We're less than a week away from the kick off of the 2016 MLS season for Sporting KC. This coming Sunday Sporting will take the field against the Seattle Sounders at Century Link Field on Fox Sports 1. With the season a week away it's time to take a look at KC's roster as it stands heading into the opener. At this time the team has 26 players on their roster, but that includes Canadian international, Marcel de Jong, who was not with the club at all basically since returning from national team duty with Canada for their friendly against the United States in early February. That number also doesn't include Bernardo Anor and Erik Palmer-Brown, who are both on loans for the entire season, and as such will not count against their roster spots. I'm going to take a look at the 26 man roster based on the positions the players play. Today it is the goalkeeping position.
Alec Kann - KC's newest goalkeeper was acquired by Sporting in the first stage of the re-entry draft this offseason. Kann looks set to be Kansas City's every game back up for Tim Melia based on Jon Kempin spending the majority of his preseason with the Rangers. Whether he'll actually be the one getting the minutes should Melia go down for an extended period of time will remain to be seen. Kann appeared 19 times for Saint Louis FC, started the Chicago Fire's final game of the 2015 season and performed fine there. He's got an unimpressive resume as a whole, but then again, so did Tim Melia last year.
Jon Kempin - Over the past two seasons, Sporting KC's first homegrown player, Kempin, has been expected to go out on loan for the whole season and get the valuable experience that he needs at this point to continue to develop his game to be a starter for the club. Unfortunately injuries to Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum forced his loan to Oklahoma City in 2014 to be cut short and in 2015 it was the emergence of Melia and Luis Marin heading back to Chile that caused him to be recalled from his loan to the San Antonio Scorpions. This year Kempin has spent the majority of his time with KC's USL team, the Swope Park Rangers, appearing in all but one of their preseason games in Tucson. I'd expect Kempin to be one of the players that gets loaned to the Rangers for the season, where he'll hopefully, finally be able to get a full season as a starter under his belt. And if Melia goes down again, he's a lot closer now and can float back and forth between Sporting and the Rangers than he could with his prior loans. The interesting thing to see will be whether Kann gets the minutes in things like the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League, or if Vermes brings in Kempin for those games since the Rangers don't get to participate in the Open Cup.
Tim Melia - The breakout performer for Sporting Kansas City in the 2015 season, Melia had joined the club as a league goalkeeper in 2014 after all the injury issues the club had at goalkeeper, and earned himself a contract with the club to basically play the same position that Kann is this year, be the backup for the starter so that Kempin could go out on loan. When Marin had trouble adjusting to the style of play in MLS, Melia stepped in and established himself quite well in net. He finished 2015 with a 11-8-4 record, eight shutouts, and a 1.22 goals against average for Sporting. In 2016 he comes in as the established starter which should continue to build on the confidence that he got winning the job in 2015. He gives a strong presence back there that makes me feel as confident about the goalkeeping position as I have for KC since Jimmy Nielsen retired.
Overall confidence in the goalkeeping situation for Kansas City should be good. They have a solid starter in Melia that can win them points if it comes to that as we saw in the two regular season meetings against Portland in Portland in 2015. His immediate back up is a bit of an unknown with Kann simply due to his lack of first team action in recent years, but the club also has Kempin likely on loan to the Rangers in the same city, making it much easier if KC needs to call on him to replace Melia.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Comets Sweep Baltimore, Win East
Over the last year the Missouri Comets and Baltimore Blast have had their share of drama on and off the field, from the Blast sweeping the previously unbeaten Comets out of the 2014-2015 MASL playoffs, to the post game head butt by former Comet Andre Braithwaite, to the post game ranting of Blast own Ed Hale. Then this year it was the half time interview Hale gave during the two team's first meeting where he said that the Blast would be leaving the MASL and basically called out the Missouri owner. To his subsequent interviews where he has basically said the Comets weren't worth of the new league he was creating, it's been a year full of plenty of things not focused on soccer. And that's a bad thing, because the three games this season between the Comets and the Blast have been some of the best in the MASL. All three games were decided by two or fewer goals, one of which being in overtime. The last of those three games was tonight at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena where the Comets took a 2-0 lead, only to lose it before scoring two goals in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter to win 5-4. The win sees the Comets clinch the Eastern Conference, giving them home field advantage all the way to the MASL finals should they make it.
The Comets were able to jump out to a 2-0 lead over the Blast with Max Touloute scoring just over four minutes into the game to give the Comets the lead and Leo Gibson scoring with just over six and a half minutes left in the first quarter to double the lead. The Comets had numerous chances to extend the lead as they pushed the attack but good goalkeeping by William Vanzela kept them off the board, and when he was caught out of position, his defense was there to back him up to keep the Blast in the game. The second quarter saw the Comets continue to push for to extend their lead, but the Blast had their opportunities too as Boris Pardo was called on a number of times. Finally with under five minutes to play in the second quarter the Blast got on the board through Jonatas Melo.
The third quarter saw the Blast continue to pressure looking for an equalizer, but the Comets defense held strong for the first half of the quarter. Just before the half way mark though the Blast were level. A poor pass back to Pardo by Touloute put Pardo in a tough position. Uzi Tayou took advantage, getting the ball off Pardo's foot and knocking it into the net to tie the game at 2-2. The Comets though fought back and retook the lead as Alain Matingou redirected a cross from Vahid Assadpour into the net to make it 3-2. In the final 10 seconds of the quarter though the Blast again levels the score as Jinho Kim picked out Jereme Raley with a wall pass and he beat Pardo to level the game at 3-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter got really tight for both teams, because of the way the game had gone it felt like one goal would be enough to win it. With five and a half minutes player the Blast were able to grab their first lead of the game as Adriano Dos Santos fired a shot from the penalty arc that deflected on it's way through, leaving Pardo wrong footed as it went in to make it 4-3. The Blast continued to create chances, but Pardo continued to keep the Comets within one. At the other end of the field, a Vanzela mistake with just under six minutes to play allowed the Comets to equalize. On a back pass, Vanzela's touch got away from him a bit, allowing Vahid Assadpour to jump on the loose ball, it got behind Vanzela and Assadpour quickly poked it into the net to tie the game at 4-4. Both teams had their chances to take the lead again, but it was Ramone Palmer with three and a half minutes left who was able to take advantage. Receiving a pass in the middle of the penalty arc from Gibson, Palmer took one touch then touched it around Vanzela before knocking it into the net to make it 5-4. The Comets were then able to kill the rest of the game while the Blast used the sixth attacker to claim the win.
The Comets were able to jump out to a 2-0 lead over the Blast with Max Touloute scoring just over four minutes into the game to give the Comets the lead and Leo Gibson scoring with just over six and a half minutes left in the first quarter to double the lead. The Comets had numerous chances to extend the lead as they pushed the attack but good goalkeeping by William Vanzela kept them off the board, and when he was caught out of position, his defense was there to back him up to keep the Blast in the game. The second quarter saw the Comets continue to push for to extend their lead, but the Blast had their opportunities too as Boris Pardo was called on a number of times. Finally with under five minutes to play in the second quarter the Blast got on the board through Jonatas Melo.
The third quarter saw the Blast continue to pressure looking for an equalizer, but the Comets defense held strong for the first half of the quarter. Just before the half way mark though the Blast were level. A poor pass back to Pardo by Touloute put Pardo in a tough position. Uzi Tayou took advantage, getting the ball off Pardo's foot and knocking it into the net to tie the game at 2-2. The Comets though fought back and retook the lead as Alain Matingou redirected a cross from Vahid Assadpour into the net to make it 3-2. In the final 10 seconds of the quarter though the Blast again levels the score as Jinho Kim picked out Jereme Raley with a wall pass and he beat Pardo to level the game at 3-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter got really tight for both teams, because of the way the game had gone it felt like one goal would be enough to win it. With five and a half minutes player the Blast were able to grab their first lead of the game as Adriano Dos Santos fired a shot from the penalty arc that deflected on it's way through, leaving Pardo wrong footed as it went in to make it 4-3. The Blast continued to create chances, but Pardo continued to keep the Comets within one. At the other end of the field, a Vanzela mistake with just under six minutes to play allowed the Comets to equalize. On a back pass, Vanzela's touch got away from him a bit, allowing Vahid Assadpour to jump on the loose ball, it got behind Vanzela and Assadpour quickly poked it into the net to tie the game at 4-4. Both teams had their chances to take the lead again, but it was Ramone Palmer with three and a half minutes left who was able to take advantage. Receiving a pass in the middle of the penalty arc from Gibson, Palmer took one touch then touched it around Vanzela before knocking it into the net to make it 5-4. The Comets were then able to kill the rest of the game while the Blast used the sixth attacker to claim the win.
Sporting and Rangers End Preseason in Tucson Unbeaten
Sporting Kansas City and the Swope Park Rangers closed out their runs at the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson tonight. Both teams finished the run undefeated as the Rangers topped FC Tucson 1-0 while Sporting drew 2-2 with the Houston Dynamo.
The Rangers kicked off 30 minutes ahead of Sporting and controlled the game against the PDL side creating a number of chances. The opener for the Rangers came in the 32nd minute when former Sporting KC academy player Nansel Selbol won a ball off a Tucson defender near midfield. Selbol raced into the box holding off his defender before chipping a ball across the box for Dane Kelley who let the ball bounce before volleying the ball into the net to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. The Comets continued to pressure, not just in the first, but in the second as well with Tomas Granitto and Tommy Meyer both having good chances but neither able to put it in the net as the Rangers finished the Diamond Cup with a 2-0-2 record.
Sporting KC passed on playing in the Desert Diamond Cup final, passing on playing a second game against the New England Revolution, instead choosing to play the Houston Dynamo who KC had not yet played in preseason. The Dynamo had the better of the chances in the early going and center back Nuno Andre Coelho had to save a ball on the line after a header from Will Bruin. Shortly after Coelho was on the offensive end giving KC the lead in the 16th minute. Off a Connor Hallisey corner, Coelho made a near post run and flicked Hallisey's corner into the net to put KC on top 1-0. The Dynamo continued to control the game though after the goal and found a deserved equalizer when Jalil Anibaba crossed the ball for Giles Barnes to head past Tim Melia on an effort that he would say he should have done better with. The two teams went into the half tied at 1-1.
Kansas City came out better in the second half and was able to push forward more and create more opportunities in the second half. KC had a great opportunity to retake the lead in the 55th when Houston was called for a back pass when a cross was knocked back to Houston goalkeeper Calle Brown, who picked the ball up. On the restart the Dynamo lined up eight players on the goal line and instead of doing a touch and shoot like most teams do in that situation, Dom Dwyer fired the ball to the back post where Daniel Salloi just had to touch the ball home to give Sporting a 2-1 lead. The Dynamo picked up the pressure again and pushed Sporting looking for another equalizer. With all the pressure they found another one after some good interplay Erick Torres got in behind KC's defense and beat Melia to tie the game at 2-2. KC had to be strong defensively over the final 13 minutes to end the preseason unbeaten. Melia was called upon to make some big saves and KC finished the Desert Diamond Cup 1-0-3.
Both Sporting and the Rangers will return home to Kansas City with Sporting getting ready for their season opener against Seattle while the Rangers will continue preseason with a pair of games against local colleges set up over the next couple weeks.
The Rangers kicked off 30 minutes ahead of Sporting and controlled the game against the PDL side creating a number of chances. The opener for the Rangers came in the 32nd minute when former Sporting KC academy player Nansel Selbol won a ball off a Tucson defender near midfield. Selbol raced into the box holding off his defender before chipping a ball across the box for Dane Kelley who let the ball bounce before volleying the ball into the net to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. The Comets continued to pressure, not just in the first, but in the second as well with Tomas Granitto and Tommy Meyer both having good chances but neither able to put it in the net as the Rangers finished the Diamond Cup with a 2-0-2 record.
Sporting KC passed on playing in the Desert Diamond Cup final, passing on playing a second game against the New England Revolution, instead choosing to play the Houston Dynamo who KC had not yet played in preseason. The Dynamo had the better of the chances in the early going and center back Nuno Andre Coelho had to save a ball on the line after a header from Will Bruin. Shortly after Coelho was on the offensive end giving KC the lead in the 16th minute. Off a Connor Hallisey corner, Coelho made a near post run and flicked Hallisey's corner into the net to put KC on top 1-0. The Dynamo continued to control the game though after the goal and found a deserved equalizer when Jalil Anibaba crossed the ball for Giles Barnes to head past Tim Melia on an effort that he would say he should have done better with. The two teams went into the half tied at 1-1.
Kansas City came out better in the second half and was able to push forward more and create more opportunities in the second half. KC had a great opportunity to retake the lead in the 55th when Houston was called for a back pass when a cross was knocked back to Houston goalkeeper Calle Brown, who picked the ball up. On the restart the Dynamo lined up eight players on the goal line and instead of doing a touch and shoot like most teams do in that situation, Dom Dwyer fired the ball to the back post where Daniel Salloi just had to touch the ball home to give Sporting a 2-1 lead. The Dynamo picked up the pressure again and pushed Sporting looking for another equalizer. With all the pressure they found another one after some good interplay Erick Torres got in behind KC's defense and beat Melia to tie the game at 2-2. KC had to be strong defensively over the final 13 minutes to end the preseason unbeaten. Melia was called upon to make some big saves and KC finished the Desert Diamond Cup 1-0-3.
Both Sporting and the Rangers will return home to Kansas City with Sporting getting ready for their season opener against Seattle while the Rangers will continue preseason with a pair of games against local colleges set up over the next couple weeks.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Robb Heineman and the "Young DP"
A week and a half ago Robb Heineman did another one of his Q&A sessions as he flew down to Tucson for part of Sporting KC's preseason. While Heineman was candid, answering many questions that fans had. Looking back on it in the time since though it seems like some of the answers have been combined into something that I don't think is actually happen. Specifically regarding Kansas City going after a young DP.
MLS actually has three designated player levels, each with a different cap hit. Designated players over the age of 23 have a cap hit of $436,250, ones between the ages of 21 and 23 cost $200,000 against the cap while those 20 or younger cost only $150,000.
During the Q&A, Heineman was asked if the team was "looking for international talent, unclaimed talent, or another homegrown for the roster?" Heineman responded that he "would like a young foreign DP."
Earlier Heineman had said that the team was looking for another #9 to back up Dom Dwyer and that the club was negotiating a contract at the time. Late in the Q&A he said that the team was in talks with several DPs and that they were looking to use that DP slot on a forward.
All of that combined to lead some fans to believe that Kansas City was on the verge of a young foreign DP joining Kansas City. And this has led to more questions from fans over the past week and a half what was going on with the young DP. Asking what the hold up is, if the player was still coming, and comments that his silence speaks volumes.
While you could connect some dots to see where they could be coming from, based on my experience in the past with Heineman's Q&As I'm just not buying that the player that the team was negotiating the contract with as a #9 to back up Dwyer and the young, foreign DP are the same player. Heineman's response to what type of talent the team was looking for comes off more as wishful thinking that they can get a young, foreign DP, not that they were on the verge of signing one. While I'm certain that at least a few of the "several" DPs that KC is currently talking to would be classified as young DPs, that doesn't mean any are close to being done.
In MLS today if you're not actively looking at multiple designated players as potential targets then you are not a competent front office. With three designated player spots for each team and Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) available to help pay down other players that would be DPs, you better be looking to exploit those mechanisms or you're leaving funds on the table that could help your team compete. So while I don't doubt that Heineman and KC are talking with potential designated players, those talks could be at any stage of negotiations right now, it doesn't mean that one is close to happening at all.
So while it may be exciting to get your hopes up about a potential "young, foreign DP" joining Kansas City in the near future, I would probably ease back on that excitement or else you're likely to be disappointed when the "young, foreign DP" turns out to not be young, or foreign, or possibly even a DP. The way the whole Q&A went with Heineman I just didn't connect the "young, foreign DP to the contract negotiations currently on going. That said, if it does happen, I'll certainly be excited.
And through it all you also need to remember my one rule with Heineman Q&As, take it all with a grain of salt.
MLS actually has three designated player levels, each with a different cap hit. Designated players over the age of 23 have a cap hit of $436,250, ones between the ages of 21 and 23 cost $200,000 against the cap while those 20 or younger cost only $150,000.
During the Q&A, Heineman was asked if the team was "looking for international talent, unclaimed talent, or another homegrown for the roster?" Heineman responded that he "would like a young foreign DP."
Earlier Heineman had said that the team was looking for another #9 to back up Dom Dwyer and that the club was negotiating a contract at the time. Late in the Q&A he said that the team was in talks with several DPs and that they were looking to use that DP slot on a forward.
All of that combined to lead some fans to believe that Kansas City was on the verge of a young foreign DP joining Kansas City. And this has led to more questions from fans over the past week and a half what was going on with the young DP. Asking what the hold up is, if the player was still coming, and comments that his silence speaks volumes.
While you could connect some dots to see where they could be coming from, based on my experience in the past with Heineman's Q&As I'm just not buying that the player that the team was negotiating the contract with as a #9 to back up Dwyer and the young, foreign DP are the same player. Heineman's response to what type of talent the team was looking for comes off more as wishful thinking that they can get a young, foreign DP, not that they were on the verge of signing one. While I'm certain that at least a few of the "several" DPs that KC is currently talking to would be classified as young DPs, that doesn't mean any are close to being done.
In MLS today if you're not actively looking at multiple designated players as potential targets then you are not a competent front office. With three designated player spots for each team and Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) available to help pay down other players that would be DPs, you better be looking to exploit those mechanisms or you're leaving funds on the table that could help your team compete. So while I don't doubt that Heineman and KC are talking with potential designated players, those talks could be at any stage of negotiations right now, it doesn't mean that one is close to happening at all.
So while it may be exciting to get your hopes up about a potential "young, foreign DP" joining Kansas City in the near future, I would probably ease back on that excitement or else you're likely to be disappointed when the "young, foreign DP" turns out to not be young, or foreign, or possibly even a DP. The way the whole Q&A went with Heineman I just didn't connect the "young, foreign DP to the contract negotiations currently on going. That said, if it does happen, I'll certainly be excited.
And through it all you also need to remember my one rule with Heineman Q&As, take it all with a grain of salt.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Sporting Full Backs Beat Colorado, Rangers Get Late Draw
Both Sporting Kansas City and the Swope Park Rangers have continued their undefeated run in the Desert Diamond Cup as Sporting defeated the Colorado Rapids 4-1 while the Rangers got a goal in the 90th minute to get a 2-2 draw with the Columbus Crew.
The Rangers were the first of the field on the night, taking on the MLS Cup finalists, the Crew. The Rangers though held their own in the early going creating some chances of their own, but the Crew took the lead in the 35th minute when Federico Higuain put away a rebound after a save by Jon Kempin. The Rangers though quickly responded with Tomas Granitto finding the back of the net. The Rangers were able to keep the Crew's starting lineup at bay.
In the second half the Crew retook the lead on a goal by Ethan Finlay. The Rangers had their chances to tie again, but it wasn't until second half stoppage time. Off a corner by Alex Molano, the ball ended up in the net. Original reports gave the goal to Oumar Ballo, but later was given to Mark Anthony Gonzalez. The Rangers will close out play at the Desert Diamond Cup against FC Tucson on Saturday.
After the Rangers were done, Sporting took the field against the Rapids, a team the Rangers had defeated 3-1 last week in the competition. The Rapids came out and were the stronger side to start the game, putting pressure one what would be considered Sporting's second team for the most part. On KC's first real push forward into the Rapids' end though Sporting won a penalty kick as Saad Abdul-Salaam was knocked over in the box by Dominique Badji. Paulo Nagamura stepped up and sent Zac MacMath the wrong way to put Sporting up 1-0 in the 16th minute. Only three minutes later, KC had won themselves a second penalty. This time it was on the opposite side of the box and KC's left back, Amadou Dia that was brought down, leading to another penalty. This time MacMath guessed right, but like Nagamura has regularly done in shootouts, he put the ball into the side netting putting KC up 2-0. Shortly after that the Rapids started to gain control back and pressure Alec Kann in the KC net. Kann though was up to the task making some fine saves. The first half wasn't all good news for KC though as defender Ike Opara went down with another injury in his own box. This time he was clutching his hamstring and had to be helped off the field and was immediately replaced. An unfortunate injury in a long string of unfortunate injuries for the defender.
KC started the second half the same way they finished it except for Benny Feilhaber entering the game for Kenny Cooper. Sporting was the stronger side as the second half rolled on. Just after the hour mark KC made more changes, bringing on what would be considered more of the first team lineup. Shortly after the changes, KC won their third penalty kick of the game as this time it was Chance Myers getting fouled in the box. Dom Dwyer stepped up this time and fired his penalty into the roof of the net to make it 3-0. Sporting wasn't done there, and neither were their full backs as four minutes after Dwyer's goal, Myers played a cross to the back post where Seth Sinovic was unmarked and he calmly one timed a shot back across the goal and just inside the far post to make it 4-0 Kansas City. Colorado was able to find themselves one goal as Dennis Castillo got around Sinovic and laid a ball back to Zach Pfeffer who slotted a ball inside Tim Melia's near post as he was shuffling back towards the middle of the goal. Sporting will close out the Desert Diamond Cup against Houston on Saturday, the first time Brad Davis will meet up against his former team.
The Rangers were the first of the field on the night, taking on the MLS Cup finalists, the Crew. The Rangers though held their own in the early going creating some chances of their own, but the Crew took the lead in the 35th minute when Federico Higuain put away a rebound after a save by Jon Kempin. The Rangers though quickly responded with Tomas Granitto finding the back of the net. The Rangers were able to keep the Crew's starting lineup at bay.
In the second half the Crew retook the lead on a goal by Ethan Finlay. The Rangers had their chances to tie again, but it wasn't until second half stoppage time. Off a corner by Alex Molano, the ball ended up in the net. Original reports gave the goal to Oumar Ballo, but later was given to Mark Anthony Gonzalez. The Rangers will close out play at the Desert Diamond Cup against FC Tucson on Saturday.
After the Rangers were done, Sporting took the field against the Rapids, a team the Rangers had defeated 3-1 last week in the competition. The Rapids came out and were the stronger side to start the game, putting pressure one what would be considered Sporting's second team for the most part. On KC's first real push forward into the Rapids' end though Sporting won a penalty kick as Saad Abdul-Salaam was knocked over in the box by Dominique Badji. Paulo Nagamura stepped up and sent Zac MacMath the wrong way to put Sporting up 1-0 in the 16th minute. Only three minutes later, KC had won themselves a second penalty. This time it was on the opposite side of the box and KC's left back, Amadou Dia that was brought down, leading to another penalty. This time MacMath guessed right, but like Nagamura has regularly done in shootouts, he put the ball into the side netting putting KC up 2-0. Shortly after that the Rapids started to gain control back and pressure Alec Kann in the KC net. Kann though was up to the task making some fine saves. The first half wasn't all good news for KC though as defender Ike Opara went down with another injury in his own box. This time he was clutching his hamstring and had to be helped off the field and was immediately replaced. An unfortunate injury in a long string of unfortunate injuries for the defender.
KC started the second half the same way they finished it except for Benny Feilhaber entering the game for Kenny Cooper. Sporting was the stronger side as the second half rolled on. Just after the hour mark KC made more changes, bringing on what would be considered more of the first team lineup. Shortly after the changes, KC won their third penalty kick of the game as this time it was Chance Myers getting fouled in the box. Dom Dwyer stepped up this time and fired his penalty into the roof of the net to make it 3-0. Sporting wasn't done there, and neither were their full backs as four minutes after Dwyer's goal, Myers played a cross to the back post where Seth Sinovic was unmarked and he calmly one timed a shot back across the goal and just inside the far post to make it 4-0 Kansas City. Colorado was able to find themselves one goal as Dennis Castillo got around Sinovic and laid a ball back to Zach Pfeffer who slotted a ball inside Tim Melia's near post as he was shuffling back towards the middle of the goal. Sporting will close out the Desert Diamond Cup against Houston on Saturday, the first time Brad Davis will meet up against his former team.
MLS is Back - Former SKC Wizards Update
Last night MLS teams returned to competitive action for the first time this season with DC United and the Seattle Sounders starting the knock out phase of the CONCACAF Champions League. Only one former Kansas City player, Davy Arnaud is on either of those teams and Arnaud did not dress for DC in their 2-0 loss to Queretaro.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Jamar Beasley
Brian Fekete
Adnan Gabeljic
Ryan James
Michael Kafari
Chris Konopka
Kyle Miller
Michal Mravec
Amobi Okugo
Akeem Priestley
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson
MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Davy Arnaud - DC - Did not dress in DC's 2-0 loss to Queretaro.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Offseason.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
Indoor
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had two assists in Baltimore's 5-4 OT loss to Missouri. Had two assists in Baltimore's 9-0 win over Harrisburg.
Mike Jones - Dallas - No game this week.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in both Missouri's 5-4 OT win over Baltimore and their 8-4 win over Syracuse.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Siah Jamegan - Iran - Did not play in Siah Jamegan's 1-1 draw with Padideh Khorasan.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - No game until 4/24.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Belgrano's 3-0 loss to Colon. Started and played 65 minutes in Belgrano's 0-0 draw with Banfield.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Chivas' 1-0 win over Universidad Guadalajara. Started and played 57 minutes in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Chiapas.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in either of Belen's games.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - No game this week.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Alajuelense's 2-2 draw with Perez Zeledon. Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Alajuelense's 1-0 win over Saprissa.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Lost 2-0 to Club Sando.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Dressed but did not play in Leganes' 2-1 win over Lugo.
Pablo Escobar - Jaguares de Córdoba - Colombia - Did not dress in Jaguares' 1-1 draw wtih Boyaca Chico. Started and played 82 minutes before being red carded in Jaguares' 2-0 loss to Millonarios.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Queretaro's 2-2 draw with Tigres. Did not dress in Queretaro's win over DC.
Jeferson - Madureira EC - Brazil - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Madureira's 2-1 win over Portuguesa RJ.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - No game until 4/2.
Igor Juliao - Ferroviária - Brazil - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferroviaria's 2-2 draw with Corinthians.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 69 minutes before being red carded in Palestino's 0-0 draw with Santiago Wanderers.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Did not dress in Lechia's 4-2 loss to Korona Kielce.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Al Gharafa's 3-2 win over Al WAkrah.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in either of Porto B's games.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Defeated Huginn 3-1.
Oriol Rosell - Vitoria (Sporting Club de Portugal) Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Vitoria's 3-3 draw with Sporting Braga.
Brendan Ruiz - DJK Don Bosco Bamberg - Germany - No game until 3/6.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana - Thailand - No game until 2/27.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Started and played 58 minutes in Deveronvale's 3-0 win over Rothes.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Started and played 80 minutes in Atromitos' 1-1 draw with Levadiakos. Started and played 80 minutes in Atromitos' 4-0 loss to Olympiakos.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Jamar Beasley
Brian Fekete
Adnan Gabeljic
Ryan James
Michael Kafari
Chris Konopka
Kyle Miller
Michal Mravec
Amobi Okugo
Akeem Priestley
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson
MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Davy Arnaud - DC - Did not dress in DC's 2-0 loss to Queretaro.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Offseason.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
Indoor
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had two assists in Baltimore's 5-4 OT loss to Missouri. Had two assists in Baltimore's 9-0 win over Harrisburg.
Mike Jones - Dallas - No game this week.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in both Missouri's 5-4 OT win over Baltimore and their 8-4 win over Syracuse.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Siah Jamegan - Iran - Did not play in Siah Jamegan's 1-1 draw with Padideh Khorasan.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - No game until 4/24.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Belgrano's 3-0 loss to Colon. Started and played 65 minutes in Belgrano's 0-0 draw with Banfield.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Chivas' 1-0 win over Universidad Guadalajara. Started and played 57 minutes in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Chiapas.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in either of Belen's games.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - No game this week.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Alajuelense's 2-2 draw with Perez Zeledon. Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Alajuelense's 1-0 win over Saprissa.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Lost 2-0 to Club Sando.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Dressed but did not play in Leganes' 2-1 win over Lugo.
Pablo Escobar - Jaguares de Córdoba - Colombia - Did not dress in Jaguares' 1-1 draw wtih Boyaca Chico. Started and played 82 minutes before being red carded in Jaguares' 2-0 loss to Millonarios.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Queretaro's 2-2 draw with Tigres. Did not dress in Queretaro's win over DC.
Jeferson - Madureira EC - Brazil - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Madureira's 2-1 win over Portuguesa RJ.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - No game until 4/2.
Igor Juliao - Ferroviária - Brazil - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferroviaria's 2-2 draw with Corinthians.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 69 minutes before being red carded in Palestino's 0-0 draw with Santiago Wanderers.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Did not dress in Lechia's 4-2 loss to Korona Kielce.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Al Gharafa's 3-2 win over Al WAkrah.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in either of Porto B's games.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Defeated Huginn 3-1.
Oriol Rosell - Vitoria (Sporting Club de Portugal) Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Vitoria's 3-3 draw with Sporting Braga.
Brendan Ruiz - DJK Don Bosco Bamberg - Germany - No game until 3/6.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana - Thailand - No game until 2/27.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Started and played 58 minutes in Deveronvale's 3-0 win over Rothes.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Started and played 80 minutes in Atromitos' 1-1 draw with Levadiakos. Started and played 80 minutes in Atromitos' 4-0 loss to Olympiakos.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Sporting Waive Okugo
Sporting Kansas City made more room on their roster today when they announced that the club had waived midfielder/defender Amobi Okugo. Okugo was acquired by Kansas City in the 2015 season that saw Sporting trade midfielder Servando Carrasco to Orlando. The 24 year old made just three appearances for Kansas City in the 2015 season, coming on as a substitute in KC's 3-1 win over Toronto and their 1-0 loss in San Jose. He started KC's 5-0 loss to San Jose before being substituted at half time.
When Okugo was acquired, most KC fans hoped that he would spend some time at center back for the club where KC was struggling with injuries at the time, but both of Okugo's appearances came playing in the midfield. In that position he just didn't fit into KC's system, there was too much space for him to cover in the midfield. The hope was that he'd have been able to adjust with a preseason to work in, but that doesn't appear to have happened. Add in the fact that Okugo made $275,000 last year, of which Orlando covered a portion of the salary, and it would be hard to justify keeping him. Okugo had not been with the team for preseason since they returned to Tucson for the second phase of preseason, so an exit was expected sooner than later, was just a question of how he'd leave. The move puts KC currently with 26 players on the roster, two under the max.
When Okugo was acquired, most KC fans hoped that he would spend some time at center back for the club where KC was struggling with injuries at the time, but both of Okugo's appearances came playing in the midfield. In that position he just didn't fit into KC's system, there was too much space for him to cover in the midfield. The hope was that he'd have been able to adjust with a preseason to work in, but that doesn't appear to have happened. Add in the fact that Okugo made $275,000 last year, of which Orlando covered a portion of the salary, and it would be hard to justify keeping him. Okugo had not been with the team for preseason since they returned to Tucson for the second phase of preseason, so an exit was expected sooner than later, was just a question of how he'd leave. The move puts KC currently with 26 players on the roster, two under the max.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Sporting Bring in MLS Veteran Kenny Cooper on Trial
As Sporting KC heads into the final week of preseason camp in Tucson, the club's biggest need remains a backup for Dom Dwyer. Over the first two preseason games of the Desert Diamond Cup, Sporting KC has played without forward Dom Dwyer, instead having Jacob Peterson and Daniel Salloi play the center forward position in KC's 4-3-3 system. Neither has been overly impressive in that position, and both of KC's goals from the run of play (Soni Mustivar's goal against Columbus was off a set piece) have come from their wingers. KC could be in a dire situation if Dwyer were to go down this season for an extended period of time. Over the last two seasons, Dwyer has started 69 of KC's 83 games, so KC's need to replace him hasn't been dire, but a forward that can play and give Dwyer a rest or provide the hope of an offensive spark off the bench (something else KC really didn't have last year) has to be considered a priority.
Peter Vermes and Robb Heineman have both said that this is an area that the club is looking to address, and today it was announced that the club has brought in MLS veteran, Kenny Cooper on a trial. Cooper, 31, spent last year with the Montreal Impact, but played only once in MLS play and missed most of the season with a knee injury he suffered in the Amway Canadian Championship that required surgery. Before the stop in Montreal, Cooper spent time with Seattle, Dallas, New York, and Portland since 2011. Before that he'd been in Germany and England with 1860 Munich and Plymouth Argyle after his first stint in MLS with Dallas from 2006 to 2009. While Cooper's last few years haven't been great, scoring nine goals in MLS play over the last three years; he did score 18 for New York in 2012 and has scored 75 MLS goals for his career, which is good for 18th all-time in MLS. He already spent time this preseason with his former club, the New York Red Bulls, being let go before the second phase of their camp.
He's certainly not a name that is going to get a large number of Sporting KC fans excited, he's not the young designated player that Heineman hinted at during his recent #TweetnFly, but he'd fill a big need for Kansas City, and before we even get that far, let's remember that this is a trial, KC hasn't actually signed him. There's nothing at all wrong with "kicking the tires" and seeing if Cooper can fit into KC's system and fill a need for the team. If he does fit in, as long as he's willing to take a pay cut from the $220,000 he made last year with Montreal according to the players' union numbers, I don't have a problem at all with this move. You get an experienced forward who has a history of scoring in this league, can be a spot starter or provide some sort of spark off the bench, either by switching KC's formation to add a second forward with Dwyer, or a straight swap for Dwyer to go at team's a bit of a different way. While Cooper is 6'3" he doesn't play as you'd expect most 6'3" forwards to play, he's not an Alan Gordon who is going to go in and knock it around with the opposing center back, but he does have the ability to find the back of the net. Something KC didn't have a lot of off the bench last year, the club only got five goals from substitutes last year, and all were by players who started at least 17 games. So if KC were to sign him, I'd actually feel some level of optimism that a goal could come from a substitution, something I didn't have at all last year.
In the end, I like that KC is at least looking to address the need of another goal scorer and that they're looking at someone who has a history of scoring goals as well.
Peter Vermes and Robb Heineman have both said that this is an area that the club is looking to address, and today it was announced that the club has brought in MLS veteran, Kenny Cooper on a trial. Cooper, 31, spent last year with the Montreal Impact, but played only once in MLS play and missed most of the season with a knee injury he suffered in the Amway Canadian Championship that required surgery. Before the stop in Montreal, Cooper spent time with Seattle, Dallas, New York, and Portland since 2011. Before that he'd been in Germany and England with 1860 Munich and Plymouth Argyle after his first stint in MLS with Dallas from 2006 to 2009. While Cooper's last few years haven't been great, scoring nine goals in MLS play over the last three years; he did score 18 for New York in 2012 and has scored 75 MLS goals for his career, which is good for 18th all-time in MLS. He already spent time this preseason with his former club, the New York Red Bulls, being let go before the second phase of their camp.
He's certainly not a name that is going to get a large number of Sporting KC fans excited, he's not the young designated player that Heineman hinted at during his recent #TweetnFly, but he'd fill a big need for Kansas City, and before we even get that far, let's remember that this is a trial, KC hasn't actually signed him. There's nothing at all wrong with "kicking the tires" and seeing if Cooper can fit into KC's system and fill a need for the team. If he does fit in, as long as he's willing to take a pay cut from the $220,000 he made last year with Montreal according to the players' union numbers, I don't have a problem at all with this move. You get an experienced forward who has a history of scoring in this league, can be a spot starter or provide some sort of spark off the bench, either by switching KC's formation to add a second forward with Dwyer, or a straight swap for Dwyer to go at team's a bit of a different way. While Cooper is 6'3" he doesn't play as you'd expect most 6'3" forwards to play, he's not an Alan Gordon who is going to go in and knock it around with the opposing center back, but he does have the ability to find the back of the net. Something KC didn't have a lot of off the bench last year, the club only got five goals from substitutes last year, and all were by players who started at least 17 games. So if KC were to sign him, I'd actually feel some level of optimism that a goal could come from a substitution, something I didn't have at all last year.
In the end, I like that KC is at least looking to address the need of another goal scorer and that they're looking at someone who has a history of scoring goals as well.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Strong Second Half Sees Comets Down Silver Knights
For the second straight season the Missouri Comets finished the regular season unbeaten on the road with a 8-4 win over the Syracuse Silver Knights to push their record on the season to 16-3. They needed another comeback to do it though being down by two with five minutes left in the second quarter and a goal at half time. But five unanswered goals in the second half saw the Comets run away with things.
Bryan Perez got the Comets on the board first today though knocking home a pass from Leo Gibson to put the Comets on top with less than seven minutes played. The Silver Knights though took over the quarter from there Kenardo Forbes scored just over a minute later to tie the game. Then with under four minutes to play the Knights scored twice in the span of 17 seconds to take the lead 3-1 on goals by Darren Toby and Jerjer Gibson. Perez was able to get one back for the Comets in the final two and a half minutes off a John Sosa restart to cut the lead back to one after one quarter.
The second quarter saw the back and forth game continue, but less than seven minutes in, Doug Miller turned in a shot from Joey Tavernese that hit off the glass and bounced right into his path. The goal made it 4-2 and restored the Knights' two goal lead. The Comets once again fought back and were able to close the gap to one on a nice turn and finish by Gibson off an assist from Sosa to allow the Comets to head into the half down just one goal.
The Comets came out and were able to find an equalizer in the third quarter on the power play after a blue card was issued to Slavisa Ubiparipovic for tripping. Vahid Assadpour fired a blast past Knights goalkeeper Bryan O'Quinn on an assist by Gibson to tie the game at 4-4. The goal was the only one of the quarter and the two teams went into the fourth tied.
It took the Comets just over six minutes to retake the lead in the fourth with Assadpour again finding the net on Sosa's third assist of the game. Less than a minute later, Perez finished off the hattrick against his former team to make it 6-4 in a matter of moments. The Comets held off the Knights attack and with about three minutes left the Knights pulled their goalkeeper looking for a way back into the game with the extra attacker. The Comets though were the ones who took advantage, twice finding the open net in the final two and a half minutes to double the lead to 8-4 as Stefan Stokic and Max Touloute were the ones to add to their goal tally.
The Comets now return home for their final regular season game against the Blast next Saturday night. From there the Comets will then head into the playoffs to face off against Chicago or Milwaukee.
Bryan Perez got the Comets on the board first today though knocking home a pass from Leo Gibson to put the Comets on top with less than seven minutes played. The Silver Knights though took over the quarter from there Kenardo Forbes scored just over a minute later to tie the game. Then with under four minutes to play the Knights scored twice in the span of 17 seconds to take the lead 3-1 on goals by Darren Toby and Jerjer Gibson. Perez was able to get one back for the Comets in the final two and a half minutes off a John Sosa restart to cut the lead back to one after one quarter.
The second quarter saw the back and forth game continue, but less than seven minutes in, Doug Miller turned in a shot from Joey Tavernese that hit off the glass and bounced right into his path. The goal made it 4-2 and restored the Knights' two goal lead. The Comets once again fought back and were able to close the gap to one on a nice turn and finish by Gibson off an assist from Sosa to allow the Comets to head into the half down just one goal.
The Comets came out and were able to find an equalizer in the third quarter on the power play after a blue card was issued to Slavisa Ubiparipovic for tripping. Vahid Assadpour fired a blast past Knights goalkeeper Bryan O'Quinn on an assist by Gibson to tie the game at 4-4. The goal was the only one of the quarter and the two teams went into the fourth tied.
It took the Comets just over six minutes to retake the lead in the fourth with Assadpour again finding the net on Sosa's third assist of the game. Less than a minute later, Perez finished off the hattrick against his former team to make it 6-4 in a matter of moments. The Comets held off the Knights attack and with about three minutes left the Knights pulled their goalkeeper looking for a way back into the game with the extra attacker. The Comets though were the ones who took advantage, twice finding the open net in the final two and a half minutes to double the lead to 8-4 as Stefan Stokic and Max Touloute were the ones to add to their goal tally.
The Comets now return home for their final regular season game against the Blast next Saturday night. From there the Comets will then head into the playoffs to face off against Chicago or Milwaukee.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
A Pair of Draws for Sporting and the Rangers
Just two weeks before the start of the 2016 MLS season Sporting KC and their USL team, the Swope Park Rangers played their second game in the Desert Diamon Cup.
The Rangers kicked off the first game of the two taking on fellow USL side, Arizona United. The Rangers had some good play in the first half, but it was United that had the better chances, with Jon Kempin having to come up with a good double save to keep the game scoreless in the first half. In the second half United was the better side, pressuring the Rangers but this time it was Zac Lubin who was coming up with the saves in the Rangers net. The Rangers had their own chances in the second half, with Sporting academy player Will Little again creating a good chance from distance after scoring from distance in the club's 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids. The Rangers had to settle for the 0-0 draw with their USL opponent in the game.
Sporting faced off against MLS opposition in the New England Revolution tonight. The Revs came out as the better side from the start of the game, pressuring Kansas City and having Lee Nguyen hit the cross bar in a shot after a short corner. The Revs couldn't score with their early possession and KC made them pay as Sporting scored in their first real trip forward as Jordi Quintilla picked out Graham Zusi with a long ball over the top. Zusi cut in on his defender and curled a shot into the far post to give Sporting a 1-0 lead. After the goal, Sporting seemed to wake up and played better, although goalkeeper Tim Melia was called upon to make some big saves to keep KC up heading into the break.
Peter Vermes stuck with his starters into the second half, giving them a full hour on the field before making mass substitutions. Unfortunately before those substitutions, KC got hit on the counter as a long ball over the top found Tel Bunbury who had gotten behind Seth Sinovic. The former KC player beat Melia to the far post tying the game at 1-1. After the mass changes in the 60th, both teams had chances to win it but neither side could. KC's best chances came down their left side where Connor Hallisey continued to show well this preseason. He was also able to combine well with Amadou DIa on overlapping runs. In the end KC couldn't find a winner.
Both Sporting and the Rangers will be back in action this coming Wednesday when Sporting will take on the Rapids while the Rangers will be taking on the Columbus Crew.
The Rangers kicked off the first game of the two taking on fellow USL side, Arizona United. The Rangers had some good play in the first half, but it was United that had the better chances, with Jon Kempin having to come up with a good double save to keep the game scoreless in the first half. In the second half United was the better side, pressuring the Rangers but this time it was Zac Lubin who was coming up with the saves in the Rangers net. The Rangers had their own chances in the second half, with Sporting academy player Will Little again creating a good chance from distance after scoring from distance in the club's 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids. The Rangers had to settle for the 0-0 draw with their USL opponent in the game.
Sporting faced off against MLS opposition in the New England Revolution tonight. The Revs came out as the better side from the start of the game, pressuring Kansas City and having Lee Nguyen hit the cross bar in a shot after a short corner. The Revs couldn't score with their early possession and KC made them pay as Sporting scored in their first real trip forward as Jordi Quintilla picked out Graham Zusi with a long ball over the top. Zusi cut in on his defender and curled a shot into the far post to give Sporting a 1-0 lead. After the goal, Sporting seemed to wake up and played better, although goalkeeper Tim Melia was called upon to make some big saves to keep KC up heading into the break.
Peter Vermes stuck with his starters into the second half, giving them a full hour on the field before making mass substitutions. Unfortunately before those substitutions, KC got hit on the counter as a long ball over the top found Tel Bunbury who had gotten behind Seth Sinovic. The former KC player beat Melia to the far post tying the game at 1-1. After the mass changes in the 60th, both teams had chances to win it but neither side could. KC's best chances came down their left side where Connor Hallisey continued to show well this preseason. He was also able to combine well with Amadou DIa on overlapping runs. In the end KC couldn't find a winner.
Both Sporting and the Rangers will be back in action this coming Wednesday when Sporting will take on the Rapids while the Rangers will be taking on the Columbus Crew.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Comets Beat Baltimore, Clinch Central
The Missouri Comets unbeaten run last season was ended in the playoffs when they lost to the Baltimore Blast twice to end their season. This year the Missouri Comets ended the Blast's 27 game home winning streak that dated back to 2013, and in the process clinched the MASL's Central Division with a 5-4 overtime win on Friday night.
The first quarter saw a defensive battle with both goalkeepers coming up with fine saves to keep the game scoreless. Boris Pardo ended up being the busier of the two goalkeepers. Very late in the first quarter, Leo Gibson picked up a blue card for endangering Baltimore goalkeeper William Vanzela. The penalty bled into the second quarter as the Comets killed the penalty but seconds after it ended the Blast took the lead Onua Obasi finally beat Pardo to make it 1-0 to the Blast. The Blast kept up the pressure and forced Pardo into a number of saves before Tony Donatelli scored less than five minutes into the quarter to make it 2-0 Blast. The Comets fought back though and were able to cut the lead to 2-1 before the half was over as Max Touloute found the net to get the Comets on the board.
The Comets didn't take long to tie the game in the third quarter as Gibson scored just 18 seconds in to tie the game at 2-2 and set the pace for the quarter. The Comets would score twice more in the quarter, once on a short handed situation after Vahid Assadpour was given a blue card for the Comets having too many men on the field. Robert Palmer scored off an assist from Touloute to give the Comets their first lead at 3-2. In the final minute the Comets got a power play of their own and took full advantage as John Sosa fired a shot from the yellow line into the top corner to put the Comets up 4-2 after three quarters.
Missouri tried to kill the game off in the fourth quarter, they didn't push forward as much, trying to kill the game off. The Blast though quickly got the game back to just one goal as Jinho Kim scored a little over three minutes into the fourth. The Comets continued to try to absorb the pressure and just over eight minutes in they conceded the equalizer. After the ball pinged around a little bit, Adriano Dos Santos cushioned a header down to the top of the box. Two Comets players had a chance to clear it, but neither did and the ball fell to Donatelli to blasted the ball past Pardo to tie the game. The Blast controlled the majority of the final few minutes of the game looking for a winner. The Comets pressure came back, but they were unable to muster much in the way of offense and after regulation the two teams were tied 4-4 and headed to overtime.
Overtime moved at a very quick pace for both teams from the start as the Blast came out with high pressure looking to complete their comeback. Pardo though continued to do well in goal and kept the Blast out. The Comets were able to strike the other way quickly through Touloute. He had a shot well saved by Vanzela with his feet. Touloute recovered his own rebound though and played the ball back to Assadpour who fired the ball past Vanzela and into the lower corner to give the Comets the win 5-4, pushing their record on the season now to 15-3. Holding the tiebreaker on the Chicago Mustangs 2-1 means that the Comets clinched the Central division as now the Mustangs can only tie their record. Missouri play their final road game on Sunday in Syracuse before ending the season at home a week from tomorrow against the Blast.
The first quarter saw a defensive battle with both goalkeepers coming up with fine saves to keep the game scoreless. Boris Pardo ended up being the busier of the two goalkeepers. Very late in the first quarter, Leo Gibson picked up a blue card for endangering Baltimore goalkeeper William Vanzela. The penalty bled into the second quarter as the Comets killed the penalty but seconds after it ended the Blast took the lead Onua Obasi finally beat Pardo to make it 1-0 to the Blast. The Blast kept up the pressure and forced Pardo into a number of saves before Tony Donatelli scored less than five minutes into the quarter to make it 2-0 Blast. The Comets fought back though and were able to cut the lead to 2-1 before the half was over as Max Touloute found the net to get the Comets on the board.
The Comets didn't take long to tie the game in the third quarter as Gibson scored just 18 seconds in to tie the game at 2-2 and set the pace for the quarter. The Comets would score twice more in the quarter, once on a short handed situation after Vahid Assadpour was given a blue card for the Comets having too many men on the field. Robert Palmer scored off an assist from Touloute to give the Comets their first lead at 3-2. In the final minute the Comets got a power play of their own and took full advantage as John Sosa fired a shot from the yellow line into the top corner to put the Comets up 4-2 after three quarters.
Missouri tried to kill the game off in the fourth quarter, they didn't push forward as much, trying to kill the game off. The Blast though quickly got the game back to just one goal as Jinho Kim scored a little over three minutes into the fourth. The Comets continued to try to absorb the pressure and just over eight minutes in they conceded the equalizer. After the ball pinged around a little bit, Adriano Dos Santos cushioned a header down to the top of the box. Two Comets players had a chance to clear it, but neither did and the ball fell to Donatelli to blasted the ball past Pardo to tie the game. The Blast controlled the majority of the final few minutes of the game looking for a winner. The Comets pressure came back, but they were unable to muster much in the way of offense and after regulation the two teams were tied 4-4 and headed to overtime.
Overtime moved at a very quick pace for both teams from the start as the Blast came out with high pressure looking to complete their comeback. Pardo though continued to do well in goal and kept the Blast out. The Comets were able to strike the other way quickly through Touloute. He had a shot well saved by Vanzela with his feet. Touloute recovered his own rebound though and played the ball back to Assadpour who fired the ball past Vanzela and into the lower corner to give the Comets the win 5-4, pushing their record on the season now to 15-3. Holding the tiebreaker on the Chicago Mustangs 2-1 means that the Comets clinched the Central division as now the Mustangs can only tie their record. Missouri play their final road game on Sunday in Syracuse before ending the season at home a week from tomorrow against the Blast.
Van Der Vaart Back on Sporting's Radar or Just Agent Talk?
Early last season when Kansas City was looking to fill their third designated player spot, the club was very publicly chasing former Dutch international, Rafael van der Vaart, who was out of contract over the summer. Instead the 33 year old van der Vaart signed with newly promoted Spanish La Liga side, Real Betis. The move though appears like it hasn't worked out for him though as Betis is looking to offload the attacking midfielder after just over half a season in Spain.
With Betis looking to offload him, that has brought about rumors of van der Vaart once again coming to MLS. Marca in Spain is reporting that there are three MLS clubs interested in the Dutchman's services, including renewed interest from Sporting KC.
Later today, Nova Sports Group, a sports representation company reported that van der Vaart's discovery rights in MLS are currently still held by Sporting Kansas City, which would basically end any other MLS team's interest unless they were willing to trade with Kansas City for van der Vaart's discovery rights, leaving just KC at the moment.
So is KC really chasing van der Vaart again?
Robb Heineman mentioned on Twitter last night that the club was close to another signing, so the timing of the news could be looked at as some form of confirmation of the news. The issue that I've had with the van der Vaart news from the start is that he plays a position that KC already has an MLS Best XI player in Benny Feilhaber. Sure Peter Vermes could look to rotate Feilhaber a bit more this year after starting 36 of KC's 40 games last season, but is van der Vaart the one to fill his spot. One of the issues over the last few years for van der Vaart has been his ability to stay healthy, and KC has picked up players with recent injury history (Nuno Andre Coelho) it's just a move that doesn't make sense. Heineman had talked about in his Q&A on Twitter about getting a young DP, a number 9, which doesn't match up with van der Vaart's style, or his age. Nova Sports also mentioned that Betis is looking for 1.5 million Euros in the deal, and that van der Vaart is currently on a 900,000 Euros deal.
For me, chasing van der Vaart again doesn't make sense. Last summer Vermes had said that the two just couldn't come together on numbers when the player was a free agent, now under contract to a club, looking to sell I can't see KC going along and paying a transfer fee for van der Vaart, it's not their style.
To me all this is, is agent talk, van der Vaart's agent is trying to get him a new contract somewhere, maybe even in China, and he's throwing out MLS teams because of KC's prior interest in the player. It's just not something I see the club pursuing at this time.
With Betis looking to offload him, that has brought about rumors of van der Vaart once again coming to MLS. Marca in Spain is reporting that there are three MLS clubs interested in the Dutchman's services, including renewed interest from Sporting KC.
Later today, Nova Sports Group, a sports representation company reported that van der Vaart's discovery rights in MLS are currently still held by Sporting Kansas City, which would basically end any other MLS team's interest unless they were willing to trade with Kansas City for van der Vaart's discovery rights, leaving just KC at the moment.
So is KC really chasing van der Vaart again?
Robb Heineman mentioned on Twitter last night that the club was close to another signing, so the timing of the news could be looked at as some form of confirmation of the news. The issue that I've had with the van der Vaart news from the start is that he plays a position that KC already has an MLS Best XI player in Benny Feilhaber. Sure Peter Vermes could look to rotate Feilhaber a bit more this year after starting 36 of KC's 40 games last season, but is van der Vaart the one to fill his spot. One of the issues over the last few years for van der Vaart has been his ability to stay healthy, and KC has picked up players with recent injury history (Nuno Andre Coelho) it's just a move that doesn't make sense. Heineman had talked about in his Q&A on Twitter about getting a young DP, a number 9, which doesn't match up with van der Vaart's style, or his age. Nova Sports also mentioned that Betis is looking for 1.5 million Euros in the deal, and that van der Vaart is currently on a 900,000 Euros deal.
For me, chasing van der Vaart again doesn't make sense. Last summer Vermes had said that the two just couldn't come together on numbers when the player was a free agent, now under contract to a club, looking to sell I can't see KC going along and paying a transfer fee for van der Vaart, it's not their style.
To me all this is, is agent talk, van der Vaart's agent is trying to get him a new contract somewhere, maybe even in China, and he's throwing out MLS teams because of KC's prior interest in the player. It's just not something I see the club pursuing at this time.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Rangers Win, Sporting Draw in Desert Diamond Cup Openers
The Swope Park Rangers and Sporting KC kicked off the final leg of their preseason in Tucson with the start of this year's Desert Diamond Cup. The Rangers kicked things off about 30 minutes before Sporting did, taking on the Colorado Rapids at the Kino Sports Complex North Stadium. KC's USL team featured two Sporting KC players in their starting 11, with both Jon Kempin and Jimmy Medranda getting starts for the Rangers against the Rapids. From the kick off, the Rangers wasted no time and a quick move down their left side found Dane Kelly with some space to cross the ball into the middle where Kris Tyrpak one timed an effort past Colorado's Zac MacMath and into the net giving the Rangers the 1-0 inside the first minute. The Rapids controlled a good portion of the first half and found an equalizer in the 19th minute when Dominique Badji headed home a free kick from Dillon Powers.
Half time saw nine changes to the starting lineup with only Medranda and Christian Duke starting the second half. The second half was more even with neither side really creating a number of chances, until a little after the hour mark when Sporting KC academy player, Will Little, who had recently entered the game for Medranda was able to beat his defender to the end line and cross a ball into the middle for former Sporting KC academy player Alberto Sanchez who flicked the ball with his heal and into the far corner to put the Rangers on top again at 2-1. The Rapids pushed for an equalizer, but it was the Rangers who were able to grab a third goal in the 90th minute as Little fired a blast from 25 yards out that found the upper corner giving the Rangers a 3-1 win.
Meanwhile on Kino's Grand Stand Field, Sporting KC kicked off against the Columbus Crew. Playing a predominately first team in the first half, minus Dom Dwyer who sat out the game, KC controlled play and from listening to the game sounded like they should have gone ahead in the first half when Jacob Peterson missed a great chance early on. Instead KC's play in the first half was not rewarded as the two teams went into the break tied at 0-0.
Sporting made full scale changes at half time, sending out a whole new 11 for the second half. KC's inability to capitalize on their chances in the first half came back to bite them almost immediately as former KC forward Kei Kamara slotted a shot past goalkeeper Alec Kann to put the Crew up 1-0. The lead would last until the 52nd minute when the Crew failed to clear a corner. Saad Abdul-Salaam kept the ball in play and in a scramble in front of goal Soni Mustivar stabbed the ball home to level the game at 1-1. Both teams had their chances as the game progressed, and in the 73rd minute the Crew won themselves a penalty after Kamara was fouled while trying to round Kann after winning the ball off of Kevin Ellis and dribbling into the box. Kann though came up with a save on Kamara's ensuing penalty kick, but Kamara pounced on the rebound putting the Crew up 2-1. Sporting pushed forward trying to find the equalizer again, and it came in the 88th minute when Connor Hallisey set up fourth round draft pick Faik Hajderovic. Hallisey beat his man down the wing and played a ball across the box for Hajderovic to tap home to tie the game at 2-2.
The two teams will be back on the field Saturday when the Rangers take on fellow USL side, Arizona United while Sporting takes on the New England Revolution.
Half time saw nine changes to the starting lineup with only Medranda and Christian Duke starting the second half. The second half was more even with neither side really creating a number of chances, until a little after the hour mark when Sporting KC academy player, Will Little, who had recently entered the game for Medranda was able to beat his defender to the end line and cross a ball into the middle for former Sporting KC academy player Alberto Sanchez who flicked the ball with his heal and into the far corner to put the Rangers on top again at 2-1. The Rapids pushed for an equalizer, but it was the Rangers who were able to grab a third goal in the 90th minute as Little fired a blast from 25 yards out that found the upper corner giving the Rangers a 3-1 win.
Meanwhile on Kino's Grand Stand Field, Sporting KC kicked off against the Columbus Crew. Playing a predominately first team in the first half, minus Dom Dwyer who sat out the game, KC controlled play and from listening to the game sounded like they should have gone ahead in the first half when Jacob Peterson missed a great chance early on. Instead KC's play in the first half was not rewarded as the two teams went into the break tied at 0-0.
Sporting made full scale changes at half time, sending out a whole new 11 for the second half. KC's inability to capitalize on their chances in the first half came back to bite them almost immediately as former KC forward Kei Kamara slotted a shot past goalkeeper Alec Kann to put the Crew up 1-0. The lead would last until the 52nd minute when the Crew failed to clear a corner. Saad Abdul-Salaam kept the ball in play and in a scramble in front of goal Soni Mustivar stabbed the ball home to level the game at 1-1. Both teams had their chances as the game progressed, and in the 73rd minute the Crew won themselves a penalty after Kamara was fouled while trying to round Kann after winning the ball off of Kevin Ellis and dribbling into the box. Kann though came up with a save on Kamara's ensuing penalty kick, but Kamara pounced on the rebound putting the Crew up 2-1. Sporting pushed forward trying to find the equalizer again, and it came in the 88th minute when Connor Hallisey set up fourth round draft pick Faik Hajderovic. Hallisey beat his man down the wing and played a ball across the box for Hajderovic to tap home to tie the game at 2-2.
The two teams will be back on the field Saturday when the Rangers take on fellow USL side, Arizona United while Sporting takes on the New England Revolution.
Nemeth Continues to Score in Qatar - Former SKC Wizards Update
Krisztian Nemeth is enjoying some early success upon his move to Qatar. After scoring late in his debut for Al Gharafa, this week Nemeth scored two more goals for the club in a 2-2 draw. Based on the highlights of the goals the defending and goalkeeping leaves a bit to be desired.
Here is the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Jamar Beasley
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Chris Konopka
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson
MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Offseason.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
Indoor
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 10-7 win over Cedar Rapids.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had 3 assists in Baltimore's 10-5 win over Chicago.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Had an assist in Dallas' 8-6 loss to Las Vegas. Played in Dallas' 9-3 loss to Ontario.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 7-2 win over Milwaukee.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Siah Jamegan - Iran - Dressed but did not play in Siah Jamegan's 0-0 draw with Rah Ahan Yazdan.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - No game until 4/24.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Belgrano's 3-2 win over River Plate.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 loss to Leon.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in either of Belen's games.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 66 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 4-1 win over Shivajians. Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 loss to Mohun Bagan.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Alajuelense's 2-1 win over Herediano.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Defeated San Juan Jabloteh 2-1 and Defence Force 1-0.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Came off the bench and played 4 minutes in Leganes' 2-0 win over Osasuna.
Pablo Escobar - Jaguares de Córdoba - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Jaguares' 1-1 draw with Leones. Started and played 90 minutes in Jaguares' 4-0 loss to Once Caldas.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Queretaro's 2-1 loss to Cruz Azul.
Jeferson - Madureira EC - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in Madureira's 3-3 draw with Fluminense. Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Madureira's 1-0 loss to Boavista.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - No game until 4/2.
Igor Juliao - Ferroviária - Brazil - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferroviaria's 3-1 win over Rio Claro. Started and played 90 minutes in Ferroviaria's 3-0 win over RB Brasil.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 2-1 win over Universidad Chile.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Did not dress in Lechia's 5-0 win over Podbeskidzie.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Al Gharafa's 2-2 draw with El Jaish.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Porto B's 2-1 loss to Famalicao.
Akeem Priestley - Antigua GFC - Guatemala - Did not dress in either of Antigua's games.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Lost 1-0 in the league cup.
Oriol Rosell - Vitoria (Sporting Club de Portugal) Portugal - Did not dress in Vitoria's 2-2 draw with Vitoria Setubal.
Brendan Ruiz - DJK Don Bosco Bamberg - Germany - No game until 3/6.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana - Thailand - No game until 2/27.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Deveronvale's 1-0 loss to Lossiemouth.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes in Atromitos' 0-0 draw with Veria.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.
Here is the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Jamar Beasley
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Chris Konopka
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson
MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Offseason.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
Indoor
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 10-7 win over Cedar Rapids.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had 3 assists in Baltimore's 10-5 win over Chicago.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Had an assist in Dallas' 8-6 loss to Las Vegas. Played in Dallas' 9-3 loss to Ontario.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 7-2 win over Milwaukee.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Siah Jamegan - Iran - Dressed but did not play in Siah Jamegan's 0-0 draw with Rah Ahan Yazdan.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - No game until 4/24.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Belgrano's 3-2 win over River Plate.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 loss to Leon.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in either of Belen's games.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 66 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 4-1 win over Shivajians. Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 loss to Mohun Bagan.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Alajuelense's 2-1 win over Herediano.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Defeated San Juan Jabloteh 2-1 and Defence Force 1-0.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Came off the bench and played 4 minutes in Leganes' 2-0 win over Osasuna.
Pablo Escobar - Jaguares de Córdoba - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Jaguares' 1-1 draw with Leones. Started and played 90 minutes in Jaguares' 4-0 loss to Once Caldas.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Queretaro's 2-1 loss to Cruz Azul.
Jeferson - Madureira EC - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in Madureira's 3-3 draw with Fluminense. Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Madureira's 1-0 loss to Boavista.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - No game until 4/2.
Igor Juliao - Ferroviária - Brazil - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferroviaria's 3-1 win over Rio Claro. Started and played 90 minutes in Ferroviaria's 3-0 win over RB Brasil.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 2-1 win over Universidad Chile.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Did not dress in Lechia's 5-0 win over Podbeskidzie.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Al Gharafa's 2-2 draw with El Jaish.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Porto B's 2-1 loss to Famalicao.
Akeem Priestley - Antigua GFC - Guatemala - Did not dress in either of Antigua's games.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Lost 1-0 in the league cup.
Oriol Rosell - Vitoria (Sporting Club de Portugal) Portugal - Did not dress in Vitoria's 2-2 draw with Vitoria Setubal.
Brendan Ruiz - DJK Don Bosco Bamberg - Germany - No game until 3/6.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana - Thailand - No game until 2/27.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Deveronvale's 1-0 loss to Lossiemouth.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes in Atromitos' 0-0 draw with Veria.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.
Anor Loaned to Minnesota United
Sporting KC made one move today ahead of the start of the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson, Arizona. The team announced today that they had loaned winger Bernardo Anor to NASL side Minnesota United for the entire 2016 season. Anor, who the club acquired form the Columbus Crew before the 2015 season for allocation money. Anor didn't have a good time in the 2015 season with KC though, as he played just 13 games, starting only four. He missed quite a bit of time for KC last year with an injury and wasn't much of an impact on the field when he was in for KC.
Loaning Anor out for the whole season allows Kansas City to open up his roster spot, giving KC an open roster spot at this point. It also opens up an international roster spot, putting KC down to five international spots, three open at this time for Sporting.
Anor is one of three players that are reportedly not in Tucson with Kansas City for the second phase of preseason. Sam McDowell with the KC Star is reporting that along with Anor, Marcel de Jong and Amobi Okugo are not in Tucson either. De Jong has reported been told he's not part of the team's plans and Okugo appeared just twice for Kansas City after Sporting acquired him from Orlando City last year. With his salary his departure wouldn't be a surprise either.
Loaning Anor out for the whole season allows Kansas City to open up his roster spot, giving KC an open roster spot at this point. It also opens up an international roster spot, putting KC down to five international spots, three open at this time for Sporting.
Anor is one of three players that are reportedly not in Tucson with Kansas City for the second phase of preseason. Sam McDowell with the KC Star is reporting that along with Anor, Marcel de Jong and Amobi Okugo are not in Tucson either. De Jong has reported been told he's not part of the team's plans and Okugo appeared just twice for Kansas City after Sporting acquired him from Orlando City last year. With his salary his departure wouldn't be a surprise either.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Vermes and Formation Changes
Once again there has been plenty of talk in preseason about Sporting KC's head coach, Peter Vermes changing Kansas City's formation from what has become their traditional 4-3-3. This has become a yearly occurance for Kansas City over the years, from attempting a two forward system back in 2014 in an attempt to get both Claudio Bieler and Dom Dwyer on the field at the same time, to more tinkering in the 2015 preseason, to this year where according to Robb Heineman, the club has been using the 3-5-2 regularly in training. Each time though KC has ended up reverting to their traditional 4-3-3 with a few minor changes, inverting the midfield triangle, having the wingers sit deeper, almost as wide midfielders in a 4-5-1, and almost having three separate midfield lines.
So you'll understand when KC fans will be a little hesitant about the claims this year that Vermes is looking to change his trusted formation he's used for going on seven years now. A formation he's specifically tailored his roster for. At this point all the talk about formation changes just feels like smoke screen in an attempt to throw off opponents who may not scout the team well enough. But doing it for three years without any major changes, and still playing the high press regularly, it's going to take actually seeing the new formation in a competitive game for fans and other teams to truly believe that Vermes is serious about a formation change.
That said, let's just for a few minutes pretend that Vermes is serious and take a look at some ideas for how a 3-5-2 with KC's current roster would look, starting with the defense and working forward.
Defense
With the addition of Nuno Andre Coelho KC improved their depth at center back, but one option with the 3-5-2 would be to play all three of Coelho, Matt Besler, and Ike Opara in the three center back positions. It would solve some questions of who starts at center back, but immediately brings up another concern that the team had last year, if either Opara or Coelho (who has recent injury issues) you find yourself once again with Kevin Ellis getting a large number of minutes for Kansas City in the center of defense.
A potential work around for that would be to only start one of Coelho and Opara on the right side of the three center backs with Besler on the left, and Sporting's defensive midfielder, Soni Mustivar playing the central center back. It's a look that KC has had many times over the years when KC's wingbacks have gotten forward. Whether it's been Julio Cesar, Oriol Rosell, Lawrence Olum, or Mustivar, KC's deep lying midfielder has at times looked like a third center back for Kansas City, mainly as someone to assist with distribution out of the back. In this formation, Mustivar would likely still play a little further up the field than the other two center backs but also not get forward as much as he did last season either. The draw back here is that you put a midfielder, who isn't even six feet tall in the middle of your three man back line. In this formation Besler and whoever starts in the right center back position are likely going to need to play narrow and not get pulled out wide much. This will also put more pressure on the two wide midfielders to do a lot more work to get up and down the field.
Midfield
In the end though the wide players getting up and down the field won't be a huge departure from what KC's current outside backs have been doing for the last few years. Saad Abdul-Salaam, Amadou Dia, Chance Myers, and Seth Sinovic have all had big responsibilities on both the offensive and defensive halves of the field, so just pushing their starting position a little further up the field isn't going to have a huge effect on them in that regard. The big change for the wide midfielders in a hypothetical 3-5-2 formation is that they won't have the winger in front of them to work off of on overlaps. That will likely push for KC to do more build up through the middle of the field, something that the club had struggled with until Benny Feilhaber really worked his way into the formation. Being able to work through the middle and then get a ball wide to one of the outside midfielders to cross in will add a different dynamic to KC's attack.
In the middle of KC's 3-5-2 midfield, not a lot will change from the way the team plays currently with their 4-3-3. You're still going to have the midfield triangle one way or the other in the middle, whether it's inverted with just Roger Espinoza or Mustivar at the bottom or someone like Feilhaber or Brad Davis at the tip it'll still look very familiar to how it's looked before. One change could be if Mustivar were to be the third center back, KC at times would almost appear to have four central midfielders in that situation.
This formation would put a lot of defensive responsibilities on the outside players, which is why I've only really include the club's outside backs as the wide players. That does hurt some of the influence that someone like Justin Mapp would have on the game as he'd likely have a bit of a role change with a switch from a 4-3-3.
Forward
This is the area of the field, at least with the current roster that makes a move to a 3-5-2 really not make a ton of sense. With only Dom Dwyer, Jacob Peterson, and Daniel Salloi listed as forwards on the roster, finding a consistent starter to play with Dwyer up top could be difficult. I'm not sure that Salloi is ready for that responsibility and Peterson just doesn't score enough to be consistently getting those minutes. That puts you in a situation where you're playing two forwards who are in a more staggered position, someone like Graham Zusi playing a bit behind Dwyer, more so to play off the team's target striker. It would probably help with one area that KC struggled with at times last season, leaving Dwyer isolated up top where he'd get the ball and have no one to provide assistance while he faced off against the entire opposing back line. In that sense getting another forward higher up the field to help him is a big plus of a switch to a two forward formation.
In the end it's an interesting idea to play around with, especially in preseason when it's a lot easier to experiment with the way the team plays. But in the end I won't be holding my breath for anything like that to happen until I see it occur in an actual MLS game.
So you'll understand when KC fans will be a little hesitant about the claims this year that Vermes is looking to change his trusted formation he's used for going on seven years now. A formation he's specifically tailored his roster for. At this point all the talk about formation changes just feels like smoke screen in an attempt to throw off opponents who may not scout the team well enough. But doing it for three years without any major changes, and still playing the high press regularly, it's going to take actually seeing the new formation in a competitive game for fans and other teams to truly believe that Vermes is serious about a formation change.
That said, let's just for a few minutes pretend that Vermes is serious and take a look at some ideas for how a 3-5-2 with KC's current roster would look, starting with the defense and working forward.
Defense
With the addition of Nuno Andre Coelho KC improved their depth at center back, but one option with the 3-5-2 would be to play all three of Coelho, Matt Besler, and Ike Opara in the three center back positions. It would solve some questions of who starts at center back, but immediately brings up another concern that the team had last year, if either Opara or Coelho (who has recent injury issues) you find yourself once again with Kevin Ellis getting a large number of minutes for Kansas City in the center of defense.
A potential work around for that would be to only start one of Coelho and Opara on the right side of the three center backs with Besler on the left, and Sporting's defensive midfielder, Soni Mustivar playing the central center back. It's a look that KC has had many times over the years when KC's wingbacks have gotten forward. Whether it's been Julio Cesar, Oriol Rosell, Lawrence Olum, or Mustivar, KC's deep lying midfielder has at times looked like a third center back for Kansas City, mainly as someone to assist with distribution out of the back. In this formation, Mustivar would likely still play a little further up the field than the other two center backs but also not get forward as much as he did last season either. The draw back here is that you put a midfielder, who isn't even six feet tall in the middle of your three man back line. In this formation Besler and whoever starts in the right center back position are likely going to need to play narrow and not get pulled out wide much. This will also put more pressure on the two wide midfielders to do a lot more work to get up and down the field.
Midfield
In the end though the wide players getting up and down the field won't be a huge departure from what KC's current outside backs have been doing for the last few years. Saad Abdul-Salaam, Amadou Dia, Chance Myers, and Seth Sinovic have all had big responsibilities on both the offensive and defensive halves of the field, so just pushing their starting position a little further up the field isn't going to have a huge effect on them in that regard. The big change for the wide midfielders in a hypothetical 3-5-2 formation is that they won't have the winger in front of them to work off of on overlaps. That will likely push for KC to do more build up through the middle of the field, something that the club had struggled with until Benny Feilhaber really worked his way into the formation. Being able to work through the middle and then get a ball wide to one of the outside midfielders to cross in will add a different dynamic to KC's attack.
In the middle of KC's 3-5-2 midfield, not a lot will change from the way the team plays currently with their 4-3-3. You're still going to have the midfield triangle one way or the other in the middle, whether it's inverted with just Roger Espinoza or Mustivar at the bottom or someone like Feilhaber or Brad Davis at the tip it'll still look very familiar to how it's looked before. One change could be if Mustivar were to be the third center back, KC at times would almost appear to have four central midfielders in that situation.
This formation would put a lot of defensive responsibilities on the outside players, which is why I've only really include the club's outside backs as the wide players. That does hurt some of the influence that someone like Justin Mapp would have on the game as he'd likely have a bit of a role change with a switch from a 4-3-3.
Forward
This is the area of the field, at least with the current roster that makes a move to a 3-5-2 really not make a ton of sense. With only Dom Dwyer, Jacob Peterson, and Daniel Salloi listed as forwards on the roster, finding a consistent starter to play with Dwyer up top could be difficult. I'm not sure that Salloi is ready for that responsibility and Peterson just doesn't score enough to be consistently getting those minutes. That puts you in a situation where you're playing two forwards who are in a more staggered position, someone like Graham Zusi playing a bit behind Dwyer, more so to play off the team's target striker. It would probably help with one area that KC struggled with at times last season, leaving Dwyer isolated up top where he'd get the ball and have no one to provide assistance while he faced off against the entire opposing back line. In that sense getting another forward higher up the field to help him is a big plus of a switch to a two forward formation.
In the end it's an interesting idea to play around with, especially in preseason when it's a lot easier to experiment with the way the team plays. But in the end I won't be holding my breath for anything like that to happen until I see it occur in an actual MLS game.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Another Tweet and Fly with Robb Heineman
Sporting KC's Robb Heineman gave another one of his Q&As on Twitter tonight, another #TweetnFly time as Heineman made his way down Tucson to observe some preseason there.
As expected, one of the topics that brought out the most questions was the current roster and fan concern over the loss of Krisztian Nemeth to Qatar. Heineman came out with his first question attempting to address the situation, at least a little bit saying that they were looking for a "#9" to back up Dom Dwyer, also saying that they were currently negotiating a contract. Heineman seemed confident that the team would have a player in time for the home opener on the 12th, but that the player wouldn't be a big name. Over the course of his answers he also said that they'd like to find themselves a young DP. A young DP offers the team more salary cap flexibility because they offer the team a lower cap hit, only $150,000 if the player is 20 or younger, only $200,000 if he's between 21 and 23 ,instead of the standard $436,250 that DPs are paid. Adding to that, Heineman said that the club was in negotiations with several DPs, and that the target position for those players is forward. On the topic of signing new foreign players, he said that it has gotten easier for the club to add those players, but that it's still not a slam dunk convincing players to play in KC.
Of players on the team currently, one of the recent rumors has been Marcel de Jong being on his way out of Kansas City, being told he has no place in the team. Heineman didn't confirm that he was gone, but when asked if de Jong was saying said "likely no." On the team's other players that appear to be on the outside looking in, Heineman again didn't give much away, but doesn't' expect Bernardo Anor or Amobi Okugo to be in KC's 18 for opening day.
Heineman was also asked about his team's coach, Peter Vermes and the reported interest in him by teams abroad. He believes that Vermes was never really interested in the rumored clubs that were supposedly trying to get him to coach their team. That led to a follow up question about Vermes and the national team, something that has been talked about quite often when Jurgen Klinsmann has struggled with the team. While Heineman thinks he'd be good in the position he doesn't see Klinsmann leaving for a while.
On the topic of Vermes, Heineman was asked about the rumors of his changing formations this season, Heineman said that Vermes had the team practicing in a 3-5-2 a lot. While it's a nice thought, it's something that's been discussed over the last few years since teams really started to catch onto KC's style of play. But each time KC may trot out the new formation in preseason or in a game but then revert back to the traditional 4-3-3 that the team has played since Vermes took over as the team's head coach. I'll belive that switch happens when I see it happening. He also was asked about the injuries and what the team has done to address the number of injuries over the past two years, saying that they're trying some new training techniques in 2016 to help with that.
On the topic of Sporting Club's latest team, the Swope Park Rangers, Heineman was asked about how the club was going to utilize the new team. Heineman says that the team will get several loaned players and he expects them to develop quality players for KC, standard line, but it's got to be the hope of pretty much everyone since the team was announced. On the topic of the Rangers, Heineman confirmed (like Sporting did earlier in the day) that the foreign center midfielder he'd mentioned on Twitter back in January was in fact Kevin Oliveira, the Cape Verde midfielder from Benfica. The team though seems very high on him as Heineman expects Oliveira to be on the first team by the end of this season.
As always with his Q&As he was asked a number of questions that he always gets asked giving more answers. The one that has probably come up every time is the expansion of Children's Mercy Park. In the past in these Q&As Heineman has said that there were plans and possibilities to expand the stadium, but as time has gone on those expectations have changed in Heineman's response. Tonight he came straight out and just answered "no" when asked if there were plans in the near future to expand the stadium. Since the news about potentially purchasing Everton surfaced, Heineman has had to face a number of questions about whether Sporting Club would go out and purchase another foreign team, but Heineman shot that idea down as well fairly quickly. He was also asked again about the training facility and when it would break ground, Heineman said that they are waiting on grading permits and that they'll be breaking ground in April.
Heineman also touched on a number of topics on MLS as a whole, from his feeling that the magic number of MLS teams is 28 to the league's biggest hurdle being getting better "average" players as he put it, although he also talked about fewer synthetic fields in the league as well. He also stated how he felt the league wasn't quite ready to get out of the teams ways yet, and instead still needed to go with metered growth for the league, and the the teams' academies need to catch up. He also took the political way out when discussing the LA Galaxy's ability to bring in players as well as when he was asked about the new Columbus Crew jersey.
Finally, there were all the random questions he answered that provided some insight on a number of topics, from his agreement with Peter Vermes' quotes about how an MLS team in St. Louis would be great for the team and the league to confirming that the team was still looking to put a PDL team in Garden City/Western KS. He also shot down the rumored Sporting KC/KC Royals television network that was rumored this offseason, saying that it'd be news to him. He also played coy about a pro futsal team in KC after the reports that Mark Cuban had joined up with the new professional futsal league. He also talked about jerseys, once again stating the league was doing away with "third jerseys," but saying that it would be two years before the club had an alternate jersey that featured a nod to the club's old rainbow jersey, maybe a throw back to the team's old original jersey, which is apparently his favorite.
It's always fun to get Heineman's insight, but it may be more fun to read the questions that don't actually get answered by him. And as always take it with a grain of salt, it took us years to get through a Q&A without a question about blue turf.
As expected, one of the topics that brought out the most questions was the current roster and fan concern over the loss of Krisztian Nemeth to Qatar. Heineman came out with his first question attempting to address the situation, at least a little bit saying that they were looking for a "#9" to back up Dom Dwyer, also saying that they were currently negotiating a contract. Heineman seemed confident that the team would have a player in time for the home opener on the 12th, but that the player wouldn't be a big name. Over the course of his answers he also said that they'd like to find themselves a young DP. A young DP offers the team more salary cap flexibility because they offer the team a lower cap hit, only $150,000 if the player is 20 or younger, only $200,000 if he's between 21 and 23 ,instead of the standard $436,250 that DPs are paid. Adding to that, Heineman said that the club was in negotiations with several DPs, and that the target position for those players is forward. On the topic of signing new foreign players, he said that it has gotten easier for the club to add those players, but that it's still not a slam dunk convincing players to play in KC.
Of players on the team currently, one of the recent rumors has been Marcel de Jong being on his way out of Kansas City, being told he has no place in the team. Heineman didn't confirm that he was gone, but when asked if de Jong was saying said "likely no." On the team's other players that appear to be on the outside looking in, Heineman again didn't give much away, but doesn't' expect Bernardo Anor or Amobi Okugo to be in KC's 18 for opening day.
Heineman was also asked about his team's coach, Peter Vermes and the reported interest in him by teams abroad. He believes that Vermes was never really interested in the rumored clubs that were supposedly trying to get him to coach their team. That led to a follow up question about Vermes and the national team, something that has been talked about quite often when Jurgen Klinsmann has struggled with the team. While Heineman thinks he'd be good in the position he doesn't see Klinsmann leaving for a while.
On the topic of Vermes, Heineman was asked about the rumors of his changing formations this season, Heineman said that Vermes had the team practicing in a 3-5-2 a lot. While it's a nice thought, it's something that's been discussed over the last few years since teams really started to catch onto KC's style of play. But each time KC may trot out the new formation in preseason or in a game but then revert back to the traditional 4-3-3 that the team has played since Vermes took over as the team's head coach. I'll belive that switch happens when I see it happening. He also was asked about the injuries and what the team has done to address the number of injuries over the past two years, saying that they're trying some new training techniques in 2016 to help with that.
On the topic of Sporting Club's latest team, the Swope Park Rangers, Heineman was asked about how the club was going to utilize the new team. Heineman says that the team will get several loaned players and he expects them to develop quality players for KC, standard line, but it's got to be the hope of pretty much everyone since the team was announced. On the topic of the Rangers, Heineman confirmed (like Sporting did earlier in the day) that the foreign center midfielder he'd mentioned on Twitter back in January was in fact Kevin Oliveira, the Cape Verde midfielder from Benfica. The team though seems very high on him as Heineman expects Oliveira to be on the first team by the end of this season.
As always with his Q&As he was asked a number of questions that he always gets asked giving more answers. The one that has probably come up every time is the expansion of Children's Mercy Park. In the past in these Q&As Heineman has said that there were plans and possibilities to expand the stadium, but as time has gone on those expectations have changed in Heineman's response. Tonight he came straight out and just answered "no" when asked if there were plans in the near future to expand the stadium. Since the news about potentially purchasing Everton surfaced, Heineman has had to face a number of questions about whether Sporting Club would go out and purchase another foreign team, but Heineman shot that idea down as well fairly quickly. He was also asked again about the training facility and when it would break ground, Heineman said that they are waiting on grading permits and that they'll be breaking ground in April.
Heineman also touched on a number of topics on MLS as a whole, from his feeling that the magic number of MLS teams is 28 to the league's biggest hurdle being getting better "average" players as he put it, although he also talked about fewer synthetic fields in the league as well. He also stated how he felt the league wasn't quite ready to get out of the teams ways yet, and instead still needed to go with metered growth for the league, and the the teams' academies need to catch up. He also took the political way out when discussing the LA Galaxy's ability to bring in players as well as when he was asked about the new Columbus Crew jersey.
Finally, there were all the random questions he answered that provided some insight on a number of topics, from his agreement with Peter Vermes' quotes about how an MLS team in St. Louis would be great for the team and the league to confirming that the team was still looking to put a PDL team in Garden City/Western KS. He also shot down the rumored Sporting KC/KC Royals television network that was rumored this offseason, saying that it'd be news to him. He also played coy about a pro futsal team in KC after the reports that Mark Cuban had joined up with the new professional futsal league. He also talked about jerseys, once again stating the league was doing away with "third jerseys," but saying that it would be two years before the club had an alternate jersey that featured a nod to the club's old rainbow jersey, maybe a throw back to the team's old original jersey, which is apparently his favorite.
It's always fun to get Heineman's insight, but it may be more fun to read the questions that don't actually get answered by him. And as always take it with a grain of salt, it took us years to get through a Q&A without a question about blue turf.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Comets Clinch Top Two With Win Over Milwaukee
The Missouri Comets kept their lead atop the MASL's Central Division as they topped the Milwaukee Wave 7-2 in Milwaukee. The Comets came into the day only a half game ahead of the Chicago Mustangs for first in the Central, and three games ahead of the Wave for third place. With the win though the Comets have clinched at least a top two seed in the Central and will get at least one home game in the MASL playoffs this year.
The game between the two teams was tight and both goalkeepers were in top form early on as Boris Pardo and Nick Vorberg both made saves to keep the game scoreless. With less than five minutes left in the quarter the Wave were able to jump on top Stuart Grable scored to make it 1-0 after one quarter.
The second quarter saw the Comets mount a quick comeback. Less than four minutes in the Comets had leveled the score as a Leo Gibson shot redirected into the net to tie the game at 1-1.The Comets continued to pressure and hold possession and before seven minutes had been played, took the lead on the Wave as Bryan Perez finished off an opportunity from John Sosa. Late in the quarter Perez added a second of the game to put the Comets up 3-1. Missouri held the ball for long stretches late, killing plenty of clock and creating chances but were unable to extend their lead.
The third quarter started with the Wave having a renewed push on the game, coming out with a much higher line than they had in the first half. Pardo in the Comets net kept the Wave off the board for over half the period though. With just over eight minutes gone though the Wave finally broke through and cut the lead to one goal as Ian Bennett was finally able to get a shot past Pardo to make it a 3-2 Comets lead. After taking a timeout after the goal the Comets were able to reestablish their possession game and regain control. With a minute and a half left in the quarter the Comets restored their two goal cushion as Brian Harris caught the Wave on a line change and played the ball forward to Max Touloute who was unmarked in the Wave half. He dribbled in on Vorberg and fired a shot past him at the near post.
The Comets continued to control possession in the fourth quarter, but struggled to find a way to extend their lead as Vorberg continued to play well. Finally just past the midpoint the Comets had a break in their favor, as Lucas Rodriguez tried to square the ball to the back post Tenzin Rampa redirected the ball into his own net to extend the Comets lead to 5-2. At that point the Wave pulled Vorberg to go with the sixth attacker. It took the Comets less than two minutes to capitalize on the empty net as Touloute won the ball off his man and raced the length of the field beating sixth attacker Jonathan Greenfield down the field to extend the lead to 6-2. With less than four minutes left Touloute again started a counter against the sixth attacker, trying to set up Perez, the ball got knocked away, right to Touloute, who easily scored to make it 7-2. The Wave put Vorberg back in the game and the two teams played out the final few minutes without any additional goals. The Comets will now go on a two game road trip to the East coast to play Baltimore and Syracuse before closing the season out at home against Baltimore.
The game between the two teams was tight and both goalkeepers were in top form early on as Boris Pardo and Nick Vorberg both made saves to keep the game scoreless. With less than five minutes left in the quarter the Wave were able to jump on top Stuart Grable scored to make it 1-0 after one quarter.
The second quarter saw the Comets mount a quick comeback. Less than four minutes in the Comets had leveled the score as a Leo Gibson shot redirected into the net to tie the game at 1-1.The Comets continued to pressure and hold possession and before seven minutes had been played, took the lead on the Wave as Bryan Perez finished off an opportunity from John Sosa. Late in the quarter Perez added a second of the game to put the Comets up 3-1. Missouri held the ball for long stretches late, killing plenty of clock and creating chances but were unable to extend their lead.
The third quarter started with the Wave having a renewed push on the game, coming out with a much higher line than they had in the first half. Pardo in the Comets net kept the Wave off the board for over half the period though. With just over eight minutes gone though the Wave finally broke through and cut the lead to one goal as Ian Bennett was finally able to get a shot past Pardo to make it a 3-2 Comets lead. After taking a timeout after the goal the Comets were able to reestablish their possession game and regain control. With a minute and a half left in the quarter the Comets restored their two goal cushion as Brian Harris caught the Wave on a line change and played the ball forward to Max Touloute who was unmarked in the Wave half. He dribbled in on Vorberg and fired a shot past him at the near post.
The Comets continued to control possession in the fourth quarter, but struggled to find a way to extend their lead as Vorberg continued to play well. Finally just past the midpoint the Comets had a break in their favor, as Lucas Rodriguez tried to square the ball to the back post Tenzin Rampa redirected the ball into his own net to extend the Comets lead to 5-2. At that point the Wave pulled Vorberg to go with the sixth attacker. It took the Comets less than two minutes to capitalize on the empty net as Touloute won the ball off his man and raced the length of the field beating sixth attacker Jonathan Greenfield down the field to extend the lead to 6-2. With less than four minutes left Touloute again started a counter against the sixth attacker, trying to set up Perez, the ball got knocked away, right to Touloute, who easily scored to make it 7-2. The Wave put Vorberg back in the game and the two teams played out the final few minutes without any additional goals. The Comets will now go on a two game road trip to the East coast to play Baltimore and Syracuse before closing the season out at home against Baltimore.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Van Den Bergh Named US U15 Coach - Former SKC Wizards Update
The US Boys U15 team has a new head coach, former Kansas City winger, Dave van den Bergh. After stops with New York and Dallas after leaving Kansas City, the former Dutch international became an assistant coach for the US U20 team under both Thomas Rongen and Tab Ramos.
Here's the rest of this week's update, including Krisztian Nemeth scoring his first goal on his debut in Qatar.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Jamar Beasley
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Chris Konopka
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson
MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
Indoor
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 12-5 win over Tacoma.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - No game this week.
Mike Jones - Dallas - No game this week.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 7-6 win over Chicago.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Siah Jamegan - Iran - Defeated Gostaresh Foolad 1-0.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - No game until 4/24.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in Belgrano's 1-0 loss to Independiente.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Chivas' 1-0 win over Universidad Guadalajara. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Toluca.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Belen's 0-0 draw with Municipal Liberia.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India -Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-1 loss to Sporting Goa.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 4-2 win over Santos de Guapiles. Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 1-0 win over AD Carmelita.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - No game this week.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Dressed but did not play in Leganes' 1-0 loss to Real Zaragoza.
Pablo Escobar - Jaguares de Córdoba - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Jaguares' 3-0 loss to Atletico Nacional.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Queretaro's 2-1 win over Veracruz.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - Did not dress in Vasco's 3-1 win over America RJ.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - No game until 4/2.
Igor Juliao - Ferroviária - Brazil - Started and played 80 minutes in Ferroviaria's 2-1 win over Mogi Mirim.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 3-2 win over Cobresal.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - No game until 2/13.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Came off the bench and played 53 minutes, scoring agoal in Al Gharafa's 3-2 loss to Al Arabi.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto - Portugal - Did not dress in either of Porto's games.
Akeem Priestley - Antigua GFC - Guatemala - Lost 2-1 to Malacateco.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - No game until 2/14.
Oriol Rosell - Vitoria (Sporting Club de Portugal) Portugal - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Vitoria's 1-1 draw with Tondela.
Brendan Ruiz - DJK Don Bosco Bamberg - Germany - No game until 3/6.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana - Thailand - No game until 2/12.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - No game this week.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes in Atromitos' 1-0 win over AEK Athens.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.
Here's the rest of this week's update, including Krisztian Nemeth scoring his first goal on his debut in Qatar.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Jamar Beasley
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Chris Konopka
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson
MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
Indoor
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 12-5 win over Tacoma.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - No game this week.
Mike Jones - Dallas - No game this week.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 7-6 win over Chicago.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Siah Jamegan - Iran - Defeated Gostaresh Foolad 1-0.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - No game until 4/24.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in Belgrano's 1-0 loss to Independiente.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Chivas' 1-0 win over Universidad Guadalajara. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Toluca.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Belen's 0-0 draw with Municipal Liberia.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India -Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-1 loss to Sporting Goa.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 4-2 win over Santos de Guapiles. Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 1-0 win over AD Carmelita.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - No game this week.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Dressed but did not play in Leganes' 1-0 loss to Real Zaragoza.
Pablo Escobar - Jaguares de Córdoba - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Jaguares' 3-0 loss to Atletico Nacional.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Queretaro's 2-1 win over Veracruz.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - Did not dress in Vasco's 3-1 win over America RJ.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - No game until 4/2.
Igor Juliao - Ferroviária - Brazil - Started and played 80 minutes in Ferroviaria's 2-1 win over Mogi Mirim.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 3-2 win over Cobresal.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - No game until 2/13.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Came off the bench and played 53 minutes, scoring agoal in Al Gharafa's 3-2 loss to Al Arabi.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto - Portugal - Did not dress in either of Porto's games.
Akeem Priestley - Antigua GFC - Guatemala - Lost 2-1 to Malacateco.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - No game until 2/14.
Oriol Rosell - Vitoria (Sporting Club de Portugal) Portugal - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Vitoria's 1-1 draw with Tondela.
Brendan Ruiz - DJK Don Bosco Bamberg - Germany - No game until 3/6.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana - Thailand - No game until 2/12.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - No game this week.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes in Atromitos' 1-0 win over AEK Athens.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.
Tuesday, February 09, 2016
De Jong on His Way Out?
Outside back is one area on the field that Sporting KC is quite deep in heading into the 2016 season. Specifically at left back where Kansas City has veteran Seth Sinovic, who has been with the club since 2011, Amadou Dia, one of KC's three first round picks in the 2015 Superdraft, Marcel de Jong, the Canadian international, and even the likes of Saad Abdul Salaam, normally a right back and Jimmy Medranda who played there a couple times last season. Needless to say, if there was an area on the field that KC could look to downsize to upgrade in other areas outside back would seem to be a prime location.
Reports out of Canada are that KC is set to do just that in the near future as Sporting's Canadian left back, Marcel de Jong has been told he's no longer in the team's plans. While to an extent I question that, especially with de Jong still in KC training with the team according to his Instagram, it's not that far fetched to think he wouldn't be back with KC in 2016. If de Jong is indeed out it wouldn't be incredibly surprising, he made 11 starts for Sporting KC in the 2015 season, but only two of those came after August first, and both of those games were at left wing, not left back. When Sinovic was out for extended periods of time de Jong was left behind the rookie Dia for much of the time, including KC's playoff game against the Portland Timbers when KC started a pair of rookies at the outside back positions. KC then went and re-signed Sinovic early in the offseason to bring him back, which would seem to keep de Jong buried on the depth chart at left back.
Even the position de Jong started his final two games last season, left wing, is not thin for KC. Even with the departure of Krisztian Nemeth, Kansas City has Brad Davis and Justin Mapp as a likely platoon at that position for much of the season.
Of the players currently on KC's roster he has to be one of the ones in the most precarious situation with the team. He made $180,000 last season for KC, not exactly a great return for that amount as de Jong played in only 13 games, adding a goal and an assist to his 11 starts I'd previously mentioned. All offseason almost it just seems like it made too much sense to get de Jong off the roster with his salary, lack of playing time, and his holding an international roster spot. If he is gone, one would hope that KC would be able to get something for him, maybe a trade to one of the Canadian clubs would work in KC's favor.
Reports out of Canada are that KC is set to do just that in the near future as Sporting's Canadian left back, Marcel de Jong has been told he's no longer in the team's plans. While to an extent I question that, especially with de Jong still in KC training with the team according to his Instagram, it's not that far fetched to think he wouldn't be back with KC in 2016. If de Jong is indeed out it wouldn't be incredibly surprising, he made 11 starts for Sporting KC in the 2015 season, but only two of those came after August first, and both of those games were at left wing, not left back. When Sinovic was out for extended periods of time de Jong was left behind the rookie Dia for much of the time, including KC's playoff game against the Portland Timbers when KC started a pair of rookies at the outside back positions. KC then went and re-signed Sinovic early in the offseason to bring him back, which would seem to keep de Jong buried on the depth chart at left back.
Even the position de Jong started his final two games last season, left wing, is not thin for KC. Even with the departure of Krisztian Nemeth, Kansas City has Brad Davis and Justin Mapp as a likely platoon at that position for much of the season.
Of the players currently on KC's roster he has to be one of the ones in the most precarious situation with the team. He made $180,000 last season for KC, not exactly a great return for that amount as de Jong played in only 13 games, adding a goal and an assist to his 11 starts I'd previously mentioned. All offseason almost it just seems like it made too much sense to get de Jong off the roster with his salary, lack of playing time, and his holding an international roster spot. If he is gone, one would hope that KC would be able to get something for him, maybe a trade to one of the Canadian clubs would work in KC's favor.
Monday, February 08, 2016
Rangers Start Preseason
Kansas City's other men's professional soccer team started their work towards the 2016 season today out at the KC Chiefs practice facility in Kansas City. The Swope Park Rangers are getting ready for their first season in the USL after Sporting KC created the club instead of having an affiliate as they had in the prior three years of the MLS/USL partnership.
As the Rangers started preseason, the club currently has 13 players on their roster, including experienced USL veterans like Dane Kelly and Christian Duke, players with MLS experience like Tommy Meyer and Kris Tyrpak, internationals like Kevin Oliveira and Ualefi, as well as Sporting KC academy player Nansel Selbol.
Along with those 13 players, the Rangers have 10 players in camp as unsigned trialists. The most intriguing of those 10 players is probably Mouhamed Dabo, a 20 year old Senegalese midfielder who was last on the books with Inter Milan in Italy. There are also other players from the US minor leagues including Tomas Granitto from FC Edmonton, Jack Mathis from Saint Louis FC, and Reed McKenna from the OKC Energy. There is also another former SKC academy player, 20 year old forward Alberto Sanchez.
The club has also brought in seven SKC academy players into camp for preseason. Included in that group is US youth international Jaylin Lindsey. Lindsey has spent time with the US U15 team while also playing with KC's academy team. Also invited from the academy is Felipe Hernandez, the 17 year old from Nashville, Tennessee spent time in preseason last year with Sporting KC in Tucson.
As the Rangers started preseason, the club currently has 13 players on their roster, including experienced USL veterans like Dane Kelly and Christian Duke, players with MLS experience like Tommy Meyer and Kris Tyrpak, internationals like Kevin Oliveira and Ualefi, as well as Sporting KC academy player Nansel Selbol.
Along with those 13 players, the Rangers have 10 players in camp as unsigned trialists. The most intriguing of those 10 players is probably Mouhamed Dabo, a 20 year old Senegalese midfielder who was last on the books with Inter Milan in Italy. There are also other players from the US minor leagues including Tomas Granitto from FC Edmonton, Jack Mathis from Saint Louis FC, and Reed McKenna from the OKC Energy. There is also another former SKC academy player, 20 year old forward Alberto Sanchez.
The club has also brought in seven SKC academy players into camp for preseason. Included in that group is US youth international Jaylin Lindsey. Lindsey has spent time with the US U15 team while also playing with KC's academy team. Also invited from the academy is Felipe Hernandez, the 17 year old from Nashville, Tennessee spent time in preseason last year with Sporting KC in Tucson.
Espinoza Called Up by Honduras
Sporting KC midfielder, Roger Espinzoa has been recalled to the Honduran national team ahead of their midweek friendly against Guatemala. Espinoza, who had been rumored to be joining the team ahead of their pair of games against Nicaragua and Guatemala was only called up for the later game, which takes place this Wednesday in Guatemala City. This is the first time that Espinoza has been called up to the national team since early last year. He was on the team's preliminary roster for this past summer's Gold Cup, but instead stayed with Sporting during that stretch. Espinoza will rejoin the club in Tucson, Arizona for the second phase of their preseason there and the Desert Diamond Cup.
Sunday, February 07, 2016
Busy Day On and Off the Field for Sporting KC
Sporting KC had a busy day with news on and off the field as the team pushes towards the 2016 season.
On the field the team closed out the first phase of their preseason in Tucson with a friendly against South Korean side Seongnam FC. KC played two separate teams over the course of the full 90 minute game. The first half saw a fairly reserve side for Kansas City but they couldn't replicate the success they had in the second half last weekend against FC Tucson. In fact neither team had a shot on goal in the first half.
The second half saw KC insert more starters and they were able to create more chances, with Brad Davis being the main catalyst, but neither could score and KC finished with a 0-0 draw against the K-League side. KC will now return to KC for a week before heading back to Tucson for the Desert Diamond Cup.
Off the field KC successfully launched their new secondary jersey during half time of the Super Bowl. Sporting KC had purchased a local spot in the broadcast to show off the new jersey, which is indigo with lighter blue stripes on it. Another great looking jersey in what is becoming a long line of very well done jerseys that do a lot with the templates that are given to the club by Adidas.
On the field the team closed out the first phase of their preseason in Tucson with a friendly against South Korean side Seongnam FC. KC played two separate teams over the course of the full 90 minute game. The first half saw a fairly reserve side for Kansas City but they couldn't replicate the success they had in the second half last weekend against FC Tucson. In fact neither team had a shot on goal in the first half.
The second half saw KC insert more starters and they were able to create more chances, with Brad Davis being the main catalyst, but neither could score and KC finished with a 0-0 draw against the K-League side. KC will now return to KC for a week before heading back to Tucson for the Desert Diamond Cup.
Off the field KC successfully launched their new secondary jersey during half time of the Super Bowl. Sporting KC had purchased a local spot in the broadcast to show off the new jersey, which is indigo with lighter blue stripes on it. Another great looking jersey in what is becoming a long line of very well done jerseys that do a lot with the templates that are given to the club by Adidas.
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) February 8, 2016
Saturday, February 06, 2016
Comets Hold Off Mustangs Late, Jump Into First
The Missouri Comets looked like they'd cruse into first place in the MASL's Central Division as they headed into the fourth quarter with a 5-1 lead over the Chicago Mustangs. The Comets had done a good job through three quarters of shutting down the Mustang offense, particularly Bofo Bautista, but the fourth quarter saw the Mustangs stage a big comeback. It wasn't enough though as the Comets were able to hold off the Mustangs just enough to survive for a 7-6 win.
The first quarter saw a number of chances for both teams with the Comes Boris Pardo probably being the busier of the two goalkeepers with the saves he needed to make. Late in the quarter though the Comets jumped on the board as Kevin Ten Eyck scored with less than a minute left in the quarter as the Comets ended up 1-0.
The second saw the Mustangs quickly equalize through Wilo Martinez to tie the game at one. The tie game didn't last as long this time as just four minutes into the period Vahid Assadpour scored off an assist by John Sosa off a restart. Near the midpoint of the quarter the Comets extended their lead to 3-1 as Stefan Stokic scored off an assist from Assadpour. Once again in the final minute of the quarter the Comets extended their lead to 4-1 as Leo Gibson scored off an assist from Max Touloute.
The third quarter again saw a tight quarter with only one goal scored as Robert Palmer just under six minutes into the quarter to make it 5-1 Comets as the two teams headed into the final period. The fourth quarter though belonged to Bofo as he almost single-handedly brought the Mustangs back. Just over four minutes in he beat Pardo with a nice finish to make it 5-2 to the Comets. Missouri responded less than a minute later as Ramon Palmer turned in a back post shot by Gibson to make it 6-2 for Missouri. Near the midpoint the Mustangs again pulled a goal back, this time Bofo set up Trajche Lostovski to cut the lead to just 6-3 with over half the quarter left to play. The Comets began pushing the game again looking for another goal and made it 7-3 off a restart goal again as this time Sosa set up Lucas Rodriguez for the finish. Less than a minute later the Mustangs were back within three goals as the Comets got caught up field countering leaving Bofo basically all alone in the Comets end. Bofo brought the ball down and slotted it past Pardo to make it 7-4. Shortly after the Mustangs went to the sixth attacker looking to close the lead further. Bofo did just that with just under two and a half minutes left off a restart being Pardo with the help of a deflection off Gibson. The Comets held off the Mustangs but struggled to clear their end as time ticked away and with less than a minute left Bofo scored his fourth goal of the quarter to bring the Mustangs within one goal. The Mustangs continued to have efforts over the final 50 seconds but the Comets defense held out enough to preserve the victory and move the Comets ahead of the Mustangs in the Central division and also give the Comets the tie breaker for the season with the Mustangs, going 2-1 against the Chicago side.
The first quarter saw a number of chances for both teams with the Comes Boris Pardo probably being the busier of the two goalkeepers with the saves he needed to make. Late in the quarter though the Comets jumped on the board as Kevin Ten Eyck scored with less than a minute left in the quarter as the Comets ended up 1-0.
The second saw the Mustangs quickly equalize through Wilo Martinez to tie the game at one. The tie game didn't last as long this time as just four minutes into the period Vahid Assadpour scored off an assist by John Sosa off a restart. Near the midpoint of the quarter the Comets extended their lead to 3-1 as Stefan Stokic scored off an assist from Assadpour. Once again in the final minute of the quarter the Comets extended their lead to 4-1 as Leo Gibson scored off an assist from Max Touloute.
The third quarter again saw a tight quarter with only one goal scored as Robert Palmer just under six minutes into the quarter to make it 5-1 Comets as the two teams headed into the final period. The fourth quarter though belonged to Bofo as he almost single-handedly brought the Mustangs back. Just over four minutes in he beat Pardo with a nice finish to make it 5-2 to the Comets. Missouri responded less than a minute later as Ramon Palmer turned in a back post shot by Gibson to make it 6-2 for Missouri. Near the midpoint the Mustangs again pulled a goal back, this time Bofo set up Trajche Lostovski to cut the lead to just 6-3 with over half the quarter left to play. The Comets began pushing the game again looking for another goal and made it 7-3 off a restart goal again as this time Sosa set up Lucas Rodriguez for the finish. Less than a minute later the Mustangs were back within three goals as the Comets got caught up field countering leaving Bofo basically all alone in the Comets end. Bofo brought the ball down and slotted it past Pardo to make it 7-4. Shortly after the Mustangs went to the sixth attacker looking to close the lead further. Bofo did just that with just under two and a half minutes left off a restart being Pardo with the help of a deflection off Gibson. The Comets held off the Mustangs but struggled to clear their end as time ticked away and with less than a minute left Bofo scored his fourth goal of the quarter to bring the Mustangs within one goal. The Mustangs continued to have efforts over the final 50 seconds but the Comets defense held out enough to preserve the victory and move the Comets ahead of the Mustangs in the Central division and also give the Comets the tie breaker for the season with the Mustangs, going 2-1 against the Chicago side.
Thursday, February 04, 2016
Replacing Nemeth
It's been about a week since Krisztian Nemeth departed Kansas City for the Qatari league, and most of the venom that was being spewed at either Nemeth or the team seems to have died down just a little bit at this point. With the gut reactions out of the way I felt it was time to take a look at what Sporting KC is going to do at this point now that the club's second leading scorer last season has left.
The first part of the replacement is who is going to take his starting spot on KC's left wing. The favorite for that position, at least to start the season will likely be the newly acquired Brad Davis. While Davis played centrally a lot for the Houston Dynamo last season he is still able to play out wide and would be able to provide crosses to not only Dom Dwyer but to Graham Zusi to knock home at the far post similar to goals he's scored in the past. With Davis being 34 years old though he's unlikely going to be expected to start every game for Kansas City, especially with the way that Kansas City plays. That's where the addition of Justin Mapp comes in. Mapp and Davis will likely split duties for the most part out on the left wing for Kansas City throughout the season. Mapp will be able to spell Davis and KC won't see much of any drop off in talent, especially in April and May when the games come very fast for Sporting KC ahead of the summer break.
The next part of replacing him to look at is the goals that he scored. Nemeth scored 10 league goals and 16 in all competitions for KC last season, second on the team behind Dom Dwyer's 12 and 17 respectively. Those are some numbers that will be hard to hit for just one player on the team not named Dom Dwyer or Benny Feilhaber (with help from the penalty spot), so don't expect all those goals to be filled by just one player, expect the scoring slack to be picked up by committee among not just his on field replacements in Davis and Mapp, but also from a healthy Zusi. Davis has scored four goals in each of the last three seasons after a career high of eight in 2012. Mapp hasn't scored a goal in either of the last two seasons (2015 he only played five times due to injury) but over the course of his career has averaged a goal every 925 minutes. If you go off the mindset that he's going to be getting a number of games this season in relief of Davis, expecting at least two goals out of Mapp isn't wholly unexpected. Then you get to Zusi who scored just two goals last year for Kansas City, a career low since becoming a regular starter in 2011. He'd been averaging about five goals a season since 2011 up to last season, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he could return to that level of form, especially with the likes of Davis and Mapp playing balls across the box that Zusi could get on the end of at the back post. So combined the three of them could make up for the loss of Nemeth in terms of goals. In terms of assists I don't think I even need to make a point on that when you consider that Davis and Mapp have a combined 187 assists in MLS play, they'll be able to replace Nemeth's assists without a problem.
To look at it from another angle, KC scored 48 goals in league play last season, the same number that the club scored in 2014 without Nemeth. In fact, in the five seasons since the club rebranded they've averaged 47 goals a season; four of those seasons have been without Nemeth. The counter to that is that KC scored 64 goals across all competitions last season, the second most in club history, only behind the 1996 season when the club scored 71 goals across all competitions.
While KC is able to replace those areas above with some work with the players currently on the roster there are some areas that KC will struggle with the loss of Nemeth. One area is his ability to take players on one-v-one and beat defenders on the dribble. The closest that KC has to that now is Mapp, who can replace it to an extent and has always shown flashes of being able to beat players not like Nemeth did against Portland, but can be players on the dribble. The problem is that while Mapp can do those things the problem for him has always been his ability to do it consistently. Early in the 2015 season Mapp showed that off in Montreal's run to the CONCACAF Champions League final. Many will argue that while Mapp does that, he also will disappear from games quite often, but that is something that Nemeth had issues with as well, especially on the wing for Kansas City. So while Mapp may not be able to score a goal like Nemeth did against Portland, or do it as consistently as Nemeth did, but Mapp does give KC a threat in one-v-one situations.
The one area that this may hurt KC is the most is probably in a position that Nemeth didn't even play much last year, center forward. While Dwyer started 28 games last season, when he didn't start it wasn't Nemeth that played the center forward position for the most part in his absence, it was the likes of Zusi and Jacob Peterson that played that spot. But if Dwyer had gone down for an extended period of time for some reason, you would have to think that Nemeth would have slid centrally to be the center forward on a more regular basis. With him now gone KC is extremely thin at the center forward position. The club has Peterson, who is a prototypical Peter Vermes player with his style of play and his work ethic on the field. But with only one goal last season (coming when he was a center forward) he's not going to strike an imposing presence as a center forward for Kansas City. After him you have the likes of Zusi, playing a false nine or Daniel Salloi, who while he has scored in the top division in Hungary is still just 19 years old. KC's striker depth is probably the largest worry in terms of Nemeth leaving the club.
So overall, while the loss of Nemeth is certainly a big loss for Kansas City the loss is something that KC should be able to survive. In the end I should have put "replacing" in quotes though, because Kansas City really isn't going to be straight replacing him, at least not immediately. The team will need to make adjustments to the playing style that they had at the end of the season to adjust to not having Nemeth on the wing.
The first part of the replacement is who is going to take his starting spot on KC's left wing. The favorite for that position, at least to start the season will likely be the newly acquired Brad Davis. While Davis played centrally a lot for the Houston Dynamo last season he is still able to play out wide and would be able to provide crosses to not only Dom Dwyer but to Graham Zusi to knock home at the far post similar to goals he's scored in the past. With Davis being 34 years old though he's unlikely going to be expected to start every game for Kansas City, especially with the way that Kansas City plays. That's where the addition of Justin Mapp comes in. Mapp and Davis will likely split duties for the most part out on the left wing for Kansas City throughout the season. Mapp will be able to spell Davis and KC won't see much of any drop off in talent, especially in April and May when the games come very fast for Sporting KC ahead of the summer break.
The next part of replacing him to look at is the goals that he scored. Nemeth scored 10 league goals and 16 in all competitions for KC last season, second on the team behind Dom Dwyer's 12 and 17 respectively. Those are some numbers that will be hard to hit for just one player on the team not named Dom Dwyer or Benny Feilhaber (with help from the penalty spot), so don't expect all those goals to be filled by just one player, expect the scoring slack to be picked up by committee among not just his on field replacements in Davis and Mapp, but also from a healthy Zusi. Davis has scored four goals in each of the last three seasons after a career high of eight in 2012. Mapp hasn't scored a goal in either of the last two seasons (2015 he only played five times due to injury) but over the course of his career has averaged a goal every 925 minutes. If you go off the mindset that he's going to be getting a number of games this season in relief of Davis, expecting at least two goals out of Mapp isn't wholly unexpected. Then you get to Zusi who scored just two goals last year for Kansas City, a career low since becoming a regular starter in 2011. He'd been averaging about five goals a season since 2011 up to last season, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he could return to that level of form, especially with the likes of Davis and Mapp playing balls across the box that Zusi could get on the end of at the back post. So combined the three of them could make up for the loss of Nemeth in terms of goals. In terms of assists I don't think I even need to make a point on that when you consider that Davis and Mapp have a combined 187 assists in MLS play, they'll be able to replace Nemeth's assists without a problem.
To look at it from another angle, KC scored 48 goals in league play last season, the same number that the club scored in 2014 without Nemeth. In fact, in the five seasons since the club rebranded they've averaged 47 goals a season; four of those seasons have been without Nemeth. The counter to that is that KC scored 64 goals across all competitions last season, the second most in club history, only behind the 1996 season when the club scored 71 goals across all competitions.
While KC is able to replace those areas above with some work with the players currently on the roster there are some areas that KC will struggle with the loss of Nemeth. One area is his ability to take players on one-v-one and beat defenders on the dribble. The closest that KC has to that now is Mapp, who can replace it to an extent and has always shown flashes of being able to beat players not like Nemeth did against Portland, but can be players on the dribble. The problem is that while Mapp can do those things the problem for him has always been his ability to do it consistently. Early in the 2015 season Mapp showed that off in Montreal's run to the CONCACAF Champions League final. Many will argue that while Mapp does that, he also will disappear from games quite often, but that is something that Nemeth had issues with as well, especially on the wing for Kansas City. So while Mapp may not be able to score a goal like Nemeth did against Portland, or do it as consistently as Nemeth did, but Mapp does give KC a threat in one-v-one situations.
The one area that this may hurt KC is the most is probably in a position that Nemeth didn't even play much last year, center forward. While Dwyer started 28 games last season, when he didn't start it wasn't Nemeth that played the center forward position for the most part in his absence, it was the likes of Zusi and Jacob Peterson that played that spot. But if Dwyer had gone down for an extended period of time for some reason, you would have to think that Nemeth would have slid centrally to be the center forward on a more regular basis. With him now gone KC is extremely thin at the center forward position. The club has Peterson, who is a prototypical Peter Vermes player with his style of play and his work ethic on the field. But with only one goal last season (coming when he was a center forward) he's not going to strike an imposing presence as a center forward for Kansas City. After him you have the likes of Zusi, playing a false nine or Daniel Salloi, who while he has scored in the top division in Hungary is still just 19 years old. KC's striker depth is probably the largest worry in terms of Nemeth leaving the club.
So overall, while the loss of Nemeth is certainly a big loss for Kansas City the loss is something that KC should be able to survive. In the end I should have put "replacing" in quotes though, because Kansas City really isn't going to be straight replacing him, at least not immediately. The team will need to make adjustments to the playing style that they had at the end of the season to adjust to not having Nemeth on the wing.
Wednesday, February 03, 2016
Rosell Joins Vitoria on Loan - Former SKC Wizards Update
Having found himself unable to break into the lineup at Sporting CP, former Kansas City midfielder, Oriol Rosell had been linked with a few moves away from the club. Rosell has been linked with the LA Galaxy, and more recently the New England Revolution, who have a partnership with the Portuguese club. Instead, Rosell is staying in Portugal and is going on loan to Vitoria SC, which is also in the Portuguese first division. He'll hopefully finally get some playing time and work to raise his stock.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Chris Konopka
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson
MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Tacoma - Did not play in Tacoma's 8-2 win over Turlock.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in either of St. Louis' games.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 6-1 win over St. Louis. Played and had an assist in Baltimore's 6-4 loss to Missouri.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 13-4 loss to Sonora.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 6-4 win over Blatimore.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Siah Jamegan - Iran - Started and played 90 minutes in Siah Jamegan's 2-1 win over Naft Tehran.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - No game until 4/24.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - No game until 2/6.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Dressed but did no play in Chivas' 1-0 win over Juarez. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-0 loss to Morelia.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in either of Belen's games.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 45 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 loss to Mumbai. Started and played 89 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 1-0 win over East Bengal.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Alajuelense's 4-0 win over Limon. Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 1-1 draw with Belen.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Defeated St. Ann's 2-1 and North East Stars 7-0.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Dressed but did not play in Leganes' 3-2 win over Cordoba.
Pablo Escobar - Jaguares de Córdoba - Colombia - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Jaguares' 2-1 win over Fortaleza.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Started and played 64 minutes in Queretaro's 2-0 loss to Santos Laguna.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - Did not play in Vasco's 4-1 win over Madureira.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - No game until 4/2.
Igor Juliao - Ferroviária - Brazil - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferroviaria's 1-0 win over Agua Santa.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 3-0 win over Univ. Concepcion.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - No game until 2/13.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - No game until 2/14.
Oriol Rosell - Vitoria (Sporting Club de Portugal) Portugal - Just joined club.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana - Thailand - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Game against Cove Rangers postponed.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Did not dress in Atromitos' 0-0 draw with Panathinaikos. Started and played 90 minutes in Atromitos' 1-1 draw with PAOK.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Chris Konopka
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson
MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Tacoma - Did not play in Tacoma's 8-2 win over Turlock.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in either of St. Louis' games.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 6-1 win over St. Louis. Played and had an assist in Baltimore's 6-4 loss to Missouri.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 13-4 loss to Sonora.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 6-4 win over Blatimore.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Siah Jamegan - Iran - Started and played 90 minutes in Siah Jamegan's 2-1 win over Naft Tehran.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - No game until 4/24.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - No game until 2/6.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Dressed but did no play in Chivas' 1-0 win over Juarez. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-0 loss to Morelia.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in either of Belen's games.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 45 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 loss to Mumbai. Started and played 89 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 1-0 win over East Bengal.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Alajuelense's 4-0 win over Limon. Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 1-1 draw with Belen.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Defeated St. Ann's 2-1 and North East Stars 7-0.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Dressed but did not play in Leganes' 3-2 win over Cordoba.
Pablo Escobar - Jaguares de Córdoba - Colombia - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Jaguares' 2-1 win over Fortaleza.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Started and played 64 minutes in Queretaro's 2-0 loss to Santos Laguna.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - Did not play in Vasco's 4-1 win over Madureira.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - No game until 4/2.
Igor Juliao - Ferroviária - Brazil - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferroviaria's 1-0 win over Agua Santa.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 3-0 win over Univ. Concepcion.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - No game until 2/13.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - No game until 2/14.
Oriol Rosell - Vitoria (Sporting Club de Portugal) Portugal - Just joined club.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana - Thailand - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Game against Cove Rangers postponed.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Did not dress in Atromitos' 0-0 draw with Panathinaikos. Started and played 90 minutes in Atromitos' 1-1 draw with PAOK.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.
Rangers Sign Benfica B Midfielder
Sporting Kansas City's USL team, the Swope Park Rangers continues to make some impressive moves ahead of their first season in the USL in 2016. Today the club announced the signing of Kevin Oliveira from Benfica B. The 19 year old native of Cape Verde has been with the club since he was 14 he worked his way up through the club until going on loan to second division side SC Covilha. He's played in a number of U19 tournaments with Benfica's team and has even been in national team camp with the Cape Verde national team when they were in Portugal to play the Portuguese national team in a friendly.
He's the fourth international and 13th on the Rangers roster as they get ready to kick off their preseason. The average age of those 13 players is just 22.5 years old, a good mix of veterans and youth that should help to establish exactly what Sporting KC wants out of the team, developing players who can help the first team.
According to Thad with The Blue Testament, Oliveira is the center midfielder that Robb Heineman had mentioned in a tweet as a loan that became an acquisition.
He's the fourth international and 13th on the Rangers roster as they get ready to kick off their preseason. The average age of those 13 players is just 22.5 years old, a good mix of veterans and youth that should help to establish exactly what Sporting KC wants out of the team, developing players who can help the first team.
According to Thad with The Blue Testament, Oliveira is the center midfielder that Robb Heineman had mentioned in a tweet as a loan that became an acquisition.
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