Sporting KC closed out the 2015 preseason in Tucson today with a pair of games. Sporting pulled out a win and a draw to close out preseason with a 3-2-2 record.
Kansas City started the day with a scrimmage against NASL side, Minnesota United. Sporting put out a team that was likely close to what fans will see on March 8th against the New York Red Bulls (assuming there is not a strike). Kansas City controlled the early going of the game and scored an early goal from Bernardo Anor. Graham Zusi played a corner into the box that was headed by Ike Opara into the air. Anor was the first to react to it, volleying the ball into the far corner to give KC the 1-0 lead. KC controlled the rest of the half with a number of chances. Dom Dwyer got in behind the defense with a 1v1 opportunity, but Minnesota's goalkeeper, Sammy N'Djock played a high line in goal and quickly got off his line to snuff the chance. Amadou Dia almost took advantage of N'Djock's high line after some good pass work, but he put his chip just wide of the goal. Zusi also had a chip attempt, but his effort went high.
The second half, Kansas City continued to press the game with Dwyer against going close, but unable to capitalize. Sporting continued to control the game, but was unable to add to their 1-0 lead and came away with a 1-0 win over Minnesota for the club's first shutout of the preseason.
In the night cap, a team filled with mainly reserve players took on the first team for the Seattle Sounders in the third place match up of the Desert Diamond Cup. Like earlier in the day, Sporting was able to grab the lead, this time it was the team's first first round draft pick, Connor Hallisey who scored from 15 yards out after being played in by Jimmy Medranda. As expected with a first team playing a second team, Seattle dominated play, but Kansas City's defense and Tim Melia both stepped up and kept Seattle off the board heading into half time.
The second half saw Seattle continue to pressure, but Jon Kempin, who came on at half time, continued to play well in net for Kansas City. In the 66th minute though Seattle tied the game as Clint Dempsey played Obafemi Martins in behind KC's defense and he beat Kempin to level the game at 1-1. Seattle continued to press the game until the 76th minute, when Gonzalo Pineda was sent off for a foul on Sporting's Seth Sinovic. The dynamics of the game changed, Seattle continued to try to push the game, but a man down they couldn't do as much and the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw.
The team will head home tomorrow to Kansas City with an eye towards Sunday and New York, but with the distraction of the CBA still firmly in the players minds.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Thursday, February 26, 2015
#TBT - It's Mojo Time
With Sporting KC getting ready to kick off their 20th season in MLS (at some time this year depending on work stoppage), I figured I'd start doing a look back at the team's history, not just the games but other stuff involving the team. For a daily dose of "on this date" stuff I suggest that you follow the Sporting KC On This Date Twitter account.
I'll post commercials, photos, videos, etc if there's something related to Sporting's history and their upcoming league opponent I might throw some stuff out on that as well.
This week though is a look at and old Kansas City Wizards television advertisement for the 2000 season. Coming three years after the original Austin Powers movie, and one year after "The Spy Who Shagged Me" the Wizards had this commercial advertising their games on Metro Sports at the time. The ad featured campy dialogue from the players with an Austin Powers impression from the likes of Nick Garcia, Chris Henderson, and Chris Klein. Other players that featured in the commercial were Bo Oshoniyi, Chris Brown, Brandon Prideaux, and Brian Johnson.
And I wondered at the time why more people didn't come to the games...
I'll post commercials, photos, videos, etc if there's something related to Sporting's history and their upcoming league opponent I might throw some stuff out on that as well.
This week though is a look at and old Kansas City Wizards television advertisement for the 2000 season. Coming three years after the original Austin Powers movie, and one year after "The Spy Who Shagged Me" the Wizards had this commercial advertising their games on Metro Sports at the time. The ad featured campy dialogue from the players with an Austin Powers impression from the likes of Nick Garcia, Chris Henderson, and Chris Klein. Other players that featured in the commercial were Bo Oshoniyi, Chris Brown, Brandon Prideaux, and Brian Johnson.
And I wondered at the time why more people didn't come to the games...
Heineman's Trip to Europe and Who He May Be Looking At
Robb Heineman is headed back to Europe. Last week on Twitter, Heineman tweeted that he was headed to Frankfurt and Milan in the next week, and asked fans who they may have been interested in. Immediately speculation went to who Heineman was going to see play, and who Heineman might be trying to get to come to Kansas City. Initially fans looked at Eintracht Frankfurt's roster, the only Bundesliga side in Frankfurt seemed like a good start, with a number of fans hoping for Peruvian international Carlos Zambrano, but that just doesn't seem likely. Another thought would be Timothy Chandler; the German-American also plays for Frankfurt.
Van der Vaart would be an interesting addition; he doesn't exactly fit the mold of the type of player Peter Vermes would want. Immediate questions come up regarding his work rate and whether he can be "Sporting fit." Another question that may have been answered is how you would play both van der Vaart and Benny Feilhaber on the field at the same time. So far in preseason, Feilhaber for the most part has been playing in a deeper midfield position, which would leave space for an attacking midfielder like van der Vaart to be brought in. The follow up question would be what that does to Krisztian Nemeth who has been playing that attacking midfield position behind Dom Dwyer the last two games and has had himself a very good preseason so far.
As for Heineman's next stop, Milan, there hadn't been a lot of talk about that, with most focused on the van der Vaart comments and Tweets, but that you can speculate on as well. One name that could come up is Lazio's Cristian Ledesma; the 32 year old Argentine midfielder who represents Italy internationally has been linked with a move to Sporting KC, where the club will offer him a "succulent contract." This weekend, Lazio is going to be playing Sassuolo on Sunday March 1st, which is two hours south of Milan, so not a long trip for Heineman to make if the rumor is true. Ledesma is a deep lying midfielder, which would give Kansas City even more midfield options, especially defensively. It almost feels a bit humorous and over kill the number of midfielders that KC is bringing in, or rumored to bring in. Even with the departure of Jorge Claros and James Marcelin, there are still a lot of bodies fighting for time in the defensive half of KC's midfield.
Neither of those seemed extremely likely though, and shortly after thoughts turned to who Frankfurt was playing this coming weekend in the Bundesliga. Saturday Frankfurt host Hamburg SV at 6:30pm local time. The focus turned to Hamburg and one name that immediately stood out was Rafael van der Vaart, the Dutch international that Heineman had also mentioned as a rumored target previously. The Dutchman is out of favor in Germany, not even dressing in Hamburg's last game even though he was healthy and the club captain. He's also out of contract this summer, which is a phrase that most MLS clubs love to hear in relationship to a player they're interested in. Van der Vaart has been linked with a move to MLS and an unspecified MLS club recently in the German press, although there is apparently interest from Spain, Italy, and his former club, Ajax. Finally yesterday, Heineman even tweeted again that he was headed to see van der Vaart play (if he's in the 18).
Van der Vaart would be an interesting addition; he doesn't exactly fit the mold of the type of player Peter Vermes would want. Immediate questions come up regarding his work rate and whether he can be "Sporting fit." Another question that may have been answered is how you would play both van der Vaart and Benny Feilhaber on the field at the same time. So far in preseason, Feilhaber for the most part has been playing in a deeper midfield position, which would leave space for an attacking midfielder like van der Vaart to be brought in. The follow up question would be what that does to Krisztian Nemeth who has been playing that attacking midfield position behind Dom Dwyer the last two games and has had himself a very good preseason so far.
As for Heineman's next stop, Milan, there hadn't been a lot of talk about that, with most focused on the van der Vaart comments and Tweets, but that you can speculate on as well. One name that could come up is Lazio's Cristian Ledesma; the 32 year old Argentine midfielder who represents Italy internationally has been linked with a move to Sporting KC, where the club will offer him a "succulent contract." This weekend, Lazio is going to be playing Sassuolo on Sunday March 1st, which is two hours south of Milan, so not a long trip for Heineman to make if the rumor is true. Ledesma is a deep lying midfielder, which would give Kansas City even more midfield options, especially defensively. It almost feels a bit humorous and over kill the number of midfielders that KC is bringing in, or rumored to bring in. Even with the departure of Jorge Claros and James Marcelin, there are still a lot of bodies fighting for time in the defensive half of KC's midfield.
So we'll see if either one of these two players are the ones that Heineman is looking at during this trip to Europe. As always, take his tweets with a grain of salt and remember he loves to troll.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Sporting Fall to RSL in Preseason Play
Sporting Kansas City fell for the first time in the Desert Diamond Cup, 2-1 to Real Salt Lake in Tucson tonight. Both teams started the game with a heavily reserve squad on the field. Salt Lake was the aggressor early on and in the 12th minute took the lead as Luke Mulholland picked out Emery Welshman, who curled a shot into the far corner past Tim Melia to make it 1-0. Kansas City controlled much of the possession but really struggled to create chances in the first half. Most of Kansas City's attacks came down their right hand side through James Ansu Rogers and Saad Abdul-Salaam. Sporting though didn't really test Jeff Attinella in the RSL net. In the 23rd, RSL almost made it 2-0 as Mulholland payed a cross into the box off a short corner that Welshman headed off the cross bar. Mulholland followed the shot, but put the rebound wide of the net.
The second half saw RSL grab an early second goal to make it 2-0. Mikey Lopez, a half time sub lost the ball deep in KC's own end, to Mulholland but was able to win it back immediately. Lopez tried to play the ball back to Melia, but his back pass was too slow and was easily picked off by Devin Sandoval who beat Melia to the ball and chipped it over him and into the net to double RSL's lead. KC's best chance up to that point came in the 55th minute when a KC corner was headed on goal by Kevin Ellis, but his effort was cleared off the line by RSL to keep them on top 2-0. Just after the hour mark, Sporting made 10 more changes, bringing on more first teamers to finish out the game. Immediately the pace of the game changed as KC pushed for a way back into the game. They got it only a couple minutes after the subs. A corner kick by Benny Feilhaber was met by Dom Dwyer at the near post who was able to direct the ball into the far corner to cut RSL's lead to 2-1. Only three minutes later, Marcel de Jong almost tied the game. Heavy pressure by de Jong on Attinella and Jordan Allen forced a turn over. From a tight angle, de Jong tried to turn the shot in, but could only hit the near post. Attinella also came up with some big saves on both Dwyer and Bernardo Anor in the second half to keep RSL on top. In the 87th de Jong gave KC their best chance for an equalizer playing a great ball into the box for Dwyer, but KC's leading scorer last year couldn't put the effort on goal.
Overall it was your standard KC vs RSL game, it was chippy game with seven yellow cards handed out, and three shoving matches broken up by officials, bringing back memories of the 2011 preseason match up between the two teams that was ended early because of a bench clearing scuffle.
As for who impressed and didn't tonight, I'd say that KC's attacking options for the first 60 minutes were lacking quite a bit. Ansu Rogers was really the only threat for KC going forward, Peterson and Hallisey brought a little to play, but not much, this lineup highlighted KC's lack of center forward options, especially if Peter Vermes is going to try to find a way to play with both Dwyer and Krisztian Nemeth on the field at the same time. Defensively, I felt that Seth Sinovic was off quite a bit tonight. I don't know what was wrong but he really wasn't playing like himself. I don't know if it's the threat of losing his starting job to de Jong, or what, but he just was not on tonight. As for who impressed, I have to go with the person trying to take Sinovic's job, de Jong. It's a little hard to judge parts of the game because de Jong was going against a tired back line and he was fresh for 30 minutes. But de Jong caused trouble for RSL and was able to get forward very well, which is something that Vermes likes out of his full backs. I also felt that Benny Feilhaber continues to have a solid preseason in a deep role in KC's midfield.
KC will now close out preseason on Saturday with a pair of games. The first will be against Minnesota United and then KC will play their final Desert Diamond Cup game against Seattle.
The second half saw RSL grab an early second goal to make it 2-0. Mikey Lopez, a half time sub lost the ball deep in KC's own end, to Mulholland but was able to win it back immediately. Lopez tried to play the ball back to Melia, but his back pass was too slow and was easily picked off by Devin Sandoval who beat Melia to the ball and chipped it over him and into the net to double RSL's lead. KC's best chance up to that point came in the 55th minute when a KC corner was headed on goal by Kevin Ellis, but his effort was cleared off the line by RSL to keep them on top 2-0. Just after the hour mark, Sporting made 10 more changes, bringing on more first teamers to finish out the game. Immediately the pace of the game changed as KC pushed for a way back into the game. They got it only a couple minutes after the subs. A corner kick by Benny Feilhaber was met by Dom Dwyer at the near post who was able to direct the ball into the far corner to cut RSL's lead to 2-1. Only three minutes later, Marcel de Jong almost tied the game. Heavy pressure by de Jong on Attinella and Jordan Allen forced a turn over. From a tight angle, de Jong tried to turn the shot in, but could only hit the near post. Attinella also came up with some big saves on both Dwyer and Bernardo Anor in the second half to keep RSL on top. In the 87th de Jong gave KC their best chance for an equalizer playing a great ball into the box for Dwyer, but KC's leading scorer last year couldn't put the effort on goal.
Overall it was your standard KC vs RSL game, it was chippy game with seven yellow cards handed out, and three shoving matches broken up by officials, bringing back memories of the 2011 preseason match up between the two teams that was ended early because of a bench clearing scuffle.
As for who impressed and didn't tonight, I'd say that KC's attacking options for the first 60 minutes were lacking quite a bit. Ansu Rogers was really the only threat for KC going forward, Peterson and Hallisey brought a little to play, but not much, this lineup highlighted KC's lack of center forward options, especially if Peter Vermes is going to try to find a way to play with both Dwyer and Krisztian Nemeth on the field at the same time. Defensively, I felt that Seth Sinovic was off quite a bit tonight. I don't know what was wrong but he really wasn't playing like himself. I don't know if it's the threat of losing his starting job to de Jong, or what, but he just was not on tonight. As for who impressed, I have to go with the person trying to take Sinovic's job, de Jong. It's a little hard to judge parts of the game because de Jong was going against a tired back line and he was fresh for 30 minutes. But de Jong caused trouble for RSL and was able to get forward very well, which is something that Vermes likes out of his full backs. I also felt that Benny Feilhaber continues to have a solid preseason in a deep role in KC's midfield.
KC will now close out preseason on Saturday with a pair of games. The first will be against Minnesota United and then KC will play their final Desert Diamond Cup game against Seattle.
Duke on Trial with OKC - Former SKC Wizards Update
The MLS season is supposed to start in a little over a week, which means more former Sporting players will be back in action. While that's going on, another looks set to attempt to continue his career in the lower divisions, Christian Duke, who had been in camp with Sporting KC for a while was in the Oklahoma City Energy squad today that took on HB Køge from Denmark. Duke would continue the tradition of the Energy being Sporting OKC becoming another former player to play under former player, Jimmy Nielsen should he sign.
Meanwhile, another former draft pick was back in town this past week. Michal Mravec, Sporting's third round pick in the 2011 MLS Supplemental draft was back in own with the Tacoma Stars to play the Missouri Comets at the Independence Events Center. It wasn't a great night for Mravec or the Stars. Tacoma lost the game 17-1, and in the fourth quarter, Mravec picked up a blue card for a pushing foul on Comets Leo Gibson. As Mravec was walking to the box, pleading his case, he grabbed he hand of referee Ron Cory and looked to attempt to show him what happened, mimicking kicking out. Mravec struck Cory in the shin while the referee reached for his red card. You can see the video of it below.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Christian Duke
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Igor Kostrov
James Marcelin
Rauwshan McKenzie
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Capped tied to Kansas City, could not play for Montreal vs Pachuca
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Orange County - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Had an assist in Ontario's 3-1 loss to San Diego.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 14-9 win over Tulsa. Did not play in St. Louis' 13-3 win over Tacoma.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Had three goals and an assist in Missouri's 17-1 win over Tacoma.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had an assist in Baltimore's 24-0 win over Chicago. Had three assists in Baltimore's 25-5 win over Harrisburg.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Did not play in Dallas' 6-2 loss to Monterrey.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Played in Tacoma's 13-3 loss to St. Louis. Played and received a red card in Tacoma's 17-1 loss to Missouri.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Did not play in Wichita's 12-6 win over Tulsa. Did not play in Wichita's 22-4 win over
Tulsa.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Game this week was postponed.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - No games until 4/12
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not play in either of Blooming's games.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Quilmes' 2-2 draw with River Plate.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 win over Cruz Azul.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Saprissa's 2-0 win over Alajuelense.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 4-1 loss to Mohun Bagan. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 2-1 win over Maziya.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Just signed for the club.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Defeated Juventud Unida 2-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 4/3
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 86 minutes in Lugo's 2-1 win over Recreativo Huelva.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 1-1 draw with Boyaca Chico. Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 0-0 draw with Cortulua.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Puebla's 2-1 win over Morelia. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring two goals in Puebla's 4-3 loss to Toluca.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 7-2 to Waterhouse.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Did not dress in either of Boavista's games.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Drew 0-0 with Tanzania Prisons.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Did not dress in either of Fluminense's games.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Did not dress in SAn Martin's 1-0 win over Melgar.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Did not dress in Servette's 2-1 win over Schaffhausen.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 3/6.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 2/28.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - No game this week.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Lost 2-0 to IA.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Started and played 80 minutes in Sporting's 2-0 loss to Wolfsburg. Did not dress in Sporting's 2-0 win ovr Gil Vicente.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned fromBEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Defeated Assumption College 2-0.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Lost 1-0 to Sonsbeck.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in either of Blackburn's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - On break until 2/27
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Meanwhile, another former draft pick was back in town this past week. Michal Mravec, Sporting's third round pick in the 2011 MLS Supplemental draft was back in own with the Tacoma Stars to play the Missouri Comets at the Independence Events Center. It wasn't a great night for Mravec or the Stars. Tacoma lost the game 17-1, and in the fourth quarter, Mravec picked up a blue card for a pushing foul on Comets Leo Gibson. As Mravec was walking to the box, pleading his case, he grabbed he hand of referee Ron Cory and looked to attempt to show him what happened, mimicking kicking out. Mravec struck Cory in the shin while the referee reached for his red card. You can see the video of it below.
Post by Comets Nation.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Christian Duke
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Igor Kostrov
James Marcelin
Rauwshan McKenzie
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Capped tied to Kansas City, could not play for Montreal vs Pachuca
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Orange County - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Had an assist in Ontario's 3-1 loss to San Diego.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 14-9 win over Tulsa. Did not play in St. Louis' 13-3 win over Tacoma.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Had three goals and an assist in Missouri's 17-1 win over Tacoma.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had an assist in Baltimore's 24-0 win over Chicago. Had three assists in Baltimore's 25-5 win over Harrisburg.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Did not play in Dallas' 6-2 loss to Monterrey.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Played in Tacoma's 13-3 loss to St. Louis. Played and received a red card in Tacoma's 17-1 loss to Missouri.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Did not play in Wichita's 12-6 win over Tulsa. Did not play in Wichita's 22-4 win over
Tulsa.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Game this week was postponed.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - No games until 4/12
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not play in either of Blooming's games.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Quilmes' 2-2 draw with River Plate.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 win over Cruz Azul.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Saprissa's 2-0 win over Alajuelense.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 4-1 loss to Mohun Bagan. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 2-1 win over Maziya.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Just signed for the club.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Defeated Juventud Unida 2-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 4/3
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 86 minutes in Lugo's 2-1 win over Recreativo Huelva.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 1-1 draw with Boyaca Chico. Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 0-0 draw with Cortulua.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Puebla's 2-1 win over Morelia. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring two goals in Puebla's 4-3 loss to Toluca.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 7-2 to Waterhouse.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Did not dress in either of Boavista's games.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Drew 0-0 with Tanzania Prisons.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Did not dress in either of Fluminense's games.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Did not dress in SAn Martin's 1-0 win over Melgar.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Did not dress in Servette's 2-1 win over Schaffhausen.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 3/6.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 2/28.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - No game this week.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Lost 2-0 to IA.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Started and played 80 minutes in Sporting's 2-0 loss to Wolfsburg. Did not dress in Sporting's 2-0 win ovr Gil Vicente.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned fromBEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Defeated Assumption College 2-0.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Lost 1-0 to Sonsbeck.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in either of Blackburn's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - On break until 2/27
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Sporting Sign 3rd Round Pick, James Ansu Rogers
Sporting Kansas City announced today that they had signed third round draft pick, James Ansu Rogers to a contract with the club. Ansu Rogers was selected with the 53rd pick of this year's MLS Superdraft, and becomes the fourth of Kansas City's five draft picks to sign with the club this year.
Ansu Rogers has been impressive this preseason, appearing in all four of KC's games, scoring one goal, the game winner on Saturday against Seattle, as well as providing an assist to Krisztian Nemeth in KC's 4-2 win over FC Tucson in the team's first phase of preseason.
The Sierra Leone born American has represented the United States at the U20 level in his career and has been a part of both Colorado's and Real Salt Lake's academy systems over the years. Rogers will provide Kansas City with more wide forward depth, joining the likes of Connor Hallisey and Jacob Peterson.
Ansu Rogers has been impressive this preseason, appearing in all four of KC's games, scoring one goal, the game winner on Saturday against Seattle, as well as providing an assist to Krisztian Nemeth in KC's 4-2 win over FC Tucson in the team's first phase of preseason.
The Sierra Leone born American has represented the United States at the U20 level in his career and has been a part of both Colorado's and Real Salt Lake's academy systems over the years. Rogers will provide Kansas City with more wide forward depth, joining the likes of Connor Hallisey and Jacob Peterson.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Claros and Marcelin Waived
Sporting KC made some room on their roster today, and opened some international spots as the club announced that they had parted ways with midfielders Jorge Claros and James Marcelin. Claros' exit isn't that surprising after the news on the weekend reporting that he was on his way to China to join Qingdao Jonoon, Marcelin's on the other hand is a little surprising simply because of the fact that the midfielder had just been signed back in December.
With the number of defensive minded midfielders on the roster though, some moves were definitely going to need to be made. Kansas City still has Servando Carrasco, Roger Espinoza, Mikey Lopez, Soni Mustivar, and Paulo Nagamura who all play a more defensive role in the midfield, so making that a little less crowded was something that needed to happen at some point.
Claros' career in KC will be highlighted by two things, Sporting's long pursuit of Claros, the team almost brought him in during the 2013 summer transfer window, but couldn't get him until the summer window this past year. The second thing he'll be remembered for is the three game suspension he picked up for "inappropriate language" late in the season. In the end he made seven appearances in league play, four in the CCL, and one in the playoffs for Kansas City. In the end, Claros really just didn't seem like he was fitting into KC's formation that well. He hadn't played a role so far this preseason having been on duty with the Honduran national team for part of it.
Marcelin had played in KC's first three preseason games against Portland, Tucson, and Colorado, but didn't see the field on Saturday against the Seattle Sounders. At the time that wasn't surprising as Paulo Nagamura and Erik Palmer-Brown also didn't play in the game, similar to Mikey Lopez not playing against Colorado. I'd assumed it was just a case of Peter Vermes wanting to give different guys a look and didn't put much into it at the time.
The departure of the two players opens up two international spots on the roster, giving KC three spots to play with heading into the final weeks of preseason.
With the number of defensive minded midfielders on the roster though, some moves were definitely going to need to be made. Kansas City still has Servando Carrasco, Roger Espinoza, Mikey Lopez, Soni Mustivar, and Paulo Nagamura who all play a more defensive role in the midfield, so making that a little less crowded was something that needed to happen at some point.
Claros' career in KC will be highlighted by two things, Sporting's long pursuit of Claros, the team almost brought him in during the 2013 summer transfer window, but couldn't get him until the summer window this past year. The second thing he'll be remembered for is the three game suspension he picked up for "inappropriate language" late in the season. In the end he made seven appearances in league play, four in the CCL, and one in the playoffs for Kansas City. In the end, Claros really just didn't seem like he was fitting into KC's formation that well. He hadn't played a role so far this preseason having been on duty with the Honduran national team for part of it.
Marcelin had played in KC's first three preseason games against Portland, Tucson, and Colorado, but didn't see the field on Saturday against the Seattle Sounders. At the time that wasn't surprising as Paulo Nagamura and Erik Palmer-Brown also didn't play in the game, similar to Mikey Lopez not playing against Colorado. I'd assumed it was just a case of Peter Vermes wanting to give different guys a look and didn't put much into it at the time.
The departure of the two players opens up two international spots on the roster, giving KC three spots to play with heading into the final weeks of preseason.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Comets Finish Regular Season Unbeaten
The Missouri Comets closed out the regular season today against the Tacoma Stars at the Independence Events Center. It took the Comets a little while to get going, but when they did they played Tacoma completely off the field on their way to a 17-1 win over the Stars.
The Comets came out in the first quarter and controlled the game, but the Stars did a good job of staying with the Comets and keeping them off the board for much of the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Stars they couldn't hold out forever, and in the final five minutes were completely undone by Leo Gibson and the Comets high pressure. Gibson, on his way to a career day scored all four of the Comets goals in the final five minutes of the quarter. First winning the ball on a turnover in the Stars end and scoring. Less than a minute later, Gibson found himself unmarked at the back post after a good run down the wing by Alain Matingou. The Frenchman picked out Gibson who had an easy tap in to double the lead. Gibson then took matters into his own hands, beating his man on the dribble before firing a shot into the net. The final tally of the first quarter came in the final minute. After a foul in the Comets end, Missouri quickly moved the ball up field where it finally came to Josh Gardner. Again Gibson was unmarked at the back post, and again he was picked out and just had to redirect the ball into the net to put the Comets on top 4-0 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, the Comets didn't take so long to get things going. Less than a minute in, Brian Harris was the first one to react to a first to a loose ball near the yellow line. Harris fired a shot on goal that Aaron Anderson didn't see until late and before he could react it was past him to make it 5-0. Merely seconds later, Josh Gardner made it 6-0. Stefan Stokic led a counter, firing a shot off the wall.The rebound collected the rebound and put it away for his first of the day. Gibson returned the favor for the earlier goal to Matingou just before the four minute mark. He collected the ball near the yellow line and touched it into the middle for Matingou who hit a bullet with his toe to make it 7-0. A minute later, the Comets made it eight on the power play. After some good passing around with the man advantage, the ball got played in to Gibson in the box, Gibson turned and played the ball to Sosa in the corner who fired his shot over Anderson and into the net. It was nine before the half way point in the quarter as Gardner scored his second of the day after a layoff from Coady Andrews. Before the half, Vahid Assadpour got his first of the day off an assist from Gibson on a restart before Bryan Perez finished off the scoring with another power play goal and the Comets went into the half time break up 11-0, with Gibson being involved in eight of Missouri's 11 goals.
The third quarter again saw the Comets jump on the board early, this time with Andrews getting his fourth goal of the season after cutting across the top of the box. Thirteen seconds later though the Stars scored their loan goal of the night. After a shot by Vince McCluskey went wide, Evan Denmark followed the shot, missing with his first effort, but putting the second back into the net, cutting Missouri's lead to 12-1. The Comets though would earn the goal back in spectacular fashion before the half way point in the quarter. Off a quick restart the ball got played into the corner for John Sosa. Sosa tried to ship Tacoma's Chris Kintz, but the goalkeeper got a hand on it. The rebound though fell to Sosa who hit the shot on the bicycle, scoring to make it 13-1. Minutes later, Gardner finished off his hattrick to make it 14-1, where the quarter ended.
The fourth quarter, like the first, belonged to Gibson, who scored all three goals in the quarter for Missouri. Two of which came on power plays after cards to Michal Mravec. The first, less than three minutes in, saw the Comets completely dismantle the Stars around their own box with about five straight one touch passes that eventually found Gibson who had a simple shot for the goal. A minute later it was Gibson again. His initial shot was fired wide, but was recollected by Assadpour who played it back into the middle for Gibson to put home and make it 16-1. Near the midpoint of the quarter, Mravec and Gibson got into it a bit in the corner, Mravec ended up pushing Gibson and earning a blue card. Mravec argued the call with referee Ron Cory as Mravec made his way to the box. Mravec proceeded to grab Cory's hand and then appeared to be trying to show Cory what happened on the play. Mravec kicked out, presumably trying to show that he was getting kicked by Gibson. Mravec's kicks though hit their mark on the crew chief, and Cory immediately went to the red card, sending off the Stars player. On the ensuing five minute power play, the Comets killed much of the clock looking for goal 17. Late in the power play they finally got it as Gibson fired a shot from long range that made it into the net and made it 17-1.
With the eight goals and four assists on the day, Gibson extended his record for points in a season, finishing with 93 points, almost 30 more than second place Gordy Gurson. His eight goals gave him 48 for the season, enough to past Gurson for the most goals in a season, and he also finished with the most assists, 45. His 12 point performance on the day also set a league record for points in a single game. All fill Gibson's MVP credentials quite well as the forward should win the award this season.
The Comets came out in the first quarter and controlled the game, but the Stars did a good job of staying with the Comets and keeping them off the board for much of the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Stars they couldn't hold out forever, and in the final five minutes were completely undone by Leo Gibson and the Comets high pressure. Gibson, on his way to a career day scored all four of the Comets goals in the final five minutes of the quarter. First winning the ball on a turnover in the Stars end and scoring. Less than a minute later, Gibson found himself unmarked at the back post after a good run down the wing by Alain Matingou. The Frenchman picked out Gibson who had an easy tap in to double the lead. Gibson then took matters into his own hands, beating his man on the dribble before firing a shot into the net. The final tally of the first quarter came in the final minute. After a foul in the Comets end, Missouri quickly moved the ball up field where it finally came to Josh Gardner. Again Gibson was unmarked at the back post, and again he was picked out and just had to redirect the ball into the net to put the Comets on top 4-0 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, the Comets didn't take so long to get things going. Less than a minute in, Brian Harris was the first one to react to a first to a loose ball near the yellow line. Harris fired a shot on goal that Aaron Anderson didn't see until late and before he could react it was past him to make it 5-0. Merely seconds later, Josh Gardner made it 6-0. Stefan Stokic led a counter, firing a shot off the wall.The rebound collected the rebound and put it away for his first of the day. Gibson returned the favor for the earlier goal to Matingou just before the four minute mark. He collected the ball near the yellow line and touched it into the middle for Matingou who hit a bullet with his toe to make it 7-0. A minute later, the Comets made it eight on the power play. After some good passing around with the man advantage, the ball got played in to Gibson in the box, Gibson turned and played the ball to Sosa in the corner who fired his shot over Anderson and into the net. It was nine before the half way point in the quarter as Gardner scored his second of the day after a layoff from Coady Andrews. Before the half, Vahid Assadpour got his first of the day off an assist from Gibson on a restart before Bryan Perez finished off the scoring with another power play goal and the Comets went into the half time break up 11-0, with Gibson being involved in eight of Missouri's 11 goals.
The third quarter again saw the Comets jump on the board early, this time with Andrews getting his fourth goal of the season after cutting across the top of the box. Thirteen seconds later though the Stars scored their loan goal of the night. After a shot by Vince McCluskey went wide, Evan Denmark followed the shot, missing with his first effort, but putting the second back into the net, cutting Missouri's lead to 12-1. The Comets though would earn the goal back in spectacular fashion before the half way point in the quarter. Off a quick restart the ball got played into the corner for John Sosa. Sosa tried to ship Tacoma's Chris Kintz, but the goalkeeper got a hand on it. The rebound though fell to Sosa who hit the shot on the bicycle, scoring to make it 13-1. Minutes later, Gardner finished off his hattrick to make it 14-1, where the quarter ended.
The fourth quarter, like the first, belonged to Gibson, who scored all three goals in the quarter for Missouri. Two of which came on power plays after cards to Michal Mravec. The first, less than three minutes in, saw the Comets completely dismantle the Stars around their own box with about five straight one touch passes that eventually found Gibson who had a simple shot for the goal. A minute later it was Gibson again. His initial shot was fired wide, but was recollected by Assadpour who played it back into the middle for Gibson to put home and make it 16-1. Near the midpoint of the quarter, Mravec and Gibson got into it a bit in the corner, Mravec ended up pushing Gibson and earning a blue card. Mravec argued the call with referee Ron Cory as Mravec made his way to the box. Mravec proceeded to grab Cory's hand and then appeared to be trying to show Cory what happened on the play. Mravec kicked out, presumably trying to show that he was getting kicked by Gibson. Mravec's kicks though hit their mark on the crew chief, and Cory immediately went to the red card, sending off the Stars player. On the ensuing five minute power play, the Comets killed much of the clock looking for goal 17. Late in the power play they finally got it as Gibson fired a shot from long range that made it into the net and made it 17-1.
With the eight goals and four assists on the day, Gibson extended his record for points in a season, finishing with 93 points, almost 30 more than second place Gordy Gurson. His eight goals gave him 48 for the season, enough to past Gurson for the most goals in a season, and he also finished with the most assists, 45. His 12 point performance on the day also set a league record for points in a single game. All fill Gibson's MVP credentials quite well as the forward should win the award this season.
Sporting Top Seattle in Tucson
Sporting KC continued their run in the Desert Diamond Cup last night against the Seattle Sounders, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before holding on late to win 3-2. Kansas City's primarily first team lineup played the first 60 minutes before making way for reserves. Graham Zusi, Saad Abdul-Salaam, and Jon Kempin made their preseason debuts for Kansas City in the game as well, with Zusi making the start for KC.
Seattle had the better of the play through the early going of the game, although KC looked better than it did in the first half against Colorado on Wednesday. Seattle really should have gone on top on the 26th minute as Lamar Neagle beat Marcel de Jong down KC's left and played a great ball into the middle for Clint Dempsey. Dempsey had drifted in between Amadou Dia and Ike Opara, but his shot from inside the six yard box went over the goal. KC though were the ones that grabbed the lead in the 34th minute through Zusi. Benny Feilhaber continued to show he can play fantastic long balls, sending a great ball from midfield that Zach Scott couldn't get enough of a head on. Zusi, who'd been making the run for Feilhaber, allowed the ball to roll into the box in front of him before hitting it into the far corner out of reach of Stephan Frei. Zusi immediately made his exit from the game immediately after the game, making way for James Rogers. Seattle almost responded immediately as Neagle held off Matt Besler at the top of the box, turned and fired a shot that went just wide of Luis Marin's left hand post. KC though began to get more of the play after the goal and in the 38th made it 2-0. Off a throw-in, Roger Espinoza played Dom Dwyer into the box with a nice ball. Frei made a good save on the initial shot, but Bernardo Anor was the first to reach the rebound. Anor backheeled the ball into the path of Krisztian Nemeth who fired the ball into the net from around the penalty spot to double Kansas City's lead.
The second half saw Kansas City continue to create chances. Dwyer should have tallied his first goal of the preseason in the 55th minute. Another long ball over the top was mishandled by Chad Marshall, allowing Dwyer to collect the ball and head into the box one on one with Frei, but the Seattle goalkeeper knocked the ball out for a corner. After the full scale changes for both teams around the 60th minute, there was another feeling out period as the new players adjusted to being on the field. In the 73rd though KC grabbed a third. Jimmy Medranda set up the play, getting the ball near midfield and racing towards Seattle's goal before laying the ball off to Rogers. Rogers cut inside two Seattle defenders back to back and fired a shot past Frei to give KC a 3-0 lead. Just a minute later, Seattle got themselves on the board as Vic Mansaray out muscled Seth Sinovic on a corner kick and headed a ball past Kempin and into the net to make it 3-1. Seattle continued to pressure and in the 78th minute, worked it from KC's left side of the field to the right before a curled shot from inside the box hit the outside of Kempin's far post and bounced back into play keeping the score at 3-1. Two minutes later, Seattle did cut the lead to one as a long ball into the box, bounced about 10 yards out as Sinovic missed going for the ball. Kenny Cooper was unmarked at the back post and fired a shot that went under Kempin and into the net to make it 3-2. The final 10 minutes of the game were filled with Seattle pushing numbers forward trying to find an equalizer. KC's defense though held on and Sporting came away with the win.
Performance wise I thought the the three man attacking midfield of Anor, Nemeth, and Zusi did extremely well last night, they interchanged and did quite well getting forward. Feilhaber behind them continues to play fantastic long balls from his deeper midfield position. On the other side of things, I don' think either of KC's left backs, Sinovic or de Jong had very good performances, Sinovic got beat on the first goal and missed a chance to clear the second before it got through to Cooper. de Jong, while he looked fine going forward, he struggled a bit with some of the pace that Seattle used out wide. Also I thought Connor Hallisey struggled in his 30 minute shift. He got caught up high a couple times, most noticeably on Seattle's second, when he should have been tracking Cooper. I think last night also showed Kansas City's lack of forward depth quite apparently. If Dwyer and Nemeth are on the field together (and the way Nemeth has looked this preseason I don't think you can leave him on the bench) then that leaves KC extremely thin on the bench when it comes to forwards, with only Jacob Peterson there. And really, for all of his work ethic, Peterson isn't a center forward. If both Dwyer and Nemeth can't go for some reason, KC likely would be better off playing a style similar to Spain's 4-6-0 they used, playing with six midfielders.
Kansas City next play on Wednesday against Salt Lake in the final "group stage" game of the Desert Diamond Cup. A win would put KC into the first place match on Saturday the 28th. A draw or a loss and the third place game becomes a likely destination.
Seattle had the better of the play through the early going of the game, although KC looked better than it did in the first half against Colorado on Wednesday. Seattle really should have gone on top on the 26th minute as Lamar Neagle beat Marcel de Jong down KC's left and played a great ball into the middle for Clint Dempsey. Dempsey had drifted in between Amadou Dia and Ike Opara, but his shot from inside the six yard box went over the goal. KC though were the ones that grabbed the lead in the 34th minute through Zusi. Benny Feilhaber continued to show he can play fantastic long balls, sending a great ball from midfield that Zach Scott couldn't get enough of a head on. Zusi, who'd been making the run for Feilhaber, allowed the ball to roll into the box in front of him before hitting it into the far corner out of reach of Stephan Frei. Zusi immediately made his exit from the game immediately after the game, making way for James Rogers. Seattle almost responded immediately as Neagle held off Matt Besler at the top of the box, turned and fired a shot that went just wide of Luis Marin's left hand post. KC though began to get more of the play after the goal and in the 38th made it 2-0. Off a throw-in, Roger Espinoza played Dom Dwyer into the box with a nice ball. Frei made a good save on the initial shot, but Bernardo Anor was the first to reach the rebound. Anor backheeled the ball into the path of Krisztian Nemeth who fired the ball into the net from around the penalty spot to double Kansas City's lead.
The second half saw Kansas City continue to create chances. Dwyer should have tallied his first goal of the preseason in the 55th minute. Another long ball over the top was mishandled by Chad Marshall, allowing Dwyer to collect the ball and head into the box one on one with Frei, but the Seattle goalkeeper knocked the ball out for a corner. After the full scale changes for both teams around the 60th minute, there was another feeling out period as the new players adjusted to being on the field. In the 73rd though KC grabbed a third. Jimmy Medranda set up the play, getting the ball near midfield and racing towards Seattle's goal before laying the ball off to Rogers. Rogers cut inside two Seattle defenders back to back and fired a shot past Frei to give KC a 3-0 lead. Just a minute later, Seattle got themselves on the board as Vic Mansaray out muscled Seth Sinovic on a corner kick and headed a ball past Kempin and into the net to make it 3-1. Seattle continued to pressure and in the 78th minute, worked it from KC's left side of the field to the right before a curled shot from inside the box hit the outside of Kempin's far post and bounced back into play keeping the score at 3-1. Two minutes later, Seattle did cut the lead to one as a long ball into the box, bounced about 10 yards out as Sinovic missed going for the ball. Kenny Cooper was unmarked at the back post and fired a shot that went under Kempin and into the net to make it 3-2. The final 10 minutes of the game were filled with Seattle pushing numbers forward trying to find an equalizer. KC's defense though held on and Sporting came away with the win.
Performance wise I thought the the three man attacking midfield of Anor, Nemeth, and Zusi did extremely well last night, they interchanged and did quite well getting forward. Feilhaber behind them continues to play fantastic long balls from his deeper midfield position. On the other side of things, I don' think either of KC's left backs, Sinovic or de Jong had very good performances, Sinovic got beat on the first goal and missed a chance to clear the second before it got through to Cooper. de Jong, while he looked fine going forward, he struggled a bit with some of the pace that Seattle used out wide. Also I thought Connor Hallisey struggled in his 30 minute shift. He got caught up high a couple times, most noticeably on Seattle's second, when he should have been tracking Cooper. I think last night also showed Kansas City's lack of forward depth quite apparently. If Dwyer and Nemeth are on the field together (and the way Nemeth has looked this preseason I don't think you can leave him on the bench) then that leaves KC extremely thin on the bench when it comes to forwards, with only Jacob Peterson there. And really, for all of his work ethic, Peterson isn't a center forward. If both Dwyer and Nemeth can't go for some reason, KC likely would be better off playing a style similar to Spain's 4-6-0 they used, playing with six midfielders.
Kansas City next play on Wednesday against Salt Lake in the final "group stage" game of the Desert Diamond Cup. A win would put KC into the first place match on Saturday the 28th. A draw or a loss and the third place game becomes a likely destination.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Claros Departing Kansas City for China?
Reports out of Honduras today by journalist, Julio César Núñez are that Jorge Claros' time in Kansas City is coming to an end. Núñez is reporting that Claros is headed to join Qingdao Jonoon, of the Chinese League One (the second division in China).
The move, while a little surprising considering that Claros was brought in just this past summer, isn't a huge surprise. Since the end of the 2014 MLS season, Sporting has brought in Servando Carrasco, Roger Espinoza, James Marcelin, and Soni Mustivar, all of whom are more defensive minded midfielders, and when you add in Paulo Nagamura and Mikey Lopez, it was becoming obvious that someone was likely going to be leaving from KC's midfield. Claros along with Lopez were two of only four players (Mustivar and Jon Kempin the other two) on KC's roster who did not play in Sporting's last preseason game against Colorado on Wednesday.
Of the group, Claros was probably on the least sure-footing, he'd had issues adjusting to Sporting's style of play, something that all of Peter Vermes' midseason signings seem to struggle with during their first half a season with the club. But what probably put Claros in the dog house a bit was his three game suspension at the end of the 2014 season for "inappropriate language." The suspension as a whole is still an odd one as there was never really an announcement by the disciplinary committee about it, was never mentioned as happening in a game, and really there was never much said about it. The length of the suspension though matched the length of suspensions for players that used gay slurs, so the assumption is that the suspension was for that.
Claros will depart Kansas City having played just 12 games in all competitions since joining the club, seven in league play, four in the CONCACAF Champions League, and KC's one playoff game this past year. At the end of the season the thought had been that with a full preseason under Vermes that Claros would be able to contribute more in 2015, but if this is true, Vermes seems prepared to move on from the Honduran.
The move, while a little surprising considering that Claros was brought in just this past summer, isn't a huge surprise. Since the end of the 2014 MLS season, Sporting has brought in Servando Carrasco, Roger Espinoza, James Marcelin, and Soni Mustivar, all of whom are more defensive minded midfielders, and when you add in Paulo Nagamura and Mikey Lopez, it was becoming obvious that someone was likely going to be leaving from KC's midfield. Claros along with Lopez were two of only four players (Mustivar and Jon Kempin the other two) on KC's roster who did not play in Sporting's last preseason game against Colorado on Wednesday.
Of the group, Claros was probably on the least sure-footing, he'd had issues adjusting to Sporting's style of play, something that all of Peter Vermes' midseason signings seem to struggle with during their first half a season with the club. But what probably put Claros in the dog house a bit was his three game suspension at the end of the 2014 season for "inappropriate language." The suspension as a whole is still an odd one as there was never really an announcement by the disciplinary committee about it, was never mentioned as happening in a game, and really there was never much said about it. The length of the suspension though matched the length of suspensions for players that used gay slurs, so the assumption is that the suspension was for that.
Claros will depart Kansas City having played just 12 games in all competitions since joining the club, seven in league play, four in the CONCACAF Champions League, and KC's one playoff game this past year. At the end of the season the thought had been that with a full preseason under Vermes that Claros would be able to contribute more in 2015, but if this is true, Vermes seems prepared to move on from the Honduran.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
A Tale of Two Halves; Sporting Draw with Colorado
With two different lineups in the two halves of their game last night against the Colorado Rapids, Sporting KC got two very different results. A 2-0 half time deficit was erased in the span of about 90 seconds in the second half after a red card to Colorado's Francisco Flores as the two teams finished 2-2 in the opener of the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson Arizona.
The first half saw Sporting put out a fairly first team lineup that included the likes of Luis Marin, Matt Besler, Roger Espinoza, and Dom Dwyer. Unfortunately, Sporting really struggled to have meaningful possession in the first half, the midfield of Espinoza, James Marcelin, and Paulo Nagamura struggled with the creative side of play, and Dwyer ended up starved for service and really limited in the number of touches that he got. The Rapids meanwhile were able to throw numbers forward and in the 12th found the opener. After a switch of the field, the ball was played into the middle for Lucas Pittinari; Espinoza attempted to cut out the ball, but ran into referee Baldomero Toledo. Instead of continuing to play, Espinoza had a quick confrontation with Toledo, allowing Pittinari to slip the ball through to Gabriel Torres, who beat Marin to give the Rapids the lead. After that, Sporting had the better of possession, but really couldn't do anything going forward with it; Jacob Peterson and Connor Hallisey struggled to get forward from their wide positions leaving Dwyer really isolated. In the 17th minute, a poor pass by Besler led to a second goal for the Rapids. The ball got played over the top to Vicente Sanchez who had gotten behind Jalil Anibaba as the ball was played. Marin rushed off his line and out of the box to attempt to make the play, but missed, sliding past the Uruguayan. Now with a 2 on 1 with just Anibaba back, Sanchez played it into the middle for Dominique Badji, who tapped the ball into the empty net to make it 2-0 for Colorado. KC controlled much of the possession over the rest of the first half, but couldn't create anything in the way of real dangerous chances, not really testing Zac MacMath in the Colorado net.
Half time saw the team make full changes to the starting 11, and the changes in midfield were immediately noticed. Instead of three more defensive minded midfielders, Sporting inserted players with a tendency more to attack with the likes of Benny Feilhaber and Jimmy Medranda sitting in front of Servando Carrasco who played the defensive midfield position. Sporting was able to get forward a lot more in the half, and spent the majority of the half deep in Colorado's end. Krisztian Nemeth and Bernardo Anor both were threats throughout the half for KC. Feilhaber was playing some fantastic long balls, switching fields at ease. Colorado's defense though was holding out well, keeping KC out of the goal. But in the 75th minute, Flores picked up his second yellow after kicking the ball away for a KC free kick. KC immediately took advantage of the man advantage as Medranda was played into the box and fouled by Shane O'Neill. Nemeth stepped up and put Kansas City within one in the 77th minute. Only a minute later, Sporting was level. A nice cross from the corner was brought down by Anor in the box. He worked his way around two defenders before toe poking a ball past MacMath at his near post to tie the game at 2-2. With the momentum and the man advantage, Sporting continued to press for the final 12 minutes of the game but were unable to find a winner as the game ended with a 2-2 draw.
While it's always hard with a preseason game to gauge how some things went on the field and how some teams played, there were certainly some players that stood out and some that didn't have great nights. Most of the positives came from the second half, with the previously mentioned Anor, Feilhaber, and Nemeth all having good performances. But another one that I didn't mention was teenager Erik Palmer-Brown, who I thought looked very composed on the ball last night and strong defensively. In the first half, I thought Kevin Ellis did a decent job of getting up the field for KC from his right back position, a spot he'll try to make his own with Chance Myers still recovering from his Achilles injury. As for those that stood out for the wrong reasons, I have to look at the likes of Marcelin, whose passing looked really poor much of the night, and the team's starting center back pairing of Besler and Anibaba. I'm willing to give those two a little bit of slack though because Besler and Anibaba haven't gotten a whole lot of time together yet with Besler away at national team camp. Sporting will be back on the field on Saturday to take on the Seattle Sounders in their second game of the Desert Diamond Cup.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Munoz Signs with Arizona - Former SKC Wizards Update
Former Sporting midfielder, Victor Munoz has a new club. The Spaniard, who was drafted by DC United last year has signed with Arizona United of the USL. Munoz made just one appearance for Kansas City, starting the club's US Open Cup game against Minnesota. He didn't exactly have a great performance and was pulled in the first half because of an injury. He did appear in Sporting's friendly loss to Manchester City this past year.
Speaking of players who played in that friendly, Michael Kafari, who made his only appearance on the field for KC in that game, is currently with FC Tucson as they play in the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson this year.
Finally, Tony Rocha, the only draft pick from KC so far this year to not make the team has moved forward with his career, he has been in the lineup for the Austin Aztex as they've played in the ATX Pro Soccer Classic.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Christian Duke
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Igor Kostrov
Rauwshan McKenzie
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Played in Ontario's 9-5 loss to San Diego.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - No game this week.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Had a goal and an assist in Missouri's 21-4 win over Tulsa.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had an assist in Baltimore's 11-0 win over Rochester.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 11-3 win over Brownsville.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - No game this week.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - No game until 2/22.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not dress in Blooming's 3-0 win over Real Potosi.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and playd 90 minutes in Quilmes' 1-0 loss to Lanus.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 57 minutes in Guadalajara's 0-0 draw with Veracruz. Did not dress in Guadalajara's 1-0 win over Lobos Buap.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Did not dress in either of Saprissa's games.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 67 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 win over Shillong Lajong.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Lost 2-1 to JJ Urquiza.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 7-0 loss to Seoul
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 71 minutes in Lugo's 2-0 win over Leganes.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 3-0 loss to Millonarios.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Started and played 70 minutes in Puebla's 2-0 win over Monterrey. Did not dress in Puebla's 2-0 win over Merida.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 2-1 to Cavalier.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Did not dress in Boavista's 3-0 loss to Fluminense.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Defeated Al Merreikh 2-0.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in Fluminense's 3-0 win over Boavista.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Did not dress San Martin's 1-0 loss to Cienciano.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Did not dress in Servette's 2-0 win over Lugano.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 3/6.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 2/28.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - No game this week.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Scored a goal in Stjarnan's 1-1 draw with Valur.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 1-1 draw with Belenenses.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned fromBEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Tied Rangsit JW 0-0
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/22
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in either of Blackburn's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Lost 1-0 to Maziya 1-0 in the AFC Cup.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - On break until 2/27
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Speaking of players who played in that friendly, Michael Kafari, who made his only appearance on the field for KC in that game, is currently with FC Tucson as they play in the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson this year.
Finally, Tony Rocha, the only draft pick from KC so far this year to not make the team has moved forward with his career, he has been in the lineup for the Austin Aztex as they've played in the ATX Pro Soccer Classic.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Christian Duke
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Igor Kostrov
Rauwshan McKenzie
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Played in Ontario's 9-5 loss to San Diego.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - No game this week.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Had a goal and an assist in Missouri's 21-4 win over Tulsa.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had an assist in Baltimore's 11-0 win over Rochester.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 11-3 win over Brownsville.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - No game this week.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - No game until 2/22.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not dress in Blooming's 3-0 win over Real Potosi.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and playd 90 minutes in Quilmes' 1-0 loss to Lanus.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 57 minutes in Guadalajara's 0-0 draw with Veracruz. Did not dress in Guadalajara's 1-0 win over Lobos Buap.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Did not dress in either of Saprissa's games.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 67 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 win over Shillong Lajong.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Lost 2-1 to JJ Urquiza.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 7-0 loss to Seoul
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 71 minutes in Lugo's 2-0 win over Leganes.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 3-0 loss to Millonarios.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Started and played 70 minutes in Puebla's 2-0 win over Monterrey. Did not dress in Puebla's 2-0 win over Merida.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 2-1 to Cavalier.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Did not dress in Boavista's 3-0 loss to Fluminense.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Defeated Al Merreikh 2-0.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in Fluminense's 3-0 win over Boavista.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Did not dress San Martin's 1-0 loss to Cienciano.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Did not dress in Servette's 2-0 win over Lugano.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 3/6.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 2/28.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - No game this week.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Scored a goal in Stjarnan's 1-1 draw with Valur.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 1-1 draw with Belenenses.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned fromBEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Tied Rangsit JW 0-0
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/22
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in either of Blackburn's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Lost 1-0 to Maziya 1-0 in the AFC Cup.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - On break until 2/27
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Dia Signed
Sporting KC announced today that they'd signed their third first round pick from the 2015 Superdraft. Amadou Dia, from Clemson, was officially signed to a contract today by Sporting. The outside back, the 20th pick in this year's Superdraft has been in camp with Sporting all preseason and had played in both of KC's two friendlies in the first half of their preseason in Tucson. He'll provide depth for Kansas City at the outside back position as well as some ability to push up into more of a winger role for KC.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Sporting KC Update List of Trialists
Today, Sporting Kansas City announced the trialists that are still in camp with the team as they begin the second leg of their preseason in Arizona. The team has cut the number of trialists still in camp at this time to just five players.
Gone from camp is goalkeeper, Kevin Corby, the St. Louis Ambush keeper who did not play in either of KC's preseason games. Also gone are defenders Brent Griffiths and Daniel Rodriguez. Both got time in the team's 2-0 loss to the Portland Timbers in the preseason opener, with Griffiths, the 24 year old English center back who has played his professional career in Australia, playing an hour before being replaced by Rodriguez, a Chilean back, for the final 30 minutes. Also gone are midfielders Santiago Otero, from Argentina, Felipe Hernandez, from Sporting's academy, and fourth round draft pick, Tony Rocha, who has landed on his feet, playing with the Austin Aztex in the ATX Pro Classic this past weekend. Finally, former Houston Dynamo home grown player, Alex Dixon is also gone from the club. Like the center backs, the other four released players all played against the Timbers in KC's first preseason game. All playing 30 minutes except Dixon who played an hour.
The four trialists left over from the first leg of preseason: former RSL academy goalkeeper, Matt Bersano, defender Amadou Dia, the club's third first round pick this year, the club's third round draft pick, James Rogers, and former player, Chrisitan Duke.
Joining those four is Canadian international, Marcel De Jong. De Jong is a 28 year old left sided player who predominately plays left back. De Jong was last with FC Augsburg of the Bundesliga, but left the club this past January when Augsburg terminated his contract. De Jong had been frustrated with his lack of playing time recently with the club, which likely played a role in his departure. De Jong would be an interesting addition if Sporting were to keep him, but the main question may be whether he'd get the playing time he apparently wants here. KC's two starters on the left side are two of the team's better and more consistent players in Seth Sinovic and Graham Zusi. De Jong may be the better left back than Sinovic, but would Peter Vermes look to replace him that quickly? Would De Jong be that much of an upgrade for Vermes, especially at a potential higher price tag? As for the left wing, Vermes could push Zusi into the midfield, where he's had some success, but with the number of midfielders KC has already brought in this offseason, that doesn't seem extremely likely.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Dwyer's Citizenship Question
With the news yesterday that Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer married US women's national team forward, Sydney Leroux recently one of the questions that I've seen over and over again is what this does for Dwyer's citizenship prospects. Last year after he really started to hit form a number of questions were asked about his ability to represent the United States internationally, and with his recent nuptials, people were asking if this cleared a lot of the red tape for Dwyer internationally.
The short answer to that question is no.
The longer answer to that question is that spousal citizenship is not an automatic thing, it's not immediate. Unlike back in 1998 when David Regis used a provision primarily used by spouses of military and government officials, Dwyer has to go the long way.
The requirements for Dwyer to become a citizen through his marriage to Leroux has at least a three year waiting period. Dwyer would have to have a green card for three years and living with Leroux during that time, and meet all other citizenship requirements.
Dwyer does have a green card, he received it back in 2012, about three years ago now. With that, Dwyer is actually closer to citizenship through the standard naturalization process, which requires him to be a green card holder for five years. As long as Dwyer is continuing the naturalization process, he should still be on target to earn his citizenship in 2017 if he so chooses, as Robb Heineman mentioned back in July.
The short answer to that question is no.
The longer answer to that question is that spousal citizenship is not an automatic thing, it's not immediate. Unlike back in 1998 when David Regis used a provision primarily used by spouses of military and government officials, Dwyer has to go the long way.
The requirements for Dwyer to become a citizen through his marriage to Leroux has at least a three year waiting period. Dwyer would have to have a green card for three years and living with Leroux during that time, and meet all other citizenship requirements.
Dwyer does have a green card, he received it back in 2012, about three years ago now. With that, Dwyer is actually closer to citizenship through the standard naturalization process, which requires him to be a green card holder for five years. As long as Dwyer is continuing the naturalization process, he should still be on target to earn his citizenship in 2017 if he so chooses, as Robb Heineman mentioned back in July.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Comets Cruise Past the Revolution Again
Tonight's game between the Missouri Comets and Tulsa Revolution was never likely to be much of a game. The Comets came into the game with an 18-0 record, looking to continue their unbeaten run, while the Revolution came in with just two wins on the season, long eliminated from the playoff race. And the Comets proved it early on, scoring three goals in the first five minutes and seven in the first quarter to really put the game out of reach early on. Just over a minute in, Leo Gibson got the scoring going. Tulsa tried to clear their lines, but only got it as far as Bryan Perez. Perez looked up and found Gibson all alone in the box. Playing him the ball, Gibson was able to get the Tulsa goalkeeper, Vladen Glavonic, to go to ground and Gibson fired the ball in to make it 1-0. Less than four minutes in, Alain Matingou played the ball wide to Vahid Assadpour. Assadpour beat his defender and from a tight angle fired a shot into the roof of the net to make it 2-0. Less than a minute later, Max Touloute made it 3-0. Technically the goal was an own goal as Touloute's shot was going wide, but was knocked into the net by the Tulsa defender. The Comets continued to control the game but weren't able to add to their lead until there were less than six minutes left in the quarter. Gibson set up Assadpour's second goal of the night as he fired a ball across the box that Assadpour re-directed into the net to make it 4-0. The Comets made it 5-0 after a poor giveaway by the Revolution. Kiel Williams picked off a back pass to the goalkeeper and immediately dished it to Alain Matingou who easily scored to make it 5-0. As the quarter wound down, Assadpour finished off his first quarter hattrick, one timing a shot into the net after it was flicked into his path by Gibson. Seconds later, Ramone Palmer finished off the scoring in the quarter as he jumped in front of a back pass to Glavonic and scored to make it 7-0.
Early in the second quarter, the Comets extended their lead. Just over a minute in, Robert Palmer had a chance saved, but the clearance only went as far as Perez, who picked out Gibson who scored his second of the game to make it 8-0. A minute later, Gibson finished off his hattrick and made it 9-0 as Gibson collected a long pass from Brian Harris that went off the wall. Gibson took a touch and fired the ball home to make it 9-0. Tulsa then replaced Glavonic, who'd given up nine goals on just 14 shots, with Richard Nolasco, who had started most of the season for the Revolution. The changed didn't make much of a difference though as less than a minute after Gibson's third of the game, John Sosa made it 10-0 as Josh Gardner played a ball to the back post where Sosa was able to tap it home to put the Comets into double digits. A short time later, it was actually the Revolution getting on the board, spoiling the shutout as Justin Hershey fired a shot from a tight angle that squeezed between Danny Waltman and the post to make it 10-1, ruining the shutout. Late in the quarter, the Comets found themselves on the penalty kill after a dangerous play from Sosa. A man down though the Comets were the ones that scored to re-establish their 10 point lead. Stefan Stokic raced after a loose ball, but had it tackled away by Nolasco. The loose ball fell to Robert Palmer outside the Tulsa yellow line. Palmer fired the shot on goal and scored shorthanded to make it 11-1 as the teams headed into half time.
The third quarter started the slowest of the fourth quarters tonight for the Comets, it took them almost seven minutes to score their first goal and extend their lead to 11. Just under seven minutes in, Harris received the ball near midfield. The defender dribbled forward into the Revolution's offensive third before firing a shot into the net to make it 12-1. A minute and a half later Gibson tallied his third assist of the night, firing a cross to the back post that Robert Palmer chested into the net to make it 13-1. The Comets continued the quick goals as Gibson added another assist playing a give and go with Matingou before the Frenchman fired the ball home to make it 14-1. And then a minute later, Perez scored his first goal of the night, clearing up a chance after Stokic had a shot blocked. With less than two and a half minutes left, Sosa scored his second of the night after playing a give and go with Gibson for Gibson's fifth assist of the night to make it 16-1. Just eight seconds later though the Revolution again scored with Hershey getting his second of the night off a wall pass. Before the quarter was up though the Comets got the goal back again as Harris tapped home from close range after Ramone Palmer played the ball from the corner.
The fourth quarter again saw the Comets get started quickly. Gardner scored his first goal of the night as Assadpour played a restart across the top of the box that Gardner fired home. Less than 30 seconds later, Sosa finished off his hattrick as Ramone Palmer beat Nolasco to the ball outside the box. Palmer than calmly played the ball across the goal mouth where Sosa ran in to tap the ball home to make it 19-2. The Revolution then struck back themselves as Dave Leung scored his first of two in the quarter to make it 19-3. Once again Missouri responded though. After Tulsa failed to fully clear a restart, Harris picked out Gibson near the corner of the box where Gibson fired the ball into the corner to make it 20-3. Tulsa struck back again as Leung scored on the power play after a foul by Harris to cut the lead again. Ramone Palmer finished off the scoring with just under three minutes left as he intercepted a back pass to the goalkeeper for the second time on the night and scored to make it 21-4 once the final horn blew.
The Comets set a team record for goals in a game, topping the 18 that they'd scored earlier this year at home against the Revolution. Gibson led the way for the Comets recording nine points on the night. The team sits at 19-0 with their final regular season game next Sunday against the Tacoma Stars.
Early in the second quarter, the Comets extended their lead. Just over a minute in, Robert Palmer had a chance saved, but the clearance only went as far as Perez, who picked out Gibson who scored his second of the game to make it 8-0. A minute later, Gibson finished off his hattrick and made it 9-0 as Gibson collected a long pass from Brian Harris that went off the wall. Gibson took a touch and fired the ball home to make it 9-0. Tulsa then replaced Glavonic, who'd given up nine goals on just 14 shots, with Richard Nolasco, who had started most of the season for the Revolution. The changed didn't make much of a difference though as less than a minute after Gibson's third of the game, John Sosa made it 10-0 as Josh Gardner played a ball to the back post where Sosa was able to tap it home to put the Comets into double digits. A short time later, it was actually the Revolution getting on the board, spoiling the shutout as Justin Hershey fired a shot from a tight angle that squeezed between Danny Waltman and the post to make it 10-1, ruining the shutout. Late in the quarter, the Comets found themselves on the penalty kill after a dangerous play from Sosa. A man down though the Comets were the ones that scored to re-establish their 10 point lead. Stefan Stokic raced after a loose ball, but had it tackled away by Nolasco. The loose ball fell to Robert Palmer outside the Tulsa yellow line. Palmer fired the shot on goal and scored shorthanded to make it 11-1 as the teams headed into half time.
The third quarter started the slowest of the fourth quarters tonight for the Comets, it took them almost seven minutes to score their first goal and extend their lead to 11. Just under seven minutes in, Harris received the ball near midfield. The defender dribbled forward into the Revolution's offensive third before firing a shot into the net to make it 12-1. A minute and a half later Gibson tallied his third assist of the night, firing a cross to the back post that Robert Palmer chested into the net to make it 13-1. The Comets continued the quick goals as Gibson added another assist playing a give and go with Matingou before the Frenchman fired the ball home to make it 14-1. And then a minute later, Perez scored his first goal of the night, clearing up a chance after Stokic had a shot blocked. With less than two and a half minutes left, Sosa scored his second of the night after playing a give and go with Gibson for Gibson's fifth assist of the night to make it 16-1. Just eight seconds later though the Revolution again scored with Hershey getting his second of the night off a wall pass. Before the quarter was up though the Comets got the goal back again as Harris tapped home from close range after Ramone Palmer played the ball from the corner.
The fourth quarter again saw the Comets get started quickly. Gardner scored his first goal of the night as Assadpour played a restart across the top of the box that Gardner fired home. Less than 30 seconds later, Sosa finished off his hattrick as Ramone Palmer beat Nolasco to the ball outside the box. Palmer than calmly played the ball across the goal mouth where Sosa ran in to tap the ball home to make it 19-2. The Revolution then struck back themselves as Dave Leung scored his first of two in the quarter to make it 19-3. Once again Missouri responded though. After Tulsa failed to fully clear a restart, Harris picked out Gibson near the corner of the box where Gibson fired the ball into the corner to make it 20-3. Tulsa struck back again as Leung scored on the power play after a foul by Harris to cut the lead again. Ramone Palmer finished off the scoring with just under three minutes left as he intercepted a back pass to the goalkeeper for the second time on the night and scored to make it 21-4 once the final horn blew.
The Comets set a team record for goals in a game, topping the 18 that they'd scored earlier this year at home against the Revolution. Gibson led the way for the Comets recording nine points on the night. The team sits at 19-0 with their final regular season game next Sunday against the Tacoma Stars.
Friday, February 13, 2015
MASL Announce Playoff Format (And as You'd Guess, You'll Shake Your Head)
There are just two weeks until the Missouri Comets season ends on the 22nd against the Tacoma Stars. And better late than never there's finally a playoff format this year. It's been known for a while that three teams from each of the four divisions would make the playoffs this year, the Comets wrapped up a playoff birth years, and recently the Milwaukee Wave clinched a playoff berth, leaving the Chicago Mustangs the likely third team. Chicago would need to lose their final fourth games while Wichita wings their final two games for the B-52s to have a chance at the playoffs. So it likely means the Mustangs will be facing the Wave in the Central Division playoffs in a home and home series, with the winner facing the Comets in a single game to try to win the Central Division on March 12th. The winner goes on to face the winner of the Eastern Conference which looks set to be Baltimore, Syracuse, and Rochester.
All of that sounds fairly straight forward and makes sense, although I'm not sure how to feel about the one game winner take all game, although it will be at the Independence Events Center. But then comes the description of the Western Conference. The Western and the Southern will also have three teams each in the playoffs, but instead of each team earning a home game, the 2 vs 3 seed match up will be just one game at the second seed. This is due to the fact that Las Vegas and Texas have arena availability issues, meaning Ontario and Dallas will host the single game playoffs.
While the reason for the format is understandable in a sense, on the other side of things, the assumption should be that teams would schedule dates around the time that the playoffs are supposed to take place aside in preparations for a potential playoff game. With the way things have gone for the league though, it isn't surprising that there was a lack of foresight in this situation from teams.
On top of all of that, some of the teams won't even be done with the regular season when the playoffs kick off. The first match up between the Chicago Mustangs and Milwaukee Wave will be scheduled for February 26th (assuming Chicago takes the last spot which is likely). When they kick off in the playoffs there will still be four regular season games kicking off later that same weekend.
Again, while it's understandable the format is a little crazy, it still doesn't speak well of the league and its forward planning that they didn't have this worked out before hand so teams could reserve arena dates to avoid things like this. Of course this is the same league that has a litany of problems throughout its first season.
All of that sounds fairly straight forward and makes sense, although I'm not sure how to feel about the one game winner take all game, although it will be at the Independence Events Center. But then comes the description of the Western Conference. The Western and the Southern will also have three teams each in the playoffs, but instead of each team earning a home game, the 2 vs 3 seed match up will be just one game at the second seed. This is due to the fact that Las Vegas and Texas have arena availability issues, meaning Ontario and Dallas will host the single game playoffs.
While the reason for the format is understandable in a sense, on the other side of things, the assumption should be that teams would schedule dates around the time that the playoffs are supposed to take place aside in preparations for a potential playoff game. With the way things have gone for the league though, it isn't surprising that there was a lack of foresight in this situation from teams.
On top of all of that, some of the teams won't even be done with the regular season when the playoffs kick off. The first match up between the Chicago Mustangs and Milwaukee Wave will be scheduled for February 26th (assuming Chicago takes the last spot which is likely). When they kick off in the playoffs there will still be four regular season games kicking off later that same weekend.
Again, while it's understandable the format is a little crazy, it still doesn't speak well of the league and its forward planning that they didn't have this worked out before hand so teams could reserve arena dates to avoid things like this. Of course this is the same league that has a litany of problems throughout its first season.
Sporting Set to Sign Another Haitian? UPDATE: Mustivar Signed
Looks like Sporting Kansas City may have a new player heading their way. Peter Vermes has mentioned that Sporting KC was likely not done with player signings, and Robb Heineman has hinted at the signing of a defensive midfielder and a "number 10" for a little while now. Soni Mustivar, a French born, Haitian international is set to sign with the club according to reports out of France.
Mustivar, is a 25 year old midfielder, who started his career in France, playing for Bastia in the French second division as well as spending time on loan at US Orleans in France. During his time with Bastia, he was called up to the French U20 team. In 2011 he left the French club and eventually moved to Petrolul Ploiesti in the Romanian first division. During his time there, he switched from representing France to represent Haiti.
Mustivar would become the fourth Haitian to be on KC's roster in the last few years, joining the likes of Peterson Joseph, Mechack Jerome, and James Marcelin, who was acquired earlier this offseason.
UPDATE
This evening, Sporting officially announced the signing of Mustivar. The Haitian has appeared six times for his country and seems likely to feature this summer in the Gold Cup. His signing would mean that KC could be missing six players from the roster once the Gold Cup kicks off, with two from the US (Matt Besler and Graham Zusi), two from Honduras (Jorge Claros and Roger Espinoza), and two from Haiti (Mustivar and James Marcelin).
Mustivar, is a 25 year old midfielder, who started his career in France, playing for Bastia in the French second division as well as spending time on loan at US Orleans in France. During his time with Bastia, he was called up to the French U20 team. In 2011 he left the French club and eventually moved to Petrolul Ploiesti in the Romanian first division. During his time there, he switched from representing France to represent Haiti.
Mustivar would become the fourth Haitian to be on KC's roster in the last few years, joining the likes of Peterson Joseph, Mechack Jerome, and James Marcelin, who was acquired earlier this offseason.
UPDATE
This evening, Sporting officially announced the signing of Mustivar. The Haitian has appeared six times for his country and seems likely to feature this summer in the Gold Cup. His signing would mean that KC could be missing six players from the roster once the Gold Cup kicks off, with two from the US (Matt Besler and Graham Zusi), two from Honduras (Jorge Claros and Roger Espinoza), and two from Haiti (Mustivar and James Marcelin).
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Heineman Takes to Twitter Again
Once again while killing time while on a flight, Sporting Club CEO, Robb Heineman took to Twitter again, conducting a Q&A with fans. Heineman answered a number of questions over an hour or so of Tweeting. There was lots of decent information in his tweets, but as always with these conversations you always have to take it with a grain of salt and remember Heineman's tendency to troll the fans on occasion.
Heineman came out with his first question answering Orlando City fans who have held out hope that they could some how get Dom Dwyer to return to their club now that they've entered MLS in 2015. Quickly seeming to put an end to any speculation (and really any hope Orlando City fans had of getting him were a delusional to begin with).
Heineman also crushed some wild fan hopes for player signings, from the hopeful, to the never gonna happen. And also crushed the baseless speculation that the team was chasing Giovanni Dos Santos again. He did though provide some hope of an incoming Designated Player, and also said that the team was still looking to bring in a defensive midfielder. Heineman also seemed to indicate that the club has yet to give up on getting Brazilian right back, Igor Juliao back in Kansas City.
Heineman answered a few questions pertaining to stadiums throughout the tweet along as well. The first one would be a blow to a number of fans who were hoping for an expanded Sporting Park in the future. When asked when we'd see an expanded Sporting Park, Heineman responded "I'd guess never." It's a departure from his previous comments on the topic when he's said things from five years to that they'd look into it after 2015. While Toronto is working on an expansion of BMO Field to up their capacity, Sporting Park really is restricted by the land it is on. The only way to go is up. In the past talk has been about raising the roof on the East Stand so that he matched the level of the West Stand and adding a second tier, as well as adding more seats above the Cauldron. The process for that certainly wouldn't be cheap or as easy as the expansion of BMO appears to be. On other stadium topics, Heineman was asked whether the team would ever return to the Truman Sports Complex, to play at either of the two stadiums out there. In regards to Kauffman, Heineman was more interested in the idea if it were a downtown stadium. As for Arrowhead, Heineman was asked about playing one game a year at the team's former home, to which he responded that the chances were low.
Back to Sporting Park, Heineman was asked about friendlies this summer for Sporting, to which Heineman responded that they had nothing lined up at this time regarding a big name European team. Heineman did though say that they were working on setting up a friendly between the team and former goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen's Oklahoma City Energy, which would be fun. But on the other hand I also think that game would do a lot more for Oklahoma City to host Sporting for a game (just don't get hurt). My assumption had been that one of the friendlies this summer would be a visit from partner club Fluminense as part of the home and home friendlies that were part of the agreement. Heineman was asked about training at Fluminense ahead of the 2016 season, for which Heineman said that the club would like to, which would be the perfect time for the "return" leg of the friendlies.
Heineman also pretty much confirmed the leaked jerseys as the team's new primary jersey for those that were doubting that the leaked jersey was really going to be the team's new jersey in 2015. He also gave further proof to the word going around that there was going to be no third jersey in 2015. Rumors had been making the rounds that KC would have a third that would keep the argyle pattern but would instead go to white instead of the black that the team had over the past two years.
A few other minor bits of information from his tweets tonight. He said that the land where the US Training Complex will be going in is currently being prepped for the ground breaking, which previously mentioned was planned for some time in the first half of 2015. He also seemed to confirm an eventual interest in the team creating a USL team that would play at Swope Park with FC Kansas City. It's an area that I feel is the next logical step for Kansas City. The LA Galaxy showed how a successful model for their USL team can help players develop to eventually help the main team. With a number of other MLS teams starting USL teams themselves this year, it'll be interesting to see how many do it right and how many do it wrong, and whether that pushes Kansas City to create their USL team quicker or not.
We also may have finally found out why I'll likely never get a job with Sporting Kansas City. This may have been my favorite question of the night, though it went unanswered.
Heineman ended the night with the below Tweet, that will certainly lead to a lot of responses and create further interest locally in the team and their push in 2015.
Of course, as I feel obligated to say each time Robb does one of these things, make sure you take your grain of salt.
Heineman came out with his first question answering Orlando City fans who have held out hope that they could some how get Dom Dwyer to return to their club now that they've entered MLS in 2015. Quickly seeming to put an end to any speculation (and really any hope Orlando City fans had of getting him were a delusional to begin with).
Heineman also crushed some wild fan hopes for player signings, from the hopeful, to the never gonna happen. And also crushed the baseless speculation that the team was chasing Giovanni Dos Santos again. He did though provide some hope of an incoming Designated Player, and also said that the team was still looking to bring in a defensive midfielder. Heineman also seemed to indicate that the club has yet to give up on getting Brazilian right back, Igor Juliao back in Kansas City.
Heineman answered a few questions pertaining to stadiums throughout the tweet along as well. The first one would be a blow to a number of fans who were hoping for an expanded Sporting Park in the future. When asked when we'd see an expanded Sporting Park, Heineman responded "I'd guess never." It's a departure from his previous comments on the topic when he's said things from five years to that they'd look into it after 2015. While Toronto is working on an expansion of BMO Field to up their capacity, Sporting Park really is restricted by the land it is on. The only way to go is up. In the past talk has been about raising the roof on the East Stand so that he matched the level of the West Stand and adding a second tier, as well as adding more seats above the Cauldron. The process for that certainly wouldn't be cheap or as easy as the expansion of BMO appears to be. On other stadium topics, Heineman was asked whether the team would ever return to the Truman Sports Complex, to play at either of the two stadiums out there. In regards to Kauffman, Heineman was more interested in the idea if it were a downtown stadium. As for Arrowhead, Heineman was asked about playing one game a year at the team's former home, to which he responded that the chances were low.
Back to Sporting Park, Heineman was asked about friendlies this summer for Sporting, to which Heineman responded that they had nothing lined up at this time regarding a big name European team. Heineman did though say that they were working on setting up a friendly between the team and former goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen's Oklahoma City Energy, which would be fun. But on the other hand I also think that game would do a lot more for Oklahoma City to host Sporting for a game (just don't get hurt). My assumption had been that one of the friendlies this summer would be a visit from partner club Fluminense as part of the home and home friendlies that were part of the agreement. Heineman was asked about training at Fluminense ahead of the 2016 season, for which Heineman said that the club would like to, which would be the perfect time for the "return" leg of the friendlies.
Heineman also pretty much confirmed the leaked jerseys as the team's new primary jersey for those that were doubting that the leaked jersey was really going to be the team's new jersey in 2015. He also gave further proof to the word going around that there was going to be no third jersey in 2015. Rumors had been making the rounds that KC would have a third that would keep the argyle pattern but would instead go to white instead of the black that the team had over the past two years.
A few other minor bits of information from his tweets tonight. He said that the land where the US Training Complex will be going in is currently being prepped for the ground breaking, which previously mentioned was planned for some time in the first half of 2015. He also seemed to confirm an eventual interest in the team creating a USL team that would play at Swope Park with FC Kansas City. It's an area that I feel is the next logical step for Kansas City. The LA Galaxy showed how a successful model for their USL team can help players develop to eventually help the main team. With a number of other MLS teams starting USL teams themselves this year, it'll be interesting to see how many do it right and how many do it wrong, and whether that pushes Kansas City to create their USL team quicker or not.
We also may have finally found out why I'll likely never get a job with Sporting Kansas City. This may have been my favorite question of the night, though it went unanswered.
Heineman ended the night with the below Tweet, that will certainly lead to a lot of responses and create further interest locally in the team and their push in 2015.
Keep hearing rvdv rumor....definitely on the radar. Not imminent...
— Robb Heineman (@RobbHeineman) February 12, 2015
Of course, as I feel obligated to say each time Robb does one of these things, make sure you take your grain of salt.
John Looking for a New Club - Former SKC Wizards Update
Former KC Wizard midfielder, Will John is looking for another club. The former US U20 player left his Moroccan club, Mas de Fes over unpaid wages. John had a recent trial with Irish club, Shamrock Rovers, but could not come to an agreement with the club on a contract. So his search continues as he's played in eight countries in his club career at this point (USA, Ukraine, Slovakia, Serbia, Morocco, Denmark, Croatia, and Azerbaijan).
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Christian Duke
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Igor Kostrov
Rauwshan McKenzie
Michal Mravec
Victor Munoz
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Had three goals and an assist in Ontario's 26-3 win over Sacramento.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 10-5 los to Missouri. Did not play in St. Louis' 7-3 win over Tulsa.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 10-5 win over St. Louis. Scored a goal in Missouri's 11-4 win over Wichita.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Recorded two assists in Baltimore's 5-4 OT loss to Las Vegas. Scored a goal in Baltimore's 7-2 loss to San Diego.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Did not play in Dallas' 7-2 win over Texas.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Played in Wichita's 14-12 loss to Milwaukee. Played in Wichita's 11-4 loss to Missouri.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - No game until 2/22.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not dress in Blooming's 0-0 draw with Petrolero Yacuiba.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - No game until 2/14
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 loss to Santos Laguna.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Dressed but did not play in Sapriss'a 2-1 win over Belen Siglo XXI.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 120 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-1 extra time loss to Darul Takzim. Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 1-0 win over Bharat FC.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Argentina - Won 1-0 over Barracas Bolivar.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Did not dress in Ha Noi's 2-0 loss to Song Lam Nghe An. Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 4-0 win over Pesib.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Came off the bench and played 36 minutes in Lugo's 2-1 win over Las Palmas.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Did not dress in either of Cucuta's games.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Puebla's 1-0 loss to Tigres.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 2-0 to Rivoli United.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Tied Cabofriense 1-1. Defeated Madureira 1-0.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Tied Polisi Morogoro 2-2.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Did not dress in Fluminense's 4-1 win over Nova Iguacu. Dressed but did not play in Fluminense's 2-1 win over Bangu.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Did not dress in either of San Martin's games.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - No game until 2/16
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 3/6.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 2/28.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Started and played 89 minutes in Sheikh's 1-0 loss to Xayr.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - No game until 2/13
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 1-1 draw with Benfica.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana FC - Thailand - No game until 2/14
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/22
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in either of Blackburn's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Ceres' 2-1 win over Manila Jeepney.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - On break until 2/27
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Christian Duke
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Igor Kostrov
Rauwshan McKenzie
Michal Mravec
Victor Munoz
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Offseason.
USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Had three goals and an assist in Ontario's 26-3 win over Sacramento.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 10-5 los to Missouri. Did not play in St. Louis' 7-3 win over Tulsa.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 10-5 win over St. Louis. Scored a goal in Missouri's 11-4 win over Wichita.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Recorded two assists in Baltimore's 5-4 OT loss to Las Vegas. Scored a goal in Baltimore's 7-2 loss to San Diego.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Did not play in Dallas' 7-2 win over Texas.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Played in Wichita's 14-12 loss to Milwaukee. Played in Wichita's 11-4 loss to Missouri.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - No game until 2/22.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not dress in Blooming's 0-0 draw with Petrolero Yacuiba.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - No game until 2/14
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 loss to Santos Laguna.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Dressed but did not play in Sapriss'a 2-1 win over Belen Siglo XXI.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 120 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-1 extra time loss to Darul Takzim. Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 1-0 win over Bharat FC.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Argentina - Won 1-0 over Barracas Bolivar.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Did not dress in Ha Noi's 2-0 loss to Song Lam Nghe An. Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 4-0 win over Pesib.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Came off the bench and played 36 minutes in Lugo's 2-1 win over Las Palmas.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Did not dress in either of Cucuta's games.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Puebla's 1-0 loss to Tigres.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 2-0 to Rivoli United.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Tied Cabofriense 1-1. Defeated Madureira 1-0.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Tied Polisi Morogoro 2-2.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Did not dress in Fluminense's 4-1 win over Nova Iguacu. Dressed but did not play in Fluminense's 2-1 win over Bangu.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Did not dress in either of San Martin's games.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - No game until 2/16
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 3/6.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 2/28.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Started and played 89 minutes in Sheikh's 1-0 loss to Xayr.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - No game until 2/13
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 1-1 draw with Benfica.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana FC - Thailand - No game until 2/14
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/22
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in either of Blackburn's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Ceres' 2-1 win over Manila Jeepney.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - On break until 2/27
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Monday, February 09, 2015
Sporting End First Phase of Preseason with Win
Sporting KC closed out the first phase of their preseason ahead of the 2015 season with a win in Tucson. Twice Sporting came from behind to beat PDL side, FC Tucson 4-2.
The first half saw Sporting play as much of the first team as they can at this point, with the team still without Matt Besler and Chance Myers, Ike Opara, and Graham Zusi all still recovering from injury. The predominately first team lineup though could not find the net for Kansas City in the first half.
At half time, Sporting made 10 changes, with only 17 year old Erik Palmer-Brown staying on and playing the full 90 minutes for Kansas City. The team also only had three trialists play in the game. Sporting's third first round pick, Amadou Dia, their third round pick, James Rogers, and former Sporing KC midfielder, Christian Duke. The rest of the roster were players that were already under contract to Sporting KC. Tucson grabbed the lead just a few minutes into the half with Marquis Brooks scoring in the 48th minute to put the PDL side on top. KC equalized in the 60th minute from the penalty spot as Krisztian Nemeth converted after Mikey Lopez was fouled in the box. Tucson would re-grab the lead in the 74th as Derek Boggs headed home a free kick from Vincent Mediate to put make it 2-1. The lead lasted only a minute though as Nemeth scored his second goal of the game finishing of a cross from Rogers to make it 2-2. Then just a couple minutes later, Sporting went on top thanks to Jimmy Medranda as he one timed a shot into the net off an assist from Nemeth. Sporting put the game away in stoppage time as Dia found Nemeth who beat his defender and then beat former KC academy player, Jacole Turner to finish off his hattrick and make it 4-2 right before the final whistle.
The first half saw Sporting play as much of the first team as they can at this point, with the team still without Matt Besler and Chance Myers, Ike Opara, and Graham Zusi all still recovering from injury. The predominately first team lineup though could not find the net for Kansas City in the first half.
At half time, Sporting made 10 changes, with only 17 year old Erik Palmer-Brown staying on and playing the full 90 minutes for Kansas City. The team also only had three trialists play in the game. Sporting's third first round pick, Amadou Dia, their third round pick, James Rogers, and former Sporing KC midfielder, Christian Duke. The rest of the roster were players that were already under contract to Sporting KC. Tucson grabbed the lead just a few minutes into the half with Marquis Brooks scoring in the 48th minute to put the PDL side on top. KC equalized in the 60th minute from the penalty spot as Krisztian Nemeth converted after Mikey Lopez was fouled in the box. Tucson would re-grab the lead in the 74th as Derek Boggs headed home a free kick from Vincent Mediate to put make it 2-1. The lead lasted only a minute though as Nemeth scored his second goal of the game finishing of a cross from Rogers to make it 2-2. Then just a couple minutes later, Sporting went on top thanks to Jimmy Medranda as he one timed a shot into the net off an assist from Nemeth. Sporting put the game away in stoppage time as Dia found Nemeth who beat his defender and then beat former KC academy player, Jacole Turner to finish off his hattrick and make it 4-2 right before the final whistle.
Sunday, February 08, 2015
Comets Start Fast, Cruise to 18-0
The Missouri Comets scored four goals in just over three minutes at the start of the game today in Wichita and cruised to an 11-4 win over the Wichita B-52s to move to 18-0 on the season.
Brian Harris, Kiel Williams, Vahid Assadpour, and Bryan Perez all scored in the first three minutes, seven seconds of the game to jump all over the B-52s early. Assadpour's goal was assisted by head coach, Vlatko Andonovski, who along with his Wichita counterpart, Kim Roentved played for their respective clubs today as a tribute to Roentved's career. Six and a half minutes in, Josh Gardner made it 5-0 to the Comets off an assist from Leo Gibson. The assist was actually Gibson's third of the quarter.
The second quarter progressed without incident in terms of goals until very late in the quarter. Perez set up Alain Matingou off a restart with less than 30 seconds left to make it 6-0 as the teams headed into the half time break.
The third quarter started with the Comets continuing their domination of play. A minute into the half, Gibson got his first goal to go along with his assists as Perez picked up his second assist of the night. Less than four minutes in, Assadpour got his second of the game, and Gibson got his fourth assist as the Comets made it 8-0. The B-52s finally got on the board with less than six minutes left in the quarter as Alex Moseley scored to cut the lead to 8-1. The final minute of the quarter saw the teams trade goals. Perez scored his second goal of the game with 45 seconds left in the quarter. Then with less than 15 seconds left, Kevin Jackson scored as the quarter ended with the Comets up 9-2.
The four quarter saw the two teams trade goals, with each team scoring two goals. Harris opened the scoring in the quarter, scoring with less than two and a half minutes gone. Right around the mid point of the quarter, Andre Braithwaite got on the scorers sheet as Perez picked up his third assist of the game to make it 11-2. Late on, the B-52s struck back to reduce the lead. The goals both came in the final five minutes, and both came through Matt Clare. First he scored on the power play off an assist from former Comet, Bryon Alvarez, before scoring again off an assist from Moseley to finish up the scoring with less than two and a half minutes left.
The Comets will now return home for their final two games of the season. The first of those games is this coming Saturday against the Tulsa Revolution, before closing out against the Tacoma Stars come to close out the regular season. The two teams are a combined 6-28. So the Comets should be able to finish the season unbeaten at 20-0.
Brian Harris, Kiel Williams, Vahid Assadpour, and Bryan Perez all scored in the first three minutes, seven seconds of the game to jump all over the B-52s early. Assadpour's goal was assisted by head coach, Vlatko Andonovski, who along with his Wichita counterpart, Kim Roentved played for their respective clubs today as a tribute to Roentved's career. Six and a half minutes in, Josh Gardner made it 5-0 to the Comets off an assist from Leo Gibson. The assist was actually Gibson's third of the quarter.
The second quarter progressed without incident in terms of goals until very late in the quarter. Perez set up Alain Matingou off a restart with less than 30 seconds left to make it 6-0 as the teams headed into the half time break.
The third quarter started with the Comets continuing their domination of play. A minute into the half, Gibson got his first goal to go along with his assists as Perez picked up his second assist of the night. Less than four minutes in, Assadpour got his second of the game, and Gibson got his fourth assist as the Comets made it 8-0. The B-52s finally got on the board with less than six minutes left in the quarter as Alex Moseley scored to cut the lead to 8-1. The final minute of the quarter saw the teams trade goals. Perez scored his second goal of the game with 45 seconds left in the quarter. Then with less than 15 seconds left, Kevin Jackson scored as the quarter ended with the Comets up 9-2.
The four quarter saw the two teams trade goals, with each team scoring two goals. Harris opened the scoring in the quarter, scoring with less than two and a half minutes gone. Right around the mid point of the quarter, Andre Braithwaite got on the scorers sheet as Perez picked up his third assist of the game to make it 11-2. Late on, the B-52s struck back to reduce the lead. The goals both came in the final five minutes, and both came through Matt Clare. First he scored on the power play off an assist from former Comet, Bryon Alvarez, before scoring again off an assist from Moseley to finish up the scoring with less than two and a half minutes left.
The Comets will now return home for their final two games of the season. The first of those games is this coming Saturday against the Tulsa Revolution, before closing out against the Tacoma Stars come to close out the regular season. The two teams are a combined 6-28. So the Comets should be able to finish the season unbeaten at 20-0.
Saturday, February 07, 2015
Sporting's New Jersey Leaks
Sporting Kansas City's new primary jersey was not supposed to be unveiled until the club's "Sporting Evolution" at the Uptown Shoppes on March 4th. Last year, Sporting KC was the lone MLS club that managed to make it to their jersey unveiling without it leaking out to the public before hand. Unfortunately the club didn't make it to the event this year, earlier this week, a picture was accidentally posted online by an affiliate of MLS. The photo had MLS team uniforms in the background, including Sporting's new jersey. Then today, the site Fanatics.com posted the new jersey for not just KC, but for a number of MLS clubs including Columbus, Portland,and Vancouver. The jersey has been pulled from the site at this point, but not before everyone that saw it and wanted to grab screen shots was able to do so.
The new jersey has a grid pattern look with an indigo collar the actual lines on the jersey are actually broken up with little diagonal lines. The collar is open with a snap on it to allow players to have a wider collar if they want to. On the sleeves, as mentioned previously by people in the league, the US/Canadian flags are gone from one of the sleeves with the new MLS logo now appearing on both of the jersey's sleeves. On the back, the Sporting Club at the top of the jersey is changing a little bit. The logo will now be a bit harder rubber/plastic, as the team logo on the front of the team's secondary jersey was this past year.
Overall I'm fairly "meh" on the jersey. I certainly don't dislike the new jersey, but I'm not in love with it. It's certainly not going to be my favorite jersey the team will be wearing this coming year, that's still the striped secondary jersey. I'm sure it'll look good enough on the players though.
The new design has brought about a bit of humor today though. Those saying they can buy the same shirt at Kohl's for $15 and just buy the patches. There there are these.
or make the back a word search to find their name.. RT @LikkitP: Maybe if they put the player names on like this pic.twitter.com/I4JH65lqqt
— Mike Kuhn (@downthebyline) February 7, 2015
@LikkitP @downthebyline Well, if you're going that direction, we should certainly plot the names on a line. #SKC #MLS pic.twitter.com/I87DhK7kWn
— Jeff (@Jeff_CCTuba) February 7, 2015
Friday, February 06, 2015
Comets Sweep St. Louis
For the second year in a row, the Missouri Comets swept the St. Louis Ambush, closing out their three games against their cross state rival with a 10-5 win. The Comets used a big second and third quarter to give them their separation and were led by the league's point leader, Leo Gibson, who had three goals and four assists on the night for the Comets.
St. Louis actually jumped out to the early lead as Jeff DiMaria scored just over five minutes in to give the Ambush the early lead. The Comets though responded immediately. Off of a restart after a blue card was issued, John Sosa played the ball to Vahid Assadpour who beat Alan Hagerty to tie the game at 1-1. Neither team was able to take the lead as the quarter ended with the teams tied at 1-1.
The second quarter saw the Comets again capitalize on a power play. Thirty seconds into the game, Chad Vandegriffe was sent into the box for tripping. Just 12 seconds later, Gibson scored his first of the night to put the Comets on top. St. Louis were the ones o come back and equalize this time, as Elvir Kafedzic scored off a restart less than five minutes in to tie the game at 2-2. A little over a minute later, the Comets were back on top though Gibson got his first assist of the night, setting up Bryan Perez to put the Comets on top for good. Just over 30 seconds later, Assadpour scored his second of the night to extend Missouri's lead to 4-2. With just over five and a half minutes left the Ambush cut the lead to 4-3 and then with a minute and a half left in the quarter Perez went to the box for a tripping blue card. Short handed though the Comets were the ones to find the net as Alain Matingou scored to extend Missouri's lead to 5-3 with just 17 seconds left in the quarter. So with two power plays and one short handed opportunity on the night, the Comets came away with goals in all three situations.
The third quarter saw the Comets extend their lead further. In the first six and a half minutes of the quarter, Kiel Williams scored, following by Matingou, both assisted by Gibson as Missouri extended their lead to 7-3. Less than 10 minutes into the half, Gibson scored his second of the night off a restart off a feed from Sosa. Gibson finished the quarter by setting up Brian Harris for a goal to extend Missouri's lead to 9-3. With just over 30 seconds left in the quarter, Gordy Gurson recorded his first points against the Comets this season, scoring to cut the lead to five as the two teams went into the fourth quarter.
Early on in the fourth, the Comets were able to extend their lead to 10-4 with Gibson scoring his fourth of the night. The Comets countered after a St. Louis restart with Assadpour feeding the ball ahead o Gibson who cut inside and fired a shot off the near post and in for his fourth of the night. For much of the rest of the quarter, the Comets were able to kill the clock with possession although with just over six and a half minutes left in the game, Odaine Sinclair scored to make it 10-5. Late on, St. Louis pulled Hagerty and inserted the sixth attacker, but Chris Mattingly barely had a chance to get out of his box. Missouri basically possessed the ball, playing keep away for the final two minutes 39 seconds to see the game off and pick up their 17th win of the season. Missouri will now head back to Kansas City before heading to Wichita for a game on Sunday.
St. Louis actually jumped out to the early lead as Jeff DiMaria scored just over five minutes in to give the Ambush the early lead. The Comets though responded immediately. Off of a restart after a blue card was issued, John Sosa played the ball to Vahid Assadpour who beat Alan Hagerty to tie the game at 1-1. Neither team was able to take the lead as the quarter ended with the teams tied at 1-1.
The second quarter saw the Comets again capitalize on a power play. Thirty seconds into the game, Chad Vandegriffe was sent into the box for tripping. Just 12 seconds later, Gibson scored his first of the night to put the Comets on top. St. Louis were the ones o come back and equalize this time, as Elvir Kafedzic scored off a restart less than five minutes in to tie the game at 2-2. A little over a minute later, the Comets were back on top though Gibson got his first assist of the night, setting up Bryan Perez to put the Comets on top for good. Just over 30 seconds later, Assadpour scored his second of the night to extend Missouri's lead to 4-2. With just over five and a half minutes left the Ambush cut the lead to 4-3 and then with a minute and a half left in the quarter Perez went to the box for a tripping blue card. Short handed though the Comets were the ones to find the net as Alain Matingou scored to extend Missouri's lead to 5-3 with just 17 seconds left in the quarter. So with two power plays and one short handed opportunity on the night, the Comets came away with goals in all three situations.
The third quarter saw the Comets extend their lead further. In the first six and a half minutes of the quarter, Kiel Williams scored, following by Matingou, both assisted by Gibson as Missouri extended their lead to 7-3. Less than 10 minutes into the half, Gibson scored his second of the night off a restart off a feed from Sosa. Gibson finished the quarter by setting up Brian Harris for a goal to extend Missouri's lead to 9-3. With just over 30 seconds left in the quarter, Gordy Gurson recorded his first points against the Comets this season, scoring to cut the lead to five as the two teams went into the fourth quarter.
Early on in the fourth, the Comets were able to extend their lead to 10-4 with Gibson scoring his fourth of the night. The Comets countered after a St. Louis restart with Assadpour feeding the ball ahead o Gibson who cut inside and fired a shot off the near post and in for his fourth of the night. For much of the rest of the quarter, the Comets were able to kill the clock with possession although with just over six and a half minutes left in the game, Odaine Sinclair scored to make it 10-5. Late on, St. Louis pulled Hagerty and inserted the sixth attacker, but Chris Mattingly barely had a chance to get out of his box. Missouri basically possessed the ball, playing keep away for the final two minutes 39 seconds to see the game off and pick up their 17th win of the season. Missouri will now head back to Kansas City before heading to Wichita for a game on Sunday.
Thursday, February 05, 2015
A Look at where Sporting's Roster Stands
Preseason is underway for Sporting KC, the team plays their
second preseason game of the season this coming weekend in a closed door
scrimmage against FC Tucson. With preseason well underway now, and eyes turned
towards the 2015 season, I thought I’d take a look at where the roster stands
at this point of preseason.
Sporting currently has 25 players under contract for the
2015 MLS season. That list includes two of Sporting’s five draft picks that
they selected in this year’s draft. So to take a look, we’ll start in the back.
Goalkeepers
Signed (3): Jon Kempin, Luis Marin, Tim Melia
Known in camp (2): Matt Bersano (RSL academy), Kevin Corby
(St. Louis Ambush)
Sporting has added two new goalkeepers to the roster, gone
are long term back up, Eric Kronberg and Kansas City native, Andy Gruenebaum
are gone. In comes Chilean international, Luis Marin and league goalkeeper, Tim
Melia, who dressed for KC as a league goalkeeper last year. At this point,
Sporting looks fairly set at the goalkeeping position. Even though they have a
couple goalkeepers in camp with them I can’t see Sporting making any changes
here as the team heads into the 2015 season baring an injury. Marin is the
clear number one right now and will be the starter for the majority of the
games. For me, I think Kempin goes on loan again to Oklahoma City where he’ll
be the starter for Jimmy Nielsen and the Energy. But I also think Kempin will
be the team’s number 2 goalkeeper. Basically if Marin goes down with an injury
I’d expect Kempin to be recalled and start. Melia though will be the every game
back up for Peter Vermes and would seem likely to get the US Open Cup games for
Kansas City.
Defenders
Signed (8): Saad Abdul-Salaam, Jalil Anibaba, Matt Besler, Kevin
Ellis, Chance Myers, Ike Opara, Erik Palmer-Brown, Seth Sinovic
Known in camp (4): Amadou Dia, Brent Griffiths, Tony Rocha,
Daniel Rodriguez
An area of the field where Sporting really needed to improve
their depth after last season and all the injury issues the team dealt with on
their back line. Gone from the team is MLS All-Star, Aurelien Collin a contract
related trade to Orlando City, and Fluminense loanee, Igor Juliao, who has
returned to his parent club. The rest of KC’s defenders from last year return,
with captain Besler the anchor of central defense. His new central defensive
partner is likely to be Opara who recovering from another injury that caused
him to miss most of the 2014 season. Behind them is Anibaba who came to Kansas
City as part of the Collin deal, Ellis, who had a break out year filling in all
over the back line due to all the injuries, and teenager, Palmer-Brown, who
could miss time this summer with the U-20 World Cup taking place in New
Zealand. At center back, I still feel that KC could stand to add to their depth
there. Opara’s health is still a question mark, he’s had a number of injuries
over his professional career that has cost him long periods of a season. With
Griffiths and Rodriguez currently in camp and getting time against the Portland
Timbers last weekend, maybe Vermes sees that need as well.
Out wide, Kansas City has addressed depth a little,
specifically on the right side, but there’s still some work that could be done
on the left. Myers, the regular starter on the right is still recovering from
his Achilles injury last year, and while he may return to the field this year,
he may not be the same player again. Anibaba can slide out and play on the
right as well; he spent time there over the past few years with both Seattle
and Chicago. KC also has the option to push Ellis out wide to the right as
well, where he played in the playoff game against New York. Then there’s Sporting’s second first round
pick, Abdul-Salaam, who signed a contract with MLS before the draft. Then there’s
the emergency option, Jacob Peterson, who spent time at right back last season
as well. With Myers’ recovery from injury this could really be any of the four’s
position to grab this season.
Left back though still has some needs behind starter
Sinovic. Sporting draft Dia with their third pick of the first round in the
Superdraft, but he has yet to sign a contract with the club. Sinovic has proven
quite durable over the years, but getting a guy that can spell him occasionally
would be a bonus long term for the club. Whether that’s Dia, Ellis (who also
played left back this past year), fourth round draft pick, Rocha, or even
Bernardo Anor dropping back to back up. Either way, KC really could use someone
to step up and establish themselves as Sinovic’s back up.
Midfielders
Signed (10): Bernardo Anor, Servando Carrasco, Jorge Claros,
Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber, Mikey Lopez, James Marcelin, Jimmy Medranda,
Paulo Nagamura, Graham Zusi
Known in camp (3): Alex Dixon, Christian Duke, Santiago
Otero
Midfield is one area that on the surface would seem to be in
good shape, but it’s an area that Robb Heineman and Peter Vermes look like theywant to improve upon still. KC had a bit of turnover here from the 2014 season,
but not much that should greatly affect the team. Gone are the likes of
Lawrence Olum who has move to Malaysia, Victor Munoz, and Christian Duke (who
is back as a trialist). And that’s not to mention the early season departure of
Oriol Rosell, who KC never really replaced last year. Looking at it from KC’s
traditional 4-3-3, KC’s defensive midfield position would seem to be getting
crowded. You have the recently acquired Carrasco who seems to be the best
passer of the three main options. Then
you have Claros, who came in midseason last year and struggled, but that seems
to be a staple of all of Vermes’ midseason signings, so getting a full
preseason behind him to learn and adapt to the system is key for Claros. The
final addition is former Portland and Dallas midfielder, Marcelin. The Haitian
seems to have become a bit of a forgotten man with the addition of Carrasco and
could be the next coming of Olum, a contributor who is there, not a superstar,
but contributes.
In the box to box midfield role, Kansas City has a couple
options that they could play. The returning Espinoza would seem to be the
automatic starter for Kansas City. Following him would be the veteran,
Nagamura, who while still a contributor, has struggled with injuries that last
two years that have really limited his time on the field for the club. Along
with both of them, you have Generation Adidas product, Lopez, who may well be
in a make or break season for the 2012 first round draft pick.
At the attacking midfield position, you’re headlined by
Feilhaber who was arguably the team’s MVP early on in the 2014 season. His move
further back on the field after Rosell’s departure really hurt his contribution
to the offense as the season wore on. Behind Feilhaber is Zusi, who while can
play in the midfield is better deployed out wide as a forward in Vermes’
system. Still playing in the middle allows him the full range of the field for
KC. Then you have the Colombian, Medranda. He struggle for time again this
year, and like Lopez is likely in a make or break season where he’ll need to
step up his contribution to the team.
The wild card in midfield is Anor, who really can play any
of KC’s three lines in the 4-3-3; this ability could make him very useful in
Vermes’ system. Of the trialists, both Duke and Otero play a more withdrawn
role for in KC’s system. In his previous two years on KC’s roster, Duke never
made a first team appearance, mainly playing on loan with both Orlando and
Oklahoma City. Dixon played a more advanced role in KC’s game against the
Timbers, but if Heineman’s tweet is to be believed, his chances of making the
team are slim.
Wide Forwards
Signed (5): Bernardo Anor, Conor Hallisey, Krisztian Nemeth,
Jacob Peterson, Graham Zusi)
KC shed a bit of weight here in the offseason, with the
departures of Toni Dovale, Soony Saad, CJ Sapong, and Sal Zizzo all leaving
Kansas City. In their place, KC has brought in the team’s first pick in the
SuperDraft, Hallisey, and Hungarian international, Nemeth. It’s an area that
Vermes’ apparently feels comfortable with at this point as Heineman has saidthe club isn’t looking there right now. For me this is an area that KC could
stand to still improve, at least in terms of depth. I haven’t seen enough of
Nemeth to confirm whether he’d be able to be the guy on the left wing for
Kansas City or not. But with only Anor, Hallisey, and Peterson there, none of
whom are world beaters, the wing opposite Zusi could continue to be an area
where KC continues to struggle at this point. The other issue for KC in terms
of wing forwards is that two of their five forwards (Anor and Peterson) are
likely to be better suited at this point for less advanced positions this year.
It’s certainly an area that KC could stand to find another upgrade before the
season starts.
Center Forward
Signed (2): Dom Dwyer, Krisztian Nemeth
Known in camp (1): James Rogers
Another area where KC really purged the players from last
season. Gone is designated player, Claudio Bieler along with other players that
could play the center forward position, including Saad and Sapong. What’s left
is the club’s single season record goal scorer, Dwyer who is the starter
without a doubt. Behind him is Nemeth, who can play anywhere in the front three
that KC traditionally plays. The only other player is third round draft pick,
Rogers.
Like the wing forwards, this is an area that I felt that
Sporting would have done well to at least add some more depth here. Nemeth has
had injury issues that have caused problems for his career. And an injury to
Dwyer would be disastrous.
If rosters stay the same size for the 2015 season, which isn’t
guaranteed with the CBA negotiations still going on, Kansas City has five
roster spots still open. Those spots are left for the two rumored signings that
Heineman mentioned, the team’s three remaining unsigned draft picks and the team’s
trialists. With Heineman saying that the two are a defensive midfielder and a
number 10, which would leave three spots for KC to address. With those three
spots, I think KC would be best off signing one of the left backs, a center
back, and another center forward to be on the bench for Kansas City.
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