Gansler in the Hospital - Former SKC Wizards Update

Some sad news to report first this week. Former Kansas City head coach and Sporting Legend, Bob Gansler was hospitalized over the weekend after suffering a stroke on Saturday.  The 73 year old who led Kansas City to the 2000 MLS Supporters' Shield, 2000 MLS Cup, and 2004 US Open Cup is in the hopsital recovering from the stroke. The coach to take the US back to the World Cup for the first time in 40 years in 1990 is a US Soccer Hall of Famer and currently has the most wins for a head coach in club history.

In other news this week, it appears that Andy Gruenebaum is set to move onto his career after soccer. Gruenebaum was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the first stage of the re-entry draft, but did not show up for preseason. Instead he has apparently decided to stay in Kansas City and start a family.

Also this week, Martin Steuble has signed with a new club, joining Ceres FC of the Filipino League. Steuble had been without a club after not having his contract picked up by Kansas City. Finally, in the silly season news, Yura Movsisyan has been linked with a move back to MLS. The Chicago Fire was the team according to the reports, but his agent denied the Fire had made an offer, but said one MLS team had. Movsisyan's MLS rights though are still held by Salt Lake, and any team interested in bringing him in would need to go through them.

Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Toni Dovale
Christian Duke
Mechack Jerome
Peterson Joseph
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Igor Kostrov
Rauwshan McKenzie
Michal Mravec
Victor Munoz
Nelson Pizarro
Akeem Priestly
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.

USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - No game this week.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Played in St. Louis' 11-5 win over Tulsa. Scored two goals in St. Louis' 9-8 OT loss to Wichita.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Had a goal in Missouri's 14-8 win over Saltillo. Played in Missouri's 8-7 OT win over Monterrey.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Scored a goal in Baltimore's 15-7 win over Rochester.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 9-5 win over Brownsville. Scored a goal in Dallas' 7-6 win over Brownsville.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Played in Wichita's 9-8 OT win over St. Louis. Played in Wichita's 12-4 loss to Milwaukee.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - No game until 2/22.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - No game until 2/14
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Did not play in Chivas' 2-2 draw with Dorados. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Universidad Guadalajara.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Came off the bench and played 62 minutes in Bengaluru's 3-1 loss to Pune.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Argentina - No game until January 31.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 1-1 draw with Da Nang. Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 2-1 loss to Thanh Hoa.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Puebla's 0-0 draw with America. Started and played 90 minutes in Puebla's 1-1 draw with Atlante.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Banned
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - No game until 1/31
Will John - Maghreb Fes - Morocco - Lost 2-1 to Ittihad Khemisset
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Offseason.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - No game until 2/8.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 3/6.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 2/28.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Sporting's 3-2 loss to Belenenses. Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 1-0 win over Academica.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana FC - Thailand - Offseason.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in either of Blackburn's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Recently signed for the club.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - On break until February.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/28.

Review of 2014 Wishes

With the calendar turned over to 2015, it's time to take a look back at my wishes for the year 2014.  Back in January I posted my wishes for 2014.  Here's how they turned out.

1. Silverware - Elimination in the quarterfinals of the 2013-2014 CONCACAF Champions League, elimination from the US Open Cup at the hands of the Portland Timbers at home, the third time in four years KC's USOC run has ended at home, elimination in the group stage of the 2014-2015 CCL, finishing 5th in the Eastern Conference and 10th in the overall table, and elimination by the New York Red Bulls in the wild card round of the MLS Cup playoffs. So no, there was no silverware this year for Sporting KC.

On the other hand though, the Missouri Comets and FC Kansas City both brought titles to Kansas City this past year winning the MISL and NWSL respectively. So while it may not be as big as Sporting KC, I'm counting this one as a win.

2. Kronberg or Gruenebaum emerges as a clear number 1 goalkeeper - This turned into a negative as well. Eric Kronberg looked decent enough at the start of the season, although he had some shaky moments. But after an injury never seemed to get any sort of form back once he returned. After his return from injury he again lost the starting job after his performance in the 3-2 loss to the New England Revolution. Unfortunately Andy Gruenebaum didn't fare much better, missing time three separate times this season with injuries, including once after the Revolution game, after Vermes had named him the starter ahead of Kronberg, leading to Kronberg's third run as the starting goalkeeper.

3. Whichever keeper gets established as the clear number 1 finishes in the top third of the league in most goalkeeper categories. Actually despite the issues that the two seemed to have, they both had decent numbers for a goalkeeper. Playing 1,800 minutes, Kronberg had the second lowest goals against average of regular goalkeepers (1.1), second only to Nick Rimando (1.04). Gruenebaum playing 945 minutes wasn't too far behind, finishing with 1.14 goals against average.

When it came to shutouts, Kronberg finished with seven for KC, tying him for 7th in the league. Unfortunately, none of those came after June 27th. Gruenebaum meanwhile picked up three. On the plus side you could say that combined, the 10 shutouts was good for a second place tie, unfortunately it was the lack of consistency more than anything.

When it comes to wins, Kronberg picked up just seven, while Gruenebaum picked up six. Again, combined as one keeper, that's not bad, it's the fact that it was split between two that's the problem.

The last stat I'll look at is save percentage. Here's an area where Kronberg especially struggled. His save percentage was just 62%, tied with Zac MacMath. The only regular starters with a worse save percentage were Dan Kennedy, Clint Irwin, and Tally Hall, all three from teams that missed the playoffs. Of the five goalkeepers mentioned, Kronberg faced the fewest shows, 73, 40 fewer than Hall who faced the least of the other four. Kennedy meanwhile faced boudle the shots. All but one of the keepers, Hall, made at least as many saves as Kronberg faced shots, with Kronberg saving just 45 of the 73 shots he faced. Gruenebaum meanwhile was actually a decent shot stopper for KC, with a save percentage of 76%, saving 34 of the 45 shots he faced. Only Andre Blake (90 minutes) and Brian Rowe (270 minutes) had a higher save percentage than Gruenebaum did.

So overall, in places Sporting's goalkeepers were still in the top third of the league, unfortunately stats don't tell the whole tale and both goalkeepers are out in KC for inconsistencies.

4. Whatever the Bieler situation, resolve it quickly - I guess the resolution here involved Bieler staying in Kansas City, so technically I guess it was resolved quickly. Bieler's time in KC this year though was rather rough. Thanks to the performance of Dom Dwyer this year, Bieler was limited to just 421 minutes over the course of the season and two goals. He started just 1 regular season game after the team's 2-1 loss in Chicago on 5/18, and that was due to the suspension of Dwyer.

5. Find a forward that will excel in this system - When I wrote this originally back in January, I'd said that Dwyer "provided that pressure from the forward spot, but didn't score enough." Well this year Dwyer added the scoring punch to his active pressure up top as he finished second in the golden boot race to Bradley Wright-Phillips and set a single season club record for goals. His extension that he signed in December shows that Sporting sees him as the forward who excels in this system, and who am I to argue.

6. USA gets out of their group at the World Cup - This was a success for the US, although there was plenty of disappointment. After Jozy Altidore went down with an injury, the US really struggled to create dangerous chances. In what was a fairly open World Cup, the US played very conservatively. But at that stage it's all about getting results and advancing, which the US did before losing to Belgium in extra time after a heroic performance by Tim Howard.

7. Besler and Zusi have stand out World Cups - Stand out may not be the best word, but I think both had decent ones. Besler started all four of the USA's games in the tournament, playing all but the second 45 minutes against Ghana after picking up an injury in the first half. Of the four expected center backs (Besler, John Brooks, Geoff Cameron, and Omar Gonzalez) Besler is the only one to play in all four games. Zusi finished the World Cup with two assists, including the game winner against Ghana on a goal by Brooks. Overall the two had solid efforts for their country. So much so that Sporting signed both to designated player deals to help keep the pair in Kansas City going forward.

8. Neither Besler or Zusi leave KC this year - This one was a win, neither player left KC after the two signed new deals with KC making them designated players. While the pair didn't look like DPs much after the World Cup, both looked exhausted but both will now be a big part of the club as they move forward.

9. Comets return to the MISL championship - Not only did the Comets return, but they won themselves the MISL championship, beating the Baltimore Blast in the mini-game game 3 to take home the title.

10. Amy Rodriguez becomes the goal scorer FCKC need to take pressure off Lauren Holiday - I'd say 13 goals, including three in the playoffs as FCKC won the NWSL title makes this one a success. Rodriguez was a tremendous pick up for the Blues and was a huge reason they won the title this year.

11. FC Kansas City top last year's attendance mark - After I'd originally posted this wish, it was made known that FCKC was moving venues from Shawnee Mission's district athletic complex at Shawnee Mission North High School to Durwood Stadium on UMKC's campus. With the move, FCKC made capacity at the stadium just 3,200, over 1,400 smaller than their average during the 2013 season.

Unfortunately for FCKC with the move attendance took a nose dive, falling over 50% from their average in 2013 to 2,018 in 2014. They went from the second highest attended team in the league in 2013, to the second lowest behind only Sky Blue FC (who finished last in 2013 too).

12. National training center gets go ahead and ground breaks - Well this one was half right. The training center did get the go ahead to move forward and be built. Unfortunately ground has not broken yet. But according to Robb Heineman's latest Q&A, it's coming in the first quarter of 2015.

Sporting Pass on Re-Entry Draft. Kronberg, Gruenebaum Selected

MLS held the first phase of this year's Re-Entry Draft. And like most years, there was little movement. The prior four drafts had averaged under three picks in the first phase. Today, three players were taken, none of them going to Kansas City, as Sporting passed on making a selection in the draft. Peter Vermes has still yet to pick someone in the first phase.

Of the three players that were taken, two of them were Sporting KC players. With the first pick, Montreal selected KC's former starter, Eric Kronberg. With the Impact having dumped Troy Perkins, Kronberg will likely be battling Evan Bush for the starting job in Montreal. With the second pick in the draft, the San Jose Earthquakes grabbed KC's other available goalkeeper, Andy Gruenebaum. Gruenebaum had played well for Kansas City, but continued to struggle with injuries, missing games at three separate times during the season. He'll likely come in and either compete with or be the back up to David Bingham. The third player taken was Toronto FC grabbing Real Salt Lake's Robbie Findley.

Sporting KC a Number of Roster Moves

Sporting Kansas City made their first set of offseason moves today, declining options on six players, announcing four others out of contract, and mutually terminating the contract of Lawrence Olum.

The termination of Olum's contract paves the way for his move to Malaysia that came out yesterday. The move will allow Sporting to retain the Kenyan's MLS rights should he return to MLS.
Of the four players out of contract that Sporting is extending offers to, Aurelien Collin was already known. He's joined by the team's second homegrown player, Kevin Ellis, and forwards Jacob Peterson and Soony Saad. 

Collin's contract discussions have already been well documented. He's looking for a pay increase, and with his center back partner, Matt Besler, signing a Designated Player contract during the season, you can bet that Collin is looking for something similar or at least a max. salary. That's something that I'm not sure that KC is going to give to Collin. Unless the new CBA is going to bump the salary cap a lot, I can't see KC using that much cap on their two starting central defenders.

Kevin Elllis had a break out year for Kansas City. With all the injuries and call ups along the back line, Ellis played all four of the defensive positions along the back line, partnering Matt Besler, Collin, Erik Palmer-Brown, Chance Myers, and probably others I'm forgetting. A bump in salary for him would either see him moved to the senior roster year, or take KC's other HGP slot above the minimum. With his play this year, he deserves the bump.

Jacob Peterson was another player who saw play all over the field for KC this year due to injuries. While Peterson has the work ethic that Peter Vermes loves, he plays a position (wing forward) that KC desperately needs to upgrade this season. Peterson though did prove himself to be capable as a fill in as a wing back for KC. At this point I wonder if that may not be the position he'd fill for KC. He'd still be able to get forward in KC's system, but he'd open up the wing position for a winger who can provide more offensively. If the price is right I'd like to keep him around.

Saad saw a drop in playing time this year for KC, playing over 400 fewer minutes than he did last year. He has plenty of talent, but I don't think he fits that well in Vermes' system. I like him, I think he can be a good forward in this league, but he's struggled out on the wing for KC, and with Dom Dwyer in the middle he's not going to get much time there. Development in his wing play is certainly something that needs to improve, but I'm in no way against keeping Saad around.

All four players have received bona fide offers, so the team will retain their rights, should they make it through the expansion draft without being taken.

For the six players who didn't have their options picked up, most are not surprising at all. Probably the most surprising would be Toni Dovale, who had looked dangerous at times on the wing for KC. But at $180,000 per the players union numbers, he did not produce enough for Vermes to want to keep the Spaniard around.

Sporting will also be in the market for goalkeepers this weekend as both Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum had their options declined. Kronberg came into the season as the starter, but never really looked comfortable in there. His time was marred by some poor decision making, most famously in the playoff loss to New York when he hesitated coming off his line and Bradley Wright-Phillips scored the winner late. As for Gruenebaum, he did okay for Kansas City when he started in place of Kronberg, but his issue was the fact that he just couldn't stay healthy. Three different times this past season Gruenebaum missed time due to injuries.

Sal Zizzo is probably a more disappointing loss for his work off the field on the Benny Feilhaber Show. Which is probably the reason his option wasn't picked up. Zizzo played in 19 games for KC, and only recorded three assists. None since a 2-2 draw with Toronto in May, although he did have a goal in the CCL late in the season. I had figured with all the defensive injuries that Vermes would try Zizzo in one of the wingback positions, as he'd played there with the Portland Timbers before coming to KC, but he never did.

The last two players are the least surprising of the moves. Victor Munoz and Michael Kafari made a combined one competitive appearance for Kansas City. Munoz started Kansas City's US Open Cup win over Minnesota, but left after about 30 minutes with an injury (and looked incredibly poor up to that point). Both played in the second half of KC's loss to Manchester City in a friendly during the season though.

Kronberg, Gruenebaum, and Zizzo will all go into the re-entry draft in mid-December (1st stage December 12, 2nd stage December 18). Kafari and Munoz will be available in the waiver draft on December 10th. Dovale will apparently not be available in either and has his out-right release.

While those six are gone, and look unlikely to be re-signed, KC did pick up the options of five others, keeping Jon Kempin, CJ Sapong, Ike Opara, Dom Dwyer, and Seth Sinovic with KC, at least into the expansion draft.

With these moves it certainly appears that KC is set for a busy offseason.

What Happened and Where Do We Go From Here - Goalkeepers

With the Sporting KC season over, it's time to take a look at how the season went for Sporting KC and where the team needs to go to move forward in 2015. With the move to the Western Conference, the expectation is that Sporting will be walking into a much stronger conference than the East. And with the likes of Seattle, Los Angeles, Salt Lake, and Dallas in the division, it's certainly hard to argue that the division is the stronger of the two, and should get stronger with the additions of KC and Houston.

So what I'm going to do is take a look at goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and forwards and see what happened with each this season and what needs to happen heading into 2015 for KC.

We'll start at the back with the goalkeepers.

After a four year period with Jimmy Nielsen that saw the Dane miss just four league games in that span, Kansas City had three different goalkeepers start a league game in net for KC. The first time KC has done this since the 1999 season when Kansas City had four goalkeepers start at least one league game for KC. Eric Kronberg, who was given the number one jersey by Peter Vermes after the retirement of Nielsen led the way starting 20 of KC's 34 league games. KC native, Andy Gruenebaum started 11 games, while home grown player, Jon Kempin started the other three for KC.

Kronberg's time in net was highlighted by some poor decision making on when he should come off his line. From clearing out his defender in the season opener in Seattle, to taking two steps forward against DC before realizing that Fabian Espindola's shot was going to go over his head, to his poor positioning on Jermaine Jones' winner in September, to the team's playoff loss to New York where Kronberg gave Dax McCarty a clear look from the top of the box with a poor punch and then not coming off his line to claim the ball on New York's winning goal. Kronberg's decision making has been in question for much of the season for KC.

KC's longest tenured player finished the season with a 1.1 goals against average in league play, but it didn't really feel like he "won" games for KC this year. It's seemed over the last few years that Nielsen was good for being the guy that rescued points for KC at least a couple times this season. With Kronberg you just didn't feel like you got that impression.

When Kronberg went down in the middle of the season, it was Gruenebaum who replaced him in net. Gruenebaum did reasonably well, if not spectacular. His mistakes didn't seem to stand out as much as Kronberg's did, but he had a few himself, including not holding a shot in the US Open Cup loss to Portland, and then the lack of communication in Vancouver that led to the Igor Juliao own goal. The thing that really stands out with Gruenebaum this year though were his injuries. Three times this year, Gruenebaum missed games due to injuries. The first was in April when the team was forced to recall Kempin from his loan to OKC when he sprained his ankle in practice. Then there was the game in Vancouver where Gruenebaum subbed off at half time with an injury. Finally, late in the season, after being given the starting role ahead of Kronberg after Kronberg's poor performance against New England, Gruenebaum only started one game before getting injured again and missing the rest of the season. Unfortunately this isn't a new problem for Gruenebaum who missed the end of last season with the Columbus Crew with another injury.

The injuries to Kansas City's first two keepers allowed Sporting's third string keeper, the team's first home grown signing, Kempin to get his first league appearances for KC. Kempin didn't do a horrible job out there for Kansas City, but at times look every bit of the 21 year old making his first string of competitive starts in MLS. The skill is there, but I'm not sure that Kempin is quite ready to step up to be the everyday starter at this level. Of course the only way to be sure there would be to give him an extended run in net in league play.

With regards to the goalkeeper position going forward, there are plenty of questions to ask. They start with the expansion draft coming up shortly after MLS Cup. Who does Sporting protect? Do they even protect any of their goalkeepers? Other questions remain after that for Sporting even if no goalkeeper is taken. Does KC stay the course with Kronberg? Does Gruenebaum get the number 1 jersey heading into 2015? Does KC just hand things over to Kempin and except that they're going to go through some growing pains with the goalkeeper? Or do they look outside their current crop of goalkeepers for a starter?

For me, I think what this year has shown is that Kronberg doesn't appear to be an MLS caliber starter. He's been a great servant to the club and has bided his time as a back up to Bo Oshoniyi, Kevin Hartman, and Jimmy Nielsen, but I just don't think he's the player to build around for the next few years. So if Kronberg is not taken in the expansion draft, I would look for a way to get rid of him, either by trade or other means.

If Kronberg is out, the starting goalkeeping position becomes open for Sporting. For me, I am not sure that KC should give that position to Gruenebaum either. For me, Gruenebaum's recent injury history over the past two seasons has me worried whether he's able to stand up to the beating a goalkeeper takes game in and game out in MLS any more. I think he'd do fine as a backup, getting a few games in the Open Cup or a spot start occasionally in league play, but I'm just not sure he's a full time starter any more.

As for Kempin, as I stated above, I'm not sure he's ready to be the everyday starter at this level. For me, I'd like to see him get one more season under his belt as a full time starter under Nielsen with the Oklahoma City Energy. This way he's getting games every week instead of potentially being the number 2 keeper and just sitting on the bench.

So what I would do with the goalkeeper position is look for an upgrade, either within MLS (no Dan Kennedy won't be available by the time we pick in the dispersal draft) or internationally. With that upgrade coming in, I would leave both Kronberg and Gruenebaum available in the expansion draft, if one gets taken, pull the other one back and he becomes the new back up, or he's waived/cut/traded eventually. If he's gone you go out and find a backup goalkeeper with some experience in MLS, but you don't need a ton. When the USL-Pro season starts, you send Kempin to OKC again to be their starter and get another full season with Nielsen. The expectation is that the new starter would only be a 1-2 year stop gap before Kempin can win the job himself.

Sporting Clinches Playoff Berth on Backs of Gruenebaum and Zusi

Sporting KC clinched their fourth straight playoff berth last night at Sporting Park as they beat the Chciago Fire 2-0. Sporing was led by goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum who recorded six saves and Graham Zusi who had a goal and an assist in the game.

The game started well for Sporting as they pressured the Fire early on and in the12th minute won a penalty kick. Benny Feilhaber did a god job keeping the ball under pressure on the left side of the field before playing the ball to Kevin Ellis who was right at the top of the box. Ellis played the ball back to Feilhaber who dribbled into the box. Feilhaber cut inside two defenders and was brought down by Lovel Palmer. Referee Kevin Stott immediately pointed to the spot. Dom Dwyer stepped up for Kansas City but skied his penalty kick over the bar as the score remained level. That seemed to be the shot in the arm that the Fire needed as they started to get further into the game. In the 21st minute Gruenebam was called upon for a big save. Alex jumped over a sliding challenge from Igor Juliao down the wing. The Brazilian played a cross into the box that Gruenebaum got a small punch on but not enough to get it cleared. The ball was headed back into the middle where Matt Besler beat Florent Sinama-Pongolle to the ball, his header though fell to Matt Watson who fired a shot on goal, but Gruenebaum had recovered and was able to make a diving save to push the ball away for a corner. In the 27th Gruenebaum was again called upon to make a good save. Harry Shipp  did a good job switching the field to Quincy Amarikwa. The forward played the ball out wide to Watson who dribbled into the box. Watson laid the ball back to Amarikwa who fired a shot low to Gruenebaum's near post, but he got down well and knocked it out. Sporting almost had a goal of their own minutes later in the 30th. Dwyer got played in behind the Chicago back line. Out wide of goal near the end line he played the ball back to the top of the box where Feilhaber was racing onto the ball. He fired his shot on goal but Sean Johnson got down low and tipped the ball onto the post. The ball bounced back into Johnson's face and the Chicago keeper grabbed the ball. When the half time whistle blew, the Fire had actually looked the more dangerous of the two teams.

The second half saw Kansas City come out and reestablish their high pressure and controlled the game better. In the 58th KC almost struck on the counter. After Besler won the ball in KC's half of the field KC countered through Dwyer. The Englishman was out numbered but from outside the box cut inside and tried to curl a shot but just missed the post. KC had another good opportunity in the 75th. Besler cleared a ball up field in a challenge. The ball went towards Zusi who was racing into the box. Johnson raced off his line and beat Zusi to the ball, but the ball hit off Zusi and continued forward. With Johnson out of position Zusi tried to fire the ball in from a tight angle. Bakary Soumare though was there to clear the ball off the line. It looked like Kansas City would be headed towards another draw with the Fire when Zusi stepped up again in the 80th minute. Ellis and Juliao combined down the right before Ellis squared the ball into the middle for Zusi. Zusi ran at Logan Pause, who was marking Zusi, but a run by Paulo Nagamura also helped to pull Pause's intention. Zusi took another touch and fired a shot into the far corner of the goal to make it 1-0 Kansas City. Down a goal the Fire pushed forward but couldn't find themselves good chances. And in stoppage time Sporting found the best way to defend a one goal lead, score a second. Zusi did a good job down the right finding space against Soumare. Zusi got enough space to play a cross into the middle. Dwyer out jumped Palmer for the ball and headed the ball back towards the near post and into the net giving Kansas City a 2-0 lead. KC was able to kill the rest of the game and clinch their playoff berth.

Wizards Man of the Match - Andy Gruenebaum - The KC native did extremely well in net last night. After the missed PK by Dwyer, Gruenebaum did extremely well to keep Sporting in the game. He returned the faith that Peter Vermes showed in him starting him over Eric Kronberg.

Honorable mention - Graham Zusi

Player Ratings - Gruenebaum 8, Juliao 6, Besler 7, Ellis 7, Sinovic 6, Olum 6, Nagamura 6, Feilhaber 7, Zusi 8, Dwyer 6, Dovale 6. Subs Sapong 6, Lopez NR, Saad NR.

Sporting Pick Up a Point on the Road

Sporting KC wasn't able to keep DC United from clinching a playoff birth, but they did limit them to one point and in the process earned a shut out in a 0-0 draw at RFK Stadium. It won't go a long way towards getting the team back on track, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

Sporting actually came out in the first half and had plenty of the run of play. Unfortunately they really didn't test DC keeper, Bill Hamid much. Kevin Ellis had a good chance early on off a free kick, but with a free header, instead of trying to put it on goal, headed it across the face of goal trying to find a teammate, but the ball was cleared. With KC getting the possession mostly in the first half, DC was looking to strike on the counter, and of the two teams probably had the better of the opportunities with it. Fabian Espindola had a few chances, one putting a shot wide of Andy Gruenebaum's net. Another came in the 28th minute when Taylor Kemp won the ball off Toni Dovale near midfield. He raced down field and squared the ball into the middle for Luis Silva who took a touch to round a sliding Matt Besler, the ball appeared to hit Besler's arm on the way through but no call was made. Silva kept the ball and laid it back to an on rushing Espindola who fired on goal but Gruenebaum came up with a big save. Overall KC did a good job of limiting Espindola's chances to shots from outside the box that allowed Gruenebaum time to react and make the save.

The second half saw DC continue to have the better of the chances, but really didn't force a huge test of Gruenebaum. Early on in the second half DC had a penalty shout as Espindola played a nice lofted ball into the box for Chris Pontius. Pontius brought the ball down as Igor Juliao went for the ball, Juliao missed and Pontius went down but no foul was called on the Brazilian right back. In the 58th Espindola again fired just wide on the counter after a Graham Zusi pass didn't reach CJ Sapong. Like the first half, DC's best offensive chances were coming through the Argentine, a couple more times in the game he fired wide of the net. Silva also got in on the action putting a free kick just wide of Gruenebaum's near post in the 71st minute. KC's best chance of the night came in the 76th. A cross by Seth Sinovic into the box was headed back into the middle by Dom Dwyer for Sapong. Sapong did very well to get power on his header and headed it down, but Hamid got down well and made the save. Late on, KC was the aggressor, looking for the winner, getting a number of late opportunities off of free kicks, but they failed to capitalize on them, the last one coming with basically the last kick of the ball as Zusi played a free kick into the box that no one got a touch on and went right into the arms of Hamid. Immediately after the final whistle blew. Disappointing not to get all three points, but a point at this point is a plus for KC.

Wizards Man of the Match - Andy Gruenebaum - Back in the starting lineup for Eric Kronberg who Peter Vermes said didn't have his timing back, Gruenebaum did well, recording 7 saves, a season high for Sporting.

Player Ratings - Gruenebaum 7, Juliao 5, Besler 6, Ellis 6, Sinovic 6, Olum 5, Nagamura 6, Zusi 5, Dovale 4, Dwyer 4, Sapong 5. Subs Feilhaber 4.

SKC Remain Unbeaten But Drop Points at Home

Sporting KC pushed their unbeaten run to eight games last night, but couldn't extend their four game winning streak, settling for a draw against the Philadelphia Union. Kansas City controlled the game, getting 70% possession, but the same old home problems cropped up, an inability to finish chances, and opponents getting one of theirs to go in. KC jumped to the top of the Supporters' Shield standings, but has played three more games than second place Seattle (1 point behind) and two more than third place DC (2 points behind), so both teams have chances to catch and pass KC.

KC came out and had the better of play at the start. It took a goal line clearance by Brian Carroll to deny Dom Dwyer his 15th goals of the season in the 11th minute. Off a Graham Zusi corner, Dwyer beat Zac MacMath to the ball and put his header on goal, but Caroll headed the ball off the line. KC continued to push the game, but really didn't create much in the way of chances. Zusi caught MacMath leaning the wrong way at one point, but fired his shot wide of the near post. The Union created some chances of their own. In the 41st minute off a free kick, Vicente Nogueira tested Andy Gruenebaum with a curling effort towards the back post. Gruenebaum though did well, palming the ball away. Just before half time Kansas City again should have taken the lead. After KC tried to build up an attack through the middle with the ball deflecting off players, the ball finally fell to Zusi who picked out Mikey Lopez who'd made a good run out of midfield. One on one with MacMath, Lopez though fired his shot right at MacMath who made a kick save. The Union counted the other direction and Gruenebaum was called upon to make a good save on Sheanon Williams who found space alone to the left side of Gruenebaum's box.

In the second half the Union continued to find chances on the counter. In just the 48th minute, Danny Cruz sprung Carroll on a break. On a one on one situation with Gruenebaum, Carroll tried to slot his ball into the corner, but Gruenebaum did a good job of getting low and pushing the ball away where a recovering Aurelein Collin cleared it for a throw in. In the 54th minute, Kansas City grabbed their lead. After some build up on the left, the ball was switched across the field towards Toni Dovale. The Union won the first ball, but Dovale collected the second ball and slid a ball into the box for Zusi who slotted his shot into the corner to make it 1-0. Seconds later KC almost doubled the lead. After collecting the ball on the left, Zusi played the ball up the field towards Dwyer. Dwyer controlled the ball before sliding a ball back to Zusi one on one with MacMath. Zusi though pushed this effort just wide of the far post. After the goal the Union picked up the attack and pushed the game on Kansas City. In the 71st they found an equalizer. After some quick movement up the field the ball was played out wide to Raymon Gaddis who played a cross into the middle for recent substitute, Brian Brown who headed the ball past Gruenebaum and into the goal leveling the game. On the play, Kevin Ellis looked to get caught leaning the wrong way, possibly thinking that Jorge Claros was going to get a touch on the cross, leaving Brown with plenty of space to put the header on goal. Sporting renewed their efforts to try to find a second goal. Igor Juliao played a nice ball into the middle that Dwyer tried to turn on goal but pushed over the goal. Dwyer though was offside on the play so even if he'd turned it on goal it would not have counted. KC continued to push late on, but could not find a second goal as both teams settled for a point.

Wizards Man of the Match - Andy Gruenebaum - Came up with a number of big saves to keep KC in the game. A few big ones too. Gruenebaum has filled in very well replacing Eric Kronberg and has started to bring back the Gruenebaum vs Kronberg argument from earlier in the season.

Honorable Mention - Graham Zusi

Player Ratings - Gruenebaum 8, Juliao 6, Collin 6, Ellis 5, Peterson 5, Claros 6, Lopez 5, Feilhaber 5, Zusi 6, Dwyer 5, Dovale 6. Subs Saad 5, Sapong 5, Steuble NR

Sunday After Stats

Stats following yesterday's game against the LA Galaxy.

In the 81st minute, Jacob Peterson hit the 10,000 minute mark in MLS play for his MLS career. He finished the game at 10,009.

Andy Gruenebaum made his 100th start in all competitions in his MLS career.

All three of Lawrence Olum's career MLS goals have been game winners.

Seth Sinovic started his 100th league game for KC.

In the 63rd minute, Graham Zusi moved past Uche Okafor and into 16th place for league minutes played for KC. Zusi finished the game with 9,541 minutes played.

Zusi and Sinovic made their 124th start in all competitions for KC, breaking their tie with Jose Burciaga for 16th on that list.

Matt Besler made his 165th appearance in all competitions for KC, tying him with Josh Wolff for 11th all time on that list.

Besler made his 158th start in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Mo Johnston for 9th place on that list.

Sunday After Stats

A lot of stats from yesterday's game.

In the 31st minute, Aurelien Collin hit 10,000 minutes in all competitions in his career with KC. He finished the game with 10,059 minutes played.

Andy Gruenebaum made his 100th start in all competitions in his MLS career.

Dom Dwyer's 2 goals give him 16 league goals for his career with KC, that puts him in 15th place all time.

The 2 goals put Dwyer at 18 goals in all competitions, tying him with Matt McKeon for 15th on that list.

The 2 goals give Dwyer 14 for the season in league play, that's the 3rd most in a single season for KC (Eddie Johnson 15, 2007, Preki 18, 1996)

He also has 14 in all competitions this year, that's tied for the 5th best single season in all competitions in KC history with Davy Arnaud in 2004. (Johnson 15, 2007, Digital Takawira 15, 1996, Miklos Molnar 17, 2000, Preki 22, 1996)

Dwyer's second goal was his 7th in league play away from home, tying him with 4 other players for 12th on that list.

His second goal was his 8th in all competitions away from home, tying him with 4 players for 13th on that list.

Dwyer made his 50th appearance for KC in all competitions, he's the 61st player to hit that mark.

In the 39th minute, Graham Zusi moved past Jose Burciaga and into 17th place for league minutes played, Zusi finished the game with 9,451 minutes played.

Zusi started his 123rd game in all competitions for KC, tying him with Burciaga for 16th all time on that list.

In the 56th minute, Matt Besler moved past Mo Johnston and into 10th place for minutes played in all competitions for KC.

In the 79th minute, Besler then moved past Tony Meola and into 9th place for minutes played in all competitions, he finished the game with 14,217 minutes played.

Besler started his 156th game in all competitions for KC, moving him into a tie with Meola for 10th all time on that list.

Benny Feilhaber made his 50th start in all competitions for KC, he's the 51st player to hit that mark.

Seth Sinovic made his 98th league start for KC, that tied him with Chance Myers for 20th place on that list.

Sporting news on Kronberg, Kempin, Medranda, and Palmer-Brown

A busy day of Sporting KC news today involving a number of Sporting KC players.

The biggest news of the day was the announcement that Sporting KC will be without starting goalkeeper, Eric Kronberg for 8 weeks. Kronberg suffered a broken fourth metacarpal in his left hand in training today. The injury is a big blow to Kronberg and to Sporting. Kronberg is leading the league in goals against average for players who have played over 360 minutes this season with .88 goals per game. I'd been critical of some of Kronberg's decision making earlier in the season but lately he's been doing better with that and has been leader in the back with all the injuries. Now he's just become the latest of KC's injury casualties.

If he makes his return on time he'd miss nine league games and a CONCACAF Champions League game. He'd be available for the September 3rd game against New England if it's exactly eight weeks. If longer that'd be his 10th league game.

The injury means that KC product, Andy Gruenebaum will likely be KC's starting goalkeeper. He started both of KC's US Open Cup games this year and had been a starter in Columbus for the past few years before moving to KC.

To back up Gruenebaum, Sporting has recalled goalkeeper Jon Kempin from his loan to Oklahoma City. One question that immediately comes to mind with Kempin and the injury is KC starting CONCACAF Champions League play in a little over a month. One would think that Kempin could make his second appearance for Sporting when the team travels to Nicaragua to play Real Esteli in August.

Speaking of loans, Sporting KC has sent midfielder Jimmy Medranda to OKC on loan. The midfielder has played in four league games this year, starting one for KC. He'll now join the Energy on loan. Currently he'll be the only healthy player on loan to OKC with Christian Duke injured and Kempin and Mikey Lopez recalled to Sporting. Medranda will join OKC ahead of their game this weekend against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

In other news for Sporting KC's home grown keeper, Kempin, he's been named to the 2014 Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game roster along with defender Erik Palmer-Brown. The two were named to the 20 man roster that will play against the Portland Timbers U23 team two nights before the All Stars take on Bayern Munich. While it's not a glamor opponent, it's still nice for those two to be selected.

One homegrown player though that I personally feel was disappointing left off the list of homegrown players is KC's Kevin Ellis. Of the three KC homegrown players, Ellis has played the most of the three and has been playing very well, especially in central defense as an emergency center back with all of KC's injury issues. It would have been nice for Ellis to get the credit for it.

A Look at the Depth Chart - Goalkeepers

We're less than a week away from Sporting KC beginning their defense of their MLS Cup title they won in December. The journey begins when Sporting takes on the Seattle Sounders at Century Link Field. With the season so close let's take a look at the depth that KC has with each position on the field. Tonight we'll start in the back with the goalkeepers.

Current Depth Chart
1. Eric Kronberg
2. Andy Gruenebaum
3. Jon Kempin

Before preseason even started, Peter Vermes named Kronberg his number one goalkeeper. So far this preseason there's been nothing that I've seen that's proven that mindset has changed. So I'm still planning on Kronberg being the team's starter at this point when the team takes the field. That's not to say we won't see Gruenebaum on the field for a number of games this year. I think he'll get plenty of time. There are a couple of questions though about the goalkeeper situation.

How can Sporting replace Nielsen?

It's cliche, but really, you can't. Nielsen is one of the best goalkeepers in MLS history, and his experience and leadership isn't going to be directly replaced. Nielsen's played the last 8,100 MLS minutes for Sporting KC, so not only has Nielsen been a good goalkeeper for KC, he's been consistently playing.

The big thing is that the player expected to take his place, Kronberg, is a completely different type of goalkeeper. Nielsen relied more on his shot stopping ability and was really not great at controlling his own box. Kronberg though is more willing to come out and attack the ball and tries to maintain more control of his box.

Can Kronberg keep Gruenebaum on the bench throughout the season?

Kronberg, while the longest tenured player on KC's roster doesn't have a ton of MLS experience. The veteran, about to start his 9th season in the league, has played just five MLS games, none since 2011. He has gotten time in the Open Cup and Champions League during that time though, but his lack of experience is certainly a concern.  With an experienced MLS veteran on the bench in Gruenebaum, there is someone that can come in should Kronberg struggle.

Originally with the Gruenebaum signing, I expected the former Crew goalkeeper to be the one that would end up starting the season as the number 1, but at this point that's not going to happen. But with that much experience on the bench, does Vermes get an itchy trigger finger if Kronberg is to struggle in goal? I know a number of fans were questioning Kronberg's performance in the preseason finale against Columbus, but most of them are making a bit too much of it right now.

But if Kronberg struggles, I would not be surprised to see him benched in favor of the KC native.

Can Kempin get enough games to continue to develop?

At this point I think more people would be surprised if Sporting's first home grown goalkeeper, Jon Kempin didn't go to Oklahoma City on loan this year. He'd get to continue to learn from Jimmy Nielsen, head coach of the OKC Energy. Last year Kempin played nine games while on loan to Orlando City. He was partially limited by injury, but also because Orlando already has a strong goalkeeper in Miguel Gallardo, who also limited Kempin's time. With the expansion Energy though, he'll come in and expect to battle to be the number one goalkeeper against former DC academy product, Samir Badr and OKC native Jennings Clark.

With Kempin expected to be the goalkeeper of the future for KC, he needs to continue to get games that matter. Hopefully this year he can get more games.

2014 Wishes

With 2014 here it's time to take a look at what my wishes are for the year 2014 for KC's professional teams and players.

1. Silverware - I'm greedy, I want another trophy in the trophy case, and I want to paint the wall again.

2. Kronberg or Gruenebaum emerges as a clear number 1 goalkeeper - Eric Kronberg has been given the number one jersey right now but his lack of MLS experience is troubling. With a more experienced Andy Gruenebaum also available this could have the makings of a goalkeeper controversy. Very rarely has a goalkeeper platoon worked out for a professional team so whoever it is I want them to establish themselves as the clear number 1 on this team .

3. Whichever keeper gets established as the clear number 1 finishes in the top third of the league in most goalkeeper categories - I don't expect Kronberg or Gruenebaum to be on the level of Jimmy Nielsen when it comes to overall goalkeeping statistics, but with the back four in front of them staying in tack, anything less than finishing in the top third is a major disappointment.

4. Whatever the Bieler situation, resolve it quickly - Sporting KC has said that they plan on Claudio Bieler being here next year. Meanwhile there have been rumors of Bieler wanting to return to Ecuador or Argentina. Whether he stays or goes, resolve it quickly so that you have time to find a replacement. Two years ago with Omar Bravo, the decision had already been made by this point and Bravo was back in Mexico. Whatever the decision get it done so that if he is sold, KC can move forward.

5. Find a forward that will excel in this system - Whether that player is already on the team or not, find a forward that can play well in Peter Vermes high pressure system. Claudio Bieler started well but his style didn't work as well with the pressure Vermes expects from the forwards. Dom Dwyer provided that pressure from the forward spot, but didn't score enough. KC needs better production from their center forward, especially down the stretch.

6. USA gets out of their group at the World Cup - This certainly won't be easy, playing in a group of death with the ghosts of World Cups past with Germany, Ghana, and Portugal but the US is at the point where advancement out of the group should be the lowest expectations for the World Cup.

7. Besler and Zusi have stand out World Cups - While this one may lead to more questions about how long they may be in KC, I want to see the two players from KC expected to be on the World Cup roster to do well. I want Besler to prove he can shut down attackers at the world's biggest stage. And I want Zusi to step up to prove he can be a creative force with the US team.

8. Neither Besler or Zusi leave KC this year - This might not happen if 7 happens, but I don't want Zusi or Besler to leave KC this year. I'm being selfish, but I want both to stay in KC.

9. Comets return to MISL championship - They broke up the "Big 2" last year, I'd like to see them do it again this year and get back to the championship game. The unbalanced schedule is a bit of a hinderance as it sees the Baltimore Blast get expansion Pennsylvania Roar, who they've beaten 74-2 over the last three games, another three times before the end of the season. Meanwhile the Comets get the Milwaukee Wave a total of six times this season and play the Roar just two.

10. Amy Rodriguez becomes the goalscorer FCKC need to take pressure off Lauren Holiday - FC Kansas City got an MVP performance out of Lauren Holiday last year. But during that time they realized they needed some further support for the player. In comes a trade with the Seattle Reign, sending first round pick, Kristie Mewis in return for the US international Rodriguez. She missed the 2013 season sitting out while pregnant, but has scored 26 goals in 102 appearances for the US. Hopefully the assistance takes some pressure off Holiday.




11. FC Kansas City top last year's attendance mark - FCKC finished second in attendance and filled 75% capacity at the Shawnee Mission District Athletic Complex, averaging 4,626. I'd like to see FCKC top that number in 2014.

12. National training center gets go ahead and ground breaks - The US Soccer national training center that was mentioned last year has been something that's stuck in my mind since the announcement. I would love for this to happen and for it to include the US Soccer Hall of Fame. But right now I'd just love to see the facility really happen here. It'd do so much for the development of the game in KC.

Sporting KC Acquire KC Native Gruenebaum from Columbus

Sporting Kansas City made a move to attempt to fill their hole at goalkeeper today trading with the Columbus Crew to bring in Kansas City native, Andy Gruenebaum. In return KC sends a second round pick in the 2016 Superdraft to Columbus.

A move of some kind was inevitable for Gruenebaum, as the Crew today announced they'd traded for Steve Clark from Seattle. That gave the Crew five goalkeepers on their roster, including the out of contract Gruenebaum.

Gruenebaum made 70 league appearances for the Crew over his eight year career, the last two years he'd been the Crew's starting goalkeeper after Will Hesmer went down injured. His time this year though was cut short due to shoulder injuries. While he was injured, Matt Lampson took over and did well in net. With Gruenebaum out of contract he became expendable. That said, KC getting a starter quality keeper, even if he's out of contract, for a second round pick years down the road is a nice piece of business for Sporting.

Gruenebaum will come in and compete with Eric Kronberg and Jon Kempin for the starting spot in 2014. While Gruenebaum has to be considered the favorite to win the spot, you have to like the idea of the competition. Force someone to prove that they are the better keeper. If Gruenebaum can't prove it, then KC will go into the season with Kronberg, Kempin, or whoever confident after winning the battle. In the end, whoever wins the competition, I expect one of Gruenebaum and Kronberg to not be in KC next year. I can't see both keepers staying in KC if they lose the starting spot. And I think it's time for Kempin to start to develop as the backup.