Thomas Becomes OKC Energy's First Player - Former SKC Wizards Update

Sporting KC USL-Pro affiliate, the Oklahoma City Energy announced their first player signing today. That player was former Sporting KC midfielder, Michael Thomas. Thomas made seven league appearances for Sporting KC in 2012 and 2013 before being traded to Toronto. With former KC captain, Jimmy Nielsen being named the head coach of the Energy recently, it's not surprising that a former KC player is being added to the roster.

A number of former players are also currently on trial around MLS. Former draft pick Pablo Punyed is with Kansas City, trying to earn a spot after originally going abroad. Khari Stephenson, last year with Real Salt Lake is in camp with DC United currently, while Konrad Warzycha is back with Columbus trying to earn a roster spot with the team that did not pick up his option last season.

Active without a club or unknown
Jamar Beasley
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Edson Elcock
Brian Fekete
Aaron Hohlbein
Mike Jones
Scott Sealy
Khari Stephenson
Ivan Trujillo
Michael Thomas
Shavar Thomas
Diego Walsh
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Bobby Convey - New York - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.

USL
Cyprian Hedrick - Phoenix - Offseason.
Neal Kitson - Phoenix - Offseason.
Nelson Pizarro - Los Angeles - Offseason.
Mike Reidy - Rochester - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.

PDL
Scott Angevine - Des Moines - Offseason

Other
Birahim Diop - New England Force

Indoor
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had two assists in Baltimore's 10-5 win over Syracuse. Had two assists in Baltimore's 17-2 win over Rochester.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - FC Haka - Finland - Offseason.
Vicente Arze - Sporting Charleroi - Did not dress in Charleroi's 3-0 loss to Cercle Brugge.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 89 minutes in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Atlante.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Defeated Linces de Tlaxcala
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - No game until 2/22
Eloy Colombano - UAI Urquiza - Argentina - No game until 2/7
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in W Connection's 2-0 win over North East Stars.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Lost to Union Magdalena 3-1.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Wigan's 2-1 win over Crystal Palace. Started and played 90 minutes in Wigan's 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough.
Herculez Gomez - Tijuana - Mexico - Started and played 63 minutes in Tijuana's 1-0 win over Morelia.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Suspended
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Did not dress in Boavista's 0-0 draw with Bonsucesso.
Will John - AZAL - Azerbaijan - No game until 2/1
Kei Kamara - Middlesbrough - England - Came off the bench and played 31 minutes in Middlesbrough's 2-0 loss to Leicester City. Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Middlesbrough's 0-0 draw with Wigan.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia - Belarus - Offseason.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Offseason.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - No game until 2/2
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game til March.
Michal Mravec - Zilina - Slovakia - No games until February.
Akeem Priestly - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Yann Songo'o - Ross County (Blackburn) - Scotland (England) - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Ross County's 2-1 loss to Hearts.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Season starts 2/28.
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - Started and played 56 minutes in Munster's 0-0 draw with Rot-Weiss Erfurt.

Espinoza and Johnson End International Break - Former SKC Wizards Update

 Another week of former SKC Wizards updates this week.  Roger Espinoza and Eddie Johnson ended the international break facing off against each other in Sandy, Utah in a World Cup qualifier that the USA won 1-0.  Here is the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Edson Elcock
Mauro Fuzetti
Willy Guadarrama
Aaron Hohlbein
Mike Jones
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowery
Neven Markovic
Akeem Priestly
Scott Sealy
Diego Walsh

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Out injured.
Bobby Convey - Toronto - Started and played 77 minutes in Toronto's 2-1 win over DC.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - With the US U20 team.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over Dallas. Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 0-0 draw with LA.
Kevin Hartman - New York - No game this week.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over Dallas. Dressed but did not play in Portland's 0-0 draw with LA.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Started and played 87 minutes in the USA's 1-0 win over Honduras.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - No game this week.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Did not dress in either of Portland's games.
Khari Stephenson - Salt Lake - No game this week.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-1 US Open Cup loss to Chicago. Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-0 win over Montreal.
Konrad Warzycha - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Columbus' 2-1 Open Cup loss to Chicago. Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Columbus' 2-0 win over Montreal.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Did not play in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 loss to Atlanta.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - No game this week.
Shavar Thomas - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 loss to Atlanta.

USL
Christian Duke - Orlando (Loan) - No game this week.
Dom Dwyer - Orlando (Loan) - No game this week.
Brian Fekete - Orlando - No game this week.
Cyprian Hedrick - Phoenix - Started and played 90 minutes in Phoenix's 0-0 draw with the Salt Lake reserves.
Jon Kempin - Orlando (Loan) - No game this week.
Nelson Pizarro - Los Angeles - Came off the bench and played 5 minutes in the Blues' 1-1 draw with the LA Galaxy reserves.
Mike Reidy - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 3-0 win over Tampa. Came off the bench and played 33 minutes in Rochester's 1-1 draw with Charleston.
Yann Songo'o - Orlando (Loan) - No game this week.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 4-0 win over Antigua.
John Wilson - Charleston - Did not dress in Charleston's 1-1 draw with Pittsburgh. Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 1-1 draw with Rochester.

PDL
Scott Angevine - Des Moines - Started and played 90 minutes in both of Des Moines' 2-0 losses to Thunder Bay.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Syracuse - Offseason
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason
Craig Rocastle - Missouri - Offseason
Paul Wright - San Diego - Offseason

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - FC Haka - Finland - Did not play in either of Haka's games.
Stephane Auvray - DPMM FC - Brunei (Singapore League) - Did not play in DPMM's 5-2 win over Tanjong Pagar.
Vicente Arze - Esteghlal - Iran - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Churchill Brothers - India - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - UAI Urquiza - Argentina - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Offseason.
Pablo Escobar - Atletico Huila - Colombia - Apertura season is over.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Honduras' 1-0 loss to the USA.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Offseason
Herculez Gomez - Tijuana - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - No games until 7/7.
Will John - AZAL - Azerbaijan - Offseason.
Igor Kostrov - Dacia - Moldova - Offseason.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Started and played 58 minutes in San Martin's 2-1 win over Jose Galvez. Started and played 64 minutes in San Martin's 0-0 draw with Cesar Vallejo.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia -No game until 7/16.
Michal Mravec - Zilina - Slovakia - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Fylkir - Iceland - Did not play in either of Fylkir's games.
Ryan Smith - Skoda Xanthi - Greece - Offseason
Milos Stojcev - FK Leotar Trebinje - Bosnia - Offseason
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - Offseason.
Ivan Trujillo - Llaneros - Colombia - Did not play in either of Llaneros' games.

Kamara Helps Lead Norwich to Win - Former SKC Wizards Update

Kei Kamara scored in only his second appearance for Norwich City this past weekend against Everton.  Kamara played the final 32 minutes causing all sorts of problems for the Everton back line and scored with a thumping header.  In other news, Sunil Chhetri has returned to India on loan, joining Churchill Brothers. And in MLS play, Khari Stephenson and Konrad Warzycha have joined new clubs, signing for Salt Lake and Columbus respectively.  Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Mauro Fuzetti
Willy Guadarrama
Kevin Hartman
Aaron Hohlbein
Will John
Mike Jones
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Neven Markovic
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Shavar Thomas
Ivan Trujillo

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Offseason.
Julio Cesar - Toronto - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason
Konrad Warzycha - Columbus - Offseason.

NASL
Jose Burciaga - Atlanta - Offseason
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Offseason
Scott Lorenz - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Offseason
Luke Sassano - Carolina - Offseason

USL
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Offseason
Cyprian Hedrick - Phoenix - Offseason
Akeem Priestley - Dayton - Offseason
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason

PDL
Michael Kraus - FC Tucson - Offseason

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Offseason

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Syracuse Silver Knights - Played in Syracuse's 15-10 win over Wichita. Played in Syracuse's 12-8 loss to Milwaukee.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Played in Baltimore's 10-6 win over Milwaukee.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Did not play in any of the Comets games.
Craig Rocastle - Comets - Out injured
Paul Wright - San Diego - Played in San Diego's 12-11 win over Turlock. Played in San Diego's 13-4 win over Turlock.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - FC Haka - Finland - Season starts in April.
Stephane Auvray - DPMM FC - Brunei (Singapore League) - Started and played 90 minutes in DPMM's 0-0 draw with Home United.
Vicente Arze - Esteghlal - Iran - Did not dress in Esteghlal's 2-1 win over Sanat Naft. Dressed but did not play in Esteghlal's 3-3 draw with Al Rayyan.
Omar Bravo - Atlas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlas' 0-0 draw with Queretaro. Did not dress in Atlas' 2-1 loss to Cruz Azul in the Copa Mexico.
Sunil Chhetri - Churchill Brothers - India - Started and played 89 minutes in Churchill's 3-0 loss ot Kitchee.
Eloy Colombano - UAI Urquiza - Argentina - Tied Sacachispas 0-0.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Did not play in W Connection's 5-2 win over Police FC.
Pablo Escobar - Atletico Huila - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Huila's 1-0 win over Patriotas Boyaca.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Dressed but did not play in Wigan's 3-0 win over Reading.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Did not dress in the Stars' 2-1 loss to Central FC.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Started and played 62 minutes in Santos' 1-0 win over America.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Tied Tivoli Gardens 0-0 and beat Humble Lions 1-0.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - No games until April.
Kei Kamara - Norwich - England - Came off the bench and played 32 minutes, scoring a goal in Norwich's 2-1 win over Everton.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - On winter break until March
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in San Martin's 2-0 loss to Union Comercio.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - On winter break until March.
Michal Mravec - FC Emmen - Netherlands - No game this week.
Pablo Punyed - Fjolnir - Iceland - Season starts in May.
Ryan Smith - Skoda Xanthi - Greece - Did not dress in Xanthi's 2-0 loss to Veria.
Milos Stojcev - FC Akzhayik - Kazakhstan - Season starts in March.
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - No game this week.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Season starts in March.

Sporting Waive 4, Pass on Waiver Draft

Today was the MLS waiver draft for the end of the season (even though the season isn't technically over).  Sporting declined the options on four players, sending those four into the waiver draft today.  The biggest name of the four was Julio Cesar.  Cesar had played in 54 league games over the past two seasons, scoring 3 goals and 2 assists.  He added another assist in the playoffs in 2011.  The knock against Cesar is that he just turned 34 years old a few days ago, the second oldest player on the team behind Jimmy Nielsen.  And while Cesar still looked competent in the midfield, you have to wonder when the legs would give out on the Brazilian.  In all competitions, Cesar played in 60 games, starting 56 of them and logging 4,759 minutes.  Cesar has a history of not spending a ton of time with any one club.  In fact, Cesar's 54 league appearances is the second most appearances Cesar played with a single club according to his wikipedia page.  With Oriol Rosell holding down the position extremely well against Houston in the playoffs and Cesar's salary, the highest on the team, he became a expendable.  He'd stated previously that he wanted to stay in the US and coach, so we'll see if he stays around or if he goes back abroad.  KC could always look to attempt to re-sign him at a lower salary.

The second player waived was second round draft pick, Cyprian Hedrick.  Hedrick missed the majority of the season after breaking a bone in his foot.  He was limited to just 3 reserve league appearances, his only appearances for the club.  He never appeared in an official match for KC.

Third was Neven Markovic.  Markovic had developed a small cult following after some of his comments when he arrived, but Markovic didn't really get on the field.  He played in both the team's friendlies against Montpellier and Stoke, but was limited to only two league appearances, garbage minutes late on against the Columbus Crew in the 2-1 home loss, and a start at left back against DC United where he played the full 90 minutes.  It would seem the Markovic was never really able to challenge Lawrence Olum for the back up center back spot behind Aurelien Collin and Matt Besler.

The final player that was waived by KC today, was midfielder/defender Konrad Warzycha.  Warzycha made the switch from being a midfielder to a center back this year after missing his entire rookie year due to surgery.  Warzycha made 3 appearances for the club across all competitions this year, one league game and two US Open Cup games. His first appearance came in KC's 3-2 win ovr Orlando in the 3rd round of the Open Cup.  He then made his only league appearance coming on as a late sub in KC's 2-0 win over Toronto.  His final appearance for the club was as a sub in KC's 3-0 win over the Dayton Dutch Lions in the Open Cup quarterfinals.

All four players were available in today's waiver draft, where KC had the 14th pick.  KC passed on their pick, in fact, Cole Grossman was the only player selected, as the cormer Crew player was drafted by Real Salt Lake.  All four players are now free agents to negotiate with any club they wish.  As I said earlier, Cesar may stay in the US due to his green card and wish to coach.  Hedrick and Warzycha may try their luck in the lower divisions or get an invite to a team's preseason training.  Markovic has already headed back to Belgrade so I'm not sure he'll stay in MLS.

Flags Policy Change, Warzycha Recalled From Loan

Basically, ever since the US Open Cup final, when Robb Heineman allowed the Emerald City Supporters and the rest of the Seattle Sounders supporters to bring flags in for the game, the team has had Chicago Fire fans wage a "Fear the Flag" campaign to get flags allowed in for all away supporters.  With the Fire set to make one more appearance at Livestrong Sporting Park on Friday the 28th, Section 8 and the rest of the Fire fans were really pushing to get their flags allowed in for the game.

After a lot of comments directed at Robb Heineman on Twitter, and conversations with the Cauldron leadership, Heineman and Sporting KC changed their policy regarding flags.  Per the announcement by the team today on the blog though, not only will the flags be available to away supporters, but ALL fans will now be allowed to have flags, provided that they meet a few conditions put forward by the team. The new policy goes even further than the Chicago Fire's policy which does not allow flags outside the home and away supporters' groups (a fact that Sporting makes sure to point out in their announcement on their blog today). 

As long as this announcement is properly relayed to security throughout the stadium, this is a good move.  I know that the South Stand is already planning to make use of this new rule themselves by getting poles for their own flags that they have.  So if all of the security people get the message and don't cause problems for fans throughout the stadium that bring in flags, this will be a very good thing for the team and for the atmosphere at Livestrong Sporting Park.

Warzycha recalled from loan

Konrad Warzycha was back from his loan with the Carolina Railhawks for yesterday's reserve game against Real Salt Lake.  This was originally part of the loan deal so that Warzycha could play in Kansas City's last two reserve games. But now Warzycha will not be returning to Carolina.  Warzycha appeared in the final 18 minutes of Carolina's last game playing at right back.  And with Carolina clinching a playoff spot, Peter Vermes has recalled the center back. 

You do have to wonder if the reason for Warzycha's return is that he has played 18 minutes in the few games he's been available and those 18 minutes were spent at right back.  Maybe Vermes was disappointed with the amount of playing time and where Warzycha was playing.

Espinoza Called Up and Warzycha Loaned Out

The Roger Espinoza news continues today as Honduras announced their roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers on September 7th and 11th, both against Cuba.  Even though he's suspended for their first game on the 7th due to his red card in the Olympics again Brazil, Espinoza has been named to the roster.  Espinoza will likley play a starting role in the team's second game in Honduras on the 11th.  The good news for Sporting fans is that there are no games scheduled during the time so Espinoza shouldn't miss any games (if he's still with the team since the Wigan rumors are still around).

Kansas City hosts Toronto on the 1st and is then off until the 14th when they play Houston at Livestrong Sporting Park.  So Espinoza shouldn't miss any games, although he would arrive in KC only 2 days before the Houston game.

Warzycha Loaned to Railhawks

KC made one roster move today, they loaned defender/midfielder, Konrad Warzycha to the Carolina Railhawks of the NASL for the rest of the season.  Warzycha has made 1 league appearance as a substitute in stoppage time against Toronto in the teams.  He also made 2 appearances in KC's US Open Cup run, starting against Orlando City in the 3rd round.

Warzycha though will be made available for both of KC's remaining reserve games on September 11th and 25th.  The Railhawks are currently 5th in the 8 team NASL with a record of 8-7-7.  Also on the Railhawks team is former Wizard, Amir Lowery.

Sunday After Stats

Lawrence Olum and Jacob Peterson made their first start in league play for Sporting KC.

Konrad Warzycha made his first appearance in league play for KC.

CJ Sapong's goal was his 9th at home in all competitions, tying him with Claudio Lopez and Matt McKeon for 17th on that list.

Sapong's goal was also the 500th in all competitions at home for Sporting KC.

Sapong's game winner was his 4th in league play, that ties him with Mark Chung and Teal Bunbury for 16th on that list.

It was his 5th game winner in all competitions, tying him with Jack Jewsbury and Jimmy Conrad for 16th on that list.

Julio Cesar's goal was the 50th in all competitions at Livestrong Sporting Park.

At 33 years and 211 days, Julio Cesar is the 5th oldest player to score a goal for Sporting KC.

Graham Zusi's assist was his 16th in league, play, breaking his tie with Claudio Lopez and Chris Henderson for 13th on that list.

It was Zusi's 19th in all competitions, tying him with Sasha Victorine and Matt McKeon for 10th on that list.

Chance Myers made his 50th league start for Kansas City.

Jimmy Nielsen recorded his 26th shutout in all competitions, tying him with Bo Oshoniyi for second on that list.

The shutout was Nielsen's 23rd in league play, breaking his tie with Oshoniyi and Kevin Hartman for 2nd on that list.

S.A.S. Wednesday After Stats

Chance Myers and Aurelien Collin are the only two players to start every game in all competitions this year.

Myers, Collin, Matt Besler, and Graham Zusi are the only 4 players to appear in every game so far this season.

Three players, Jon Kempin, Konrad Warzycha, and Dom Dwyer made their professional debut.

Kempin, at 19 years, 51 days, became the second youngest player to ever start a game for Kansas City in all competitions behind Yura Movsisyan's 18 years 357 days.  He knocked Peter Byaruhanga at 20 years 364 days off the 10 ten.

Kempin also became the 4th youngest player to appear in a competitive game for Kansas City, knocking Byaruhanga's 20 years 325 days off the top 10.

Kempin is also the youngest player to have his first appearance be a start for Kansas City.

Soony Saad, at 19 years, 286 days became the 4th youngest player to start a game for Sporting KC in all competitions.  Saad knocked Nick Garcia at 20 years, 351 days off the top 10.

Paulo Nagamura's goal was his 10th in all competitions in his MLS career.

Chance Myers made his 7th US Open Cup appearance for KC, tying him with Diego Gutierrez for 12th on that list.

Myers made his 6th Open Cup start, tying him with Jonathan Leathers, Gutierrez, and Shavar Thomas

Matt Besler made his 6th USOC appearance, tying him with Leathers, Ryan Pore, Alex Zotinca, Francisco Gomez, Bo Oshoniyi, Chris Brown, and Shavar Thomas for 14th.

Sporting KC Defeat US U-17's, Kronberg Out 4-6 Weeks

Sporting KC's last announced preseason game is now in the books as the Wizards took on the US U17 team today out at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. Sporting took the lead through Konrad Warzycha who headed home a cross from trialist, Mozzi Gyorio. Shortly after KC grabbed the lead, the US team was level off of an indirect free kick inside the box. Rubio Rubin fired in just under the cross bar after a touch from Junior Flores.

Early in the second half, Sporting retook the lead, as Kyle Miller took a pass from Gyorio and slotted it into the far post making it 2-1. In the 64th, Soony Saad got on the score board firing a shot into the opposite corner making it 3-1. Shortly after Saad made it 3-1, he made it 4-1. Saad played Shawn Singh into the box, where he was fouled. Saad stepped up this time and buried the penalty kick past the keeper to make it 4-1 to Sporting KC.

Here are the highlights.



Kronberg Out

Eric Kronberg hasn't gotten much action so far this preseason due to one injury or another. Now he's going to miss the next 4-6 weeks due to a lower back injury. With the injury, that currently leaves Sporting with only 2 keepers on their roster, Jimmy Nielsen and Jon Kempin. Meaning the teenager is going to be Nielsen's backup until Kronberg comes back from injury. It's certainly a blow for Kronberg, who I was really hoping would really push Nielsen this year. With Kronberg in the final guaranteed year of his contract (next year is an option year held by the team), him impressing this year would be a good way for him to earn a starting job either with KC or elsewhere.

It's a huge opportunity for Kempin though, as he's now only an injury or red card to Nielsen from making his first team debut. And while he's a good keeper, I'm not sure he's quite ready to step up the way Zac MacMath did for Philadelphia last year.

The question becomes whether KC will look to put Kronberg on injured reserve and add a third goalkeeper for the short term or not. With trialist goalkeepers, Steve Spangler and Scott Angevine having been in camp since Arizona. It'd be possible that KC could sign one of them in the short term, or another possibility is that one of them could be signed as a league keeper and train with KC, similar to the situation when Andrew Kartunen was drafted by the team but then signed as a league keeper.

Sporting Win Preseason Opener

Sporting KC got their first preseason game under their belts today when they took on the San Jose Earthquakes today down in Arizona. The two teams started the game with what would likely be considered their first team lineup. Both teams got things started quickly in the game. The Quakes grabbed the lead inside the first 5 minutes, as Chris Wondolowski finished off a cross from Marvin Chavez. Only a minute or so later, Sporting were level. Kei Kamara finished a cross from Roger Espinoza to level the scoring at 1-1.

KC made full scale changes at half time, although other changes were made in the first half as well. Jon Kempin played the majority of the game after coming on for Jimmy Nielsen. Late in the second half, KC grabbed what proved to be the winner. CJ Sapong had been fouled 25 yards out from goal and Konrad Warzycha stepped up to take the free kick. From 25 yards out, Warzycha hit the free kick over the wall and it dipped into the net out of reach of Jon Busch. Sporting have another friendly upcoming a week from today against DC.

Training Thoughts

Today was Sporting KC's last training session in Kansas City before heading off to Arizona for a few weeks. A fairly light session for the most part, that involved two teams scrimmaging, and a third team working off to the side.

First game:

Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara

Blue team - Kronberg, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Joseph, Convey, Saad

Neutral - Zavagnin

Only one goal in this one, a Joseph Peterson and Luke Sassano worked a very nice 1-2 together finishing with Joseph flicking the ball past Nielsen and into the net. Shortly after that though, Joseph went off with an injury that he was icing later.

Second Game

Blue team - Kempin, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Convey, Saad

Green team - Sangler, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Ellis

Neutral - Warzycha

This game ended 1-1. The green team, full of trialists certainly came out the hungrier of the two teams to start, really pushing the blue team. The green team got rewarded with a goal as Konrad Warzycha played a 1-2 with Matt Kuhn and Warzycha buried his shot past Kempin. The goal seemed to wake the blue team up as much of the rest of the game was controlled by them. Warzycha got their goal as well finishing off a cross from Soony Saad. Later on, Kevin Ellis suffered what appeared to be a sprained ankle as he went for a long cross. Ellis went down and seemed to be in a lot of pain, but was helped off and left with ice on his ankle.

Third game

Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara

Green team - Angevine, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Saad

Neutral - Zavagnin

This game ended 0-0 with Saad forcing a good save out of Jimmy Nielsen at the end of the game to keep it scoreless. The orange team though was the better of play throughout this one. Saydee had to clear one chance off the line for the green team, but other than that both teams struggled to create real opportunities during this game.

Jacob Peterson, Roger Espinoza, and Paulo Nagamura were all running on the side of the field. Birahim Diop and Daneil Cyrus are both taking care of family issues (although rumors abound that Diop is going to go to Colombia to join Octavio Zambrano).

So who was impressive during the short scrimmages this morning?

The player that impressed me the most today was Konrad Warzycha. He looked incredibly comfortable on the ball. In the second game where he was on offense only he showed a good ability at being able to settle the game and pick out players on his team. Both of his finishes were well taken as well.

Matt Besler continues to step his game up. I thought he was at a different level last year, but just in the training today it seems like he's taken it to another level. Yes it was only a practice, but Besler looked intense out on the field. He also did a very good job of getting forward (although I doubt he'll be doing a ton of that in real games).

Really other than that it was hard to pick out guys who really stood out. The games were short field (they played between the 15's on the Chiefs practice field). But overall compared to last year when I attended the same practice, the level of the practice was a totally different level than it was last year. There seems to be a different level of intensity going on this year. More focus and more centered on certain things. That could come from the fact that Peter Vermes and players have driven home this week, that they've all come in, in better shape and better prepared. That means that Vermes doesn't have to spend as much time on certain things and instead can build quicker.

Finally some quick thoughts on the trialists and draft picks. Remember that these are based on just my one training session of viewing.

Scott Angevine - Goalkeeper that is trialing with the team. He's going to have trouble making the team I think though, but based off his tweets is heading to Arizona with the team.

Stefan Antonijevic - The kid is definitely big. He plays simple which is good for a defender, but the biggest thing that stood out to me was when he got shouldered off the ball by Soony Saad.

Dom Dwyer - Lots of movement teamed with Kei Kamara on his team, didn't get a ton of touches in either game though.

Cyrpian Hedrick - Hedrick did a decent job for the green team in the center of defense, did well with his distribution.

Irving Garcia - The guy was active on the field with a lot of movement off the ball, but really didn't do a whole lot when he did get the ball.

Matt Kuhn - Not going to say a lot here to avoid bias claims, (although I may be more harsh on him since I've seen him play a lot more). Kuhn had some decent play, did a good job of on Warzycha's goal for the green team. Did well getting his head up and with his passing, but could be a step quicker with decision making.

Kyle Miller - Partnered well with Kuhn in the midfield for the green team, did well getting forward and hanging back when needing to.

Pablo Punyed - Wasn't there, hasn't been there all week apparently. Looking at options overseas it appears.

Myron Samuel - Was not out there today. Didn't get any confirmation, but it seems he may already be gone.

Cyrus Saydee - The guy is small like his bio shows, Aiyegbusi size. He did a decent job down the wing, but his size is going to work against him.

Shawn Singh - Didn't realize until I was typing this up, but I didn't see KC's first round supplemental draft pick today.

Steve Spangler - Didn't make any mistakes in goal, nothing he really could have done on the goal he allowed, but he has his work cut out for him trying to make this team with KC already having 3 goalkeepers on the roster. The team isn't going to get rid of Jimmy Nielsen or Jon Kempin, so Spangler is going to have to beat out Kronberg to make this team, and I don't see it.

Kevin Struck - In these short games it's easier for the backs to get forward, and Struck did a good job of getting forward when he could.

Sporting Sign Warzycha

Konrad Warzycha won't get the chance to suit up until June or July, but the Ohio State product has signed with the Wizards. Today the team announced the signing of the midfielder today. At the same time the team put Warzycha on the injured reserve list as he recently had surgery on his right knee because of a femoral condyle defect. The surgery will keep him out 6-8 months depending on his recovery time. Warzycha becomes the third draft pick signed by the team this preseason. That leaves Michel Mravec as the only draft pick still in camp that has not signed yet.

Three Missing From Camp

Three players are missing from Arizona right now for the final part of the team's preseason training, Teal Bunbury, Ryan Smith, and Konrad Warzycha were all left behind as the team departed. Bunbury was expected, Smith is disappointing, and Warzycha is surprising.

Bunbury's absence was expected after his dislocated elbow. Much easier for his rehab if he didn't have to travel with the team to Arizona. Now he can focus on his rehab and hopefully come back on the lower side of those 4 to 6 weeks.

Smith's staying in KC is disappointing considering earlier this preseason we were told that Smith would head to Arizona on the second trip. His continued work in KC makes you wonder how serious the the offseason surgery really was and what's taking so long in the recovery. If he's still recovering from the surgery and working in KC it's possibly that he's not going to be match fit by the start of the season and that means another forward unlikely to play on opening day against Chivas USA. That could certainly feed the flames of Peter Vermes switching to a 4-4-2 at least to start the season.

Warzycha's absence is surprising in that this is the first announcement of the injury. The femoral condyle defect that Warzycha will have surgery for will keep him out of action for 6 to 8 months. It does some interesting implications for roster spots if Warzycha was going to be signed. Now KC has a roster spot to play with and could still hold on to Warzycha's rights if they think he can contribute in the future.

Draft Day Rewind

Well things kind of went the way that many people kind of expected it today, plenty of people last night were predicting that Jalil Anibaba and AJ Soares would be off the board when KC picked at the 10 spot. Soares went to the Revolution at the 6 spot while Anibaba almost fell to the Wizards, but was grabbed by Chicago at the 9 spot. That left KC with plenty of other directions to go. There were really no other central defenders at that spot to take, but there were still some GA forwards (Will Bruin and Corey Hetzog) and other GA players (Michael Tetteh) available. There were also some decent seniors available as well like Justin Meram or international Victor Estupinan.

With so many of those being forwards I felt a little unimpressed with the options for the Wizards to pick, but I had started to warm to the idea of a GA forward like Bruin or Hetzog in KC. But KC went a completely different direction, grabbing James Madison University forward, CJ Sapong. Needless to say I was surprised by the selection. In the matches from the combine, Sapong hadn't been that impressive to me. I thought Sapong would have been a good selection for an early to mid second round pick. With him going at 10 I immediately flashed back to last year's MLS draft when Columbus reached and grabbed Bright Dike with their first round pick and promptly waived him during preseason. I felt Sapong fit the same mold and was fairly disappointed in the selection.

Throughout the day I've thought about it more and I do understand the selection a bit more. While I personally think that Bruin or Hetzog could have fit in the center forward position of the 4-3-3, but Sapong has the ability to potentially play more of those positions. I'm still not completely sold on the pick, but as I mentioned earlier with Soares and Anibaba off the board, there not being another sure fire defender, and no other real can't miss player in a major need position, drafting a forward for depth isn't a bad move. Still with a starting forward line that is likely to contain Ryan Smith, Omar Bravo, and Kei Kamara or Teal Bunbury, with the other being the first forward off the bench more often than not a forward was still a surprise at this spot.

As you can see I'm still really torn with this pick, I see the ability for Sapong in the Wizards 4-3-3, and understand the lack of another great prospect there, but taking a forward, one that likely would have been there later in the round or early second still doesn't sit well with me.

The rest of the draft for KC I liked, in the second round, Sporting drafted for depth, grabbing JT Murray from the University of Louisville, a left sided midfielder/defender who will look to be depth for Sporting on the left side for Roger Espinoza should the Honduran be called up for the Gold Cup. Murray was listed as a midfielder, but played as a defender for parts of this past season, including the College Cup final against Akron. I do like this pick even though I said last night I wasn't sure KC needed a left sided player, Murray is one of those low risk, high reward players if Espinoza is called up for the Gold Cup and Murray can contribute. And with Michael Harrington re-signing he can stay on the right side if Murray does in fact make the roster.

In the third round KC made another good selection, grabbing the son of Columbus coach, Robert Warzycha, Konrad Warzycha. KC has cornered the market of former MLS players sons, as they have both Teal Bunbury and now the younger Warzycha. Warzycha is a center midfielder, mainly defensive, who played some center back at the combine and could contribute there.

Overall I'm not ecstatic about the draft, I'm no where near as pleased or excited about this draft as I was last year, but I'm not crushed by it either. Overall I'd rate it as a C+, that's mainly for the Murray and Warzycha picks. I still think grabbing Sapong when we did was a bit of a stretch, and traded down and getting either another pick, allocation money, or international slot would have made me feel better about the selection of Sapong. While I'm disappointed in the lack of getting a central defender I'm not incredibly surprised. As I tweeted post draft, the lack of a central defender being selected tells me that KC has a few foreign players in line that they feel can start. This was confirmed with the fact the Robb Heineman retweeted the tweet. It was confirmed a bit again later when Heineman tweeted that KC had verbal commitments from two new international players.

Finally the biggest thing to remember about the draft is that unlike the NFL and NBA, the draft is not the main way to get talent, unlike those leagues there's a huge pool of players to pull from around the world that makes the draft not irrelevant, but less relevant than it is in those leagues.

With the 46th Pick SKC Select

Konrad Warzycha, from Ohio State. The son of the Columbus Crew, Robert Warzycha is coming to KC. Certainly a bit disappointing for him. Warzycha is a midfielder, but did play also play center back at the combine. Could also be seen as potential trade bait with Columbus if Robert really wants to coach his son.