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 Loan Three to Swope Park

The Swope Park Rangers kick off their inaugural season tomorrow night at Children's Mercy Park against the Portland Timbers 2. Ahead of their first game, the parent club, Sporting KC has sent three players from the first team on loan to the Rangers ahead of the game, Jon Kempin, Jimmy Medranda, and Daniel Salloi. All three were expected to spend time with the Rangers this season ahead of their first team and all should get plenty of playing experience with the USL side.

Kempin spent all of the Rangers preseason training with them. After spending the first portion of Sporting KC preseason with the first team, Kempin moved to the Rangers for the second half of Sporting's preseason. Kempin is likely expected to the starter for the Rangers, getting him the experience that Sporting KC has been trying to get him for the last two years on loan, only to be stopped due to goalkeeping injuries, inconsistencies, and departures. Hopefully in 2016 Kempin can finally get the chance to be a full time starter. If he does struggle, or KC goes through more goalkeeping issues, the club has two other goalkeepers, veteran, Zac Lubin and academy player, Steven Tekesky.

Medranda was another player from Sporting KC that spent the second half of preseason in Arizona training with the Rangers instead of Sporting KC. Medranda started all of the Rangers games in the Desert Diamond Cup. Since then though Medranda has been a fixture in the 18 man roster on each of Sporting's first three games. In fact he's been the first substitute off the bench for KC in their 1-0 win over Seattle and 2-1 win over Vancouver. He did not make the field in KC's last game against Toronto though. With Benny Feilhaber returning to health it would seem Medranda's spot in the 18 would likely go to him instead allowing him to go to the Rangers where he'll get more consistent minutes.

The final player loaned, Salloi has been a fixture in the 18 for Kansas City over the first three games of the season, but has yet to make his debut for Sporting KC. With the acquisition of Diego Rubio on loan, Salloi's time in the 18 was likely limited to begin with so this loan isn't much of a surprise, even though Salloi didn't spend any time with the Rangers during preseason. The announcement about the moves doesn't indicate a length of time for any of the three, but if Rubio isn't ready to be in the 18 come next week against Real Salt Lake, Salloi could very easily be recalled and be in the 18 for Sporting KC on Saturday against RSL.

Sporting KC Season Preview - Goalkeepers

We're less than a week away from the kick off of the 2016 MLS season for Sporting KC. This coming Sunday Sporting will take the field against the Seattle Sounders at Century Link Field on Fox Sports 1. With the season a week away it's time to take a look at KC's roster as it stands heading into the opener. At this time the team has 26 players on their roster, but that includes Canadian international, Marcel de Jong, who was not with the club at all basically since returning from national team duty with Canada for their friendly against the United States in early February. That number also doesn't include Bernardo Anor and Erik Palmer-Brown, who are both on loans for the entire season, and as such will not count against their roster spots. I'm going to take a look at the 26 man roster based on the positions the players play. Today it is the goalkeeping position.

Alec Kann - KC's newest goalkeeper was acquired by Sporting in the first stage of the re-entry draft this offseason. Kann looks set to be Kansas City's every game back up for Tim Melia based on Jon Kempin spending the majority of his preseason with the Rangers. Whether he'll actually be the one getting the minutes should Melia go down for an extended period of time will remain to be seen. Kann appeared 19 times for Saint Louis FC, started the Chicago Fire's final game of the 2015 season and performed fine there. He's got an unimpressive resume as a whole, but then again, so did Tim Melia last year.

Jon Kempin - Over the past two seasons, Sporting KC's first homegrown player, Kempin, has been expected to go out on loan for the whole season and get the valuable experience that he needs at this point to continue to develop his game to be a starter for the club. Unfortunately injuries to Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum forced his loan to Oklahoma City in 2014 to be cut short and in 2015 it was the emergence of Melia and Luis Marin heading back to Chile that caused him to be recalled from his loan to the San Antonio Scorpions. This year Kempin has spent the majority of his time with KC's USL team, the Swope Park Rangers, appearing in all but one of their preseason games in Tucson. I'd expect Kempin to be one of the players that gets loaned to the Rangers for the season, where he'll hopefully, finally be able to get a full season as a starter under his belt. And if Melia goes down again, he's a lot closer now and can float back and forth between Sporting and the Rangers than he could with his prior loans. The interesting thing to see will be whether Kann gets the minutes in things like the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League, or if Vermes brings in Kempin for those games since the Rangers don't get to participate in the Open Cup.

Tim Melia - The breakout performer for Sporting Kansas City in the 2015 season, Melia had joined the club as a league goalkeeper in 2014 after all the injury issues the club had at goalkeeper, and earned himself a contract with the club to basically play the same position that Kann is this year, be the backup for the starter so that Kempin could go out on loan. When Marin had trouble adjusting to the style of play in MLS, Melia stepped in and established himself quite well in net. He finished 2015 with a 11-8-4 record, eight shutouts, and a 1.22 goals against average for Sporting. In 2016 he comes in as the established starter which should continue to build on the confidence that he got winning the job in 2015. He gives a strong presence back there that makes me feel as confident about the goalkeeping position as I have for KC since Jimmy Nielsen retired.

Overall confidence in the goalkeeping situation for Kansas City should be good. They have a solid starter in Melia that can win them points if it comes to that as we saw in the two regular season meetings against Portland in Portland in 2015. His immediate back up is a bit of an unknown with Kann simply due to his lack of first team action in recent years, but the club also has Kempin likely on loan to the Rangers in the same city, making it much easier if KC needs to call on him to replace Melia.

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.

Sporting Re-Sign Kempin and Sinovic, Bring Back Olum

Sporting KC announced the return of two players that were out of contract from the 2015 season as the team announced today that they'd re-signed goalkeeper Jon Kempin and defender Seth Sinovic. The club also announced that they'd reacquired defender/midfielder Lawrence Olum. The Kenyan international had played for KC from 2012 to 2014 leaving KC after the season and joining Kedah FA in the Malaysian Premier League.

Re-signing Kempin and Sinovic aren't huge surprises, both players being from Kansas City certainly is helpful. Kempin earned three starts in 2015 for Kansas City replacing Tim Melia, and also was a substitute in the club's playoff game against the Timbers. The team's first homegrown player has continued to impress when he plays and hopefully in 2016 he'll get the opportunity he really needs, consistent playing time, presumably with the Swope Park Rangers.

Sinovic's return will also give KC a veteran presence on the left wing of KC's defense to go along with the younger Amadou Dia. Sinovic has been as steady as they come at left back for Kansas City for the past few years. Unfortunately his 2015 season was marred by injuries and a concussion that limited him to just 11 games all season. Hopefully a full offseason will allow him to fully recover as he looked to still be carrying some knocks late in the 2015 season. Sinovic's re-signing always seemed the likely path for him, based on his comments after being selected by Montreal in the expansion draft, he had made comments about retiring if he'd been unable to return to KC, so his going through the re-entry draft always seemed to be a stretch. His re-signing will also create an interesting question with Marcel de Jong. With Sinovic and Dia emerging last year, the Canadian international struggled to get time and could find himself on the trade block.

Olum returns to Kansas City from Malaysia, where he spent the last year playing with Kedah FA. He'd played in 83 games across all competitions from 2011 through 2014, including the club's 2012 US Open Cup final and 2013 MLS Cup final. He provides depth for Kansas City at both the defensive midfield position and the center back position. His return is not overly surprising based on the fact that he had been training with the team earlier this fall, was out of contract, and likely comes to KC without a big contract.  On the other side though KC has Amobi Okugo who plays pretty much the exact same position as Olum, and he's already under contract for 2016. Combine that with the fact that KC now have six players (Olum, Okugo, Matt Besler, Kevin Ellis, Ike Opara, and Erik Palmer-Brown) who can all play center back and one has to assume that there will be some movement happening among those six some time before the 2016 season starts.

Sporting KC Make Roster Moves

Sporting Kansas City today announced roster moves for the end of the 2015 season. The team announced that they had declined the club option on defender Jalil Anibaba. Anibaba, who was acquired by Kansas City in the offseason in a deal with Orlando City that sent Aurelien Collin to the expansion club, played in 16 games for KC in 2015, starting 14 of them. He became a starter three games into the 2015 season after KC's defensive issues in a 3-1 loss to Dallas. Anibaba proceeded to start the next 13 games for Kansas City at right back. Unfortunately after that Anibaba got hurt in training and missed all of July and August. When he returned in September he made just three more appearances, only one start, the club's 1-1 draw with Seattle when starters were rested in preparation for the US Open Cup final. Anibaba could play both right back and center back, but never lined up in the middle of defense for Kansas City. Even when both Ike Opara and Kevin Ellis were down, teenager Erik Palmer-Brown was preferred to Anibaba at center back. Anibaba will now go into the re-entry draft in December.

KC also announced that there were five players out of contract, goalkeeper Jon Kempin, midfielders Mikey Lopez, Soni Mustivar, and Paulo Nagamura, and defender Seth Sinovic. Sporting announced that they were extend offers to all five of those players in the hopes that they would return in 2016. Re-signing Mustivar has to be the priority of the five with his standing as a starter at this point. Kempin as the perceived future starter in goal also should probably be a priority. The other three it becomes a question of what the players are wanting and where the club stands depth wise. Lopez will graduate from the Generation Adidas program that means his salary next year would count against the cap. The question is whether he's contributed enough to justify it. On Nagamura it likely will come down to salary demands. Nagamura will turn 33 next season and while he's been great for the club, making $230,000 or more may not be the best way to spend cap space. But it's hard to argue with what he's done for the team. As for Sinovic, it depends on his recovery from his concussion to me. I've said many times how I feel he wasn't the same player after the concussion. It becomes about where he's at and how he's doing for me on whether you bring him back as well.

Also today KC announced they'd picked up the option on 13 other players; Saad Abdul-Salaam, Amadou Dia, Kevin Ellis, Benny Feilhaber, Connor Hallisey, Jimmy Medranda, Tim Melia, Chance Myers, Krisztian Nemeth, Ike Opara, Erik Palmer-Brown, and Jordi Quintilla. That list combined with the list of players KC currently have under contract; Bernardo Anor, Matt Besler, Marcel de Jong, Dom Dwyer, Roger Espinoza, Amobi Okugo, Jacob Peterson, and Graham Zusi puts KC at 20 players under contract for 2016. Add in the five players that the team is said to be making offers to that were on the team last year and you're up to 25 of 28 roster already filled. That's not to say that players who had their option picked up won't be waived during preseason, or that trades won't be made. But at the moment it appears that plenty of the team will be back for the start of the 2016 season.

Season Review - Goalkeepers

Just about three weeks ago, Sporting Kansas City's 2015 season came to a close in a penalty kick shootout against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. A season that started out promising with Kansas City being in the running for the Supporters' Shield and having a strong US Open Cup run, fizzled by the end of the season, but not without KC taking home their third trophy in four years as they lifted the 2015 US Open Cup in a shootout over the Philadelphia Union. Now that we've all had a chance to come down and get some separation from the season it's time to take a look at Sporting KC's roster this season and take a quick look at 2015.

I figured I'd break these down positions over a couple posts. We'll start in the back and move forward, so today I'm looking at goalkeepers. In 2015 it looked like KC found a starting goalkeeper to replace Jimmy Nielsen, but it wasn't who anyone expected. Sporting KC started the season with Luis Marin in goal, and the Chilean had some decent moments, but also looked incredibly shaky at times coming for crosses and missing, and being very eager to race off his line. After some poor results, more than one fan was calling for back up Tim Melia to get a chance. Lots of people like to make the "backup quarterback" argument about back up goalkeepers as well in that he's a team's favorite player when the starting goalkeeper is doing poorly. In KC's case though it turned out to be true, Melia stepped in after eight games and made the position his. After a month or so of sitting on the bench, Marin was released and returned to Chile. To replace Marin on the senior roster, Sporting recalled homegrown goalkeeper, Jon Kempin from his loan to NASL side, the San Antonio Scorpions. Kempin made three league starts this year in place of Melia when he was hurt and also came on as a substitute in the playoff game against Portland.

The Players

Jon Kempin - KC's first homegrown goalkeeper finished his sixth professional season tying his career high for starts with three and appearances with four. He played well in his three starts, going 1-1-1 in Orlando and at home against Dallas and Seattle, making six saves on 11 shots. Where he really shined though was in the playoff game against Portland. Coming on after Melia had suffered a head injury, Kempin performed well in overtime and was left with little he could have done on Portland's equalizer. In penalty kicks he made three saves on Portland penalty kicks, twice in sudden death giving KC the chance to win but the shooters were unable to capitalize on it.

For 2016 for Kempin the big thing is to get him consistent playing time. At 22 he really needs to start getting games every week, and if Melia is going to be the starter next year I want Kempin to spend the entire season in goal for the Swope Park Rangers on loan. He needs professional games and that is likely to be the best spot for him to get them at this point. The other big thing is that Kempin is one of two players who are out of contract for Kansas City, so before all that the key will be getting Kempin signed to a new contract to keep him in Kansas City.

Luis Marin - Joined KC in the offseason before the 2015 season and was expected to be the starter from day 1 after having a successful career in Chile that included being named to Chile's 2010 World Cup roster. Despite Peter Vermes' comments that there was a competition, most fans knew the job was Marin's to start the season. Marin started the first eight games of the season, going 2-2-4 and recorded two shutouts for KC. Overall I'm not sure that Marin couldn't have been a successful in MLS I'm just not sure that he would have ever been fully successful in KC's system. He struggled with claiming crosses and corners and at times almost seemed reckless in how fast he came off of his line.

Finally benched after the 4-4 draw with Houston where he gave up a near post goal from 30 plus yards out, he was never able to get his spot back. Vermes deserves credit here for pulling the plug when things weren't working and going with a different goalkeeper.

Tim Melia - The man who took over for Marin after he couldn't lock down the starting spot, Melia made it his own. Taking over for Marin after the first eight games of the season, Melia started 23 of the remaining 26 league games for KC, posting an 11-8-4 record with a goal difference of 1.22 and eight shutouts. Melia also started all five of KC's US Open Cup games on the way to winning the 2015 edition, making two saves in the shootout to help KC win. Melia proved to be a good shot stopper, saving 75% of the shots he faced, while at the same time having control of his area. The combination of the two is something that KC has really struggled with in goal over the last few years, even with Nielsen in goal. KC's had players who were good with stuff in the air (Eric Kronberg) and guys that were good shot stoppers (Nielsen), but Sporting hasn't really had a player that did both the way Melia did for KC this season. Any other season and Melia is likely your team MVP.

Looking Towards 2016

While there are not as many questions about the goalkeeping position this offseason as there was in 2014, there are still a number of them. Melia is under contract for the 2015 season, but probably deserves a bit of a raise after his performance in goal. Keeping Kempin should be a priority for the team; he's improved each season and has started to look really confident in goal for KC. That said, once he is under contract, he needs to spend the entire season with the Swope Park Rangers. Kempin needs to play 20 plus games next year at least, he really needs to get games to continue his development at this point. KC also needs to add a third goalkeeper, someone who is likely to be cheap and can sit on the bench while Melia starts. I'd personally lean towards a goalkeeper from the lower divisions that has some experience starting to give some confidence in goal in Open Cup games and if Melia comes up with an injury over a rookie who you'll stall developmental wise since you're giving the minutes with SPR to Kempin.

Sporting Season Ends on Penalties

Sporting Kansas City fans have gotten used to the drama of the penalty kick shootout over the past few years with the team winning all three of their titles from the penalty spot. Last night in Portland though was a new feeling for fans as KC fell for the first time in  seven years in a penalty kick shootout, falling 7-6 after a 2-2 draw.

The Portland Timbers came out very aggressive from the start and within the first couple minutes had already forced a save out of Tim Melia and won themselves a corner. The Timbers spent much of the first half keeping Kansas City pinned in their own end and seemed to be controlling play. In the fifth minute only a clearance off the goal line by Paulo Nagamura kept the game from becoming 1-0 to the Timbers. While KC and Portland split the possession 50-50 in the first half, the Timbers by far felt like the more likely team to score and only some mistakes on their part, like Lucas Melano mishitting a shot, or some good goalkeeping by Melia, coming quickly off his line in the 37th to cut out a through ball to Fanendo Adi, kept the score 0-0 as the teams headed into half time.

The second half saw Kansas City come out much better than they had in the first half. KC got Krisztian Nemeth more involved in the play and he was able to create chances for Sporting. Nemeth set up Dwyer in the 49th minute beating his defender on the end line before laying the ball off to Dom Dwyer who controlled and fired a shot just wide of the near post. Minutes later Dwyer almost capitalized on a giveaway by Darlington Nagbe, racing towards goal and firing a shot that went just wide of the post. While KC was the more aggressive side to start the second half it was the Timbers that finally broke their goal drought against KC. After KC only partially clearing a shot by Nagbe that Melia punched away the ball came back to Diego Valeri. In a scramble to shut him down the ball popped to Rodney Wallace who fired a shot into the far corner and in past Melia to give Portland the 1-0 lead.

The game, which had been physical for much of the night started to really get out of hand from there. In the 69th minute Melia raced off his line to grab a ball played into the box ahead of Wallace. Melia easily beat Wallace to the ball and the Portland player attempted to jump over Melia but didn't get high enough and caught the KC goalkeeper in the face. Many KC players took exception to this as Melia was checked for a concussion. Wallace received a yellow card for his efforts but that didn't appear to be the end of it. In the 76th Nemeth went into the book for another cynical play. After he'd fouled Melano and Melano was on the ground Nemeth kicked the ball into Melano's head. Nemeth was lucky to only escape with a yellow there. Melia's injury that he picked up on the incident with Wallace would eventually force him out of the game to be replaced by Jon Kempin. The physical play continued and shortly after Kempin came on, Sporting's Matt Besler had to go to the sideline and change shirts and get cleaned up after catching an elbow from Adi right in the nose. While Besler was getting cleaned up in the 87th minute though KC found the equalizer. After a corner was only cleared partially, the ball came back wide to Graham Zusi who played a perfect ball to the near post where Kevin Ellis got in front of Liam Ridgewell and flicked a header past him and into the far side netting leveling the score at 1-1.

The score stayed level and the two teams headed to extra time. Once again KC came out the more aggressive side and it paid off in the 96th. After receiving the ball down near the end line, Nemeth cut inside his defender and fired a shot from a tight angle into the net to put KC up 2-1, a superb individual effort from Nemeth to put KC in front. From there KC was looking to absorb pressure from the Timbers. Just before the end of the first period of extra time Jack Jewsbury fired a header from a corner just over the bar to keep the score at 2-1 KC. Sporting continued to hold out in the second period and created some chances of their own with Dwyer almost setting up Jacob Peterson before just missing another chance himself. Those missed chances would hurt in the 118th when Dairon Asprilla collected a throw in with Soni Mustivar on his back. Asprilla was able to turn and get a cross into the box where Maximiliano Urruti had gotten some space against Ellis and volleyed the ball past Kempin and into the net to level the game again.

In penalties Portland shot first and Kempin made a bit save on Valeri on the first kick guessing right and getting a strong arm on the shot to keep it out. Benny Feilhaber put KC in front with his effort. Penalties were level after the second round as Nat Borchers scored and Dom Dwyer had his effort saved by Adam Kwarasey. The third round saw Ridgewell and Zusi both put their efforts away before Jewsbury and Besler both put their penalties over the bar in the fourth round. In the fifth Urruti scored followed by Paulo Nagamura to send the penalties to sudden death. In the sixth round Kempin again came up big making a save on Jorge Villafana but KC couldn't capitalize as Ellis hit the base of the post. The seventh and eighth rounds saw both teams make their PKs as Asprilla, Mustivar, Nagbe, and Peterson all scored. In the ninth round Kempin made his third save of the shootout to give KC another chance to win, but in KC's half of the ninth round Saad Abdul-Salaam hit the base of one post, the ball rolled along the goal line, hit the other post and bounced back out of the goal sending the penalties into a tenth round. George Fochive and Amadou Dia rounded out the field players by making their penalties to send it to the goalkeepers. Kwarasey powered his past Kempin but Sporting's goalkeeper couldn't beat his counterpart and the Timbers advanced.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jon Kempin - Coming in cold off the bench in a playoff game is far from an ideal situation for a goalkeeper, but to come in and then come up with three saves in the shootout, Kempin played fantastic. There is nothing more that could have been asked of him during the shootout; it was crushing to see him be the one that missed the final penalty after he'd given KC multiple opportunities to win it before hand with some very good saves on Portland penalty kicks.

Honorable mention - Matt Besler

Player Ratings - Melia 6, Abdul-Salaam 6, Ellis 6, Besler 7, Dia 6, Mustivar 6, Nagamura 5, Feilhaber 4, Nemeth 5, Dwyer 4, Zusi 4. Subs Kempin 7, Peterson NR.

Swope Park Rangers Earn Draw

Sporting KC pulled out a big draw at home today against the Seattle Sounders. While the result still leaves Sporting KC in fifth place in the Western Conference, the 1-1 draw against the Sounders was still a positive result for SKC considering Sporting send out a decidedly B team lineup with the start lineup today. The only two regular starters to start the game were center back Kevin Ellis and midfielder Paulo Nagamura. It took the insertion of Dom Dwyer, but Sporting KC was able to get the 1-1 draw against a Sounders team playing their predominately first team.

The first half though belonged mainly to the Sounders who took advantage of the predominately reserve lineup from Kansas City. A through ball in the 25th found Obafemi Martings behind the defense, but his shot was easily collect by Jon Kempin in the KC goal. In the 31st minute though the Sounders were able to find a way past the KC defense. A long ball over the top by Gonzalo Pineda found Martins who had found space behind Sporting's Ellis. Martins shrugged off a challenge by the home grown player before fire a shot that Kempin got a hand to, but had enough power on it that it carried past him and into the far corner of the net to make it 1-0 Seattle. KC had plenty of possession in the first half but the chances they created were right at Stefan Frei. Their best of the first half came in first half stoppage time when a Connor Hallisey cross pinged around in the box for a minute before falling to Jordi Quintilla, but his shot was also deflected and collect by Frei.

The second half though Sporting KC came out and looked like a much better side. Peter Vermes inserted Soni Mustivar for Paulo Nagamura, but Seattle still had the best early chance. In the 52nd minute a nice cross into the box found Clint Dempsey, but his shot was well saved by Kempin who made a good reaction save to keep it 1-0 Seattle. As the half wore on though KC continued to get more of the ball and more chances. They were just missing that final touch as the front line of Bernardo Anor, Connor Hallisey, and Jacob Peterson couldn't create enough clear chances for KC. In the 74th minute Dom Dwyer entered the game for KC giving them more offense centrally than they had. It took Dwyer only five minutes to make a difference In the 79th minute the ball got played off to Peterson who laid the ball off to Amadou Dia who was making an overlapping run. Dia played a cross into the box and Dwyer was there at the back post to tap the cross home to tie the game at 1-1. With the goal, KC really pushed the game against the Sounders and looked to be the aggressor as the rest of the half continued. KC kept Seattle pinned in but couldn't find a second goal. On the counter the Sounders almost pulled another Seattle on KC as Dempsey put a cross by Martins just wide of the post in the 85th minute. KC's best chances after that came after that chance as Mikey Lopez started to find more space in the midfield. He was able to get forward and create chances but KC couldn't capitalize. The best chance though came in stoppage time at Lopez received the ball and was able to dribble at Seattle's back lin before dishing the ball out wide to Dwyer. Dwyer's shot was saved by Frei but he gave up a rebound. Lopez followed the effort and was able to knock the ball towards goal but the effort was cleared off the line as it trickled towards goal. The two teams had to settle for a draw, but considering the lineup you have to feel that the Swope Park Rangers getting the draw had to feel a lot more like a win even though the game was at home.

Wizards Man of the Match - Dom Dwyer - Completely changed the game when he came in. KC had possession before he came in but were totally lacking in the final third, Dwyer gave KC that last little bit and it paid off with the goal by Dwyer.

Honorable Mention: Jon Kempin, Mikey Lopez

Honorable Mention - Kempin 7, Dia 6, Ellis 6, Palmer-Brown 6, Anibaba 6, Nagamura 6, Lopez 7, Quintilla 6, Anor 5, Peterson 5, Hallisey 5. Subs Mustivar 6, Abdul-Salaam 6, Dwyer 7.

Kempin Out, Sporting Bring in Riggs on Loan

Sporting KC's issues with goalkeepers over the last two years or so has come up again for KC. Tomorrow, Sporting KC's first home grown signing, Jon Kempin will not be in the 18 man roster for the game. Kempin is being held out of tomorrow's US Open Cup game against FC Dallas as a precautionary measure because of minor arm infection. He could apparently go if need be, but the team wants to keep him on.

In his place, KC has picked up goalkeeper Alex Riggs from St. Louis FC on loan. Riggs, a 27 year old Missouri State graduate is from the St. Louis area, but has yet to play in a game for St. Louis this year as Chicago Fire loanee, Alec Kann and Mark Pais have split time in net this year for the expansion side. He does have some MLS experience, being on the Columbus Crew roster in 2011, but not appearing in any league games. I'd expect he'll just be on the bench and Tim Melia will get another start in the US Open Cup.

Sporting KC, Marin Agree to Terminate Contract, Kempin Recalled

While the rest of the world was focused on the Department of Justice press conference about the charges in the FIFA corruption investigation, Sporting KC made a roster move that while surprising isn't wholly unexpected. The team announced today that they had come to terms with Luis Marin to mutually terminate his contract with the club.

Marin had started the team's first eight games of the season, going 2-2-4 as the starter, allowing 12 goals, a 1.5 goals against average. After the team's 4-4 draw in Houston, where Marin looked less than confident and gave up a bad goal from distance by Giles Barnes, Marin was replaced in goal by back up, Tim Melia. In the four games since then, Melia has gone 2-0-2, allowing just three goals, including a man of the match performance against the Seattle Sounders last weekend.

As I said, it's a surprising move simply because I thought Marin would get more time to settle into the league and lock down the starting position, but it seems Peter Vermes didn't have the patience to wait this one out. And to be fair, it's hard to blame him, Marin looked hesitant and indecisive on coming off his line, especially for crosses on set pieces, six of the goals allowed by KC with Marin in goal came from set pieces, while zero have been scored since Melia stepped into net.

So with Marin gone, the starting spot is now Melia's. He's the fifth goalkeeper to start in goal for KC over the past two years, the same number of starting goalkeepers as the much maligned Philadelphia Union who are made fun of for all their goalkeeping issues. His departure does open up an international slot for KC and at the same time probably opens up some decent cap space for the club as well to utilize in the upcoming summer transfer window.

With the release of Marin, KC has also recalled goalkeeper, Jon Kempin from his loan with the San Antonio Scorpions of the NASL. Kempin had started the first two games of the season for San Antonio, a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay and 2-1 loss to Indy Eleven, after that he had left for US U23 camp in California. Upon his return, Kempin has been the back up as the Scorpions have gone 2-0-3. Recalling him now keeps Kempin from being cap-tied to the Scorpions for this year's US Open Cup, as they open play tonight against the Austin Aztex.

As long as KC sees Melia as the starter, KC will likely look to fill the third goalkeeper slot with a young, cheap prospect who can be the club's third goalkeeper.

Sporting KC Loan Update - Kempin Gives Up Golazo

After a weekend off for both teams with Sporting KC players on loan, they both came back to play this past weekend.

For Jon Kempin and Saad Abdul-Salaam, it was a big let down of a game. Like Sporting KC, the San Antonio Scorpions gave up a late winner to Indy Eleven to lose 2-1. The Indy winner, scored in the 89th minute was a 40 yard strike after a long free kick was headed back into the path of Sergio Pena, who brought the ball down and fired a shot that looped over Jon Kempin and into the net. Kempin probably got caught a little too far off his line, but it was still a good strike by the Indy Eleven player. KC's other loaned player, Abdul-Salaam started and played the full game for San Antonio in defense. This next week, the Scorpions travel to play Minnesota United.



In the USL, Mikey Lopez and the Oklahoma City Energy continued their unbeaten start to the 2015 season with another late win, this time over the Seattle Sounders 2 to win 2-1 thanks to a Danni Konig. Lopez started and played 90 minutes for the Energy in their win. The Energy this week will remain at home to take on St. Louis FC.

Sporting KC Loan Update - Mixed Bag of Results

The season has started for both clubs that have Sporting KC players there on loan, and it's been a mixed bag for the two teams.

Sporting's USL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Energy is two games into their new season after a draw last week with in state rival, the Tulsa Roughnecks, drawing 1-1. They picked up their first win of the season this past weekend in Colorado Springs where they defeated the expansion Switchbacks 2-1 thanks to a late goal by Danni Konig. Sporting's Mikey Lopez, the only SKC player currently on loan to the USL affiliate has started both of the Energy's two games, playing 77 minutes in the draw with Tulsa and going 85 minutes in OKC's win over the Switchbacks. OKC is off this weekend before their home opener next weekend against the Seattle Sounders 2.

The news wasn't so good out of San Antonio where goalkeeper Jon Kempin, and first round draft pick, Saad Abdul-Salaam currently are playing. The Scorpions opened their defense of the NASL title at home against the visiting Tampa Bay Rowdies. Both Kempin and Abdul-Salaam started for the Scorpions as the Rowdies jumped out to a 1-0 lead after just 10 minutes. The Rowdies scored again just before half time and added a third just after the hour mark before Omar Cummings scored to pull a goal back for the Scorpions in a losing effort. Both Kempin and Abdul-Salaam went 90 minutes. The Scorpions will be at home again this week when they'll host the Indy Eleven at Toyota Field.

Kempin Loaned to San Antonio

Sporting Kansas City announced today that homegrown goalkeeper, Jon Kempin is headed out on loan, and it's not to the place that most people expected him to go though. Most people expected Kempin to be headed to Oklahoma City to continue to play under Jimmy Nielsen with affiliate club, the Oklahoma City Energy. That has turned out not to be true, instead, Kempin will go to the NASL and has joined the defending NASL champion, San Antonio Scorpions for the 2015 season.

Kempin not going to OKC, while surprising, does make some sense, as the Energy currently have three goalkeepers on their roster, including Evan Newton, who played 28 games for Arizona United in the USL last season. So with three goalkeepers already, and a goalkeeper with experience playing at this level, OKC doesn't need Kempin at this time. After last season when Kempin was recalled with plenty of time left in the season, I'm sure Nielsen wanted to get some further consistency in goal.

So into the picture comes San Antonio who had a similar situation last year when they had current NYCFC goalkeeper, Josh Saunders, in on loan before that club started up this year. This will give Kempin the chance to be a consistent starter and get him game time that he desperately needs at this point in his career. With Tim Melia in town to back up Luis Marin, this gives Kempin the chance to go to San Antonio, fight for the starting job there and get a number of games he likely wouldn't get here.

There's no word yet on whom on the roster Sporting will send to Oklahoma City at this point, but the likes of Saad Abdul-Salaam, Jimmy Medranda, and James Rogers seem like a few that could be on their way south.

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

Two Called Up to US Camp for Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City will be represented by two players in this January's US national team camp, but it isn't the two you'd expect. The first is expected, Sporting's captain, Matt Besler returns to the national team. He'll be considered one of the veterans in the team of defenders that Jurgen Klinsmann has called into camp, as only three of the defenders, Besler, Brad Evans, and Jermaine Jones have caps for the senior national team. And with Jones being a converted midfielder, Besler, with 23 caps, is the most experienced pure defender on the roster. So plenty will be expected of the Sporting captain in this camp.

The other call up from Sporting KC wasn't Graham Zusi as most would have expected, he's resting his foot from the injury he had at the end of the 2014 season ahead of Sporting preseason starting. Instead the second Sporting player called up is the team's homegrown goalkeeper, Jon Kempin.  Klinsmann had said that he'd use this camp as a way to call up Olympic elligible players to have them in a camp ahead of their Olympic qualifying which will occur next year ahead of the Olympics in Rio. Kempin is one of four goalkeepers called up, led by World Cup veteran, Nick Rimando. Also called up was Chicago Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson, and recent Generation Adidas signing, Alex Bono. Both Kempin and Bono are likely to be fighting for a place on the Olympic roster for 2016 with Southampton goalkeeper, Cody Cropper, who has received senior national team call ups when the team has played in Europe. With Rimando and Johnson both in camp, a cap for Kempin with the senior national team at this point would appear unlikely, but this will be good experience for Kempin heading into 2015 and a chance for him to impress.

The camp will start next Monday, January 12th and will run through February 8th with the teams playing a game in Chile on January 28th and against Panama at the Stub Hub Center on February 8th. The two players will miss the start of Sporting's preseason.

2015 Wishes

Time to make my wishes for the year 2015. Yesterday I reviewed my wishes for 2014, so let's move forward.

1. Silverware - As always, number 1 on the list is trophies. I want more trophies. For a period of time last year, Kansas City held the MLS Cup, NWSL championship, and MISL title all at the same time. While I'd prefer it to be Sporting KC bringing home more silverware, I'd be thrilled to see FCKC and/or the Missouri Comets repeat.

2. Sporting KC improve their home form - Last year, Sporting was a mediocre 6-5-6 at Sporting Park. Over the past two years, Sporting KC has lost 10 league games at home, that's almost 30 percent of the team's home games over that two year stretch. With Sporting moving to the Western Conference, which on paper looks to be a brutal conference next year, Kansas City will need to take advantage of their home games.

3. A little more balanced scoring - Not saying that I want Dom Dwyer's scoring in 2015 to drop off, but Sporting needs a little more balance in their attack in 2015. While Dwyer scored 22 goals for KC, the next highest scorer in league play was Graham Zusi with 5. For Dwyer to have continued success, someone needs to pick up the scoring a little bit and get closer to 10-12 goals than anyone did this past season.

4. Finally defeat the Seattle Sounders at home - With the move to the Western Conference, Sporting KC will get to face the Seattle Sounders at least once at home in 2015. Since the Sounders came into the league in 2009, Sporting is 0-4 at home against the Sounders and 0-4-1 in all competitions (the US Open Cup goes in the record books as a draw). In face, KC has just one win period against the MLS incarnation of the Sounders, in the team's first match up in 2009. Since then, KC is 0-7-1 in league play and 0-8-2 in all competitions. It's about time to end that losing streak, both at home and overall.

5. Ike Opara (or whoever partners Matt Besler) is fully recovered and starts 25-30 games - I'm not foolish enough to think that Opara will make Sporting fans forget Aurelien Collin, but Opara is a talented center back. The question with him has always been his health. Like with Chance Myers, hopefully Peter Vermes' patience with him pays off this season when he's likely to be the starting center back. If he's not, hopefully whoever does replace Collin can be solid enough so that I don't see tons of "Collin wouldn't have made that mistake" comments this season.

6. Luis Marin is available for all 34 league games, allowing Jon Kempin to start all but a game or two with Oklahoma City - At this point in Kempin's development he needs to be regularly playing. With Marin the clear number 1 on the roster I'd like to see Kempin loaned out to OKC again for the season. Unlikely last year hopefully Marin can stay healthy which will allow Kempin to spend the entire season in OKC starting pretty much every game. That way, either late in Marin's contract or when it runs out, Kempin is ready to step up and take over the starting job.

7. US Men's national team says perfect in Kansas City - This summer, for the sixth time in KC and fourth time in Sporting Park's history, the US men's national team will be playing here. So far the US is 5-0 in Kansas City, and with the US hosting a group stage game, no matter who it's against the US should be able to beat them at Sporting Park.

8. US win the Gold Cup - A win in the Gold Cup would guarantee them a spot in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Thanks to their 2013 win though if they lose they still have a chance to make it, but the easier option is to just win the Gold Cup this year.

9. Missouri Comets return to championship game - The Comets are 10-0 at this point with 10 games left in the season. And looking at the schedule of remaining games, I can't see the Comets not making the playoffs at this point. With that, the next step should be to get back to the championship game. That should see the Comets have to face the winner of the match up between 2nd and 3rd place in the Central Conference, which could see another game against the Milwaukee Wave. From there the Comets are likely to have to face the Baltimore Blast out of the Eastern Conference, who at this point are also undefeated. Getting past them would see a final against the winner of the Southern Conference (either Monterrey or Dallas) and the Western Conference (likely San Diego). Still, the way the Comets are playing this season a trip to the finals should be expected of this team.

10. FC Kansas City improve attendance - With the move to Durwood Stadium last year, the Blues went from the second highest attended team, to the second lowest. Being the defending champion should help the team's attendance some, but there needs to be more to it than that. For this team, and league to continue, attendance needs to improve.

11. US women's team wins World Cup - The women didn't get an easy draw, having to face both Australia and Sweden before closing the group out against Nigeria. The team showed some weakness in the recent tournament in Brazil where the women finished second and there have been plenty of questions about coach Jill Ellis. But there's no reason the US shouldn't compete, and it's been too long (16 years) since the US last won the women's World Cup.

What Happened and Where Do We Go From Here - Goalkeepers

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

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

We'll start at the back with the goalkeepers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sporting Grab a Point in Nicaragua

The game was far from pretty tonight in Esteli, Nicaragua, but Sporting KC walked away from the game with a point against Real Esteli. The result actually sees Esteli move to the top of the group with two points, but both of their home games have now been played and face trips to Costa Rica and the United States.

The game couldn't have started much worse for Kansas City, in just the 6th minute Esteli's Daniel Da Silva was played in behind KC's back line 1v1 with Jon Kempin. Kempin came up with a nice save as Da Silva came in on goal, but the ball bounced into the path of Jorge Claros, who was trailing the play and bounced into the net giving Esteli an early 1-0 lead over Sporting. KC stepped up their game and controlled preceding from there, looking to find an equalizer. It came10 minutes after the opener. Esteli had been called for a handball just outside the box. Graham Zusi and Toni Dovale were over the ball. Dovale took the kick and perfectly curled it up and over the wall and just inside the near post to level the score at 1-1. Esteli's Justo Lorente didn't even move on the play. KC maintained possession of the ball for much of the half, but really struggled to create opportunities against Esteli. Esteli would actually have the better chances, hitting the outside of the post with a header after a free kick near the corner flag.

The second half saw Esteli come out and really out play Kansas City for the most part. Da Silva again had an opportunity as he got past his defender, but again Kempin came off his line and made a good save that was then cleaned up by Claros. KC had another chance off a set piece as Benny Feilhaber's lofted ball into the box pinged around before slowly rolling into the arms of Lorente. Kempin was again called upon to make a big save in the 81st minute as a great cross from Esteli's right floated to Juan Barrerra at the back post. But Kempin did well to beat away Barrerra's effort and knock it wide for a corner kick. The last 10 minutes of the game was virtually one way traffic headed towards Kempin's goal. Sporting looked tired and worn out late in the game. Esteli looked to take advantage, creating a number of opportunities, but not really challenging Kempin too much with shots. They had a header off a free kick that flashed just wide of Kempin's far post. Kempin did have some issues with a punch late on, but the ensuing shot was sent high of the goal. KC was able to hold on and take the point on the road. KC will be happy to get out with a point, Esteli, with their play in the second half will feel they probably deserved all three points tonight. KC following the one on the road, three at home point philosophy one would hope will now need to win at home, which they couldn't do during the group phase of last year's tournament.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jon Kempin - Sporting's third string keeper did a very good job tonight with his shot stopping and again did well in commanding his back line. I'd still like to see him improve his control of the box and not punch as much, but hopefully that will come with more experience.

Player Ratings - Kempin 7, Ellis 4, Collin 5, Besler 5, Sinovic 5, Claros 3, Olum 4, Zusi 5, Saad 4, Sapong 4, Dovale 6. Subs Zizzo 5, Feilhaber 5, Dwyer 4.

Sunday After Stats

At 21 years, 130 days, Jon Kempin is the 17th youngest player to make his first league start for KC.

CJ Sapong's goal was Sporting KC's 100th league goal at Sporting Park.

Sapong scored his 20th goal in league play, tying Mark Chung and Graham Zusi for 9th on that list.

Sapong tied Zusi for the active lead in league goals scored with his 20th.

Sapong made his 131st appearance in all competitions for KC, that breaks his tie wtih Jose Burciaga, Uche Okafor, and Roger Espinoza for 20th on that list.

Dom Dwyer scored his 18th league goal for KC, moving him into 13th on that list.

Dwyer's scored his 20th goal in all competitions for KC, tying him with Chris Brown and Igor Simutenkov for 13th on that list.

Sapong and Dwyer both scored their 11th league goal at home, tying them with Igor Simutenkov and Chris Brown for 12th on that list.

Sapong scored his 17th home goal in all competitions, breaking his tie with Digital Takawira for 8th on that list.

Dwyer's two goals gave him 12 in all competitions at home, good for 15th on that list.

Graham Zusi assisted on his 36th goal in league play, breaking his tie with Davy Arnaud for 3rd all time on that list.

In the 41st minute, Matt Besler passed Matt McKeon and moved into 8th place for minutes played in league play. Besler finished the game with 14,652 minutes played.

Benny Feilhaber played his 50th league game for KC, he's the 52nd player to hit that mark.

Aurelien Collin made his 119th start in all competitions for KC, tying him with Chance Myers for 19th on that list.