A Look at Sporting's Roster and Ahead Towards 2017

With the season over, most Sporting Kansas City fans have turned their eyes towards 2017 and the hopes of another new season. With that in mind people have been discussing who should be, or will be returning in 2017 and what players are likely on their way out. Yesterday from Sam McDowell we found out that Sporting KC has just eight players currently under contract for the 2017 season. Of the 23 remaining players that KC has (including their three players that were on loan this season; Bernardo Anor, Erik Palmer-Brown, and Daniel Salloi) there are likely to be a few of those players that are brought back, either because they have options the team is going to pick up, or because the team will extend the player a new deal.

So with that in mind here's a look at each player and some thoughts on their 2016 season, their chances on returning, and some ideas on what Swope Park Rangers players could play a role.

Goalkeeper

Tim Melia - He struggled during the middle of the 2016 season, with injuries and form affecting his play on the field, but came on strong late in the season, looking like the goalkeeper that he'd been in 2015. He's one of the seven under contract for 2017 and I think it's safe to assume that he's definitely coming in as the number one goalkeeper again.

Alec Kann - Performed admirably in Melia's stead when he was out with injury. He's not a bad back up and as long as the price remains right I think Kann will be back in Kansas City next season as the backup.

Jon Kempin - Probably the most interesting situation to follow with the goalkeepers. Kempin is Sporting KC's first homegrown player, but has appeared in only a handful of games for Sporting KC. This season he made just two appearances, both in the CONCACAF Champions League while Melia was injured. He spent most of the season on loan to the Swope Park Rangers, where he started the season as the starter, lost the job, gained it back, then lost it again when he was recalled to help cover for the Melia injury and never gained it back.

Outlook: I think it might be time for Kempin to move on from his home town club. The tweet by Robb Heineman back in January that the club wanted to take goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell, the losing the starting job with the Rangers to Zac Lubin and then Adrian Zendejas, it just seems that the club is starting to move on from Kempin. In his place I could see the club doing something similar in 2017 with Zendejas, signing him to Sporting KC and loaning him to SPR for the season.

Help from SPR: As I mentioned before, Zendejas looked extremely solid for the Rangers and at only 21 looks like an extremely strong option to grow into the position. Him being invited into preseason camp with Sporting won't be surprising at all.

Stay: Melia, Kann

Go: Kempin

In: Zendejas?

Defense

Saad Abdul-Salaam - Abdul-Salaam is one of those players that I believe falls into the option needing to be picked up category. Traditionally MLS rookies are given a two year deal when they sign, two years plus two more option years. Abdul-Salaam just finished his second season, which would put him firmly into the position of entering one of his option years. He seems to have firmly entrenched himself into the starting right back job as Chance Myers has been unable to stay healthy.

Ever Alvarado - One of Sporting KC's mid-season signings, Alvarado spent most of his time with the Swope Park Rangers. Plenty of that probably had to do with the emergence of Jimmy Medranda as a viable player at left back for Sporting KC. The Honduran isn't one I would consider a "young, up and comer" as he is already 24. I could see him brought back as depth for KC; I could also see him make his exit from Kansas City as well.

Matt Besler - The second of two players under contract already for 2017, Besler had a rough 2016 season on the field for KC. He played his fewest games since his second professional season through both injury and being benched by Peter Vermes, was stripped of the captain's armband he had first been given in 2014, and lost the designation as being a designated player. He's still the best defender KC has, but has been unable to form a cohesive partnership with anyone the way that he had with Aurelien Collin.

Nuno Coelho - The man that was originally expected to help fill that Aurelien Collin role with Besler was the Coelho. Unfortunately, after a strong start, Coelho's history of injuries caught up with him around May. After going 90 minutes in KC's 3-1 loss to RSL on May 21st (his 14th straight start, and 14th straight game going 90 minutes), Coelho only played 90 minutes one time over the final 20 games of the regular season. He started six of those final 20 games and made one substitute appearance. Making $275,000 base and $375,000 guaranteed you have to wonder if there was enough to get him another year in Kansas City. For me I'm not sure he did.

Kevin Ellis - After all was said and done at the end of the season, after KC tried Besler, Coelho, Ike Opara, and Lawrence Olum at center back, it ended up being Ellis that partnered Besler at the end of the season for KC. While he still draws the ire of a number of KC fans that he's not a center back, he's still a good depth option for KC at his price. If he's one that has an option to pick up I would guess there's a good chance it's picked up.

Jimmy Medranda - Probably the biggest surprise of the season for Sporting KC, Medranda made the left back position his for a good chunk of the season holding off Alvarado, Seth Sinovic, and making Amadou Dia expendable. He's certainly not a finished product there and some of his defending would best be classified as erratic and a little worrisome, he still got the job done. As McDowell mentioned, the team sees his eventual position further of the field, and I'd agree, I'm not sure exactly where, but I think he has more to provide to the offense than he does as a defender.

Chance Myers - sporting KC's longest tenured player may be seeing his time in KC coming to an end soon. Myers was hit by the injury bug again in 2016, something that has been an on again off again issue for him throughout his career. He played in just 11 league games, starting just six. His last start came back on May 7th, while his last appearance was on August 7th. He's been very good for the club when he's been healthy, his spot in the great back line from 2011 through 2013 will be remembered very well by KC fans, but with a base salary of $200,000 and Abdul-Salaam looking good in the right back position it may be time for KC to move on from Myers.

Ike Opara - Set a career high for starts (16), games (25), and minutes (1,542) in 2016, Opara was not as dominating as he was in the early part of 2015 before his injury but was still strong defensively. He too missed time again with injury though not as bad as prior years. His salary is still pretty reasonable in MLS and at worst he's a good third defender for the club to have.

Erik Palmer-Brown - Sporting KC's youngest ever player is on loan to Porto until the end of the season, when the Portuguese club will make a decision on whether they will purchase Palmer-Brown's contract. The US youth international was an important part of Porto B's run to winning the Portuguese second division championship last season. This season after returning from an injury he's gone right back into the starting 11 for Porto B and done well. From reports of people who have been watching him play he has been doing very well and most fans seem very interested in retaining his duties with the club, some even saying that they wouldn't be surprised to see him get time with the first team in the Portuguese Cup competition. In that regard I'm not going to be surprised if he's played his last game for Sporting KC.

Seth Sinovic - I think each of the last two seasons I've written Seth Sinovic's obituary with Sporting KC, first the emergence of Dia and then Medranda this season, but yet again by the end of the season this year Sinovic was back in the starting 11, replacing Medranda over the final few league games and then in the playoffs as well. Sinovic is still a relatively inexpensive option for Kansas City and even if KC chooses to bring in another starter, Sinovic would be a good veteran presence on the bench that can come in and start when you need him to.

Outlook: For some of the comments that Kansas City took about their defense in 2016, it was still a fairly good defensive unit, allowing the sixth fewest goals on the season in MLS. The big issue was simply consistency in personnel. Abdul-Salaam seems to have the right back; with Besler out of the dog house he seems to have the left center back position. That means that KC needs to look to fill the right center back position, and either decide on Medranda or Sinovic for the left back spot, or bring in a starter there.

Help from SPR: Swope Park's starting center back partnership of Omuar Ballo and Amer Didic had a long unbeaten run for SPR when they were starting together that was ended in the USL final against New York Red Bulls 2. The pair certainly looked strong at times and Didic at 21 even earned himself a call up to Sporting for the CCL games this season, which Ballo was too old for. I could see at least Didic, if not both of them invited into camp. On the wings, I think that Sporting will give Tyler Pasher another look with Sporting in preseason, he seems likely to split time between the wing and wingback position with SKC, something he did with the Rangers at times last season.

Stay: Abdul-Salaam, Besler, Ellis, Medranda, Opara, Sinovic

Go: Alvarado, Coelho, Myers, Palmer-Brown

In: starting right center back, starting left back, Didic?, Pasher?

Midfield

Bernardo Anor - Spent the entire season on loan with Minnesota United of the NASL. The assumption had to have been that Anor would impress enough that KC could work out a deal where Sporting would trade Anor to Minnesota in exchange for a draft pick and a handshake agreement to not take any of their players in the expansion draft. Unfortunately Anor only appeared nine times for United, only two of those in the fall season after suffering an injury. If this was a loan with an option to buy I have a feel that United will pass on Anor, and I can't see KC retaining him either.

Emmanuel Appiah - Like Alvarado, Appiah was KC's other summer transfer window signing, and like him he spent a vast majority of his time with SPR, making a handful of appearances across all competitions for Sporting KC, mainly in CCL play. I could see Appiah making a return to the team in preseason only to end up signing with SPR for 2017 instead of Sporting. As a 23 year old first round pick (albeit for Colorado) I would have wanted more of a contribution from him.

Roger Espinoza - The third of seven players already under contract for the 2017 season, Espinoza had himself another strong season for KC in midfield and on the wing by the end of the season. He took over the captaincy from Besler and set career highs in games (30), starts (30), minutes (2,679), and assists (5). While KC had some success late in the season with Espinoza on the wing I appreciate that the team is planning to move him back to the midfield, on the wing I just didn't feel that Espinoza had the impact on the game that he can have in the middle, and while he's a good player, he's not enough of an offensive weapon to be playing the wing regularly in a 4-3-3.

Benny Feilhaber - Probably the biggest story of Kansas City’s offseason will be the status of Feilhaber. Now out of contract, Sporting has not held any negotiations with him about a new contract during the regular season. With numerous reports that teams in both Israel and Mexico were interested in the midfielder he can technically sign an offer sheet with a new club at any time, even though his contract with KC runs through the end of December. The fact that he hasn't is certainly a good sign. There are questions that will be asked though if and when Feilhaber signs a new contract. The biggest being how long of a contract do you give a midfielder who will be 32 at the start of the 2017 season? Can he continue to keep up the impact he's had with KC over the past couple seasons?

Benji Joya - The former US youth international came back to MLS as a roster freeze signing for Kansas City. Joya only appeared one time for Kansas City, the club's meaningless CCL game against Central FC, but he showed flashes during that one appearance. He's cheap enough to be an option on Sporting KC next season, or with SPR. He's one of the few roster freeze deadline signings that I could see sticking around beyond the one season.

Soni Mustivar - Another player already under contract for 2017, Mustivar had a bit of a rough season. KC had been searching for a defensive midfielder to replace Oriol Rosell since the Spaniard transferred to the Portuguese league, and last year it looked like they might have found it with Mustivar. This year though there's been some issues with his passing. It seems like at least once a game Mustivar would play a ball that would end up putting KC's defense under pressure, either by it being to the other team or not to a good position. In KC's 4-3-3 the passing by the defensive midfield is extremely important; it's why Feilhaber has spent plenty of time there. Hopefully an improvement from Mustivar is coming in 2017.

Paulo Nagamura - It seems like the last few years Nagamura has missed the first half of the season only to come back in late July/August to help steady the team and push them towards the playoffs. This year was no different, but the question surrounding Nagamura is that he turns 34 early in 2017 and can KC afford to have $225,000 in cap space tied up in a player (no matter how important) only plays about 500 minutes in a season?

Lawrence Olum - After a year abroad, Olum returned to Kansas City and for a period of time over the summer became the preferred starting center back partner of Ike Opara in KC's back line. Like a number of KC's new signings this past season though he missed a long stretch of time with injury, not appearing in a league game after 8/13. He will also be turning 33 next season, an age where if he permanently makes the switch to center back could be a decent depth signing if KC want him to return.

Outlook: When KC's starting midfield trio of Espinoza, Feilhaber, Mustivar were on their game they were one of the best midfield combinations in the league. Unfortunately they all couldn't seem to hit form at the same time in 2016. This is an area in 2017 that KC really probably needs to get younger in, both Feilhaber (if he stays) and Espinoza are now on the wrong side of 30, Olum and Nagamura are also both north of there. While Mustivar is in his prime now there are certainly questions about his play. The only "young" players in the midfield are Appiah and Joya, both had minimal action, but Joya looked the better of the two when it came down to it.

Help from SPR: Unfortunately, probably the two top candidates to help out on the midfield tore their ACLs in training in 2016. Kevin Oliveira, number 2 on the USL's list of 20 under 20 is back out on the field getting himself back into shape, but Ualefi only tore his ACL during the USL playoffs and is still a ways out. If either or both were healthy I would have expected both in camp with KC, now Oliveira may be back by the time the USL season kicks off. Elsewhere, Ayrton showed flashes filling in for Oliveira at the attacking midfield spot and Tomas Granitto showed well in his one appearance with SKC in the Champions League, but I'm not sure either one is ready to make the jump full time.

Stay: Espinoza, Feilhaber, Joya, Mustivar, Olum

Go: Anor, Appiah, Nagamura

In: Fausto Rossi?, other starting attacking midfielder if Feilhaber leaves, potentially a new defensive midfielder

Forward/Winger

Brad Davis - Probably the highest profile of KC's offseason acquisitions, a player that Peter Vermes had reportedly been chasing for years. Unfortunately Davis ended up starting just 14 games, the fewest since his rookie year in 2002, same for the number of minutes played (1,300), and his fewest assists since 2004. The expectation was that Davis would provide close to double digit assists, setting up goals for other players on the field. The lack of production from Davis caused some of KC's offensive attacking issues. His retirement will free up plenty of cap space though so hopefully Kansas City uses that on improving the team.

Dom Dwyer - The fourth player still under contract for 2017, Dwyer became Sporting KC's second all-time leading scorer in 2016 and seems likely to continue to closer to Preki in 2017. For Kansas City, the best thing for Dwyer would be for Sporting to get him support. Dwyer spent a lot of 2016 on "Dwyer Island" isolated from the rest of Kansas City's team; getting him support has to be a priority.

Connor Hallisey - To say that Sporting's highest pick from the 2015 MLS Superdraft has not lived up to expectations would be an understatement. Hallisey has struggled to transition his game to MLS. He's had numerous opportunities to lock down a starting spot on the wing for KC, especially this year with KC's two big signings there being underwhelming. In his 30 games played for KC in MLS play he's recorded just a single assist while having a number of decent opportunities to score but his only finish has been a penalty kick in KC's final CCL game. There comes a point where Vermes needs to just cut his losses with Hallisey.

Justin Mapp - The league's first free agent signing will also be the measuring point for free agent busts for years to come in MLS. Mapp played just 43 minutes for Kansas City, never starting a single game. He missed most of the season with a variety of injuries. If KC takes anything from this mistake it's to hopefully be more cautious with their signings. KC has made a history of signing players that have injury histories and trying to make them come good. Sometimes it works for them (Nemeth), this year it didn't really work out with two of their main signings (Coelho and Mapp).

Jacob Peterson - Peterson had a career year in 2016, and there are really two ways to take it for most KC fans. Many are thrilled that he was able to step up and become at least some kind of secondary threat to take some pressure off of Dwyer up top. The other side of things is that KC put themselves into a position with their player signings where Peterson had to have a career year just to try to save Kansas City's season. Peterson still has something to offer this team, maybe not as a starter, but as that spark of energy off the bench if KC needs it.

Cameron Porter - Porter is another player under contract for 2017 already. Acquired from the Montreal Impact in the trade that sent Amadou Dia north, Porter has shown some flashes at time but has also looked out of his depth. One player that actually played fewer league minutes than Mapp did. I think Porter could be someone that replaces Peterson as that spark f Sporting decides not to bring Peterson back to KC.

Diego Rubio - The sixth player under contract for 2017, Rubio will unfortunately miss a good chunk of the start of the 2017 season as he too recovers from an ACL tear. With KC's single forward system Rubio only was on the field once at the same time as Dwyer was all year. His apparent inability to play the wing has put him in mainly a reserve role. It doesn't make a lot of sense to have a DP just to have him sit on the bench mainly, but it really isn't something KC is going to have to worry about for at least the first half of the season.

Daniel Salloi - Sporting's latest homegrown player is on loan in his native Hungary where he's become a regular starter for Gyirmot scoring a pair of goals. Unfortunately Gyirmot is currently in a relegation spot, which would likely keep a permanent move from happening. With Rubio injured and how regularly Dwyer plays KC could bring him back as the primary back up to Dwyer.

Graham Zusi - The last player currently on KC's roster already for the 2017 season, Sporting really needs to start getting production from Zusi again. Over the past two seasons he's scored just four goals and added nine assists in league play, that's as many goals as he was involved in 2014 alone (five goals, eight assists). We were told last year it was because of lingering injuries. Unfortunately being healthy in 2016 hasn't helped to turn his form around. The grumbles from the fans that have grown to love Zusi are starting to get higher, especially with his DP status.

Outlook: Of the four areas, the forward/wing position is probably where Kansas City needs the most house cleaning; coincidently it's also where KC has the most players already under contract for 2017. KC gets plenty of production from Dwyer this past season, but needs to get more production from the wings in 2017 to be competitive.

Help from SPR: At the forward position, Sporting has the Rangers' leading scorer, Mark Anthony Gonzalez his ability to make the jump to MLS is certainly something to question though. There's also the USL's all-time leading scorer, Dane Kelly, but considering he has yet to make the jump to MLS, there do have to be some questions about whether he can as well. On the wings KC has Pasher who I previously mentioned as an option for outside back, and there's also Kris Tyrpak, who has some MLS experience from his time with Chivas USA.

Stay: Dwyer, Peterson, Porter, Rubio, Salloi?, Zusi

Out: Davis, Hallisey, Mapp

In: Pasher? Tyrpak? at least one starting winger.

Kansas City has a number of pieces that can be built on to get the team past the first round of the playoffs; they just need to add some pieces to get them further. KC has spent a number of years just trying to find that one, maybe two pieces required to get the team to the next level. This may be the first time since 2011 that KC has really had to come into the season with a number of new needed starters and impact players.

A Look at where Sporting's Roster Stands

Preseason is underway for Sporting KC, the team plays their second preseason game of the season this coming weekend in a closed door scrimmage against FC Tucson. With preseason well underway now, and eyes turned towards the 2015 season, I thought I’d take a look at where the roster stands at this point of preseason.

Sporting currently has 25 players under contract for the 2015 MLS season. That list includes two of Sporting’s five draft picks that they selected in this year’s draft. So to take a look, we’ll start in the back.

Goalkeepers

Signed (3): Jon Kempin, Luis Marin, Tim Melia

Known in camp (2): Matt Bersano (RSL academy), Kevin Corby (St. Louis Ambush)

Sporting has added two new goalkeepers to the roster, gone are long term back up, Eric Kronberg and Kansas City native, Andy Gruenebaum are gone. In comes Chilean international, Luis Marin and league goalkeeper, Tim Melia, who dressed for KC as a league goalkeeper last year. At this point, Sporting looks fairly set at the goalkeeping position. Even though they have a couple goalkeepers in camp with them I can’t see Sporting making any changes here as the team heads into the 2015 season baring an injury. Marin is the clear number one right now and will be the starter for the majority of the games. For me, I think Kempin goes on loan again to Oklahoma City where he’ll be the starter for Jimmy Nielsen and the Energy. But I also think Kempin will be the team’s number 2 goalkeeper. Basically if Marin goes down with an injury I’d expect Kempin to be recalled and start. Melia though will be the every game back up for Peter Vermes and would seem likely to get the US Open Cup games for Kansas City.

Defenders

Signed (8): Saad Abdul-Salaam, Jalil Anibaba, Matt Besler, Kevin Ellis, Chance Myers, Ike Opara, Erik Palmer-Brown, Seth Sinovic

Known in camp (4): Amadou Dia, Brent Griffiths, Tony Rocha, Daniel Rodriguez

An area of the field where Sporting really needed to improve their depth after last season and all the injury issues the team dealt with on their back line. Gone from the team is MLS All-Star, Aurelien Collin a contract related trade to Orlando City, and Fluminense loanee, Igor Juliao, who has returned to his parent club. The rest of KC’s defenders from last year return, with captain Besler the anchor of central defense. His new central defensive partner is likely to be Opara who recovering from another injury that caused him to miss most of the 2014 season. Behind them is Anibaba who came to Kansas City as part of the Collin deal, Ellis, who had a break out year filling in all over the back line due to all the injuries, and teenager, Palmer-Brown, who could miss time this summer with the U-20 World Cup taking place in New Zealand. At center back, I still feel that KC could stand to add to their depth there. Opara’s health is still a question mark, he’s had a number of injuries over his professional career that has cost him long periods of a season. With Griffiths and Rodriguez currently in camp and getting time against the Portland Timbers last weekend, maybe Vermes sees that need as well.

Out wide, Kansas City has addressed depth a little, specifically on the right side, but there’s still some work that could be done on the left. Myers, the regular starter on the right is still recovering from his Achilles injury last year, and while he may return to the field this year, he may not be the same player again. Anibaba can slide out and play on the right as well; he spent time there over the past few years with both Seattle and Chicago. KC also has the option to push Ellis out wide to the right as well, where he played in the playoff game against New York.  Then there’s Sporting’s second first round pick, Abdul-Salaam, who signed a contract with MLS before the draft. Then there’s the emergency option, Jacob Peterson, who spent time at right back last season as well. With Myers’ recovery from injury this could really be any of the four’s position to grab this season.

Left back though still has some needs behind starter Sinovic. Sporting draft Dia with their third pick of the first round in the Superdraft, but he has yet to sign a contract with the club. Sinovic has proven quite durable over the years, but getting a guy that can spell him occasionally would be a bonus long term for the club. Whether that’s Dia, Ellis (who also played left back this past year), fourth round draft pick, Rocha, or even Bernardo Anor dropping back to back up. Either way, KC really could use someone to step up and establish themselves as Sinovic’s back up.

Midfielders

Signed (10): Bernardo Anor, Servando Carrasco, Jorge Claros, Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber, Mikey Lopez, James Marcelin, Jimmy Medranda, Paulo Nagamura, Graham Zusi

Known in camp (3): Alex Dixon, Christian Duke, Santiago Otero

Midfield is one area that on the surface would seem to be in good shape, but it’s an area that Robb Heineman and Peter Vermes look like theywant to improve upon still. KC had a bit of turnover here from the 2014 season, but not much that should greatly affect the team. Gone are the likes of Lawrence Olum who has move to Malaysia, Victor Munoz, and Christian Duke (who is back as a trialist). And that’s not to mention the early season departure of Oriol Rosell, who KC never really replaced last year. Looking at it from KC’s traditional 4-3-3, KC’s defensive midfield position would seem to be getting crowded. You have the recently acquired Carrasco who seems to be the best passer of the three main options.  Then you have Claros, who came in midseason last year and struggled, but that seems to be a staple of all of Vermes’ midseason signings, so getting a full preseason behind him to learn and adapt to the system is key for Claros. The final addition is former Portland and Dallas midfielder, Marcelin. The Haitian seems to have become a bit of a forgotten man with the addition of Carrasco and could be the next coming of Olum, a contributor who is there, not a superstar, but contributes.

In the box to box midfield role, Kansas City has a couple options that they could play. The returning Espinoza would seem to be the automatic starter for Kansas City. Following him would be the veteran, Nagamura, who while still a contributor, has struggled with injuries that last two years that have really limited his time on the field for the club. Along with both of them, you have Generation Adidas product, Lopez, who may well be in a make or break season for the 2012 first round draft pick.

At the attacking midfield position, you’re headlined by Feilhaber who was arguably the team’s MVP early on in the 2014 season. His move further back on the field after Rosell’s departure really hurt his contribution to the offense as the season wore on. Behind Feilhaber is Zusi, who while can play in the midfield is better deployed out wide as a forward in Vermes’ system. Still playing in the middle allows him the full range of the field for KC. Then you have the Colombian, Medranda. He struggle for time again this year, and like Lopez is likely in a make or break season where he’ll need to step up his contribution to the team.

The wild card in midfield is Anor, who really can play any of KC’s three lines in the 4-3-3; this ability could make him very useful in Vermes’ system. Of the trialists, both Duke and Otero play a more withdrawn role for in KC’s system. In his previous two years on KC’s roster, Duke never made a first team appearance, mainly playing on loan with both Orlando and Oklahoma City. Dixon played a more advanced role in KC’s game against the Timbers, but if Heineman’s tweet is to be believed, his chances of making the team are slim.

Wide Forwards

Signed (5): Bernardo Anor, Conor Hallisey, Krisztian Nemeth, Jacob Peterson, Graham Zusi)

KC shed a bit of weight here in the offseason, with the departures of Toni Dovale, Soony Saad, CJ Sapong, and Sal Zizzo all leaving Kansas City. In their place, KC has brought in the team’s first pick in the SuperDraft, Hallisey, and Hungarian international, Nemeth. It’s an area that Vermes’ apparently feels comfortable with at this point as Heineman has saidthe club isn’t looking there right now. For me this is an area that KC could stand to still improve, at least in terms of depth. I haven’t seen enough of Nemeth to confirm whether he’d be able to be the guy on the left wing for Kansas City or not. But with only Anor, Hallisey, and Peterson there, none of whom are world beaters, the wing opposite Zusi could continue to be an area where KC continues to struggle at this point. The other issue for KC in terms of wing forwards is that two of their five forwards (Anor and Peterson) are likely to be better suited at this point for less advanced positions this year. It’s certainly an area that KC could stand to find another upgrade before the season starts.

Center Forward

Signed (2): Dom Dwyer, Krisztian Nemeth

Known in camp (1): James Rogers

Another area where KC really purged the players from last season. Gone is designated player, Claudio Bieler along with other players that could play the center forward position, including Saad and Sapong. What’s left is the club’s single season record goal scorer, Dwyer who is the starter without a doubt. Behind him is Nemeth, who can play anywhere in the front three that KC traditionally plays. The only other player is third round draft pick, Rogers.

Like the wing forwards, this is an area that I felt that Sporting would have done well to at least add some more depth here. Nemeth has had injury issues that have caused problems for his career. And an injury to Dwyer would be disastrous.

If rosters stay the same size for the 2015 season, which isn’t guaranteed with the CBA negotiations still going on, Kansas City has five roster spots still open. Those spots are left for the two rumored signings that Heineman mentioned, the team’s three remaining unsigned draft picks and the team’s trialists. With Heineman saying that the two are a defensive midfielder and a number 10, which would leave three spots for KC to address. With those three spots, I think KC would be best off signing one of the left backs, a center back, and another center forward to be on the bench for Kansas City.

Medranda Officially Re-Acquired and a Look at the Roster

The rumored re-acquisition of midfielder, Jimmy Medranda was announced today. Sporting KC agreed to a fee with his Colombian club Deportivo Pereira. At the same time as they announced the transfer, Sporting announced that they'd signed Medranda to a multi-year deal. Medranda made one appearance for Sporting KC last year, coming off the bench in stoppage time of KC's 3-0 win over Columbus. He made an immediate impression on KC fans by striking a well hit shot from 30 yards out, that while being saved, showed a willingness to take a chance from distance.



The addition of Medranda back to the team puts KC's signed roster at 28 players on it, 26 from last year's MLS Cup team, and two new signings (Sal Zizzo and Andy Gruenebaum). That currently leaves KC with just two open roster spots ahead of the start of the 2014 season. Based on the recent comments made by Peter Vermes regarding Peterson Joseph though, I expect him to be placed on the injured reserve list, which would allow him to not count against the roster capacity, putting KC at 27 signed players.

As of the last roster update and game against Indy Eleven, there are still four trialists in camp. Three draft picks, Adnan Gabeljic, Peter Schmetz, and Alex Martinez, and one trialist, that is likely still Danny Earls (who was outed as Trialist 1 in Sporting's game against Portland). Vermes though has said that more players would be joining the team in Orlando for the second leg of preseason.

Based on the roster currently I think both Gabeljic and Martinez have work to do to make the roster. Gaeljic just because of the sheer number of forwards on KC's roster. But Martinez more so, especially with Medranda back in the fold. The midfield for KC got a little more crowded. Even with the questions still surrounding Joseph, Martinez likely has the biggest hill to climb of the three remaining draft picks.

Sporting KC Player News

Some player news regarding Sporting KC from today and this weekend.

Update on Palmer-Brown and Juventus

Sporting KC has said that they have no comment on the rumors of Erik Palmer-Brown going to Juventus but that hasn't stopped the Italian press from continuing to talk about the move.

The newer information from Italy follows much of the same information that came out originally. The deal according to the Italian media will be finalized after the current transfer window. Palmer-Brown will apparently stay with KC until he turns 18, at which time he will head to Juventus. This is mainly because of contract rules in Europe that are designed to protect players under 18. Players under 18 cannot move to a club in Europe unless they have an EU passport. The only other way a player could get to a club in Europe without an EU passport is if the player's parents get a job in Europe. But obviously that would be looked at more carefully if Palmer-Brown's parents magically got a job in Turin. So unless Palmer-Brown has an EU passport that hasn't been mentioned, he likely can't move to Europe yet.

The Italian media was also saying that the transfer fee was $250,000 but could increase depending on Palmer-Brown's playing time for Kansas City.

Myers Status

The status of Chance Myers is still up in the air. Sporting KC's right back is currently out of contract. Sporting KC have made him what they believe to be a good offer and the ball is in his court now. At this point though, it does not appear that Myers will be coming back.

Talks between SKC & out-out-of-contract Chance Myers ongoing. Remain apart on $. Hearing Myers could explore options in Germany/Scandinavia.
— Andrew Wiebe (@andrew_wiebe) January 24, 2014

Following up on the Vancouver RB chase, source tells me Caps made inquiry for Chance Myers, but Myers wanted more $$. #vwfc
— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) January 26, 2014

According to the above Tweets, Myers is looking for more money than what Kansas City has offered. According to the Players' Union salary release, Myers was on a base salary of $105,000 last year. My guess for what Sporting offered is that it was somewhere in the $150,000 range. That would put him just above former teammate, Michael Harrington, who made $140,000 according to the union.

Part of me is wondering if Myers is trying to get himself closer to the $200,000 mark. The likes of Richard Eckersley, Sean Franklin, and Heath Pearce are all making over $200,000 according to the Union. Eckersley and Pearce both made over $300,000. If that is true, I'd say that you let Myers walk, you don't want to lock that much up in one of your wingbacks. (Notice that Franklin and Pearce was left available in the re-entry draft and Eckersley was just traded by Toronto.)

Medrandra Still to Return?

Colombian midfielder, Jimmy Medranda hasn't been part of Sporting KC's preseason so far this season. From reports in Colombia, Medranda has been playing for his club, Deportivo Pereira in their preseason games ahead of their season. The assumption was that since Medranda was playing with his Colombian club, he was unlikely to be returning to KC.

Back on Saturday though, this was posted by a journalist in Colombia:

Jimmy Medranda quiere continuidad en los Estados Unidos, seguramente no estará en planilla el martes. @DeporPereira
— Edwin Herrera (@edwinjj5) January 25, 2014

Basically is says that Medranda wants to return to the US and would likely not be on Pereira's roster/payroll come Tuesday when it'll be announced. Medranda, the 6th youngest player to appear in a league game for KC could bring even more competition for spots in preseason. He'd compete with draft picks, Alex Martinez and Reinaldo Brenes for a spot on the roster.

A Look at KC's Roster

Preseason is starting on Friday for Sporting KC. Just 48 days after Jimmy Nielsen lifted MLS Cup, Sporting KC players will be back at Swope Park taking their entry physicals for the 2014 season.

With that we can already begin to speculate on the roster spots that are currently filled, and those that are up for grabs in preseason.

First let's take a look at who is under contract:

Goalkeepers (3): Andy Gruenebaum, Jon Kempin, Eric Kronberg

Defenders (8): Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin, Kevin Ellis, Josh Gardner, Mechack Jerome, Ike Opara, Erik Palmer-Brown, Seth Sinovic.

Midfielder (10): Christian Duke, Benny Feilhaber, Peterson Joseph, Mikey Lopez, Jimmy Medranda, Paulo Nagamura, Lawrence Olum, Oriol Rosell, Sal Zizzo, Graham Zusi

Forwards (6): Claudio Bieler, Teal Bunbury, Dom Dwyer, Jacob Peterson, Soony Saad, CJ Sapong

So that's a total of 27 players under contract for the 2014 season.

Before we even talk about the players drafted, let's talk about the players who are here and not here.

First, missing from the list is Chance Myers. Sporting KC's starting right back is out of contract and we're waiting to hear if he'll be back or not. When Charles Gooch at the Star posted a question about re-signing Myers, Heineman responded to the question "if he wants to." In the preview for the draft on Thursday, it was mentioned that Myers was "flirting with Perennial Champions League participants Rosenborg." Since then, I have searched and been able to find anything else, including the Norweigen press about a potential move for Myers.

Personally I think Myers will end up re-signing, which would bump Kansas City up to 28 rostered players.

That's not the only potential move within the current roster that could be happening though. Another potential move within the roster is on loan midfielder, Jimmy Medranda. Medranda had been on loan to KC from Colombian side, Deportivo Pereira. The Colombian club is already in preseason for their upcoming season. In a preseason game on the 15th, Medranda started for the second division side. Him playing in that game on the surface would seem to indicate that he won't be coming back to KC.

That would drop KC back to 27 rostered players.

KC already has the MLS rights to four more players now after the draft. Adnan Gabeljic, Peter Schmetz, Alex Martinez, and Reinaldo Brenes will all be looking to earn a spot on the roster when preseason starts.

Of course the three open spots may not go to any of those four. Heineman likes to continue to drop hints of a signing coming in. That player could take a roster spot.

There's also the chance that some of the 27 players on the roster won't make the final roster. For example there was the information that Jacole Turner, the former Sporting junior goalkeeper, would be returning to KC. If he's brought in as even a trialist, there is the outside chance that he could grab a spot.

There's also the questions surrounding whether Claudio Bieler will be back. With Bieler's playing time dropping late in the season a number of questions came up about whether Bieler would be back with KC. Rumors of him returning to Ecuador or Argentina had cropped up early in the offseason.

So on the surface there still are a number of spots left open on KC's roster for KC's draft picks to get. We'll see how many of those four make the roster, and probably, spend time in Oklahoma City or Orlando this season.

Sporting Sign Left Back Bessone

Today is the MLS roster freeze deadline, it's the last day that teams can sign players until after the season. Sporting Kansas City moved today to get them some depth on the left side of their back line. They announced the signing of Argentine left back, Federico Bessone.

The 29 year old Bessone is a product of the Barcelona youth system, although the highest he made it there was to Barcelona's C team (Oriol Rosell made B). Since leaving Barcelona, he's spent most of his playing career in England, playing with Swansea City, Leeds, Charlton, Swindon, and most recently Oldham Athletic. He has played a whole lot at any of the locations though.

He's likley mainly going to be a depth signing for left back, but he'll also be pushing Seth Sinovic hopefully at the same time. Of course I thought similar things about Neven Markovic last year, he played 2 games and is now in the Swiss Second Division.

This moves looks like it could be KC's only one today. With the signing and the return of KC's players in Orlando, that puts Sporting at the roster limit of 30. To bring anyone else in, they'd need to send someone else out. The window to sign players is until 4pm Central Time today.

FC Kansas City Announce Roster

FC Kansas City today announced their 18 player roster for the start of the inaugural NWSL season.  The roster certainly on paper should make the Blues one of the candidates for the best team in the league this year.

Here's a look at how FC Kansas City built their current roster.

The team has their three US allocated players in Nicole Barnhart, Lauren Cheney, and Becky Sauerbrunn. They also have their 2 Canadian internationals, Desiree Scott and Lauren Sesselmann.  And their single Mexican international, Renae Cuellar.  That gets the team up to 6.

Through the NWSL college draft, FCKC added three more, Krisitie Mewis in the first round, Erika Tymrak in the second round, and Nia Williams in the fourth round.  This gets you half the roster, at 9.

In the Supplemental draft, added four more to their roster.  The team added Courtney Jones in the first round, Bianca Henninger in the second round, Merritt Mathias in the third round, and Casey Loyd in the fourth round.  That gets the team to 13 of the 18 players.

Four more of KC's players came to the Blues from the team's ability to sign 4 free agents.  In that list were Melissa Henderson, Jen Buczkowski, Leigh Ann Robinson, and Sinead Farrelly.  That gets to 17 of the 18 rostered players.

The final spot on the roster went to local product, Katie Kelly to round out the team's 18 roster spots.

FCKC will kick off the season on Saturday night when they'll host the Portland Thorns in the league's first game at Shawnee Mission North High School.

A look at the Sporting Roster and Open Roster Spots

We're a week away from the start of the MLS season and Sporting KC kicking off against the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park next Saturday, March 2nd.  Saturday, Sporting finished their final preseason game, beating Toronto FC 1-0 at the Disney Pro Soccer Classic.

Before the team heads to Philadelphia though, there are some roster decisions that have to be made before the season starts.

Currently Sporting KC has 27 players under contract for next year.  Assuming those 27 all make the roster for the 2013 season, that leaves 3 spots open for supplemental draft picks and trialists.

Let's take a look at the positions first and where needs are.

Goalkeeper

No need here for Sporting KC.  The team currently has 3 players under contract already with Jimmy Nielsen, Eric Kronberg, and Jon Kempin.  The team has had Brian Sylvestre and Steve Spangler in camp, but I find it unlikely that either one of those 2 is displaying one of the 3 already on the roster.

Defenders

The past few years I have complained about Sporting's lack of center back depth.  This year I actually feel confident in KC's depth at center back.  The team has starters Matt Besler and Aurelien Collin back as well as back up Lawrence Olum, who can also play in the midfield.  The team has also added two more center backs this year, Ike Opara in a trade with San Jose and Yann Songo'o.  That depth should be a good start for KC with them having 3 competitions during the season this year.

On the wings KC is once again set with starters with both Chance Myers and Seth Sinovic returning this season.  KC has lost their primary back up for both sides though with the trade of Michael Harrington.  The team also released Korede Aiyegbusi who filled in on the left wing as well.  On the left KC has moved forward from Harrington and look to have found a suitable replacement in Josh Gardner who can play left back or left midfield.  They also have Bobby Convey who spent a short while at left back during preseason as well.

On the right things looked a little more questionable.  After Myers, the next most likely candidate to start appeared to be home grown signing, Kevin Ellis who has one competitive appearance for KC in their 3-0 win against the Chicago Fire PDL team in the US Open Cup in 2011.  After Ellis it was last year's supplemental draft pick, Kyle Miller, who has rotated between defense and forward while playing with the reserves.

Sporting though looks set to address the lack of depth here through one of their trialists.  Mechack Jerome of Orlando City has spent most of preseason with Kansas City and has gotten plenty of action in preseason, especially with Myers' quad injury that kept him out for a little while.  Rumors last week were that Kansas City were going to attempt to sign the Haitian to a contract.  I'd be more shocked at this point if he is not signed to a contract with KC.

KC also had supplemental draft pick, Brian Fekete in camp through at least a portion of the camp in Florida, but he hasn't appeared in any of the later preseason games, and even showed up on Orlando City's roster for a game.

Midfield

Kansas City lost two starters from their midfield from the end of last season, Julio Cesar has moved on to Toronto FC while Roger Espinoza has made his way to the English Premier League and Wigan Athletic.  KC though looks to be remaining strong in midfield.  With the addition of Benny Feilhaber and last season's summer signing of Oriol Rosell look to help ease the loss of those two.  There's also US national team midfielder, Graham Zusi, who could also see time at forward for Kansas City.  The team also has starter Paulo Nagamura returning along with Peterson Joseph who showed well in the playoffs against Houston.  Also returning this year is Michael Thomas, who the team picked up in preseason last year.  The team also has Mikey Lopez already on the roster having drafted the Generation Adidas player in this year's Super Draft, although he is currently with the US U20 team.

In the first round of the supplemental draft, KC drafted another midfielder, Christian Duke from San Diego.  Duke was from Kansas City's Juniors system, but did not spend enough time with the club while he was in college to qualify as a home grown player.  Similar to Miller last year I see Duke making the roster as a bench player.

Another potential signing for Kansas City is Adama Mbengue.  Another player from Orlando City that has trialed with KC, the 19 year old Senegalese player has split time during the Disney Pro Soccer Classic with both KC and Orlando.  He could certainly be a guy that could be looked at as a potential developmental talent for Peter Vermes to build up.

Supplemental draft pick Mike Reidy is listed on the team's preseason roster as a midfielder, but he's spent time all over the field in KC's preseason games, similar to what we saw from a number of players last year in reserve games.

Forwards

Kansas City has plenty of options at forward right now.  Sporting is returning CJ Sapong, Bobby Convey, Dom Dwyer, and Soony Saad.  The team also has Jacob Peterson and Teal Bunbury, but both of them will miss the start of the season due to injuries, Bunbury likely won't be back until the summer due to his ACL tear. Also among the forwards is the team's new designated player, Claudio Bieler. 

Not included in the list of 27 players at this time is Kei Kamara.  Kamara's trial with Norwich City will have him miss games until May before his potential return. So that's something that the team must keep themselves mindful up as they finalize the roster.  If they fill all 30 roster spots now they will have to waive someone if Kamara's move to Norwich isn't made permanent.

Sporting has also had Nick Zimmerman on their preseason roster, but the former New York and Philadelphia forward has not made an appearance in any of Kansas City's preseason games.

Conclusion

First it's not a forgone conclusion that Sporting isn't going to waive anyone still under contract at this time.  A player like Kevin Ellis, who has gotten a grand total of 75 minutes this preseason could be a guy that could find himself on the chopping block. Same goes for a player like Kyle Miller.

But for simplicity reasons right now, let's assume that KC isn't going to waive anyone, Sporting has just the three roster spots open, but one of those could eventually need to be filled by Kamara should he return from England in May. 

Of those three spots, I think two will definitely be filled by players currently in camp.  I expect Jerome to be signed to be Myers' primary back up at the right back position.  I also think that KC is going to sign another local player in Duke to add depth to the midfield.

That'd leave KC with one unfilled roster spot.  I could see KC going either way with the final spot.  I could see them filling it, at least for the short term with a player to provide more depth.  On the other hand if Vermes doesn't see enough from one of the players currently in camp.  With the CONCACAF Champions League not starting until August, and the US Open Cup rumored to not be starting for MLS teams until May 28th, Sporting isn't going to have multiple competitions to deal with in Kamara's absence.  So they may sit with the one roster spot open for at least the beginning of the season and continue to monitor Kamara's loan spell at Norwich.

MLS Rules Confuse Me... Again

I spend more time than I should trying to understand MLS' rules when it comes to player acquisitions.  I do this because the rules as a whole aren't exactly that straight forward, with the draft, "college protection", discovery claims, allocations, and the like, it can be hard for the casual fan to understand exactly what is going on.  Today though I am almost at a loss because of what would appear to be a contradiction of MLS' rules.

Today the teams participating in the lottery for Marcus Tracy were released.  The lottery is designed as a way to allocate a player out to a team so that they are not able to hold out for a specific club.  Tracy was the 2008 Hermann Award winner as the best college player.  He was drafted with the 56th pick of the 2009 MLS draft by Houston.  He fell so far because Tracy was already planning to bypass MLS and sign with Aalborg of the Danish league.  The Dynamo though made an offer to Tracy which allowed them to retain his MLS rights for 2 years.  The reason for this is because of the "College Protection List" which if a player is drafted but doesn't sign with the league the team retains the player's rights for 2 years.  That expired on December 31, 2010 for the Dynamo.  So tomorrow Tracy is going through a lottery.

What makes it confusing is a situation involving Sporting Kansas City.  Earlier this year, Sporting KC signed local KC player, Michael Thomas after making a trade with the San Jose Earthquakes.  Thomas had been drafted by the Earthquakes in 2010, but after being offered a contract, instead signing with Halmstads in Sweden.  Based on the "College Protection List" and the information on Tracy being offered a contract, Thomas' period should have expired on December 31, 2011.  On January 17th, 2012 though, Sporting announced that they had traded a supplemental draft pick to the Quakes for Thomas.  At the time I was told that because San Jose made an offer, Thomas stayed on their "College Protection List" forever.  That doesn't make sense in light of the Tracy situation.

So if Thomas had been offered a contract by San Jose the same way that Houston had offered one to Tracy, why is the way that the two were/are allocated to the league different?  Honestly it's not a matter of the draft pick, the Earthquakes drafted Tyler Krumpe from Loyola Marymount, who didn't even make the Quakes roster.  The point of this is MLS seeming to have used two different ways of bringing a player into the league when both players' situations when they "left" the league were the same.

It just doesn't make sense.  The only thing I can really think as a potential reason for it is because of the last reserve game of the year last year against Dallas.  In that game, Thomas was the infamous Trialist 1.  At that time, Thomas was still on San Jose's "College Protection List" so maybe as a sign of good faith with the Quakes, or because the Quakes realized it was Thomas and complained to the league, they made the trade.  If so, why not just state that instead of stating something that is contradictory to your own rules that you publish on the web?

 As I said earlier, in the end this isn't about the draft pick we've given up, I'd have rather given up a throw away draft pick than our lottery spot for Thomas, because in the lottery there's no guarantee that he'd end up in KC.  My problem is the fact that with two seemingly similar situations the league is going two totally opposite ways with the way a player is allocated to a team.  I love Sporting KC, and I love the league, I love that my son will get to grow up watching professional soccer in the US, but I wish the league would follow the own rules that they have set up.

Closing Arguments: Roster Questions

Lots of good comments this week in response to my opening argument post.  Read them below.

maxq

I think you hit the nail on the head. Lack of depth is the fundamental problem with this team. Hurts our ability to strategize before and during games, not to mention the fatigue issue. I would rather see us sign depth in any area of the field than sign a DP-level player.

However, as long as we're talking about DPs, I think the loss of Omar Bravo hurts more than we would have admitted during the offseason. Convey hasn't been bad, but we miss Bravo's cold-blooded finishing.

Mathew

Definitely think depth is an issue, however, I would rather approach improving depth by adding a high caliber DP-level player or two, which would then move a starter or two to the bench/spot starter level.

Biggest weakness in our side that I see is a lack of creativity in the midfield/wings. Love our midfield of Zusi/Espinoza/Cesar, however, none are what I'd call creative playmakers.

I'd prefer to sign a high level creative midfielder, which would send one of our 3 starting mids to the bench, which would create ability to rotate starting midfield on week to week basis a lot more. Also consider advantage of bringing someone like Espinoza off the bench around 65th min. mark. Would love to see him in role of super sub.

Think creative mid would also fix our on goal %. Believe our problem lies more in the fact that we're taking a lot of low percentage shots, rather than lack of clinical finishing (though that also does need work). Creative mid will make better runs that will help our other players get in better spots on the field to take a higher percentage shot than we currently are.

h

Actually, I think our depth is fine. But PV needs to rotate some players in and out from time to time.

And even rotate some responsibilities. For example, how about giving Kamara a go a center forward when neither CJ or Teal are really doing anything.

This leads to my point -- as a team we need to be able to change tactics during a match. If our "usual" press up, force turnovers, and make the other team pay isn't working we have to find a way to possess the ball, pull the defense out, and make that final pass to score.

Sometimes we look like we are doing the Arsenal thing where we are trying to find that perfect pass for that beautiful goal. Don't try perfection, just play. And take the shot or make the pass instead of dribbling sooooo much.

hartley

Hey, does anyone know why the home team had to wear split color kits instead of Montreal wearing their all dark blue kits? It seems the league always has KC switch their kits to accommodate the other team -- no matter who is home and who is away.

If the Impact wear their home kits and KC wears their home kits, you can easily tell which team is which.

RyanHetu

The only hard thing about pulling a DP in during the summer is theat it takes some time to acclimate with the club and style of play in mls. However, I'd love to see this happen and for them to be carried over to next season.

I agree with all of the above on subbing and depth. We could use a cb, winger/finishing forward (bravo esc..(bravo is/was a cf/st who can play on the wing)) and creative center mid.

Please and thank you sporting. Also please give Saad or Dwyer a shot!!

Nathan W Martin

The team has been a two-trick pony thus far. The field tilts drastically towards whichever side Kei Kamara is: where the best result is a set piece for our most consistent threat, the center back.

In the middle of the field, Roger Espinoza's destruction creates more offensive danger than Graham Zusi's creativity. That's a problem.

Also, I'd like to see at least 2 offensive substitutions available on the bench. (Jacob Peterson doesn't count in my book).

A forward that can finish with his feet will definitely be on the summer wishlist. If Zusi doesn't show that he can beat the first man on the dribble and open up the defense then Marinelli 3.0 is possible.

Anonymous

Wow, here we are still on top of the east and after the first bump the crap is starting to fly. We out shot Montreal by a wide margin and bounced one off the post. With some finishing drills and a reminder that protection of the ball is paramount, we are right back on track. Watch the game again and we can see a few poor passing ecisions that probably cost us the game. We are OK. Go Sporting...we still believe that we will win!

mmMouf
I think a great factor is the poor shooting % is we get a lot of half chances. It's not like the fwds are blowing...

Chances that some clinical finisher would bury, we aren't creating outside of hopefully hoofing it in on deep crosses

you can't score on a counter if the person advancing the ball does nothing but crap his pants in space

teams r shutting off the wings & sitting back, we aren't creating in the midfield & even switching the field seems 2b history

Opening Arguments: Roster Questions

Kansas City has played 9 games so far this season, going 7-2.  That means that there have been 99 starts for different players so far in the season.  Of the 99 starts for Kansas City this year, 96 of them have gone to the same 11 guys.  One start for each for Teal Bunbury, Paulo Nagamura, and Michael Harrington make up the difference.

As a whole, there's really been not a lot to complain about when it's come to the lineup, up until a few weeks ago.  Before playing Portland, KC was 7-0 and seemed to be cruising.  A two game stretch against Portland and Montreal has started to change that a little bit among fans.  Especially after the loss to the expansion Impact, where the offense looked anemic. Many fans would even tell you that it was starting before that, in the team's 3-1 win over Vancouver.  The team didn't look extremely well in that game either.  The question is, is it time for KC to make some changes to the lineup?  Maybe try to switch things up and force teams to change the way they address KC. 

That leads to another thought though.  While KC has been winning it makes some sense to continue playing the same lineup, but some changes have to happen to keep guys sharp.  Looking at it that way combined with the lack of substitutes, you have to wonder about the depth that we've heard about.  Down two goals against Montreal, KC left a sub on the bench even though a change in lineup could possibly have provided a spark.  The team hasn't looked as sharp as they did early on in the season.  You can argue that it's the league really starting to get into form, while KC basically kept the exact same team.  But part of me thinks that KC's style of play is really wearing some of these guys out quickly.  And we haven't even gotten to the really draining part of the summer.  So the first question this week is whether Kansas City needs to start doing a bit of squad rotating so that they don't burn out the guys that have been getting the majority of the minutes so early in the season? 

There is another question that this discussion brings up though.  We're approaching the 1/3rd mark of the season, and with the way the roster and lineup has played out now, where does improvements need to be made?  I still stand by one of my assessments from this preseason.  I don't like our center back depth.  Aurelien Collin is going to pick up a fourth and fifth yellow card some time this season.  When he does, that means either dropping Julio Cesar back and plugging Paulo Nagamura in the midfield, or putting Lawrence Olum into the middle of defense.  Niether option is ideal, moving Cesar means that we lose Collin's bit in defense, and Cesar's work in the midfield.  With Olum we get a bigger drop off from Collin.  I've been unimpressed in Olum's performance in the reserve games I've seen and his minimal minutes in league play.  Getting a center back with a little more MLS experience to back up Collin and Matt Besler, that allows Cesar to stay in midfield is something KC needs.

On the offensive end of the field, improvements could still be made.  In the past two losses, KC has taken 38 shots, only 6 of those have been on goal (16%), and none of those have gone in.  KC needs a guy who can finish more regularly.  A guy that will take and finish the chances that he gets.  A guy that does better than putting 16% of his shots on goal.  This is something that has plagued KC since even before this recent lull.  KC is second in the league in shots with 151 (behind DC at 160 and they've played 2 more games), but are 7th in the league in shots on goal with only 45.  That's just under 30% of shots going on goal.  The team is also 6th in the league in goals.  For the number of shots they're getting, they should be higher.  Getting a guy who will do that is another thing to put on the wish list.  Maybe the potential Spanish DP, who from what I'd heard was a forward will be back on this summer and KC can get a forward who will finish had a higher ratio.  That's not to say I don't like our current forward, I do, I just think we need one who is an out and out finisher and I'm not sure that fits any of our forward line.

So what do you think?  Remember, some of the comments and Tweets will be posted at the end of this week.

The Roster As Is

The roster compliance deadline passed for Sporting KC without incident last week. KC is currently sitting below the roster max of 30 players, and is set on internationals currently. As of this moment, KC has 28 players currently on their roster. That only includes the players that are currently under contract, even if they are not in camp currently, and will likely not play a role in the team this year. If that stays the same, KC will have 2 more roster spots that could be used for one of the remaining 5 trialists.

Right now, I don't know who the players are that fit in roster spots 1 through 20, that count against the salary camp, or those that are considered cap exempt, in spots 21-30. But here's a look at the roster as it stands now with my guess as to who fits where.

Salary Budget Players
Matt Besler
Teal Bunbury
Julio Cesar
Aurelein Collin
Bobby Convey
Birahim Diop
Roger Espinoza
Michael Harrington
Kei Kamara
Eric Kronberg
Chance Myers
Paulo Nagamura
Jimmy Nielsen
Lawrence Olum
Jacob Peterson
CJ Sapong
Luke Sassano
Seth Sinovic
Graham Zusi

That's 19 of the 20 "Salary Budget Players" the team can have. There's one more player that likely fits into that group. Of the 9 remaing players, there are 2 players specifically that I would consider being the final "Salary Budget Player."

Those two are Korede Aiyegbusi and Michael Thomas. In the end I'd lean more towards Thomas just because of his experience in Sweden or AIyegbusi who has played sparingly over his 2 seasons in KC.

So if one of those two is the salary players, the other is "off budget" along with the following:

Dom Dwyer (GA)
Kevin Ellis
Cyprian Hedrick
Peterson Joseph
Jon Kempin
Soony Saad
Konrad Warzycha

As I stated above, as of the last preseason game, there were 5 players that were still fighting for 2 final roster spots, those 5 included 3 supplemental draft picks and two trialists. Included in that group is Stefan Antonijevic, Kyle Miller, and Shawn Singh, the 3 supplemental draft picks, Mozzi Gyorio and Sacir Hot, two trialists that have joined the team in preseason in Florida. KC could also opt to not sign any of those 3, instead leaving those roster spots open in case the team needs to fill a spot. Another point to remember is those spots don't have to be filled by the 10th, they could be left open, and signed weeks later if the team wanted to.

I'm leaving out the two goalkeepers, Scott Spangler and Steve Angevine, because if they're signed it means that KC has likely put Kronberg on IR and they'll take his roster spot until he comes off.

A Look at the Depth Chart

With the first preseason game of the season under their belts, KC is one step closer to the start of the season. We are only 33 days from the first game of the season at DC United on March 10th. With plenty of people seeming to be fairly in unison on who the majority of the starting 11 is, let's take a look at the depth chart. Peter Vermes over the last few years has seemed to have an interest in picking up guys that can play multiple positions. And it's proven here with lots of players showing in 2 or more different positions for Sporting.

Projected starters are in bold. Players currently not under contract currently are italicized.

Plenty of the depth the further you go can go a few different ways. There are a few arguments that can be made in a few places, none more apparent than at center forward where you could argue for Teal Bunbury or CJ Sapong to be the starter.

Goalkeeper - Jimmy Nielsen, Eric Kronberg, Jon Kempin, Steve Spangler, Scott Angevine

Left back - Seth Sinovic, Michael Harrington, Korede Aiyegbusi, Roger Espinoza, Bobby Convey, Shawn Singh

Center back - Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin, Julio Cesar, Lawrence Olum, Daneil Cyrus, Cyprian Hedrick, Stefan Antonijevic, Kyle Miller

Right back - Chance Myers, Michael Harrington, Kevin Ellis, Shawn Singh

Defensive midfielder - Julio Cesar, Roger Espinoza, Paulo Nagamura, Lawrence Olum, Luke Sassano, Michael Thomas, Cyprian Hedrick, Peterson Joseph, Birahiim Diop

Box to box midfielder - Roger Espinoza, Paulo Nagamura, Michael Thomas, Graham Zusi, Konrad Warzycha, Luke Sassano, Peterson Joseph, Birahim Diop

Attacking midfielder - Graham Zusi, Konrad Warzycha, Paulo Nagamura

Left forward - Bobby Convey, Jacob Peterson, CJ Sapong, Soony Saad

Center forward - Teal Bunbury, CJ Sapong, Dom Dwyer, Soony Saad, Kei Kamara, Birahim Diop

Right forward - Kei Kamara, Jacob Peterson, Dom Dwyer, Soony Saad, Chance Myers

Sporting KC News to End Your Week

No major news out today, but here are some quick hits news wise for you on your Friday.

Sporting KC vs LA game time changed

Sporting KC's match up with LA on April 7th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park has changed times and stations. Yesterday the team announced that the game would now kick off 1 hour earlier at 3pm Central time. The move in start time is to facilitate a station move for the game, as instead of being on ESPN2, the game will be on the mothership, ESPN. It's been a long time since KC has had a game, let alone hosted one. I honestly can't quite remember when there last was one.

Collin closing in on green card

Good news for KC on the front of potentially signing more internationals. Aurelien Collin posted today on Twitter after practice that he was headed to meet with his lawyer to discuss his green card. While the part about becoming an American citizen is a ways away, the good news in Sporting KC terms is that KC will free up at least one international spot. With the spots currently full Collin getting his green card would be a boost. With Jimmy Nielsen and possibly Korede Aiyegbusi also working on their cards' KC could have plenty of international space available.

Sporting KC International News

The next few bits of news are related to Sporting KC players and their potential national team aspirations. The first has to do with Roger Espinoza, while the last two, courtesy of The Daily Wiz have to do with Lawrence Olum, and supplemental draft pick, Pablo Punyed.

Not surprisingly, Espinoza left off Honduras camp roster

With Sporting KC currently in preseason camp, this news isn't surprising, but Roger Espinoza was left off the camp roster ahead of Honduras' February friendlies. Honduras' coach named a roster today for the camp that includes the man who put the dagger in KC's 2011 season Carlo Costly. Espinoza will obviously stay with KC as they continue preseason.

Olum heading to Kenya in February?

Alex over at The Daily Wiz today posted a comment and a video link about KC's Lawrence Olum heading to Kenya in February. The timing of the trip to Kenya would seem odd considering the fact that KC will be right in the middle of preseason, but Olum has wanted to represent his country for a while at this point and this may be the best chance for Olum to appear for the Kenyan national team. Kenya is scheduled to have two matches on the 23rd and the 29th against Egypt and Togo, and one would assume that Olum would hope to make his international debut and become the 32nd player to appear for their full national team while a member of Sporting KC. Still the timing of the trip is just a bit odd being in the middle of preseason.

Punyed to Represent El Salvador U23 team?

There are some rumors out of El Salvador, that supplemental draft pick, Pablo Punyed could be looking to potentially join Teal Bunbury and Daneil Cyrus in Olympic qualifying. Rumor out of El Salvador is that the St. John's product participated in some tryouts down there for the national team in preparation for Olympic qualifying. El Salvador has been grouped with the US, Canada, and Cuba in a group that will play in Nashville.

Player Contracts and Rumors

Player news is starting to pick up a little bit for Sporting KC. The team today made two announcements on player news, and a new rumor has cropped up on another player.

First, after the announcement yesterday of the trade for Michael Thomas' rights, the team today announced that they had signed the Olathe native to a contract. Probably the least surprising of the news that came out today. With the trade yesterday for his rights you knew an announcement on his signing was going to come in the next few days. As mentioned previously, Thomas was drafted by San Jose in 2010 but instead went to Sweden, playing with Halmstads and Ljungskile.

Last night I questioned why KC had to give up a draft spot for Thomas based on MLS' rules that players are only on the "college protected list" for two years. So that should have expired on December 31st, 2011. But apparently San Jose offered Thomas a contract, thereby retaining his MLS rights permanently. Thus requiring the trade.

In other player news today, Seth Sinovic was signed to a new contract. An absolutely deserved upgrade for Sporting's starting left back. One would assume that new contract is going to come with a decent bump in salary as well since Sinovic was only making $32,604 last year. A good move by Peter Vermes and KC to lock up a key part of their defense.

Finally a new rumor from Tod Palmer with the KC Star. Apparently KC is also about to announce the signing of 6 year MLS veteran, Jacob Peterson. Peterson, has appeared in 130 or so matches in his 6 year MLS career. The majority of those from 2006 through 2009 when he was with Colorado, where he appeared 92 times. After that he spent the 2010 and part of last season with Toronto before moving on to San Jose later that year. Peterson made one appearance for the Earthquakes and at the end of the season was made available in the re-entry draft, but was not selected. In his 6 years, Peterson has scored 9 goals in MLS play.

Put me in the category of not really liking this move. I've seen plenty of Peterson over the past few years playing in this league and I'm really not impressed. Now one would assume that should Peterson actually be signed he'll take a pay cut. It should probably be pretty hefty though, as Peterson earned $142,000 last year. For this to be a move that is worth it for me, Peterson needs to have close to $100,000 cut off of that salary before I even consider this move decent. He's not proven anything to me over the last few years that he's worth anywhere near that much.