wing position for a winger who can provide more offensively. If the price is right I'd like to keep him around.
Saad saw a drop in playing time this year for KC, playing over 400 fewer minutes than he did last year. He has plenty of talent, but I don't think he fits that well in Vermes' system. I like him, I think he can be a good forward in this league, but he's struggled out on the wing for KC, and with Dom Dwyer in the middle he's not going to get much time there. Development in his wing play is certainly something that needs to improve, but I'm in no way against keeping Saad around.
All four players have received bona fide offers, so the team will retain their rights, should they make it through the expansion draft without being taken.
For the six players who didn't have their options picked up, most are not surprising at all. Probably the most surprising would be Toni Dovale, who had looked dangerous at times on the wing for KC. But at $180,000 per the players union numbers, he did not produce enough for Vermes to want to keep the Spaniard around.
Sporting will also be in the market for goalkeepers this weekend as both Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum had their options declined. Kronberg came into the season as the starter, but never really looked comfortable in there. His time was marred by some poor decision making, most famously in the playoff loss to New York when he hesitated coming off his line and Bradley Wright-Phillips scored the winner late. As for Gruenebaum, he did okay for Kansas City when he started in place of Kronberg, but his issue was the fact that he just couldn't stay healthy. Three different times this past season Gruenebaum missed time due to injuries.
Sal Zizzo is probably a more disappointing loss for his work off the field on the Benny Feilhaber Show. Which is probably the reason his option wasn't picked up. Zizzo played in 19 games for KC, and only recorded three assists. None since a 2-2 draw with Toronto in May, although he did have a goal in the CCL late in the season. I had figured with all the defensive injuries that Vermes would try Zizzo in one of the wingback positions, as he'd played there with the Portland Timbers before coming to KC, but he never did.
The last two players are the least surprising of the moves. Victor Munoz and Michael Kafari made a combined one competitive appearance for Kansas City. Munoz started Kansas City's US Open Cup win over Minnesota, but left after about 30 minutes with an injury (and looked incredibly poor up to that point). Both played in the second half of KC's loss to Manchester City in a friendly during the season though.
Kronberg, Gruenebaum, and Zizzo will all go into the re-entry draft in mid-December (1st stage December 12, 2nd stage December 18). Kafari and Munoz will be available in the waiver draft on December 10th. Dovale will apparently not be available in either and has his out-right release.
While those six are gone, and look unlikely to be re-signed, KC did pick up the options of five others, keeping Jon Kempin, CJ Sapong, Ike Opara, Dom Dwyer, and Seth Sinovic with KC, at least into the expansion draft.
With these moves it certainly appears that KC is set for a busy offseason.
The termination of Olum's contract paves the way for his move to Malaysia that came out yesterday. The move will allow Sporting to retain the Kenyan's MLS rights should he return to MLS.
Of the four players out of contract that Sporting is extending offers to, Aurelien Collin was already known. He's joined by the team's second homegrown player, Kevin Ellis, and forwards Jacob Peterson and Soony Saad.
Collin's contract discussions have already been well documented. He's looking for a pay increase, and with his center back partner, Matt Besler, signing a Designated Player contract during the season, you can bet that Collin is looking for something similar or at least a max. salary. That's something that I'm not sure that KC is going to give to Collin. Unless the new CBA is going to bump the salary cap a lot, I can't see KC using that much cap on their two starting central defenders.
Kevin Elllis had a break out year for Kansas City. With all the injuries and call ups along the back line, Ellis played all four of the defensive positions along the back line, partnering Matt Besler, Collin, Erik Palmer-Brown, Chance Myers, and probably others I'm forgetting. A bump in salary for him would either see him moved to the senior roster year, or take KC's other HGP slot above the minimum. With his play this year, he deserves the bump.
Jacob Peterson was another player who saw play all over the field for KC this year due to injuries. While Peterson has the work ethic that Peter Vermes loves, he plays a position (wing forward) that KC desperately needs to upgrade this season. Peterson though did prove himself to be capable as a fill in as a wing back for KC. At this point I wonder if that may not be the position he'd fill for KC. He'd still be able to get forward in KC's system, but he'd open up the wing position for a winger who can provide more offensively. If the price is right I'd like to keep him around.
Saad saw a drop in playing time this year for KC, playing over 400 fewer minutes than he did last year. He has plenty of talent, but I don't think he fits that well in Vermes' system. I like him, I think he can be a good forward in this league, but he's struggled out on the wing for KC, and with Dom Dwyer in the middle he's not going to get much time there. Development in his wing play is certainly something that needs to improve, but I'm in no way against keeping Saad around.
All four players have received bona fide offers, so the team will retain their rights, should they make it through the expansion draft without being taken.
For the six players who didn't have their options picked up, most are not surprising at all. Probably the most surprising would be Toni Dovale, who had looked dangerous at times on the wing for KC. But at $180,000 per the players union numbers, he did not produce enough for Vermes to want to keep the Spaniard around.
Sporting will also be in the market for goalkeepers this weekend as both Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum had their options declined. Kronberg came into the season as the starter, but never really looked comfortable in there. His time was marred by some poor decision making, most famously in the playoff loss to New York when he hesitated coming off his line and Bradley Wright-Phillips scored the winner late. As for Gruenebaum, he did okay for Kansas City when he started in place of Kronberg, but his issue was the fact that he just couldn't stay healthy. Three different times this past season Gruenebaum missed time due to injuries.
Sal Zizzo is probably a more disappointing loss for his work off the field on the Benny Feilhaber Show. Which is probably the reason his option wasn't picked up. Zizzo played in 19 games for KC, and only recorded three assists. None since a 2-2 draw with Toronto in May, although he did have a goal in the CCL late in the season. I had figured with all the defensive injuries that Vermes would try Zizzo in one of the wingback positions, as he'd played there with the Portland Timbers before coming to KC, but he never did.
The last two players are the least surprising of the moves. Victor Munoz and Michael Kafari made a combined one competitive appearance for Kansas City. Munoz started Kansas City's US Open Cup win over Minnesota, but left after about 30 minutes with an injury (and looked incredibly poor up to that point). Both played in the second half of KC's loss to Manchester City in a friendly during the season though.
Kronberg, Gruenebaum, and Zizzo will all go into the re-entry draft in mid-December (1st stage December 12, 2nd stage December 18). Kafari and Munoz will be available in the waiver draft on December 10th. Dovale will apparently not be available in either and has his out-right release.
While those six are gone, and look unlikely to be re-signed, KC did pick up the options of five others, keeping Jon Kempin, CJ Sapong, Ike Opara, Dom Dwyer, and Seth Sinovic with KC, at least into the expansion draft.
With these moves it certainly appears that KC is set for a busy offseason.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Olum Looks Headed to Malaysia
Looks like the Sporting KC roster turnover that many were expecting has started. A licensed FIFA player agent, Arvind Narayan, announced today on Twitter that he had helped to close a deal between Sporting KC and Kedah FA in the Malaysian league for Sporting KC midfielder, Lawrence Olum. The Tweet has since been deleted, but I did get a screen shot of it.
The Kenyan had become a starter for Sporting KC this past season in the team's deep lying midfield role after the sale of Oriol Rosell to Sporting Portugal in Lisbon. Olum did okay in the position, but the drop in talent level was apparent. KC struggled with distribution with Olum sitting in the deep role. Used to Rosell being there to start the attack and string passes together, KC was forced to have Benny Feilhaber drop further back on the field to play the distribution role. This took Feilhaber out of the attack more, limiting the influence that he'd had in the early part of the season when Rosell was there.
Late in the season, Olum split time with Honduran, Jorge Claros, until Claros was suspended for three games, that combined with national team call ups was the rest of the regular season. His last appearance for the club came in the regular season finale against the New York Red Bulls, when he was subbed after 30 minutes in favor of Mikey Lopez.
Since signing with Kansas City in the middle of the 2011 season, Olum appeared in 67 games for KC, 40 of those starts. Over half those starts (21) came in the 2014 season. He also scored three goals for KC in his time here, including the one in the 2013 regular season finale against Philadelphia that allowed Kansas City to host MLS Cup 2013 against Real Salt Lake. The 30 year old also made his debut for his national team this year, playing for Kenya in their unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations.
While the move hasn't been announced by the team, Olum does appear in photographs on his new team's Facebook page. So this move seems to be happening. It'll be a bit of a blow for Kansas City's depth, but the position on the field I think is one that most KC fans would say needed to be upgraded from the 2014 season.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
End of Season Stats
Here are some stats from the 2014 Sporting KC season for you.
In all competitions over the last two years, including national team action, Matt Besler played 7,281 the most in any two year span for an Kansas City player.
In terms of just minutes for Sporting KC, Seth Sinovic also set a team record over the last two years, playing 7,208 in all competitions in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
KC was 6-5-6 in league play at home this year. The six league wins at home are the fewest since 2009 when KC won just four games at home.
The 21 goals conceded at home in league play was the most conceded at home since conceding 24 in 2006. The 25 in all competitions is the most since conceding 25 in 2006.
KC was 8-8-1 in league play on the road this year. The one away draw is the fewest in KC history.
KC was 8-11-2 in all competitions away from home, that's the most road losses since they lost 11 in 2006.
The 26 goals scored on the road in all competitions is the most since the team scored 30 in all competitions on the road in 2005.
The 30 goals conceded on the road in all competitions is the most since they conceded 31 in 2007.
Sporting conceded 55 goals in all competitions this year, that's the most conceded in one season since conceding 68 in 2002.
Dom Dwyer's 7 PK goals is the most in a single season since Preki scored 7 in 1996 (both were 7 of 8 from the spot in league play).
Dwyer also set team records for goals in a season in league play (22) and in all competitions (24).
Toni Dovale set a club record for international goals in a season with 3.
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored six goals against KC in all competitions this year. That's a club record for a single player. The previous record had been 5, held by seven players.
In all competitions over the last two years, including national team action, Matt Besler played 7,281 the most in any two year span for an Kansas City player.
In terms of just minutes for Sporting KC, Seth Sinovic also set a team record over the last two years, playing 7,208 in all competitions in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
KC was 6-5-6 in league play at home this year. The six league wins at home are the fewest since 2009 when KC won just four games at home.
The 21 goals conceded at home in league play was the most conceded at home since conceding 24 in 2006. The 25 in all competitions is the most since conceding 25 in 2006.
KC was 8-8-1 in league play on the road this year. The one away draw is the fewest in KC history.
KC was 8-11-2 in all competitions away from home, that's the most road losses since they lost 11 in 2006.
The 26 goals scored on the road in all competitions is the most since the team scored 30 in all competitions on the road in 2005.
The 30 goals conceded on the road in all competitions is the most since they conceded 31 in 2007.
Sporting conceded 55 goals in all competitions this year, that's the most conceded in one season since conceding 68 in 2002.
Dom Dwyer's 7 PK goals is the most in a single season since Preki scored 7 in 1996 (both were 7 of 8 from the spot in league play).
Dwyer also set team records for goals in a season in league play (22) and in all competitions (24).
Toni Dovale set a club record for international goals in a season with 3.
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored six goals against KC in all competitions this year. That's a club record for a single player. The previous record had been 5, held by seven players.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Comets Cruise Past Wichita
The Missouri Comets remained perfect on the season, taking care of business against the Wichita B-52s, winning 13-3 against their Central Conference rival. The Comets started the game with a ton of early pressure against an undermanned Wichita side. The B-52s defense held strong in the early going of the game. But just after the half-way point, the Comets finally got the lead. Leo Gibson fired in a shot from the corner that hit off B-52s goalkeeper Boris Pardo and the wall and into the path of Alain Matingou who knocked the ball home to give the Comets the 1-0 lead. A minute later the Comets doubled the lead. Missouri was holding possession around the yellow line where John Sosa played the ball to Brian Harris who took a touch and fired a bullet into the far corner to double Missouri's lead.
The second quarter saw the Comets continue to dominate possession and limit the B-52s chances. Just over a minute into the quarter the Comets added on another goal. Andre Braithwaite did a nice job winning the ball and got into the box. Braithwaite touched the ball past Pardo, but before he could get there to touch it home, Coady Andrews came rushing in and knocked it into the net to make it 3-0. Less than a minute later the Comets made it 4-0. Matingou intercepted the ball near midfield and played it into the corner for Max Touloute. Touloute took a touch and slammed it inside the far post. The Comets domination continued and just over five minutes in they caught the B-52s on the break. Touloute led the break, getting into the middle of the field with Gibson to his right and Bryan Perez to his left. Touloute picked out Gibson who immediately fired the ball across the box to Perez who had the simplest of tap ins to make it 5-0. Around the midpoint of the half, the Comets found themselves killing a power play as Stefan Stokic got called for an illegal slide tackle. The power play didn't matter though as they were able to string shorthanded. After some pressure, the Comets cleared the ball high into the air near midfield. Touloute beat his man to the ball, winning a header and racing in 1 on 1 with Pardo. Touloute beat him to the far post for his second of the night to make it 6-0. With just over a minute left in the quarter, the B-52s finally got on the board as Daniel Sack won the ball after a poor clearance by the Comets. Sack fired home to make it 6-1 heading into the half time break.
The B52s came out for the third quarter and looked ready to make a game of it. After having just three shots on goal in the first two quarters, they had three in the first couple minutes of the third quarter. The Comets weathered the pressure though, keeping the B-52s on their on goal. Danny Waltman played the ball up to Harris who raced up the field from midfield before cutting inside his man and firing a shot that beat Pardo to the near corner to make it 7-1. The B-52s continued to pressure, but were unable to find shots let alone goals. With less than five minutes left in the quarter, the Comets added another. Sosa deflected a clearance into the Wichita box. Perez beat Pardo to the ball, knocking it just over him. Perez had another easy tap in to make it 8-1. A minute later, Harris finished off his hattrick. After receiving the ball near the yellow line, Harris knocked the ball into the corner for Braithwaite. Harris followed the play though and got to the ball first, knocking it past Pardo to make it 9-1 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter came alive with more scoring from both teams. The B-52s got things going three and a half minutes in as Brady Bryant picked off a poor restart by the Comets and beat Waltman to the far post to make it 9-2. The Comets responded quickly though to restore their eight goal lead as Harris got his fourth goal of the night. He won the ball just inside the B-52s end with a nice slide tackle. Harris kept the ball, got inside the yellow line and fired a shot into the far upper corner for his fourth of the night, acting like a man on a mission. Less than a minute later though the B-52s had their third. After some poor communication in the box Andrews attempted to clear the ball near his own line, but it hit off of Travis Pittman and into the net. All three goals the B-52s scored on the night were due to poor communication and passing by the Comets, something that they'll need to get cleared up going forward. The Comets though went back to doing their business and put the B-52s back on their heals. Just over seven minutes in, The Comets were again up by eight. Robert Palmer got by his defender in the corner and knocked it to the far post where Gibson was there for the tap in to make it 11-3. Two minutes later the Comets were up by nine. Kiel Williams won the ball in the corner, knocking it into the middle for Braithwaite, who knocked he ball past Pardo as he fell down to make it 12-3. The Comets kept possession much of the rest of the way, just killing the game off. With under a minute left, Gibson turned his defender in the box and looked to be 1 on 1 with Pardo, but Kevin Ten Eyck pulled down the Comets leading scorer and earned himself a blue card and a penalty shot for the Comets. Gibson stepped up to take the kick, dribbled down and stalled his run, waiting for Pardo to commit. When he went down, Gibson chipped it over him to make it 13-3.
Overall a very strong performance from the Comets as they took down another former PASL team with a big win. They did it this time without a lot of help from their leading scorers, Gibson and Assadpour, who had just one assist combined until Gibson's goal made it 11-3 half way through the fourth quarter. Harris was a monster tonight, scoring four and being all over the field, even after getting knocked into the boards by former Comet, Byron Alvarez. They'll now head to Harrisburg for their lone multi-point scoring game against the Heat next Saturday the 29th.
The second quarter saw the Comets continue to dominate possession and limit the B-52s chances. Just over a minute into the quarter the Comets added on another goal. Andre Braithwaite did a nice job winning the ball and got into the box. Braithwaite touched the ball past Pardo, but before he could get there to touch it home, Coady Andrews came rushing in and knocked it into the net to make it 3-0. Less than a minute later the Comets made it 4-0. Matingou intercepted the ball near midfield and played it into the corner for Max Touloute. Touloute took a touch and slammed it inside the far post. The Comets domination continued and just over five minutes in they caught the B-52s on the break. Touloute led the break, getting into the middle of the field with Gibson to his right and Bryan Perez to his left. Touloute picked out Gibson who immediately fired the ball across the box to Perez who had the simplest of tap ins to make it 5-0. Around the midpoint of the half, the Comets found themselves killing a power play as Stefan Stokic got called for an illegal slide tackle. The power play didn't matter though as they were able to string shorthanded. After some pressure, the Comets cleared the ball high into the air near midfield. Touloute beat his man to the ball, winning a header and racing in 1 on 1 with Pardo. Touloute beat him to the far post for his second of the night to make it 6-0. With just over a minute left in the quarter, the B-52s finally got on the board as Daniel Sack won the ball after a poor clearance by the Comets. Sack fired home to make it 6-1 heading into the half time break.
The B52s came out for the third quarter and looked ready to make a game of it. After having just three shots on goal in the first two quarters, they had three in the first couple minutes of the third quarter. The Comets weathered the pressure though, keeping the B-52s on their on goal. Danny Waltman played the ball up to Harris who raced up the field from midfield before cutting inside his man and firing a shot that beat Pardo to the near corner to make it 7-1. The B-52s continued to pressure, but were unable to find shots let alone goals. With less than five minutes left in the quarter, the Comets added another. Sosa deflected a clearance into the Wichita box. Perez beat Pardo to the ball, knocking it just over him. Perez had another easy tap in to make it 8-1. A minute later, Harris finished off his hattrick. After receiving the ball near the yellow line, Harris knocked the ball into the corner for Braithwaite. Harris followed the play though and got to the ball first, knocking it past Pardo to make it 9-1 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter came alive with more scoring from both teams. The B-52s got things going three and a half minutes in as Brady Bryant picked off a poor restart by the Comets and beat Waltman to the far post to make it 9-2. The Comets responded quickly though to restore their eight goal lead as Harris got his fourth goal of the night. He won the ball just inside the B-52s end with a nice slide tackle. Harris kept the ball, got inside the yellow line and fired a shot into the far upper corner for his fourth of the night, acting like a man on a mission. Less than a minute later though the B-52s had their third. After some poor communication in the box Andrews attempted to clear the ball near his own line, but it hit off of Travis Pittman and into the net. All three goals the B-52s scored on the night were due to poor communication and passing by the Comets, something that they'll need to get cleared up going forward. The Comets though went back to doing their business and put the B-52s back on their heals. Just over seven minutes in, The Comets were again up by eight. Robert Palmer got by his defender in the corner and knocked it to the far post where Gibson was there for the tap in to make it 11-3. Two minutes later the Comets were up by nine. Kiel Williams won the ball in the corner, knocking it into the middle for Braithwaite, who knocked he ball past Pardo as he fell down to make it 12-3. The Comets kept possession much of the rest of the way, just killing the game off. With under a minute left, Gibson turned his defender in the box and looked to be 1 on 1 with Pardo, but Kevin Ten Eyck pulled down the Comets leading scorer and earned himself a blue card and a penalty shot for the Comets. Gibson stepped up to take the kick, dribbled down and stalled his run, waiting for Pardo to commit. When he went down, Gibson chipped it over him to make it 13-3.
Overall a very strong performance from the Comets as they took down another former PASL team with a big win. They did it this time without a lot of help from their leading scorers, Gibson and Assadpour, who had just one assist combined until Gibson's goal made it 11-3 half way through the fourth quarter. Harris was a monster tonight, scoring four and being all over the field, even after getting knocked into the boards by former Comet, Byron Alvarez. They'll now head to Harrisburg for their lone multi-point scoring game against the Heat next Saturday the 29th.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Expansion Draft Rules Released and an Explanation
Today, MLS released the rules for this year's expansion draft that will occur after MLS Cup on December 10th. The draft will see both New York City FC and Orlando City SC select 10 players from the existing 18 other teams in the league. Since MLS rules are just a bit cumbersome and at times difficult to understand, I'll try to break down some of the rules that may be difficult to understand.
• MLS clubs may protect 11 players between their Senior Roster and their Supplemental Roster. If the player’s contract expires at the end of 2014, he will still be considered part of the club’s roster.
The first part is fairly straight forward, Sporting KC and all other teams will be allowed to protect 11 players on the team currently. The Senior Roster vs. Supplemental Roster is where we get some confusion. So I'll try to explain that.
MLS rosters are allowed to have 30 players on them. Spots 1 through 20 on the roster are deemed "Senior Roster" spots. What this means is that those 18-20 players (spots 19 and 20 do not need to be filled) count against the club's salary budget.
The Supplemental roster are spots 21-30 on the roster. These players’ salaries do not count against the salary budget. Generation Adidas players fall into this category (more on them later). Depending on their spot on the roster their minimum salary is either $48,500 (21-24) or $36,500 (25-30). The team can also have two home grown players making over the minimum amount factor in here, similar to a Generation Adidas player.
The league does not publish a list of which players are senior roster and which are supplemental, but using the MLS players union salaries and roster you can make a good guess.
For example, with KC Matt Besler, Claudio Bieler, Jorge Claros, Aurelien Collin, Toni Dovale, Dom Dwyer, Benny Feilhaber, Andy Gruenebaum, Eric Kronberg, Chance Myers, Paulo Nagamura, Lawrence Olum, Ike Opara, Jacob Peterson, Soony Saad, CJ Sapong, Seth Sinovic, Martin Steuble, Sal Zizzo, and Graham Zusi are likely taking spots 1-20 on the roster. Meanwhile, Christian Duke, Kevin Ellis (HGP), Igor Juliao, Michael Kafari, Jon Kempin (HGP), Mikey Lopez (GA), Jimmy Medranda, Victor Munoz, and Erik Palmer-Brown (HGP) are likely filling the supplemental roster spots.
The last part of the first rule is important as it pertains to Collin. With him out of contract, Sporting will need to choose whether to expose him and take their chances, or protect him and keep his MLS rights should he leave.
• If a club protects a player, it is not obligated to exercise the player’s option. It may renegotiate subject to terms of the CBA.
Fairly straight forward, if there's a player that is in an option year and KC protects them, KC does not have to pick up said player's option.
• If a player retires, he will not be a part of the club’s roster, but his club will lose its right of first refusal to him should he ultimately decide to play.
Again straight forward and a rule that shouldn't affect KC this year.
• Players on a club’s Supplemental Roster, other than Generation Adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2014 MLS season or Homegrown Players on a club’s Supplemental Roster, will be part of the expansion draft.
• Generation Adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2014 MLS season and Homegrown Players on a club’s Supplemental Roster at the end of the 2014 MLS season are automatically protected (clubs do not have to use a protected slot on them).
Combining these two rules. What that means is that the supplemental players I listed above, Christian Duke, Igor Juliao, Michael Kafari,, Jimmy Medranda, and Victor Munoz are all available for selection. KC's home grown players, Kevin Ellis, Jon Kempin, and Erik Palmer-Brown will all be protected automatically. The team's Generation Adidas player, Mikey Lopez may or may not be protected automatically. This depends on if the league graduates him from the program (which will occur before the draft).
• If NYCFC or Orlando City SC selects a Supplemental Roster Player, it must offer him a Senior Roster position and he must remain on the Senior Roster as of Roster Compliance Date.
Basically it's a bump in status, and potentially a bump in salary if a player from a team's Supplemental Roster is taken.
• Clubs are restricted in the number of International Player(s) that they may make available. Clubs may make available a number of International Players equal to their total number of International Players minus three, provided that if a club has three or fewer International Players it may make available not more than one.
This is one of the more confusing rules I've seen when talking with people about the draft. First the wording of it sucks. Why not just say you must protect at least 3 unless you have less than 4 in which case you can only make available 1 international available in the draft. For Kansas City they have 6 (possibly 7) internationals: Claudio Bieler, Jorge Claros, Toni Dovale, Igor Juliao, Jimmy Medranda, and Martin Steuble (possibly Victor Munoz as well I'm not positive of his status), so they must protect three of those players. Players like Aurelien Collin, Dom Dwyer, and Paulo Nagamura have their green card and do not count as internationals on the roster.
• For purposes of this expansion process, any non-domestic U.S. players will count as an International.
This refers back to my point about green cards in the previous rule. Initially reading this rule I was worried that this had changed. Reviewing prior year's rules for the expansion draft though, this has remained on the books so Collin, Dwyer, etc, don't fall into the internationals category.
• Designated Players are NOT automatically protected (i.e., clubs must choose whether to protect such players and if such player is not protected, he will be available for selection in the Expansion Draft). However, if the Designated Player has a no-trade clause in his contract, then his MLS club must protect him and he will count as one of the 11 players who may be protected.
This means that Sporting KC will have to choose if they are going to protect Claudio Bieler and Graham Zusi, both designated players for KC, they will not be automatically protected. It also means that because Matt Besler has a no trade clause in his new Designated Player deal, that he will fill one of Kansas City's 11 protected spots.
• Once two players have been claimed from a team’s non-protected roster, that team is eliminated from the expansion draft and may not lose any further players. In addition, once a player has been claimed from a club’s non-protected roster, that club may move a player from its non-protected roster to its protected roster.
The maximum number of players that Kansas City can lose is 2. If Orlando and New York take a KC player with the first and second picks of the draft, Kansas City's day is done. What it also means is that if KC has a player taken, they can protect another. For example, KC could expose both Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum and not worry about losing both. If one of them gets taken, KC could turn right around and immediately protect the other one to avoid losing him as well.
• Right to Negotiate: NYCFC and Orlando City SC will have the right to renegotiate a draft player’s salary (either up or down) without having to place such player on waivers or giving his previous club a right of first refusal.
This means that if, for example, Orlando drafts Paulo Nagamura and his big salary, OCSC would have the ability to attempt to renegotiate with the player to try to get them at a lower price. This is something that Kansas City will have to keep in mind when looking at players that they will protect, because now just throwing out high priced players could come back to hurt.
This rule is also something that will be interesting to watch, because if a player doesn't come to terms with OCSC or NYCFC, that club still holds their MLS rights (similar to what happened with Herculez Gomez and Kevin Hartman). In a year that the CBA expires between the league and players union, this could be an interesting wrinkle in the proceeds for the draft.
• MLS clubs may protect 11 players between their Senior Roster and their Supplemental Roster. If the player’s contract expires at the end of 2014, he will still be considered part of the club’s roster.
The first part is fairly straight forward, Sporting KC and all other teams will be allowed to protect 11 players on the team currently. The Senior Roster vs. Supplemental Roster is where we get some confusion. So I'll try to explain that.
MLS rosters are allowed to have 30 players on them. Spots 1 through 20 on the roster are deemed "Senior Roster" spots. What this means is that those 18-20 players (spots 19 and 20 do not need to be filled) count against the club's salary budget.
The Supplemental roster are spots 21-30 on the roster. These players’ salaries do not count against the salary budget. Generation Adidas players fall into this category (more on them later). Depending on their spot on the roster their minimum salary is either $48,500 (21-24) or $36,500 (25-30). The team can also have two home grown players making over the minimum amount factor in here, similar to a Generation Adidas player.
The league does not publish a list of which players are senior roster and which are supplemental, but using the MLS players union salaries and roster you can make a good guess.
For example, with KC Matt Besler, Claudio Bieler, Jorge Claros, Aurelien Collin, Toni Dovale, Dom Dwyer, Benny Feilhaber, Andy Gruenebaum, Eric Kronberg, Chance Myers, Paulo Nagamura, Lawrence Olum, Ike Opara, Jacob Peterson, Soony Saad, CJ Sapong, Seth Sinovic, Martin Steuble, Sal Zizzo, and Graham Zusi are likely taking spots 1-20 on the roster. Meanwhile, Christian Duke, Kevin Ellis (HGP), Igor Juliao, Michael Kafari, Jon Kempin (HGP), Mikey Lopez (GA), Jimmy Medranda, Victor Munoz, and Erik Palmer-Brown (HGP) are likely filling the supplemental roster spots.
The last part of the first rule is important as it pertains to Collin. With him out of contract, Sporting will need to choose whether to expose him and take their chances, or protect him and keep his MLS rights should he leave.
• If a club protects a player, it is not obligated to exercise the player’s option. It may renegotiate subject to terms of the CBA.
Fairly straight forward, if there's a player that is in an option year and KC protects them, KC does not have to pick up said player's option.
• If a player retires, he will not be a part of the club’s roster, but his club will lose its right of first refusal to him should he ultimately decide to play.
Again straight forward and a rule that shouldn't affect KC this year.
• Players on a club’s Supplemental Roster, other than Generation Adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2014 MLS season or Homegrown Players on a club’s Supplemental Roster, will be part of the expansion draft.
• Generation Adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2014 MLS season and Homegrown Players on a club’s Supplemental Roster at the end of the 2014 MLS season are automatically protected (clubs do not have to use a protected slot on them).
Combining these two rules. What that means is that the supplemental players I listed above, Christian Duke, Igor Juliao, Michael Kafari,, Jimmy Medranda, and Victor Munoz are all available for selection. KC's home grown players, Kevin Ellis, Jon Kempin, and Erik Palmer-Brown will all be protected automatically. The team's Generation Adidas player, Mikey Lopez may or may not be protected automatically. This depends on if the league graduates him from the program (which will occur before the draft).
• If NYCFC or Orlando City SC selects a Supplemental Roster Player, it must offer him a Senior Roster position and he must remain on the Senior Roster as of Roster Compliance Date.
Basically it's a bump in status, and potentially a bump in salary if a player from a team's Supplemental Roster is taken.
• Clubs are restricted in the number of International Player(s) that they may make available. Clubs may make available a number of International Players equal to their total number of International Players minus three, provided that if a club has three or fewer International Players it may make available not more than one.
This is one of the more confusing rules I've seen when talking with people about the draft. First the wording of it sucks. Why not just say you must protect at least 3 unless you have less than 4 in which case you can only make available 1 international available in the draft. For Kansas City they have 6 (possibly 7) internationals: Claudio Bieler, Jorge Claros, Toni Dovale, Igor Juliao, Jimmy Medranda, and Martin Steuble (possibly Victor Munoz as well I'm not positive of his status), so they must protect three of those players. Players like Aurelien Collin, Dom Dwyer, and Paulo Nagamura have their green card and do not count as internationals on the roster.
• For purposes of this expansion process, any non-domestic U.S. players will count as an International.
This refers back to my point about green cards in the previous rule. Initially reading this rule I was worried that this had changed. Reviewing prior year's rules for the expansion draft though, this has remained on the books so Collin, Dwyer, etc, don't fall into the internationals category.
• Designated Players are NOT automatically protected (i.e., clubs must choose whether to protect such players and if such player is not protected, he will be available for selection in the Expansion Draft). However, if the Designated Player has a no-trade clause in his contract, then his MLS club must protect him and he will count as one of the 11 players who may be protected.
This means that Sporting KC will have to choose if they are going to protect Claudio Bieler and Graham Zusi, both designated players for KC, they will not be automatically protected. It also means that because Matt Besler has a no trade clause in his new Designated Player deal, that he will fill one of Kansas City's 11 protected spots.
• Once two players have been claimed from a team’s non-protected roster, that team is eliminated from the expansion draft and may not lose any further players. In addition, once a player has been claimed from a club’s non-protected roster, that club may move a player from its non-protected roster to its protected roster.
The maximum number of players that Kansas City can lose is 2. If Orlando and New York take a KC player with the first and second picks of the draft, Kansas City's day is done. What it also means is that if KC has a player taken, they can protect another. For example, KC could expose both Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum and not worry about losing both. If one of them gets taken, KC could turn right around and immediately protect the other one to avoid losing him as well.
• Right to Negotiate: NYCFC and Orlando City SC will have the right to renegotiate a draft player’s salary (either up or down) without having to place such player on waivers or giving his previous club a right of first refusal.
This means that if, for example, Orlando drafts Paulo Nagamura and his big salary, OCSC would have the ability to attempt to renegotiate with the player to try to get them at a lower price. This is something that Kansas City will have to keep in mind when looking at players that they will protect, because now just throwing out high priced players could come back to hurt.
This rule is also something that will be interesting to watch, because if a player doesn't come to terms with OCSC or NYCFC, that club still holds their MLS rights (similar to what happened with Herculez Gomez and Kevin Hartman). In a year that the CBA expires between the league and players union, this could be an interesting wrinkle in the proceeds for the draft.
Nielsen Signs Extension with OKC - Former SKC Wizards Update
Last week it was the OKC Energy re-signing former Sporting players. This week, it's extending the contract of their coach. Jimmy Nielsen, former Sporting KC captain, signed a three year extension to his contract with the OKC Energy. The Energy finished 10th in the USL-Pro in their first season with a 9-14-5 record, Nielsen's first as a head coach.
In other news this week, Mechack Jerome helped Haiti qualify for the 2015 Gold Cup as they finished runners up in their group at the Caribbean Cup. In the third place game, Jerome scored the opener as Haiti defeated Cuba 2-1.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Federico Bessone
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Edson Elcock
Adnan Gabeljic
Mechack Jerome
Peterson Joseph
Neal Kitson
Nelson Pizarro
Akeem Priestly
Peter Schmetz
Scott Sealy
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - No game this week.
Bobby Convey - New York - No game this week.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 77 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to San Antonio.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - St. Louis - Played in St. Louis' 8-3 loss to Chicago.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 26-0 win over Detroit.
Michal Mravec - Seattle - Did not play in Seattle's 11-5 loss to Turlock. Did not play in Seattle's 12-8 win over Sacramento.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Did not play in Wichita's 10-9 shootout loss to Texas.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - No game this week.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - No game this week.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Defeated Atletico Chiapas 2-1.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Argentina - Lost 2-0 to JJ Urquiza.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Offseason.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 3-2 win over Jaguares de Cordoba.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Tigres - Mexico - No game this week.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - América RN - Brazil - Did not play in either of America's games.
Mechack Jerome - Haiti - Started and played 90 minutes in Haiti's 2-2 draw with Antigua. Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Haiti's 3-0 win over Martinique. Started and played 90 minutes in Haiti's 2-1 loss to Jamaica. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Haiti's 2-1 win over Cuba.
Will John - Maghreb Fes - Morocco - No game this week.
Igor Kostrov - Veris - Moldova - No game this week.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - No game this week.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - No game this week.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Started and played 90 minutes in Armenia's 1-0 loss to Portugal.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes in El Salvador's 3-1 loss to Panama. Started and played 90 minutes in El Salvador's 2-0 win over Nicaragua.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - No game this week.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - No game this week.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game this week.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportivo Lara - Venezuela - No game this week.
In other news this week, Mechack Jerome helped Haiti qualify for the 2015 Gold Cup as they finished runners up in their group at the Caribbean Cup. In the third place game, Jerome scored the opener as Haiti defeated Cuba 2-1.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Federico Bessone
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Edson Elcock
Adnan Gabeljic
Mechack Jerome
Peterson Joseph
Neal Kitson
Nelson Pizarro
Akeem Priestly
Peter Schmetz
Scott Sealy
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - No game this week.
Bobby Convey - New York - No game this week.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 77 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to San Antonio.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - St. Louis - Played in St. Louis' 8-3 loss to Chicago.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 26-0 win over Detroit.
Michal Mravec - Seattle - Did not play in Seattle's 11-5 loss to Turlock. Did not play in Seattle's 12-8 win over Sacramento.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Did not play in Wichita's 10-9 shootout loss to Texas.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - No game this week.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - No game this week.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Defeated Atletico Chiapas 2-1.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Argentina - Lost 2-0 to JJ Urquiza.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Offseason.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 3-2 win over Jaguares de Cordoba.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Tigres - Mexico - No game this week.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - América RN - Brazil - Did not play in either of America's games.
Mechack Jerome - Haiti - Started and played 90 minutes in Haiti's 2-2 draw with Antigua. Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Haiti's 3-0 win over Martinique. Started and played 90 minutes in Haiti's 2-1 loss to Jamaica. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Haiti's 2-1 win over Cuba.
Will John - Maghreb Fes - Morocco - No game this week.
Igor Kostrov - Veris - Moldova - No game this week.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - No game this week.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - No game this week.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Started and played 90 minutes in Armenia's 1-0 loss to Portugal.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes in El Salvador's 3-1 loss to Panama. Started and played 90 minutes in El Salvador's 2-0 win over Nicaragua.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - No game this week.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - No game this week.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game this week.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportivo Lara - Venezuela - No game this week.
Sporting Pass on Dispersal Draft
With the third pick in today's Dispersal Draft for the players on Chivas USA's roster, there were plenty of assumptions that Sporting Kansas City would use the pick to take someone from the club. Instead, when the time came, Sporting did what 11 other clubs did, and pass.
Only seven players were taken in the entire draft, with the highlight being Dan Kennedy who went first to FC Dallas. NYCFC took Matthew Dunn second before Kansas City passed. DC took Thomas McNamara fourth, Donny Toia went to Montreal in the sixth spot, Colorado grabbed Caleb Calvert at 8th, San Jose got Kristopher Tyrpak at 9th. Toronto grabbed Marco Delgado at the 14th pick as the last player taken.
The rest of Chivas' roster, including the likes of Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Bobby Burling, and Nathan Sturgis will all head into other drafts, including the waiver draft and re-entry draft. Those drafts could still see those players end up on Kansas City or other teams. Those routes also allow Kansas City to not have to protect them in the expansion draft, and also allows them to potentially negotiate better contracts for the club.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Seven SKC Academy Graduates in NCAA Tournament - SKC Academy Update
The NCAA today announced the field for this year's NCAA division 1 tournament. Seven SKC academy graduates at six schools will be competing at the tournament. Class of 2012 graduate, Eric DeJulio and Creighton are the only seeded team, getting the 12th seed. DeJulio and Creighton could face off against another academy graduate as Creighton plays the winner of Oregon State and Denver. Class of 2014 graduate, Cole Stevenson plays for Denver.
Class of 2011 graduate, Raymond Lee and Saint Louis will play Tulsa with a chance to play 13th seed Louisville with a win. Heath Honold and Wake Forest will face off against UMBC with a chance to face Maryland should the Demon Deacons win. Zach Wright, Andy Lopez, and North Carolina face off against James Madison and will face 10th seed Charlotte should they win all three are from the class of 2014. The final academy graduate in the tournament is another 2014 graduate, Matthew Lewis and Fordham play Dartmouth. The winner will face off against 11th seeded Providence.
Here's the rest of this week's update as the season winds down.
Class of 2010
Brandon Fricke (Butler University) - D - RSr - Season over.
Class of 2011
Eric Hymer (Fort Hays State) - D - Sr - No game this week.
Raymond Lee (Saint Louis University) - MF - Sr - Started and had an assist in Saint Louis' 3-1 win over La Salle. Started in Saint Louis' 2-1 loss to Fordham.
Eric Moore (Rockhurst University) - D - Sr - Season over.
Michael Oakley (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - Sr - Did not play in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Paul Oliver (California Baptist) - D/MF - Sr - Season over.
Jordan Rideout (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - Sr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Taylor Vinnage (Benedictine) - GK - Sr - Season over.
Class of 2012
Andrew Brown (Bradley University) - MF - Jr - Started in Bradley's 1-0 win over Evansville. Started in Bradley's 2-1 loss to SIU-Edwardsville.
Eric DeJulio (Creighton University) - D - Jr - Started in #5 Creighton's 1-0 loss to Providence.
Daniel Hare (Loyola University in Chicago) - D - Jr - Started in Loyola's 3-1 win over Drake. Started in Loyola's 2-0 loss to Missouri State.
Andrew Lightner (Dayton) - D - RSo - Started in Dayton's 1-0 loss to Rhode Island.
Andrew Miller (Baker University) - D - Jr - Did not play in Baker's 2-1 win over MidAmerica. Started in Baker's 3-1 win over Culver-Stockton.
Nate Opperman (University of Evansville) - F - Jr - Came on as a substitute in Evansville's 1-0 loss to Bradley.
Derek Schrick (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - Jr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Chris Tuso (Baker) - MF - Jr - Did not play in either of Baker's games.
Shane Woods (Drury University) - F - Jr - Did not play in either of Drury's games.
Class of 2013
Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - So - Season over.
Chris Arce (Neosho CC) - MF - So - Season over.
Matt Bernard (Drake) - MF - RFr - Did not play in Drake's 3-1 loss to Loyola.
Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - So - Season over.
Seo-In Kim (Duke) - MF - So - Season over.
Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - So - Season over.
Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - So - Did not play in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Wes White (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - RFr - Started and had two goals in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Started in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Austin Wilcox (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - So - Started in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Started in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - So - No game this week.
Kyle Vassar - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - RFr - Did not play in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Class of 2014
Darby Cronin (University of Missouri Kansas City)- MF - Fr - Did not play in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Andrew Dittemore (Missouri State) - GK - Fr - Did not play in either of Missouri State's games.
Andy Ericks (Colorado School of Mines) - MF - Fr - Season over.
Heath Honold (Wake Forest) - F - Fr - No game this week.
Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - Fr - Started in Drake's 3-1 loss to Loyola.
Blake Levine (Baker) - F - Fr - Did not play in Baker's 2-1 win over MidAmerica. Came on as a substitute in Baker's 3-1 win over Culver-Stockton.
Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - Fr - Started in Fordham's 0-0 (5-3) shootout win over VCU. Started in Fordham's 2-1 win over Saint Louis. Started in Fordham's 1-0 win over Rhode Island.
Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - Fr - No game this week.
Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - Fr - Season over.
Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - Fr - Started and had an assist in West Virginia's 3-2 OT loss to Bowling Green.
Cole Stevenson (Denver) - F - Fr - Came on as a substitute in Denver's 3-0 win over IPFW. Came on as a substitute in Denver's 3-1 win over Western Illinois.
Austin Williamson (Northeastern State University) - GK - Fr - No game this week.
Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - Fr - No game this week.
Class of 2011 graduate, Raymond Lee and Saint Louis will play Tulsa with a chance to play 13th seed Louisville with a win. Heath Honold and Wake Forest will face off against UMBC with a chance to face Maryland should the Demon Deacons win. Zach Wright, Andy Lopez, and North Carolina face off against James Madison and will face 10th seed Charlotte should they win all three are from the class of 2014. The final academy graduate in the tournament is another 2014 graduate, Matthew Lewis and Fordham play Dartmouth. The winner will face off against 11th seeded Providence.
Here's the rest of this week's update as the season winds down.
Class of 2010
Brandon Fricke (Butler University) - D - RSr - Season over.
Class of 2011
Eric Hymer (Fort Hays State) - D - Sr - No game this week.
Raymond Lee (Saint Louis University) - MF - Sr - Started and had an assist in Saint Louis' 3-1 win over La Salle. Started in Saint Louis' 2-1 loss to Fordham.
Eric Moore (Rockhurst University) - D - Sr - Season over.
Michael Oakley (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - Sr - Did not play in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Paul Oliver (California Baptist) - D/MF - Sr - Season over.
Jordan Rideout (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - Sr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Taylor Vinnage (Benedictine) - GK - Sr - Season over.
Class of 2012
Andrew Brown (Bradley University) - MF - Jr - Started in Bradley's 1-0 win over Evansville. Started in Bradley's 2-1 loss to SIU-Edwardsville.
Eric DeJulio (Creighton University) - D - Jr - Started in #5 Creighton's 1-0 loss to Providence.
Daniel Hare (Loyola University in Chicago) - D - Jr - Started in Loyola's 3-1 win over Drake. Started in Loyola's 2-0 loss to Missouri State.
Andrew Lightner (Dayton) - D - RSo - Started in Dayton's 1-0 loss to Rhode Island.
Andrew Miller (Baker University) - D - Jr - Did not play in Baker's 2-1 win over MidAmerica. Started in Baker's 3-1 win over Culver-Stockton.
Nate Opperman (University of Evansville) - F - Jr - Came on as a substitute in Evansville's 1-0 loss to Bradley.
Derek Schrick (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - Jr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Chris Tuso (Baker) - MF - Jr - Did not play in either of Baker's games.
Shane Woods (Drury University) - F - Jr - Did not play in either of Drury's games.
Class of 2013
Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - So - Season over.
Chris Arce (Neosho CC) - MF - So - Season over.
Matt Bernard (Drake) - MF - RFr - Did not play in Drake's 3-1 loss to Loyola.
Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - So - Season over.
Seo-In Kim (Duke) - MF - So - Season over.
Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - So - Season over.
Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - So - Did not play in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Wes White (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - RFr - Started and had two goals in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Started in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Austin Wilcox (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - So - Started in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Started in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - So - No game this week.
Kyle Vassar - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - RFr - Did not play in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Class of 2014
Darby Cronin (University of Missouri Kansas City)- MF - Fr - Did not play in UMKC's 3-0 win over San Jose State. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to UNLV.
Andrew Dittemore (Missouri State) - GK - Fr - Did not play in either of Missouri State's games.
Andy Ericks (Colorado School of Mines) - MF - Fr - Season over.
Heath Honold (Wake Forest) - F - Fr - No game this week.
Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - Fr - Started in Drake's 3-1 loss to Loyola.
Blake Levine (Baker) - F - Fr - Did not play in Baker's 2-1 win over MidAmerica. Came on as a substitute in Baker's 3-1 win over Culver-Stockton.
Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - Fr - Started in Fordham's 0-0 (5-3) shootout win over VCU. Started in Fordham's 2-1 win over Saint Louis. Started in Fordham's 1-0 win over Rhode Island.
Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - Fr - No game this week.
Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - Fr - Season over.
Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - Fr - Started and had an assist in West Virginia's 3-2 OT loss to Bowling Green.
Cole Stevenson (Denver) - F - Fr - Came on as a substitute in Denver's 3-0 win over IPFW. Came on as a substitute in Denver's 3-1 win over Western Illinois.
Austin Williamson (Northeastern State University) - GK - Fr - No game this week.
Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - Fr - No game this week.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Comets Come Back to Beat Wave
After the Missouri Comets had won their first two games on the road this season they returned home for their home opener against the rival Milwaukee Wave. After games against the Dallas Sidekicks and Chicago Mustangs this game looked set to be one of the more competitive games of the year and it certainly lived up to it's billing as the two teams went back and forth throughout the night.
The Wave came out as the more agressive side at the start of the game, looking to dictate the tempo. The Comets early on had their best chances on the break. The early aggression paid off for the Wave with just under six minutes played as Bato Randoncic held up a long ball before laying it into the path of Marcelo Fontana who fired home for the early 1-0 lead. After the opening goal, the Comets had the better of the opportunites with Andrew Braithwaite forcing a good save and Vahid Assadpour firing just high. The Wave had their opportunities too as Brian Harris had to clear one off the line with his heal while on his back. Under five mintues left, the Wave doubled the lead countering a mis-step of a restart. Danny Waltman made the initial save, but Randoncic collected the rebound and fired the ball across to the JC Banks who tapped home to make it 2-0. With less than a minute and a half left the Wave capped off their first quarter domination as Randoncic picked up his third assist laying off a pass for Marco Leite who danced around his defender and fired past Waltman to make it 3-0. The Comets though were able to respond immediatley. Coming down the field Milan Ivanovic had a shot saved, the rebound was knocked over to Leo Gibson who had his shot blocked right into the path of Ivanovic who headed the ball in. Ivanovic paid for it taking a boot to the face while he headed the ball in. The Comets continued the pressure after the kick off and were able to get another goal just before the end of the quarter as Leo Gibson fired a shot off the boards into the path of Max Touloute who knocked the ball home to make it 3-2 as the quarter ended.
The Wave came out for the second quarter and continued to absorb the Comets pressure as Missouri looked for an equalizer. They were able to take the pressure and then capitalized on a mistake by Waltman to extend their lead. Pressure by the Wave led Waltman to play the ball up the middle where Tenzin Rampa stepped in front of the Comets and poked the ball home past Waltman to make it 4-2. The game continued to be back and forth until Bryan Perez picked up a blue card for pushing just over seven minutes into the quarter. The Wave took advantage of the extra man as Banks got his second goal of the night. The goal actually went in off the foot of Coady Andrews and into the net. The deflection left Waltman with no chance at all. Late on in the quarter, the Comets were able to keep the Wave pinned deep in their own end and finally found a goal with just over two and a half minutes left in the quarter. It was an impressive finish by Braithwaite as the ball came over the top from Stefan Stokic. Braithwait let the ball bounce and fired it across his body, off the far post and into the net to make it 5-3.
While the Wave had come out extremely strong to start the first quarter, the Comets came out stronger in the third quarter. Just over a minute into the quarter, the Comets had the game within a goal as Gibson scored his first of the night. It was an impressive one from Gibson who kicked the ball off the side wall and with the spin it curled past Marcel Feenstra, off the far post and into the net. The Comets continued the early high pressure and just over two minutes into the quarter had the game tied 5-5. After some possession around the yellow line, John Sosa laid the ball off to Touloue. The Haitian got past his defender, cutting inside before firing a shot across his body that beat Feenstra to tie the game. The Comets continued the high pressure and seconds later were able to take the lead. Harris fired a cross into the middle where Robert Palmer turned the ball home to give the Comets their first lead of the night at 6-5. After a timeout, the Wave were able to reestablish themselves a bit getting more of the possession. They won themselves a power play that the Comets were able to kill off, but with just over nine minutes played in the quarter were back level. Anthony Arrico received a ball near the corner from Luan Sales Oliveira. Waltman had come a bit off his line and Arrico curled the ball into the far post to tie the game at 6-6. Late in the quarter the Comets retook the lead. Sosa set up the play with a nice through ball from midfield right into the path of Perez. He turned and fired the ball past Feenstra and into the net from the top of the penalty arc.
The Wave went looking for an equalizer early in the fourth quarter with high pressure and got some assistance from a Stokic blue card to help them keep the pressure. The Wave didn't score on the power play but almost immediately after it was over Ian Bennett found the equalizer again for the Wave. Bennett picked up a rebound, got some space dribbling into the middle of the field before firing a shot into the far corner to make it 7-7. The Comets put pressure on the Wave looking for another lead and found it near the midpoint of the half. Gibson received the ball from Harris near the top of the arc. Gibson took a nice touch, completely turned Jonathan Greenfield around before beating Feenstra top shelf. The Comets kept up the pressure looking to add to their lead and with five minutes to play they found the goal as Gibson turned and played the ball into the middle for Perez who hammered home his second of the night. The Wave tried to fight their way back into the game but were unable to as the Comets defense held strong on course for their third straight win to start the season.
Overall it was a very entertaining game between two of the better teams in the league as a whole. With only two games against the Wave this year and none for the Comets against the other MISL powerhouse, the Baltimore Blast, the Comets need to take advantage of these games against the Wave to really have themselves ready to go come playoff time. Compared to the first two games of the season you can still clearly see the gap between the best MISL teams (Milwaukee, Missouri, Baltimore) and the best teams from the PASL (Chicago, Dallas). Those teams will improve, but so far the gap is quite clear.
The Wave came out as the more agressive side at the start of the game, looking to dictate the tempo. The Comets early on had their best chances on the break. The early aggression paid off for the Wave with just under six minutes played as Bato Randoncic held up a long ball before laying it into the path of Marcelo Fontana who fired home for the early 1-0 lead. After the opening goal, the Comets had the better of the opportunites with Andrew Braithwaite forcing a good save and Vahid Assadpour firing just high. The Wave had their opportunities too as Brian Harris had to clear one off the line with his heal while on his back. Under five mintues left, the Wave doubled the lead countering a mis-step of a restart. Danny Waltman made the initial save, but Randoncic collected the rebound and fired the ball across to the JC Banks who tapped home to make it 2-0. With less than a minute and a half left the Wave capped off their first quarter domination as Randoncic picked up his third assist laying off a pass for Marco Leite who danced around his defender and fired past Waltman to make it 3-0. The Comets though were able to respond immediatley. Coming down the field Milan Ivanovic had a shot saved, the rebound was knocked over to Leo Gibson who had his shot blocked right into the path of Ivanovic who headed the ball in. Ivanovic paid for it taking a boot to the face while he headed the ball in. The Comets continued the pressure after the kick off and were able to get another goal just before the end of the quarter as Leo Gibson fired a shot off the boards into the path of Max Touloute who knocked the ball home to make it 3-2 as the quarter ended.
The Wave came out for the second quarter and continued to absorb the Comets pressure as Missouri looked for an equalizer. They were able to take the pressure and then capitalized on a mistake by Waltman to extend their lead. Pressure by the Wave led Waltman to play the ball up the middle where Tenzin Rampa stepped in front of the Comets and poked the ball home past Waltman to make it 4-2. The game continued to be back and forth until Bryan Perez picked up a blue card for pushing just over seven minutes into the quarter. The Wave took advantage of the extra man as Banks got his second goal of the night. The goal actually went in off the foot of Coady Andrews and into the net. The deflection left Waltman with no chance at all. Late on in the quarter, the Comets were able to keep the Wave pinned deep in their own end and finally found a goal with just over two and a half minutes left in the quarter. It was an impressive finish by Braithwaite as the ball came over the top from Stefan Stokic. Braithwait let the ball bounce and fired it across his body, off the far post and into the net to make it 5-3.
While the Wave had come out extremely strong to start the first quarter, the Comets came out stronger in the third quarter. Just over a minute into the quarter, the Comets had the game within a goal as Gibson scored his first of the night. It was an impressive one from Gibson who kicked the ball off the side wall and with the spin it curled past Marcel Feenstra, off the far post and into the net. The Comets continued the early high pressure and just over two minutes into the quarter had the game tied 5-5. After some possession around the yellow line, John Sosa laid the ball off to Touloue. The Haitian got past his defender, cutting inside before firing a shot across his body that beat Feenstra to tie the game. The Comets continued the high pressure and seconds later were able to take the lead. Harris fired a cross into the middle where Robert Palmer turned the ball home to give the Comets their first lead of the night at 6-5. After a timeout, the Wave were able to reestablish themselves a bit getting more of the possession. They won themselves a power play that the Comets were able to kill off, but with just over nine minutes played in the quarter were back level. Anthony Arrico received a ball near the corner from Luan Sales Oliveira. Waltman had come a bit off his line and Arrico curled the ball into the far post to tie the game at 6-6. Late in the quarter the Comets retook the lead. Sosa set up the play with a nice through ball from midfield right into the path of Perez. He turned and fired the ball past Feenstra and into the net from the top of the penalty arc.
The Wave went looking for an equalizer early in the fourth quarter with high pressure and got some assistance from a Stokic blue card to help them keep the pressure. The Wave didn't score on the power play but almost immediately after it was over Ian Bennett found the equalizer again for the Wave. Bennett picked up a rebound, got some space dribbling into the middle of the field before firing a shot into the far corner to make it 7-7. The Comets put pressure on the Wave looking for another lead and found it near the midpoint of the half. Gibson received the ball from Harris near the top of the arc. Gibson took a nice touch, completely turned Jonathan Greenfield around before beating Feenstra top shelf. The Comets kept up the pressure looking to add to their lead and with five minutes to play they found the goal as Gibson turned and played the ball into the middle for Perez who hammered home his second of the night. The Wave tried to fight their way back into the game but were unable to as the Comets defense held strong on course for their third straight win to start the season.
Overall it was a very entertaining game between two of the better teams in the league as a whole. With only two games against the Wave this year and none for the Comets against the other MISL powerhouse, the Baltimore Blast, the Comets need to take advantage of these games against the Wave to really have themselves ready to go come playoff time. Compared to the first two games of the season you can still clearly see the gap between the best MISL teams (Milwaukee, Missouri, Baltimore) and the best teams from the PASL (Chicago, Dallas). Those teams will improve, but so far the gap is quite clear.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Sporting KC Have the Third Pick in the Dispersal Draft and Thoughts on What to Do
MLS today held a drawing to determine the order for next week's dispersal draft for the players that had been on Chivas USA's roster. The one exception being the team's leading scorer, Erik Torres, who the league is working out an option to buy and will go through a different allocation process to a team.
Sporting Kansas City will have themselves an early selection in the draft as their envelope was pulled third, giving them the third pick in the draft after FC Dallas and New York City FC. That should leave Kansas City with the opportunity to pick up some talent from the club. The pick cannot be traded, so KC will either be picking someone up, or passing on the opportunity.
The players taken in the draft will have to be protected or exposed in the expansion draft that comes up after the season is over. So any player that KC takes may not be with the team for long if they are exposed in the expansion draft and taken by New York or Orlando.
With the third pick there are a couple options that KC could go with in regards to picking players. There are a few players available that Kansas City could certainly take a flyer on for the team next year. Dan Kennedy, Chivas' captain will likely be off the board though. While Dallas has two quality goalkeepers in Chris Seitz and Raul Fernandez (Fernandez on $160,000 base, $247,500 guaranteed salary) they could look to take Kennedy ($211,750 base $213,416.67 guaranteed) and trade him with another team who is in greater need of a goalkeeper. If Dallas doesn't take him, I am not sure I can see Kennedy slipping past NYCFC. The expansion side has one goalkeeper on their roster currently, Josh Saunders but he's on a low salary ($48,504) and I'd expect NYCFC to bring in a starter, and picking up one for nothing in the dispersal draft seems a good way to do it. So I just don't see him falling for Kansas City to take with the number three spot.
Another name on Chivas roster that won't be there is Eric Avila. The midfielder is on his way out of MLS after Chvias USA agreed to a deal in principal to sell him to Santos Laguna in Mexico.
Even with the trio of Torres, Kennedy, and Avila all likely off the board there still are a few players that I think KC could target with the third pick that could contribute to the team.
Andrew Jean-Baptiste - The 22 year old defender has had some rumored locker room issues, but he wouldn't be the first "cancer" to come into KC's locker room. Peter Vermes has shown that he can handle those types of players quite well. This year, Jean-Baptiste was limited to just sight starts due to injury, but started 22 last year for the Portland Timbers on their way to finish first in the Western Conference last year. With Aurelien Collin's future in question and Ike Opara's return time still not known, he'd provide a good target on set pieces and a solid defender next to Matt Besler.
Thomas McNamara - A bit of a gamble, but a move that could pay off for KC. McNamara started Chvias' first six games of the year before an ACL tear put him out for the rest of the season. He showed plenty of flashes for Chivas and contributed a goal in their opening win over Chicago. His recovery would be a question and with KC's injury issues this past year it might be something to avoid, but he'd provide decent, inexpensive depth for the team.
Marco Delgado - The Chivas USA Homegrown talent has started 25 games over the past two years for Chivas USA, but each of the last two seasons has ended with surgery so it's another player that may be an injury risk. Still, Delgado is a member of the US20 team, including serving as the team's captain in two friendlies in Italy. He's a player that could play either on the wing or as a wing back in KC's system. And at 19 he's still quite young.
Caleb Calvert - The other homegrown player has yet to make his first team debut, but a 6'2" 18 year old forward has to get you at least a little excited. But with him you'd have to expect little from him the next couple years. While both Delgado and Calvert are Chivas homegrown players, if I'm understanding it right, KC would not be able to utilize their HGP designation in the expansion draft to not have to expose them.
Nathan Sturgis - The 27 year old has been all around MLS, playing on seven clubs in his eight seasons in the league. He's played in over 120 games in MLS play and would give Kansas City experience and versatility as Sturgis can play in the midfield or on the back line which is something KC could have used more of this past season. His salary may be a little high for a utility player at $114,000 though.
There are other options out there as well that people may find interesting, but I think that the price of those players will turn KC off from those players. Players like Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Nigel Reo-Coker could help Kansas City out in different aspects on the field and if both make it through the different drafts without being picked up and end up on waivers, I wouldn't be against KC looking to get them at a new, lower price. But with Hurtado on a $210,000 base and guaranteed salary and Reo-Coker on a $400,000 base, $446,500 guaranteed, there's no way I would use a pick on either one of hose two. I have similar thoughts for the likes of Marvin Chavez ($200,000). Bobby Burling may be the most appealing defender outside of Jean-Baptiste, but as I'd look to bring him in primarily as a back up, I think the $115,000 is too much for him. Especially when the team has $97,500 base tied up with Opara depending on his health.
Sporting Kansas City will have themselves an early selection in the draft as their envelope was pulled third, giving them the third pick in the draft after FC Dallas and New York City FC. That should leave Kansas City with the opportunity to pick up some talent from the club. The pick cannot be traded, so KC will either be picking someone up, or passing on the opportunity.
The players taken in the draft will have to be protected or exposed in the expansion draft that comes up after the season is over. So any player that KC takes may not be with the team for long if they are exposed in the expansion draft and taken by New York or Orlando.
With the third pick there are a couple options that KC could go with in regards to picking players. There are a few players available that Kansas City could certainly take a flyer on for the team next year. Dan Kennedy, Chivas' captain will likely be off the board though. While Dallas has two quality goalkeepers in Chris Seitz and Raul Fernandez (Fernandez on $160,000 base, $247,500 guaranteed salary) they could look to take Kennedy ($211,750 base $213,416.67 guaranteed) and trade him with another team who is in greater need of a goalkeeper. If Dallas doesn't take him, I am not sure I can see Kennedy slipping past NYCFC. The expansion side has one goalkeeper on their roster currently, Josh Saunders but he's on a low salary ($48,504) and I'd expect NYCFC to bring in a starter, and picking up one for nothing in the dispersal draft seems a good way to do it. So I just don't see him falling for Kansas City to take with the number three spot.
Another name on Chivas roster that won't be there is Eric Avila. The midfielder is on his way out of MLS after Chvias USA agreed to a deal in principal to sell him to Santos Laguna in Mexico.
Even with the trio of Torres, Kennedy, and Avila all likely off the board there still are a few players that I think KC could target with the third pick that could contribute to the team.
Andrew Jean-Baptiste - The 22 year old defender has had some rumored locker room issues, but he wouldn't be the first "cancer" to come into KC's locker room. Peter Vermes has shown that he can handle those types of players quite well. This year, Jean-Baptiste was limited to just sight starts due to injury, but started 22 last year for the Portland Timbers on their way to finish first in the Western Conference last year. With Aurelien Collin's future in question and Ike Opara's return time still not known, he'd provide a good target on set pieces and a solid defender next to Matt Besler.
Thomas McNamara - A bit of a gamble, but a move that could pay off for KC. McNamara started Chvias' first six games of the year before an ACL tear put him out for the rest of the season. He showed plenty of flashes for Chivas and contributed a goal in their opening win over Chicago. His recovery would be a question and with KC's injury issues this past year it might be something to avoid, but he'd provide decent, inexpensive depth for the team.
Marco Delgado - The Chivas USA Homegrown talent has started 25 games over the past two years for Chivas USA, but each of the last two seasons has ended with surgery so it's another player that may be an injury risk. Still, Delgado is a member of the US20 team, including serving as the team's captain in two friendlies in Italy. He's a player that could play either on the wing or as a wing back in KC's system. And at 19 he's still quite young.
Caleb Calvert - The other homegrown player has yet to make his first team debut, but a 6'2" 18 year old forward has to get you at least a little excited. But with him you'd have to expect little from him the next couple years. While both Delgado and Calvert are Chivas homegrown players, if I'm understanding it right, KC would not be able to utilize their HGP designation in the expansion draft to not have to expose them.
Nathan Sturgis - The 27 year old has been all around MLS, playing on seven clubs in his eight seasons in the league. He's played in over 120 games in MLS play and would give Kansas City experience and versatility as Sturgis can play in the midfield or on the back line which is something KC could have used more of this past season. His salary may be a little high for a utility player at $114,000 though.
There are other options out there as well that people may find interesting, but I think that the price of those players will turn KC off from those players. Players like Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Nigel Reo-Coker could help Kansas City out in different aspects on the field and if both make it through the different drafts without being picked up and end up on waivers, I wouldn't be against KC looking to get them at a new, lower price. But with Hurtado on a $210,000 base and guaranteed salary and Reo-Coker on a $400,000 base, $446,500 guaranteed, there's no way I would use a pick on either one of hose two. I have similar thoughts for the likes of Marvin Chavez ($200,000). Bobby Burling may be the most appealing defender outside of Jean-Baptiste, but as I'd look to bring him in primarily as a back up, I think the $115,000 is too much for him. Especially when the team has $97,500 base tied up with Opara depending on his health.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Hedrick and Thomas Re-Sign with OKC - Former SKC Wizards Update
The Oklahoma City Energy have been busy this week re-signing a number of players from last year's roster ahead of the 2015 USL-Pro season. Two of the players that they have re-signed for 2015 are former Kansas City players, Cyprian Hedrick and Michael Thomas, OKC's team captain. It's not known whether the third former KC player, Kyle Miller will be re-signd or not.
Also this week, congratulations are in order for Oriol Rosell who made his Champions League debut for Sporting Portugal, recording an assist in their 4-1 win over Schalke. He's the first player to play in the Champions League after leaving Kansas City.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Federico Bessone
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Edson Elcock
Adnan Gabeljic
Mechack Jerome
Peterson Joseph
Neal Kitson
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Akeem Priestly
Peter Schmetz
Scott Sealy
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Started and played 60 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over New York.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes recording a goal and an asist in New England's 3-1 win over Columbus.
Bobby Convey - New York - Did not dress in New York's 2-1 loss to DC.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Salt Lake's 5-0 loss to LA.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over New York.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Not available until 2015 season.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 45 minutes in Columbus' 3-1 loss to New England.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 75 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-1 (5-4) shootout win over Minnesota.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 8-4 loss to Milwaukee.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had an assist in Baltimore's 16-7 win over Syracuse.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Started and had an assist in Wichita's 12-6 win over Tulsa.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 2-1 win over Budissa Bautzen.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 0-0 draw with Tigres.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Defeated Internacional de Acapulco FC 2-1.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Argentina - Tied Midland 1-1. Tied Defensores Unidos 1-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Offseason.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 1-0 win over Atletico Bucaramanga.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Wigan's 3-1 loss to Bolton.
Herculez Gomez - Tigres - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Tigres' 0-0 draw with Chivas.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - América RN - Brazil - Did not dress in America's 3-1 loss to Boa.
Mechack Jerome - Haiti - No game this week.
Will John - Maghreb Fes - Morocco - Tied RSB Berkane 0-0 in the cup. Defeated Moghreb Tetouan 2-0 in league play.
Igor Kostrov - Veris - Moldova - Did not dress in Veris' 1-0 win over Zimbru.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Did not dress in either of San Martin's games.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 3-1 win over Lausanne Sport.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Started and played 86 minutes, scoring a goal in Spartak's 2-0 win over Arsenal Tula.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Came off the bench and played 8 minutes, recording an assist in Sporting's 4-2 win over Schalke. Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 1-1 draw with Pacos de Ferreira.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in Blackburn's 1-1 draw with Brighton.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Sarajevo's 1-0 win over Vitez.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Did not dress in Saarbrucken's 1-0 loss to Wormatia Worms.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportivo Lara - Venezuela - Did not play in Lara's 4-0 win over Portuguesa.
Also this week, congratulations are in order for Oriol Rosell who made his Champions League debut for Sporting Portugal, recording an assist in their 4-1 win over Schalke. He's the first player to play in the Champions League after leaving Kansas City.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Federico Bessone
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Edson Elcock
Adnan Gabeljic
Mechack Jerome
Peterson Joseph
Neal Kitson
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Akeem Priestly
Peter Schmetz
Scott Sealy
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Started and played 60 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over New York.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes recording a goal and an asist in New England's 3-1 win over Columbus.
Bobby Convey - New York - Did not dress in New York's 2-1 loss to DC.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Salt Lake's 5-0 loss to LA.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over New York.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Not available until 2015 season.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 45 minutes in Columbus' 3-1 loss to New England.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 75 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-1 (5-4) shootout win over Minnesota.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 8-4 loss to Milwaukee.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had an assist in Baltimore's 16-7 win over Syracuse.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Started and had an assist in Wichita's 12-6 win over Tulsa.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 2-1 win over Budissa Bautzen.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 0-0 draw with Tigres.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Defeated Internacional de Acapulco FC 2-1.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Argentina - Tied Midland 1-1. Tied Defensores Unidos 1-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Offseason.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 1-0 win over Atletico Bucaramanga.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Wigan's 3-1 loss to Bolton.
Herculez Gomez - Tigres - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Tigres' 0-0 draw with Chivas.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - América RN - Brazil - Did not dress in America's 3-1 loss to Boa.
Mechack Jerome - Haiti - No game this week.
Will John - Maghreb Fes - Morocco - Tied RSB Berkane 0-0 in the cup. Defeated Moghreb Tetouan 2-0 in league play.
Igor Kostrov - Veris - Moldova - Did not dress in Veris' 1-0 win over Zimbru.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Did not dress in either of San Martin's games.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 3-1 win over Lausanne Sport.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Started and played 86 minutes, scoring a goal in Spartak's 2-0 win over Arsenal Tula.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Came off the bench and played 8 minutes, recording an assist in Sporting's 4-2 win over Schalke. Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 1-1 draw with Pacos de Ferreira.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in Blackburn's 1-1 draw with Brighton.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Sarajevo's 1-0 win over Vitez.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Did not dress in Saarbrucken's 1-0 loss to Wormatia Worms.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportivo Lara - Venezuela - Did not play in Lara's 4-0 win over Portuguesa.
Sporting KC Adding Retail Store at Sporting Park
There will be an addition at Sporting Park in the coming years. No Sporting Kansas City will not be adding more seats to the stadium at this time, but they will be adding something the team has felt was lacking, a retail store to Sporting Park.
The new store will be 5,000 square feet, that's more than six times the amount of square footage the stadium currently has for retail (currently 750). The store will cost seven figures and serve as the venue's merchandise hub. The plan is that the shop will open for the start of the 2016 MLS season.
Recently during a fan forum, Robb Heineman called the lack of bigger store one of their biggest mistakes when building the stadium.
Really at the time the stadium was built though there was no way of knowing the team would take off in popularity the way it had. Similar to the capacity of the stadium, there was really no way of knowing Sporting would become as popular as it has in Kansas City based on the history of the Wizards when it came to attendance.
It may seem like a minor thing, but this is something that the team desperately needed to add, the existing stores just didn't provide the space that was needed, too many times the stores were overly crowded making it hard to move around and make purchases. The new store will be accessible from both inside and outside the stadium, which will be good for the team going forward and allow them to have a store that would be open on non-game days that would allow them to sell merchandise, for example, during the Christmas season. It's a revenue stream that was left unfulfilled currently.
The team's growth has the team number 2 in the league in terms of growth sales. The Sporting brand has gotten strong enough that they made scarves with the old Wizards logo on it. The team's VP/Merchandise, John Moncke said that the team sold 5,000 of those throw back scarves, the most sales of a single scarf in the team's history. And based on his quotes in the article regarding the merchandise, I think Sporting is feeling comfortable enough in the branding of Sporting KC that we may start to see a little more throw back merchandise show up.
The new store will be 5,000 square feet, that's more than six times the amount of square footage the stadium currently has for retail (currently 750). The store will cost seven figures and serve as the venue's merchandise hub. The plan is that the shop will open for the start of the 2016 MLS season.
Recently during a fan forum, Robb Heineman called the lack of bigger store one of their biggest mistakes when building the stadium.
Really at the time the stadium was built though there was no way of knowing the team would take off in popularity the way it had. Similar to the capacity of the stadium, there was really no way of knowing Sporting would become as popular as it has in Kansas City based on the history of the Wizards when it came to attendance.
It may seem like a minor thing, but this is something that the team desperately needed to add, the existing stores just didn't provide the space that was needed, too many times the stores were overly crowded making it hard to move around and make purchases. The new store will be accessible from both inside and outside the stadium, which will be good for the team going forward and allow them to have a store that would be open on non-game days that would allow them to sell merchandise, for example, during the Christmas season. It's a revenue stream that was left unfulfilled currently.
The team's growth has the team number 2 in the league in terms of growth sales. The Sporting brand has gotten strong enough that they made scarves with the old Wizards logo on it. The team's VP/Merchandise, John Moncke said that the team sold 5,000 of those throw back scarves, the most sales of a single scarf in the team's history. And based on his quotes in the article regarding the merchandise, I think Sporting is feeling comfortable enough in the branding of Sporting KC that we may start to see a little more throw back merchandise show up.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Sporting Set New Attendance Record
For the fourth straight year, Sporting KC has set a new record attendance for the club. This year, Sporting KC broke the 20,000 per game average for the first time in club history, averaging 20,003 per game in the 2014 season. Sporting sold out all 17 league home games increasing their record to 53 in MLS play (league and playoffs). The last time Sporting failed to sell out was March 25th of 2012 against FC Dallas. Sporting was even able to sell out games going up against Royals playoff run including Game 1 of the ALCS and Game 5 of the World Series (a game that would have clinched the World Series if the Royals had won).
The team topped the record set last year by just under 300 people per game, drawing over 20,000 seven times over the course of the season.
Here's the list of 19 prior seasons.
2014 - 20,003
2013 - 19,709
2012 - 19,404
2011 - 17,810
2003 - 15,573
2004 - 14,816
1996 - 12,986
2002 - 12,287
2007 - 11,586
2006 - 11,083
2001 - 10,954
2008 - 10,716
2010 - 10,286
2009 - 10,053
2000 - 9,882
1999 - 9,849
2005 - 9,691
1997 - 9,058
1998 - 8,073
In terms of Sporting's ranking in MLS, Sporting actually fell in the rankings compared to last year, going from 7th to 8th in the league. A larger stadium and better attendance for Salt Lake allowed them to jump over Kansas City. MLS as a whole also set a new record attendance this year, 19,148 per game. And that's with Chivas USA setting the league record for the lowest single game attendance, 3,702 earlier this season. A new record should likely be set again next year with Chivas USA gone and New York City and Orlando City joining the league.
Here's the full list of attendance this year.
Seattle - 43,734
Toronto - 22,086
Los Angeles - 21,258
Portland - 20,806
Vancouver - 20,408
Salt Lake - 20,351
Houston - 20,117
Kansas City - 20,003
New York - 19,421
Philadelphia - 17,631
Montreal - 17,421
DC - 17,030
Columbus - 16,881
Dallas - 16,817
New England - 16,681
Chicago - 16,076
Colorado - 15,082
San Jose - 14,947
Chivas - 7,063
The team topped the record set last year by just under 300 people per game, drawing over 20,000 seven times over the course of the season.
Here's the list of 19 prior seasons.
2014 - 20,003
2013 - 19,709
2012 - 19,404
2011 - 17,810
2003 - 15,573
2004 - 14,816
1996 - 12,986
2002 - 12,287
2007 - 11,586
2006 - 11,083
2001 - 10,954
2008 - 10,716
2010 - 10,286
2009 - 10,053
2000 - 9,882
1999 - 9,849
2005 - 9,691
1997 - 9,058
1998 - 8,073
In terms of Sporting's ranking in MLS, Sporting actually fell in the rankings compared to last year, going from 7th to 8th in the league. A larger stadium and better attendance for Salt Lake allowed them to jump over Kansas City. MLS as a whole also set a new record attendance this year, 19,148 per game. And that's with Chivas USA setting the league record for the lowest single game attendance, 3,702 earlier this season. A new record should likely be set again next year with Chivas USA gone and New York City and Orlando City joining the league.
Here's the full list of attendance this year.
Seattle - 43,734
Toronto - 22,086
Los Angeles - 21,258
Portland - 20,806
Vancouver - 20,408
Salt Lake - 20,351
Houston - 20,117
Kansas City - 20,003
New York - 19,421
Philadelphia - 17,631
Montreal - 17,421
DC - 17,030
Columbus - 16,881
Dallas - 16,817
New England - 16,681
Chicago - 16,076
Colorado - 15,082
San Jose - 14,947
Chivas - 7,063
Monday, November 10, 2014
Mudd Named Conference Freshman of the Year - SKC Academy Update
The college season is winding down for a number of former Sporting academy players. One player, Noah Mudd at Trevecca Nazarene University was named the G-MAC Conference Freshman of the year.
Also, Eric De Julio and Creighton clinched the Big East's regular season title. Here's this week's update.
Class of 2010
Brandon Fricke (Butler University) - D - RSr - Started in Butler's 2-0 loss to Xavier.
Class of 2011
Eric Hymer (Fort Hays State) - D - Sr - Started in Fort Hays' 2-0 loss to Lindenwood.
Raymond Lee (Saint Louis University) - MF - Sr - Started in #12 Saint Louis' 1-0 win over VCU.
Eric Moore (Rockhurst University) - D - Sr - Season over.
Michael Oakley (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - Sr - Did not play in UMKC's 3-1 win over Houston Baptist. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to Incarnate Word.
Paul Oliver (California Baptist) - D/MF - Sr - Started in Cal Baptist's 2-1 win over Point Loma.
Jordan Rideout (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - Sr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Taylor Vinnage (Benedictine) - GK - Sr - Started in Benedictine's 2-2 (4-2) shootout loss to Culver-Stockton.
Class of 2012
Andrew Brown (Bradley University) - MF - Jr - Started in Bradley's 2-0 loss to Drake.
Eric DeJulio (Creighton University) - D - Jr - Started in #6 Creighton's 3-0 win over #19 Providence.
Daniel Hare (Loyola University in Chicago) - D - Jr - Started in Loyola's 1-0 win over SIU-Edwardsville.
Andrew Lightner (Dayton) - D - RSo - Started in Dayton's 1-0 loss to La Salle. Started in Dayton's 4-0 win over Saint Joseph's.
Andrew Miller (Baker University) - D - Jr - Started in Baker's 2-1 win over Graceland.
Nate Opperman (University of Evansville) - F - Jr - Came on as a substitute in Evansville's 1-0 loss to Missouri State.
Derek Schrick (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - Jr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Chris Tuso (Baker) - MF - Jr - Did not play in Baker's 2-1 win over Graceland.
Shane Woods (Drury University) - F - Jr - Did not play in Drury's 1-0 loss to the University of Indianapolis.
Class of 2013
Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - So - Started in Jacksonville's 2-0 loss to Lipscomb.
Chris Arce (Neosho CC) - MF - So - Did not play in Neosho's 1-0 loss to Hill College.
Matt Bernard (Drake) - MF - RFr - Did not play in Drake's 2-0 win over Bradley.
Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - So - Season over.
Seo-In Kim (Duke) - MF - So - Came on as a substitute in Duke's 3-2 OT win over North Carolina State. Came on as a substitute in Duke's 2-0 loss to Syracuse.
Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - So - Came on as a substitute in Northern Illinois' 2-1 loss to Bowling Green.
Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - So - Came on as a substitute and scored a goal in UMKC's 3-1 win over Houston Baptist. Stared in UMKC's 3-0 loss to Incarnate Word.
Wes White (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - RFr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Austin Wilcox (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - So - Started and had a goal in UMKC's 3-1 win over Houston Baptist. Started in UMKC's 3-0 loss to Incarnate Word.
Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - So - Started in Fort Hays' 2-0 loss to Lindenwood.
Kyle Vassar - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - RFr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Class of 2014
Darby Cronin (University of Missouri Kansas City)- MF - Fr - Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-1 win over Houston Baptist. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to Incarnate Word.
Andrew Dittemore (Missouri State) - GK - Fr - Did not play in Missouri State's 1-0 win over Evansville.
Andy Ericks (Colorado School of Mines) - MF - Fr - Came on as a substitute in Colorado's 4-0 win over Regis. Did not play in Colorado's 3-3 (4-3) shootout win over Colorado-Colorado Springs.
Heath Honold (Wake Forest) - F - Fr - Did not play in Wake Forest's 2-2 (3-2) shootout loss to Clemson.
Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - Fr - Started in Drake's 2-0 win over Bradley.
Blake Levine (Baker) - F - Fr - Came on as a substitute in Baker's 2-1 win over Graceland.
Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - Fr - Started in Fordham's 1-1 draw with Duquesne.
Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - Fr - Did not play in #2 North Carolina's 1-0 loss to Louisville.
Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - Fr - Season over.
Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - Fr - Started and had an assist in West Virginia's 2-1 win over Western Michigan.
Cole Stevenson (Denver) - F - Fr - Did not play in Denver's 1-0 win over Western Illinois.
Austin Williamson (Northeastern State University) - GK - Fr - Did not play in either of Northeastern State's games.
Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - Fr - Did not play in #2 North Carolina's 1-0 loss to Louisville.
Also, Eric De Julio and Creighton clinched the Big East's regular season title. Here's this week's update.
Class of 2010
Brandon Fricke (Butler University) - D - RSr - Started in Butler's 2-0 loss to Xavier.
Class of 2011
Eric Hymer (Fort Hays State) - D - Sr - Started in Fort Hays' 2-0 loss to Lindenwood.
Raymond Lee (Saint Louis University) - MF - Sr - Started in #12 Saint Louis' 1-0 win over VCU.
Eric Moore (Rockhurst University) - D - Sr - Season over.
Michael Oakley (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - Sr - Did not play in UMKC's 3-1 win over Houston Baptist. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to Incarnate Word.
Paul Oliver (California Baptist) - D/MF - Sr - Started in Cal Baptist's 2-1 win over Point Loma.
Jordan Rideout (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - Sr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Taylor Vinnage (Benedictine) - GK - Sr - Started in Benedictine's 2-2 (4-2) shootout loss to Culver-Stockton.
Class of 2012
Andrew Brown (Bradley University) - MF - Jr - Started in Bradley's 2-0 loss to Drake.
Eric DeJulio (Creighton University) - D - Jr - Started in #6 Creighton's 3-0 win over #19 Providence.
Daniel Hare (Loyola University in Chicago) - D - Jr - Started in Loyola's 1-0 win over SIU-Edwardsville.
Andrew Lightner (Dayton) - D - RSo - Started in Dayton's 1-0 loss to La Salle. Started in Dayton's 4-0 win over Saint Joseph's.
Andrew Miller (Baker University) - D - Jr - Started in Baker's 2-1 win over Graceland.
Nate Opperman (University of Evansville) - F - Jr - Came on as a substitute in Evansville's 1-0 loss to Missouri State.
Derek Schrick (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - Jr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Chris Tuso (Baker) - MF - Jr - Did not play in Baker's 2-1 win over Graceland.
Shane Woods (Drury University) - F - Jr - Did not play in Drury's 1-0 loss to the University of Indianapolis.
Class of 2013
Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - So - Started in Jacksonville's 2-0 loss to Lipscomb.
Chris Arce (Neosho CC) - MF - So - Did not play in Neosho's 1-0 loss to Hill College.
Matt Bernard (Drake) - MF - RFr - Did not play in Drake's 2-0 win over Bradley.
Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - So - Season over.
Seo-In Kim (Duke) - MF - So - Came on as a substitute in Duke's 3-2 OT win over North Carolina State. Came on as a substitute in Duke's 2-0 loss to Syracuse.
Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - So - Came on as a substitute in Northern Illinois' 2-1 loss to Bowling Green.
Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - So - Came on as a substitute and scored a goal in UMKC's 3-1 win over Houston Baptist. Stared in UMKC's 3-0 loss to Incarnate Word.
Wes White (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - RFr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Austin Wilcox (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - So - Started and had a goal in UMKC's 3-1 win over Houston Baptist. Started in UMKC's 3-0 loss to Incarnate Word.
Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - So - Started in Fort Hays' 2-0 loss to Lindenwood.
Kyle Vassar - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - RFr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.
Class of 2014
Darby Cronin (University of Missouri Kansas City)- MF - Fr - Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-1 win over Houston Baptist. Came on as a substitute in UMKC's 3-0 loss to Incarnate Word.
Andrew Dittemore (Missouri State) - GK - Fr - Did not play in Missouri State's 1-0 win over Evansville.
Andy Ericks (Colorado School of Mines) - MF - Fr - Came on as a substitute in Colorado's 4-0 win over Regis. Did not play in Colorado's 3-3 (4-3) shootout win over Colorado-Colorado Springs.
Heath Honold (Wake Forest) - F - Fr - Did not play in Wake Forest's 2-2 (3-2) shootout loss to Clemson.
Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - Fr - Started in Drake's 2-0 win over Bradley.
Blake Levine (Baker) - F - Fr - Came on as a substitute in Baker's 2-1 win over Graceland.
Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - Fr - Started in Fordham's 1-1 draw with Duquesne.
Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - Fr - Did not play in #2 North Carolina's 1-0 loss to Louisville.
Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - Fr - Season over.
Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - Fr - Started and had an assist in West Virginia's 2-1 win over Western Michigan.
Cole Stevenson (Denver) - F - Fr - Did not play in Denver's 1-0 win over Western Illinois.
Austin Williamson (Northeastern State University) - GK - Fr - Did not play in either of Northeastern State's games.
Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - Fr - Did not play in #2 North Carolina's 1-0 loss to Louisville.
Besler Called Up for US Friendlies
Sporting KC's season is over, but some of KC's players are still going playing. Two players are currently with their respective national teams.
The other call up for Kansas City has actually been with his national team for a while. Martin Steuble was called up by the Philippines as they prepare for the AFF Suzuki Cup. The day after Kansas City's season ended against New York, Steuble was on the field for the Philippines as they defeated Nepal 3-0 in Qatar. Then yesterday in Thailand, the Philippines fell 3-0. They have one more friendly on Wednesday against Cambodia before playing Laos (22nd), Indonesia (25th), and Vietnam (28th) in the group stage of the Suzuki Cup.
Saturday, November 08, 2014
Comets Win Match Up of Champions
On paper, the Comets first two games of the season looked to be a difficult ask in the new MASL. Opening the season with two on the road against a Dallas Sidekicks team that hadn't lost at home since they were reborn and then travel to Chicago to take on the Mustangs, the defending PASL champions. The Comets though made both games look easy as they beat Dallas 13-4 a couple weeks ago and then today topped the defending PASL champions 12-6 in a champion vs champion match ups.
The Comets got things going early as Max Touloute slotted a ball through to Vahid Assadpour who scored from close range to give the Comets the lead just over two minutes in. The Mustangs were agressive from the start, but struggled to break down the Comets defense. The Comets were finding space themselves on the counter and just over five minutes in doubled their lead. The ball got played in to Andrew Braithwaite at the back post, his first effort was off the glass, but the ball rebounded off his head and into the net to doudle the lead at 2-0. The Mustangs found their way back into the game soon after when Touloute was given a blue card. The ensuing shootout attempt was scored on the rebound by Efrain Wilo Martinez after Danny Waltman stopped his first effort. The Comets continued to look the better side and by the end of the quarter had restored the two goal lead as Brain Harris picked up a pass in midfield and raced down the floor and fired home.
The second quarter belonged entirely to the Comets as they asurted their dominance scoring three unanswered in the quarter to take a 6-1 lead into half time. The first goal came early on in the half as the Comets used the counter to their full advantage. Assadpour led the counter before dishing off to Leo Gibson. Gibson first overran the pass, but recovered and fired the ball home to make it 4-1. The Mustangs thought they'd made it 4-2 near the mid-point of the quarter, but one referee had blown the play dead while another allowed it to continue. The confusion caused the kick to be retaken. The Comets blocked the restart and the Comets countered with Touloute out racing the Mustang defense and scoring to make it 5-1. Braithwaite added a second, beating the keeper to the ball after he failed to hold onto it as the Comets went into the half up 6-1.
The third quarter saw the Comets continue their domination of the Mustangs as Gibson finished off a hattrick early in the quarter converting two shootout attempts in the first few minutes of the third quarter. Sandwiched in between those two goals was a nice back heel goal by Alain Matingou after some good work by the Comets. The Mustangs started to wake up and in the span of less than a minute cut the lead to 9-3 as Martinez picked his second of the night up getting to the ball before Waltman. Then Bryan Moya picked Waltman's pocket and scored. The Comets though were able to kill the momentum that the Mustangs had at that point by keeping possession of the ball. Late in the quarter, Stefan Stokic made it 10-3 knocking in a shot by Assadpour that was going wide.
The fourth quarter again saw the Mustangs work to cut the lead down early on as Martinez and Luis Ortega both were able to cut into the lead, Ortega's a nice long range effort when no one closed him down. Missouri answered with a long range effort of their own as Harris fired a shot that bounced off the wall, off the goalkeeper and into the net. Miguel Vaca made it 11-5 converting an ugly chance for the Mustangs. But with under six minutes left, the Comets finished out the scoring. Gibson was stopped on a shootout attempt, but Chicago goalkeeper, Jesus Flores handled the ball outside the box leading to a PK that Gibson stepped up and converted to make it 12-6.
The Comets will return home for their home opener next Saturday against the Milwaukee Wave.
The Comets got things going early as Max Touloute slotted a ball through to Vahid Assadpour who scored from close range to give the Comets the lead just over two minutes in. The Mustangs were agressive from the start, but struggled to break down the Comets defense. The Comets were finding space themselves on the counter and just over five minutes in doubled their lead. The ball got played in to Andrew Braithwaite at the back post, his first effort was off the glass, but the ball rebounded off his head and into the net to doudle the lead at 2-0. The Mustangs found their way back into the game soon after when Touloute was given a blue card. The ensuing shootout attempt was scored on the rebound by Efrain Wilo Martinez after Danny Waltman stopped his first effort. The Comets continued to look the better side and by the end of the quarter had restored the two goal lead as Brain Harris picked up a pass in midfield and raced down the floor and fired home.
The second quarter belonged entirely to the Comets as they asurted their dominance scoring three unanswered in the quarter to take a 6-1 lead into half time. The first goal came early on in the half as the Comets used the counter to their full advantage. Assadpour led the counter before dishing off to Leo Gibson. Gibson first overran the pass, but recovered and fired the ball home to make it 4-1. The Mustangs thought they'd made it 4-2 near the mid-point of the quarter, but one referee had blown the play dead while another allowed it to continue. The confusion caused the kick to be retaken. The Comets blocked the restart and the Comets countered with Touloute out racing the Mustang defense and scoring to make it 5-1. Braithwaite added a second, beating the keeper to the ball after he failed to hold onto it as the Comets went into the half up 6-1.
The third quarter saw the Comets continue their domination of the Mustangs as Gibson finished off a hattrick early in the quarter converting two shootout attempts in the first few minutes of the third quarter. Sandwiched in between those two goals was a nice back heel goal by Alain Matingou after some good work by the Comets. The Mustangs started to wake up and in the span of less than a minute cut the lead to 9-3 as Martinez picked his second of the night up getting to the ball before Waltman. Then Bryan Moya picked Waltman's pocket and scored. The Comets though were able to kill the momentum that the Mustangs had at that point by keeping possession of the ball. Late in the quarter, Stefan Stokic made it 10-3 knocking in a shot by Assadpour that was going wide.
The fourth quarter again saw the Mustangs work to cut the lead down early on as Martinez and Luis Ortega both were able to cut into the lead, Ortega's a nice long range effort when no one closed him down. Missouri answered with a long range effort of their own as Harris fired a shot that bounced off the wall, off the goalkeeper and into the net. Miguel Vaca made it 11-5 converting an ugly chance for the Mustangs. But with under six minutes left, the Comets finished out the scoring. Gibson was stopped on a shootout attempt, but Chicago goalkeeper, Jesus Flores handled the ball outside the box leading to a PK that Gibson stepped up and converted to make it 12-6.
The Comets will return home for their home opener next Saturday against the Milwaukee Wave.
Friday, November 07, 2014
What Happened and Where Do We Go From Here - Forwards
Finishing up my review of Sporting KC's season going by position, we've reached the forwards. Compared to the rest of the team, the forwards were healthy and a consistent group all season. A club record for goals that had stood since 1996 finally fell thanks to Dom Dwyer's performance this year. Statistically though outside of Dwyer the forwards didn't really get their job done this year.
For the strikers the season begins and ends with Dwyer. The forward ended up winning the starting center forward spot in Peter Vermes' system late in the 2013 season over Clauido Bieler. While in 2013 he struggled to find the net, Dwyer had no such issues in 2014, finishing with 22 goals in league play and 24 in all competitions topping Preki's records from 1996 in both of those positions. Unfortunately for Sporting the team's second leading scorer in league play, Graham Zusi finished with just five goals, Benny Feilhaber with four, and after that it was Soony Saad with just three. Only two of those three spent the majority of the season.
That was the main issue for KC's forward line this year. Outside Dwyer there was no consistent goal scorer for Kansas City. KC's seven other forwards, Zusi (5), Saad (3), Bieler (2), Jacob Peterson (2), CJ Sapong (2), Toni Dovale (1), and Sal Zizzo (0) still finished with seven fewer goals than Dwyer got himself. To put another way, take away Dwyer's PKs that he scored and he scored as many as the rest of the forwards. In all competitions the group just finished 1 behind Dwyer's 24.
Dwyer's ascension was the downfall for Bieler, KC's lone DP heading into this season. The two had started the season alternating starts with Bieler getting the Champions League while Dwyer got the league games. But then Dwyer really started to find net and over the course of the season, Bieler started just four games for Kansas City in league play and played just 421 minutes in his 13 appearances. While Bieler and the team talk about the Argentine being okay with his role, one can't expect KC to continue to have a DP slot sitting on the bench consistently. I'd thought Bieler's time in KC was done after last season, that didn't happen. Now I'd be even more surprised if Bieler is back in KC next season.
On the wing this year one thing that became apparent for Kansas City and their fans is that the team really did miss Kei Kamara out wide. The mix of speed athleticism and goalscoring ability from the outside was really missed. And while I'm not sure if Kamara and Dwyer would have played as well together with both being "the guy" some sort of player like him would be a boost for the team.
Vermes has been trying to turn Sapong into that new Kamara basically since the 2011 season when Sapong would spend some time out side with Omar Bravo in the middle of the field. Sapong showed some flashes but really has not developed in the path that Kamara did in KC. He doesn't have the speed that Kamara was able to use to exploit his physical advantages against smaller outside backs. Sapong has the physical tools to be a center forward for Kansas City. Unfortunately with the likes of Dwyer in the middle, Sapong is unlikely to get that chance.
KC's most successful wide player this past season was Zusi who along with his five goals adding eight assists in league play to lead the team. Playing a role similar to that with the US national team I really do think that the wide position is his best in KC's system, especially with the likes of Feilhaber in the attacking midfield position running the game from there. Like with his US teammate Matt Besler, Zusi seemed to suffer from fatigue late in the season that hurt his performance down the stretch.
At moments during the season it looked like Saad was really starting to turn a corner and become a consistent starter and contributor on the team. But it seemed like each time he'd take a step forward he'd very shortly after take the step right back. He's probably the best pure striker on the team. His strike against Toronto this year was just another in a string of highlight goals that he's scored from distance. At this point in his career, turning 23 next season, he really needs to start to become more consistent as a starter and finisher.
Like Saad, Dovale showed flashes multiple times throughout the year. He gave Kansas City another threat on set pieces and looked dangerous cutting in from the right to get a shot on his left foot or swinging in a cross from the left side. On the other side of that, he's a very one footed player. He's not as bad as Milos Stojcev was for Kansas City back in 2011, but he is a far cry from the likes of Preki, who used his right to beat you just enough to make defenders think twice and let him cut back to his left.
KC's other two forwards, Peterson and Zizzo are good work horses, the two will go out and do the work that Vermes needs them to do on the wing. Unfortunately the two are not great when it comes to finishing. In almost 200 league appearances, Peterson has scored just 15 league goals for his career. Meanwhile Zizzo has played almost 100 games in all competitions in his MLS career and has scored just three goals. The two have helped KC out this year, but they pretty much fill the same type of role, and I'm not sure that KC's needs both of them.
I think the forwards are an area that KC could and will see a lot of turnover in this coming offseason. The big thing to watch will be any transfer rumors regarding Dwyer and a return to England. Offers came in during the summer and more this winter would not be a surprise. It'll take a very good offer though in my opinion for Kansas City to let Dwyer leave, even if he is entering the last year of his contract.
Elsewhere I think there will be some house cleaning. I think Bieler's time in KC is going to finally come to an end. As I said earlier I don't think KC can really afford to have one of their DP slots consistently sitting on the bench. For Vermes it's now the second DP forward that's found their way onto the bench while here in KC. With his departure though, KC would need to find a striker who can back up Dwyer and possibly take his place after next season if the lure of a return to England is too strong for him to turn down. Whether that comes from one of KC's two first round picks or from somewhere else, it's a priority that KC will need to address.
As for the other forwards, I think Sapong and possibly Saad would do well with a change of scenery away from KC. I think Sapong can be a decent professional if played in the center of the forward line, which would suit his skill set more, get him in a two forward system with another forward and I think he'd be fine. Unfortunately for him I don't see something like that happening here. Similar for Saad who I think really needs to be a consistent starter and I'm not sure he's going to get the opportunity here.
With Peterson and Zizzo, I think one of the two could be let go and it wouldn't be a huge loss. Peterson's versatility on the field would seem to give him the advantage, but on the other hand, Zizzo helps bring us the Benny Feilhaber Show.
Really the biggest of KC's needs up top is to try to bring in a winger with some speed and finishing ability. If Vermes is adamant about trying to convert a forward to the wing position, I'd be tempted to see what Vancouver wants for Darren Mattocks. The forward has been linked with a move away from Vancouver and he has the speed that KC has sorely missed out wide since the transfer of Kamara. If not there, KC really needs to be looking outside of MLS for that sort of player.
For the strikers the season begins and ends with Dwyer. The forward ended up winning the starting center forward spot in Peter Vermes' system late in the 2013 season over Clauido Bieler. While in 2013 he struggled to find the net, Dwyer had no such issues in 2014, finishing with 22 goals in league play and 24 in all competitions topping Preki's records from 1996 in both of those positions. Unfortunately for Sporting the team's second leading scorer in league play, Graham Zusi finished with just five goals, Benny Feilhaber with four, and after that it was Soony Saad with just three. Only two of those three spent the majority of the season.
That was the main issue for KC's forward line this year. Outside Dwyer there was no consistent goal scorer for Kansas City. KC's seven other forwards, Zusi (5), Saad (3), Bieler (2), Jacob Peterson (2), CJ Sapong (2), Toni Dovale (1), and Sal Zizzo (0) still finished with seven fewer goals than Dwyer got himself. To put another way, take away Dwyer's PKs that he scored and he scored as many as the rest of the forwards. In all competitions the group just finished 1 behind Dwyer's 24.
Dwyer's ascension was the downfall for Bieler, KC's lone DP heading into this season. The two had started the season alternating starts with Bieler getting the Champions League while Dwyer got the league games. But then Dwyer really started to find net and over the course of the season, Bieler started just four games for Kansas City in league play and played just 421 minutes in his 13 appearances. While Bieler and the team talk about the Argentine being okay with his role, one can't expect KC to continue to have a DP slot sitting on the bench consistently. I'd thought Bieler's time in KC was done after last season, that didn't happen. Now I'd be even more surprised if Bieler is back in KC next season.
On the wing this year one thing that became apparent for Kansas City and their fans is that the team really did miss Kei Kamara out wide. The mix of speed athleticism and goalscoring ability from the outside was really missed. And while I'm not sure if Kamara and Dwyer would have played as well together with both being "the guy" some sort of player like him would be a boost for the team.
Vermes has been trying to turn Sapong into that new Kamara basically since the 2011 season when Sapong would spend some time out side with Omar Bravo in the middle of the field. Sapong showed some flashes but really has not developed in the path that Kamara did in KC. He doesn't have the speed that Kamara was able to use to exploit his physical advantages against smaller outside backs. Sapong has the physical tools to be a center forward for Kansas City. Unfortunately with the likes of Dwyer in the middle, Sapong is unlikely to get that chance.
KC's most successful wide player this past season was Zusi who along with his five goals adding eight assists in league play to lead the team. Playing a role similar to that with the US national team I really do think that the wide position is his best in KC's system, especially with the likes of Feilhaber in the attacking midfield position running the game from there. Like with his US teammate Matt Besler, Zusi seemed to suffer from fatigue late in the season that hurt his performance down the stretch.
At moments during the season it looked like Saad was really starting to turn a corner and become a consistent starter and contributor on the team. But it seemed like each time he'd take a step forward he'd very shortly after take the step right back. He's probably the best pure striker on the team. His strike against Toronto this year was just another in a string of highlight goals that he's scored from distance. At this point in his career, turning 23 next season, he really needs to start to become more consistent as a starter and finisher.
Like Saad, Dovale showed flashes multiple times throughout the year. He gave Kansas City another threat on set pieces and looked dangerous cutting in from the right to get a shot on his left foot or swinging in a cross from the left side. On the other side of that, he's a very one footed player. He's not as bad as Milos Stojcev was for Kansas City back in 2011, but he is a far cry from the likes of Preki, who used his right to beat you just enough to make defenders think twice and let him cut back to his left.
KC's other two forwards, Peterson and Zizzo are good work horses, the two will go out and do the work that Vermes needs them to do on the wing. Unfortunately the two are not great when it comes to finishing. In almost 200 league appearances, Peterson has scored just 15 league goals for his career. Meanwhile Zizzo has played almost 100 games in all competitions in his MLS career and has scored just three goals. The two have helped KC out this year, but they pretty much fill the same type of role, and I'm not sure that KC's needs both of them.
I think the forwards are an area that KC could and will see a lot of turnover in this coming offseason. The big thing to watch will be any transfer rumors regarding Dwyer and a return to England. Offers came in during the summer and more this winter would not be a surprise. It'll take a very good offer though in my opinion for Kansas City to let Dwyer leave, even if he is entering the last year of his contract.
Elsewhere I think there will be some house cleaning. I think Bieler's time in KC is going to finally come to an end. As I said earlier I don't think KC can really afford to have one of their DP slots consistently sitting on the bench. For Vermes it's now the second DP forward that's found their way onto the bench while here in KC. With his departure though, KC would need to find a striker who can back up Dwyer and possibly take his place after next season if the lure of a return to England is too strong for him to turn down. Whether that comes from one of KC's two first round picks or from somewhere else, it's a priority that KC will need to address.
As for the other forwards, I think Sapong and possibly Saad would do well with a change of scenery away from KC. I think Sapong can be a decent professional if played in the center of the forward line, which would suit his skill set more, get him in a two forward system with another forward and I think he'd be fine. Unfortunately for him I don't see something like that happening here. Similar for Saad who I think really needs to be a consistent starter and I'm not sure he's going to get the opportunity here.
With Peterson and Zizzo, I think one of the two could be let go and it wouldn't be a huge loss. Peterson's versatility on the field would seem to give him the advantage, but on the other hand, Zizzo helps bring us the Benny Feilhaber Show.
Really the biggest of KC's needs up top is to try to bring in a winger with some speed and finishing ability. If Vermes is adamant about trying to convert a forward to the wing position, I'd be tempted to see what Vancouver wants for Darren Mattocks. The forward has been linked with a move away from Vancouver and he has the speed that KC has sorely missed out wide since the transfer of Kamara. If not there, KC really needs to be looking outside of MLS for that sort of player.
Thursday, November 06, 2014
What Happened and Where Do We Go From Here - Midfield
Part three of my look at what happened to Kansas City in the 2014 season and where to look at going forward is taking a look at Kansas City's midfield. While Sporting's midfield wasn't hit nearly as hard by injuries as the defense was, other factors led to Sporting's issues in midfield this season.
The biggest issue for Kansas City ended up coming early in the season. Sporting sold Oriol Rosell, the team's deep lying defensive midfielder to Sporting Portugal in June. Rosell played just seven games for Sporting in the 2014 season before the club approved the transfer. With his departure, Kansas City's passing seemed to go down field. Rosell set an MLS record for passes attempted, completed, and had a 96% passing accuracy in KC's 3-0 win over Montreal this season. Once KC sold him to Portugal, KC never really found a true replacement. The main player that filled in for Rosell was Lawrence Olum. The Kenyan is a decent player, but he's not Rosell and he couldn't fill the shoes that the Spaniard left. Peter Vermes also brought in long term target, Jorge Claros during the summer window. Claros did okay, but not great in his appearances for KC. But really, not many of Vermes' mid-season signings have really ever had much of an immediate impact on the team. Usually it's taken until the next year for those players to step up, play more, and really get into KC's system (see Rosell or Kei Kamara).
In front of whoever was manning the deep role was originally supposed to be Paulo Nagamura. The Brazilian performed well until summer when he again had an ankle injury that caused him to miss 10 games for Kansas City. Once he returned, KC's midfield improved, but he couldn't carry the team out of the slump that it was in for the second half of the season. With Nagamura out, Mikey Lopez, the team's lone Generation Adidas player started to get some more time. Lopez did well, but from the games he's played, the bite that KC has needed out of that position hasn't been present. KC's other midseason signing; Martin Steuble also got a run out in the box-to-box role in KC's system, but didn't have much of a role to play for KC.
Early on in the season, Nagamura had gotten spelled at times by the team's third round draft pick, Alex Martinez. The North Carolina State graduate didn't look out of place, playing in 10 league games, starting three of them, but he was waived by Kansas City in late June without much explanation. Part of the gap in KC's midfield in this role certainly wasn't helped by the illness/injury that caused Peterson Joseph to collapse in practice and not allow him to play again for the club.
In the attacking midfield spot, KC got its most consistent performance for the entire season, with Benny Feilhaber being the main creator out of the midfield for KC. And Feilhaber wasn't just in the attacking role. Throughout the season due to all the injuries and call ups, Feilhaber played all three of KC's midfield positions. His influence in the offense did decrease some as the season went on. Part of this certainly would seem to fall on the sale of Rosell. With Rosell gone and Olum/Claros not being able to fill his shoes, Feilhaber was dropping himself deeper into KC's midfield to collect the ball from the team's defensive midfielder or from center backs. This pushed Nagamura or the box-to-box midfielder into a more advanced role where they may not be as good at creating and/or finishing chances that are created for them. Feilhaber was arguably Kansas City's best player all around over the course of the entire season. In the instances when Feilhaber would drop into deeper roles, many times the attacking role would fall to Graham Zusi. Zusi does well in the center of midfield can work with both sides of the field. But in a way I think it limits his play. I think he does a better job out on the wing where he can look up and see the entire field with one look instead of scanning across the field. It's been his best position for the US national team and I think while good at central midfield is much better for Kansas City when he's out wide.
The team's other four midfielders had little impact on the team this season. Christian Duke spent most of the season on loan to the Oklahoma City Energy as well as dealing with some injury issues. Another midseason signing, Michael Kafari only ever appeared in the team's friendly against Manchester City. Victor Munoz made just one appearance for KC after being picked up on waivers from DC. Munoz started KC's US Open Cup win over Minnesota, but came off in the first half with an injury, although he looked out of his element in the game as well. The fourth, Jimmy Medranda was the most involved with the team this year, appearing in six games, starting one, but played just 137 minutes this season. Like Duke he spent time in OKC with the Energy.
Heading into 2015 there are plenty of changes that could be needed in KC's midfield. One change may well already be set to happen. The return of Roger Espinoza has been rumored for a little while now. Espinoza has returned to the lineup for Wigan Athletic, but with him out of contract this summer a return could still be in the cards. If Espinoza ends up not returning to Kansas City I think Sporting needs to look elsewhere to get a box-to-box midfielder. While Nagamura has done quite well for Kansas City since coming here, he turns 32 early next season. His injury issues over the past two summers have coincided with a drop in form for Kansas City. Espinoza would seem to be the perfect candidate to replace him, but if he can't then another replacement needs to be found because I'm not sure that Lopez is going to be able to play the position the way Vermes wants.
Another question heading into 2015 is the deep midfield position. As I mentioned earlier, the loss of Rosell was a big blow to KC neither Olum nor Claros were able to fill the role well enough. Many people are saying that a deep midfielder needs to be brought in as well. With the addition of Claros in the summer though I'm willing to give him time in 2015 to prove he deserves the role. As I said earlier, most of Vermes' midseason signings do not contribute much or enough in their first half a season in KC. As for Olum, he could very well be taken in the expansion draft if he's exposed. He's a cheap, veteran who has played in Orlando previously and would give them some experience in midfield, especially after defensive midfielder Yordany Alvarez retired.
As for the attacking midfield spot, Feilhaber should be under contract one more year and while he had an MVP year for KC, I'm not sure I'd make an attempt to re-sign him quite yet. It's a question of what he'll do next year in a contract year before you decide to throw money at him to stay.
With the rest of the midfielders, I expect there to be some turnover with some of the end of the bench guys, most will probably come in to preseason next year and have to fight for a roster spot.
The biggest issue for Kansas City ended up coming early in the season. Sporting sold Oriol Rosell, the team's deep lying defensive midfielder to Sporting Portugal in June. Rosell played just seven games for Sporting in the 2014 season before the club approved the transfer. With his departure, Kansas City's passing seemed to go down field. Rosell set an MLS record for passes attempted, completed, and had a 96% passing accuracy in KC's 3-0 win over Montreal this season. Once KC sold him to Portugal, KC never really found a true replacement. The main player that filled in for Rosell was Lawrence Olum. The Kenyan is a decent player, but he's not Rosell and he couldn't fill the shoes that the Spaniard left. Peter Vermes also brought in long term target, Jorge Claros during the summer window. Claros did okay, but not great in his appearances for KC. But really, not many of Vermes' mid-season signings have really ever had much of an immediate impact on the team. Usually it's taken until the next year for those players to step up, play more, and really get into KC's system (see Rosell or Kei Kamara).
In front of whoever was manning the deep role was originally supposed to be Paulo Nagamura. The Brazilian performed well until summer when he again had an ankle injury that caused him to miss 10 games for Kansas City. Once he returned, KC's midfield improved, but he couldn't carry the team out of the slump that it was in for the second half of the season. With Nagamura out, Mikey Lopez, the team's lone Generation Adidas player started to get some more time. Lopez did well, but from the games he's played, the bite that KC has needed out of that position hasn't been present. KC's other midseason signing; Martin Steuble also got a run out in the box-to-box role in KC's system, but didn't have much of a role to play for KC.
Early on in the season, Nagamura had gotten spelled at times by the team's third round draft pick, Alex Martinez. The North Carolina State graduate didn't look out of place, playing in 10 league games, starting three of them, but he was waived by Kansas City in late June without much explanation. Part of the gap in KC's midfield in this role certainly wasn't helped by the illness/injury that caused Peterson Joseph to collapse in practice and not allow him to play again for the club.
In the attacking midfield spot, KC got its most consistent performance for the entire season, with Benny Feilhaber being the main creator out of the midfield for KC. And Feilhaber wasn't just in the attacking role. Throughout the season due to all the injuries and call ups, Feilhaber played all three of KC's midfield positions. His influence in the offense did decrease some as the season went on. Part of this certainly would seem to fall on the sale of Rosell. With Rosell gone and Olum/Claros not being able to fill his shoes, Feilhaber was dropping himself deeper into KC's midfield to collect the ball from the team's defensive midfielder or from center backs. This pushed Nagamura or the box-to-box midfielder into a more advanced role where they may not be as good at creating and/or finishing chances that are created for them. Feilhaber was arguably Kansas City's best player all around over the course of the entire season. In the instances when Feilhaber would drop into deeper roles, many times the attacking role would fall to Graham Zusi. Zusi does well in the center of midfield can work with both sides of the field. But in a way I think it limits his play. I think he does a better job out on the wing where he can look up and see the entire field with one look instead of scanning across the field. It's been his best position for the US national team and I think while good at central midfield is much better for Kansas City when he's out wide.
The team's other four midfielders had little impact on the team this season. Christian Duke spent most of the season on loan to the Oklahoma City Energy as well as dealing with some injury issues. Another midseason signing, Michael Kafari only ever appeared in the team's friendly against Manchester City. Victor Munoz made just one appearance for KC after being picked up on waivers from DC. Munoz started KC's US Open Cup win over Minnesota, but came off in the first half with an injury, although he looked out of his element in the game as well. The fourth, Jimmy Medranda was the most involved with the team this year, appearing in six games, starting one, but played just 137 minutes this season. Like Duke he spent time in OKC with the Energy.
Heading into 2015 there are plenty of changes that could be needed in KC's midfield. One change may well already be set to happen. The return of Roger Espinoza has been rumored for a little while now. Espinoza has returned to the lineup for Wigan Athletic, but with him out of contract this summer a return could still be in the cards. If Espinoza ends up not returning to Kansas City I think Sporting needs to look elsewhere to get a box-to-box midfielder. While Nagamura has done quite well for Kansas City since coming here, he turns 32 early next season. His injury issues over the past two summers have coincided with a drop in form for Kansas City. Espinoza would seem to be the perfect candidate to replace him, but if he can't then another replacement needs to be found because I'm not sure that Lopez is going to be able to play the position the way Vermes wants.
Another question heading into 2015 is the deep midfield position. As I mentioned earlier, the loss of Rosell was a big blow to KC neither Olum nor Claros were able to fill the role well enough. Many people are saying that a deep midfielder needs to be brought in as well. With the addition of Claros in the summer though I'm willing to give him time in 2015 to prove he deserves the role. As I said earlier, most of Vermes' midseason signings do not contribute much or enough in their first half a season in KC. As for Olum, he could very well be taken in the expansion draft if he's exposed. He's a cheap, veteran who has played in Orlando previously and would give them some experience in midfield, especially after defensive midfielder Yordany Alvarez retired.
As for the attacking midfield spot, Feilhaber should be under contract one more year and while he had an MVP year for KC, I'm not sure I'd make an attempt to re-sign him quite yet. It's a question of what he'll do next year in a contract year before you decide to throw money at him to stay.
With the rest of the midfielders, I expect there to be some turnover with some of the end of the bench guys, most will probably come in to preseason next year and have to fight for a roster spot.
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