Zambrano to Colombia Official

Word out of Colombia earlier today stated that Sporting KC assistant, Octavio Zambrano, had accepted the position to coach Colombian second division side, Deportivo Pereira. Throughout the day there was word that nothing was quite official and that Zambrano was just on personal leave from the team. But late today, the team officially announced the departure of Peter Vermes top assistant. Zambrano came to KC after Vermes was named the permanent head coach during the offseason after the 2009 season and had spent two years as his assistant. It'll be interesting to see who, if anyone, Vermes will replace Zambrano with before the 2012 season. Currently he still has Kerry Zavagnin, Zoran Savic, goalkeeping coach, John Pascarella, and fitness coach, Mateus Manoel, so Vermes may not look to add another assistant. But it'll be interesting to see how KC does next year. When Zambrano was a head coach in the league his teams were fairly high scoring, and KC had turned into a high scoring team this year. It'll be interesting to see how much of that was due to Zambrano this next year. Good luck to Zambrano in Colombia.

Zambrano on Way to Colombia?

Sporting KC could possibly be on the look out for a new assistant coach this offseason along with looking to improve their roster as well. Word from Goal.com is that current assistant coach, Octavio Zambrano is on his way out of KC and on his way to Colombia where he would take over Deportivo Pereira, a team in the Colombian first division. Zambrano came to the team a few years ago, in Peter Vermes' first year as a full head coach. He seems to have been Vermes' top assistant. If Zambrano does leave it'll be interesting to see how Vermes replaces him.

Vermes has Scouting Trip to Trinidad

Peter Vermes and Octavio Zambrano will be in Trinidad and Tobago in early December as guests of 1st FC Santa Rosa. While there, Vermes and Zambrano will be scouting for the upcoming season. The host club is putting together a series of trial matches for the two to watch to potentially find a Trinidadian player for the Wizards. Multiple players from Trinidad's youth teams that have played in the FIFA Youth World Cups are expected to participate, including Akeem Adams, who trialed with the Sounders, Jamal Clarence, and Matthew Bartholomew to name a few. It sounds like there will be some decent talent from Trinidad there, hopefully Sporting can find a player or two that can contribute next year.

Trialist X

This past Saturday in the Wizards preseason opener, the Wizards midfield for the first team out was Roger Espinoza, Davy Arnaud, Mauro Fuzetti, and Trialist X. Trialist X did not turn out to be the brother of Speed Trialist. Trialist X was named today by the team as Birahim Diop, formerly of the Metrostars. Diop played for the Metros in the 2001 and 2002 season. In two seasons, Diop played in 6 games, starting 3. Most of his minutes came in the 2002 season for the Metros. After leaving the Metrostars, Diop apparently followed former coach, Octavio Zambrano to Moldova. Diop just turned 31 this past Sunday. We'll see if Diop does enough to impress the Wizards.

Vermes Interview

Thad over at The Back Post interviewed Wizards coach and technical director, Peter Vermes last Friday. Vermes talked about a multitude of topics and gave some good information. We also got beating around the bush that you get in these types of interviews from time to time.

Vermes talked about some player news, he said that the rumors of Santiago Hirsig going to Colo Colo were just that, rumors. He talked about offerring a new contract to Claudio Lopez, saying he wants to re-sign him if the deal is good for both sides. Vermes also stated that the Wizards have offerred forward, Kei Kamara a new contract and are waiting for his reply while he has trials in Europe. Thad also asked about the signing of Ocatvio Zambrano with Vermes saying that he brings tons of experience both inside and outside of MLS. Vermes stated he was a top candidate for the head coaching position before Vermes took it and that he wanted Zambrano on his staff in some form.

Thad asked Vermes about some of the expansion draft picks, including Graham Zusi and Matt Besler. Vermes said that Zusi's creative ability as an American player, and his salary were two of the seasons why they protected Zusi. He continued to explain how the team thought they had good idea on who Peter Nowak would take in the draft and they felt comfortable leaving Besler available. Thad brought up the other "deals" Philadelphia had made with Real Salt Lake and Houston, asking if KC had made a similar deal. Vermes said no, but that the Wizards were still working with the Union to potentially make a deal. As for other expansion draft protection, in the Kevin Souter vs Santiago Hirsig protection, it came down to salary as the main reason Souter was protected over Hirsig.

Vermes then talks about the Superdraft, being vague in his break down of who the Wizards are looking at for their pick. He says how the team is looking for players that will not just contribute now but in the future as well. Vermes talks about how they plan on breaking down their selection depending on positional needs and the best player available.

The rest of the interview is spent on other subjects including the CBA, USL/NASL debate, the World Cup draw and multiple other things. Check it out.

Zambrano New Wizards Assistant

First brought to you today by Thad at The Back Post, the Wizards named former Metrostars and Galaxy coach, Octavio Zambrano, their new assistant coach. There had been rumors since the Wizards were looking for a new coach that Zambrano could be on his way to Kansas City in some form. His time in Hungary and the Wizards trailing one of his former players were just two hints that there was some relationship forming. Zambrano has the second-best winning percentage in MLS history.

I personally like this move, Zambrano was know for his attacking style, and that's certainly something the Wizards have lacked not only last year, but for the last few years. The team has never been know for their attacking ability since Ron Newman left. So bringing in a guy that has been more attacking minded throughout his career definitely can't hurt in Peter Vermes attempts to improve the Wizards poor scoring record last season. Here is the Wizards release on the signing.

New Assistant Coach Rumor

There's very little in this rumor right now, so take that for what you will. In a post by Ives Galarcep earlier today about the MLS coaching carousel, he makes a passing mention of Octavio Zambrano, who used to coach in MLS but has most recently been coaching in Hungary. Ives mentions Zambrano as a potential new head coach for Chivas USA, but also mentions that Zambrano is "believed to be in the frame for an assistant coaching position within MLS (with Kansas City a possibility)..." In a way this rumor makes sense, with head coach, Peter Vermes' connection to Hungary and his scouting over there, including Ferenc Béres, who played for Zambrano at his last position at FC Tatabánya. On top of that, you have comments that both Vermes and Robb Heineman have made in regards to potentially bringing in another assistant coach. With all that there's certainly enough dots to connect to think that there are some legs to this rumor. We'll see if anything comes of this rumor.

Potential Coaches

One of the big questions of the offseason, is who will be the Wizards coach next season? A few weeks ago after the final home game, Peter Vermes talked about potentially becoming the permanent coach for the Wizards, and Robb Heineman said that he wants to have the head coach in place before the MLS expansion draft, the week after MLS Cup. That means that Heineman, Vermes, and the rest of the Wizards staff in charge of working to find the next Wizards coach are busy trying to make their decision. There are multiple potential coaches in MLS and a few other places. With all the rules in MLS, it's good to have a coach that understands the rules, especially in regards to the roster and player limitations. And while the technical director should help to make sure that the coach understands all these rules, it definitely helps if the coach has a working knowledge. So here's a list of some of the potential candidates that I would be looking at if I were the Wizards.

Peter Vermes - The Wizards technical director and interim coach seems to be the favorite right now to be named head coach. Vermes was 3-6-3 with the interim tag, but the Wizards did appear to play better under Vermes than they had under Onalfo. You do have to wonder if it'd be better to bring in a different eye to coach and help scout talent. It could also be that this will be Vermes last chance, and if the team doesn't succeed when it's all on him, he'll be gone.

Preki - The Wizards legend seems to be the favorite among Wizards fans. He's led Chivas USA to the playoffs all 3 years he has been in charge, but rumor is that he could be out after this year since Chivas holds the option on his contract. While he brings a good MLS coaching record, I do have some concerns. It seems that every year that Preki's been the head coach at Chivas, the team has struggled with injury issues. One year I could blow it off as just a minor injury crisis, but 3 straight years, you have to wonder if something in the way Preki coaches is leading to all these injuries.

Denis Hamlett - Current coach of the Chicago Fire, Hamlett is also out of contract after this season is over. And while he's had success on the field, some Chicago fans have wondered if that success is in spite of Hamlett. Earlier this year there was his publicized half time locker room bust up between him and Bakary Soumare.

Dave Sarachan - Former Chicago Fire head coach and current assistant coach for the LA Galaxy, Sarachan has a good head coaching resume with the Fire as well as being an assistant under Bruce Arena for the US national team. He led Chicago to a US Open Cup title and the Supporter's Shield. The problem in the eyes of Wizards fans is that he (like Curt Onalfo) came up through Arena's system and not many fans are interested in repeating that process.

Colin Clarke - Former head coach of FC Dallas, and current Puerto Rico Islanders coach, Clarke has gotten himself quite a reputation since moving to the USL. Under Clarke, the Islanders have made the last two CONCACAF Champions Leagues, advancing to the semifinals of the 08-09 campaign. The knock on Clarke for Wizards fans, is that it would likely be a return to a more defensive approach similar to Bob Gansler.

John Spencer - Spencer is the current assistant coach under probably my favorite MLS coach, Dominic Kinnear in Houston. Spencer has played in MLS and has been learning from one of the better MLS coaches the past few seasons. The question is whether he'd be ready to leave Houston now. Last year he turned down the Chicago Fire so Spencer may not be interested in a head coaching position at this time.

Octavio Zambrano - Zambrano coached in MLS back in the late 90's and early 00's with LA and New York. He coached one of the higher scoring LA teams in 1998 and a good NY team in 2000. So he knows something about how the league works. He's most recently been in Hungary coaching FC Tatabanya, the club that preseason trialist Ferenc Béres played for. So don't rule out that potential connection.

Will any of these guys be the ones that are coaching the Wizards next season? It's hard to tell for sure, but I'd guess that many of these guys are on the Wizards short list for head coach and I'm sure a surprise or two will be in there as well.

Vermes to be Interim Coach?

Randy Covitiz at the Star is reporting that Wizards technical director, Peter Vermes is to be named the team's interim coach tomorrow morning at a press conference. Whether that happens or not, it's a bit of a shocking move that he's being named coach. Although he was one of the people considered for both the coaching openings in Seattle and Philadelphia, it's surprising. It will be interesting to see what comes of Vermes as a head coach, if it's like he was as a player, it's going to be intense from now on. (EDIT: The Star article has now been edited taking out the part about Vermes being named the interim coach.)

As for who will eventually take over the position, Ives Galarcep makes an interesting point tonight, although he doesn't completely realize it. That being former Metrostars coach, Octavio Zambrano. Zambrano has recently been coaching in Hungary, a place that Vermes has visited to check out players. Zambrano knows MLS and how it works, which is almost a prerequisite to coach in MLS today. If you don't know the rules you won't last long, so Zambrano could definitely be on the Wizards short list.