Luis Gil was only a KC player for a day or so before being traded to Real Salt Lake in exchange for an international roster spot, a 2011 second round draft pick (used on JT Murray) and 25% of any future sell on by the club. Since then, Gil has gotten plenty of time with Salt Lake over the years and before a leader on the US youth teams that he's represented. Now he's getting interest from teams abroad. Reports today that Mexican clubs are interested in Gil. whose contract apparently expires after this season. Should Gil leave for nothing, KC's part of the Gil trade becomes more lopsided against KC (although they really had little choice).
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in DC's 3-1 win over Chicago. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-1 loss to Toronto.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 64 minutes in New England's 2-0 loss to Portland.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 3-2 win over Chciago.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 0-0 draw with Colorado.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 0-0 draw with Salt Lake.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Portland's 2-0 win over New England.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in Columbus' 3-0 loss to Philadelphia. Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-1 loss to Montreal.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 2-1 win over DC.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in either of Montreal's games.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 53 minutes, scoring a goal in Philadelphia's 3-0 win over Columbus. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Philadelhia's 2-1 loss to NYCFC.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Did not dress in San Jose's 0-0 draw with Dallas.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 3-0 loss to Philadelphia. Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-1 loss to Montreal.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Out injured.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Suspended for Tampa's 2-1 win over Edmonton.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to Indy.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 1-0 loss to San Antonio.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 1-0 loss to San Antonio.
USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not play in OKC's 2-0 win over Portland. Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-0 win over Vancouver.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Austin's 1-0 win over Sacramento.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Did not play in Sacramento's 1-0 loss to Austin.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Did not play in either of OKC's games.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Did not play in Charlotte's 2-1 loss to Richmond.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Charlotte's 2-1 loss to Richmond.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - No game this week.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Austin's 1-0 win over Sacramento.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 32 minutes in OKC's 2-0 win over Portland. Did not play in OKC's 2-0 win over Vancouver.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-1 win over Charlotte.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Offseason
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 76 minutes in Quilmes' 2-0 win over Argentinos Juniors.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Offseason.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Offseason.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Offseason.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao's 5-1 loss to Guizhou Zhicheng.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Tied Lujan 1-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 6/20.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Lugo's 1-1 draw with Girona.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in ABC's 1-0 win over CRB.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Defeated Akzhayik 2-0.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Offsason.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Offseason.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 6/19.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 64 minutes in El Salvador's 1-0 loss to Chile.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Offseason.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Offseason.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Offseason.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Offseason.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Five KC Players on Gold Cup Preliminary Rosters
Today CONCACAF announced the preliminary squads for this summer's Gold Cup. The 35 man rosters for all 12 teams was announced today. The rosters will be knocked down to 23 for the actual tournament itself, although teams can make changes to their roster after the group stage.
For Sporting KC, they've had five players named to the provisional squads for four different countries in the Gold Cup. All of the five players were expected call ups, for the US national team, captain Matt Besler and Graham Zusi are on the list, neither was called into the national team for the games against the Netherlands and Germany. And while the US won both of the games, some of the defensive struggles could give a chance for Besler to win back the starting left center back post. As for Zusi, he probably has a much tougher task of winning back a spot on the team with the way the national team has played lately. And honestly up until the last couple games Zusi hasn't really looked like he should get a call up the way he's played since the World Cup last summer.
The other call ups involve Roger Espinoza being called back to the Honduran national team after having not been called in the last two times they've gotten together. Also there's Marcel de Jong who is on the Canadian roster after missing their most recent call ups for World Cup qualifiers as he returns from injury. The final call up is defensive midfielder Soni Mustivar for Haiti. Mustivar earns his first call up for Haiti as a member of KC.
If all players get called up to the final 23, four KC players will be playing at Sporting Park on July 13th with Honduras, Haiti, and the USA all in town.
The tournament kicks off on July 7th with the group stage and runs through July 26th. The US for example though has another friendly on July 3rd and would likely want players in camp a few days before that. What that means is that any Sporting KC players that make the final or third place game could miss as many as five games with Sporting. Should KC beat St. Louis in the US Open Cup, their fifth round match up would be on June 30th or July 1st followed by league games on July 12th at Vancouver, July 18th vs Montreal, and July 24th vs Real Salt Lake. The fifth game is dependent on US Open Cup advancement as the quarterfinals are July 21st or 22nd.
Certainly not a great situation, but they're not alone, two of their three opponents, Vancouver and Salt Lake have also had five players named to provisional rosters. The third opponent, Montreal only has one called up.
For Sporting KC, they've had five players named to the provisional squads for four different countries in the Gold Cup. All of the five players were expected call ups, for the US national team, captain Matt Besler and Graham Zusi are on the list, neither was called into the national team for the games against the Netherlands and Germany. And while the US won both of the games, some of the defensive struggles could give a chance for Besler to win back the starting left center back post. As for Zusi, he probably has a much tougher task of winning back a spot on the team with the way the national team has played lately. And honestly up until the last couple games Zusi hasn't really looked like he should get a call up the way he's played since the World Cup last summer.
The other call ups involve Roger Espinoza being called back to the Honduran national team after having not been called in the last two times they've gotten together. Also there's Marcel de Jong who is on the Canadian roster after missing their most recent call ups for World Cup qualifiers as he returns from injury. The final call up is defensive midfielder Soni Mustivar for Haiti. Mustivar earns his first call up for Haiti as a member of KC.
If all players get called up to the final 23, four KC players will be playing at Sporting Park on July 13th with Honduras, Haiti, and the USA all in town.
The tournament kicks off on July 7th with the group stage and runs through July 26th. The US for example though has another friendly on July 3rd and would likely want players in camp a few days before that. What that means is that any Sporting KC players that make the final or third place game could miss as many as five games with Sporting. Should KC beat St. Louis in the US Open Cup, their fifth round match up would be on June 30th or July 1st followed by league games on July 12th at Vancouver, July 18th vs Montreal, and July 24th vs Real Salt Lake. The fifth game is dependent on US Open Cup advancement as the quarterfinals are July 21st or 22nd.
Certainly not a great situation, but they're not alone, two of their three opponents, Vancouver and Salt Lake have also had five players named to provisional rosters. The third opponent, Montreal only has one called up.
OCSC Restate Interest in Acquiring Dwyer
What had started by looking like a quiet week for Sporting KC with a bye week from MLS play got a little interesting last night due to Orlando City's coach's show. The show, which features Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath discussing their past week's match up against the Chicago Fire and looking ahead towards their game against DC United and their Open Cup game against Charleston. Also included in the show is a question and answer portion where fans ask questions of the coach. One of the questions that Heath was asked was about a potential move for Dom Dwyer.
The question goes along with rumors that have been around since it was announced that Orlando City would be entering the league. Dwyer enjoyed a very successful loan to Orlando City during the 2013 season when he scored 19 goals and another four in the championship game after returning to Orlando City for that game. He had won over the Orlando fans that were desperate to get him back when they moved to MLS. Unfortunately for them, Dwyer replicated his USL success in MLS play in 2014, setting a team record for goals and really diminishing any hope of him going to Orlando.
Still, that didn't stop Orlando fans from continuing to hope that he'd return, last week there were unsubstantiated rumors that Orlando had offered "the most money ever for an MLS player." There was never anything further on that, no direction on whether that was the most money Orlando had offered, or for all of MLS. Assumption is that would have been within the league money, since the league transfer record is $10 million and I can't see Orlando paying that.
In response to the question that Heath was asked, his initial response confirmed Orlando's continued interest in Dwyer, saying "if we ring Kansas City one more time, we're going to get reported to the league."
Obviously he's making a joke about Orlando's pursuit and how active they have apparently been in trying to get Dwyer. Heath continues "There is no secret that Dom wants to be here. We have tried to bring him here; we have done everything we can. Unfortunately we can't do it yet."
Heath finishes his answer by stating how the club is going to keep trying to get Dwyer back and how Orlando is his "spiritual home" and how Dwyer "wants to come back."
"But we will keep trying. I think this is his spiritual home, he wants to come back; we would love to have him, but we will have to wait and see how long it takes before we can do it."
The conversation as a whole seemed odd, simply because you don't hear MLS coaches talk so forwardly about a player under contract with another MLS club, especially to the extent that Heath did. For many, it brings up questions of tampering on the part of Orlando's coach.
A little over two years ago, MLS made clarifications to their tampering rules after the situation that Robbie Rogers was involved in with Chicago, LA, and Seattle, which lead to the new rules below.
"Any member, officer, shareholder, director, partner, employee, agent, or representative thereof or any person holding an interest in a team cannot tamper, negotiate with, or make an offer, directly or indirectly, to a player or his representative.
"Same parties also may not tamper with: (i) a coach or other employee under contract with another member; or (ii) an employee at a director level or above of another member, in each case, unless written permission is first sought from the general manager or principal of such other member, which permission may not be denied with respect to upwardly mobile positions."
From reading the rules, it doesn't appear that there was any clear form of tampering on the part of Heath in this situation. Although you could ask how Heath knows that he wants to come back, and what conversations he's had that have included learning that information.
Overall, I'm not sure that there is much that Peter Vermes and KC can do with the league regarding this, unless there is other evidence in the background that KC can find. But what it probably means in the short term is that Vermes is probably going to be a little soured on doing business with Heath for a little while.
Sunday, June 07, 2015
Sunday After Stats
In the 22nd minute, Graham Zusi moved past Josh Wolff and into 13th place for minutes played in league play. In the 52nd minute, Zusi moved past Jimmy Nielsen and into 12th place on that list, he finished the game with 11,536 minutes played.
Zusi started his 125th league game for KC, tying him with Tony Meola for 14th place on that list.
In the 74th minute, Roger Espinoza moved past Sean Bowers and into 20th place for minutes played in league play for KC, he finished the game with 9,195 minutes played.
Espinoza made his 124th league appearance for KC, breaking his tie with Chance Myers and Chris Brown for 16th on that list.
Espinoza started his 104th league game for KC, tying him with Bowers for 20th place on that list.
Zusi started his 125th league game for KC, tying him with Tony Meola for 14th place on that list.
In the 74th minute, Roger Espinoza moved past Sean Bowers and into 20th place for minutes played in league play for KC, he finished the game with 9,195 minutes played.
Espinoza made his 124th league appearance for KC, breaking his tie with Chance Myers and Chris Brown for 16th on that list.
Espinoza started his 104th league game for KC, tying him with Bowers for 20th place on that list.
Sporting Finally Top Seattle
KC finally ended their jinx at home against the Seattle Sounders, picking up their first win in the club's history against the Sounders. And it wouldn't be a KC vs Seattle game without a late goal, only this time it was Sporting KC that picked up the late winner in a bit of controversial fashion from the penalty spot.
As expected, Dom Dwyer wasn't available for KC and the only true forward on the field at the start of the game for either side was Seattle's Lamar Neagle. While KC had he better of possession in the first half, they struggled to create chances, with a lot of their work coming down the wing and trying to cut inside since there was no bigger body to play the ball into. The chances that the did create came from further out from goal with the likes of Marcel de Jong, Benny Feilhaber, and Graham Zusi all having efforts from distance that they really couldn't keep on goal. Seattle meanwhile was creating fewer chances but they were putting their efforts on net. Neagle stung Tim Melia's hands from distance after being played in by Marco Pappa. Overall Seattle just looked the more dangerous, especially on set pieces, a pair of early corners looked likely to be the opener as Melia saved a header by Neagle and the rebound was cleared while a second corner went back post and was headed across the face of goal but no one got a touch as the ball went all the way through the six yard box. Outside of the dangerous set pieces though Seattle, like KC was limited to a lot of shots from outside the box. Melia did well to save and hold onto a shot by Pappa in the 19th after a poor give away by Amadou Dia. As the half went on KC was able to find some space on the wing and did get some good low crosses into the box, both for rookie Connor Hallisey, but on the first after a cross by de Jong, Hallisey put the effort over and on the second he just couldn't slide out and reach the cross from Dia. In the 36th minute Melia made probably his best save of the game as Neagle broke in on goal he fired a shot towards the corner that Melia got a hand on and knocked back up in the area. Melia immediately got his head up and located the ball, pushing it out for a corner before Neagle could pounce on the rebound. The biggest save that Seattle's Stefan Frei had to make came in the 41st after receiving a pass in the middle of the field Zusi popped the ball up and volleyed it on goal and Frei had to push the ball away for a corner.
The second half saw a lot of the same from both sides, Seattle creating few shots, but getting them on goal, while KC was limited to a lot of long range shots. Before the hour mark, Dom Dwyer made his return to the field for KC coming in for de Jong and pushing Zusi out to a wide position. KC looked a little more organized in attack with Dwyer on and Zusi able to play a more free role on the wing. Zusi almost set up Hallisey for an effort, but the rookie just couldn't catch up with the pass, instead losing the shooting chance and having to back heel it to Roger Espinoza who couldn't get his effort on goal. Seattle came the other way as Pappa danced around a few KC players and fired a shot on goal but Melia was up to the effort. In the 66th minute it looked like Seattle grabbed the lead as Pappa crossed a ball in to Neagle who put the ball into the net, but the offside flag was raised ruling the goal out. The assumption was that Neagle was who the flag was on, but replays seemed to show Neagle was onside and there was no replay to see if Pappa was actually the one off. In the 82nd minute, the big point of contention as Espinoza played a lifted ball into the box for Dwyer. Zach Scott tried to hold Dwyer off the ball as he tried to get to it while Frei came off his line. Frei went through Dwyer to get to the ball, knocking him over and referee Ismail Elfath pointed to the spot. Feilhaber stepped up and sent Frei the wrong way with a stutter step to put KC on top 1-0. KC held off the Seattle attack over the last few minutes and finally got their win over Seattle.
Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Finished the game with six saves and looked strong and confident in net for Sporting yet again.
Player Ratings - Melia 8, Anibaba 7, Ellis 7, Besler 7, Dia 5, Mustivar 7, Espinoza 6, Feilhaber 6, de Jong 5, Zusi 5, Hallisey 5. Subs Dwyer 5, Abdul-Salaam NR.
As expected, Dom Dwyer wasn't available for KC and the only true forward on the field at the start of the game for either side was Seattle's Lamar Neagle. While KC had he better of possession in the first half, they struggled to create chances, with a lot of their work coming down the wing and trying to cut inside since there was no bigger body to play the ball into. The chances that the did create came from further out from goal with the likes of Marcel de Jong, Benny Feilhaber, and Graham Zusi all having efforts from distance that they really couldn't keep on goal. Seattle meanwhile was creating fewer chances but they were putting their efforts on net. Neagle stung Tim Melia's hands from distance after being played in by Marco Pappa. Overall Seattle just looked the more dangerous, especially on set pieces, a pair of early corners looked likely to be the opener as Melia saved a header by Neagle and the rebound was cleared while a second corner went back post and was headed across the face of goal but no one got a touch as the ball went all the way through the six yard box. Outside of the dangerous set pieces though Seattle, like KC was limited to a lot of shots from outside the box. Melia did well to save and hold onto a shot by Pappa in the 19th after a poor give away by Amadou Dia. As the half went on KC was able to find some space on the wing and did get some good low crosses into the box, both for rookie Connor Hallisey, but on the first after a cross by de Jong, Hallisey put the effort over and on the second he just couldn't slide out and reach the cross from Dia. In the 36th minute Melia made probably his best save of the game as Neagle broke in on goal he fired a shot towards the corner that Melia got a hand on and knocked back up in the area. Melia immediately got his head up and located the ball, pushing it out for a corner before Neagle could pounce on the rebound. The biggest save that Seattle's Stefan Frei had to make came in the 41st after receiving a pass in the middle of the field Zusi popped the ball up and volleyed it on goal and Frei had to push the ball away for a corner.
The second half saw a lot of the same from both sides, Seattle creating few shots, but getting them on goal, while KC was limited to a lot of long range shots. Before the hour mark, Dom Dwyer made his return to the field for KC coming in for de Jong and pushing Zusi out to a wide position. KC looked a little more organized in attack with Dwyer on and Zusi able to play a more free role on the wing. Zusi almost set up Hallisey for an effort, but the rookie just couldn't catch up with the pass, instead losing the shooting chance and having to back heel it to Roger Espinoza who couldn't get his effort on goal. Seattle came the other way as Pappa danced around a few KC players and fired a shot on goal but Melia was up to the effort. In the 66th minute it looked like Seattle grabbed the lead as Pappa crossed a ball in to Neagle who put the ball into the net, but the offside flag was raised ruling the goal out. The assumption was that Neagle was who the flag was on, but replays seemed to show Neagle was onside and there was no replay to see if Pappa was actually the one off. In the 82nd minute, the big point of contention as Espinoza played a lifted ball into the box for Dwyer. Zach Scott tried to hold Dwyer off the ball as he tried to get to it while Frei came off his line. Frei went through Dwyer to get to the ball, knocking him over and referee Ismail Elfath pointed to the spot. Feilhaber stepped up and sent Frei the wrong way with a stutter step to put KC on top 1-0. KC held off the Seattle attack over the last few minutes and finally got their win over Seattle.
Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Finished the game with six saves and looked strong and confident in net for Sporting yet again.
Player Ratings - Melia 8, Anibaba 7, Ellis 7, Besler 7, Dia 5, Mustivar 7, Espinoza 6, Feilhaber 6, de Jong 5, Zusi 5, Hallisey 5. Subs Dwyer 5, Abdul-Salaam NR.
Friday, June 05, 2015
Match Day 14: Lacking Options Up Top
Tomorrow at Sporting Park, the two highest scoring teams in the league will face off. Unfortunately those high scoring offenses may not be seen as both teams are faced with injuries and national team call ups that will limit the rosters that both teams will have to choose from tomorrow, especially up top.
Seattle comes into the game second in the Supporters' Shield race, but with two games in hand on first place DC. But they may be playing without their top three forwards tomorrow. Obafemi Martins could miss the game after having surgery on his nose during the week and could miss the game tomorrow, Clint Demspey's wife is on the verge of giving birth to a child, and Chad Barrett apparently picked up an injury in training. Those absences, if they all miss the game, could leave Seattle quite thin up top. The Sounders will also be without two other important players on the team, as club captain Brad Evans is with the US national team, and Osvaldo Alonso is suspended by the MLS disciplinary committee for a challenge in their game on Sunday.
While the Sounders are short, KC isn't much better, especially up top. Krisztian Nemeth is with the Hungarian national team and isn't available tomorrow, while the team's other two forwards, Dom Dwyer and Jacob Peterson are both injured and could miss tomorrow's game as well. Like the Sounders that leaves KC lacking in the forward position for the game tomorrow. Thankfully everywhere else KC is healthy and getting healthier. But tomorrow with Nemeth out and Dwyer and Peterson still question marks, KC could very well run out their traditional 4-3-3, but have it look a lot more like a 4-6-0, with someone like Graham Zusi playing in the "false 9" role that Spain made famous. The problem with that is that it would require more of a change in KC's style of play. Currently KC likes to play a lot of balls into the feet of the striker for them to hold up, or cross from wide positions. Without the likes of Nemeth or Dwyer on the field, KC's opportunities for either of those decreases greatly. Talk from Robb Heineman recently though made it sound like Dwyer would be ready to go for the game tomorrow, which would certainly be welcome for KC, but I'm not sure he'll be set to start.
Number to Remember - 352 - That's the number of minutes that KC has gone scoreless against the Seattle Sounders in league play. KC's last goal against the Sounders came in the 8th minute of KC's 1-1 draw in Seattle back on June 20th of 2012. Since then, KC has lost twice and drew 0-0 two weeks ago in Seattle. In all competitions, that number is a little lower at 307, since Kei Kamara's penalty kick in the 2012 US Open Cup final.
Key Match Up - KC forwards vs Chad Marshall - This could be a very big mis-match depending on who actually plays for KC, and how Sporting chooses to play the game. If Dwyer can not go, KC really needs to focus more on balls on the ground and passing around the Seattle center back, which would suit their style if they can succeed with it. The more KC goes to the air, the more they are going to be playing right into Marshall's and Seattle's hands.
PREDICTION - Considering the potential offensive absences, this has gone from being a potential barn burner to a potential cagey defensive match up. Which means that this game will likely be another match up decided by one goal if there is any difference between the two teams at all. KC is riding their six game unbeaten run, and has yet to lose at home this year. Meanwhile the Sounders have never lost to KC in Kansas City since the Sounders came into MLS. Unfortunately I don't think any of that will change tomorrow. With all the potential absences, I think this game as a draw written all over it.
SKC - 1 (Feilhaber)
SEA - 1 (Pappa)
Seattle comes into the game second in the Supporters' Shield race, but with two games in hand on first place DC. But they may be playing without their top three forwards tomorrow. Obafemi Martins could miss the game after having surgery on his nose during the week and could miss the game tomorrow, Clint Demspey's wife is on the verge of giving birth to a child, and Chad Barrett apparently picked up an injury in training. Those absences, if they all miss the game, could leave Seattle quite thin up top. The Sounders will also be without two other important players on the team, as club captain Brad Evans is with the US national team, and Osvaldo Alonso is suspended by the MLS disciplinary committee for a challenge in their game on Sunday.
While the Sounders are short, KC isn't much better, especially up top. Krisztian Nemeth is with the Hungarian national team and isn't available tomorrow, while the team's other two forwards, Dom Dwyer and Jacob Peterson are both injured and could miss tomorrow's game as well. Like the Sounders that leaves KC lacking in the forward position for the game tomorrow. Thankfully everywhere else KC is healthy and getting healthier. But tomorrow with Nemeth out and Dwyer and Peterson still question marks, KC could very well run out their traditional 4-3-3, but have it look a lot more like a 4-6-0, with someone like Graham Zusi playing in the "false 9" role that Spain made famous. The problem with that is that it would require more of a change in KC's style of play. Currently KC likes to play a lot of balls into the feet of the striker for them to hold up, or cross from wide positions. Without the likes of Nemeth or Dwyer on the field, KC's opportunities for either of those decreases greatly. Talk from Robb Heineman recently though made it sound like Dwyer would be ready to go for the game tomorrow, which would certainly be welcome for KC, but I'm not sure he'll be set to start.
Melia
Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - Dia
Mustiar
Espinoza - Feilhaber
Medranda - Zusi - Hallisey
Number to Remember - 352 - That's the number of minutes that KC has gone scoreless against the Seattle Sounders in league play. KC's last goal against the Sounders came in the 8th minute of KC's 1-1 draw in Seattle back on June 20th of 2012. Since then, KC has lost twice and drew 0-0 two weeks ago in Seattle. In all competitions, that number is a little lower at 307, since Kei Kamara's penalty kick in the 2012 US Open Cup final.
Key Match Up - KC forwards vs Chad Marshall - This could be a very big mis-match depending on who actually plays for KC, and how Sporting chooses to play the game. If Dwyer can not go, KC really needs to focus more on balls on the ground and passing around the Seattle center back, which would suit their style if they can succeed with it. The more KC goes to the air, the more they are going to be playing right into Marshall's and Seattle's hands.
PREDICTION - Considering the potential offensive absences, this has gone from being a potential barn burner to a potential cagey defensive match up. Which means that this game will likely be another match up decided by one goal if there is any difference between the two teams at all. KC is riding their six game unbeaten run, and has yet to lose at home this year. Meanwhile the Sounders have never lost to KC in Kansas City since the Sounders came into MLS. Unfortunately I don't think any of that will change tomorrow. With all the potential absences, I think this game as a draw written all over it.
SKC - 1 (Feilhaber)
SEA - 1 (Pappa)
Thursday, June 04, 2015
#TBT KC's Lone Win Vs Seattle
Sporting KC on Saturday will play Seattle for the 11th time in regular season play and 13th time in all competitions. KC though has not won once in the last nine MLS games, and last 11 in all competitions against the Sounders (the US Open Cup in 2012 technically is a draw that was then won on penalty kicks). The only win that KC has all time against the Sounders was in the very first meeting on April 11th, 2009 at Century Link Field.
So this week for Throw Back Thursday, I'm looking back on KC's lone win over the Sounders. Unfortunately I've been searching all over the net the past few days trying to find the full highlights of the game, but have been unable to find full highlights of the game.
While KC had some good early play (according to my write up on the game at the time), they struggled to create opportunities, but the game changed in the 29th minute when Herculez Gomez was played in on goal against Kasey Keller. Keller came out to challenge Gomez and went to ground as Gomez tried to chip it over him. The chip struck Keller's arm as the Sounders' goalkeeper was outside the box. Keller was given his marching orders and KC was up a man for 60 minutes. KC though didn't test Keller's back up, Ben Dragavon in the remaining 15 minutes of the first half.
The second half saw the Sounders control the game for long stretches. KC much of the time looked like the team that was down a man during that time. The Sounders though couldn't break through KC's defense. Then in the 80th minute as KC got forward, the ball came to Davy Arnaud who was about 30 yards from goal, he took a touch and fired a long range shot that Dragavon seemed to get a late jump on as he only got a touch on it as it went into the side netting to give KC the 1-0 lead. KC's defense was able to hold up down the stretch and were the first team to take points off the Sounders in their expansion season.
The lineup for the game features two players that are in the KC team now, Matt Besler, and Roger Espinoza.
Kevin Hartman, Lance Watson, Aaron Hohlbein, Jimmy Conrad, Matt Besler, Herculez Gomez (Michael Harrington 77), Santiago Hirsig (Michael Kraus 64), Jack Jewsbury, Josh Wolff, Davy Arnaud, Claudio Lopez (Roger Espinoza 82).
So this week for Throw Back Thursday, I'm looking back on KC's lone win over the Sounders. Unfortunately I've been searching all over the net the past few days trying to find the full highlights of the game, but have been unable to find full highlights of the game.
While KC had some good early play (according to my write up on the game at the time), they struggled to create opportunities, but the game changed in the 29th minute when Herculez Gomez was played in on goal against Kasey Keller. Keller came out to challenge Gomez and went to ground as Gomez tried to chip it over him. The chip struck Keller's arm as the Sounders' goalkeeper was outside the box. Keller was given his marching orders and KC was up a man for 60 minutes. KC though didn't test Keller's back up, Ben Dragavon in the remaining 15 minutes of the first half.
The second half saw the Sounders control the game for long stretches. KC much of the time looked like the team that was down a man during that time. The Sounders though couldn't break through KC's defense. Then in the 80th minute as KC got forward, the ball came to Davy Arnaud who was about 30 yards from goal, he took a touch and fired a long range shot that Dragavon seemed to get a late jump on as he only got a touch on it as it went into the side netting to give KC the 1-0 lead. KC's defense was able to hold up down the stretch and were the first team to take points off the Sounders in their expansion season.
The lineup for the game features two players that are in the KC team now, Matt Besler, and Roger Espinoza.
Kevin Hartman, Lance Watson, Aaron Hohlbein, Jimmy Conrad, Matt Besler, Herculez Gomez (Michael Harrington 77), Santiago Hirsig (Michael Kraus 64), Jack Jewsbury, Josh Wolff, Davy Arnaud, Claudio Lopez (Roger Espinoza 82).
Wednesday, June 03, 2015
Marin Finds a New Club - Former SKC Wizards Update
Club Deportivo Palestino in Chile announced today that they had signed former Sporting KC goalkeeper, Luis Marin to a contract. Marin, who agreed to terminate his contract with KC just a week ago has already found himself a new club. While the official story on his departure was home sickness, his sitting on the bench while Tim Melia starter probably didn't sit well, and Marin seemed to never really adjust to life in KC. Good luck to him with his new club.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Did not dress in DC's 1-0 loss to Portland. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over Philadelphia.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in New England's 2-2 draw with LA.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Dressed but did not play in Orlando's 2-2 draw with Columbus.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 54 minutes in RSL's 1-0 loss to LA. Came off the bench and played 9 minutes in RSL's 2-1 loss to Vancouver.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 1-0 loss to Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 2-1 loss to Portland.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Came off the bench and played 6 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over DC. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Portland's 2-1 win over Colorado.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Orlando.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 3-1 win over San Jose.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-0 loss to Chicago.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Philadelphia's 2-1 loss to DC.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 3-1 loss to Toronto.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Orlando.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Out injured.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa's 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh. Started and played 89 minutes before being red carded in Tampa's 2-2 draw with Indy.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 3-2 loss to Charleston. Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-1 draw with San Antonio.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 120 minutes in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Chattanooga.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Came off the bench and played 50 minutes in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Chattanooga.
USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not play in either of OKC's games.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Came off the bench and played 11 minutes in Austin's 2-0 win over San Antonio.Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Austin's 1-0 loss to OKC.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 3 goals in Sacramento's 7-3 win over Chula Vista. Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Sacramento's 1-1 draw with Real Monarchs.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Tulsa. Came off the bench and played 3 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Austin.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Came off the bench and played 1 minutes in Arizona's 2-0 loss to Vancouver.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Did not play in Austin's 2-0 win over San Antonio. Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Austin's 1-0 loss to Austin.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Tulsa. Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Austin.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 3-0 win over Jacksonville. Started and played 90 minues in Richmond's 4-2 win over New York.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Offseason
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Quilmes' 2-1 loss to San Lorenzo.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Offseason.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Offseason.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Bengaluru's 1-1 draw with Mohun Bagan.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao's 3-1 loss to Hebei China Fortune.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Defeated Defensores Unidos 2-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 6/20.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 70 minutes in Lugo's 1-1 draw with Albacete.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in either of ABC's ames.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Defeated Vostok 2-1.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Just signed for the club.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 4-0 loss to Winterthur.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Did not dress in Spartak's 3-3 draw wtih Amkar Perm.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 6/19.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 45 minutes in Stjarnan's 3-0 loss to Breidablik.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 2-2 (3-1) Cup win over Sporting Braga.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game this week.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 90 minutes in Sarajevo's 3-1 win over Sloboda Tuzla.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Saarbrucken's 1-0 loss to Wurzburger Kickers. Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Saarbrucken's 1-0 win over Wurzburger Kickers, Saarbrucken lost the series 6-5 on PKs.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Did not dress in DC's 1-0 loss to Portland. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over Philadelphia.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in New England's 2-2 draw with LA.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Dressed but did not play in Orlando's 2-2 draw with Columbus.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 54 minutes in RSL's 1-0 loss to LA. Came off the bench and played 9 minutes in RSL's 2-1 loss to Vancouver.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 1-0 loss to Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 2-1 loss to Portland.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Came off the bench and played 6 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over DC. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Portland's 2-1 win over Colorado.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Orlando.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 3-1 win over San Jose.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-0 loss to Chicago.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Philadelphia's 2-1 loss to DC.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 3-1 loss to Toronto.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Orlando.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Out injured.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa's 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh. Started and played 89 minutes before being red carded in Tampa's 2-2 draw with Indy.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 3-2 loss to Charleston. Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-1 draw with San Antonio.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 120 minutes in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Chattanooga.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Came off the bench and played 50 minutes in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Chattanooga.
USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not play in either of OKC's games.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Came off the bench and played 11 minutes in Austin's 2-0 win over San Antonio.Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Austin's 1-0 loss to OKC.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 3 goals in Sacramento's 7-3 win over Chula Vista. Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Sacramento's 1-1 draw with Real Monarchs.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Tulsa. Came off the bench and played 3 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Austin.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Came off the bench and played 1 minutes in Arizona's 2-0 loss to Vancouver.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Did not play in Austin's 2-0 win over San Antonio. Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Austin's 1-0 loss to Austin.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Tulsa. Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Austin.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 3-0 win over Jacksonville. Started and played 90 minues in Richmond's 4-2 win over New York.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Offseason
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Quilmes' 2-1 loss to San Lorenzo.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Offseason.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Offseason.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Bengaluru's 1-1 draw with Mohun Bagan.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao's 3-1 loss to Hebei China Fortune.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Defeated Defensores Unidos 2-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 6/20.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 70 minutes in Lugo's 1-1 draw with Albacete.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in either of ABC's ames.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Defeated Vostok 2-1.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Just signed for the club.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 4-0 loss to Winterthur.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Did not dress in Spartak's 3-3 draw wtih Amkar Perm.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 6/19.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 45 minutes in Stjarnan's 3-0 loss to Breidablik.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 2-2 (3-1) Cup win over Sporting Braga.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game this week.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 90 minutes in Sarajevo's 3-1 win over Sloboda Tuzla.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Saarbrucken's 1-0 loss to Wurzburger Kickers. Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Saarbrucken's 1-0 win over Wurzburger Kickers, Saarbrucken lost the series 6-5 on PKs.
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
Seattle's Alonso Suspended for Game vs Sporting
The Seattle Sounders will be a little shorthanded for their game this weekend in KC against Sporting. Already without Brad Evans due to his call up to the US national team and Clint Dempsey's wife close to giving birth to their fourth child, they found out today that midfield designated player, Osvaldo Alonso will be suspended for Saturday's game for kicking out at Felipe Martins late in Seattle's 2-1 win over the Red Bulls. The kick, which came after Martins had already knocked the ball away, was awarded as a foul during the game, but no card was given. After review, the Disciplinary Committee deemed that the kick was violent conduct and endangered the safety of his opponent, giving him the one game suspension.
Alonso's loss may be the biggest loss of the three ahead of Saturday's game. Alonso is the Sounders midfield general, and a hard-nosed defensive midfielder. With him out that could allow more space for Benny Feilhaber to operate in the midfield on Saturday. KC will need a lot from Feilhaber on Saturday with call ups and injuries taking their toll on KC's forwards, KC may have to run the old 4-6-0 formation.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
No US Call Ups for KC
The US men's national team call ups for the upcoming internationals in Europe against the Netherlands and Germany were announced today during half time of the New York Red Bulls vs Seattle Sounders game. Not included in the team list were any Sporting KC players. National team regulars over the last couple years, Matt Besler and Graham Zsui were not included in the list. Neither absence from the team is overly surprising. Zusi is just coming back from his concussion and hasn't been in the greatest form so far this season, although a one goal, two assist performance from him against Dallas could certainly be a turn in the right direction. As for Besler, while the KC defense has improved since Tim Melia stepped into goal (.6 goals against average in the five games since he took over in goal), Besler hasn't hit the form that got him call ups last year. And with a busy summer schedule for the US that includes the Gold Cup, Jurgen Klinsmann could have decided to let Besler (and Omar Gonzalez) stay with their clubs now, ahead of that tournament this summer.
The surprise that wasn't really a surprise, is the fact that Benny Feilhaber continues to have a brick wall seemingly keeping him from getting back into the US national team picture. Feilhaber has arguably been the best American player in the world over the last year plus, he's completely bought into Peter Vermes' system and has shown he's more than just a playmaker, filling roles all over the field, he's even played some center back over the last season plus for KC. Yet he still can get no call up to Klinsmann's camps. He's proven to be a midfielder that can play both ways, and provide that bit of creativity that at times has really lacked for the US team.
At the very least you can compare him to a similar midfielder that was called into this camp, Mix Diskerud of New York City FC. Just looking at statistics, Feilhaber is miles ahead of his counterpart this year with four goals and seven assists compared to Diskerud's single goal and zero assists. But even in the intangibles, Feilhaber has shown an ability to really take a game over for KC when they've needed it this year, and while I haven't seen every minute of NYCFC's games this year, of the games I have seen, Diskerud has really yet to impose himself on the game.
Even with Feilhaber's age it's foolish to think that Feilhaber can't help the US team in the Gold Cup or qualifying ahead of the 2018 World Cup. It really just seems to be an issue of Klinsmann just personally not rating the Sporting KC player. But as long as he continues not to, each time the US midfield struggles and Feilhaber continues to play well for KC, questions will be asked.
All that said, I'm thrilled that none of the three will be missing KC's game this weekend against the Seattle Sounders at Sporting Park, it means KC's only call up is Hungarian, Krisztian Nemeth. The Sounders only had one player called up, Brad Evans, as Clint Dempsey is awaiting the birth of a child with his wife.
The surprise that wasn't really a surprise, is the fact that Benny Feilhaber continues to have a brick wall seemingly keeping him from getting back into the US national team picture. Feilhaber has arguably been the best American player in the world over the last year plus, he's completely bought into Peter Vermes' system and has shown he's more than just a playmaker, filling roles all over the field, he's even played some center back over the last season plus for KC. Yet he still can get no call up to Klinsmann's camps. He's proven to be a midfielder that can play both ways, and provide that bit of creativity that at times has really lacked for the US team.
At the very least you can compare him to a similar midfielder that was called into this camp, Mix Diskerud of New York City FC. Just looking at statistics, Feilhaber is miles ahead of his counterpart this year with four goals and seven assists compared to Diskerud's single goal and zero assists. But even in the intangibles, Feilhaber has shown an ability to really take a game over for KC when they've needed it this year, and while I haven't seen every minute of NYCFC's games this year, of the games I have seen, Diskerud has really yet to impose himself on the game.
Even with Feilhaber's age it's foolish to think that Feilhaber can't help the US team in the Gold Cup or qualifying ahead of the 2018 World Cup. It really just seems to be an issue of Klinsmann just personally not rating the Sporting KC player. But as long as he continues not to, each time the US midfield struggles and Feilhaber continues to play well for KC, questions will be asked.
All that said, I'm thrilled that none of the three will be missing KC's game this weekend against the Seattle Sounders at Sporting Park, it means KC's only call up is Hungarian, Krisztian Nemeth. The Sounders only had one player called up, Brad Evans, as Clint Dempsey is awaiting the birth of a child with his wife.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
S.A.S. Saturday After Stats
The win was Peter Vermes' 100th win in all competitions for KC.
Krisztian Nemeth scored the 600th home goal in all competitions for KC.
Graham Zusi's two assists gave him 53 for his career in all competitions, moving him ahead of Chris Klein and into second place all time on that list.
Zusi made his 150th start in all competitions for KC, he's the 12th player to hit that mark.
Zusi's goal was his 25th in all competitions for KC, he broke his tie with Teal Bunbury for 11th on that list.
Zusi's goal was his 14th league goal at home, tying him with Jimmy Conrad for for 10th on that list.
It was his 15th goal in all competitions at home, tying him with Igor Simutenkov for 11th on that list.
Benny Feilhaber's goal was the 150th by KC at Sporting Park in all competitions.
Roger Espinoza made his 123rd league appearance for KC, tying him with Chris Brown and Chance Myers for 16th on that list.
Krisztian Nemeth scored the 600th home goal in all competitions for KC.
Graham Zusi's two assists gave him 53 for his career in all competitions, moving him ahead of Chris Klein and into second place all time on that list.
Zusi made his 150th start in all competitions for KC, he's the 12th player to hit that mark.
Zusi's goal was his 25th in all competitions for KC, he broke his tie with Teal Bunbury for 11th on that list.
Zusi's goal was his 14th league goal at home, tying him with Jimmy Conrad for for 10th on that list.
It was his 15th goal in all competitions at home, tying him with Igor Simutenkov for 11th on that list.
Benny Feilhaber's goal was the 150th by KC at Sporting Park in all competitions.
Roger Espinoza made his 123rd league appearance for KC, tying him with Chris Brown and Chance Myers for 16th on that list.
Sporting Roll Past Dallas
Sporting KC may have learned a thing or two about playing short handed after all the issues last season and over the past few weeks, because they were firing on all cylinders last night against FC Dallas. They were helped by a first half red card to Dallas' Zach Loyd, but KC completely controlled their Western Conference rival and moved into a tie for second place.
Even before they went up a man though KC was controlling the game, in the 4th minute they should have grabbed the lead when a Graham Zusi corner was headed back into the middle by Jalil Anibaba. The cushioned header was met by Benny Feilhaber, but he couldn't keep his volley down as it skied over the bar. All the early pressure from KC paid off in the 19th minute. From a free kick outside the box, Zusi played a nice ball to the back post where Kevin Ellis beat Ryan Hollingshead to the ball, heading the ball back across goal where Krisztian Nemeth met it heading the ball in from a yard out to make it 1-0 KC. Like one of Dallas' goals in the first meeting it appeared that Nemeth was offside when Ellis headed the ball back across goal, but like the Dallas game, no call was made. KC should have doubled the lead in the 24th minute, as Feilhaber made a great move to get around his defender and 1v1 with Dan Kennedy in goal Feilhaber pushed his effort just wide. Nemeth was causing all sorts of problems for Dallas' back line, posting up and turning when he received the ball. In the 32nd he earned KC a dangerous free kick just outside the box and the first yellow card for Loyd. Unfortunately Feilhaber couldn't capitalize on the free kick as he tried to go under the wall, but it didn't jump. Another turn by Nemeth in the 39th, this time on Matt Hedges created another scoring chance, but Nemeth pulled just shot just wide of the post. In the 43rd minute, Loyd got him marching orders after bringing down Nemeth after he had poked the ball away from him near the side line and was starting to race past him. Loyd tackled Nemeth, bringing him down and David Gantar immediately pulled out the second yellow.
KC couldn't take advantage of the man advantage in the final minutes of the first half, and early in the second almost gave Dallas a way back into the game. Hollingshead played a nice ball into the box for Tesho Akindele, but Tim Melia was quickly off his line and blocked the shot out for a corner. KC though quickly re-established possession and in the 51st doubled their lead. After receiving the ball in the corner, Jalil Anibaba played a ball on the ground into Nemeth in the box. As he'd been doing all game, Nemeth turned on Hedges to face goal and proceeded to lay a ball off to Feilhaber who was running into the box. Feilhaber made no mistake slotting the ball into the far corner to make it 2-0. Six minutes later, KC made it 3-0. Off a Zusi corner, Ellis got open and ran free into the box heading it into the corner to make it three for Kansas City. Dallas tried to respond immediately off a free kick. Melia came and punched the free kick out of the box, but the cross was recollected and played wide for Kyle Bekker who played a nice cross into the box for Hollingshead, but he couldn't get his header on goal. Eventually it was cleared out for a corner. On the ensuing corner Dallas had another chance, but again couldn't get a shot on goal in the sequence. KC finished off the scoring in the 64th minute after a long ball down field was collected b Connor Hallisey, he cut inside and started dribbling across the face of goal. Zusi made a run the opposite direction and as Zusi passed him, Hallisey backheeled the ball to him. Zusi took a touch and finished past Kennedy to make it 4-0. Shortly after that the air really started to go out of the game as the likes of Mauro Diaz, Akindele, Hallisey, and Roger Espinoza were all subbed out of the game as both teams seemed content with the result the way it was. There were some half chances late on by David Texeira and Saad Abdul-Salaam but the game ended at 4-0 with KC having a dominate performance.
Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Ellis - Really there's a number of people this could go to for last night's game, from Ellis, to Nemeth, to Zusi, to Feilhaber, to one name I hadn't mentioned yet, Soni Mustivar who did a great job of shutting down Dallas' Diaz. But I'm going with Ellis who was all over the place last night, did a great job of shutting down Dallas' attack along with getting his first MLS goal and an assist.
Honorable Mention - Krisztian Nemeth, Benny Feilhaber
Player Ratings - Melia 6, Anibaba 6, Ellis 8, Besler 7, Dia 5, Mustivar 7, Espinoza 6, Feilhaber 7, Zusi 7, Nemeth 8, Hallisey 6. Subs de Jong 6, Carrasco 5, Abdul-Salaam NR.
Even before they went up a man though KC was controlling the game, in the 4th minute they should have grabbed the lead when a Graham Zusi corner was headed back into the middle by Jalil Anibaba. The cushioned header was met by Benny Feilhaber, but he couldn't keep his volley down as it skied over the bar. All the early pressure from KC paid off in the 19th minute. From a free kick outside the box, Zusi played a nice ball to the back post where Kevin Ellis beat Ryan Hollingshead to the ball, heading the ball back across goal where Krisztian Nemeth met it heading the ball in from a yard out to make it 1-0 KC. Like one of Dallas' goals in the first meeting it appeared that Nemeth was offside when Ellis headed the ball back across goal, but like the Dallas game, no call was made. KC should have doubled the lead in the 24th minute, as Feilhaber made a great move to get around his defender and 1v1 with Dan Kennedy in goal Feilhaber pushed his effort just wide. Nemeth was causing all sorts of problems for Dallas' back line, posting up and turning when he received the ball. In the 32nd he earned KC a dangerous free kick just outside the box and the first yellow card for Loyd. Unfortunately Feilhaber couldn't capitalize on the free kick as he tried to go under the wall, but it didn't jump. Another turn by Nemeth in the 39th, this time on Matt Hedges created another scoring chance, but Nemeth pulled just shot just wide of the post. In the 43rd minute, Loyd got him marching orders after bringing down Nemeth after he had poked the ball away from him near the side line and was starting to race past him. Loyd tackled Nemeth, bringing him down and David Gantar immediately pulled out the second yellow.
KC couldn't take advantage of the man advantage in the final minutes of the first half, and early in the second almost gave Dallas a way back into the game. Hollingshead played a nice ball into the box for Tesho Akindele, but Tim Melia was quickly off his line and blocked the shot out for a corner. KC though quickly re-established possession and in the 51st doubled their lead. After receiving the ball in the corner, Jalil Anibaba played a ball on the ground into Nemeth in the box. As he'd been doing all game, Nemeth turned on Hedges to face goal and proceeded to lay a ball off to Feilhaber who was running into the box. Feilhaber made no mistake slotting the ball into the far corner to make it 2-0. Six minutes later, KC made it 3-0. Off a Zusi corner, Ellis got open and ran free into the box heading it into the corner to make it three for Kansas City. Dallas tried to respond immediately off a free kick. Melia came and punched the free kick out of the box, but the cross was recollected and played wide for Kyle Bekker who played a nice cross into the box for Hollingshead, but he couldn't get his header on goal. Eventually it was cleared out for a corner. On the ensuing corner Dallas had another chance, but again couldn't get a shot on goal in the sequence. KC finished off the scoring in the 64th minute after a long ball down field was collected b Connor Hallisey, he cut inside and started dribbling across the face of goal. Zusi made a run the opposite direction and as Zusi passed him, Hallisey backheeled the ball to him. Zusi took a touch and finished past Kennedy to make it 4-0. Shortly after that the air really started to go out of the game as the likes of Mauro Diaz, Akindele, Hallisey, and Roger Espinoza were all subbed out of the game as both teams seemed content with the result the way it was. There were some half chances late on by David Texeira and Saad Abdul-Salaam but the game ended at 4-0 with KC having a dominate performance.
Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Ellis - Really there's a number of people this could go to for last night's game, from Ellis, to Nemeth, to Zusi, to Feilhaber, to one name I hadn't mentioned yet, Soni Mustivar who did a great job of shutting down Dallas' Diaz. But I'm going with Ellis who was all over the place last night, did a great job of shutting down Dallas' attack along with getting his first MLS goal and an assist.
Honorable Mention - Krisztian Nemeth, Benny Feilhaber
Player Ratings - Melia 6, Anibaba 6, Ellis 8, Besler 7, Dia 5, Mustivar 7, Espinoza 6, Feilhaber 7, Zusi 7, Nemeth 8, Hallisey 6. Subs de Jong 6, Carrasco 5, Abdul-Salaam NR.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Match Day 13: Friday Night Lights
Sporting KC welcome FC Dallas to Sporting Park for a Friday night match up, the second meeting of the two this season. This will be the first match up for KC this year against an opponent that they have already faced. KC lost the first match up between the two teams 3-1 at Toyota Park back in March.
Dallas sits just three points clear of KC in second place in the tightly packed Western Conference. FC Dallas welcomed a new player this week, Panamanian Rolando Escobar who was out of contract after playing in Venezuela. He's available for selection tomorrow night and could make his debut. One player that looks like they might not be playing is Fabian Castillo who hasn't been training with the team the last couple days. That'd be a big loss for Dallas as Castillo caused KC a number of headaches in the first match up earlier this year. They will still have Mauro Diaz and Blas Perez available for the game and that's plenty enough to cause KC's defense a number of headaches.
For Kansas City it seems like while they're welcoming some players back from injury are losing others. It sounds like Graham Zusi will play a bigger role than he did against Seattle last weekend, and Roger Espinoza is probable. Meanwhile the team has lost Jacob Peterson who left the Seattle game last week with an injury while Dom Dwyer is set to miss his second game in a row due to a neck injury. So KC's injury issues continue with them just rotating through the team. The big question for the lineup may be who starts on the wing opposite Zusi with Peterson out and Krisztian Nemeth in the center forward position. Last week it was Jimmy Medranda in that position, but the other option that Peter Vermes could opt for is giving rookie Connor Hallisey is first professional start.
Number to Remember - 1 - That's the number of wins Peter Vermes is away from his 100th in all competitions for KC. It's also the number of wins that KC has at Sporting Park against FC Dallas, KC is 1-1-1 at home against Dallas since Sporting Park opened. One is also the number of wins they have in their last five games against Dallas, dating back to Dallas' 2011 trip to KC.
Key Match Up - Soni Mustivar vs Mauro Diaz - Diaz is the cog for Dallas' offense, especially with Castillo seemingly not playing tomorrow. Keeping him contained and not giving away cheap free kicks for him to play into the box is key. It's going to be a tough task for Mustivar to handle.
PREDICTION - Even without Castillo, Dallas still has a number of attacking options that will cause problems for KC's back line. The defense showed a lot better against Seattle last week, but at home one would hope that KC will provide a bit more going forward and in possession than they did in Seattle. Dallas does allow goals, they have just one shutout in their last eight games, so there should be some chances for Kansas City. This looks like it could be a case of which team scores last. I'm not sure either team walks out with a win tomorrow though.
SKC - 2 (Nemeth, Feilhaber)
FCD - 2 (Diaz, Perez)
Dallas sits just three points clear of KC in second place in the tightly packed Western Conference. FC Dallas welcomed a new player this week, Panamanian Rolando Escobar who was out of contract after playing in Venezuela. He's available for selection tomorrow night and could make his debut. One player that looks like they might not be playing is Fabian Castillo who hasn't been training with the team the last couple days. That'd be a big loss for Dallas as Castillo caused KC a number of headaches in the first match up earlier this year. They will still have Mauro Diaz and Blas Perez available for the game and that's plenty enough to cause KC's defense a number of headaches.
For Kansas City it seems like while they're welcoming some players back from injury are losing others. It sounds like Graham Zusi will play a bigger role than he did against Seattle last weekend, and Roger Espinoza is probable. Meanwhile the team has lost Jacob Peterson who left the Seattle game last week with an injury while Dom Dwyer is set to miss his second game in a row due to a neck injury. So KC's injury issues continue with them just rotating through the team. The big question for the lineup may be who starts on the wing opposite Zusi with Peterson out and Krisztian Nemeth in the center forward position. Last week it was Jimmy Medranda in that position, but the other option that Peter Vermes could opt for is giving rookie Connor Hallisey is first professional start.
Melia
Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - Dia
Mustivar
Espinoza - Feilhaber
Zusi - Nemeth - Medranda
Number to Remember - 1 - That's the number of wins Peter Vermes is away from his 100th in all competitions for KC. It's also the number of wins that KC has at Sporting Park against FC Dallas, KC is 1-1-1 at home against Dallas since Sporting Park opened. One is also the number of wins they have in their last five games against Dallas, dating back to Dallas' 2011 trip to KC.
Key Match Up - Soni Mustivar vs Mauro Diaz - Diaz is the cog for Dallas' offense, especially with Castillo seemingly not playing tomorrow. Keeping him contained and not giving away cheap free kicks for him to play into the box is key. It's going to be a tough task for Mustivar to handle.
PREDICTION - Even without Castillo, Dallas still has a number of attacking options that will cause problems for KC's back line. The defense showed a lot better against Seattle last week, but at home one would hope that KC will provide a bit more going forward and in possession than they did in Seattle. Dallas does allow goals, they have just one shutout in their last eight games, so there should be some chances for Kansas City. This looks like it could be a case of which team scores last. I'm not sure either team walks out with a win tomorrow though.
SKC - 2 (Nemeth, Feilhaber)
FCD - 2 (Diaz, Perez)
#TBT KC Goes to the Movies (Commercials)
This week's throw back Thursday, I'm going back to 2008, the KC Wizards first season at Community America Ballpark. And just for fun, the club's commercials that they made involving three members of the then Starting Eleven Girls talking about dreams that they had about movies from the 80's that involved KC Wizards players, from Kevin Hartman in 16 Candles to Kerry Zavagnin in Say Anything, to Jimmy Conrad and Sasha Victorine as Maverick and Goose singing "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" from Top Gun.
There's certainly a corniness and cringe factor involving these videos.
Kansas City Wizards: Top Gun from The Offside Rules on Vimeo.
There's certainly a corniness and cringe factor involving these videos.
Kansas City Wizards: Top Gun from The Offside Rules on Vimeo.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Sapong Scores in Return - Former SKC Wizards Update
CJ Sapong was cleared to return to the Philadelphia Union this week after being suspended for his DUI arrest earlier this season. And he made the most of his return. Coming on in the second half, Sapong finished off the game with a goal in the 62nd minute to help Philadelphia to a 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 1-1 draw with New England.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Came off the bench and played 36 minutes in New England's 4-2 loss to KC. Started and played 89 minutes in New England's 1-1 draw with DC.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Did not dress in Orlando's 1-1 draw with San Jose.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Stared and played 90 minutes in RSL's 2-0 win over NYC.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Dressed but did not play in Colorado's 1-0 win over Vancouver.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Toronto.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 89 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Chicago.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 1-0 win over Portland.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 2-1 win over Dallas.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 36 minutes, scoring a goal in Philadelphia's 2-0 win over New York.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in San Jose's 1-1 draw with Orlando.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Chicago.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Out injured.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - No game this week.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 loss to Carolina.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 4-2 loss to Edmonton.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Started and played 84 minutes in Atlanta's 4-2 loss to Edmonton.
USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not play in either of OKC's games.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes, getting a goal and an assist in Austin's 2-0 win over Laredo. Came off the bench and played 21 mintues in Austin's 1-0 loss to Tulsa.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Started and played 90 minutes in Sacramento's 4-2 win over Sonoma County. Came off the bench and played 36 minutes, scoring a goal in Sacramento's 2-1 loss to OKC.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 3-1 win over Midland. Came off the bench and played 1 minutes in OKC's 2-1 win over Sacramento.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 4-1 win over Upward Stars. Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-1 draw with Chaleston.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Did not play in Charlotte's 4-1 win over Upward Stars. Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-1 draw with Charleston.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Did play in either of Arizona's games.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Did not play in either of Austin's games.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Did not play in OKC's 3-1 win over Midland. Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-1 win over Sacramento.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 win over Virginia Beach. Did not dress in Richmond's 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 4-1 loss to Carl Zeiss Jena.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring two goals in Quilmes' 3-2 loss to Gimnasia La Plata.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 68 minutes in Chivas' 0-0 draw with Santos. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 3-0 loss to Santos.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - No game this week.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 45 minutes in Bengaluru's 1-1 draw with Dempo. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 loss to South China.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao's 2-1 win over Jiangxi Liansheng.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Defeated Argentino Merlo 1-0.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 6/20.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 83 minutes in Lugo's 1-1 draw with Numancia. Started and played 90 minutes in Lugo's 1-0 loss to Ponferradina.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Did not dress in ABC's 1-1 draw with Luverdense.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Defeated Lashyn 3-0.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 2-1 loss to FC Schaffhausen. Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 2-1 loss to Le Mont.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Did not dress in Spartak's 2-1 loss to UFA.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 6/19.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 60 minutes in Stjarnan's 2-2 draw with Vikingur Reykjavik. Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Stjarnan's 1-1 draw with FH.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Sporting's 1-0 win over Rio Ave.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Defeated North Bangkok College 1-0.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Defeated FC Bocholt 2-0. Tied Hilden 1-1.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Defeatd Green Archers 4-1.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 90 minutes in Sarajevo's 3-0 win over Vitez.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Dressed but did not play in Saarbrucken's 3-0 loss to Wormatia Worms.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha
MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 1-1 draw with New England.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Came off the bench and played 36 minutes in New England's 4-2 loss to KC. Started and played 89 minutes in New England's 1-1 draw with DC.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Did not dress in Orlando's 1-1 draw with San Jose.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Stared and played 90 minutes in RSL's 2-0 win over NYC.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Dressed but did not play in Colorado's 1-0 win over Vancouver.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Toronto.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 89 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Chicago.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 1-0 win over Portland.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 2-1 win over Dallas.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 36 minutes, scoring a goal in Philadelphia's 2-0 win over New York.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in San Jose's 1-1 draw with Orlando.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Chicago.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Out injured.
NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - No game this week.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 loss to Carolina.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 4-2 loss to Edmonton.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Started and played 84 minutes in Atlanta's 4-2 loss to Edmonton.
USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not play in either of OKC's games.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes, getting a goal and an assist in Austin's 2-0 win over Laredo. Came off the bench and played 21 mintues in Austin's 1-0 loss to Tulsa.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Started and played 90 minutes in Sacramento's 4-2 win over Sonoma County. Came off the bench and played 36 minutes, scoring a goal in Sacramento's 2-1 loss to OKC.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 3-1 win over Midland. Came off the bench and played 1 minutes in OKC's 2-1 win over Sacramento.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 4-1 win over Upward Stars. Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-1 draw with Chaleston.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Did not play in Charlotte's 4-1 win over Upward Stars. Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-1 draw with Charleston.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Did play in either of Arizona's games.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Did not play in either of Austin's games.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Did not play in OKC's 3-1 win over Midland. Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-1 win over Sacramento.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 win over Virginia Beach. Did not dress in Richmond's 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 4-1 loss to Carl Zeiss Jena.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring two goals in Quilmes' 3-2 loss to Gimnasia La Plata.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 68 minutes in Chivas' 0-0 draw with Santos. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 3-0 loss to Santos.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - No game this week.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 45 minutes in Bengaluru's 1-1 draw with Dempo. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 loss to South China.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao's 2-1 win over Jiangxi Liansheng.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Defeated Argentino Merlo 1-0.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 6/20.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 83 minutes in Lugo's 1-1 draw with Numancia. Started and played 90 minutes in Lugo's 1-0 loss to Ponferradina.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Did not dress in ABC's 1-1 draw with Luverdense.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Defeated Lashyn 3-0.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 2-1 loss to FC Schaffhausen. Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 2-1 loss to Le Mont.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Did not dress in Spartak's 2-1 loss to UFA.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 6/19.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 60 minutes in Stjarnan's 2-2 draw with Vikingur Reykjavik. Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Stjarnan's 1-1 draw with FH.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Sporting's 1-0 win over Rio Ave.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Defeated North Bangkok College 1-0.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Defeated FC Bocholt 2-0. Tied Hilden 1-1.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Defeatd Green Archers 4-1.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 90 minutes in Sarajevo's 3-0 win over Vitez.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Dressed but did not play in Saarbrucken's 3-0 loss to Wormatia Worms.
Sporting KC to Face St. Louis FC in the US Open Cup
Sporting Kansas City will have an I-70 Derby for the fourth round of the US Open Cup at Sporting Park. St. Louis FC topped Minnesota United 1-1 (3-1) on penalty kicks to advance to take on KC.
Minnesota started the game on the front foot, pinning St. Louis back in their own end but were unable to take advantage of the early possession. From there though St. Louis controlled things, occasionally testing Mitch Hildebrandt. They also scored in the first half, but the goal was called back for some sort of foul inside the box. The teams went into the half time break level at 0-0.
The second half saw St. Louis continue to dominate play forcing Hildebrandt to make some good saves to keep the score 0-0. St. Louis had some good opportunities, including a cross that was missed at the near post, not collected by Hildebrandt and pinballed in the box before finally being cleared away. Then in the 53rd against the run of play United countered the other way and Geison Moura fired a shot off the post, the rebound fell to JC Banks to knocked the ball into the open net to put Minnesota on top 1-0.
After the goal St. Louis picked up the pressure and for much of the next 20 minutes kept Minnesota pinned back in their own end. Still St. Louis struggled with their shooting and couldn't find the net. Then in the 71st minute, Charles Renken cut around Minnesota's Tyler Polak and into the box, Polak made a lunging tackle, but got Renken bringing him down leading to a penalty kick for St. Louis. Bryan Gaul stepped up for St. Louis and slotted the ball into the corner to make it 1-1. St. Louis controlled the rest of regulation, but were unable to find a winner.
In extra time Minnesota was able to get the ball forward more than they had in second half, but Mark Pais was rarely tested in terms of shots, but did well collecting crosses into the box. In the second period of extra time, both teams played tight with neither side creating much in the way of chances. Things looked to take a big turn in the 114th minute when Gaul was fouled by Ibson near midfield. As Gaul came down after the tackle, Ibson caught his legs in a scissor and didn't let go as Gaul tried to get up to chase the ball. Gaul kicked out out Ibson and was promptly sent off by the referee for the kick, while Ibson got away with a yellow. Even down a man St. Louis pushed for a winner but the two teams went to penalty kicks.
Minnesota shot first, but Daniel Mendes had his shot saved by Pais. Brandon Barklage slotted his shot into the corner to put St. Louis on top. In the second round, Minnesota's Ibson skied his shot over the bar while Patrick Doody slotted his shot into the same corner as Barklage. Up third for Minnesota was US national teamer, Miguel Ibarra, who blasted his shot into the net to get Minnesota on the board at 2-1. Oskar Gasecki equaled Ibarra's effort with a third shot to the same corner to make it 3-1. Needing a goal to extend the shootout though Christian Ramirez fired his shot into the bar and the celebrations were on in St. Louis.
It should make for a fun game on June 16th at Sporting Park, St. Louis fans should travel fairly well and make for a good game.
Minnesota started the game on the front foot, pinning St. Louis back in their own end but were unable to take advantage of the early possession. From there though St. Louis controlled things, occasionally testing Mitch Hildebrandt. They also scored in the first half, but the goal was called back for some sort of foul inside the box. The teams went into the half time break level at 0-0.
The second half saw St. Louis continue to dominate play forcing Hildebrandt to make some good saves to keep the score 0-0. St. Louis had some good opportunities, including a cross that was missed at the near post, not collected by Hildebrandt and pinballed in the box before finally being cleared away. Then in the 53rd against the run of play United countered the other way and Geison Moura fired a shot off the post, the rebound fell to JC Banks to knocked the ball into the open net to put Minnesota on top 1-0.
After the goal St. Louis picked up the pressure and for much of the next 20 minutes kept Minnesota pinned back in their own end. Still St. Louis struggled with their shooting and couldn't find the net. Then in the 71st minute, Charles Renken cut around Minnesota's Tyler Polak and into the box, Polak made a lunging tackle, but got Renken bringing him down leading to a penalty kick for St. Louis. Bryan Gaul stepped up for St. Louis and slotted the ball into the corner to make it 1-1. St. Louis controlled the rest of regulation, but were unable to find a winner.
In extra time Minnesota was able to get the ball forward more than they had in second half, but Mark Pais was rarely tested in terms of shots, but did well collecting crosses into the box. In the second period of extra time, both teams played tight with neither side creating much in the way of chances. Things looked to take a big turn in the 114th minute when Gaul was fouled by Ibson near midfield. As Gaul came down after the tackle, Ibson caught his legs in a scissor and didn't let go as Gaul tried to get up to chase the ball. Gaul kicked out out Ibson and was promptly sent off by the referee for the kick, while Ibson got away with a yellow. Even down a man St. Louis pushed for a winner but the two teams went to penalty kicks.
Minnesota shot first, but Daniel Mendes had his shot saved by Pais. Brandon Barklage slotted his shot into the corner to put St. Louis on top. In the second round, Minnesota's Ibson skied his shot over the bar while Patrick Doody slotted his shot into the same corner as Barklage. Up third for Minnesota was US national teamer, Miguel Ibarra, who blasted his shot into the net to get Minnesota on the board at 2-1. Oskar Gasecki equaled Ibarra's effort with a third shot to the same corner to make it 3-1. Needing a goal to extend the shootout though Christian Ramirez fired his shot into the bar and the celebrations were on in St. Louis.
It should make for a fun game on June 16th at Sporting Park, St. Louis fans should travel fairly well and make for a good game.
Sporting KC Moving Towards Deal with Ledesma?
Back in February, Robb Heineman made a trip to Europe to visit both Frankfurt and Milan. The big news out of that had been the chase for Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart and attempting to get him to come to KC. While that target appears that it has fallen through and won't happen, a lesser known name that came up at the same time has reemerged as a target for Sporting KC. Cristian Ledesma, an Argentine midfielder who holds Italian citizenship and has played once for the Italian national team.
The 32 year old is a midfielder who after growing up in the Boca Juniors youth system has spent his entire pro career in Italy playing for Lecce and Lazio, appearing 400 times in all competitions for the two teams, including over 300 for Lazio. This year though Ledesma has seen a drop in playing time, appearing only 12 times, starting seven of those for the Roman club.
He will be out of contract this summer, which is something that has been a big point for not just KC, but most MLS teams who are unlikely to want to pay a transfer fee for most players. According to the article, KC is very confident that a deal will be wrapped up soon for the midfielder.
Unlike prior target, van der Vaart, Ledesma plays a deeper role in the midfield, which makes a little more sense for KC with a very in form Benny Feilhaber playing extremely well in the attacking midfield position. With the talent in KC's midfield, Ledesma would likely be expected to come in and take Soni Mustivar's spot as a deep lying midfielder in KC's current 4-3-3 system.
If he comes this summer, it would fill a spot that KC fans have been hoping to address since the departure of Oriol Rosell, and while Mustivar has done a decent job there, upgrading shouldn't be out of the question. The earliest he'd be available would be July 8th when the secondary transfer window opens up for MLS. It's hopefully the first of a couple additions this summer, with the now open roster spot from the departure of Luis Marin, KC should also be looking to add a goalkeeper, and with Ike Opara on IR, his roster spot is open as well for KC to look at adding a center back that would be an upgrade over Kevin Ellis.
Sporting KC, Marin Agree to Terminate Contract, Kempin Recalled
While the rest of the world was focused on the Department of Justice press conference about the charges in the FIFA corruption investigation, Sporting KC made a roster move that while surprising isn't wholly unexpected. The team announced today that they had come to terms with Luis Marin to mutually terminate his contract with the club.
Marin had started the team's first eight games of the season, going 2-2-4 as the starter, allowing 12 goals, a 1.5 goals against average. After the team's 4-4 draw in Houston, where Marin looked less than confident and gave up a bad goal from distance by Giles Barnes, Marin was replaced in goal by back up, Tim Melia. In the four games since then, Melia has gone 2-0-2, allowing just three goals, including a man of the match performance against the Seattle Sounders last weekend.
As I said, it's a surprising move simply because I thought Marin would get more time to settle into the league and lock down the starting position, but it seems Peter Vermes didn't have the patience to wait this one out. And to be fair, it's hard to blame him, Marin looked hesitant and indecisive on coming off his line, especially for crosses on set pieces, six of the goals allowed by KC with Marin in goal came from set pieces, while zero have been scored since Melia stepped into net.
So with Marin gone, the starting spot is now Melia's. He's the fifth goalkeeper to start in goal for KC over the past two years, the same number of starting goalkeepers as the much maligned Philadelphia Union who are made fun of for all their goalkeeping issues. His departure does open up an international slot for KC and at the same time probably opens up some decent cap space for the club as well to utilize in the upcoming summer transfer window.
With the release of Marin, KC has also recalled goalkeeper, Jon Kempin from his loan with the San Antonio Scorpions of the NASL. Kempin had started the first two games of the season for San Antonio, a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay and 2-1 loss to Indy Eleven, after that he had left for US U23 camp in California. Upon his return, Kempin has been the back up as the Scorpions have gone 2-0-3. Recalling him now keeps Kempin from being cap-tied to the Scorpions for this year's US Open Cup, as they open play tonight against the Austin Aztex.
As long as KC sees Melia as the starter, KC will likely look to fill the third goalkeeper slot with a young, cheap prospect who can be the club's third goalkeeper.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Sunday After Stats
Not much stat wise from last night, but here they are.
The draw was the 50th in league play for Peter Vermes, he's now just one behind Bob Gansler for the most in KC history.
The draw was the 50th in league play for Peter Vermes, he's now just one behind Bob Gansler for the most in KC history.
KC Escape Seattle with a Point
It certainly wasn't pretty, and at times it was down right ugly, but for just the third time in the regular season, Sporting KC picked up points against the Seattle Sounders. With another undermanned line up that saw KC forced to scratch Dom Dwyer during warm ups due to a neck injury KC played an ugly, but walked out of Century Link Field with a point. Joining Dwyer on the bench from Wednesday's game was Paulo Nagamura who was replaced by Servando Carrasco, although Graham Zusi made the bench and came on as KC's third substitute of the game. It wasn't all good for KC though as they suffered another injury they didn't need as Jacob Peterson left with a hamstring injury in the second half.
Seattle came out and controlled the game from the start, but an issue that plagued them all game was an ability to get shots on goal with all that possession. KC really looked to be the more dangerous of the two sides against the run of play. In the 9th minute off a Matt Besler long throw, KC almost grabbed the lead as the ball made it all the way to Krisztian Nemeth at the back post, but Nemeth seemed a little surprised the ball made it all the way through and didn't get enough power on his shot and it was easily collected by Stefan Frei.
While Seattle wasn't creating a lot of shots on target, Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia was busy having to come off his line to catch, punch and collect crosses by the Sounders. In the 32nd on a cross into the box Melia got just enough on a cross to knock it away from the head of Chad Marshall and away from the area. Seattle recollected the ball on the opposite side of the field and the ball was crossed back in for Lamar Neagle who put his header of the post. As the half wore on Seattle got more and more of the possession, but they still couldn't put a shot on goal in the 36th minute, Brad Evans picked off a pass and raced the opposite direction leading a 4 on 3, but as he got closer to goal Evans fired a shot from about 30 yards out that missed the frame keeping the game scoreless. As the first half ended Seattle had 70% of the possession, much of the early part of it no where near the goal, but near the end of the half they had started to push the game more. Some more possession in the second half was going to be needed for KC to hold off Seattle's attack.
The second half saw Kansas City come out and get forward a bit more, while they still played a more defensive approach, they did get forward at times. In the 51st minute KC had another good opportunity to score after Amadou Dia did a good job of getting space against his defender before playing a cross into the box for Jacob Peterson, but his shot was right at Frei. KC kept trying to hit on the counter, with Jimmy Medranda firing a shot wide of goal. Seattle controlled play, but it took until the 82nd minute for them to record a shot on goal. After a free kick was partially cleared, the all was bicycle-kicked towards goal by Brad Evans. On its way through, Chad Barrett redirected the shot, but Melia was well positioned to make the save and keep the game scoreless. In stoppage time in the second half, Sporting almost Seattle'd Seattle as Feilhaber received the ball about 25 yards from goal, took a touch and fired a shot that was curling towards the far post. Frei though made a great save, knocking the ball over the bar to preserve the tie late for Seattle.
Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - While he only had to make one save all night, Melia did a great job of controlling his area. He was decisive when coming off his line, did well when knowing when to catch and punch the ball. Was well positioned all night.
Honorable Mention - Kevin Ellis - Matt Besler
Player Ratings - Melia 8, Anibaba 7, Ellis 8, Besler 8, Dia 7, Mustivar 7, Carrasco 5, Feilhaber 5, Peterson 5, Nemeth 4, Medranda 5. Subs Hallisey 5, Abdul-Salaam 5, Zusi 6.
Seattle came out and controlled the game from the start, but an issue that plagued them all game was an ability to get shots on goal with all that possession. KC really looked to be the more dangerous of the two sides against the run of play. In the 9th minute off a Matt Besler long throw, KC almost grabbed the lead as the ball made it all the way to Krisztian Nemeth at the back post, but Nemeth seemed a little surprised the ball made it all the way through and didn't get enough power on his shot and it was easily collected by Stefan Frei.
While Seattle wasn't creating a lot of shots on target, Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia was busy having to come off his line to catch, punch and collect crosses by the Sounders. In the 32nd on a cross into the box Melia got just enough on a cross to knock it away from the head of Chad Marshall and away from the area. Seattle recollected the ball on the opposite side of the field and the ball was crossed back in for Lamar Neagle who put his header of the post. As the half wore on Seattle got more and more of the possession, but they still couldn't put a shot on goal in the 36th minute, Brad Evans picked off a pass and raced the opposite direction leading a 4 on 3, but as he got closer to goal Evans fired a shot from about 30 yards out that missed the frame keeping the game scoreless. As the first half ended Seattle had 70% of the possession, much of the early part of it no where near the goal, but near the end of the half they had started to push the game more. Some more possession in the second half was going to be needed for KC to hold off Seattle's attack.
The second half saw Kansas City come out and get forward a bit more, while they still played a more defensive approach, they did get forward at times. In the 51st minute KC had another good opportunity to score after Amadou Dia did a good job of getting space against his defender before playing a cross into the box for Jacob Peterson, but his shot was right at Frei. KC kept trying to hit on the counter, with Jimmy Medranda firing a shot wide of goal. Seattle controlled play, but it took until the 82nd minute for them to record a shot on goal. After a free kick was partially cleared, the all was bicycle-kicked towards goal by Brad Evans. On its way through, Chad Barrett redirected the shot, but Melia was well positioned to make the save and keep the game scoreless. In stoppage time in the second half, Sporting almost Seattle'd Seattle as Feilhaber received the ball about 25 yards from goal, took a touch and fired a shot that was curling towards the far post. Frei though made a great save, knocking the ball over the bar to preserve the tie late for Seattle.
Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - While he only had to make one save all night, Melia did a great job of controlling his area. He was decisive when coming off his line, did well when knowing when to catch and punch the ball. Was well positioned all night.
Honorable Mention - Kevin Ellis - Matt Besler
Player Ratings - Melia 8, Anibaba 7, Ellis 8, Besler 8, Dia 7, Mustivar 7, Carrasco 5, Feilhaber 5, Peterson 5, Nemeth 4, Medranda 5. Subs Hallisey 5, Abdul-Salaam 5, Zusi 6.
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