Sporting Add Quintilla as Window Closes

The secondary window for MLS clubs has officially closed, so unless paper work was already in process, no more players that are currently under contract will be coming to an MLS club. This year that now includes players traded within MLS. The only way for clubs to sign players now is if they were out of contract at the time the transfer window closed.

 

KC did finalize some business before the window closed, finalizing the rumored move for Spanish midfielder, Jordi Quintilla. The midfielder who grew up in Barcelona's youth system had played in the French second division last season with Ajaccio. Quintilla's role recently was compared to that of Roger Espinoza by in the Star article about his potential signing, but he's also played attacking midfield and spent some time on the wing. At 21 though this seems to be a stereotypical summer signing for Peter Vermes. Players that won't necessarily play a whole lot this year, but will contribute more in the upcoming seasons (see the likes of Oriol Rosell, Peterson Joseph, and Lawrence Olum).

 

With the window closed now, KC sits with 26 players currently on their roster, two under the roster maximum, with one player, Mikey Lopez, on loan to Oklahoma City, and two players, Espinoza, and Ike Opara out with long term injuries. So really KC has just 23 players at this point in time.

 

While it's certainly easy at this point to be frustrated with that and the lack of movement by the team, especially when compared to the teams around them in the standings, they can still make moves. As long as the player is out of contract when the transfer window closed, a player can be added to the roster up to September16th. The question becomes what level of talent they would be able to acquire that is currently out of contract. 

I think KC did a decent job of addressing their defensive deficiencies with the addition of Amobi Okugo and the continued emergence of Kevin Ellis as a viable center back option. Okugo can also help out in the midfield, which may be required now with the injury to Espinoza and the age and recent injury history of Paulo Nagamura. 

The area that I feel KC still needs to address for the team is the lack of offense off the bench. When KC has their best 11 on the field, with Dom Dwyer, Benny Feilhaber, Krisztian Nemeth, and Graham Zusi in the front four, the offense can look impressive, but if one of those players is unavailable (like Dwyer this coming weekend) the level of talent that comes in to replace them is just too steep a drop. Most likely if either of those four is out you're going to see some shuffling and one of Jacob Peterson or Connor Hallisey enter the lineup, although Bernardo Anor seems like he is healthy and returned from his injury and could provide minutes. Peterson and Hallisey have really not shown a whole lot offensively this season, the three have produced zero goals and three assists over 1,198 minutes played this season in 31 combined games. And while Anor had looked impressive in preseason, has played just 188 in six games this year before being injured. And really since he's been injured has been when KC has really turned things around. 

 

I don't think they need a player who would be a DP, they just need someone that at least seems a threat to score a goal or provide something offensively off the bench if KC needs a late goal. Right now if KC needs an offensive spark off the bench I have no clue where it'd come from. We'll see if KC does anything to address that issue, because while I think KC's "Best XI" can compete with anyone in the league, their bench is woefully inadequate, and with that Vermes is likely to run his "Best XI" out every game, and we saw last year the affect that it had on the team by the end of the season when everyone was basically exhausted, that was due mainly to injuries, this is more due to the talent drop off on the bench.