Friday, September 30, 2016

Match Day 32: Last Trip Out of Conference

Sporting Kansas City close out the Eastern Conference portion of their season tomorrow when they will take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. This is the first time the two teams have met since May of last year and the two teams are both going to be fighting for their playoff lives. While Kansas City is currently in a playoff spot, they could put themselves one step closer to qualification with a win tomorrow. Meanwhile the Revolution are below the red line in the Eastern Conference and could see themselves eliminated with a loss and a combination of three other results going against them this weekend.

As mentioned the Revolution are fighting for their playoff lives right now, a surprise in that they have some great attacking talent in the likes of Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo, Kelyn Rowe, Teal Bunbury and the early season addition of former KC forward, Kei Kamara after his falling out in Columbus. The Revs though have actually scored fewer goals than Kansas City has this year while allowing the third most goals in the league this year, with 51. Their defense has been a big struggle for them this year with only really one true center back, Jose Goncalves on their roster. Goncalves missed last week's game and is still listed as questionable for the Revolution tomorrow, which could be a big plus for Kansas City not having to deal with him.

Kansas City's playoff chances are quite a bit better than the Revolution's, but at the same time are far from certain for the club. Sporting sit just two points above the Portland Timbers, who are currently below the line. A win tomorrow to move five points clear would go a long way towards putting Sporting into the playoffs. KC will welcome back Graham Zusi to the team tomorrow after a three game absence due to injury. His presence in the team tomorrow will be welcome and will provide another dynamic for the team going forward. Sporting will have to play tomorrow without their captain, Roger Espinoza though due to yellow card accumulation. He'll certainly be missed on the field, but with Paulo Nagamura healthy his absence may not be felt as much as some.

Peterson - Dwyer - Davis
Feilhaber - Nagamura
Mustivar
Medranda - Coelho - Ellis - Abdul-Salaam
Melia


Number to Remember - 11 - That's the number of league away wins that Kansas City has against the Revolution, the most of any team in MLS, tied with the Columbus Crew. They're one of the few teams that KC has a winning record against on the road. So KC has a history of being able to get all three points in New England, they'll hope to continue that tomorrow.

Key Match Up - KC defense vs Kei Kamara - Two straight weeks Kamara will face one of his old teams, this time one that he left on good terms, and a team where many fans still love him for his time here. He's made his way into MLS's top 20 all time leading goal scorers over his past two seasons. While he hasn't had as good of a 2016 as he had 2015, he's still a major factor that has to be game planned for.

PREDICTION - Of KC's remaining two games, I'd say that this is the most winable of the two. A win tomorrow wouldn't seal KC's place in the playoffs, but it would make them missing much more of a doubt. Given New England's defensive record this season, Sporting KC is going to get their chances in the game tomorrow, even on the road. It'll be a question of whether they can keep up the clinical finishing they had against San Jose and put chances away. If they can, and hold the New England attack in check this is definitely a game KC can win.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Peterson)
NE - 2 (Kamara, Nguyen)

What We Want to Happen Today 9/30

The midweek games didn't help Sporting KC out a whole lot, especially with the Seattle Sounders closest to them winning and jumping into 6th place in the West, making 5-7 much tighter. Tonight there's only one MLS that has little impact on KC for the most part.

NYCFC at Houston
What we want to happen - Houston win

While the Dynamo still have two games in hand on KC and sit 11 points behind, their chances of passing the four teams between KC and them is extremely unlikely. Keeping them in the playoff chase as long as possible is also important, especially with match ups against Seattle, LA and Colorado upcoming for Houston. It also keeps the possibility of KC passing NYCFC in the single table should both teams make MLS Cup.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Another Former Player Retiring - Former SKC Wizards Update

Another former Kansas City player will be retiring at the end of the current MLS season. One week after Jack Jewsbury announced he would be retiring at the end of the season, 11 year veteran, Tyson Wahl also announced that he would be retiring when the current MLS season ended. Wahl was drafted by the Wizards back in 2006 and was with the club for three years, finally starting to break into the lineup in 2008 when he split time as a starter with Aaron Hohlbein next to Jimmy Conrad. In the expansion draft at the end of the season though Wahl was selected by the Seattle Sounders and left Kansas City having made 32 league appearances. He proceeded to play for the Sounders, Montreal Impact, and Colorado Rapids before joining the Columbus Crew back in 2013.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Pablo Escobar
Brian Fekete
Jeferson
Neven Markovic
Victor Munoz
Akeem Priestley
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 3-1 win over Portland.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in New England's 2-0 loss to Columbus.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Started and played 64 minutes in Orlando's 4-1 loss to DC.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 1-0 win over Montreal. Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 0-0 draw with Antigua.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Did not dress in Vancouver's 3-3 draw with Colorado.
Amadou Dia - Montreal - Did not dress in Montreal's 1-0 loss to New York.
Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Seattle's 4-2 win over LA.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Started and played 84 minutes in Chicago's 4-1 loss to NYCFC.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 3-1 loss to Houston. Dressed but did not play in Portland's 2-1 win over Dragon.
Kei Kamara - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 2-0 loss to Columbus.
Chris Konopka - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 3-1 loss to Houston. Dressed but did not play in Portland's 2-1 win over Dragon.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 1-0 loss to New York.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Dressed but did not play in NYCFC's 4-1 win over Chicago.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Did not dress in Salt Lake's 0-0 draw with Dallas.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 3-1 loss to Houston. Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Portland's 2-1 win over Dragon.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Orlando's 4-1 loss to DC.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 90 minutes in Philadelphia's 1-1 draw with Toronto.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Did not dres in Columbus' 2-0 win over New England.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Dressed but did not play in New York's 1-0 win over Montreal. Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 0-0 draw with Antigua.

NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Out injured.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa's 4-1 win over Fort Lauderdale.
Omar Bravo - Carolina - Started and played 73 minutes, recording an assist in Carolina's 1-0 win over Edmonton.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 1-1 draw with OKC.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Started and played 90 minutes in Puerto Rico's 1-0 win over Miami.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 win over Edmonton.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Came off the bench and played 4 minutes in OKC's 1-1 draw with Jacksonville.

US
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 3-1 win over Tulsa. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Swope's 2-0 win over Seattle.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Started and played 73 minutes in Swope's 3-1 win over Tulsa. Started and played 65 minutes in Swope's 2-0 win over Seattle.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Did not play in OKC's 2-1 loss to Vancouver. Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-2 draw with St. Louis.
Ryan James - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Rochester's 1-0 win over Toronto.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 68 minutes in Charlotte's 1-1 draw with Louisville.
Tyler Pasher - Swope Park - Started and palyed 66 minutes in Swope's 3-1 win over Tula. Started and played 80 minutes, scoring a goal in Swope's 2-0 win over Seattle.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in OKC's 2-1 loss to Vancouver. Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in OKC's 2-2 draw with St. Louis.
Kris Tyrpak - Swope Park - Started and played 57 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Swope's 3-1 win over Tulsa. Started and played 54 minutes in Swope's 2-0 win over Seattle.
Ualefi - Swope Park - Started and played 70 minutes in Swope's 3-1 win over Tulsa. Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 2-0 win over Seattle.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 loss to Wilmington.

PDL
Adnan Gabeljic - San Francisco - Offseason.
Faik Hajderovic - St. Louis U23 - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United- Sweden - Started and played 90 minutes in AFC's 5-1 win over Degerfors.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Tied PPT 1-1.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Started and played 84 minutes, scoring a goal in Belgrano's 2-1 win over Coritiba in the Copa Sudamericana. Came off the bench and played 17 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Belgrano's 2-0 win over Union Santa Fe.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Belen's 1-0 loss to Herediano. Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Belen's 2-1 win over Perez Zeledon.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 0-0 draw with Tampines Rovers.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Alajuelense's 3-0 win over Limon. Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 1-0 win over Municipal Liberia.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - No game this week.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Did not dress in either of Leganes' games.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in either of Queretaro's games.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Dressed but did not play in RoPS' 2-1 loss to HJK. Did not dress in RoPS' 1-1 draw with Mariehamn.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Did not dress in Fluminense's 1-0 cup loss to Corinthians. Started and played 90 minutes in Fluminense's 1-0 league win over Corinthians.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Did not dress in Slavia's cup loss to Gomelzheldortrans. Started and played 59 minutes in Slavia's 2-0 loss to Belshina.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Temuco's 2-1 cup loss to Universidad Catolica. Started and played 90 minutes in Temuco's 2-1 win over Everton.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Did not dress in RoPS' 2-1 loss to HJK. Dressed but did not play in RoPS' 1-1 draw with Mariehamn.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 90 minutes in Al-Gharafa's 5-4 loss to Lekhwiya.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Out injured
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes in IBV's 4-0 win over Valur.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Belenenses' 1-1 draw with Arouca.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United (BEC Tero Sasana) - Started and played 51 minutes in Pattaya's 4-1 win over Nakhon Ratchasima.
Daniel Salloi - Gyirmot FC Gyor (loan) - Hungary - Started and played 89 minutes in Gyirmot's 1-0 win over Vasas. Started and played 89 minutes, scoring a goal in Gyirmot's 1-0 win over Szombathelyi Haladas.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 1-0 win over Koln II. Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 3-0 cup win over VfB Speldorf.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - Started and played 45 minutes in Plymouth's 1-1 draw with Hartlepool United. Started and played 57 minutes in Plymouth's 2-0 win over Leyton Orient.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Did not dress in Deveronvale's 3-0 loss to Gretna.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Defeated Loyola 4-1.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes in Atromitos' 1-0 win over Asteras Tripolis.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - Came off the bench and played 4 minutes in Kickers' 0-0 draw with Elversberg.

What We Want to Happen Today 9/28

Sporting Kansas City helped themselves this past weekend, getting the win on the road in San Jose, but also got some help around the league with Portland dropping points allowing KC to jump back into fifth. Tonight there are a number of midweek MLS matches that could also help Kansas City on their path to clinching a playoff berth. Even though it wasn't MLS related, KC did already get one result last night that helps them out some. The Portland Timbers kept their CCL quarterfinal qualification hopes alive with a win in El Salvador last night. That means that the Timbers will have the chance to advance should they defeat Saprissa and overturn the goal difference against them (-2) in that game. That could potentially cause some lineup shuffling for them as the game is the week before the final regular season game.

Here are tonight's games.

San Jose at Montreal
What we want to happen - Montreal win

While a Montreal win allows the Impact to close the gap with KC to just two points in the overall table, it'll virtually eliminate the Earthquakes from being able to catch Kansas City. It would leave them nine points back with only 12 points left available to them. Them having nothing to play for in the final game of the season could be a blessing for Kansas City as well.

Chicago at Seattle
What we want to happen - Chicago win

With five wins in their last eight games, Seattle is probably the hottest team in MLS. Hosting the current "wooden spoon" leader tonight doesn't give me much hope of the Fire getting the result tonight, but with the games in hand the Sounders still have, and their position in the table, keeping them as far away from KC as possible is a plus. A win by Seattle tonight would see them jump ahead of the Timbers and into sixth place, just two points behind KC, still with a game in hand.

Orlando at Toronto
Columbus at DC
What we want to happen - Orlando and Columbus wins

Really these games only affect Kansas City in the single table and the potential of an MLS Cup hosted in KC. Toronto is getting close to being uncatchable for KC, sitting five points clear of them currently, while DC currently sits sixth in the East on 37 points. Keeping the rest of the East alive to fight for points while keeping those in playoff position close to KC is what we're going for.

Monday, September 26, 2016

Sporting KC Academy Players in College

Here is this week's update of Sporting KC academy players in college.

Class of 2013

Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - Sr - Was a substitute in Jacksonville's 1-0 loss to NJIT. Started Jacksonville's 2-1 OT win over Lipscomb.

Matt Bernard (Cal Baptist) - MF - RJr - Was a substitute in Cal Baptist's 3-0 win over Point Loma.

Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - Sr - Started both Rockhurst's 0-0 draw with Missouri St. Louis and their 2-0 win over Maryville.

Seo-In Kim (UCSB) - MF - Sr - Did not play in either of UCSB's games.

Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - Sr - Started Northern Illinois' 2-1 win over Milwaukee.

Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - Sr - Did not play in UMKC's 1-0 loss to Missouri State.

Wes White (Coastal Carolina) - F - RJr - Came on as a substitute in Coastal Carolina's 1-0 loss to Greensboro and their 2-1 win over Radford.

Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - Sr - Started Fort Hays' 6-1 win over University of Mary.

Class of 2014

Darby Cronin (Missouri State)- MF - Jr - Did not play in either of Missouri State's games.

Heath Honold (West Virginia) - F - Jr - Started both West Virginia's 3-0 win over American, and their 1-0 win over Greensboro.

Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - Jr - Started Drake's 3-2 loss to UIC.

Blake Levine (Baker) - F - Jr - Started and had a goal in Baker's 3-2 win over Benedictine. Started Baker's 1-1 draw with Culver-Stockton.

Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - Jr - Started Fordham's 2-1 OT win over Columbia.

Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - RSo - Came on as a substitute in both UNC's 4-1 win over William & Mary and their 5-0 win over Boston College.

Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - Jr - Startd both Trevecca's 3-2 loss to Alderson Broaddus and their 2-0 loss to Davis & Elkins.

Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - Jr - Started and had an assist in West Virginia's 3-0 win over American. Started West Virginia's 1-0 win over Greensboro.

Cole Stevenson (Fordham) - F - Jr - Started Fordham's 2-1 OT win over Columbia.

Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - Jr - Started and had a goal and an assist in North Carolina's 4-1 win over William & Mary. Started and had 2 assists in UNC's 5-0 win over Boston College.

2015

Andrew Blalock (Drake) - GK - RFr - Did not play in Drake's 3-2 loss to UIC.

Robert DeWitt III (Xavier) - MF - So - Did not play in Xavier's 2-0 win over Georgetown.

Jack Freeman (Furman) - D - RFr - Did not play in either of Furman's games.

Bryce Gibson (Creighton) - D - So - Came on as a substitute in Creighton's 0-0 draw with Denver, did not play in Creighton's 4-1 win over DePaul.

Nic Jaimes (Drake) - MF - So - Started and had an assist in Drake's 3-2 loss to UIC.

Ryan Krutz (Notre Dame) - GK - So - Did not play in Notre Dame's 2-1 win over Syracuse.

Zane Moxley (Air Force) - D - So - Did not play in Air Force's 1-0 loss to Omaha. Came on as a substitute in Air Force's 4-1 win over Gonzaga.

Alexis Quevedo (UNLV) - MF - So - Did not play in either of UNLV's games.

Hector Solorio (Niagara) - MF - So - Started Niagara's 1-0 OT win over Quinnipiac.

Tucker Stephenson (West Virginia) - F - So - Started both West Virginia's 3-0 win over American and their 1-0 win over Greensboro.

Andy Velez (JCCC) - MF - So - Started JCCC's 3-2 win over KCKCC, did not play in JCCC's 4-1 win over Neosho and their 3-1 win over Allen County.

Bailey Weeks (Northeastern State University) - D - So - Did not play in any of Northeastern's games.

2016

Dakota Karns (Missouri State) - MF - Fr - Did not play in either of Missouri State's games.

Ryan Kellogg (West Virginia) - D - Fr - Came on as a substitute in West Virginia's 3-0 win over American, started their 1-0 win over Greensboro.

John Leisman (Yale) - F - Fr - Started Yale's 3-0 loss to New Hampshire.

Logan Lucas (West Virginia) - D - Fr - Started both West Virginia's 3-0 win over American and their 1-0 win over Greensboro.

Andrew McLeod (Northwestern) - D - Fr - Did not play in Northwestern's 2-1 loss to DePaul, started Northwestern's 2-1 OT win over Michigan.

Absalom Solorio (Niagara) - MF - Fr - Started Niagara's 1-0 OT win over Quinnipiac.

Paul Whitener (Marshall) - MF - Fr - Started Marshall's 2-1 win over NKU and their 1-0 win over FAUM.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Sunday After Stats

Dom Dwyer's goal was his 15th of the season, tying Eddie Johnson in 2007 as the third most in a single season for KC.

Benny Feilhaber's two assists gave him 35 for his career for KC in league play, tying him with Davy Arnaud for 4th all time.

Feilhaber made his 130th start in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Aurelien Collin for 20th all time on that list.

Kevin Ellis made his 50th league start for KC, he's the 49th player to hit that mark.

Roger Espinoza made his 157th start in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Tony Meola for 13th and moving him into a tie with Mo Johnston and Seth Sinovic for 11th all time on that list.

Sporting End Their Jinx in San Jose

For the first time in 16 years, Sporting Kansas City is returning to Kansas City from San Jose with all three points after a 2-1 win at Avaya Stadium last night. Not since 2000 when a lineup mixed with starters and back ups went to San Jose and won 3-0 has Kansas City been able to get a win on the road in San Jose. The 18 game winless streak was the second longest in league history after New York's winless run in New England.

San Jose though came out firing immediately attacking Kansas City from the opening kick off, but punching a cross only as far as Chris Wondolowski, Tim Melia made a nice save off the US international. Unfortunately for the Earthquakes the early attack came at a cost as forward Quincy Amarikwa appeared to suffer a serious knee injury while going after the initial cross into the box. KC had an early opportunity of their own in the seventh minute and made no mistake as Benny Feilhaber played a quick restart to Paulo Nagamura who crossed a ball into the box for Dom Dwyer who had found space between a group of San Jose defenders and headed the ball past David Bingham and into the net to put KC up 1-0. San Jose began to push the game against KC from there, spending a lot of time attacking Jimmy Medranda down KC's left hand side. Medranda at times struggled with the spotlight from the opposing attack squarely on him, but KC's defense was able to hold out. All the pressure from the Quakes finally got them level in the 42nd a mistake in the back by Nuno Coelho allowed the Earthquakes to score. A long ball to the top of the box was flicked into the box where Coelho held three Quakes players onside, as Coelho went to the ball he held up thinking Melia was going to come and claim it, but Melia stayed on his line and Coelho took too long making up his mind to clear it as Henok Goitom tried to reach for the ball at the same time. Coelho went down thinking he was fouled while Goitom went for the ball and back heeled it into the path of Simon Dawkins who easily beat Melia to tie the game at 1-1 as the teams headed into the half.

The second half started almost the exact same way as the first as the Earthquakes came out flying and another fantastic save by Melia as Wondolowski redirected a cross kept the Quakes from going up 2-1. San Jose continued to pour numbers forward and attack KC's left side and they had another chance at the hour mark as Wondolowski made the run down the left and crossed the ball in, it eventually was knocked back to Alberto Quintero who fired a low blast that Melia saved and then jumped on the rebound. Kansas City started to find some space of their own with Brad Davis having a curling effort tipped wide of the post (although no corner was given) in the 77th minute. In the 80th minute after winning a corner KC grabbed the lead again as Feilhaber's corner was flicked on by Ike Opara to the back side where Kevin Ellis, facing the wrong way, hit the ball with his calf and into the net from about a yard out as he got just enough separation from his defender, giving KC a 2-1 lead. KC held on the final 10 minutes, including a very late corner kick where the Quakes brought Bingham forward to win in San Jose and help their playoff chances after dropping four points at home.

Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Came up with some huge saves in goal for Sporting last night, the save on Wondolowski at the beginning of the second half was absolutely fantastic reaction save.

Player Ratings - Melia 7, Medranda 4, Ellis 6, Coelho 5, Abdul-Salaam 6, Mustivar 6, Espinoza 6, Nagamura 6, Peterson 4, Dwyer 5, Feilhaber 5. Subs Davis 6, Opara 6.

What We Want to Happen Today 9/25

To go along with a big win against San Jose, Kansas City got some help elsewhere around the league too. The Houston Dynamo continued to play the spoiler role defeating the Portland Timbers, which allowed KC to jump back into fifth place. Dallas and Colorado both earned road draws against Salt Lake and Vancouver which allowed KC to close the gap for fourth to just two points on the former and extend their lead on the later to eight points with three games to play for the Whitecaps. Today there's another huge game with playoff implications for KC. There's also an Eastern Conference match up that has pretty much no meaning to KC.

Seattle at Los Angeles
What we want to happen - LA win

While LA not sits just five points ahead of KC in third place in the Western Conference, Seattle is the team to watch out for in the Western Conference. The Sounders are in some of the best form of any team in the league at this point and still have six games left. They're outside the playoffs on 35 points right now, but with their games in hand could easily close the gap, so KC fans are rooting for the Galaxy to take all three today.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

What We Want to Happen Today, 9/24

Getting down to the last month of the season, things are extremely tight for Sporting KC in their race for a playoff berth. At this point I'm going to forgo the Eastern Conference match ups, just know that KC want as many dropped points out of Eastern Conference playoff teams as possible for that fantasy chance of hosting MLS Cup. On that note, let's take a look at the games involving Western Conference teams and what Sporting want to happen in those games.

Colorado at Vancouver
What we want to happen - Colorado win

While Colorado is only seven points ahead of KC late in the season, they also still have two games in hand on Sporting, so the likelihood of catching them is small, even if Colorado hasn't been in the greatest of form lately. Vancouver meanwhile is just six points back while having played the same number of games. Cutting that lead to just three points is something that KC doesn't want to happen at all.

Portland at Houston
What we want to happen - Houston win

Sporting KC could find themselves back in fifth place after tonight if KC somehow gets a win in San Jose and Portland loses or draws in Houston. But even if they don't, keeping Portland close to KC is the key. Therefore, having the Dynamo close the game with KC to eight, while a little disturbing, is better than Portland making their lead on KC four points.

Dallas at Salt Lake
What we want to happen - Dallas win

With Dallas basically unreachable for KC to catch, Sporting want Salt Lake to drop points and leave them still within touching distance for Sporting KC to catch and potentially get a home game in the playoffs.


Friday, September 23, 2016

Match Day 31: An Unwelcome Road Trip

In desperate need to try to shore up their playoff chances, Sporting KC head on the road for three straight games before closing out the season at home. Sitting just five points above the red line, and having not won on the road against a first division team since April, KC will be trying desperately to try to hang onto that playoff spot. They'll start the road trip tomorrow in San Jose, probably the least hospitable place for Kansas City.

The Earthquakes are still alive in the race to qualify for the playoffs, sitting in ninth place in the West, but only six points behind Sporting KC with two games in hand on them. That makes tomorrow's game a much more interesting match up as a loss and KC's lead is down to just three and the Earthquakes would still have two games in hand. The Quakes look like they may be without Aibal Godoy, the Panamanian midfielder who scored twice last year against Kansas City is recovering from a hamstring injury and is listed as questionable.

Kansas City has finally been getting goals from that second goal scorer that they've lacked for most of the season as Jacob Peterson is hitting career highs for goals and close to career highs in starts and minutes played for his MLS career. He's helped to create a secondary threat that has allowed Dom Dwyer to get some space as well the last few games. Unfortunately for KC the extra support offensively has been offsason by a leaking defense that has allowed five goals in the last two home games. Now they go on the road where they have scored one goal or fewer in 11 of KCs' 14 road games. Sporting's defense will be the first thing that will need to clean itself up if KC wants to make any sort of run towards the playoffs in this road stretch.

Peterson - Dwyer - Davis
Espinoza - Feilhaber
Mustivar
Medranda - Besler - Opara - Abdul-Salaam
Melia

Number to Remember - 5883 - That's how many days it has been since Sporting Kansas City won a game in San Jose, the last win was on 8/16/2000 when KC beat the Earthquakes 3-0 on goals by Francisco Gomez, Vicente Figueroa, and Chris Henderson.

Key Match Up - KC defense vs Chris Wondolowski - Sporting KC have played five games on the road across all competitions, and in those five games Kansas City have allowed 12 goals, an average of 2.4 goals per game. Going up against one of the league's highest goal scorers of all time doesn't seem to be the best way to cure your defensive woes though.

PREDICTION - Kansas City need to get something out of tomorrow's game, a loss and Kansas City really put their playoff position in a precarious situation heading into the final three games of the season. San Jose for their part have won just one time in their last nine games, at the same time they've only lost twice, so the team seems pretty predictable for a draw tomorrow. It won't end the winless run either this year or in San Jose, and it won't do Kansas City a ton of good, but it'll be better than a loss, which has been the case on most of KC's previous trips to San Jose.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
SJ - 1 (Wondolowski)

Sporting KC Competing in MLS 3.0 with an MLS 2.0 Mindset?

Since the Kansas City Wizards rebranded as Sporting Kansas City, the club has begun to rise to the top of MLS in terms of on the field performance, image, and structure of the organization. In the span of a few years Kansas City went from being one of the laughing stocks of MLS to the envy of the league, the "Soccer Capital of America" and MLS Cup champions in 2013. Since then though it seems like the club has been in a bit of a slow decline, yes there was the 2015 US Open Cup, the club's third trophy in four years, but a string of poor league performances, early playoff exits, and poor player personnel moves have caused some of the shine to come off of the club and begin to create some questions about the ability of Kansas City to continue to be one of the league's elite with their current strategies and policies.

Sporting KC's rise to the "Soccer Capital" came as MLS really started to embrace the "MLS 2.0" moniker, Don Garber had first used the term back in 2008 as the next step in the league's evolution, beginning with the expansion into Canada with Toronto FC, the addition of the designated player rule, and the establishing of the homegrown player process. By 2011 MLS was in full 2.0 mode with most teams having had at least one designated player and homegrown players starting to regularly be signed by teams. While other MLS teams were adding designated players with more globally recognized names, Kansas City didn't have that luxury simply because of their location in the United States and their status in the league at the time. KC under Peter Vermes, instead went for a more focused and simple approach. The club worked to build a consistent lineup that played a specific formation and style that would cause teams trouble in MLS. Vermes' high pressure caused teams plenty of problems for other teams, but also had its growing pains for Kansas City as the team shifted their pressure point higher up the field or further back depending how other teams exploited Kansas City's set up. But Kansas City's set style of play gave them a direction that they planned to go with each and every year, and because of that Vermes was able to focus his acquisitions and draft strategy with that in mind. KC found success grabbing players like Aurelien Collin, Julio Cesar, and Oriol Rosell off the European scrap heap, while drafting well with the likes of CJ Sapong and Dom Dwyer. With those acquisitions, Vermes was also get the rest of the core players on the team to buy into the system and play the style KC wanted, with Matt Besler, Roger Espinoza, and Graham Zusi all coming into real prominence with their national teams during this early stretch.

KC really started to look like one of the smartest teams in the league, off the field the team was appealing to MLS's long sought after 18-35 demographic, bringing strong attendance to Children's Mercy Park, while on the field they did something that was lacking a lot in Kansas City at the time, win. The 2011 KC Royals finished with their 16th losing season in the last 17 years, and hadn't been to the playoffs since 1985. The Chiefs had just come off winning the AFC West in 2010, but lost in the playoffs at home, making it 17 years without a playoff win for the Chiefs. The team would also go on to a combined 9-23 over the next two seasons. All of that combined to help Kansas City look really good, not just in the Kansas City area to sports fans, but in the US to soccer fans. It was a perfect storm for Sporting Kansas City to really establish themselves in the KC sport scene by being successful and marketing themselves correctly locally.

The smart work on and off the field paid off in full when Sporting Kansas City lifted MLS Cup at home after defeating Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks in 2013. The club was on top of MLS and it was seen as the crowning moment and the fitting end of the rebranding chapter of Sporting KC's history with the rise from an afterthought to the league's best.

Since then though, the club has fallen back to the mean and at times seems to be falling behind other teams that are now doing some of the things Sporting KC innovated better than them. Around 2013 people were talking how MLS was starting to transition from MLS 2.0 to 3.0 with the smart work of teams like LA, Seattle and KC, examples of this came from different sources, one focusing on each of those clubs' ability to develop their own players worthy of designated player contracts (Omar Gonzalez, Osvaldo Alonso, Matt Besler, and Graham Zusi). The transition started to come up more with the addition of Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) which gave teams another way to acquire higher priced players without sacrificing more of their cap space. With the new TAM mechanism along with General Allocation Money, and the expanded Designated Player rule, other teams were able to be make better player acquisitions, improving the quality of their team. At the same time, teams that had been spending money on the team but not succeeding on the field started to be smarter about their additions and bringing in players that fit, like Toronto FC. Teams willing to use all their GAM, TAM, and DP slots were doing so in much smarter ways on the field, allowing them to find more success. As tends to happen when a team is successful, other teams attempt to replicate how they became successful, adjusting it and making their team more successful. While other teams were doing this, Sporting Kansas City continued to follow their strategy that had made them successful in MLS 2.0. Unfortunately the success that they'd had on the field started to wain as off the field work wasn't as successful.

One of the big parts of Kansas City's roster make up was by building through the draft as I'd mentioned earlier, five of the 11 players that started MLS Cup 2013 were drafted by Kansas City, and all since Vermes took over as the club's technical director. Unfortunately the team's drafting of players the last few years have not been as successful. Since Sporting KC draft Dom Dwyer in 2012, only five of the 16 players drafted have appeared in a single league game for Kansas City, and of those five, just three (Connor Hallisey, Amadou Dia, and Saad Abdul-Salaam) did it with any regularity. That trio also came from just one draft, when KC had three first round picks. In the other three drafts, KC has had just one first round pick, selecting Mikey Lopez in the first round in 2013. KC traded their other two first round picks (although with three second round picks). KC's 2014 first round pick and a 2015 second round pick were used to acquire Benny Feilhaber from the New England Revolution, a move that I'd say has paid off in full. Other trades saw KC acquire Ike Opara from San Jose for a second round pick in 2013 (that trade has worked out pretty well), a first round pick for TAM in 2016 and a second round pick in 2016 for Andy Gruenebaum.

So while maybe not always using picks on selecting players, KC did arguably improve the team with those additions (Feilhaber especially). At the same time though KC hasn't had young players that they have drafted step up into the first team from the draft. That wouldn't be an issue for Kansas City, except as 2015 showed, KC does a lot of their building through the draft. Missing on so many players over the course of four years put KC in a whole in terms of young talent that the Sporting academy doesn't quite look ready to fill.

Instead KC has looked overseas to fill a number of those slots, both among younger players and with veterans. In terms of young talent, the best that is currently on KC (and not out on loan) is probably Jimmy Medranda, who is finally coming well after being signed as a teenager in 2013. He's established himself as KC's starting left back at this point and for a period of time earlier in the season was Sporting's best player. Other signings though haven't worked out so well when brought in from abroad, Jordi Quintilla, for example, for his heroics in scoring the clinching penalty kick in the 2015 US Open Cup final, couldn't seem to establish himself in the lineup for KC and then struggled to do so when loaned to the Swope Park Rangers, before his eventual release earlier this year right before the guaranteed contract date. Mechack Jerome is another younger KC player who didn't work out for Sporting, getting released by the club shortly after the club's exit from the 2013-2014 CCL.

Many of the rest of the additions for Sporting KC though have been more in their prime of their career when signed, and with many of those, KC has tried to follow the same strategy that they've used in prior seasons, picking up cast offs and injury prone players to come in and contribute. That's also had some mixed bags, because while Sporting hit things out of the part with the acquisition of Krisztian Nemeth, who was able to stay healthy during his one season in Kansas City, and Soni Mustivar has been a solid, addition in the center of midfield, the club has also had players like Toni Dovale who come in with some expectations and fail to meet them. Probably the most successful acquisition since the 2013 MLS Cup has been the re-acquisition of Roger Espinoza before the 2015, and his injury that ended his 2015 season lines up with Kansas City's slow slide down the standings during the 2015 season. The list of foreign signings who have failed to impress and have been gone in less than a year though has continued to grow as the likes of Dovale, Quintilla, Marcel de Jong, and Jorge Claros have all seen their tenures in Kansas City cut short despite the success of the likes of Espinoza, Nemeth, and Mustivar.

There's also been those injury prone players who haven't really worked out, the most recent one of those is Nuno Coelho, who looked like a solid, important addition to KC's back line early in the season, but has started just four games since late May, never going the full 90 minutes in any of those games, only making it past half time in two of them. When he's starting he's good, but it's a question of whether he can consistently do it, based on his history this season and with his prior clubs it's certainly one that Vermes is going to have to ask. If he can't, it's another in a growing list of disappointing signings.

The missed signings haven't just been in the international market either, Sporting's additions within MLS haven't worked out either as the team has moved on since 2013. In and out have come the likes of Jalil Anibaba, Servando Carrasco, Amobi Okugo, Bernardo Anor, and Andy Gruenebaum. And this year's crop doesn't look like they'll be around long term either with that headlined by the league's first "free agent" signing, Justin Mapp, who has appeared in just six games, failing to able to stay healthy for Kansas City.

Every team has to deal with their fair share of failures when it comes to signings, both within the league and from outside, but Sporting's list of failures over the last couple years are starting to grow quite a bit longer than the successes at this point. Something that didn't seem to happen in the first few years of Sporting's rebranding under Vermes.

The most successful one in the last few years didn't stick around though either, as Krisztian Nemeth departed for Qatar this past offseason. You can choose to blame whoever you want for the departure, some fans blame the team for it, some fans blame Nemeth, but from both sides it seems after the season, KC came to Nemeth offering to renegotiate his contract in good faith after the season he'd produced for the club. Once the door was open for renegotiating, both sides couldn't reach an agreement on how much was appropriate, the relationship soured and Nemeth was sold. It's not the last time Vermes' contract negotiating skills have come up, as they're now front and center with another player, as Benny Feilhaber is out of contract after the season, is currently able to sign a pre-contract with any club outside of MLS, and as of yet has not had much in the way of negotiations with the team about an extension. It's a strategy that Vermes has used in years past because of his dual role as head coach and technical director. If KC lose Feilhaber without even offering him a new contract, it'll be another black eye for Vermes in his player negotiating skills, less than a year after Nemeth's departure. The Feilhaber saga brings up another job of KC's and Vermes' strategy that may need to change as MLS becomes a more visible league. With more teams around the world taking a look at MLS for talent, delaying negotiations on players in the final year of their contract is a recipe for disaster. Waiting until after a player can sign a pre-contract is just asking for that player to go and sign abroad somewhere if there is interest. In the past that interest was minimal at best, but with an MVP finalist, maybe it'll take losing a player like Feilhaber to see that the tactic needs to change. KC has previously negotiated in season on other players, specifically Roger Espinoza in 2012 after his run at the Olympics and Matt Besler and Graham Zusi after their time at the 2014 World Cup. The in season negotiating worked on the latter two, but Espinoza seemed completely set on a move abroad. Still it's a strategy that Vermes may well need to change if he wants to retain some of his best talent.

Another issue with Nemeth's departure that has become a reoccurring theme now for Kansas City is the club's replacing top level talent with lesser talent hoping for similar results. With Nemeth the club had Justin Mapp and Brad Davis who could both step in and play the wing. The hope was that the pair would be able to pick up the goal scoring slack as a committee with the departure of Nemeth. Unfortunately as this season has shown, the pair has not, as Mapp has fewer appearances than Nemeth had goals, and Davis, who was expected to provide additional service for KC, has provided more goals (2) than he has assists (1).

Nemeth isn't the only example of losing talent and failing to replace it in the last few years, Oriol Rosell is a big one that comes to mind. KC tried to replace the Spaniard with Jorge Claros, Paulo Nagamura, Benny Feilhaber, Servando Carrasco, and even James Marcelin (who was signed in the offseason and waived in preseason) all to varying degrees of success in KC's high pressure system that needs the defensive midfielder to be good with his distribution. The best KC has gotten out of that is Soni Musitvar who still struggles at times but has been an adequate replacement for Rosell.

Aurelien Collin is another player that KC for the longest time failed to replace adequately. The main issue here was the inability by Ike Opara to stay healthy in 2015 (2014 as well when Collin was still with the team). Opara's been healthy in 2016 for the most part, but Coelho's injury issues since late May along with Matt Besler's drop in form and absence with the US national team haven't helped the recovery of Kansas City's center back situation.

Besler's performance as a designated player along with KC's other three designated players during the last few years is another area that hasn't helped Sporting KC in their slow slide since the 2013 MLS Cup. KC has gotten far less than a DP level performance from their four DPs they've had on their roster since 2013. The pair signed new contracts with KC in 2013 using the newly instituted "retention funds" that allowed the club to retain certain players who were near the end of their contract. Then after both were consistent performers for the US national team in the summer of 2014, the pair were signed to designated player contracts on July 19th of that year, fending off potential interest from Europe. Since then, further national team call ups, injuries and form have held back the two players from consistently playing at a DP level. In the 79 league games played since the pair signed their DP contracts, Besler has played in 61 of those games (77%), while Zusi has played in 57 (72%), and while Besler's numbers are harder to quantify as a defender, Zusi has been a part of just 20 (7 goals, 13 assists) of KC's 106 goals (19%) since he was made a DP. If you're giving these two DP contracts you're going to be expecting more from them on the field than what is currently being provided.

KC's other two DPs haven't performed much better. After a solid start to his Sporting KC career, Claudio Bieler lost his starting spot to Dom Dwyer late in 2013 and never earned it back in 2014. He scored just a pair of league goals in his second season with KC and returned to Argentina in the offseason. Then this year, Sporting KC brought Diego Rubio in on a young DP contract on loan at the beginning of the season. While the young DP contract offers KC some advantages due to its lower cap hit, Rubio hasn't really been a big contributor to the team. From the time he was signed until June 30th when his loan was extended through the end of the regular season and he was no longer a DP, Rubio appeared in just nine games, only two of them starts and scored just one goal. Of his seven sub appearances, only two were more than 10 minutes, while the young DP designation makes it hurt less, playing that little with the "DP" tag on your name isn't something that's going to give fans lots of excitement.

Meanwhile elsewhere around the league in this stretch, other teams are really starting to get production from their designated players on the field, from the likes of Sebastian Giovinco, to Bradley Wright-Phillips, to even David Accam, more teams are getting goal scoring performances from their designated players. Even for all his issues with actually playing, when he does Frank Lampard has shown he can still run a team and score goals for NYCFC. With more designated players in the league than ever before, and more producing results on the field it seems, having two of those slots currently filled by players that really aren't holding up their end of the contract can be a real hindrance to a team, especially in MLS with its cap restrictions.

For all the issues with their DPs though, Vermes has done some good work to try to have the roster ready, using TAM and GAM to pay down the likes of Espinoza and Dwyer, who according to the players' union both make over the roster max. For KC to compete though they're going to have to start getting more production from their DPs, whether it's Besler, Zusi and a third DP, or any combination that sees Besler or Zusi no longer DPs.

In the end it just seems that since Sporting KC lifted MLS Cup in 2013 the club has gotten a little complacent in their work. Both from the team on the field and in the work done by the scouting department in bringing in players. The good news is that Vermes has already built this team once and I don't doubt that he can do it again, really I think he just needs some kind of kick in the butt to get them going again. Maybe the current slide that has lasted much of the season and could very well see them miss the playoffs is the kick that they need to get things turned around and headed back up again. For all the fun talk about winning the US Open Cup and competing in the CCL, it's the league season and playoff run especially that will ultimately decide whether or not Vermes and his staff keep their jobs. And after the last few years with KC tailing off late in 2014 and 2015 and then struggling for long stretches early and late in 2016, Vermes seat could begin to get quite warm in 2017 if he doesn't make changes to address it. To do that though he may need to go about changing some of his player acquisition strategies that he's used for the past six years with some decent amount of success, but in an MLS that is continuing to evolve and change quickly, sticking to your old ways when they appear to be less and less successful is not going to keep you around for the long term.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Jewsbury to Retire at the End of the Season - Former SKC Wizards Update

Another long time MLS player is hanging up their cleats at the end of the season, former Kansas City Wizards' midfielder, Jack Jewsbury announced this past week that this year would be his final year in MLS. Jewsbury announced that he would retire at the end of the season at Portland's Stand Together Banquet on Sunday, it will bring to an end a career that has seen the 35 year old play 14 seasons in MLS, his first eight were in Kansas City where he's on the club's top 10 list in terms of starts, appearances, and minutes played. He's one of only nine players who have played in 200 games across all competitions for the club. In 2011 when he seemed to be losing his minutes on the field as KC started to go another direction he was traded to the Portland Timbers where he was the club's first captain when they joined MLS. He's since gone on to be a main part of their team and for his career is in MLS' all time top 10 in terms of appearances (348) and 29th all time in minutes played (25,363 up to this point. Congrats to Jewsbury on a fantastic career.

Here is the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Pablo Escobar
Brian Fekete
Jeferson
Neven Markovic
Victor Munoz
Akeem Priestley
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 1-0 win over RSL.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Came off the bench and played 8 minutes in New England's 3-1 win over Montreal.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 4-1 loss to Columbus.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Started and played 63 minutes in New York's 1-0 win over Alianza. Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 3-3 draw with Toronto.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Did not dress in Vancouver's 1-0 loss to Seattle.
Amadou Dia - Montreal - Did not dress in Montreal's 3-1 loss to New England.
Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 1-0 win over Vancouver.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Started and played 76 minutes in Chicago's 2-2 draw with DC.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 4-2 loss to Saprissa. Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 2-1 win over Philadelphia.
Kei Kamara - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, recording a goal and an assist in New England's 3-1 win over Montreal.
Chris Konopka - Portland - Dressed but did not play in either of Portland's games.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-1 loss to New England.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Dressed but did not play in NYCFC's 2-2 draw with Dallas.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in RSL's 1-0 loss to Houston.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 4-2 loss to Saprissa. Did not dress in Portland's 2-1 win over Philadelphia.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Started and played 45 minutes in Orlando's 4-1 loss to Columbus.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 74 minutes in Philadelphia's 2-1 loss to Portland.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Did not dress in Columbus' 4-1 win over Orlando.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 1-0 win over Alianza. Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in New York's 3-3 draw with Toronto.

NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Out injured.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Omar Bravo - Carolina - Came off the bench and played 4 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 loss to Miami. Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 loss to Tampa.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Jacksonville's 3-3 draw with Puerto Rico.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Started and played 90 minutes in Puerto Rico's 3-3 draw with Jacksonville.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Started and played 76 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 loss to Miami. Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 loss to Tampa.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Dresed but did not play in either of OKC's games.

US
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 3-0 win over OKC.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Swope's 3-0 win over OKC.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 3-0 loss to Swope.
Ryan James - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 1-0 win over Charlotte.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 73 minutes in Charlotte's 0-0 draw with Richmond. Came off the bench and played 8 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 loss to Rochester.
Tyler Pasher - Swope Park - Started and played 85 minutes, recording a goal and an assist in Swope's 3-0 win over OKC.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 3-0 loss to Swope.
Kris Tyrpak - Swope Park - Started and played 82 minutes in Swope's 3-0 win over OKC.
Ualefi - Swope Park - Started and played 87 minutes in Swope's 3-0 win over OKC.
Yomby William - Richmond - Did not dress in Richmond's 0-0 draw with Charlotte. Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Richmond's 2-1 loss to Charleston.

PDL
Adnan Gabeljic - San Francisco - Offseason.
Faik Hajderovic - St. Louis U23 - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United- Sweden - Started and played 68 minutes in AFC's 1-1 draw with Gais. Started and played 90 minutes in AFC's 1-0win over Sirius.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Lost 3-1 to Kraft.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Belgrano's 2-0 Copa Sudamericana win over Estudiantes. Did not dress in Belgrano's 0-0 draw with Olimpo.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Belen's 2-2 draw with Municipal Liberia.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 1-0 win over Tampines Rovers.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Dressed but did not play in Alajuelense's 2-0 win over Santos de Guapiles
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - No game this week.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Did not dress in Leganes' 5-1 loss to Barcelona.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in Queretaro's 1-0 win over Pumas.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Came off the bench and played 32 minutes in RoPS' 1-0 win over PK-35 Vantaa.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in either of Fluminense's games.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Did not dress in Slavia's 6-2 loss to Minsk.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - No game this week.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Did not dress in RoPS' 1-0 win over PK-35 Vantaa.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Al Gharafa's 4-2 loss to Al Ahli.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Out injured
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Started and played 83 minutes in IBV's 2-1 loss to Stjarnan. Started and played 90 minutes in IBV's 1-1 draw with Breidablik.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Came off the bench and played 5 minutes in Belenenses' 1-1 draw with Vitoria Guimaraes.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United (BEC Tero Sasana) - Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Pattaya's 4-0 loss to Sisaket.
Daniel Salloi - Gyirmot FC Gyor (loan) - Hungary - Defeated Zalakomar 7-0 in the cup. Started and played 81 minutes in Gyirmot's 0-0 draw with Paksi.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 2-0 loss to FC Schalke 04 II.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 2-0 win over Exeter City.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Did not dress in either of Deveronvale's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Defeated Forza 11-0, lost 1-0 to Kaya.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Did not dress in Atromitos' 2-0 loss to Panaitolikos
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - Dressed but did not play in Kickers' 1-0 win over Stuttgarter Kickers. Started and played 59 minutes in Kickers' 1-1 draw with Waldhof Mannheim.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Sporting Academy Players in College

Here's this week's update on how players from the Sporting KC academy have done in college.

Class of 2013

Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - Sr - Came on as a substitute in Jacksonville's 3-1 loss to Mercer. Started Jacksonville's 4-1 loss to UCF.

Matt Bernard (Cal Baptist) - MF - RJr - Came on as a substitute in both Cap Baptist's 3-0 loss to MSU Billings and their 3-0 win over University of Mary.

Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - Sr - Started and had an assist in Rockhurst's 3-0 win over Saint Joseph's. Started their 1-0 win over Indianapolis.

Seo-In Kim (UCSB) - MF - Sr - Did not play in either of UCSB's games.

Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - Sr - No game this week.

Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - Sr - Did not play in either of UMKC's games.

Wes White (Coastal Carolina) - F - RJr - Came on as a substitute in Coastal Carolina's 1-0 loss to Charlotte.

Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - Sr - Started all three of Fort Hay's games as they went 2-1 this past week winning 7-3 over UC-Colorado Springs, losing 1-0 to Western Washington, and defeating Seattle Pacific 2-1.

Class of 2014

Darby Cronin (Missouri State)- MF - Jr - Did not play in Missouri State's 1-1 draw with Oral Roberts.

Heath Honold (West Virginia) - F - Jr - Started West Virginia's 0-0 draw with UMBC and was a substitute in their 3-0 win over George Mason.

Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - Jr - Started in Drake's game against Green Bay that Drake ended up forfeiting. Started Drake's 1-0 loss to Loyola.

Blake Levine (Baker) - F - Jr - Started Baker's 4-0 win over Clarke.

Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - Jr - Started both Fordham's 0-0 draw with Manhattan and their 2-1 win over Stetson.

Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - RSo - Was a substitute in UNC's 1-0 loss to ETSU. Did not play in UNC's 1-0 win over Pitt.

Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - Jr - Started both Trevecca's 3-1 loss to Lee and their 3-0 win over Malone.

Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - Jr - Started both West Virginia's 0-0 draw with UMBC and their 3-0 win over George Mason, scoring a goal in the second game.

Cole Stevenson (Fordham) - F - Jr - Started both Fordham's 0-0 draw with Manhattan and their 2-1 win over Stetson.

Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - Jr - Started both UNC's 1-0 los to ETSU and their 1-0 win over Pitt.

2015

Andrew Blalock (Drake) - GK - RFr - Did not play in either of Drake's games.

Robert DeWitt III (Xavier) - MF - So - Did not play in either of Xavier's games.

Jack Freeman (Furman) - D - RFr - Did not play in Furman's 4-3 win over Gardner-Webb.

Bryce Gibson (Creighton) - D - So - Came on as a substitute in both Creighton's 3-0 win over UMKC and their 4-1 win over Seton Hall.

Nic Jaimes (Drake) - MF - So - Started in Drake's game against Green Bay that Drake ended up forfeiting. Started Drake's 1-0 loss to Loyola.

Ryan Krutz (Notre Dame) - GK - So - Did not play in either of Notre Dame's games.

Zane Moxley (Air Force) - D - So - Did not play in either of Air Force's games.

Alexis Quevedo (UNLV) - MF - So - Did not play in UNLV's 2-0 loss to Oregon State.

Hector Solorio (Niagara) - MF - So - Started both Niagara's 3-0 loss to Buffalo on their 1-0 loss to St. Bonaventure.

Tucker Stephenson (West Virginia) - F - So - Was a substitute in West Virginia's 0-0 draw with UMBC, started their 3-0 win over George Mason.

Andy Velez (JCCC) - MF - So - Started JCCC's 3-0 win over Cowley County.

Bailey Weeks (Northeastern State University) - D - So - Did not play in either of Northeastern's games.

2016

Dakota Karns (Missouri State) - MF - Fr - Did not play in Missouri State's 1-1 draw with Oral Roberts.

Ryan Kellogg (West Virginia) - D - Fr - Was a substitute in West Virginia's 0-0 draw with UMBC and started their 3-0 win over George Mason.

John Leisman (Yale) - F - Fr - Came on as a substitute in Yale's 2-0 loss to Quinnipiac. Started Yale's 2-0 loss to Lafayette.

Logan Lucas (West Virginia) - D - Fr - Started West Virginia's 0-0 draw with UMBC and was a substitute in their 3-0 win over George Mason.

Andrew McLeod (Northwestern) - D - Fr - Did not play in either of Northwestern's games.

Absalom Solorio (Niagara) - MF - Fr - Started both Niagara's 3-0 loss to Buffalo on their 1-0 loss to St. Bonaventure.

Paul Whitener (Marshall) - MF - Fr - Started both Marshall's 1-0 loss to High Point and their 3-0 loss to UAB.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Sunday of Stats

Lots of stats from today's game, lots of landmarks hit.

Dom Dwyer's goal was his 50th league goal for KC, he's only the second player to hit that mark for KC.

In the 62nd minute, Dwyer hit 10,000 minutes played for KC in all competitions, becoming the 24th player to hit that mark.

In the 20th minute, Matt Besler moved past Preki and into 4th place for minutes played in all competitions for KC, he finished the game with 20,708 minutes played.

Besler made his 236th appearance in all competitions, breaking his tie with Chris Klein for 5th all time on that list.

Besler started his 228th game in all competitions for KC, tying him with Jimmy Conrad for 5th all time on that list.

Jacob Peterson's goal for Kansas City was the 1,100th in all competitions for KC.

His goal was his 13th league goal for KC, tying him with Matt McKeon, Jose Burciaga, Sasha Victorine, and Claudio Lopez for 19th all time on that list.

Peterson's goal was his 8th at home in league play for KC, tying him with Lopez, Burciaga, and Teal Bunbury for 20th on that list.

In the 47th minute, Roger Espinoza again moved past Seth Sinovic and into 13th place for minutes played in all competitions, he finished the game with 14,064 minutes played.

Roger Espinoza started his 156th game in all competitions for KC, tying him with Tony Meola for 13th all time on that list.

Benny Feilhaber started his 129th game in all competitions for KC, tying him with Aurelien Collin for 20th on that list.

Soni Mustivar made his 50th start in all competitions for KC, he's the 57th player to hit that mark.

Landon Donovan's goal was his 14th in league play against KC, tying him with Jason Kreis as the 2nd leading scorer all time against KC.

Sporting Draw at Home Again, Playoff Chances Take a Dive

Yesterday's results around MLS didn't going Sporting Kansas City's way, Portland jumped ahead of Kansas City thanks to a win over Philadelphia while Seattle closed the gap with Sporting KC to just four points with a win over Vancouver. The pair of results put KC in a dangerous situation heading into today's game against the LA Galaxy, a game where Kansas City really needed to win to give themselves some breathing room above the red line and making the playoffs. Unfortunately on the field Sunday Sporting KC put on a typical Sporting KC performance where they dominated in terms of shots, but couldn't put many of those opportunities on goal and had to settle for a 2-2 draw with the Galaxy. The result now sees Sporting KC start a three game road trip, probably needing to pick up a couple wins in those three games to keep in the race for a playoff spot.

Sporting KC came out with some early control of play with Jacob Peterson putting a header just over from about six yards out that showed KC's early intent to really push the game against the Galaxy. Unfortunately it was the Galaxy that struck first early as in just the seventh minute, Emmanuel Boateng got the ball out wide and crossed a ball into the box where Alan Gordon had gotten some separation from Matt Besler and beat Tim Melia with a header to put the Galaxy up 1-0 very early.

After the goal the rest of the half turned into Sporting KC trying to find an equalizer. They created a number of opportunities but either by missing the target or by sliding challenges by LA defenders, KC didn't get a shot on goal until late in the half. The pressure was firmly on both teams as they went into the half time break. It was on KC as the club desperately needed to find a goal to get themselves back into the game, while LA was under all the pressure on the field, having to consistently deal with the Sporting KC attack coming at them, or controlling the ball in their end of the field.

KC found their way back into the game early in the second half though as Dom Dwyer made his way out wide after collecting a ball and crossed into the middle for Jacob Peterson who had about his fourth or fifth chance of the game with his head. Peterson finished this opportunity and leveled the game at 1-1 in only the 50th minute, giving Kansas City plenty of time to find themselves a second goal. The second goal in the 69th minute for Kansas City off a quick restart as Benny Feilhaber smartly put the ball down and played it to Saad Abdul-Salaam who was racing up the wing. Abdul-Salaam crossed it into the middle for Dwyer who knocked the ball into the net to put KC on top 2-1, a heads up play by Feilhaber to catch the Galaxy slack in the back as they slowly backed up for the free kick.

The Galaxy then had to chase the game, and did so by inserting the league's all time leading scorer, Landon Donovan. Donovan had an immediate impact, equalizing just two minutes after coming on, he worked a give-and-go with Robbie Rogers down KC's left, and ran away from Soni Mustivar who seemed to slow down. Receiving the pass back from Rogers Donovan slotted the ball into the far corner on Melia like he had never missed a game and the game was tied 2-2. Kansas City picked the pressure back up after the goal but were unable to find a third and had to settle for the 2-2 draw that sees them only increase their lead on the Sounders to five points while the Sounders have two games in hand.

Wizards Man of the Match - Dom Dwyer - A goal and an assist for the new dad in the game, he set up Peterson with a great cross and read the quick restart that Feilhaber played very well to beat his man. On the down side, he had six shots but only put one of those six on goal.

Player Ratings - Melia 4, Medranda 4, Besler 4, Ellis 4, Abdul-Salaam 5, Mustivar 3, Espinoza 4, Feilhaber 5, Peterson 5, Dwyer 6, Davis 4. Subs Rubio 3, Coelho NR.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Match Day 30: Needing a Win

Sporting Kansas City find themselves in a troubling spot heading into the final few weeks of the MLS regular season. After results earlier today, Sporting Kansas City has fallen into sixth place in MLS' Western Conference, and currently just sit four points clear of the Seattle Sounders, who are in seventh place and still have a game in hand before KC plays tomorrow. With all those results, Sporting KC will kick off against the LA Galaxy at Children's Mercy Park feeling the late season pressure of the playoff chase. A loss and Kansas City's chances of making the playoffs start to really become worrisome heading into a three game road trip to some environments that have been less than inviting of late to KC.

The Galaxy will have a familiar face available to them tomorrow as former US national teamer, Landon Donovan came out of retirement last week and rejoined the Galaxy. Donovan is the third leading scorer all time against Kansas City with 13 goals, but only trails first place Jeff Cunningham by two goals. He came off the bench last week against Orlando, and I'd expect similar tomorrow for him. The bigger issue for tomorrow may be Giovani Dos Santos who is rounding into form for the Galaxy at the right time and will be a handful for Sporting to deal with defensively, and that's without throwing in other forward options like Robbie Keane or Sebastian Lletget in the midfield.

Sporting KC should have a fairly well rested lineup as there's only one player who saw the field on Tuesday that I think really has a chance of starting tomorrow, and that is Tim Melia in goal. Other than him I'd expect full scale changes from the team that lost 2-1 to Vancouver in the CCL. The only big injury worry for KC is Graham Zusi who will again miss out on the game due to a calf injury. The other injuries for KC are all squad players at this point with Chance Myers, Lawrence Olum, and the perpetually injured Justin Mapp. A team similar to last Friday's game against Houston, but with Jimmy Medranda back at left back seems the most likely.

Davis - Dwyer - Peterson
Feilhaber - Espinoza
Mustivar
Medranda - Besler - Coelho - Abdul-Salaam
Melia

Number to Remember - 1 - That's how many home games Sporting KC has left after tomorrow. Given KC still has yet to defeat a first division team on the road since April, getting full points from your remaining home games is absolutely imperative to Sporting KC at this point, they can't afford any more slips like last Friday.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Brian Rowe - You have the third leading shot taker in the league, Dwyer (100), going up against the goalkeeper with the third most saves this season, Rowe (100). Dwyer has had to carry much of the goal scoring load for KC this season without a secondary scoring threat (other than Benny Feilhaber from the penalty spot). He's been quite successful doing it, but KC will have to ride him the rest of the way if they hope to make the playoffs and advance.

PREDICTION - This is basically a must win for Sporting KC, a loss or a draw with the three game road trip ahead of them and the playoffs become a big question for the club with the surging Seattle Sounders right behind them. The Galaxy haven't been a strong road team, but have been able to get themselves draws on the road with some regularity, and with their talent, it's not going to be easy for KC to get a win. Unfortunately I think this is going to be another disappointing result for KC that will leave them barely hanging onto a playoff spot and needing results on the road over the next few weeks.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
LA - 1 (Keane)

What We Want to Happen Today 9/17

It's a busy day of MLS games today, with plenty of games having a big impact on Sporting Kansas City and their playoff hopes. With Sporting playing on Sunday, they get to scoreboard watch today and hope that come Sunday morning they're still in fifth place in the West.

Vancouver at Seattle
What we want to happen - draw

A draw keeps either side from closing the gap by more than a point, and it takes a point off the board as well. With the Whitecaps only five points behind and the Sounders seven (but two games in hand) Sporting don't want either one of the two teams to gain too much ground on them, but better they split the points than one get all three.

Philadelphia at Portland
What we want to happen - Philadelphia win

With a West vs East match up, take the East team almost every single time, even if it hurts the fantasy of an MLS Cup at Children's Mercy Park. A win by Portland would see them jump over KC and into fifth place. Sporting want that "buffer" between them and the red line.

Dallas at NYCFC
What we want to happen - Dallas win

Really at this point KC's chances of catching Dallas are pretty much nonexistent, Dallas sits 12 points clear with only 15 points left available for KC. NYCFC is still catch-able for that fantasy MLS Cup run, so hope that Dallas doesn't have a hangover from their US Open Cup win.

San Jose at Colorado
What we want to happen - Colorado win

Similar to Dallas I am not sure that KC has any chance of catching Colorado, they sit seven points ahead of KC and have two games in hand on Sporting. On the other hand, San Jose still has two games in hand on KC and sits just six points behind Sporting, so them dropping points is the result KC needs more in this game.

Houston at Salt Lake
What we want to happen - Houston win

Houston still sits rooted to the bottom of the Western conference with 26 points while Salt Lake sit five points ahead of KC for one of those wild card home games. Dropped points by Salt Lake and a KC win would see Sporting close the gap to just two points with the same number of games played.

Columbus at Orlando
What we want to happen - Columbus win

The fantasy of an MLS Cup at Children's Mercy Park, hope the teams closer to a playoff position lose, Orlando is currently in seventh, tied with DC for the final playoff spot in the East, Columbus is at the bottom of the East, so Orlando dropping all three is most ideal.

New England at Montreal
What we want to happen - New England win

Like the Columbus at Orlando game, keep the team higher up the table from getting all three points. Montreal is only one point behind KC in the overall table, so New England picking up all three is the result KC want here.

Friday, September 16, 2016

What We Want to Happen Today 9/16

Last weekend didn't exactly go to plan for Sporting Kansas City in their playoff race. Along with a draw against the Houston Dynamo, Sporting got little to no help from other games on the weekend to help them close the gap on the teams in front of them, or extend their gap on the teams below them. Another weekend of games could see Sporting KC less than three points above the red line in the Western Conference if results don't go their way again.

DC at Chicago
What we want to happen - Chicago win

The weekend starts off with a match up that has little to no bearing on Sporting KC as both United and the Fire currently sit outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. But DC sitting on 33 points while Chicago sits on 26 makes it a simple choice of going with the team with fewer points at this point of the season.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Sporting Add Former US Youth International Joya

It probably wasn't the signing that many Sporting Kansas City fans were wanting or expecting, but Sporting KC did make a move ahead of today's roster freeze. Sporting KC announced today that the team had signed 22 year old midfielder, Benji Joya.

Joya is beginning his second stint in MLS, having spent the 2014 season on loan with the Chicago Fire. Joya played in 12 games for the Fire that season, scoring one goal. The Fire though didn't make the loan deal permanent and Joya returned to Santos Laguna, who signed him when he was 18. Joya could never establish himself fully with Santos, only appearing a handful of times for them. Most recently he had been playing on loan with Club Necaxa in the Mexican second division, but again didn't make a whole lot of appearances for them.

Joya is also a US youth international, having captained the US U20 team in World Cup qualifying and was a part of the US team that went to the World Cup in Turkey. He has also appeared for the US U23 team as well.

On the surface his is a signing that likely won't pay off much this year, it's a typical late season Peter Vermes signing where he'll take a chance and kick the tires on a young player to see if they fit in and what type of role they can play in the team. It's been the same for guys like Peterson Joseph, Jordi Quintilla, Brendan Ruiz, and Jimmy Medranda, to varying degrees of success. With how some of Sporting's reserve midfielders have played at times in the CCL and with the Swope Park Rangers, taking a chance on another midfielder isn't a horrible decision.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Bunbury, Kamara, Fall in US Open Cup Final - Former SKC Wizards Update

While Sporting Kansas City and the Vancouver Whitecaps were playing their CONCACAF Champions League game last night, two other MLS teams were competing in the US Open Cup final. FC Dallas and the New England Revolution played at Toyota Stadium in Frisco to decide who would succeed Kansas City as US Open Cup champions. Two former Sporting KC players were on the bench to start for their side as Teal Bunbury and Kei Kamara were both in the 18. Kamara was a first half sub, coming on for an injured Gershon Koffie. At the time Dallas was up 2-1, but went up 3-1 before the half time break. Bunbury was a second half sub, coming on with 21 minutes left, recording an assist on Juan Agudelo's second goal of the night to cut the lead to 4-2, but that's as close as the Revs would get.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Pablo Escobar
Brian Fekete
Jeferson
Neven Markovic
Victor Munoz
Akeem Priestley
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 3-3 draw with KC.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Came off the bench and played 8 minutes in New England's 3-1 win over NYCFC. Came off the bench and played 21 minutes, recording an assist in New England's 4-2 loss to Dallas.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 4-1 win over Montreal. Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 4-2 loss to LA.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 2-2 draw with DC.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Did not dress in Vancouver's 3-1 win over Columbus. Started and played 90 minutes in Vancouver's 2-1 win over KC.
Amadou Dia - Montreal - Did not dress in either of Montreal's games.
Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 1-1 draw with San Jose.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Dressed but did not play in Chicago's 2-1 loss to Toronto.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over RSL.
Kei Kamara - New England - Did not dress in New England's 3-1 win over NYCFC. Came off the bench and played 48 minutes in New England's 4-2 loss to Dallas.
Chris Konopka - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 1-0 win over RSL.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Came off the bench and played 38 minutes in Montreal's 4-1 loss to Orlando. Started and played 90 minutes in Montreal's 1-1 draw with Philadelphia.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Dressed but did not play in NYCFC's 3-1 loss to New England.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Salt Lake's 3-3 draw with LA. Started and played 90 minutes in RSL's 1-0 loss to Portland.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 1-0 win over RSL.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in Orlando's 4-1 win over Montreal. Came off the bench and played 50 minutes in Orlando's 4-2 loss to LA.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 90 minutes in Philadelphia's 1-1 draw with Montreal.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Did not dress in Columbus' 3-1 loss to Vancouver.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in New York's 2-2 draw with DC.

NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Out injured.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa's 0-0 draw with Puerto Rico.
Omar Bravo - Carolina - Started and played 69 minutes in Carolina's 0-0 draw with Ottawa.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 3-2 loss to OKC.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Started and played 90 minutes in Puerto Rico's 0-0 draw with Ottawa. Started and played 90 minutes in Puerto Rico's 0-0 draw with Tampa.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 0-0 draw with Ottawa.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Dressed but did not play in OKC's 3-2 win over Jacksonville.

US
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Started and played 45 minutes in Swope's 3-0 win over Tulsa.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Swope's 3-0 win over Tulsa.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-2 draw with Seattle.
Ryan James - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 1-1 draw with New York.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 72 minutes in Charlotte's 4-0 win over Pittsburgh.
Tyler Pasher - Swope Park - Started and played 45 minutes in Swope's 3-0 win over Tulsa.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in OKC's 2-2 draw with Seattle.
Kris Tyrpak - Swope Park - Just loaned to Sporting for the first time.
Ualefi - Swope Park - Started and played 45 minutes, recording an assist in Swope's 3-0 win over Tulsa.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 loss to Louisville.

PDL
Adnan Gabeljic - San Francisco - Offseason.
Faik Hajderovic - St. Louis U23 - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United- Sweden - Started and played 90 minutes in AFC's 0-0 draw with Assyriska.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Lost 2-0 to GBK.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Did not dress in Belgrano's 3-0 loss to Boca Juniors.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Did not dress in Belen's 1-0 loss to Limon.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - No game this week.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Alajuelense's 3-2 win over UCR.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - No game this week.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain -Did not dress in Leganes' 2-1 loss to Sporting Gijon.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in Queretaro's 4-1 loss to Pumas.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Dressed but did not play in RoPS' 2-1 loss to Ilves. Started and played 79 minutes in RoPS' 1-1 draw with SJK.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in either of Fluminense's games.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Did not dress in Slavia's 4-1 loss to Dinamo Brest.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Temuco's 2-0 win over San Luis.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Did not dress in either of RoPS' games.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar -  No game this week.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Out injured
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes in IBV's 2-0 loss to KR.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Started and played 45 minutes in Belenenses' 2-1 win over Nacional.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United (BEC Tero Sasana) - Came off the bench and played 12 minutes in Pattaya's 1-1 draw with Ratchaburi.
Daniel Salloi - Gyirmot FC Gyor (loan) - Hungary - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Gyirmot's 1-0 win over Diosgyor.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund II.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 2-1 win over Cambridge United.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Started and played 75 minutes in Deveronvale's 2-0 loss to Huntly.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Did not dress in Atromitos' 3-0 loss to PS Giannina.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - Started and played 84 minutes in Kickers' 1-1 draw with Eintracht Trier.

S.A.S. Wednesday After Stats

The loss was the first home loss in CONCACAF international competitions for Sporting KC.

By the end of the night, Seth Sinovic had moved into 5th place for Sporting KC for minutes played in international competitions, finishing the game with 937 minutes played.

In the 45th minute, Sinovic moved back ahead of Roger Espinoza and into 13th place for minutes played in all competitions, finishing the game with 14,020 minutes played in all competitions.

Sinovic made his 11th appearance in international competitions for KC, tying him wtih Mike Burns and Chris Brown for 5th all time on that list.

Paulo Nagamura by the end of the night had moved into 13th place for minutes played in international competitions for KC, finishing the game with 660 minutes played.

Ike Opara moved into a tie with Aurelien Collin, Oriol Rosell, and Kevin Ellis for 16th place on the list of minutes played in international competitions with 540 minutes played.

Tyler Pasher made his first appearance and first start for Sporting KC.

Kris Tyrpak made his first appearance for Sporting KC.

Italian Media Reporting Rossi Close to Completing Deal with KC

Last week it was confirmed that former Juventus youth player and former Italian youth international, Fausto Rossi was in Kansas City for a trial with Sporting KC. The 25 year old never played for the "Old Lady" but consistently played while loaned to teams in Spain and Italy over his time under contract with Juventus.

Italian media have been all over the speculative move, and Rossi's Twitter post showing him at Sporting KC's game vs the Houston Dynamo on Friday certainly helped to fuel it. Now over the last two days Italian media have really started to run with a potential contract Rossi will sign with the club. According to Tutto Mercato Web, Sporting KC and Rossi have agreed in principle to a three year contract with the club. The information was expanded upon Grazza Mercato which reported that along with the three year deal, Rossi's contract would be for €300,000, or about $336,000. What that means, if true is that Rossi's deal wouldn't be a designated player, which would technically still leave a spot open for Sporting KC to use elsewhere on the field.

The big question with this signing though would be what it would mean for the future of Benny Feilhaber with the club. There's been plenty of rumors lately of Feilhaber's departure and the possibility of him signing a pre-contract with a new club since he's in the final six months of his contract. And while I don't doubt that there is certainly some interest in Feilhaber I'm sure there's plenty of player/agent posturing in the stories that have come out regarding the interest in Feilhaber as well.

Both stories certainly are not done and will have a few more turns in them before they are.

Sporting Bow Out of the CCL

The result wasn't much of a surprise given the lineup that both Sporting Kansas City and the Vancouver Whitecaps put out on Tuesday night at Children's Mercy Park, but Sporting KC's elimination from the 2016-2017 CCL after a 2-1 loss to the Whitecaps still stung. It didn't help that the inevitable had to wait through a 120 minute weather delay due to weather passing through the Kansas City area, turning an announced crowd of 13,422 to maybe 1,500 by the end of the game.

Sporting actually started the game fairly brightly with a number of chances that went just wide or high of the goal from all three of their forwards, as Connor Hallisey hit a looping volley over the bar onto the top of the night, then Diego Rubio laced a shot just wide of the far post after some dancing on the ball near the corner of the box, then Cameron Porter flicked a low cross just wide of the near post as he raced in. Unfortunately KC couldn't get any of their early efforts on goal and the Whitecaps worked themselves into the game more forcing some saves out of Tim Melia before the game was delayed in the 35th minute. After the two hour delay the remaining 10 minutes of the first half were all the Whitecaps as they came out the stronger side and pressed Sporting. They were rewarded for the pressure in the 41st when Alphonso Davies worked a give and go with Nicolas Mezquida before playing a nice cross into the middle where Erik Hurtado had gotten in front of Tyler Pasher and he slid the ball into the net putting the Whitecaps on top.

Sporting came out much better after an abbreviated half time, which was sparked by the insertion of Kris Tyrpak for Cameron Porter. Tyrpak immediately brought a spark and created a few chances early on with his pace and beating Marcel de Jong on the dribble. Just minutes after coming on he worked a give and go with Paulo Nagamura, but scuffed his shot on the return pass. Sporting KC's equalizer came 10 minutes into the second half down their right side as Seth Sinovic got up field and laid a ball back to Rubio. The Chilean had a poor first touch, but regained control and eventually got himself an inch of space that allowed him to fired a shot that bounced off the inside of the far post and into the net to tie the game at 1-1. Vancouver came right back and almost found the net themselves as Fraser Aird got played in behind the KC defense, but one-on-one with Tim Melia, Melia made a save with his foot, then jumped up to collect the rebound, keeping the game tied. Both sides continued to create some chances, many of KC's coming through Trypak and Rubio, mainly down KC's right side. Vancouver got more of their chances coming through the 15 year old Davies, who gave Sporting KC all kinds of trouble wherever Davies ended up on the field. Late on it looked like KC would have to settle for a draw and elimination when Connor Hallisey made a nice run into the box, cutting past his defender before playing a low cross towards the back post, but goalkeeper Spencer Richey got down well and palmed the ball back towards Hallisey. The Sporting winger though had gotten tangled with a Vancouver player after crossing and didn't get back to his feet fast enough to collect the ball. Unfortunately things came a part for KC at the end of the game as they pushed for a winner on tired legs and got caught out. Davies got himself some space one-on-one with Ualefi and fired a shot that deflected off the Sporting KC defensive midfielder's back side, wrong footing Melia and the ball sailed into the net giving the Whitecaps the 2-1 lead and the win as minutes later the final whistle blew.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kris Tyrpak - The former Chivas USA man was a big spark for Sporting KC off the bench in his first game with the club on loan after impressing with the Swope Park Rangers in the USL this season. He showed an ability to beat guys on the dribble and showed pace that KC really hadn't gotten out of Porter in the first half.

Player Ratings - Melia 5, Pasher 5, Opara 4, Didic 4, Myers 3, Ualefi 4, Nagamura 5, Appiah 3, Porter 3, Rubio 5, Hallisey 4. Subs Sinovic 4, Tyrpak 5.

Monday, September 12, 2016

CCL Match Day 3: A Must Win

Sporting Kansas City step back out of league play to begin their home stretch of this year's CONCACAF Champions League. Unfortunately the games probably couldn't have gone much worse for Sporting KC. After the Vancouver Whitecaps started off the group with a win in Trinidad against Central FC, Sporting could only draw their game in Trinidad, already putting KC at a two point disadvantage. Then KC had to go play up in Vancouver and Kansas City put themselves in an even wrose situation, falling 3-0 on the road, leaving them with just a single point from their first two games, while the Whitecaps sit on six. That makes tomorrow night's game at Children's Mercy Park a must win for Kansas City to keep their qualification hopes alive even a little bit. A loss or a draw will clinch the group for the Whitecaps and see Kansas City go out in the group phase for the second straight time in the tournament.

The Whitecaps come into the game having won their last league game, their first league win since back on July 13th, a stretch of eight league games without a win. In that same stretch though the Whitecaps did take care of business in the CCL and have themselves sitting pretty. Against the Crew over the weekend the Whitecaps did have Pedro Morales and Tim Parker on the bench, so that pair should be rested for tomorrow's game, as should Nicolas Mezquida who only played 11 minutes. Also, former Sporting defender Marcel de Jong didn't dress at all after appearing for two games for Canada this past week. Those players should all play a role for the Whitecaps tomorrow as they look to wrap up the group before hosting Central FC.

Kansas City will try to pick up the pieces of their CCL run, right on the backs of their last second home draw against the Houston Dynamo when they blew two leads, the second coming deep in stoppage time. Sporting will apparently have four Swope Park Rangers players available to them, with Kris Tyrpak joining previously called up Amer Didic, Ualefi, and Tyler Pasher. Tim Melia will also be making his return to the Sporting KC starting 11 after missing time with back spasms. Sporting will again have to balance their roster with another big league game at home on Sunday against the LA Galaxy as they continue to push to hold onto their playoff spot. Unfortunately for KC, Nuno Coelho pulling up lame again on Friday night could complicate some of those plans for tomorrow's and Sunday's games.
Hallisey - Rubio - Porter
Appiah - Nagamura
Ualefi
Medranda - Didic - Opara - Myers
Melia

Key Match Up - Diego Rubio vs Vancouver defense - Sporting KC's Chilean forward hasn't scored since the club defeated Minnesota United in the US Open Cup back in June, at the same time he hasn't exactly gotten a ton of minutes either, while he's started both of KC's prior CCL games, he's only made three league appearances in KC's nine games. While a permanent move for Rubio has been completed, you would hope that the want to impress and win himself more time would be a factor here. With the first set of tie breakers being tie breakers between the two tied teams, Sporting KC is going to need to overturn the 3-0 loss they had in Vancouver if they hope to have any tiebreaker over the Whitecaps.

Number to Remember - 3 - That's the least amount KC needs to win by against Vancouver to really put the pressure on Vancouver heading into their game against Central FC. The first few tie breakers in the CCL are head to head based, meaning points vs tied teams, goal difference between tied teams, and goals scored away from home between tied teams. The third tie breaker is what put KC out of the tournament the last time they were in. A 3-0 or better win would mean that Vancouver would have to win against Central FC, or the door would be open for KC to advance if they defeat Central on the last match day, instead of just a draw. A goal by Vancouver tomorrow though and the three goal win becomes needing a four goal win to avoid that third tie breaker going in Vancouver's favor since KC did not score in Vancouver.

PREDICTION - With Peter Vermes at this point fully focused on keeping Sporting KC on the road to the playoffs, a full reserve lineup against the Whitecaps isn't going to be a surprise tomorrow night. It's a chance for someone to step up though and make a claim for themselves to get more time in league play down the stretch. Unfortunately as has been the issue for this team for much of the season, I don't see them producing much in the way of goals without Dom Dwyer involved. With the mostly reserve lineup I'm not sure that KC will be able to get the win tomorrow, let alone overturn the goal difference required to really put the pressure on Vancouver when they host Central on the 28th.

SKC - 1 (Rubio)
VAN - 1 (Techera)