Sporting Sign Cameroonian Youth International Songo'o

Sporting KC continued a busy week in their offseason making announcing another signing today.  The team announced the signing of Cameroonian youth international, Yann Songo'o.  Songo'o is the son of former Cameroonian national team keeper Jacques Songo'o and is brothers with Franck Songo'o, who plays for the Portland Timbers. 

According to the ever reliable Songo'o started his professional career wtih Zaragoza B in Spain after spending most of his youth career with Deportivo La Coruña.  He spent a season there before moving to CE Sabadell FC of Spain who also play in the Spanish second division.  He spent 2012 with Pobla de Mafumet CF in the Spanish 4th division.

Songo'o appears to be able to play both central defense and right back.  Right back specifically is an area that I had felt KC still needed to address after the departure of Michael Harrington.  KC needed depth there to back up Chance Myers should he get injured or called up.  Songo'o is likely going to be competing with Kevin Ellis for that roll right now. 

Bieler in Town Monday? And Preseason Schedule

While Sporting KC has made a number of announcements over the past few days, one announcement that continues to be rumored but yet to be announced is Claudio Bieler.  The Argentine striker is currently closing out his season in Ecuador with LDU Quito.  Their final game of the season is on Sunday against Emelec.  According to Goal.com, once the game is over, Bieler is set to make his way to Kansas City to complete his move to Sporting.  This would presumably be a physical and signing a "pre-contract" depending on when Bieler's contract actually expires.  As I mentioned previously, Bieler would certainly on the surface be able to provide some of the goal scoring that KC lacked last year.

If this is true, then I'd think we'd probably hear some sort of announcement, official from the team or not early next week some time.

Schedule in Orlando Announced

For the second year in a row, Sporting KC will participate in the Disney Pro Soccer Classic in Orlando, FL.  The schedule for the tournament itself has been announced.  Sporting has been placed in Group B, which includes DC United, the Montreal Impact, and NASL side the Tampa Bay Rowdies.  Sporting will open the tournament on Saturday February 9th vs Montreal.  On the 13th they'll play DC, before closing out group play on the 16th against Tampa Bay.  Depending on where KC finish in their group, they'll play a team from Group A on the 23rd.  Group A includes Columbus, Toronto, Philadelphia, and USL-Pro side Orlando.

Former SKC Wizards Update

Here's another week of former SKC Wizards Updates.  A few former Wizards are playing in the Caribbean Championship.  Meanwhile in club play, Yura Movsisyan has made his move to Spartak Moscow from Krasnodar.  On the other side of things, Omar Bravo has been transfer listed by Cruz Azul less than a year after leaving Sporting for the Mexican club.  Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Korede Aiyegbusi
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Eloy Colombano
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Pablo Escobar
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Tom Gray
Willy Guadarrama
Kevin Hartman
Zoltan Hercegfalvi
Will Hesmer
Santiago Hirsig
Aaron Hohlbein
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Ryan McMahen
Anthony Noriega
Sergei Raad
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Khari Stephenson
Shavar Thomas
Ivan Trujillo
Tyson Wahl
Diego Walsh
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Chivas - Offseason.
Ryan Smith - Chivas - Offseason.

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

USL
Edson Elcock - Richmond - 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 12-10 loss to Wichita.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Played in Baltimore's 10-6 win over Wichita.
Will John - Comets - Played in Missouri's 14-11 win over Chicago.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Played in Missouri's 14-11 win over Chicago.
Craig Rocastle - Comets - Played in Missouri's 14-11 win over Chicago.
Paul Wright - San Diego - Scored a goal in San Diego's 9-3 win over Phoenix.

International
Vicente Arze - R. Charleroi S.C. - Belgium - Did not dress in Charleroi's 6-1 loss to Standard Liege.
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Sporting Clube de Portugal B - Portugal - Came off the bench and played 38 minutes in Sporting's 3-2 loss to Uniao Madeira.  Did not dress in Sporting's 2-2 draw with Desportivo Aves.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Started and played 90 minutes in Trinidad's 0-0 draw with Haiti. Started and played 90 minutes in Trinidad's 2-0 loss to Antigua. Started and played 90 minutes in Trinidad's 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - No game this week.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Started and played 90 minutes in Jamaica's 2-1 loss to French Guyana,  Started and played 81 minutes in Jamaica's 0-0 draw with Martinique.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - No game this week.
Mike Jones - FC Hjorring - Denmark - On winter break until March.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - On winter break until March.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - Did not dress in Krasnodar's 3-2 loss win over Rostov, completing move to Spartak Moscow.
Michal Mravec - FC Emmen - Netherlands - No game this week.
Pablo Punyed - Fjolnir - Iceland - Offseason
Milos Stojcev - FC Akzhayik - Kazakhstan - Offseason.
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - Did not dress in Munster's 2-2 draw with Chemnitzer.
Shavar Thomas - Jamaica - Started and played 90 minutes in Jamaica's 2-1 loss to French Guyana.  Started and played 65 minutes in Jamaica's 0-0 draw with Martinique. 

Sporting Trade for Ike Opara

Sporting KC continued a busy start to their offseason, trading for San Jose defender, Ike Opara for the team's second round pick in the 2013 MLS Superdraft.  Opara was the Earthquakes first round pick (3rd overall) in the 2010 MLS Superdraft, where KC took Teal Bunbury with the 4th overall pick.  In the 2010 draft the top four picks of Bunbury, Opara, Danny Mwanga, and Tony Tchani were all seen as the cream of the draft class.  KC next year will have 2 of those 4, although Bunbury's likely been the most successful of all 4.

Opara has had a bit of an injury filled pro career, only appearing in 35 games over 3 seasons with the San Jose Earthquakes.  Opara though will come in to Kansas City and not be expected to start for Sporting.  Opara will likely be set to battle with Lawrence Olum for the 3rd center back spot on the roster.  His signing is purely a depth signing to provide cover and play in US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League games next year.

Opara was a guy that I immediately looked at when the re-entry draft list came out.  I thought he'd be a guy for KC to look into getting in the second stage of the draft.  Instead, like last year, KC went out and made their move before the re-entry draft, picking him up for a second round pick.  The trading of the pick does leave KC without a second round pick now after trading away their other second round pick to Montreal in the Josh Gardner trade.

I know that some KC fans are worried about giving up these draft picks, but the majority of them have been second round choices, and in the last 3 years KC has drafted Cyprian Hedrick (2012), JT Murray (2011), and Korede Aiyegbusi (2010) in the second round, not a stellar draft outside the first round.  So that part doesn't worry me right now.

Besler Re-Signs with Sporting

Sporting KC's defense from last season will remain intact for the 2013 MLS season with the news today that Matt Besler is re-signing with the club.  Robb Heineman posted pictures on Twitter this morning that would appear to show Besler signing and faxing his new contract.  Then Besler confirmed re-signing on Sports Radio 810am in KC this morning

The 2012 defender of the year, Besler, had offers from England, including Queen's Park Rangers, Birmingham City, and Southampton, as well as a Belgian club, apparently KAA Gent but turned them down, instead choosing to return to his home town team, Sporting.  The contract though will lock up Besler in KC for at least a few more years and should see him get a bit of a pay raise as well. 

Getting Besler re-signed had to be a massive priority for the offseason for KC.  Losing Besler along with Roger Espinoza, and the release of Julio Cesar would have been a big blow to KC's defense after a record breaking year for them.  Besler's solid, steady play allowed Aurelien Collin to take risks with his play as Besler was there to cover.  His play has also earned him national team attention, earning a call up for the friendly against Mexico earlier this year and calls for him to get a further look in the January camp as well as potential call ups for qualifiers.  The re-signing, along with the trade for Benny Feilhaber gives KC five players (Teal Bunbury, CJ Sapong, and Graham Zusi the other 3) to receive national team call ups in the last year.  Add in Peter Joseph's Haiti call ups, Kei Kamara's Sierra Leone call ups, and even Lawrence Olum being invited into camp with Kenya and there are a number of international players on KC's roster.  Which could certainly be a challenge come the summer with internationals matches and the Gold Cup.

But this was an absolute must move for KC.  While Olum is a decent back up, he's not a long term starter and losing Besler would have pushed him into that role.  Now KC keeps their defense together while keeping one of the faces of the team and the city on the roster

More Moves Coming for Sporting

Not long after the announcement regarding the trade that brought Benny Feilhaber to KC, Robb Heineman was at it again posting again on Twitter tonight that more moves are on the way.

two more moves tomorrow....get ready #sportingkc
— Robb Heineman (@RobbHeineman) December 12, 2012

Two more moves are on the way tomorrow, as KC is really stating their intentions towards the 2013 season.  KC is really going all in this year it looks like, not only looking to compete to win MLS Cup, but also add depth that will contribute for the team's run in 3 separate competitions next season (league, US Open Cup, and CONCACAF Champions' League).

One name that has come up for the last little bit, and a name that I thought could have been the announcement today is Claudio Bieler.  Bieler, the LDU Quito forward has been linked with a move to MLS for few weeks now, specifically Kansas City.  The biggest thing for KC with Bieler is his experience.  Bieler has experience in the Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, and even the FIFA Club World Cup while playing with the Ecuadorian club.  He played in the FIFA Club World Cup final in 2008 against Manchester United.  He left Quito and went back to his native Argentina to Racing, but eventually made his way back to Quito.  Since moving back to Quito, Bieler has scored about every other game. Which is a very good strike rate no matter the league.  Hopefully he can help finish some more of the chances that KC create. 

That all said, I'm not sure that Bieler will be either of the announcements tomorrow.  I think it may still be a little while before this deal is made official.

Sporting Acquire Benny Feilhaber From Revolution

Sporting KC's announcement hinted at by Robb Heineman yesterday on Twitter has been announced.  The team has acquired midfielder, Benny Feilhaber from the New England Revolution for allocation money, KC's 2014 first round pick, and their 2015 second round pick.

The midfielder spent the last season and a half in New England after spending most of the previous 7 years playing in Germany, England, and Denmark.  In the past two years he's played in 52 games for the Revolution, starting 46 and scoring 5 goals over that period of time.

Feilhaber is a player that Kansas City had been interested in since he came to MLS.  Kansas City was apparently interested in making a trade for him at the time the Revolution took him with their allocation spot.  Overall the trade works out for both teams.  KC gets a guy that they'd been after while the Revolution get something in return for a player that they weren't going to bring back.  Some may say that it's a bit of a steep price for KC to pay, giving up 2 draft picks and what's likely decent allocation money for Feilhaber, and overall that's the one thing that I struggle with on this deal.  But to get talent you have to give stuff up.  And while KC has shown the ability to use their first round picks with success, it's hard to pass up a proven player like Feilhaber.

Feilhaber gives KC two national team level midfielders on their roster combined with Graham Zusi.  Those two will cause a number of problems for teams and should continue to provide Kansas City with danger off of set pieces.  The move could also allow Zusi more time on the wing where he's excelled at the national team level.

While it's a lot to give up, I like this move.  Feilhaber seems like the perfect midfielder for KC's 4-3-3 system and Vermes will hopefully be able to get some of Feilhaber's character issues in check quickly.

And who doesn't love watching this goal.

Player Announcement Coming Tomorrow

Sporting KC president Robb Heineman got the weekend excitement going for KC fans, tweeting "Well...I think you'll b happy about this one. I am #announcemen2follow" and "New Player...." Immediately Sporting KC fans started speculating on who would be the new player.  The thought was that an announcement would come today, but by 5:30 central time there's still been no announcement.  Then just before 6pm, Heineman posted the following on Twitter:

First welcome new addition announced tomorrow around 2pm #sportingkc
— Robb Heineman (@RobbHeineman) December 11, 2012

There's the answer to the questions fans have been asking about when the announcement would take place.  Tomorrow the expected new player announcement will take place.  Rumors of a player from outside the league that KC is bringing in, there are rumors of players from South America and Spain.  The other potential is that it's another trade within MLS. Based on the previous tweets from Heineman, whether signing or trade I'd expect it to be a biggish name. 

And with Heineman's Tweet brings extra speculation based solely on the first word and another Tweet earlier tonight.  Nate Bukaty, from 810 Sports posted the following:

Just heard some great news on the Matt Besler #SKC front. I hear a deal could happen as soon as tonight or tomorrow! Fingers crossed.
— Nate Bukaty (@nate_bukaty) December 10, 2012

That would certainly be a nice second to the "first" that Heineman mentioned in his tweet.  Besler continues to be a priority to get re-signed.  His loss would be a huge let down for the team.

Comets End Winless Run

The Missouri Comets ended their 3 game winless run today, beating the Chicago Soul 14-11 at the Independence Events Center.  Like their last home game against the Baltimore Blast, the first quarter was a tight affair.  Unlike that game though it saw an early goal for the opposition.  A nice through ball from Carlos Munoz found Bato Radoncic all alone in the box.  With his back to goal, Radoncic back heeled the ball past Boris Pardo to make it 2-0.  Throughout the rest of the first quarter, the Comets controlled much of the possession but really struggled to get shots to test Jeff Richey.

Into the second quarter, the Comets finally got their goal to equalize.  Vahid Assadpour collected a ball on the wing and then fired a cross towards the back post for Stefan St. Louis.  The cross though was deflected into the net by the Soul's Frederic Degand and into the net to level the game at 2-2.  Before the second quarter was 5 minutes old the Comets had their first lead of the game.  Mads Falck raced onto a loose ball finding himself 1v1 with Richey.  Falck made no mistake, slotting the ball into the corner to make it 4-2.  Just a minute and a half later, the Comets added another goal.  After some good work in the defensive third, Ryan Junge raced forward onto a pass.  Junge played a looping ball over to the other side of the field for Byron Alvarez.  Alvarez did a great job holding off his marker and slid a ball under Richey at the near post to make it 6-2.  Around the midpoint of the quarter the Soul pulled back to within a goal.  Radoncic took a ball into the corner and laid it back for Sean Summerville who fired the ball into the goal high at the near post.  Late in the half, the Comets restored their 4 point lead.  Off a restart at the top of the arc, John Sosa played a ball wide to Lucas Rodriguez.  Rodriguez took a touch and fired a shot that took a deflection and sent it past Richey and into the net making it 8-4.

Early in the third quarter, the Soul struck back with an early goal.  Summerville collected a ball on the wing and played a ball into the middle where Ephraim Beard hit a volley from close range to make it 8-6.  The rest of the quarter saw the teams go back and forth as the Soul looked to level the score while the Comets looked to extend it.  Right around the midpoint of the quarter it was the Comets that got the goal.  Falck's led a 2v1 break with Leo Gibson.  Falck looked to cross to Gibson but had his cross cut out.  The ball deflected off the wall to Alvarez.  Alvarez cut wide and played another ball into the middle that Gibson tapped home to make it 10-6.

Early in the fourth quarter the Comets extended their lead again. Outside the yellow line, Assadpour found Alvarez.  Alvarez turned and fired but his shot was off the wall.  Alvarez collected his rebound though and fired it home to make it 12-6.  Shortly after the goal though the Comets found themselves having to kill a penalty.  After a give away at midfield, Coady Andrews committed a foul as the Soul raced in on goal.  Andrews went to the box for tripping.  The foul also gave the Soul a shootout attempt.  Munoz stepped up for the shootout, but Pardo made a good foot save.  The Soul collected the rebound, and Cuitlahuac Meza fed the ball to Matthew Stewart.  Stewart's shot from the 3 point line got under Pardo and made it 12-9.  The Comets came right back though and scored another goal.  Junge again made a good run forward getting the ball down the wing.  He then slid the ball across to Alvarez who did a fantastic job of controlling, turning, and firing the ball into the far corner all in one fluid motion to make it 14-9.  From there the Soul really started pushing the game, pinning the Comets in deep in their own end.  It paid off with just over 5 minutes left, when Stewart played a great give and go with Munoz and Stewart beat Pardo to put the Soul within 3.  The Soul continued to push and even threw the 6th attacker on looking to level the game.  With just over 30 seconds left they got another power play as Assadpour was sent to the box for tripping.  The Comets though killed the last 30 seconds and held on to beat the Soul.

Comets vs Soul PBP

Reports that Livestrong Will Host World Cup Qualifier vs Costa Rica

The United States open the last round of World Cup qualifying in early February in Honduras.  The USA's first home game of the Hex takes place in late March on the 22nd.  The venue for the game has not been officially announced yet.  Unofficially though, reports out of Costa Rica are that the United States will play the qualifier at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, KS.

LSP had hosted the United States last World Cup qualifier of the last round against Guatemala with a sell out crowd of 16,947 (reduced capacity per FIFA).  The pro US crowd and comments from US coach Jurgen Klinsmann had firmly put KC in the position of hosting a game in the Hex this year.  The game would be the third straight year that KC has hosted the US team, as the US played Guadeloupe in the Gold Cup in KC as well.  Rumors and hopes were that KC would get high profile US vs Mexico game instead of Columbus, OH, where the last 3 World Cup qualifiers against Mexico has taken place.  If this report is true though KC will be hosting Costa Rica for the second time in World Cup qualifying.  The last time KC hosted Costa Rica was in the qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, when 37,319 showed up at Arrowhead to watch the US win 1-0.

Joseph Called Up for Haiti

I had meant to post this on Wednesday, but with recording the podcast and all the news on that day, I forgot, but it works out with the tournament starting tonight as well. 

Sporting KC midfielder, Peter Joseph was called up to the Haiti national team for the upcoming Caribbean Championships in Antigua and Barbuda.  Joseph and Haiti have been placed in Group A after winning their qualifying group.  Through both qualifying stages, Joseph played in all but one of Haiti's games to get to the tournament proper.  Haiti is grouped with Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, and hosts Antigua and Barbuda.  Haiti kick the tournament off tonight in the first game against former teammate, Daneil Cyrus and Trinidad.  On Sunday Haiti will be back on the field taking on the country that they share their home island with, the Dominican Republic.  The final group phase game is on Tuesday against the hosts Antigua. 
Finishing in the top two in their group will qualify Haiti for the 2013 Gold Cup, and also see them advance to the knock out phase of the Championship where they would face a team from Group B, which features defending champs, Jamaica (which features former Wizards, Shavar Thomas and Jermaine Hue), Cuba, French Guiana, and Martinique.

Dywer on Trial in Scotland Looking for Short Term Loan

Word out of Scotland today is that Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer could be making a short term loan move to Scotland.  He's started a trial with St. Mirren with an eye towards a loan move in January.  This past year Dwyer appeared in three competitive matches for KC, starting and playing 45 minutes in KC's 3-2 win over Orlando City in the 3rd round of the US Open Cup. He also came on late in KC's 2-1 win over Toronto in league play and had a 10 minute appearance at the end of KC's 2-0 loss to Houston in the first leg of the playoffs.

With the lack of first team action for Dwyer last season, I think a loan would be a perfect thing for Dwyer to help get his confidence up ahead of the 2013 MLS season.  The Saints are currently in 11th place in the 12 team Scottish Premier League, with 16 points, 5 clear of the relegation zone.

From everything I've read this would be a short term move and he'd be back for the 2013 MLS season.  Unlike previous instances of loan or transfer rumors out of the UK, this one actually has quotes from Danny Lennon, St. Mirren's manager, which would appear to add more fuel to the potential move.  As I said earlier, a loan at this point would be a good thing for Dwyer, as long as it doesn't turn out like the last two players KC has sent on loan, Scott Lorenz and Konrad Warzycha, who both didn't get much playing time during their respective loan moves and both were recalled early.

Re-Entry Draft Tomorrow

Tomorrow the MLS offseason continues to move along with the first stage of the Re-entry draft.  It's the third year MLS has had the re-entry draft with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and it's still just as confusing as it was in it's first season, so let's quickly run down the rules for players being eligible for the draft, specifically for stage one of the draft.

Players who are at least 23 years old and have a minimum of three years of MLS experience whose options were not exercised by their clubs (available at option salary for the next season).

Players who are at least 25 years old with a minimum of four years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose club does not offer them a contract at their previous salary (available at previous season's salary).

Players who are at least 30 years old with a minimum of eight years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose club does not wish to re-sign them (available for at least 105 percent of their previous season's salary).

If a player is selected in the first stage of the re-entry draft the team must exercise the player's option or extend a "bona fide offer."  If the player rejects the deal, the team retains the first right of refusal on the player.  Teams then have the ability to renegotiate with their players ahead of the second stage.

The first stage of the drat isn't used very much, in the two previous years of the draft, only 5 players have been taken.  The rest of the teams all passed on their picks, and even those that did make picks passed on the second attempt.  The real interest in the draft will take place in the second stage of the draft a week from tomorrow. 

I don't expect Sporting to make any movement in the draft tomorrow, no one on the list really stands out as someone to take in this stage of the draft.  There are a few guys that I would consider in the second phase, especially for center back depth, which KC needs when just looking at the roster.  Specifically Julius James and Ike Opara could add depth or challenge for starting spots for Kansas City.  The likes of Corben Bone or Blair Gavin could give KC some depth in the midfield.

As I said previously there's little movement in the first stage of the draft so I expect less than 5 players to be taken in tomorrow's draft. 

News on Gardner, Besler, Kamara, and Espinoza

Some news on four Sporting KC players.

Sporting Trade for Gardner

After getting rid of 6 players and a 7th on the way out, Sporting KC made an addition to the roster today.  Sporting made a trade with the Montreal Impact to acquire midfielder/defender Josh Gardner.  The 30 year old Gardner has appeared in 49 league games over 5 seasons in MLS.  He's also spent time with the USL version of the Seattle Sounders and Carolina Railhawks in between time with Los Angeles and Columbus.  Last season Gardner was in Montreal.  He appeared in 6 games last year for the Impact.  In return, Sporting is sending their highest second round pick in the Superdraft this January.  The pick, the 32nd overall, Sporting KC received from New York in the trade that sent Stephane Auvray to the Red Bulls. 

Gardner was set to enter the reentry draft this year after making $54,120 last year.  You can expect that salary to increase next year, but not a ton more.  Gardner should provide Sporting with some depth behind Seth Sinovic at left back as well as an ability in the midfield as well.

More Interest in Besler

The Matt Besler moving abroad rumors continue to come out.  Today the news is from The Sun in the UK.  The tabloid isn't the most trusted source, but does link him with the previously rumored QPR and adds in another EPL club, Southampton.  The continues question with a potential move to England would be his ability to acquire a work permit in England.

Kamara Training at Stoke

Just having dinner with my good friend @keikamara who's here to train with us for a while.
— Asmir Begovic (@asmir1) December 4, 2012

The above tweet is from Asmir Begovic, the starting goalkeeper for Stoke City.  It should basically explain itself, Sporting's Kei Kamara is in England current training with the Potters currently.  Kamara joins a long list of MLS players that are spending a portion of the offseason training with clubs in Europe to prepare them for the 2013 season.  Before the English media finds out about this and starts calling it a "trial" and saying that Stoke is interested in signing the Sierra Leone international, let's remember it's just training.

Espinoza Closer to Official Exit

In news that is probably closer to former SKC Wizards news at this point that Sporting KC news, word is that midfielder Roger Espinoza has passed his physical in the UK.  With that out of the way, Espinoza is set to sign a two and a half year contract with Wigan Athletic.  The move will be finalized when the new transfer window opens in January. As I've said previously it's sad seeing Espinoza leave Kansas City, he's become a world class player here, but it'll be great seeing him play in the EPL.

FC Kansas City Announce Coaches

Today, FC Kansas City announced their first coaching staff for the new women's team.  The first head coach in the team's history is going to be the current Missouri Comets assistant coach, Vlatko Andonovski and his assistant coach will be Huw Williams.

Andonovski played 6 years in Europe before moving to the United States where he spent years playing in the NPSL and MISL.  After his playing career he's spent time as a youth head coach and director of coaching on a number of local youth clubs including Futura, Sporting Blue Valley ECNL, and KHMAC.  Andonovski will retain his job as an assistant for the Comets while also taking on the duties as a head coach for the women's side.

Williams is extremely well known in the KC youth soccer community, winning a number of state titles from the 80's through the 10's.  Like Andonovski Williams has spent a lot of time coaching locally and as a director of coaching. 

Going with local coaches that know the area would seem to point towards FCKC trying to have a distinct local feel to the squad.  There are a number of women in the US youth system that the team could appeal to, to bring in to the squad.  Now with the coaches announced the next things are the building off the roster and where the team is going to play.

Former SKC Wizards Update

The list of former Wizards without a team is fairly big right now after all the players that have gone to the reentry draft.  Some of those guys will move off the list after the two phases of the reentry draft.  Michael Harrington and Korede Aiyegbusi both join the list now.  Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Korede Aiyegbusi
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Eloy Colombano
Julio Cesar
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Pablo Escobar
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Tom Gray
Willy Guadarrama
Kevin Hartman
Cyprian Hedrick
Zoltan Hercegfalvi
Will Hesmer
Santiago Hirsig
Aaron Hohlbein
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Neven Markovic
Ryan McMahen
Anthony Noriega
Sergei Raad
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Khari Stephenson
Shavar Thomas
Ivan Trujillo
Tyson Wahl
Diego Walsh
Konrad Warzycha
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Chivas - Offseason.
Ryan Smith - Chivas - Offseason.

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

USL
Edson Elcock - Richmond - 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 - Did not play in Syracuse's 13-7 win over Missouri.  Had two goals and an assist in Syracuse's 23-8 win over Rochester.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - No game this week.
Will John - Comets - Scored a goal in Missouri's 13-7 loss to Syracuse.  Had two goals in Missouri's 24-17 loss to Rochester.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Played in Missouri's 13-7 loss to Syracuse.  Played in Missouri's 24-17 loss to Rochster.
Craig Rocastle - Comets - Played in Missouri's 13-7 loss to Syracuse.  Played in Missouri's 24-17 loss to Rochseter.
Paul Wright - San Diego - Had a goal and an assist in San Diego's 15-5 win over Tacoma.

International
Vicente Arze - R. Charleroi S.C. - Belgium - Did not dress in Charleroi's 2-0 win over Kortrijk.
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Sporting Clube de Portugal B - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 2-2 draw with Feirense.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - No game this week.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - No game this week.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Tied Humble Lions 0-0.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Did not dress in Bahia's 1-0 win over Atletico Go.
Mike Jones - FC Hjorring - Denmark - On winter break until March.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - Lost 2-0 to Sheriff.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - Did not dress in Krasnodar's 2-1 win over Kuban' Krasnodar.
Michal Mravec - FC Emmen - Netherlands - Did not dress in Emmen's 2-1 loss to Go Ahead Eagles.
Pablo Punyed - Fjolnir - Iceland - Offseason
Milos Stojcev - FC Akzhayik - Kazakhstan - Offseason.
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - Suspended for Munster's 2-0 win over Wacker Burghausen.

Soccer City KC. Can KC Support Soccer 5 Teams?

Starting next year in Kansas City, there will now be 5 professional and semi-professional teams playing in the metropolitan area.  While across the state of Missouri, St. Louis is considered one of the hot beds of soccer and Portland has the nickname of Soccer City USA, Kansas City is making a name for themselves as well in the soccer community.  Next year, in Kansas City, soccer fans will get to choose from the existing Sporting KC, Missouri Comets, and KC Brass along with new comers FC Kansas City and the Kansas City Shock. 

As you can see that's a lot of soccer to support, and the question is whether KC can support all those teams or not.  Of the existing teams, all 3 would on the surface appear to be able to survive.  Sporting KC is probably the safest of all 5 of the teams, with Livestrong Sporting Park existing and it being a facility where Sporting can control the revenue.  They're also the best attended of the existing teams, averaging 19,404 in the 2012 season. 

The Comets would likely be considered safe as well heading into this year, mainly because they're in the market all by themselves during the majority of their season as the other four teams play a spring/fall schedule.  The Comets are also doing a good job of filling the Independence Events Center, which at this time is the perfect size for the indoor game.  Last year, the Comets finished 3rd in attendance in the league, averaging 4,092 per game in the 5,800 seat IEC.  Last year the Comets had to go head to head with another indoor team, the PASL Kansas Magic, who folded after one season last year.

Of the existing teams in Kansas City, the third team, the KC Brass is the second oldest existing team in KC, starting a year after Sporting KC started as the KC Wiz.  They also had the lowest attendance of the teams.  In their 7 games that attendance was reported last year, the Brass averaged 340 per game at the Overland Park Soccer Complex.  At the facility the Brass though don't charge for attendance, so there's no revenue coming in from ticket sales for the Brass.  In their history they've played on both sides of the state line and north and south sides of the city, moving from BVDAC to William Jewell and into the OP Soccer Complex.  Really though attendance isn't that big of a deal for the Brass, the non-profit that owns the club is they're mainly to help develop players for the pro game and seem content at this time to continue doing that.

From there we have the two new women's team.  First, the "oldest" of the two teams, the KC Shock.  The Shock are setting themselves to be the same type of team that the Brass, looking to develop local players to contribute at the next level.  At this time the Shock haven't finalized a venue yet.

The final team is the women's professional team, FC Kansas City, owned by the same owners as the Missouri Comets.  Like the Shock, the Blues are entering their first season and as yet, KC has not announced their venue yet.  They've got their list limited down, and are looking for a site that will allow them at least 5,000.  Livestrong is apparently still one of the options for them to play in.  They have the backing of US Soccer as well as the Canadian and Mexican federations as those three federations will be providing the funding for a number of players on the roster, which will certainly help with the team's bottom line and the cost of player salaries. 

As a whole I think that Sporting and the Brass are on solid footing.  I think the fate of the Comets and FC Kansas City will be tied together with the two teams being owned by the same group.  Not that it will happen, but there could be a potential situation similar to St. Louis where one team gets sacrificed for the survival of the other, or both end up in financial trouble. 

I like the guys that are doing the set up for the Shock, but I do wonder if they might be the "low man on the totem pole."  They were unlucky with the establishment of their club a few months before a professional women's team was announced for the city as well.  They're doing a good job on the social media scene, but they'll be battling to establish their place in a market while at the same time having to "fight" with a team that has the backing of US Soccer, that's going to be a tough task to face.

Overall, it's going to be a full summer when it comes to soccer with 4 teams playing in Kansas City.  That's certainly going to stretch the entertainment dollars (not just ticket prices but gas, concessions, etc.) of soccer fans in the city.  Each team finding their niche is what is going to be key for all 5 teams to survive here.  If one fails to find it's own niche it's not going to survive long with all the other soccer options around at this time.

More on Besler Interest Abroad but It Appears He'll Re-Sign

Two weeks ago we heard that out of contract central defender, Matt Besler had offers to play abroad instead of signing a new contract with Sporting KC.  At the time there was no mention made of where Besler had interest from though.  Today, Nate Bukay, Co-Host of The Border Patrol on Sports Radio 810am added to the speculation on Twitter posting 3 potential locations that he heard Besler had offers to trial at.

Heard through the grapevine that Matt Besler has a trial offer with Queens Park Rangers in the EPL. Hope @sportingkc can keep him...but...
— Nate Bukaty (@nate_bukaty) December 3, 2012

Heard Birmigham City and a club out of Belgium have made trial offers to Besler as well, but I have to think QPR is the attractive chance.
— Nate Bukaty (@nate_bukaty) December 3, 2012

One team in the EPL, one in the Championship, and a team in Belgium have apparently offered trials to the MLS Defender of the Year.  Queens Park Rangers while currently an EPL team are sitting at the foot of the table on 6 points, without a win and currently 7 points clear of safety.  They recently hired Harry Redknapp to replace Mark Hughes.  Birmingham City, the Championship level side is also struggling, but are better off than QPR.  Birmingham is 19th of 24 teams in the English second division, on 24 points, sitting 9 points clear of the relegation zone.  The Blues are also the home to US international Jonathan Spector.  Both English teams would be quite hard for Besler to get signed by.  The reason for that is the work permit process in England.  Since Besler has no caps for the US team and has only been in one camp, Besler doesn't qualify for a work permit immediately and would instead need to go through the appeals process, similar to what Geoff Cameron went through to earn his work permit to go to Stoke.  Going to Belgium would probably be easier to get into for Besler as getting a work permit there is not as hard as in England.

Of course the other option is that Besler re-signs with Sporting.  And that's the word tonight from Greg Seltzer on his No Short Corners blog.  Stating that despite interest in England and Belgium he's close to returning.  This was one thing that absolutely had to get done for KC this offseason and the sooner the better.  With Roger Espinoza already set to leave, the loss of Besler as well would have been a crippling blow for KC heading into the 2013 season.  Fans have already been a little restless today with the Michael Harrington trade and Korede Aiyegbusi being released meant 6 players had left KC already this season, all defensively, and that's not counting Espinoza.  But getting Besler re-signed would at least be a good positive step in the right direction for some of these fans (who I think are over reacting quite a bit) who are worried.

Harrington Trade Official, Aiyegbusi to Rentry Draft

It's been an extremely busy day in MLS circles today as the trade window opened up and teams started to prepare their teams for next year.  Sporting KC was active making a trade with the most active team of the day, Portland.  The rumored trade last night of Michael Harrington for allocation money came off, sending the 6 year veteran to the Pacific Northwest.  It'll be interesting to see what Kansas City does with the allocation money, but rumors are that KC could be busy the rest of this week with news as well. 

Harrington was the team's second most tenured player in KC behind Eric Kronberg, having been with the club since being drafted in 2007.  He scored the quickest goal in a debut, scoring just 3 minutes into his debut against DC United.  His record was topped by CJ Sapong last year.

Harrington finishes his career in KC with the 9th most minutes played in league play in KC history 11,633 in 149 appearances, tying him for 8th place with Mo Johnston.  He started 128 of those, tied with Josh Wolff for 9th.  In all competitions, Harrington played 13,276 good for 11th on that list, in 170 appearances, set for 9th place on that list.  Of those, 143 were starts, good enough for 12th on that list.  In his career, Harrington scored 5 goals for KC, but none since 2008.  In the past two seasons, Harrington has seen his minutes and appearances decrease due to the emergence of Seth Sinovic and Chance Myers.  Harrington started on 16 games last year, and appeared in 23 games.  This year it was even lower as Harrington only started 9 games and appeared in only 11, a career low for him.  With his $125,000 salary it's tough to justify that for a bench player.  And while it'd be nice to have an experienced veteran on the bench, Harrington has to be wanting to get himself more playing time as his career continues.  Good luck to him.

Also announced today was that the team will not be picking up the option on defender Korede Aiyegbusi.  The Englishman appeared in only 9 games, starting 2 over his 3 year career with KC, playing only 152 minutes.  This year it was only 1 appearance for a total of 19 minutes for Aiyegbusi.  He also made one US Open Cup and one USOC qualifier for KC in his career.  Aiyegbusi will go into the reentry draft, the first stage of which takes place on Friday.  Very few, if any of the players on this list will be taken in the first stage, the majority of the movement will take place next Friday in the second stage of the draft.

The departure of these two puts KC extremely low on the number of defenders on the roster.  KC still has their 4 starters, Myers, Sinovic, Matt Besler (who is currently out of contract), and Aurelien Collin, KC has only 3 other defenders on the roster.  Lawrence Olum, Kevin Ellis, and Kyle Miller.  All the appearances for KC between those 3 in competitive games belong to Olum, save 1, a substitution appearance for Kevin Ellis in the Open Cup last year.  There's no doubt though that there will be defensive depth brought in this offseason from one location or another.

Good luck to both Harrington and Aiyegbusi in their continued careers.