Palmer-Brown and Salloi Return From Loan

Sporting KC announced today the official return of both Erik Palmer-Brown and Daniel Salloi from their European loans. Both players will be back with Sporting KC for preseason in 2017.

Palmer-Brown had been the first to go on loan, leaving Sporting KC for Portuguese power, Porto. Palmer-Brown quickly slotted himself into Porto's reserve team in the Portuguese second division and made 11 appearances for them as they won the second division championship. Palmer-Brown missed the start of the 2016-2017 season though with a foot injury. Palmer-Brown returned to play six games in league play as well as playing in the Premier League International Cup before another injury ended his time on the field with Porto with three games left in 2016.

Most fans thought that Palmer-Brown had been seen for the last time as a Sporting KC player as they expected Porto to come in with an offer to purchase the US youth international, especially after made the bench for the first team in the Portuguese Cup. Unfortunately Porto and Sporting never got to the final stages of negotiating his loan into a permanent transfer. There will be quick arguments to be made that Sporting KC got greedy with the proposed transfer fee as well as those that Porto were trying to get a cut rate deal from the MLS side, but the truth of the negotiations isn't known.

Palmer-Brown will now return to KC, for what may still be his final year in KC as he's reportedly on the last year of his contract. Even though he's return though Palmer-Brown may not spend a lot of time in KC, as the US U20 team will begin qualifying for this summer's U20 World Cup in February. Palmer-Brown is expected to feature for Tab Ramos' U20 team both in qualifying and in the World Cup this summer in South Korea should the US advance. This would see him miss plenty of time with the club and would certainly put him up in the shop window for a potential summer move to Europe if nothing comes up this winter.

Salloi returns to Kansas City after being loaned back to his home country of Hungary where he was first loaned to Vasas SC and eventually newly promoted Gyirmot SE, who are coached by former academy coach Istvan Urbanyi. Salloi struggled with a back injury during his time in Hungary, but still managed to appear in 13 games for Gyirmot. Unfortunately the newly promoted team struggled and by the winter break was rooted to the foot of the table. Salloi left the club as their leading scorer, having scored two goals in his 13 games with the club.

It will be interesting to see what happens with both players in preseason, Palmer-Brown certainly has the physical tools to challenge for a spot in KC's starting 11, but the question may be whether Peter Vermes gives him the chance to win it. Also whether Palmer-Brown checks out upon his return looking for a move to Euope. Salloi is also in an interesting position, especially with the injury in October last year to Diego Rubio. With a torn ACL, Rubio is likely out until at least the summer, which would mean that Salloi is once again in the position of likely being Dom Dwyer's back up. Salloi could get the chance to play meaningful minutes for KC if Sporting don't bring in another attacker.

2017 Wants and Wishes

A new year means that it's time to reset and look towards the future. With that said, here are my wants and wishes for 2017.

1. Silverware - Always the number one priority, winning trophies, painting the wall. Kansas City has made a habit of winning trophies over the last few years, hopefully KC's teams can return to that in 2017.

2. Secure a home playoff game - Children's Mercy Park hasn't hosted a home playoff game for Sporting Kansas City since the 2013 MLS Cup final against Real Salt Lake. In the three seasons since, Sporting KC has qualified for the playoffs each year, but as the fifth or sixth seed an been required to play the first round on the road. KC has lost all three of those games to New York, Portland, and Seattle. CMP hasn't been a complete fortress for Sporting KC like people would like it to be, but playing a playoff game at home is a distinct advantage for Sporting. That means the club's regular season for has to improve in 2017.

3. Find a secondary goal scorer - Dom Dwyer had his second best goal scoring season of his career, scoring 16 goals for KC in 2016, none of them from the penalty spot. KC's second leading scorers last year were Jacob Peterson and Benny Feilhaber, both scoring six goals, one of those players is gone, and the other had five of his six goals come from the penalty spot. Teams were able to key in specifically on Dwyer most of the time, and while he rose to the occasion, varying KC's attack is going to be better overall for the team. Only three teams scored fewer goals than the 42 that Sporting KC scored in 2016, Sporting is going to have to find a secondary goal threat to not only take some pressure off of Dwyer, but to create a duel threat that will keep other teams more honest, and probably open up more chances for Dwyer. It could be one of the two guys that KC is reportedly set to sign, Gerso Fernandes or Latif Blessing, although I have worries about both being able to do it, or it could be someone new that KC brings in. Either way, KC can't rely on 16 goals from Dwyer and the next highest scorer having 10 fewer and hope to do much next season.

4. A consistent center back pairing - Sporting KC's defense was strong last season, allowing just 41 goals, good for sixth in the league, but as I mentioned in my review of my 2016 wishes, the club had a lot of rotation at the center back position, with seven different pairings being used throughout the season due to injuries, form and national team call ups. Of all the pairings, the Matt Besler/Nuno Coelho was the most used, and that was only used about 11 times all of last season. KC managed with the shuffling of players last season, but really need to have a consistent center back pairing going forward. If you look at the better teams in the league, they all have a consistent pairing that starts the majority of the games, with a third and maybe fourth option available should they be needed. KC used this strategy to great success in 2012 through 2014 with the pairing of Besler and Aurelien Collin. Right now the first team pairing would appear to be Besler and Ike Opara, although Kevin Ellis being preferred to Opara late last season could be seen as a sign for the season. There are also still the questions about Opara's ability to stay healthy over the course of an entire season, as 2016 was the first time Opara has played more than 1,500 minutes in a single season in his seven year MLS career.

The other possibility is a returning Erik Palmer-Brown, who played consistently for Porto's reserve team while on loan. If he returns though, Palmer-Brown looks set to miss a good portion of preseason and a chunk of the regular season with the US U20 national team for World Cup qualifying and the World Cup this summer, which would obviously limit his time and ability to play for Sporting.

5. Quick decision on EPB - Before people can begin to dream about Palmer-Brown having a big impact on Sporting KC this season, his future with the team needs to be decided. With Palmer-Brown's loan to Porto now being up, it's down to negotiations between the two sides on whether Palmer-Brown will return to Kansas City or whether he'll be making a permanent move to the Portuguese power house. Palmer-Brown is reportedly in the last year of his contract, which Porto will use as an argument to get a lower price on the defender as he'd be available on a free next winter, but they also run the risk of Palmer-Brown having a breakout performance with the U20 team and being outbid by other clubs if they go that route. Either way, KC needs to resolve it quickly as selling Palmer-Brown leaves KC again a little thin along the back line in terms of depth.

6. Swope Park Rangers continues to play the "kids" and develop the likes of Amer Didic and Kevin Oliveira - Marc Dos Santos is off to San Francisco and the Rangers have a new coach this year. Taking over for him is Nikola Popovic, an assistant with the Rangers' last year, he came to SPR from Benfica B, where he was an assistant coach. Popovic having that experience with the Portuguese reserve side should bode well for the continued youth mindset the Rangers had last season. That should mean players like Amer Didic, Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Nansel Selbol, and Kevin Oliveira (when he returns), all under the age of 23 should continue to get time to prove themselves and use SPR as a stepping stone to reach Sporting KC. Hopefully SPR also continue to bring in young players to develop them, along with a few players that are maybe a step away from the jump up to help Sporting. Also hopefully the Rangers' players that are signed to academy contracts get more time in 2017.

7. US qualify for Russia 2018 - Well, I (and many other anti-Klinsmann fans) got their wish, Jurgen Klinsmann was fired as head coach of the US national team after the US started the "Hex" 0-2 losing at home to Mexico and in Costa Rica. With qualification for the World Cup important, the US went with the "safe" pick for a new head coach in Bruce Arena. He's not a head turning signing, but the expectation is to get things straightened out and get the US to the World Cup. The route back to the World Cup will start in March when the US will host Honduras in San Jose before traveling to Panama in a pair of games that the US really need to get six points out of to get qualification back on track.

8. Comets start run in second half of season - The Kansas City Comets have been one of the dominate forces in the MASL since it was founded, losing just three times in the regular season in their first two seasons in the league. Through 10 games this season they've already surpassed that loss total, having lost four times, and currently sit in third place in the five team Central division behind both Cedar Rapids and Chicago, the later of which still has two games in hand. The swagger that the team had the last two seasons doesn't seem to be there, they've lost talented players like Max Touloute and Coady Andrews, and the players that they've replaced them with haven't hit the same stride. At the same time, teams like Cedar Rapids and Chicago have really stepped up their game and brought in good talent to compete with the Comets in the Central division. Both of those teams have done so well that it appears like one of the Comets or the Milwaukee Wave are likely going to miss out on the playoffs for the first time in a long time this season. Something that most indoor fans would have thought next to impossible a couple years ago.

9. FCKC return to playoffs in 2017 - The Blues missed the playoffs for the first time in their history last season after losing five expected starters before the season to retirement or pregnancy and then lost a sixth early in the 2016 season. FCKC's defense stepped up big time last season to be one of the best in the league, but the offense struggled greatly. In 2017 the offense looks set to get a big boost as both forwards Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux will be returning to the team after both giving birth in 2016. The pair will join with last season's leading scorer, Shea Groom to give the Blues some more offense. In fact, as long as the Blues can stay healthy, they should be in great shape in 2017, with the three previously mentioned players up top and a defense that includes Becky Sauerbrunn and Desiree Scott along with goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart. The Blues should be able to get themselves back into the playoffs in 2017.

A Look Back on my 2016 Wants and Wishes

On New Year's Eve, before we ring in the New Year, here's a look back at my 2016 wants and wishes and how each one turned out.

1. Silverware - I'm not counting the Swope Park Rangers' Western Conference championship unfortunately (more on that later), so this wasn't a wish that was met this year by any of KC's four teams. Three of the four made the playoffs, but none of them were able to come home with a championship in 2016.

2. Sorting KC address center back issues - This is an area that overall was probably addressed, but at the same time probably wasn't. Sporting KC was in the top half of the table in terms of fewest goals allowed, finishing sixth in that category allowing 41 goals. So on that stat alone it would seem that KC addressed their center back issues. But the issue for the center back situation was the inability to have a consistent starting pairing at center back whether it be form, injuries, or national team call ups, KC started five different players at center back in seven different combinations over the 34 game season. Nuno Coelho and Matt Besler started the season as the number one center back pairing and looked to be pretty good for KC in that situation, raising hopes for the season. Then Coelho got hurt in mid-May and made just one 90 minute appearance the entire rest of the season for KC, with his high salary Sporting passed on retaining the Portuguese center back. For a stretch in the middle of the season, Peter Vermes favorite pairing was Ike Opara and the returning Lawrence Olum as Besler was with the national team and struggling with his club form. Besler eventually won his spot back with Opara for a stretch before injuries brought down Opara again this season, although not long term like prior years). This allowed Kevin Ellis to step up and take the job next to Besler, which he didn't relinquish the rest of the season. The Besler/Ellis pairing KC through the end of the season and into the playoffs in 2016. Hopefully a more consistent pairing can work in 2017.

3. Keep Krisztian Nemeth in Sporting blue - This one went out the window in late January as Sporting KC sold Nemeth to Al Gharafa SC in Qatar. Much has been made about how the move came about, whether Nemeth forced it, or whether KC did. KC reportedly went to Nemeth in good faith to offer him a new contract because of his performance in the 2015 season, but a deal couldn't be worked out. Nemeth (or his agent) posted a Facebook message saying that he wanted to stay but that the contract he was offered still wouldn't have made him one of the club's highest paid players. At the same times there were comments that Nemeth wanted to be released early to join the Hungarian team for camp ahead of the Euros. We never got the full story and likely never will, what we know for sure is that Nemeth left and his departure left a big hole in KC's right wing that the club never successfully filled in 2016.

4. Sporting advance from their CCL group - Another one that didn't come true, Sporting got off to a poor start with their two road games, drawing 2-2 in Trinidad and then were taken apart 3-0 in Vancouver to put themselves firmly behind the eight ball. Needing a result at home against Vancouver to keep their faint hopes of advancing alive. Falling behind, clawing back to equalize, Sporting gave up a very late winner to Alphonso Davies to put the Whitecaps through. KC won their final group game, a meaningless encounter between Sporting and Central FC 3-1, playing a number of Swope Park Rangers.

5. Jon Kempin and Erik Palmer-Brown both play 15 plus games - Almost, but not quite on this one, and certainly not in the way I expected with Palmer-Brown going on loan to Porto in 2016. Kempin started the season as the Rangers' starting goalkeeper, lost the job, won it back, then lost it again and never gained it back after an injury to Tim Melia forced him to be recalled from his loan. Combined between the Rangers and a couple of appearances for Sporting KC in the CCL, Kempin made 14 appearances in 2016, going 5-6-3 (5-4-3 for SPR, 0-2 for Sporting) and allowing 18 goals in those 14 games.

Palmer-Brown made 17 league appearances across two seasons for Porto's reserve team in the Portuguese second division, becoming a regular at center back for the club in their run to the Portuguese second division championship in the 2015-2016 season. After recovering from an injury early in the 2016-2017 season, Palmer-Brown again took his place in the center of defense and even earned a call up to the first team.

6. Swope Park Rangers have successful first season - I'd say a trip to the USL championship was a successful season, even if it didn't end in a trophy there was a lot of good that came out of the first season. For me, SPR's success had more to do with the players than the results on the field. SPR made a priority of getting a younger roster and really did, with only a handful of players over the age of 25 on the team. It also was able to shine the light on a number of players who could produce for Sporting KC in the years to come. From the likes of Tyler Pasher and Adrian Zendejas, who have both already signed with the first team to the likes of Amer Didic, Ualefi, and Nansel Selbol who all made appearances for the first team in the Champions League. Arguably the player I'm most excited about didn't even play for the first team though, Kevin Oliveira, tore his ACL near the midpoint of the season and missed out on the second half of the season. If he'd been healthy I have no doubts he'd have also appeared for Sporting KC this past season. Hopefully a swift return from his ACL tear will see him getting time with Sporting in 2017.

7. US national team has a respectable performance in the Copa America Centenario - I'd classify a fourth place finish as respectable, at least from looking at it from the outside it certainly was. Advancing to the semifinals before losing to world power Argentina is certainly a good run. Arguments can be made about the USA's performance in that 4-0 loss to Argentina as well as the two losses to Colombia (2-0 in group play and 1-0 in third place game), and how they were some of the final moments of Jurgen Klinsmann's time in charge of the US team, but in the end even someone anti-Klinsmann like myself, has to admit fourth was respectable, especially given the draw.

8. Missouri Comets get past Baltimore Blast - Unfortunately another Comets season ended with a loss to the Baltimore Blast. The Missouri (now Kansas City) Comets won the Central Division last year with a 17-3 record, four games ahead of second and third place Chicago and Milwaukee. After the Milwaukee Wave topped the Chicago Mustangs in a three game series, the Comets swept the Wave aside 2-0 winning 10-5 on the road and 8-2 at home to set up a match up with the Baltimore Blast for the fourth straight season. Unfortunately just like two of the previous three, the Blast topped the Comets, this time with a pair of overtime victories both by a 4-3 score line for the Blast.

9. FCKC recover from losing four regulars - Unfortunately the Blues couldn't overcome the loss of so many important pieces. FC Kansas City even lost a fifth likely regular as the club acquired Sydney Leroux in January last year, from the Western New York Flash, to replace Amy Rodriguez, but later in January she too announced that she would miss the 2016 season as she was pregnant. They also lost midfielder, Jen Buczkowski, who retired five games into the season to return to school. The Blues finished outside the playoffs for the first time in their history, finishing in sixth place with 26 points, six points behind fourth place Western New York. In the absence of both Rodriguez and Leroux, Shea Groom stepped up, scoring eight of FCKC's 18 goals on the season to lead the Blues in scoring. The return of Desiree Scott helped to ease some of the defensive losses in the offseason, as the Blues' defense allowed the second fewest goals in the league in 2016. Unfortunately the loss of Rodriguez, Leroux, and Lauren Holiday couldn't be overcome on the offensive end.

Overall, it wasn't a great year for my wants and wishes with only one, the Swope Park Rangers having a successful first season being my one real win out of all of them.

Sporting's Homegrown Player Loans

Two of Sporting KC's four homegrown players spent all or part of the year 2016 on loan in Europe, Erik Palmer-Brown and Daniel Salloi spent 2016 in Portugal and Hungary playing with club's there instead of with Sporting KC. With 2016 close to coming to an end let's take a look at both players' time in Europe.

Palmer-Brown's loan to Porto in Portugal took place first, Sporting agreed to a loan move for Palmer-Brown during preseason for Sporting ahead of the 2016 MLS season. At the time he'd been expected to play a role for Sporting's USL side, the Swope Park Rangers in 2016, instead he got a move to Europe. It look Palmer-Brown about a month or so to get up to speed in Portugal, but once he did he became a regular starter for Porto B in the Portuguese second division. Palmer-Brown started 11 games for Porto B in the league as they won the Portuguese second division.

Plamer-Brown missed the start of the 2016-2017 season for Porto B as he suffered a foot injury that kept him out of action until the middle of October. Upon his return though Palmer-Brown again took his place in the starting lineup for Porto B. He started six games for Porto B in their league season as well as playing in cup competitions.

The biggest news for Palmer-Brown in the second half of 2016 came when he was called up on multiple occasions to train with Porto's first team. Late in his loan Palmer-Brown even made the bench for Porto's first time in a Cup game between Porto and Belenenses. Unfortunately Palmer-Brown didn't get on the field, but it showed the faith that Porto has in him as a player. Porto had their last game of 2016 on Thursday, but a hamstring injury has kept Palmer-Brown out for the last couple weeks.

The question now becomes whether Palmer-Brown will make the move to Porto permanent. The club has obviously been impressed enough with Palmer-Brown's work if he's getting called up to work with the first team and as a consistent starter for their reserve side. From reading some fan reactions, the fans are impressed with Palmer-Brown and are wanting Porto to make the move permanent as well.

It he doesn't go though Palmer-Brown's time in KC may still be short as other clubs could come in with an offer. The other thing is that he's likely to feature a whole lot for KC in the first half of the season. If he returns Palmer-Brown is likely to miss a good portion of preseason as U20 World Cup qualifying takes place in February and early March and the assumption is that Palmer-Brown would be on the roster for that tournament. Then if the US finishes as one of the top four teams in qualifying, they'll qualify for this summer's World Cup in late May and early June in South Korea. So if Palmer-Brown does return, don't expect him to jump right into Sporting's starting 11 either.

With Salloi, his loan didn't take place until about half way through 2016. Originally Salloi had been the only other striker on the team along with Dom Dwyer and ended up dressing for Sporting's first few games of the 2016 season until Diego Rubio took that spot over. With Rubio in the 18 for Sporting, Salloi went on loan to the Swope Park Rangers for the beginning of the USL season. He played in 10 games for the Rangers, starting six of them and leading the team in goals with four before his loan. Salloi's loan reportedly was because of his hopes of getting back into the youth national team picture for his country by playing in the local league.

Originally when the loan was announced back in June, Salloi was on his way to Vasas, a traditional power in Hungary. When the league kicked off in mid-July though there was no sign of Salloi on the field or on the bench for Vasas in Hungary. A few days after the league started it was reported that Salloi's loan had been switched from Vasas to Gyirmot for the rest of 2016. Gyirmot, a recently promoted side from the Hungarian second division, is coached by Istvan Urbanyi, a former Sporting Kansas City academy coach from around the time Salloi would have been in the academy. The move in that regard made sense for Sporting and Salloi, and going to a newly promoted club had a better chance of better playing time for Salloi.

Unfortunately the play hasn't gone Gyirmot's way all that much, they're currently rooted to the foot of the table in Hungary in 12th, seven points behind 11th place and seven points from safety right now, with by far the worst goal difference in the league at -23.

Salloi for his part has appeared in 13 of Gyirmot's 19 games before the winter break, starting 12 of them. He's also leading the team in scoring with two goals, but the club has only scored eight goals in their 19 games, less than a goal every other game.

The Hungarian league is on break until February now, so Salloi's loan is effectively finished for the time being. With Rubio out for the first half of 2017 at least, Salloi is once again the only other striker on the roster other than Dwyer. Unlike Palmer-Brown, a permanent move to Hungary doesn't seem likely given Gyirmot's position in the table, it'd seem unlikely that they would want to pick up Salloi permanently with relegation back to the second division looking highly likely at this point.

If I had to make a guess on who is back and who isn't in 2017, I think Palmer-Brown is likely gone, whether it be to Porto, or another team that saw him play while he was with Porto, I think Palmer-Brown makes the move to Europe in January. As for Salloi, I could see his loan extended through the end of the Hungarian season if Gyirmot and Urbanyi really want it, but I could just as easily see Salloi in KC for preseason looking to push for time or back with the Rangers battling Mark Anthony Gonzalez and Kharlton Belmar.

New Contracts and Options Picked Up - Former SKC Wizards Update

It's that time of year when MLS teams that are no longer in the playoffs announce their roster news for the offseason, the players that they have under contract for next season, those out of contract, those with options picked up and those with options declined. There's a lot of players on their way out. A number of former players though have had their options picked up, including three for the Swope Park Rangers. For the Rangers, Amer Didic, Christian Duke, and Nansel Selbol were just three of six players who were on last year's team that will return for the 2017 season. In terms of MLS players, Teal Bunbury had his option picked up by the New England Revolution while Jalil Anibaba and Mikey Lopez both signed new deals with Houston and New York City respectively.

In other news this week, on loan Erik Palmer-Brown made the bench for Porto for the first time. After spending most of his loan so far with Porto B, Palmer-Brown was on the bench for Porto's 0-0 cup draw with Belenenses.

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
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Offseason.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Offseason.
Amadou Dia - Montreal - Did not dress in Montreal's 5-2 loss to Toronto.
Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 1-0 win over Colorado.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - New England - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Portland - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 5-2 loss to Toronto.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Carolina - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.

USL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Offseason.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Tomas Granitto - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - San Antonio- Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Alex Molano - Swope Park - Offseason.
Tyler Pasher - Swope Park - Offseason.
Nansel Selbol - Swope Park - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - Swope Park - Offseason.
Ualefi - Swope Park - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

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

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Did not play in the Rampage's 7-5 win over Milwaukee.
Mike Jones - Dallas - No game this week.
Boris Pardo - San Diego - Playd in San Diego's 12-6 win over El Paso.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United- Sweden - Offseason.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina -Started and played 90 minutes in Belgrano's 0-0 draw with Atletico Tucuman.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Fall season over.
Sunil Chhetri - Mumbai City - India - Started and played 85 minutes in Mumbai's 2-0 win over Chennaiyin.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Started and played 70 minutes in Alajuelense's 0-0 draw with Herediano.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Defeate4d San Juan Jabloteh 3-0.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Dressed but did not play in either of Leganes' games.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Fall season over.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Started and played 90 minutes in Fluminense's 1-0 loss to Figueirense.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Started and played 90 minutes in Slavia's 1-0 win over Dinamo Minsk.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Temuco's 1-0 loss to Huachipato.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 62 minutes in Al Gharafa's 2-1 win over Al Khor.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Porto's 0-0 cup draw with Belenenses.
Akeem Priestley - Metapan - El Salvador - Did not play in Metapan's 2-1 loss to Santa Tecla.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Belenenses' 0-0 league draw with Porto. Did not dress in Belenenses' 0-0 cup draw with Porto.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United (BEC Tero Sasana) - Offseason.
Daniel Salloi - Gyirmot FC Gyor (loan) - Hungary - Started and played 79 minutes in Gyirmot's 2-0 loss to Ferencvaros.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 5-1 loss to FC Viktoria Koln.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 2-1 loss to Morecambe.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Did not play in Deveronvale's 2-2 draw with Nairn County.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Did not dress in Atromitos' 4-3 win over PAOK.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Kickers' 3-2 loss to Saarbrucken.

Former Player List Set to Grow - Former SKC Wizards Update

With the roster moves today by Kansas City, the list of former players looks set to grow this offseason. I think a couple of the players that didn't have their options picked up will find their way back onto an MLS team come 2017, but for the majority of them, I think the lower leagues in the US or potentially abroad is the place where most of them will end up if they want to continue to play.

Also this week, Erik Palmer-Brown's chances of returning took a hit, at least in my mind. With his performance recently with Porto B, Palmer-Brown was called up to train with the Porto first team. He wasn't on the club's Champions League roster so he couldn't have dressed for that, but the call up is certainly a good sign for the young American.

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
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Offseason.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Offseason.
Amadou Dia - Montreal - Did not dress in Montreal's 3-2 win over Toronto.
Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 2-1 win over Colorado.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - New England - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Portland - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-2 win over Toronto.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Carolina - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.

USL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Offseason.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Tomas Granitto - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Alex Molano - Swope Park - Offseason.
Tyler Pasher - Swope Park - Offseason.
Nansel Selbol - Swope Park - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - Swope Park - Offseason.
Ualefi - Swope Park - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

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

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Did not play in Cedar Rapids' 5-4 OT win over Milwaukee.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 6-5 shootout loss to Tacoma.
Boris Pardo - San Diego - Did not play in San Diego's 6-4 loss to Turlock.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United- Sweden - Offseason.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Belgrano's 2-1 loss to Sarmiento.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Mumbai City - India - Started and played 90 minutes in Mumbai's 0-0 draw with Goa. Started and played 90 minutes in Mumbai's 5-0 win over Kerala Blasters.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - No game this week.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Defeated Morvant Caledonia United 3-1.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Did not dress in Leganes' 2-0 win over Osasuna.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in Queretaro's 2-1 win over Tigres.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in Fluminense's 1-0 loss to Ponte Preta.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Started and played 90 minutes in Slavia's 5-1 loss to Shakhtyor.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Temuco's 3-2 loss to Santiago Wanderers.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Al Gharafa's 4-2 win over Al Arabi.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - No game this week.
Akeem Priestley - Metapan - El Salvador - Did not play in Metapan's 2-1 win over FAS.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - No game this week.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United (BEC Tero Sasana) - Offseason.
Daniel Salloi - Gyirmot FC Gyor (loan) - Hungary - Started and played 89 minutes in Gyirmot's 2-1 loss to Ujpest.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 2-0 cup win over SC Dusseldorf-West.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 3-0 loss to Grimsby Town. Started and played 45 minutes in Plymouth's 2-0 loss to Barnet.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Did not play in Deveronvale's 3-2 loss to Formartine United.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Game this week postponed.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Kickers' 4-2 loss to Astoria Walldorf.

Arnaud Joins Houston as Assistant Coach - Former SKC Wizards Update

Davy Arnaud is moving closer to his home town, the Nederland, Texas is moving from his job as an assistant coach with DC United to take a similar position with the Houston Dynamo under their new head coach, Wilmer Cabrera. Arnaud now joins his second club that have a bit of a history with Kansas City. DC had defeated Kansas City in the 2004 MLS Cup final, with Arnaud on the field for KC. He now joins the Dynamo, who had a three year stretch meeting KC in the playoffs each of those years.

Also this week, Erik Palmer-Brown scored his first professional goal, scoring for Porto B in their 2-0 win over Leicester City's U23 team. At this point I'd be surprised if he doesn't permanently join this list when his loan ends at the end of 2016.

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
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Offseason.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Started and played 90 minutes in Canada's 2-0 loss to South Korea.
Amadou Dia - Montreal - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Seattle - No game this week.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - New England - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Portland - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - No game this week.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Offseason.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Carolina - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Haiti's 5-2 loss to French Guiana. Started and played 120 minutes in Haiti's 2-0 win over St. Kitts & Nevis.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Offseason.

US
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Offseason.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Tomas Granitto - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Alex Molano - Swope Park - Offseason.
Tyler Pasher - Swope Park - Offseason.
Nansel Selbol - Swope Park - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - Swope Park - Offseason.
Ualefi - Swope Park - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

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

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Played in Cedar Rapids' 7-6 loss to Chicago, did not play in their 9-8 loss to Chicago.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 5-4 shootout loss to San Diego.
Boris Pardo - San Diego - Did not play in San Diego's 6-5 loss to Florida. Played in their 5-4 shootout win over Dallas.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United- Sweden - Offseason.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - No game this week.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Started and played 60 minutes in Belen's 2-1 loss to Limon.
Sunil Chhetri - Mumbai City - India - Started and played 90 minutes in Mumbai's 1-0 loss to Pune City.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Started and played 90 minutes in Honduras' 1-0 loss to Panama. Started and played 90 minutes in Honduras' 3-1 win over Trinidad.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Started and played 90 minutes in Trinidad's 2-0 loss to Costa Rica. Started and played 90 minutes in Trinidad's 3-1 loss to Honduras.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - No game this week.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - No game this week.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Did not dress in Fluminense's 1-1 draw with Atletico PR.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - No game this week.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - No game this week.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Came off the bench and played 9 minutes in Hungary's 4-0 win over Andorra. Started and played 90 minutes in Hungary's 2-0 loss to Sweden.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Porto B's 2-0 win over Leicester City U23s.
Akeem Priestley - Metapan - El Salvador - Did not dress in Metapan's 2-1 win over Pasaquina.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - No game this week.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United (BEC Tero Sasana) - Offseason.
Daniel Salloi - Gyirmot FC Gyor (loan) - Hungary - No game this week.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 0-0 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach II.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 2-1 win over Crewe Alexandra.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Did not play in Deveronvale's 7-2 win over Strathspey Thistle.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - No game this week.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes, scoring a goal in Kickers' 2-0 win over Wormatia Worms.

Palmer-Brown Returns to the Field - Former SKC Wizards Update

After missing the first few months of the season while recovering from surgery, on loan defender, Erik Palmer-Brown has returned to the field for Porto B in the Portuguese second division. After starting on the bench last Wednesday, Palmer-Brown made his first start of the season on Saturday in a 1- draw for Porto.

Also returning from injury this week was Bernardo Anor who returned to the field for Minnesota United after missing most of the fall season with an ankle injury.

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
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 1-1 draw with Colorado.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in New England's 3-0 win over Montreal.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Dressed but did not play in Orlando's 4-2 win over DC.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 2-0 win over Philadelphia.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Did not dress in Vancouver's 4-1 win over Portland.
Amadou Dia - Montreal - Did not dress in Montreal's 3-0 loss to New England.
Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 2-1 win over RSL.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Did not dress in Chicago's 3-2 loss to Toronto.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 1-1 draw with Saprissa. Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 4-1 loss to Vancouver.
Kei Kamara - New England - Started and played 80 minutes, scoring a goal in New England's 3-0 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 3-0 loss to New England.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Did not dress in NYCFC's 4-1 win over Columbus.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Came off the bench and played 9 minutes in RSL's 2-1 loss to Seattle.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Dressed but did not play in either of Portland's games.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Did not dress in Orlando's 4-2 win over DC.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Philadelphia's 2-0 loss to New York.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Did not dress in Columbus' 4-1 loss to NYCFC.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Came off the bench and played 2 minutes in New York's 2-0 win over Philadelphia.

NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Came off the bench and played 11 minutes in Minnesota's 1-0 loss to Carolina.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Did not dress in Tampa's 3-2 loss to Indy. Started and played 75 minutes in Tampa's 1-1 draw with Ottawa.
Omar Bravo - Carolina - Dressed but did not play in Carolina's 1-0 win over Minnesota.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 3-2 win over Miami. Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 1-0 loss to Edmonton.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Started and played 21 minutes in Puerto Rico's 3-0 loss to Indy.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Dressed but did not play in Carolina's 1-0 win over Minnesota.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Did not dress in OKC's 2-0 win over Fort Lauderdale.

US
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 5-1 loss to New York.
Christian Duke - Swope Park -Started and played 89 minutes in Swope's 5-1 loss to New York.
Tomas Granitto - Swope Park - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes, scoring a goal in Swope's 5-1 loss to New York.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Alex Molano - Swope Park - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Swope's 5-1 loss to New York.
Tyler Pasher - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 5-1 loss to New York.
Nansel Selbol - Swope Park - Suspended.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 5-1 loss to New York.
Ualefi - Swope Park - Out injured
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

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 2-1 win over Angelholm.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Belgrano's 2-0 loss to Godoy Cruz.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Dressed but did not play in Belen's 3-0 loss to Alajuelense.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 79 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Bengaluru's 3-1 win over Johor Darul Ta'zim.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 3-0 win over Belen Siglo XXI.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Defeated Point Fortin Civic FC 7-0.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Did not dress in Leganes' 4-0 loss to Malaga.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in any of Queretaro's games.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Started and played 66 minutes in RoPS' 0-0 draw with HIFK.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in Fluminense's 1-1 draw with Coritiba.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Started and played 90 minutes in Slavia's 0-0 draw with Bate.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - No game this week.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Started and played 73 minutes in RoPS' 0-0 draw with HIFK.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Stared and played 90 minutes in Al Gharafa's 1-1 draw with Al Shahaniya.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Porto B's 1-1 draw with Famalicao. Started and played 90 minutes in Porto's 1-1 draw with Vizela.
Akeem Priestley - Isidro Metapan - El Salvador - Started and played 90 minutes in Metapan's 1-0 loss to Sonsonate.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Started and played 73 minutes in Belenenses' 2-0 loss to Benfica.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United (BEC Tero Sasana) - Offseason.
Daniel Salloi - Gyirmot FC Gyor (loan) - Hungary - Started and played 90 minutes in Gyirmot's 1-0 loss to MTK.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 1-1 draw with TSG Sprockhovel.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 3-1 win over Newport County.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Did not play in Deveronvale's 2-1 loss to Fort William.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Lost 1-0 to Voltes.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Came off the bench and played 19 minutes, recording an assist in Atromitos' 2-1 win over Iraklis.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - Started and played 84 minutes in Kickers' 3-2 win over Ulm.

Kamara Traded to New England - Former SKC Wizards Update

Less than a season after being a finalist for the league MVP award, Kei Kamara has been traded to the New England Revolution for TAM, GAM, two draft picks, and an international roster spot. While there is likely a longer list of what led to the trade, the tipping point occurred this weekend when Kamara, on a hattrick was not allowed to take a penalty kick to try to score his first professional hattrick. After the game Kamara laid into his team and specifically Federico Higuain, who had taken the penalty instead of him. Kamara doubled down on the comments over the next few days and continued to burn bridges in Columbus. With the MLS transfer window closing at midnight early Thursday morning there was a push to get a deal done, and apparently just before midnight New England and Columbus came to a deal.

Elsewhere, on loan defender, Erik Palmer-Brown and Porto B clinched the Portuguese second division with a 3-1 win over Benfica B. Palmer-Brown has worked himself into a starting spot with the club and has been a consistent starter since coming over on loan.

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

Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Jamar Beasley
Brian Fekete
Faik Hajderovic
Michael Kafari
Chris Konopka
Kyle Miller
Victor Munoz
Amobi Okugo
Akeem Priestley
Yann Songo'o

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 2-0 win over KC.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in New England's 4-2 loss to LA.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Came off the bench and played 2 minutes in Orlando's 1-1 draw with New York.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Started and playd 90 minutes in New York's 1-1 draw with Orlando.
Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Started and played 85 minutes in Seattle's 2-0 win over San Jose.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - No game this week.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 2-1 loss to Vancouver.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Columbus' 4-4 draw with Montreal.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 4-4 draw with Columbus.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Started and played 90 minutes in NYCFC's 2-0 win over DC.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in Salt Lake's 1-0 loss to Colorado.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - No game this week.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 4-4 draw with Montreal.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Started and played 89 minutes in New York's 1-1 draw with Orlando.

NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Minnesota's 2-2 draw with Ottawa.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - No game this week.
Marcel de Jong - Ottawa - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes, scoring a goal in Ottawa's 2-2 draw with Minnesota.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 1-0 loss to Edmonton. Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 1-0 loss to OKC.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Started and played 75 minutes in Carolina's 3-1 loss to Fort Lauderdale.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Dressed but did not play in OKC's 1-0 win over Jacksonville.

US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope Park's 3-0 loss to St. Louis.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 0-0 draw with Arizona.
Ryan James - Rochester - Came off the bench and played 12 minutes in Rochester's 3-2 win over Charleston.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Did not dress in Charlotte's 1-0 win over Montreal.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 3-1 loss to Cincinnati. Started and played 84 minutes in Orlando's 2-2 draw wtih Bethlehem.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 0-0 draw with Arizona.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Wilmington.

Indoor
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Siah Jamegan - Iran - Started and played 90 minutes in Siah's 3-1 loss to Zob Ahan.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Started and played 90 minues in YPA's 2-1 loss to Kraft. Started and played 90 minutes in YPA's 3-0 loss to TP-47.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Belgrano's 2-1 loss to Atletico Tucuman.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 5 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 win over Santos Laguna.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Belen's 1-1 draw wtih Herediano.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - No game this week.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Started and played 77 minutes in Alajuelense's 3-1 win over Saprissa. Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 1-0 loss to Herediano.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Lost 1-0 to Defence Force.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Dressed but did not play in Leganes' 2-2 draw wtih Numancia.
Pablo Escobar - Jaguares de Córdoba - Colombia - Did not dress in either of Jaguares' games.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in Queretaro's 3-1 loss to Puebla.
Jeferson - Madureira EC - Brazil - Offseason.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Started and played 67 minutes in RoPS' 0-0 draw wtih Lahti. Started and played 68 minutes in RoPS' 1-1 draw wtih HIFK.
Igor Juliao - Ferroviária - Brazil - Did not dress in Ferroviaria's 3-3 draw wtih Fluminense.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Started and played 90 minutes in Slavia's 0-0 draw with Dinamo Brest.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Offseason.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Did not dress in Lechia's 2-1 win oer Ruch Chorzow.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Dressed but did not play in RoPS' 0-0 draw with Lahti. Came off the bench and played 11 minutes in RoPS' 1-1 draw with HIFK.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Lost 3-2 to Al Sadd in the Emir Cup.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Porto B's 3-1 win over Benfica B.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Did not dress in IBV's 2-0 loss to Fjolnir.
Oriol Rosell - Vitoria (Sporting Club de Portugal)  Portugal - Did not dress in Vitoria's 4-1 win over Moreirense.
Brendan Ruiz - DJK Don Bosco Bamberg - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Don Bosco's 4-1 loss to SpVgg Bayern Hof.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United (BEC Tero Sasana) - Did not dress in Pattaya's 2-0 win over Osotspa.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 1-1 draw wtih MSV Duisburg II.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Offseason.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Did not dress in either of Saarbrucken's games.

Sporting Loan Palmer-Brown to Porto

After a number of additions to the team so far this offseason, the departures continue for Sporting KC as the club announced today that they had loaned 18 year old homegrown defender Erik Palmer-Brown to Portuguese side FC Porto. The loan will run through the rest of the 2016 calendar year and at the end of the loan Porto will have the option to purchase Palmer-Brown outright from Sporting.

Publicly the loan happened very quickly with news only coming out yesterday when Palmer-Brown left Sporting KC's camp in Arizona to head to Portugal to finalize the deal. A constant talk of transfer rumors (mainly Juventus) since signing with Kansas City, Palmer-Brown has appeared in 10 league games over his three year professional career and another two in the Open Cup and one CONCACAF Champions League game.

It'll put Palmer-Brown in a strong team that has a history of developing good players. The US youth international though would be unlikely to play much for the first team in this deal and would seem more likely to spend the majority of his time with Porto B in the Portuguese second division.

Palmer-Brown Could be on the Way to Portugal

Reports came out today that Sporting KC could see another player depart from the team as defender Erik Palmer-Brown has been linked with a move to Portuguese club, FC Porto. First reported by Brian Sciaretta and then clarified by Sporting KC beat writer, Sam McDowell.

According to the reports, Palmer-Brown has left camp with KC in Arizona and is flying to Portugal to negotiate with the 27 time champions. McDowell is reporting that the move would be a loan for Palmer-Brown, not a transfer, at least not to start.

The US youth international has been a European transfer target since before the club signed him. Mainly the interest had been coming from Italian giant, Juventus, but now it looks like he'll head to Portugal, and you can bet that any loan deal for Palmer-Brown will likely have the option for Porto to make the loan permanent.

Palmer-Brown, Kansas City's third homegrown player signing has been with the club for three seasons appearing in 10 league games, starting six. Seven of those appearances and four of those starts came in the 2015 season for KC. In 2016 most people seemed to think that Palmer-Brown was a prime candidate to spend the season on loan to the club's USL team, the Swope Park Rangers. Instead, it would see that Palmer-Brown is set to go abroad for a loan. The question is how much playing time Palmer-Brown would actually get with Porto. Starting with the first team seems extremely unlikely at Porto, but Palmer-Brown could get more time with Porto B which plays in the Portuguese second division.

This potential move while not as big as the transfer of Krisztian Nemeth to Qatar won't be taken well by many KC fans in the aftermath of the Nemeth move. A number of KC fans will see Palmer-Brown's departure as just another move by the club to sell talented players to make money instead of building a winner. While Robb Heineman and Peter Vermes have always stated that they're not going to stand in the way of a player going to Europe if they want to, but fans on social media are starting to get frustrated with the perceived lack of ambition from the club with these recent moves.

2016 Wants and Wishes

The new year has started and with the new year come new wants and wishes for the year. With that in mind here are my wants and wishes for 2016.

1. Silverware - Always the main goal, more trophies, more painting the wall for Sporting Kansas City. In the past two years all three professional soccer teams in KC have won at least one trophy, fans have been a little spoiled lately, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't want more of them.

2. Sporting KC address center back issues - I like Ike Opara, I think he's a very good and capable center back when he's healthy. But that is the main problem, since coming into the league in 2010 he's made it through exactly one season without it ending early due to injury. And that one season was 2013 when he wasn't even the primary starter for Sporting KC. His replacement last year, Kevin Ellis performed admirably, but he's not a starter full time at this level for me.Erik Palmer-Brown could be the future at that position, but I'm not sure he's ready to be the starter there at 18, although I'd love for him to have a Matt Miazga type season. The team's other two potential center backs currently, Lawrence Olum and Amobi Okugo both seem likely to stay in midfield, although I feel Okugo's best games with the Philadelphia Union were at center back. Whether it's within MLS or elsewhere, KC needs to find someone that can consistently be the starter next to Besler at the MLS level.

3. Keep Krisztian Nemeth in Sporting blue - This is going to be a two part wish, the first part is going to be going on now as the transfer window has reopened in Europe. There's been talk that Nemeth had some interest from teams in Europe after a season that saw him score 16 goals across all competitions for Kansas City. While Robb Heineman has said he expects Nemeth to be back in KC this year things could change if a team that really needs goal scoring comes calling. The second part of this will come this summer, which is usually a more active window for European teams when it comes to buy. Combine that with this summer's European Championships that Nemeth is likely to play in with Hungary, more offers could come in at that time. But keeping Nemeth in Sporting blue has to be a priority. Last year he took a lot of pressure off of Dom Dwyer, allowing both to play better.

4. Sporting advance from their CCL group - Sporting KC is back into the CONCACAF Champions League in 2016 and after their last trip in 2014 ended with an elimination by Saprissa at the group stage I'd like to see Sporting get into the knock out phase this year. In the 2015 group stage ended with either an MLS team or a Mexican team on top of their group, I'd hate for KC to be the one that potentially breaks that streak.

5. Jon Kempin and Erik Palmer-Brown both play 15 plus games - I wanted to make this 20 plus games but I'm going to make this a little lower. I don't mean that they play 15 plus games for Sporting KC this year, although that would speak wonders to what Peter Vermes sees in them, but I mean 15 plus games either for Sporting or for the new Swope Park Rangers. The key thing for both Kempin and Palmer-Brown at this point is to get them games. Kempin's games last year were cut after KC cut Luis Marin loose and recalled Kempin. And with Palmer-Brown being a teenager it's not surprising that Vermes wanted him closer to home where he could be more in control of his development. With the Rangers now in town and Vermes able to work directly with Marco dos Santos and observe practice more easily, there's no reason that these two should not be getting a lot more games now.

6. Swope Park Rangers have successful first season - Sporting KC's USL affiliate is set to debut in the USL this season playing at the Swope Soccer Village. While the team will certainly have some focus on winning considering who is in charge of the team, the main focus of their success should be on developing players for the first team. So far of the five players that the Rangers have signed, the oldest is 26 year old goalkeeper Zac Lubin, and the average age of he five is 23.8. Developing the younger talent like Kris Tyrpak and Johnny Grant could be a big boost to the first team.

7. US national team has a respectable performance in the Copa America Centenario - My interest in the US men's national team over the last two years plus has really started to wane. Last year's Gold Cup was a big let down as was the loss to Mexico in LA for the chance to make the Confederations Cup in 2017. At this point plenty of fans are frustrated with the performance that the team has put out under head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. I'm not stupid enough to think that a poor performance here would get Klinsmann fired, and I'm not one to completely turn on the US hoping they fall flat on their face in the hopes that Klinsmann is fired. That said I want a respectable performance out of the US. For me that means at least making it out of their group, meaning finishing in the top two. They'll avoid Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina in group play which will help, but CONMEBOL is full of strong teams that will cause the US plenty of problems.

8. Missouri Comets get past Baltimore Blast - Last year the Blast ended the Comets season in the MASL semifinals falling in both games and losing their headers at home in the final game. This year the two teams again appear to be on a collision course to meet in the playoffs. The two will get a chance to see each other before the playoffs though as the teams meet three times in the final month or so of the season, with two of those games taking place at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.

9. FCKC recover from losing four regulars - The Blues are going to have some rebuilding to do after winning back to back NWSL titles. FC Kansas City has lost a number of their starters from this past season and will have a number of holes to fill. The team is losing US women's national teamer, Lauren Holiday, and defenders Amy LePeilbet and Leigh Ann Brown to retirement . They'll also be losing Amy Rodriguez at least for the 2016 season as it was announced that Rodriguez will miss the 2016 season as she is pregnant with her second child. The team still has the likes of Becky Sauerbrunn, Heather O'Reilly, and Nicole Barnhart which will certainly help FCKC, but Vlatko Andonovski will have his work cut out for him as FCKC looks to go for the three peat.

Season Review - Defenders - Once Again Injuries Plague the Back Line

Continuing to work up from the back on our review of the Sporting Kansas City season, we reach the defense. You can read my review of the goalkeeper position here. Sporting's defense in 2015 suffered one of the main issues that plagued the team during their 2014 run. Injuries were a big issue for the team with Chance Myers, Ike Opara, and Seth Sinovic, all three considered starters, missed considerable time due to different injuries. At one point in the season, KC had the best defensive record in the league, allowing the fewest goals in the league. Unfortunately after the 5-0 drubbing by San Jose, KC started leaking goals the rest of the season, allowing 20 over their last 12 games to finish the season with 45 goals against, the fourth most in the Western Conference.

The Players

Saad Abdul-Salaam - KC's second of three first round picks in the 2015 Superdraft, Abdul-Salaam started the season on loan with Jon Kempin at San Antonio, before being recalled in mid-May after starting five games for the NASL club. With injuries and squad rotation, Abdul-Salaam was able to get plenty of time over the course of the season at both left and right back as well as some time at winger to kill time late in some games. Abdul-Salaam improved so much over the course of the season that he displaced Jalil Anibaba who had started the 2015 season at right back with Chance Myers still recovering from injury. He finished second among KC's three rookies with 1,074 minutes played in league play, but down the stretch seemed at times to be preferred over his counterpart, Amadou Dia, even at left back.

Jalil Anibaba - Anibaba started the season as KC's starting right back after coming to the club as part of the Aurelien Collin trade with Orlando City. Anibaba did well enough for KC defensively and gave KC a big body for set pieces that helped in KC's 3-2 win over Philadelphia early in the season. He picked up a quadricep injury in early July that limited him the rest of the season. He only made one start after KC's 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on 6/21, and that was against Seattle at home when KC rested the majority of their starters for the US Open Cup final. He made just two other appearances after his injury, both substitution appearances. His injury combined with the emergence of Abdul-Salaam to play right back made him a bit expendable.

Matt Besler - Despite the number of goals that KC allowed this year, Besler, Sporting KC's captain, may have had his best season with the club. He didn't get a ton of credit, but Besler took on a much larger role defensively this year. With Collin traded in the offseason, Ike Opara going down injured again, along with Chance Myers and Seth Sinovic, Besler at times had a lot more recovery work to do in settling the defense and keeping it organized, sometimes with two rookies and a converted wing back, and some times with a pair of rookies and a teenager with him. He did so playing the most league games he has since 2011. He also set a career high for assists this year, with only one coming from one of his long throws.

Marcel de Jong - 2015 probably wasn't the year that de Jong envisioned when he came to MLS. The Canadian international played in just 13 games for KC, starting 11 of them. Similar to Anibaba, de Jong saw his time late in the season really shrink. He made just three appearances for KC after the beginning of August, starting two games and coming on as a substitute in the 5-0 thrashing by San Jose. Like Anibaba with the emergence of Abdul-Salaam and Dia, de Jong could become expendable, but that may also depend on the long term health of Sinovic.

Amadou Dia - KC's other defensive rookie played the most minutes of any of KC's three first round picks, playing 1,317 minutes. Like his rookie counterpart, Abdul-Salaam, Dia kept more experienced wingbacks on the bench as the season went on with his play. Dia's minutes actually fell late in the season, like de Jong and Anibaba, as he lost minutes to Sinovic and Abdul-Salaam, but in the playoffs with both Sinovic and Myers hurt, Peter Vermes went with his two rookie outside backs. It speaks well of the strides that both players made in their rookie season.

Kevin Ellis - Speaking of strides, there's probably not one player on this list that made as big of strides this year as Ellis. KC's second homegrown player was once again thrust into a large number of minutes in 2015 due to injury. Once Opara went down, Ellis became Kansas City's starting center back next to Besler. Ellis played in a career high, 30 games, starting 28 of them, and played the fourth most minutes on the team, 2,335, behind only Besler, Benny Feilhaber, and Dom Dwyer. And despite being listed at only 5'9", he was a major threat on set pieces, scoring four league goals this past year, good for fourth on the team, and added another in the playoffs, all with his head off of set pieces. For all the good work he did though he was also a point of contention with his play as he had poor play during the season which were really apparent because of the way KC played out of the back, either with poor passing or some poor choices when he would make runs forward. I think a lot of the anger though came from the fact that he was a converted wingback and KC didn't bring in another true central defender when Opara went down.

Chance Myers - Missed the first few months of the 2015 season still recovering from his Achillies tear that he suffered in 2014. When he did return, Myers was solid, but still struggled with some other injuries. He was limited to just 10 starts and 13 appears for KC. At times he still looked to be a step slower than his top speed before the injury, which isn't incredibly surprising given the nature of it. Next season is going to be big for Myers with a full preseason to continue to work back fully from his lingering injuries, and with the likes of Abdul-Salaam coming along last year he'll certainly be pushed for minutes.

Ike Opara - Looked set for a monster break out season in 2015, and fulfilling the potential that saw him go third overall in the 2010 MLS Superdraft. He was KC's leading goalscorer early in the season was a massive threat on set pieces and was a solid partner for Besler in defense. Unfortunately he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the sixth game of the season and his year was done. It's the four time in his five pro seasons that Opara has missed significant time with an injury. He's certainly a strong, very capable defender, but his inability to keep healthy is a risk that KC has to be running low on patience for. It's what made acquiring him from San Jose so cheap. I don't doubt that Opara will be back in 2016, but I think he's going to have a lot of competitions for the starting spot next to Besler next year. And if he does win it, he's going to be on a short leash. Another long term injury and he'll be gone.

Erik Palmer-Brown - Sporting KC's youngest player had a career high in games played (7), started (4), and minutes (376). He missed time in 2015 while with the US U20 team at the U20 World Cup as well as other tournaments. when KC was struggling though Palmer-Brown had been unable to displace Ellis next to Besler in central defense. A bit of a concern, but the kid is still just 18. The hope at this point has to be that he either has a Matt Miazga break out season for Sporting or that he is loaned to the Swope Park Rangers to get regular playing time like will hopefully happen to Jon Kempin.

Seth Sinovic - Like his partner on the other wing, Myers, Sinovic missed quite a bit of time this year with injury. A concussion against DC United in early May caused him to miss the majority of the season as he didn't return until late August. When he did return though Sinovic didn't seem to be at the same level that he'd been at pre-injury. Judgment and speed just seemed a little off for him after the injury. Hopefully a full offseason and preseason will see him get back to his old level. But like Myers, he has a young player behind him in Dia that looks ready to step up.

Looking towards 2016

Robb Heineman stole a bit of my thunder yesterday when he mentioned how the team needed to find a high-quality center back. With Opara's injury history I'm not sure how much you can rely on him to be able to go in 2016. I'd like to have higher hopes for him, but he hasn't given much of a reason to with his injuries. He's a good player and would help out KC a lot if he was healthy. But that if has gotten a lot bigger as the years have gone on. And while Ellis didn't do a horrible job at center back, his position is one that Sporting really needs to look to upgrade in the offseason if they're wanting to compete for more trophies in 2016.

I'd like to see Palmer-Brown get more time next year, everyone from the club to the national team coaches talk up his ability and his high ceiling, in 2016 I'd hope we'd get to see more of it. He's shown flashes at times, but needs more game play to really step up. That seems more likely to happen at the USL level with the Rangers at this point though.

The other area that I think KC needs to address a little bit in the offseason is their depth at outside back. Not necessarily needing to add more to it, but actually to reduce some of the players the team currently has. At this time KC has six players currently whose primary position with the team is outside back. With Abdul Salaam, Anibaba, de Jong, Dia, Myers, and Sinovic all predominately outside backs, there's probably some space to cut some fat and cap space there. Outside Abdul-Salaam and Dia, they're all making over $100,000, ranging from Anibaba's $120,000 to de Jong's $180,000. Myers and Sinovic both have tenure with the team on their side, but Myers' injury issues again coming up and Sinovic's play post concussion have to give at least a little pause. Anibaba meanwhile is the least expensive of the experienced outside backs and did good, but not exceptional at that position early in the season. With de Jong, if he provides a lot more to the attack than the other five do, and is also able to play the wing position as he did against Columbus this year. At the same time, de Jong's Canadian citizenship may make him the most appealing trade, specifically for the Canadian clubs.

In the end, heading into 2016, KC needs to look to add a center back who can at the least be a replacement for Ellis and at best push and potentially beat out Opara for the starting job. Out wide it becomes a matter of needing to probably shed at least one of their outside backs.

Fiorentina in on Palmer-Brown Chase?

For well over a year now we've been hearing rumors about teenage center back, Erik Palmer-Brown moving to Juventus in the Italian league. It's become a topic of discussion on a certain Italian writers page every three months or so, without anything new really ever being added to the conversation. With Palmer-Brown having turned 18 now though the restricts that had kept him from moving abroad when he was still a minor are gone and the length of his stay in KC is certainly something that can be questioned. Palmer-Brown himself even played a bit of a troll yesterday on "Jersey Friday" at Sporting KC practice wearing a personalized Juventus jersey in the team photo.

While Juventus has been the primary topic of rumors about Palmer-Brown, it appears another Italian club could be trying to come in and make a deal. Reports out of Italy are that Fiorentina is also after the young center back. Mentioned at the end of the article, Palmer-Brown is one of three Americans in MLS mentioned as potential targets of the Florence club along with Orlando's Amobi Okugo and Chicago's Michael Stephens.

The third of those three names mentioned though does give me a little pause in regards to this rumor, as Stephens only recently returned to MLS from an okay run with Norwegian club Stabaek. He doesn't have the profile of a player I'd see as a target of the Europa League semifinalists.

That said it doesn't surprise me that more clubs would be interested in Palmer-Brown, the article also mentions that Oriol Rosell's new club, Sporting Club of Portugal is also interested in trying to get him. Basically it means that we're likely in for a summer full of plenty of Palmer-Brown to Europe rumors, especially if he has himself a solid U20 World Cup in New Zealand.

Palmer-Brown Called Up for U20 World Cup

Sporting Kansas City home grown defender, Erik Palmer-Brown will be headed to New Zealand this summer. The 18 year old center back was today named to Tab Ramos' roster for this summer's U20 World Cup. The US is grouped with Myanmar, hosts New Zealand, and the Ukraine for the tournament which will kick off on May 30th for the USA against Myanmar. Second on June 2nd the US will play New Zealand before closing out the group stage on June 5th against the Ukraine. The tournament runs all the way through June 20th.

The US team will open camp in Carson, California on May 14th ahead of their departure for New Zealand. With that reporting date, Palmer-Brown will miss five games for KC (May 16th vs Colorado, May 20th vs New England, May 23rd at Seattle, May 29th vs Dallas, and June 6th vs Seattle). He also has the potential to miss KC's entrance into the US Open Cup this year with that game occurring on June 16th or 17th. Palmer-Brown has made one appearance for Kansas City this season, coming on for the last five minutes of the season opener against New York.

Palmer-Brown will become the third KC player to go to the U20 World Cup as a member of Sporting KC/KC Wizards. Francisco Gomez played for the team at the 1999 competition in Nigeria where the US fell in the round of 16 to eventual champions, Spain. More recently, Mikey Lopez was part of the team that qualified for the 2013 version of the tournament in Turkey. Grouped with Spain, France, and Ghana the US was only able to manage one point and went out in the group stage. Four other current KC players have played in the U20 World Cup as well. In 2005 Benny Feilhaber and Jacob Peterson (who even scored in the 1-0 win over Egypt) were teammates on the US team that topped their group ahead of the likes of Germany and Argentina (who won the tournament) before falling in the round of 16 to Italy. At the same tournament, Canadian, Marcel de Jong played, but the Canadians picked up only one point in a group containing Syria, Italy, and Colombia. De Jong did score in Canada's 4-1 loss to Italy. In 2009, Ike Opara was part of the US squad that went 1-2 but failed to make it out of their group after 3-0 loses to Germany and South Korea offset a 4-1 win over Cameroon.

Palmer-Brown Called into US U20 Camp

US Soccer today announced Tab Ramos' roster that had been called in for a US U20 camp in Linz, Austria ahead of this summer's U20 World Cup in New Zealand. Sporting Kansas City center back, Erik Palmer-Brown was named to the 20 man roster that will train in the central European country from April 18th through the 26th. During that time the US team will face off against the U20 teams from Qatar and Croatia at Red Bull Arena in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria.

Palmer-Brown will miss the next two Kansas City games, both on the road, against LA this weekend and Houston next weekend. The call up does leave KC even more shorthanded defensively heading into this weekend's game though. Along with Palmer-Brown missing out, the team will be with Ike Opara and likely Seth Sinovic due to injury. This along with the loan of Saad Abdul-Salaam to San Antonio will leave KC with just five healthy defenders for tomorrow's game, and that's assuming that Matt Besler has fully recovered from the stomach bug that caused him to his the mid-week friendly against Mexico. Along with Besler the only other defenders available for KC are left back Marcel de Jong, center backs/right backs, Kevin Ellis and Jalil Anibaba, and outside back Amadou Dia. The team could get help from further up the field defensively, specifically in the form of Jacob Peterson who spent time at outside back for KC last season during their injury crisis. In a pinch, Bernardo Anor could also sit deeper on the wing. But this weekend will certainly be a test of KC's depth.

Along with Palmer-Brown, KC had two academy players called up to US youth national teams as Cameron Duke was called into U14 camp and Jaylin Lindsey was called into the U15 team for a tournament in Europe in late April/early May.

Palmer-Brown Transfer Almost Done

Buried in the announcement of the new collective bargaining agreement and the announcement of Kansas City's new primary jersey was some news that could turn out to be quite big regarding Sporting KC and their youngest player, Erik Palmer-Brown. During yesterday's media day before the unveiling of the jersey, Robb Heineman said that the long rumored move by Palmer-Brown to Italian giants, Juventus looks like it's going to happen.

Heineman said that there was an 80 percent chance that Palmer-Brown ends up making the move to Turin. It seems that the deal is basically done and it's just a matter of finalizing everything. A deal would be the finalization of over a year's worth of rumors about the Italian club being interested in the US youth international. Most of the rumors have come out of Italy, from what writer, so much so that I'd gotten to the point of ignoring most of his posts on it, waiting for other media to report it with actual quotes from someone on either side of the situation. I'd never doubted that a deal could be done, I just grew tired of the consistent non-news of the guy's reports on the deal, which were basically the same thing over and over.

With the deal though, Heineman said that Juventus would likely loan Palmer-Brown back to Kansas City for a period of time after the permanent transfer was completed. Similar to the situation with DeAndre Yedlin, Tottenham, and the Seattle Sounders, where Yedlin finished out the 2014 season with the Sounders before moving to join Spurs in England. I think that'd be a good move for both Palmer-Brown and the club to get him to stay on. An arrival in Italy would just see him immediately loaned out to a club in the lower divisions of Italy so might as well keep him in a comfortable situation for a while longer.

My assumption is that the move would occur this summer once Palmer-Brown is 18 and the Italian summer window opens.

For me, I'm still a little torn on this move, I think it's a great potential move for Palmer-Brown, a chance to go abroad and be signed by one of the big clubs in Italy. It's also a great feather in the cap of the Sporting academy which will be able to say that they trained a player who went on to be signed by Juventus to a contract. On the other hand I don't want a player with Palmer-Brown's potential to get lost in Juventus' system (just take a look at all their loans out) and have his development stall out while being loaned from team to team. That said good for him on the potential move and fulfilling a dream of playing abroad.

Youngest/Oldest to Appear for Kansas City

Another stat for you, the youngest and oldest players to appear in or start games in league play and in all competitions.

In league appearances, four new players joined the list. Erik Palmer-Brown became the youngest player to ever appear in a game for Kansas City when he started KC's game in Chicago back in May. The game before, Igor Juliao made his KC debut, also joining the top 20 on this list. With his substitution at half time in Vancouver, Jon Kempin also joined this league list for KC. The final entry was Mikey Lopez who jumped in in 20th place on the list. The four players knocked Peterson Joseph, Vicente Figueroa, Roger Espinoza, and Matt McKeon out of the top 20.

Ten youngest to appear in a league game for KC.
1. Erik Palmer-Brown - 17 years, 24 days - 5/18/2014 - Chicago
2. Nino da Silva - 18 years, 158 days - 8/31/1997 - DC United
3. Yura Movsisyan - 18 years, 311 days - 5/13/2006 - DC United
4. Soony Saad - 19 years, 0 days - 8/17/2011 - Portland
5. Jake Dancy - 19 years, 137 days - 8/24/1997 - San Jose
6. Jose Burciaga - 19 years, 184 days - 5/19/2001 - Chicago
7. Jimmy Medranda - 19 years, 212 days - 9/7/2013 - Columbus
8. Igor Julião - 19 years, 264 days - 5/14/2014 - Philadelphia
9. Teal Bunbury - 20 years, 28 days - 3/27/2011 - DC United
10. Oriol Rosell - 20 years, 35 days - 8/11/2012 - DC United
11. Chance Myers - 20 years, 124 days - 4/9/2008 - New England
12. Francisco Gomez - 20 years, 132 days - 6/6/1999 - Los Angeles
13. Daneil Cyrus - 20 years, 220 days - 7/23/2011 - Toronto
14. Peter Byaruhanga - 20 years, 325 days - 7/8/2000 - New York
15. Nick Garcia - 20 years, 351 days - 3/25/2000 - Chicago
16. Michael Harrington - 21 years, 80 days - 4/14/2007 - DC United
17. Will John - 21 years, 81 days - 9/2/2006 - Los Angeles
18. Jon Kempin - 21 years, 124 days - 8/10/2014 - Vancouver
19. Scott Vermillion - 21 years, 144 days - 5/16/1998 - New England
20. Mikey Lopez - 21 years, 146 days - 7/16/2014 - Columbus

In all competitions, only Palmer-Brown and Juliao joined the list as Kempin and Lopez had both previously made their debuts in all competitions for KC. The pair knocked Scott Vermillion and Joseph out of the top 20.

Ten youngest to appear in a competitive game for KC.
1. Erik Palmer-Brown - 17 years, 24 days - 5/18/2014 - Chicago
2. Nino da Silva - 18 years, 158 days - 8/31/1997 - DC United
3. Yura Movsisyan - 18 years, 311 days - 5/13/2006 - DC United
4. Soony Saad - 19 years, 0 days - 8/17/2011 - Portland
5. Jon Kempin - 19 years, 51 days - 5/29/2012 - Orlando
6. Jake Dancy - 19 years, 137 days - 8/24/1997 - San Jose
7. Jose Burciaga - 19 years, 184 days - 5/19/2001 - Chicago
8. Jimmy Medranda - 19 years, 212 days - 9/7/2013 - Columbus
9. Igor Julião - 19 years, 264 days - 5/14/2014 - Philadelphia
10. Teal Bunbury - 20 years, 28 days - 3/27/2011 - DC United
11. Oriol Rosell - 20 years, 35 days - 8/11/2012 - DC United
12. Mikey Lopez - 20 years, 97 days - 5/28/2013 - Des Moines
13. Chance Myers - 20 years, 124 days - 4/9/2008 - New England
14. Francisco Gomez - 20 years, 132 days - 6/6/1999 - Los Angeles
15. Daneil Cyrus - 20 years, 220 days - 7/23/2011 - Toronto
16. Peter Byaruhanga - 20 years, 325 days - 7/8/2000 - New York
17. Nick Garcia - 20 years, 351 days - 3/25/2000 - Chicago
18. Kevin Ellis - 20 years, 363 days - 6/28/2011 - Chicago PDL
19. Will John - 21 years, 29 days - 7/12/2006 - Des Moines
20. Michael Harrington - 21 years, 80 days - 4/14/2007 - DC United

When it came to league starts, the same four who made their debuts in league play overall made the list for youngest league starters. They knocked off McKeon, Aaron Hohlbein, Ryan Pore, and Justin Detter. Also joining the list was Jimmy Medranda, who debuted in league play in 2013, but made his first start in 2014.

Ten youngest players to START a league match.
1. Erik Palmer-Brown - 17 years, 24 days - 5/18/2014 - Chicago
2. Yura Movsisyan - 18 years, 357 days - 6/28/2006 - DC United
3. Jose Burciaga - 19 years, 184 days - 5/19/2001 - Chicago
4. Igor Julião - 19 years, 264 days - 5/14/2014 - Philadelphia
5. Soony Saad - 19 years, 308 days - 6/20/2012 - Seattle
6. Nino da Silva - 20 years, 11 days - 6/6/1999 - Los Angeles
7. Jimmy Medranda - 20 years, 37 days - 3/16/2014 - Dallas
8. Jake Dancy - 20 years, 52 days - 5/31/1998 - Colorado
9. Oriol Rosell - 20 years, 77 days - 9/22/2012 - Montreal
10. Teal Bunbury - 20 years, 85 days - 5/23/2010 - Columbus
11. Chance Myers - 20 years, 127 days - 4/12/2008 - Houston
12. Daneil Cyrus - 20 years ,227 days - 7/30/2011 - New England
13. Francisco Gomez - 20 years, 228 days - 9/10/1999 - Colorado
14. Nick Garcia - 20 years, 351 days - 3/25/2000 - Chicago
15. Peter Byaruhanga - 20 years, 364 days - 8/16/2000 - San Jose
16. Michael Harrington - 21 years, 80 days - 4/14/2007 - DC United
17. Jon Kempin - 21 years, 130 days - 8/16/2014 - Toronto
18. Scott Vermillion - 21 years, 144 days - 5/16/1998 - New England
19. Mikey Lopez - 21 years, 146 days - 7/16/2014 - Columbus
20T. Vicente Figueroa - 21 years, 170 days - 4/10/1999 - San Jose
20T. Roger Espinoza - 21 years, 170 days - 4/12/2008 - Houston

In starts in all competitions, the trio of Palmer-Brown, Juliao, and Medranda all joined the list in 2014.

Ten youngest players to START a competitive game for KC.
1. Erik Palmer-Brown - 17 years, 24 days - 5/18/2014 - Chicago
2. Yura Movsisyan - 18 years, 357 days - 6/28/2006 - DC United
3. Jon Kempin - 19 years, 51 days - 5/29/2012 - Orlando
4. Jose Burciaga - 19 years, 184 days - 5/19/2001 - Chicago
5. Igor Julião - 19 years, 264 days - 5/14/2014 - Philadelphia
6. Soony Saad - 19 years, 286 days - 5/29/2012 - Orlando
7. Nino da Silva - 20 years, 11 days - 6/6/1999 - Los Angeles
8. Jimmy Medranda - 20 years, 37 days - 3/16/2014 - Dallas
9. Teal Bunbury - 20 years, 45 days - 4/13/2010 - Colorado
10. Jake Dancy - 20 years, 52 days - 5/31/1998 - Colorado
11. Oriol Rosell - 20 years, 77 days - 9/22/2012 - Montreal
12. Mikey Lopez - 20 years, 97 days - 5/28/2013 - Des Moines
13. Chance Myers - 20 years, 127 days - 4/12/2008 - Houston
14. Daneil Cyrus - 20 years ,227 days - 7/30/2011 - New England
15. Francisco Gomez - 20 years, 228 days - 9/10/1999 - Colorado
16. Nick Garcia - 20 years, 351 days - 3/25/2000 - Chicago
17. Peter Byaruhanga - 20 years, 364 days - 8/16/2000 - San Jose
18. Will John - 21 years, 62 days - 8/14/2006 - Chicago
19. Michael Harrington - 21 years, 80 days - 4/14/2007 - DC United
20. Scott Vermillion - 21 years, 144 days - 5/16/1998 - New England

Among the oldest players to appear for Kansas City, no new players joined any of the lists in the 2014 season. And baring a later addition to the team during the season there will be no players joining the list in 2015 either.

Ten oldest players to appear in a league game for KC.
1. Preki - 42 years, 113 days - 10/15/2005 - Dallas
2. Mo Johnston - 38 years, 121 days - 8/12/2001 - Colorado
3. Jimmy Nielsen - 36 years, 81 days - 10/26/2013 - Philadelphia
4. Peter Vermes - 35 years, 303 days - 9/20/2002 - Colorado
5. Tony Meola - 35 years, 179 days - 8/18/2004 - Columbus
6. Richard Gough - 35 years, 174 days - 9/26/1997 - Colorado
7. Kevin Hartman - 35 years, 152 days - 10/24/2009 - DC United
8. Claudio Lopez - 35 years, 99 days - 10/24/2009 - DC United
9. Bo Oshoniyi - 34 years, 345 days - 10/14/2006 - New York
10. Kerry Zavagnin - 34 years, 115 days - 10/25/2008 - New England
11. Paul Rideout - 34 years, 44 days - 9/27/1998 - San Jose
12. Julio Cesar - 33 years, 341 days - 10/24/2012 - Philadelphia
13. Refik Sabanadzovic - 33 years, 279 days - 5/8/1999 - Los Angeles
14. Jimmy Conrad - 33 years, 242 days - 10/12/2010 - Chicago
15. Josh Wolff - 33 years, 240 days -  10/23/2010 - San Jose
16. Mark Santel - 33 years, 65 days - 9/8/2001 - San Jose
17. Roy Lassiter - 33 years, 63 days - 5/11/2002 - Colorado
18. Uche Okafor - 33 years, 32 days - 9/9/2000 - Tampa Bay
19. Alex Bunbury - 32 years, 352 days - 6/4/2000 - Chicago
20. Diego Gutierrez - 33 years, 346 days - 10/15/2005 - Dallas

Ten oldest players in all competitions for KC.
1. Preki - 42 years, 113 days - 10/15/2005 - Dallas
2. Mo Johnston - 38 years, 222 days - 11/21/2001 - Santos Laguna
3. Jimmy Nielsen - 36 years, 123 days - 12/7/2013 - Salt Lake
4. Peter Vermes - 35 years, 315 days - 10/2/2002 - Los Angeles
5. Tony Meola - 35 years, 214 days - 9/22/2004 - Chicago
6. Richard Gough - 35 years, 186 days - 10/8/1997 - Colorado
7. Kevin Hartman - 35 years, 152 days - 10/24/2009 - DC United
8. Claudio Lopez - 35 years, 99 days - 10/24/2009 - DC United
9. Bo Oshoniyi - 34 years, 345 days - 10/14/2006 - New York
10. Kerry Zavagnin - 34 years, 115 days - 10/25/2008 - New England
11. Paul Rideout - 34 years, 44 days - 9/27/1998 - San Jose
12. Julio Cesar - 33 years, 352 days - 11/4/2012 - Houston
13. Refik Sabanadzovic - 33 years, 279 days - 5/8/1999 - Los Angeles
14. Jimmy Conrad - 33 years, 242 days - 10/12/2010 - Chicago
15. Josh Wolff - 33 years, 240 days -  10/23/2010 - San Jose
16. Mark Santel - 33 years, 104 days - 10/17/2001 - Barcelona
17. Uche Okafor - 33 years, 68 days - 10/15/2000 - Chicago
18. Roy Lassiter - 33 years, 63 days - 5/11/2002 - Colorado
19. Alex Bunbury - 32 years, 362 days - 6/14/2000 - Chicago Sockers
20. Diego Gutierrez - 33 years, 346 days - 10/15/2005 - Dallas

Ten oldest players to START a league game.
1. Preki - 42 years, 99 days - 10/1/2005 - Chicago
2. Mo Johnston - 38 years, 113 days - 8/4/2001 - Columbus
3. Jimmy Nielsen - 36 years, 81 days - 10/26/2013 - Philadelphia
4. Peter Vermes - 35 years, 303 days - 9/20/2002 - Colorado
5. Tony Meola - 35 years, 179 days - 8/18/2004 - Columbus
6. Richard Gough - 35 years, 174 days - 9/26/1997 - Colorado
7. Kevin Hartman - 35 years, 152 days - 10/24/2009 - DC United
8. Claudio Lopez - 35 years, 99 days - 10/24/2009 - DC United
9. Bo Oshoniyi - 34 years, 345 days - 10/14/2006 - New York
10. Kerry Zavagnin - 34 years, 67 days - 9/7/2008 - Houston
11. Paul Rideout - 34 years, 44 days - 9/27/1998 - San Jose
12. Julio Cesar - 33 years, 341 days - 10/24/2012 - Philadelphia
13. Refik Sabanadzovic - 33 years, 279 days - 5/8/1999 - Los Angeles
14. Jimmy Conrad - 33 years, 242 days - 10/12/2010 - Chicago
15. Josh Wolff - 33 years, 233 days - 10/16/2010 - New England
16. Mark Santel - 33 years, 38 days - 8/12/2001 - Colorado
17. Roy Lassiter - 33 years, 14 days - 3/23/2002 - Colorado
18. Uche Okafor - 32 years, 346 days - 7/19/2000 - New England
19. Diego Gutierrez - 33 years, 346 days - 10/15/2005 - Dallas
20. Alex Bunbury - 32 years, 337 days - 5/20/2000 - San Jose

Ten oldest players to START a competitive game for KC.
1. Preki - 42 years, 99 days - 10/1/2005 - Chicago
2. Mo Johnston - 38 years, 222 days - 11/21/2001 - Santos Laguna
3. Jimmy Nielsen - 36 years, 123 days - 12/7/2013 - Salt Lake
4. Peter Vermes - 35 years, 315 days - 10/2/2002 - Los Angeles
5. Tony Meola - 35 years, 214 days - 9/22/2004 - Chicago
6. Richard Gough - 35 years, 186 days - 10/8/1997 - Colorado
7. Kevin Hartman - 35 years, 152 days - 10/24/2009 - DC United
8. Claudio Lopez - 35 years, 99 days - 10/24/2009 - DC United
9. Bo Oshoniyi - 34 years, 345 days - 10/14/2006 - New York
10. Kerry Zavagnin - 34 years, 67 days - 9/7/2008 - Houston
11. Paul Rideout - 34 years, 44 days - 9/27/1998 - San Jose
12. Julio Cesar - 33 years, 352 days - 11/4/2012 - Houston
13. Refik Sabanadzovic - 33 years, 279 days - 5/8/1999 - Los Angeles
14. Jimmy Conrad - 33 years, 242 days - 10/12/2010 - Chicago
15. Josh Wolff - 33 years, 233 days - 10/16/2010 - New England
16. Mark Santel - 33 years, 104 days - 10/17/2001 - Barcelona
17. Roy Lassiter - 33 years, 46 days - 4/24/2002 - Santos Laguna
18. Alex Bunbury - 32 years, 362 days - 6/14/2000 - Chicago Sockers
19. Uche Okafor - 32 years, 346 days - 7/19/2000 - New England
20. Diego Gutierrez - 33 years, 346 days - 10/15/2005 - Dallas