One of the first questions posted a proposed starting 11 and asked Heineman how many of the 11 he expected to start the season. Heineman responded with just over half, six of the 11 he expected to start. You can make assumptions, but it's easy to guess Dwyer, Zusi, Feilhaber, Sinovic, Besler, and Marin as the six Heineman is thinking of. To go along with all those changes to the starting lineup that was posted, Heineman also said that he expects 10 new players to be brought in. Considering the team was sitting on 19 players under contract, adding 10 isn't that much of a surprise.
A number of the questions that Heineman was asked pertained to the team's pursuit of Roger Espinoza and bringing him back into a KC uniform. Heineman continues to have high hopes for bringing up back, and also stated that the Honduran would not be a DP if and when he returns. His return is something that Heineman seems to be really interested in and wanting to happen.
Speaking of Espinoza and the defensive midfield position, Heineman said the team is looking at several DMs. He also said that DM is one of the three positions that he felt needed the most improvement along with goalkeeper and left winger.
Elsewhere on the field, another question from fans was the health of Chance Myers and how his recovery was going. Heineman said that Myers is currently ahead of schedule and will start.
When it came to the Superdraft and Sporting's 3 first round picks, Heineman said that right now he's guessing that the team will trade some of those picks. Whether that's for allocation money, or to move up in the draft like Heineman hinted at yesterday, remains to be seen.
Another question that Heineman has been asked that has been a topic of discussion off and on all year is the future of Erik Palmer-Brown. With the interest from Juventus apparently still going strong the question is how long he'll stay. When asked about the plans for EPB, Heineman said that he'd like to go to Europe. He does come back later though and says that there aren't plans to sell him this winter. Of course since EPB isn't 18 yet and can't get an EU work permit yet, selling him before his 18th birthday doesn't make sense anyway.
In terms of player signings, Heineman confirmed another one for the club, saying the team has signed a guy that can play on the wing, another area that Heineman said needed to improve. Heineman was also asked about signing another designated player, to witch Heineman responded that the chances were "strong to quite strong." When I responded wtih a question asking if that mean there would be a fourth DP slot or if that meant getting rid of Claudio Bieler, Heineman responded that the team has allocation money that would be able to be used to pay down the salary to below DP levels. As a follow up to that, Heineman was asked whether the new DP was a new player or if Dwyer's contract would make him a DP. He confirmed that it would be a new player, meaning Dwyer signed his new contract for under a DP contract. Heineman was also asked specifically about TFC's Dominic Oduro, which he responded by saying that while he's a guy they like, his salary is too high. Heineman also said that the two players that Sporting is looking to bring in this year to play goal are both from outside MLS curently. He also confirmed that KC's new goalkeeper is not a DP as well.
Another question for the team heading into 2015 was whether Brazilian Igor Juliao would return to KC. The Fluminense right back was on loan last year, and Heineman seems to be optimistic on him returning to Kansas City for the new season.
Heineman also has high on the possibility of bringing back Jacob Peterson.
There's another opportunity for KC to pick up players this week in the second stage of the re-entry draft. Based off Heineman's Tweet though it doesn't look like KC fans should expect much from that draft.
While bringing in new players is important, one area on the field has been lacking a lot since the stadium opened has been the team's home form. Sporting Park hasn't been the fortress that the team really wants. It hasn't become a stadium like Rio Tinto where Sporting can have a long unbeaten run. Heineman said that this is one of the biggest things that the team is emphasizing.
Questions about the CBA came up, and while Heineman said that he can't speak on it, he did make one comment regarding the potential layout of the league, saying that the odds of adding 2 more DPs to bring the total to 5 or doubling the cap were both 0.
One response I was sad to see was Heineman's answer to a question about a hall of fame in Kansas City. I'd read articles last week about US Soccer signing a non-compete agreement with the city of Frisco, Texas to negotiate building a Hall of Fame there. But it's still disappointing to see Heineman come out and say it's not going to happen in KC.
Over the course of the Tweets, Heineman did kill a couple of the silly rumors that fans have come up with. Including the idea that Sporting should go after Steven Gerrard of Liverpool or make a trade with Columbus to try to bring Kei Kamara back to Kansas City or even the thought of moving US-Mexico away from Columbus before the US team actually loses there.
Another area that hasn't been touched on in a while that was brought up again is the stadium sponsorship of Sporting Park. Since the split with the LiveStrong corporation Sporting Park has not had a stadium sponsor. And unfortunately according to Heineman, there is no new news on it either.
Another off the field area that Heineman touched on was some news that was also in the letter the team sent to the Garden City mayor about the USSF training facility. The facility will apparently be starting in March, a big step for Kansas City.
But remember about Heineman's answers:
“@jhujhubee: @RobbHeineman Also, favorite part about your job?” Twitter trolling
— Robb Heineman (@RobbHeineman) December 16, 2014
1 comment:
Great synopsis Mike, however, you forgot Heineman's most impacting answer. When I asked him to please bring back the Lime-a-rita's to the concession stand, he answered "DONE", immediately. This is tremendous news.
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