1. Ever wonder?. …what you could get for the fastest guy you knew in high school in an MLS trade?
Apparently, the answer is a 3rd round draft pick. Assuming, of course, the fastest guy you knew in high school had zero finish around the net.
Jeff Cunningham, the above-average-paced-but-recently-completely-ineffective-at-anything-but-running Striker, has been traded to FC Dallas for a third [...]
Stopped by training today for a little look at the guys before tomorrow's important match against Chivas USA. The session went well, with the starting group knocking the ball around and working on crosses. The reserves participated in 7-v-7 matches on a small field. Technical Director Peter Vermes and Coach Onalfo were involved, with their two teams squaring off in the final. After training, captain Kansas City and fellow veteran Kerry Zavagnin snagged a water jug and dumped it on Head Athletic Trainer Chet North, as it was Chet's birthday today. PV kept the guys in a huddle just long enough for the chilly b-day present. See pics below.
Coach Onalfo trains during the session. His green team ended up winning the final 1-0 over Peter Vermes' orange team.
Defender Jimmy Conrad and midfielder Kerry Zavagnin hold a walking Gatorade ad and advance toward trainer Chet North as team President Robb Heineman looks on.
Chet was just minding his own business.
Until....
Splash down.
I heard it was cold.
Have a look at Chet's assistant, Kenny Ishii, second from the left in blue. He was enjoying watching his boss get doused.
Then PV got in on the fun.
Happy Birthday Chet.
3. What is the 4th highest goal scorerer in league history worth? Jeff Cunningham has 99 career MLS goals which has him at 4th on the all time league history goal scoring charts. Cunningham is currently 31 years old. How much is a player with those stats worth?
Toronto FC aparently thinks that is worth a 3rd round draft pick in next year’s draft. That [...]
Cunningham joins FCD as the 4th leading goal-scorer in league history with 99 career regular season goals. He began his professional career in 1998 with the Columbus Crew, where he became the co-leader in goals scored for the club (62) and earned his first MLS Best XI honor (2002).
After seven seasons, he was traded to the Colorado Rapids in 2005, where he finished third in MLS with 12 goals scored. He then led the league with 16 goals in 2006 as a member of Real Salt Lake, earning a place on the MLS Best XI team and becoming one of three finalists for the MLS Most Valuable Player award. Cunningham has also made 10 appearances with the U.S. Men?s National team.
UPDATED (12:10 pm CT) Schellas on Cunningham: ?Jeff?s going to help the team tremendously, because now we?ll have two legitimate goal scorers with him and Kenny Cooper. You win games by scoring goals, and Jeff?s a proven goal-scorer. We feel this could be one of the strongest attacking duos in MLS soccer.?
5. Sikora gets visa... This morning, as we were about to send the press release announcing the trade for Cunningham, we also got word that Victor Sikorahas received his work visa, thus making his signing official. This was somewhat surprising, as it's often taken much longer to secure that document. Now we wait for the ITC in the next couple days and he'll be eligible for next weekend's game at Columbus.
Also, Schellas tells us that the two River Plate players that trained with the team this week would not be asked to stay. They'll be returning to Argentina this weekend.
Schellas on Sikora: ?Victor brings a wealth of experience to our team. He?s a natural attacking player and we see him complimenting the strike force on the flanks. He has the ability to score quality goals and to assist his teammates with his service.?
6. Another Reserve Game Along with the game this Sunday against Rockhurst University, the Wizards reserves have another friendly schedule. This on is on August 18th, again at the Swope Park training complex, against Creighton University. Michael Kraus' alma mater will play the reserves at 10:30 am that day. This will be the 4th or 5th college side the reserves have played this year (SMU, Drake, Rockhurst, Creighton), along with playing the Brass. If I've forgotten any, feel free to comment below.
7. Game on Sunday While the first team will be taking on Chivas USA Saturday night, the reserves will be in action on Sunday. Sunday the reserves will be taking on Rockhurst University in a friendly. The action kicks off at 10 am out at Swope Park training complex. I'll be out there, should be a good time.
8. Line up Shake Up Thad over at The Back Post has the story. It looks like Onalfo is going to be switching things up this weekend with Chivas coming to town on Saturday. Roger Espinoza, Kurt Morsink, and Ryan Pore are dropped in favor of Josh Wolff, Kerry Zavagnin, and rookie Matt Marquess. So we can expect something like this on Saturday it looks like.
Onalfo confirmed the lineup during this weeks press conference. It's interesting to see Marquess out there instead of someone like Chance Myers or Jonathan Leathers. Thad mentions that Onalfo touched on this as well, saying that Marquess is a naturally lefty, and that while Myers or Leathers could play there, Marquess was the better option.
Overall this looks to be a good lineup, and I know plenty of people are happy to see Harrington moved back into the midfield, where he played the majority of last season before taking over for Jose Burciaga on the back line.
One final note about this lineup. Should Zavagnin make it to the 57th minute Saturday night, he will pass Nick Garcia for the all time Wizards leader in MLS minutes played. Zavagnin currently sits on 20,102 to Garcia's 20,158. Earlier this season, Zavagnin became the games played leader, and all time competitive minutes leader, topping Garcia both times. So an early congrats to Zavagnin as I can't see him not breaking the record this season.
Today's session was simple - play a 60 minute full field game. Of course, the day ended with a running exercize. But for the most part, the practice was less stopping and more playing.
The guys now get their final weekend off of the year. Knowing that, some guys took it easy, getting an extra day to rest. For instance, Brek tweaked his left hamstring last week with the U-20s, and felt it tighten up after yesterday's reserve game. So he did not play today.
Also, Dario's left knee was a little sore - he also stayed in. Marcelo is coming back from a small tear in his right calf, so he jogged lightly around the complex; as did Rhine with his sprained left ankle. Ray was able to come out for the latter part of training to work on a few drills.
As we've seen all season, Andrew Daniels and Aaron Pitchkolan just about always stay after practice to work on different things, like touch, runs, long passes, etc. After today's practice, they went to the Dr. Pink field to test Andrew's arm - his long throw reaching 86 yards in the air.
10. OH THANK GOD! This and this make me feel a little better today. Now, where’s that new signing, Momo???
11. Reserve Match Sunday After whooping on D.C.'s reserve team last weekend, the League-leading KCW Reserves will take on a group of local collegiate players (not only kids from Rockhurst) in a reserve-team friendly Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Wizards' Swope Park Training Center. This season, we are 4-0-0 in reserve-team friendlies and have outscored our opponents 21-1 in the process. See you at Swope Sunday morning.
12. Pat Noonan back to New England and then right to Columbus Pat Noonan played for the New England Revolution before going to Norway’s Aalesunds FK at the beginning of the year. Now the Revolution have signed their former striker and immediately traded him to the Columbus Crew. During Noonan’s years with the Revolution he has played 136 and scored 42 goals. The Revolution will receive [...]
13. MLS Power Poll - Week 19 Blue Blooded Journo Power Poll is a weekly poll of all the BBJ bloggers. The rankings are compiled to form one composite list.
Dallas makes the big jump this week with their second win in a row.
14. Revolution finally beat Dynamo in championship game After twice losing to the Dynamo in the MLS Cup the Revolution finally got one last night in the SuperLiga final. Another close game saw the Revolution twice come back from one goal deficits to tie the game. Once they did it in regulation and once again in the extra time. The game could not [...]
Dax stretches out before Wednesday's training session in China, the last practice before the start of the Olympics. Thanks to U.S. Soccer for the photo.
=================================================================== FC Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty is currently in China with U.S. Olympic Team, staying in a mini-Olympic village at the satellite venue of Tianjin - the third-largest city in China (behind Beijing and Shanghai).
The U.S. Men will open the 2008 Olympics on Thurs., Aug. 7 vs. Japan, live at 4 a.m. CT on MSNBC, Universal HD and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel. Today, Dax took some time to send us / you a brief update on his experience so far...keep reading... "Hey everyone. Just thought I would catch up with you all from here in China as we prepare for the start of the Olympics. What a crazy past few weeks it has been for me.
As I'm sure most of you know, I was sitting at dinner with some friends when I got the call a couple weeks ago that I would joining up with the Olympic team in San Jose. I was obviously sad for Nathan Sturgis, who got injured, as he is a good friend of mine. But ultimately, I was thrilled to be going. I arrived in San Jose the next day (after a 6am flight!), and immediately met up with the team before we departed for China.
That was a crazy day because we were issued all the gear we would be receiving for the Games. Let me tell you, I have never been given as much gear as I was in that day: two big, full duffle bags - full of shirts, shorts, warm-ups, jackets, hats, socks, shoes, a suit and a cell phone! The next morning we were off to Hong Kong to compete in the ING Cup against the Ivory Coast and Cameroon.
Hong Kong is truly an unbelievable place. It has just as many, if not more, huge buildings and apartment complexes (with a few skyscrapers thrown in there) than New York City. We stayed in a 5-Star hotel that was right on the water (Hong Kong Bay, I think), and were treated very nicely.
The weather out here is extremely hot and humid. I won't say it is as hot as Dallas (it?s close), but the humidity is what really gets to you.
After a few days of training, we played the two friendlies in Hong Kong's national stadium. We ended up tying Ivory Coast 0-0 and losing to Cameroon 1-0. Not the results we wanted, but ultimately these games are just warm-ups to prepare us for the real thing. We did not play our best, but you can tell that the team is starting to come together and play some good soccer. We will definitely be ready for that first game against Japan.
We left Hong Kong after our last game, and arrived in Tianjin (the site of our first 2 games in these Olympics) with tons of excitement.
We are staying in another first-class hotel. The security here is crazy. Just to get into the hotel, our whole team had to go through metal detectors and put our bags through x-ray machines. The only others staying in the hotel with us are the 3 other teams in our group (Japan, Holland, and Nigeria) and one of the groups from the women's side (Canada's group). No one else is allowed to come to the hotel unless they have an Olympic credential to get in. Not even families are allowed to come in. Pretty crazy stuff!
Our first game is tomorrow against Japan, and everyone is very excited that the games are finally about to start. I am very happy to be here and just trying to soak up the whole experience, because this is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I have been following the guys back in Dallas very closely and am thrilled to see us playing so well right now. I knew it was only a matter of time before we started playing how we are capable of. I can't wait to get back to Dallas and start playing with the guys again, but I need to bring back a Gold medal first!"
16. FCD Reserves 2, Real Salt Lake Reserves 3 The FCD Reserves fell to the Real Salt Lake Reserves 3-2 this morning on the adidas Field. Jamie Watson scored both Dallas goals against his former club, including one that tied the game up at 2-2 in the 66th minute. But RSL's Kenny Cutler struck just four minutes later to give Salt Lake the win.
A full recap will be posted later today on fcdallas.com.
Here's how Dallas lined up (4-4-2): Josh Lambo (GK), Anthony Wallace, Blake Wagner, Andrew Daniels, Michael Dello-Russo, Chase Wileman, Bruno Guarda, Eric Avila (Aaron Pitchkolan 75), Jamie Watson, Abe Thompson, Brek Shea (Dominic Oduro 75).
The rest of the team went through a training session on the stadium fiel before the Reserve game from 8-9 a.m.
17. Media Rumblings Hello all, this is a day or so late, but I wanted to address the editorial posted by Mike Kuhn over at his fan blog Down the Byline. Check out the full article here. First of all, we'd like to thank Mike and the rest of our fans for caring. Obviously we appreciate the support of all of our fans and want you all to be vocal about issues like this. Next, I'd like to say that the only way to affect change is to contact the right people at the Kansas City Star and the local TV stations.
In the PR department, we are always striving for more and better coverage, though we appreciate all that the Star does. The Star provides a bylined story for each game, home or away, and stories about the Wizards are often atop Page 3 in the sports section, a very good place. If that is not enough for you, the best thing a fan can do is to contact the Star directly and ask for what you desire. Newspapers are very cognizant of their readers' needs and will almost always respond favorably if a large enough block of people make their wishes known.
I will provide the contact info of the correct decision-makers at the Star and local TV stations below. Emails are great. Phone calls are worth more than emails, and hand-written notes/letters make a much higher impact than phone calls.
KMBC 9 Sports 6455 Winchester Ave. Kansas City, MO 64133
Main Phone Number: (816) 221-9999
Len Dawson-lead sports ldawson@hearst.com
NBC 41- NBC Action News Sports 4720 Oak Street Kansas City, MO 64112
sports@nbcactionnews.com (816) 932-0717
18. Met Some Fans So this was a couple of days ago now, but I had to make sure I had the facts straight. This Sunday after our 4-2 Reserve Division thumping of D.C., I ventured out of the team hotel to find some food. As I exited, I spotted rookies Jonathan Leathers, Matt Marquess and Rauwshan McKenzie hanging outside a restaurant across the street. As the nosy one that I am, I sauntered over to see what was up. It turns out that the three defenders were heading to lunch with some of Rauwshan's family, and I was invited.
What a lunch it was! We had some excellent Chinese, some wonderful conversation with the McKenzie crew, some good people watching out the restaurant window and quite a few laughs. It turns out that Mrs. Donna McKenzie is quite the blog connoisseur. Not only does she read Hillcrest Road frequently, but she googled her son and found this fun pic of him over at The Offside Rules. Watch out SF, Mrs. McKenzie has her eyes on you!
Anyway, Donna and her also-jovial husband Marc were kind enough to pick up the tab for all involved, as long as I posted about the evening on Hillcrest. Well, I was going to anyway, but that was quite the nice surprise! Here you go McKenzie family. It was a pleasure to meet you!
Marc, Donna and Rauwshan McKenzie. Bet you didn't know you were going to be pictured, Donna.
19. U.S. Olympic Games on TV Below is a press release from U.S. Soccer with the list of TV stations playing U.S. Men's and Women's Olympic soccer matches. Take a look, then set your alarms REAL early for some of the games. Vamos USA!
ALL U.S. MEN?S AND WOMEN?S OLYMPIC SOCCER GROUP MATCHES TO BE BROADCAST LIVE ON NBC FAMILY OF NETWORKS
The complete broadcast schedule for group matches is listed below. Broadcast details for the knockout round of the tournament will posted at ussoccer.com once confirmed with NBC if the U.S. teams advance. In addition to the television coverage, all games will be streamed live at nbcolympics.com.
Throughout the tournament, ussoccer.com will provide exclusive, comprehensive coverage of the Olympic Soccer Teams with news, notes, stories, quotes, photo galleries and podcasts. Studio 90, U.S. Soccer?s popular web video show, will provide regular updates with news, interviews and more. The U.S. Men?s and Women?s Olympic Team blogs provide a behind-the-scenes look at the U.S. teams never before seen at the Olympics.
U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team TV Schedule
Aug. 6 vs. Norway Venue: Qinhuangdao Kickoff: 7:45 a.m. ET Channel Broadcast Start Time MSNBC 7:30 a.m. ET Universal HD 7:30 a.m. ET (Replay at 8 p.m. ET and 10:30 p.m. ET) NBC Olympic Soccer Channel 7:30 a.m. ET
Aug. 9 vs. Japan Venue: Qinhuangdao Kickoff: 5 a.m. ET Channel Broadcast Start Time USA Network 5 a.m. ET NBC Olympic Soccer Channel 5 a.m. ET
Aug. 12 vs. New Zealand Venue: Shengyang Kickoff: 7:45 a.m. ET Channel Broadcast Start Time MSNBC 7:30 a.m. ET NBC Olympic Soccer Channel 7:30 a.m. ET
U.S. Men's Olympic Soccer Team TV Schedule
Aug. 7 vs. Japan Venue: Tianjin Kickoff: 5 a.m. ET Channel Broadcast Start Time MSNBC 4:55 a.m. ET Universal HD 4:55 a.m. ET NBC Olympic Soccer Channel 5 a.m. ET
Aug. 10 vs. Netherlands Venue: Tianjin Kickoff: 7:45 a.m. ET Channel Broadcast Start Time USA Network 7:30 a.m. ET NBC Olympic Soccer Channel 7:30 a.m. ET
Aug. 13 vs. Nigeria Venue: Beijing (Workers?) Kickoff: 5 a.m. ET Channel Broadcast Start Time USA Network 5 a.m. ET NBC Olympic Soccer Channel 5 a.m. ET
20. Adding Six We had six more players at training today that we had last week. Brek Shea, Anthony Wallace, and Josh Lambo all returned from Northern Ireland, where they helped the U.S. U-20s finish third at the Milk Cup last week. Also at training today were Lucas Malacarne (left), Lucas Gomez (right), and Victor Sikora (below)- all three arriving from their home countries over the weekend.
Tomorrow, we're making up the reserve game against Real Salt Lake that was postponed back in May. The team is scheduled to be here at 7:30 am on Wednesday. We're fairly confident that we won't have a blog writer or photographer here when they arrive...
The reserve game is scheduled for 9 am on the adidas Field. Don't count on any of the new guys to play - they are not eligible.
21. The FCD Blog Banner - You Vote... When we started the blog in January 2007, we didn't spend much time polling people to see what we should name this new platform. We literally went with what we intended the blog to be - FC Dallas Updates.
Since then, we've found that the name most commonly used when referencing the team blog is - The FCD Blog. So, we'll accept it as the new name. Now, please help us decide which banner to use.
22. Dynamo and Revolution battle for another trophy tonight - SuperLiga SuperLiga Final VS Houston Dynamo - New England Revolution
Gillette Stadium
7PM CST (8PM local time)
Telefutura
The Dynamo and Revolution are no strangers to each other when trophies are at stake. The two teams have played for the MLS Cup both of the past 2 years, both of which the Dynamo have won despite never having beat [...]
In the course of being engrossed by the game to game mentality and analysis, it is easy for me to lose perspective of an entire season. At times like this, it is useful to look back on previous posts to remind myself of what I was thinking earlier, and to reapply that perspective to where we are now. I am prompted to do this, in part, because Booked for Dissent is in the middle of a series analyzing Dave Kasper's moves over the past few years. There's a lot there that is provocative, and it reminded me of something I wrote before this season began:
The mission of D.C. United is to serve the community and win championships. United has let their most visible humanitarian go to Houston. United has let the 2006 MLS MVP leave for a designated player. We are being told, in other words, that this team is more likely than that team to fulfill those two goals...
...this, we are told, is the best team to embody those principles...
While it is easy to focus on players in a game, this is a year that demands that we truly examine our coaching and front office. Players will win or lose games, but the front office and management will win or lose this season. They, more than any other parties, are responsible for the 2008 campaign. They had done right by us in the past, but the price of professional sports is inevitably "what have you done for me lately." The departure of Boswell, of Gomez, of Perkins... these all signify that while I give the roster moves of the past great credit, they do not matter for this season. This season is about the choices we have seen being made... Risk, in the markets, defines uncertainty, and riskier investments have a greater chance of crashing and burning, but also a greater chance of truly spectacular yields. D.C. United is now the most exotic South American tech stock in MLS.
Lifton is, I think, writing an analysis to evaluate the team along those lines, as he notes:
So really only three of the unknown commodities - Martinez, Emilio and Fred - could be considered as quality acquisitions. And the higher salaries given to those who have failed, notably Filomeno and Niell, have come at the expense of deepening the squad with players better suited to the style of play and demands of MLS.
To date, United's return on investment has yielded a .500 record, 4th place in the Eastern Conference, a similar finish in the CONCACAF Champion's League to last season, an elimination in group play in Superliga, and a semi-final US Open Cup appearance. Only the US Open Cup run is an improvement, all the rest is either treading water or regression. What's more, the US Open Cup run has been largely powered by the reserved, not the flashy acquisitions. If United were a publicly traded company, the shareholders would be in revolt.
Which, in a strange way, brings us to the acquisitions of Joe Vide and Ivan Guerrero. In baseball, the concept of Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) has been well established. It examines players not in isolation, but in comparison to what your typical backup player would do in the same position. There is much literature using VORP in the way that baseball SABRE-types can do with such facility, and which we can not, but the I want to borrow the concept if not the statistics. United's acquisitions have frequently never been baseline against the average MLS player, or the average MLS backup. That makes some sense, since United's approach to signings has frequently been to find the players to ensure excellence, not competence. The problem is that while United has searched for excellence, they've incurred a larger risk of getting either replacement-level or below replacement-level players in return. Our acquisitions have been tremendous (Gomez, Emilio, and hell, let's even throw in Gallardo and Fred despite the arguments that can ensue) or utter busts (Donnet, Filomeno, Niell). About the only time United ended up with someone who was an average player was Erpen, whom we traded away.
The issue here is at least partially one of translation. The South American market is one that does not translate as one-to-one with MLS, and so projecting out ability is difficult. We simply can't tell with a high degree of confidence how players will adapt to the MLS style of play. Period. You may get great result, crappy results, and any combination in between. And if most of your acquisitions are from South America, you're pretty much betting the dice will come up sixes multiple times in a row.
Which is why the acquisition of Vide and Guerrero is important -- it represents a shift away from the high risk/high reward theory of player acquisition that has dominated the last three years. Vide is not going to be a superstar, or likely be a replacement for Clyde Simms. What he is, however, is someone who you can evaluate in this league, and you can tell that you will get at least replacement player value from him, if not slightly better. Guerrero has more upside that that, but again, the baseline is higher for him than for signing, say, another Mattias Donnet. We can translate his performance more easily, and it won't be a complete bust. At worst, he's likely slightly better than your fungible replacement player, and at best he'll be a solid contributor. This is a mindset shift.
The season is not over, but this is the heartening sign - faced with a season where high expectations have met pervasive mediocrity, United has not tried to fill the inside straight to save the season. Instead, they've made lower risk, lower potential reward moves, but ones that serve to develop depth and provide confidence in the new players. That makes me hopeful. I think, when all is said and done, this season is likely to be viewed with more disappointment than joy, but it won't be remembered as a travesty.
24. Ben Knight: On Officiating and Putting it better than I? Here’s a post from Ben Knight’s On Soccer Blog and the Globe.com
He’s quite right that the poor officiating isn’t malicious (which would obviously be a lot worse and give some credibility to the “Refs want to stick it to TFC” argument.) The league has merely failed to mature in the area of officiating. They [...]
25. KC Media Coverage (Editorial) It seems like it's going to be another slow week for Wizards news. We have the rumors of the potential trade to fill Scott Sealy's roster spot, as well as waiting on the renderings of the Wizards stadium to be released. But nothing of any real substance to touch on. But isn't there news to report on, how serious is Wolff's injury? What's going on with our offense? Where's the attacking offense that Wizards fans were told to anticipate? These are questions that many Wizards fans want answered. Unfortunately, there isn't anyone really in KC willing to ask those questions.
Of all the team's in the league, KC probably has the worst media coverage of any team in the league. To get any current news on their team, Wizards fans have to either rely on Wizards related blogs (like the ones I link in my blog roll), along with the Wizards forum on bigsoccer. The Star, or any of the local TV stations are usually hours, to days behind news involving the Wizards. Meanwhile, almost every other city that has a team (and many that don't) have a writer, or a blog devoted to covering their team and the beautiful game. Whether it's Chicago, Chivas USA/Galaxy, Colorado, Columbus, DC United, Houston, New England, New York, RSL, or Toronto all have full time reporters covering their team and usually have daily entries on their blogs. Of the three teams not listed, FC Dallas has one of the best independent blogs on the net covering their team, 3rd Degree as well as one of the better team blogs. For a full list of professional blogs covering soccer in the US, check out this post.
That leaves expansion San Jose and our very own Wizards. As for why KC is worse then San Jose in covering their team, all you have to do is look at last Thursday's Wizards press conference. Having the day off of work, I attended the press conference, which while certainly not the only way to contact the team, is probably one of the easiest ways to ask questions of coach Onalfo. No one from the KC Star even attended the press conference, and the majority of the questions at the press conference were asked by Bob Rusert, of MLSnet.
Bloggers like myself and the others that are just fans of the team shouldn't have to be the main source for other fans to go to for news about the team. There should be someone, NOT working for the team, that actually feeds information to the fans, gets quotes from players and coaches almost daily, gives injury updates, etc. Someone that will actually ask some hard questions of coach Onalfo and Vermes. While I love what Hillcrest Road has started, in the end, it's going to be towing the company line, as it's a run by the team. Unfortunately it looks like the Star doesn't have any interest in giving the Wizards even a quarter of the coverage they give the Chiefs.
26. For the Spanish-Speakers Out There Hey all, with the Chivas USA game coming up this weekend, we're going to get out Wednesday and let all the Spanish-speaking fans in town know that, by golly, we're your team. Meet up with Coach Onalfo, Kevin Hartman, Roger Espinoza and hopefully one more guy (working to coordinate schedules) as they stop around town for some sit-downs with fans. Listen to them talk, get a picture or some autographs. These are in predominantly Latino areas, but English speakers are welcome as well. Read this from the weekly press release:
Wizards Host First-Ever Latino Barnstorming Tour Wednesday
Wednesday, the Wizards will hold their first-ever ?Latino Barnstorming Tour.? Spanish-speaking members of the organization will head to three locations around town to meet and mingle with fans, take pictures and sign autographs in advance of Saturday?s match-up with Chivas USA?the MLS club owned by the operators of famous Mexican club team CD Guadalajara. Fans are encouraged to attend to get to know your Spanish-speaking Wizards. Head Coach Curt Onalfo, goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and midfielder Roger Espinoza will take part in the event.
Tour Stops:
Alta Vista Charter School 1-2:30 p.m. 1015 Cesar E Chavez Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108
La Fonda El Taquito 3-4 p.m. 800 Southwest Boulevard, KCMO
El Taconazo 4:30-6 p.m. 624 Kansas Avenue, KCK
27. Victor Sikora joins FCD Last week was as busy a week as we've seen around here, at least with regard to the make up of the team. Today, former Holland international Victor Sikora agreed to terms to join FCD.
Technically, Victor's not officially signed until we get either his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) or work visa. And, actually, we'll need both before he's eligible to play. So while he's here, and will be training with us on Tuesday, don't expect a formal press release until the ITC arrives (which could be tomorrow). Consider this a perk to blog faithful - unofficial, yet more or less official, news.
Joining the midfielder / forward at Tuesday's practice will be River Plate players Lucas Gomez and Lucas Malacarne, who arrived this morning from Buenos Aires.
Kenny Cooper today became the second player to win back-to-back MLS Player of the Week awards this season, taking the honor for Week 19. Cooper also won the award last week after he scored twice in FCD?s 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy, becoming the first player this year to win the honor unanimously.
With two goals on Sunday, Cooper set a new personal high with 13 goals on the season, moving into a tie with LA's Landon Donovan for the lead in the Budweiser Golden Boot race. (Donovan was the first to win back-to-back Player of the Week awards - Weeks 4 & 5).
Cooper has scored seven goals in the last seven games, including back-to-back two-goal games. Ten of Cooper?s 13 goals this season have either tied or given Dallas a lead in games, and the other three goals have increased the team?s lead. Dallas is now 18-1-6 all-time when Cooper scores a goal.
(Photo: MLSnet.com / P. Giamou/Getty)
29. Juan Toja sold to Steaua Bucharest Juan Toja played 2 season in Major League Soccer and played in 2 all star games. Now Toja is off to Romania - sold to Steaua Bucharest by FC Dallas. The Columbian midfielder will be the third Columbian on the Steaua Bucharest roster. He will join another attacking midfielder Dayro Moreno and [...]
UnitedMania, Chris Webb: "DC United got their first shutout of the season in MLS play behind a strong eight save effort from Zach Wells. Goals on either side of halftime from Luciano Emilio and Jaime Moreno got United back on track after a four game losing streak at RFK." The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "United's victory also broke a four-way tie for fourth place in MLS's Eastern Conference. The Wizards (5-6-7) lost for the first time since June 14, snapping a 2-0-4 run. 'It took us until August, but better late than never,' central defender Devon McTavish said of the shutout. 'Everyone committed themselves to defending and it showed. It's a little bit of a confidence booster.'" DCSportsBox, Abram Fox:"As much as Zach Wells would like you to think otherwise, the big story of D.C. United's 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards was not Luciano Emilio's 11th goal of the season, Jaime Moreno's two-point night or the play of United's most recent acquisitions. No, the story was the end of Wells' hunt for his proverbial white whale, a shutout in MLS play." [NOTE: I totally disagree. I mean, yes, the clean sheet is the noticeable story, but "WELLS GETS FIRST SHUTOUT" is not the big story. This is not about Wells' hunt. See below.] The Kansas City Star, Craig Stouffer [!!]: "The home team seized control in the 28th minute. After receiving a ball nodded down by Guerrero, Moreno slid a pass to Emilio in the center of the box, who turned and powered a left-footer under a sliding Jimmy Conrad and to the right of a diving Hartman. 'I thought I had it blocked,' said Conrad. 'He did well to squib it right between my legs and underneath my foot.'" MLSNet, Charles Boehm: "Burch's left foot provided the inswinging delivery from the right flank and Moreno yet again proved that guile goes a long way as he timed his movement perfectly, meeting the cross with a subtly flicked header that flew past Hartman and dropped into the twine just inside the far post. Now in possession of a 2-0 advantage, D.C. looked to salt away the result..." Fighting Talker, Aaron Stollar: "Ivan Guerrero looked like an above-average MLS-caliber player out there?. which is such an improvement over what some of the performance recently have looked like. He added a lot defensively, and even added a bit on the attack. Overall, he looks like an enormous upgrade out there over a greenhorn like Thompson. If Guerrero can set that physical, labor-intensive tone that Olsen used to provide, it could help solve some the grit and physicality problems that United seemed to suffer from at times. That could prove crucial down the stretch." [NOTE: Without getting political, can we ever use the phrase "Mission Accomplished" ever again? Otherwise, I agree with Aaron 100%] DCUMD, Shatz: "With apologies to Wellsy, the #1 performer in this match goes to Tom Soehn, who took a roster made of straw and spun it into gold. The straight 4-man midfield worked out surprisingly well, allowing the team to control possession for the majority of the match, and shifting the solid Namoff into central defense was the right decision here." Down the Byline, Mike: "Yet again, the Wizards offense looked anemic, refusing to take shots until it was too late and then putting them wide or straight at the keeper. Honestly it could have been worse, but for Jamie Moreno hitting the post for DC in the first half. Minus the offensive outburst against Columbus, the Wizards have struggled to score during the run of play." The Fullback Files, Fullback: "Despite the shutout, there were wobbles aplenty--both from the back line and from Wells in net. At no point did I ever feel confident about getting the shutout. " BLCKDGRD, BDR: "Fred ran and played like he'd just discovered freedom, knowing he could play on his preferred side, knowing he could push forward on offense rather than cheat back on defense. This might be the true benefit of the trade, a twofer: not only does United get Guerrero, getting Guerrero might mean getting Fred back too."
The Good
0 GA: Let's get this out of the way, since it is the key thing everyone will focus on. Yes, the clean sheet is important. And yes, the defense was decent, and Wells made some good saves, especially in the 46th minute. But that's not to say this was the best defensive effort or Wells' best game. Neither is true. The shutout was preserved, at least in part, because Kansas City didn't finish well, and because United was fortunate at times. On one occasion, Wells had vacated his line, but earned a reprieve when a shot was sent directly at his thigh. On another, he was nearly chipped, and bobbled the save fortunately over the bar. Still, the good fortune combined with a better-than-average (at least, this year) effort was enough.
The New Edition of the New Additions: Guerrero and Vide both showed up and played at at least MLS average replacement player levels, and that's all I wanted. That Guerrero exceeded that expectation is a bonus, and combined with the excellent play of Pat Carroll, United at least gave you a concrete reason to think the last half of the season would be better than the first half.
Tom Soehn and "Win Ugly First": I'm not as expansive in my praise as either Stollar or Fullback here, but I do appreciate the mindset. United still gave up some space in the defensive third they shouldn't have, and better through balls from Kansas City would have made things more difficult, but United wasn't an easy team to play against. They weren't necessarily a hard team, but the mentality of making things difficult is one I apprecaite.
Moreno: 1 Goal and 1 Assist, and he seems fresh. Thing is, he'll have to stay fresh.
Emilio, the Non-Goal Scoring Moments: He's learning to pass, even with Jimmy Conrad on him at all times.
The Bad
Clyde Simms: We can argue this, but it seemed like that he was a little out of position too often knowing he had help in center mid. I would have preferred to see him shut things down a bit more when Kansas City was running in the middle. Of course, the Wizards mitigated this to some degree by trying to play over the top more than they needed to.
LCDR Zach Wells: I know, he gets a clean sheet, but there were two gaffes that could have been disastrous. And yes, he also saved the game on two occasions, and was better at punching balls out to midfield. We're not demoting him, so he stays at Lt. Commander, but still, he's not quite there yet.
Officiating Watch
Center official Edvin Jurisevic was not particularly good, yet there were redeeming qualities. His actual calls were all over the place, ranging from total blindness to absurd ticky-tack calls in the space of minutes. That's the bad thing, but the good was some of the calls he was willing to make. When, I believe, Moreno looked for a foul by going to the ground and grabbing the ball while on his stomach, he called Moreno for the hand-ball rather than give the foul Moreno was looking for. That's good. I appreciated that. He used cards at decent times. The problem was that his standards for a normal foul was just all over the place, and I could never figure it out. So, accordingly...
Likert Scale Rating: 2-Below Average
Man of the Match
I know. We have Wells with the Clean Sheet, but see "Bad #2". We have moreno with a goal and an assist. We have another goal for Emilio... All that being said, my man of the match is... Pat Carroll, who marked Lopez pretty well for the game, kept set pieces to a minimum, marked up well one-on-one, and played much better than anyone should have expected.
Final Thoughts
First, an apology. I had a really hectic two week schedule, and didn't make arrangements with my co-writers to cover this beat. That's on me, so please accept my apologies. It was wrong, and I feel horrible about it. I will take some time to try and catch up on some things I missed.
Second, even if this team is improved, it's hard to say that this team is good yet. A win over New York helps. A USOC win with New England will be even better. But four points on the road against Chicago and New England would be a ringing endorsement that perhaps this team will make a run at the end of the season, and survive CONCACAF Champions League Play to the elimination stage.
31. The referee?s a?. ….joke. But I don’t want to rant about how much the refs in this league suck. I don’t want to rant about the ineffectual offense. I REALLY don’t want to talk about how the last thing we had pride in this season, and unbeaten home record, no is no longer there.
Yup, things are pretty dark [...]
32. Reserves Salvage Something from Weekend The reserves were able to get something out of the trip to DC this weekend, as the league leaders took down second place DC United 4-2 this morning to increase their lead on top of the division. Ryan Pore opened the scoring from the penalty spot, after Nelson Pizarro was fouled in the box. Early in the second half, the Wizards doubled their lead, when Kevin Souter, let loose a bomb that curled into the corner. Pore set up goal number three in the 52nd, as he beat a few DC defenders, and squared the ball to Ivan Trujillo who finished. The Wizards finished their scoring when Michael Kraus played the ball centrally to Trujillo, who fed the ball wide left to Lance Watson, who beat a defender before slotting home.
As KC laid back and defended the 4 goal lead, DC was able to get back into the game a bit, scoring two goals. In fact, late in the game, DC had the chance to pull within one from the penalty spot, but DC's shooter slipped and missed over the bar. The reserves are now sitting on 17 points, with a 5-1-2 record.
33. Reserves Top United's 4-2 Our reserve squad turned in an impressive performance today against D.C. United's, winning 4-2 at the RFK Auxiliary Field. Below is a write-up from DCU's press dude Kyle Sheldon. He summed it up pretty well, so I won't try to squeeze it in before catching the bus to the airport. Note: Souter's goal was an absolute BOMB to start the second half. We could have added three or four more in the second half that we pretty much dominated until the final 15 minutes.
The D.C. United reserves fell 4-2 to the visiting Kansas City reserves at the D.C. United training complex Sunday morning. Goals from four different Wizards players were the difference as the Reserve Division leaders increased their first place standing over second place United.
Though the first half saw fairly even play throughout, it was Kansas City who got off several long range shots, as Ivan Trujillo, Ryan McMahen and Ryan Pore each tried their luck from distance. United?s best chance ? and only shot on goal ? of the first half came when Jeremy Barlow collected the ball 25 yards from goal, turned and struck a bending shot that fell fairly easily into the hands of goalkeeper Eric Kronberg.
With just a minute left in the half, a defensive turnover led to Nelson Pizarro being put behind the defense alone. A recovering Mike Zaher made contact with the KC forward from behind sending Pizarro to the ground. The referee?s quick whistle indicated a penalty kick for the visitors, which Ryan Pore calmly stuck in the lower left corner as goalkeeper James Thorpe guessed incorrectly.
The second half saw the Wizards increase their lead to 4-0 within the half?s first twenty minutes. Substitute Kevin Souter put an immediate stamp on the game when he sliced from right to left and struck a bending shot to the far post in the 49th. Three minutes later, Pore collected a loose ball and slid down the center of the field untouched before pushing a square ball to a waiting Trujillo eight yards from goal for an easy put away. The visitors? final tally of the day came in the 63rd minute when a defensive breakdown led to an odd-man rush. On the right side of the field Michael Kraus fed Trujillo centrally who then fed the ball left to a wide open Lance Watson. The midfielder drew one defender, but cut the ball back onto his left before finishing.
United fought back down the stretch, tallying two late goals. The first came when midfielder Craig Thompson sent a ball from the right side into the goal box. The ball careened off the head of Jeremy Barlow and a Wizards defender and fell to the foot of Quavas Kirk who collected and fired to the far post from eight yards. Three minutes from time, Ryan Cordeiro sent a long diagonal ball to a sprinting Rod Dyachenko. The second half sub collected the ball, sent it between a Wizards defender?s leg and then finished at the near post for the final score of the evening. A Kansas City handball in the penalty area gave D.C. a chance to get within one, but Cordeiro slipped and sent the ball over the bar in the game?s final minute.
The loss moves United?s record to 4-3-1 (13 points) in the Reserve Division, while the Wizards improve to 5-1-2 (17 points).
Scoring summary KC ? Ryan Pore (penalty) 45 KC ? Kevin Souter 49 KC ? Ivan Trujillo (Ryan Pore) 52 KC ? Lance Watson (Ivan Trujillo, Michael Kraus) 63 DC ? Quavas Kirk 72 DC ? Rod Dyachenko (Ryan Cordeiro) 87
DC ? James Thorpe; Craig Thompson, Dane Murphy, Brandon Owens, Mike Zaher; Grady Renfrow (Jeremy Olsen 45, Jeff Carroll 70), Gonzalo Martinez (Dan Stratford 45, Pat Carroll 76), Jeremy Barlow, Ryan Cordeiro; Kenny Anaba (Rod Dyachenko 70), Quavas Kirk.
KC ? Eric Kronberg; Matt Marquess (Jonathan Leathers 45), Tyson Wahl, Rauwshan McKenzie, Chance Myers; Lance Watson, Ryan McMahen, Kerry Zavagnin (Kevin Souter 45), Nelson Pizarro; Ivan Trujillo, Ryan Pore (Michael Kraus 59)
Misconduct summary DC ? Jeremy Barlow (reckless foul) 13
34. FCD 2 at Toronto 0 Big win today. It's the second shutout win in as many games, which moves FCD into third place in the Western Conference. Schellas Hyndman gets his first road victory in MLS. FCD hands Toronto FC its first home loss of the season.
Kenny scored twice to give him 13 on the year, a new career high, which ties him for the league lead. Dario Sala picks up his 6th shutout of the season, also a new career high. He is now second in Dallas history with 17 career shutouts, moving one ahead of Mark Dodd.
Check FCDallas.com for a full recap and box score.
35. Checking In From Toronto... The plane landed in Toronto at 2:45 p.m. ET this afternoon and it took about 45 minutes to get everyone through customs and retrieve all of the bags. By 3:30 p.m. we left the airport and headed straight to BMO Field to get a practice in so the guys could get a feel for the artificial surface.
A normally 30-minute ride from the Toronto Airport to the stadium was doubled this afternoon due to the Caribana 2008 Festival. Side-note: our bus driver, Les, made the hour long trip rather enjoyable with his colorful observations, comedic one-liners, and endless facts about the city of Toronto. The travel party - keep reading.
Here?s something we learned from Les today?Caribana is Toronto?s annual Caribbean festival, which brings over 1 million tourists to the Greater Toronto Area every year. Part of today?s festivities included the parade ? the route for which coincidentally began right next to BMO Field. Because of this, there was an increased amount of foot traffic around the stadium, forcing our driver to carefully weave through crowds of pedestrians as we pulled up to our destination.
All we could hear when walking out onto the stadium field was music blasting so loud that it was hard to believe a live band wasn?t playing on the empty field right in front of us. A quick walk up the stairs on the south stands revealed the source?the adjacent parking lot was used as the staging area for today?s parade. There must have been at least 15 different floats, each with about 20-plus large concert style speakers blasting their own selection of music, with each float seemingly trying to outdo the next. It made for quite an entertaining practice atmosphere.
At the start of practice, the sun was shining bright with temps near 80, with a nice cool breeze every now and then. Not surprisingly, the weather was a popular topic throughout the day, and the consensus was that everyone was happy to be out of the Texas heat for a few days. About 30 minutes into the session, however, it appeared the weather wasn?t going to cooperate as the sun disappeared behind some dark clouds, the temperature dropped a few degrees, and large gusts of wind started to run across the field. At one point, the gusts were strong enough to blow over the bench shields, luckily without anyone getting hurt.
What appeared to be storms heading in our direction never materialized, and after a quick 45 minute session on the turf, we boarded the bus and headed for the hotel, about a 10 minute drive. After checking in, the guys were free to find dinner on their own, rather than having a team meal at the hotel. On this road trip, there?s only one scheduled team meal at the hotel (Sunday?s pre-game meal), compared to two to three on previous road trips. We asked Schellas about it and he says he wants to give the guys more time on their own, so they have a chance to get out of the hotel a little bit on road trips.
By now, we are sure you're proably wondering which players made the trip. Blog followers know that Duilio Davino and Bobby Rhine each suffered injuries at the end of the week, keeping both out for Sunday?s game. In addition, Ray Burse, who has missed the last two games with a right ankle injury will also be out, so the team has again called in League Pool GK Mike Graczyk to serve as the backup. Brek Shea, Josh Lambo and Anthony Wallace were not scheduled to return from the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland until late Saturday so they all stayed behind as well.
Here?s the traveling list: Dario Sala, Mike Graczyk, Dominic Oduro, Drew Moor, Pablo Ricchetti, Chase Wileman, Adrian Serioux, Aaron Pitchkolan, Michael Dello-Russo, Blake Wagner, Kenny Cooper, Eric Avila, Andrew Daniels, Andre Rocha, Marcelo Saragosa, Bruno Guarda, Abe Thompson, Jamie Watson.
36. I'm Sorry... that was just plain bad tonight. The Wizards facing another undermanned team (as many as 8 starters missing) and lay a complete egg in DC losing 2-0. The first shut out of the season for Zach Wells and DC United. Yet again, the Wizards offense looked anemic, refusing to take shots until it was too late and then putting them wide or straight at the keeper. Honestly it could have been worse, but for Jamie Moreno hitting the post for DC in the first half. Minus the offensive outburst against Columbus, the Wizards have struggled to score during the run of play. Outside of the Columbus game, only 2 of the Wizards goals have come during the run of play since MAY! The offense just isn't doing it. Something needs to be done, and at this point, I'm seriously considering waiving my reservations I had about Carlos Ruiz and Jeff Cunningham if they'll just put the ball in the net. The offense just isn't good enough.
This loss feels so much like the 3-0 loss to Columbus this year, it's not even funny. At least we didn't have to face this one in front of our own eyes like that one. There was no cohesiveness, the midfield was basically bypassed all night, as the defense just played long balls up to Davy Arnaud and Ryan Pore. Speaking of Pore, what's it say about offseason signing Ivan Trujillo, that he can't even start over 4th year forward, and fan whipping boy, Pore? My hope when Wolff was signed was that it would push Pore to the end of the bench, but obviously it hasn't happened.
Wizards Man of the Match - Davy Arnaud- I wanted to give the award to no one tonight, cause honestly, did anyone really earn it? In the end, it's going to Arnaud, who was his old self on the field again tonight, hustling and working for every ball, he can't do it all himself.
37. Wizards @ United Game Day #18 Greetings from RFK Stadium, home of D.C. United. The stadium is old but comfy for the home side usually, but they've struggled recently at home.
Will Daniel is in town for this match again. If you don't recall a story from earlier this year, check it out here. Daniel first met Jimmy Conrad back in 1997 when Conrad was a member of UCLA's NCAA Final 4 team. Daniel, a young man with Down's Syndrome, has stayed close with Jimmy and some other members of that team (including Sasha Victorine) ever since. I ran into him and his mother, Pat, at the team hotel, and both referred to me as "the blog man". I'll take that as a compliment.
Our team hotel, supposedly a former mental hospital, is haunted. Lance Watson claims to have heard whispers in his room last night and his door mysteriously opened this morning while no one was touching it. Weird stuff.
Got out for some sightseeing today. I've been to D.C. before, but never seen the White House, so that was kind of neat. Saw a few pick-up soccer games on the National Mall, also cool.
Unfortunately Josh Wolff's hamstring strain will keep him out tonight. Pore replaces him in the starting lineup up front, and Matt Marquess will make his first appearance in the 18-man roster this season. Nelson Pizarro is back in the 18 after making his MLS debut last week.
38. Fantasy Soccer Bootroom 2.21 ? Missing In Action Fantasy Soccer Bootroom is a weekly column devoted to the ins and outs of fantasy soccer, especially the game played on www.mfls.com, and the RevMFLS division.
Now is the time of year where you have to keep an eye on suspensions due to yellow card accumulation. If you took my advice last week and started looking [...]
Six Word Novel Preview: Even on points, a six-point game.
Opponent: Kansas City Wizards
TV: 2 August 2008, Comcast Sportsnet, DireckKick, MLSLive.tv
Radio: WFED 1050AM, SRN
Previous Meeting: March 29, 2008 - KC 2 - United 0
The Stakes:
Both teams sit on 22 points in the Eastern Conference, so this game could provide a six-point swing in the standings if either team manages to win. United needs to separate itself from other playoff-contenders, but to do so it must return to the form that saw them win 4 straight regular season games. Gallardo, Peralta, Quaranta, and Olsen are still out due to injury and Martinez received a red card in the Houston game.
New signing Ivan Guerrero could make his debut. If so, I'd imagine he'd start in Martinez's place. I'm not sure what the Coach's planned role for Guerrero is when the team is at full strength, but I expect that he'll be more useful in the midfield.
One club hasn?t played well at home in recent weeks (both in league play and out) and the other hasn?t lost since mid-June. Its one of those classic, something has to give kind of games.
Without 3 starters, United should be ready for the taking. The problem is, I thought that earlier this year when the Wizards took on an undermanned New England side, and we were played off the field.
Expectations:
I'd like to see United reverse its current losing streak at home. How's that for understatement? But against a confident and winning KC team, its going to be very difficult. Even more so missing our DP and three other regular starters.
What to look for?
Who can run the offense? Will Moreno drop back into the midfield to generate the attack, or can we give Fred another shot at play-making from the center of the field? Clearly, Rod Dyachenko isn't the answer, but we have few answers here..
Will Guerrero start? It's a pretty tough game to make a debut in, but if he's worth a partial allocation, we should expect him to contribute from the get go.
What are the coach's adjustments? It'll be up to the coach to motivate a team on the skids and one that has to rely on a lot of young players. Soehn will need to make a lot of adjustments before and during the game to make sure it's lineup plays to its strengths and doesn't concede much to Kansas City.
Anyways, the Wizards travel to DC this weekend to take on United. The two teams come in going in entirely different directions. The Wizards are undefeated in their last 6 games (2-0-4). DC on the other hand has lost their last 4 games, all at home. Can the Wizards continue their undefeated streak and send DC to their 5th straight home defeat? Things do look pretty good for KC heading into the game. DC will likely be without 3 starters, as both designated player Marcelo Gallardo and Gonzalo Peralta are both out after having hernia surgery. They will also be without Gonzalo Martinez, who picked up a red card against Houston last Wednesday. With those three out, the Wizards will have a better shot at taking the game.
While Josh Wolff left practice early yesterday, it didn't seem to serious as he left the field, and I'd expect/hope that he starts tomorrow. If not, we'll likely see Ryan Pore starting. As for the lineup, I'd expect something similar to what we've seen the last few games.
PREDICTION - Without 3 starters, United should be ready for the taking. The problem is, I thought that earlier this year when the Wizards took on an undermanned New England side, and we were played off the field. Hopefully KC has learned from that and the Wizards can bring the full 3 points home from DC. And in the process leap frog over them and continue our move up the table.
KC - 2 (Lopez, Arnaud) DC - 1 (Emilio)
UPDATE From the KC Star today, it looks like Davy Arnaud will be moving into the striker position, while Claudio Lopez drops into the midfield. So I'd expect the lineup to look more like this:
With this lineup, I'd expect Lopez to be able to float all over the field.
41. Star Looks at Open Roster Spot A little over a week ago, I wrote about a couple options that the Wizards had inside the league in regards to using their recently acquired allocation money to get another striker. One of those is off the table, as Chad Barrett is now in Toronto for the rights to Brian McBride. That does still leave two of my potential trades on the table.
Today, the Star picked up the story, as Pete Grathoff, talked with both Peter Vermes and Coach Onalfo about the roster spot. From the quotes from Vermes, it appears that the Wizards will indeed be looking within the league to fill their vacant roster spot, through a trade most likely. Gratoff mentions both Carlos Ruiz and Jeff Cunningham, two players that I mentioned as potential trade targets for the Wizards should they choose to make a move within the league. Should they choose to look outside the league, then they'll need to make the move in the next 14 days, as the secondary transfer window for MLS closes on August 15th. The Wizards have another month after that to make a trade within the league.
Late this afternoon, we here at the FCD Blog were able to witness Juan Toja signing off on the final document that sealed his transfer from FC Dallas to Romanian club Steaua Bucuresti.
With parties from three different countries involved, and documents being sent / read / translated in three different languages, it took some time. In the end, Juan was here at the stadium early this evening, signing the last document and faxing it in.
He cleaned out his locker, and said goodbye to the staff that was here. He then sat down for a quick interview with our FCD TV crew. He's got a lot to do tonight, and tells us he'll be here early on Saturday morning (8 am) to say goodbye to his (now former) teammates before they leave for Toronto. He will likely be on his way on Saturday as well.
Here's a little video tribute...enjoy...
NOTE: seem like we fixed the IE problem. All browsers should be working now.
44. The Turf Field To say it was hot this morning is not really doing the temperature justice. The humidity alone made this one of the hottest days we've had. Enough that even Schellas told us he stopped practice a bit short.
The team started off training on the Dr. Pink field, which has the same field turf surface as we'll be playing on in Toronto on Sunday. After about 45 minutes, they moved back over to the adidas Field for another 45 minutes.
Before practice started, we found out that Duilio sustained an avulsion fracture of the big toe on his left foot. This happened toward the end of Thursday's practice, and x-rays this morning confirmed it. He'll be out, at the minimum, for Sunday's game, and likely longer. During the practice, Bobby Rhine rolled the same left ankle he's been recovering from. He's also out for Sunday.
TrialistAssanJatta's trial is over. He was not here today.
Jamie Watson's week turned out very positive him - he was offered and accepted a contract following practice. He'll be joining the 28-man roster.
45. U.S. U-20 Finish third at Milk Cup Just got a short note from Anthony Wallace informing us that the U.S. U-20's beat Belgium 2-0 to finish in third place in the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland. The FCD players will be returning to Dallas on Saturday.
46. Interns Wanted Hey everyone, if you know any college-aged students who attend a school in the KC area and might want a fall internship, we still have a few spots available. We offer internships for class credit only, so don't expect to make a killing working for us in that capacity. On the good side, five current full-time employees (including yours truly) began their Wizards careers as interns, so there is definite upward mobility.
Possible departments: -Sales -Public Relations (English and Spanish-speaking) -Community Relations -Corporate Partnerships -Finance -Operations -Merchandising
If you're interested, send an email (subject line internships) to krogers@kcwizards.com with a resume and cover letter attached. We'll ask for at least two working days per week and are very flexible. Hope to hear from you soon!
Hillcrest will be on the road trip with the guys today, so the blog will be dead for another day (yesterday was a slow news day). I'll check in with Harrington on his hair suggestions and get some feedback. Also, we've got a nifty new camera, so expect more and better behind-the-scenes photos than usual.
Things seemed be getting back to normal today. For instance, it was back to mid-90's by the time training ending some time after 11 am. Also, Juan Toja was back to full training.
We're told that Bruno Guarda has received his visa, which makes him eligible to play in games held in the U.S. However, since he's Brazilian and we're playing in Toronto on Sunday, he needs another visa to enter Canada. There's a good chance he'll have that by Friday afternoon, and then its up to the coaching staff to see if he'll travel.
Friday will be the last practice in town before Toronto. Normally, we'll train here on the morning before we fly to road games. However, this time we're leaving early on Saturday morning and training at BMO Field later in the afternoon.
So, about the photo above - on Monday, our kit man Marcus rode his bike in to work. Dominic Oduro and Aaron Pitchkolan borrowed the FCD Blog camera. As you can see, Dom can take good pictures.
48. The Turf claims another victim? About Olivier Tebily leaving…
Originally brought in in April to try to shore up Toronto’s weak central defense, Tebily looked solid and capable of handling the pounding rigors of MLS. But the turf at BMO Field took its toll and an ankle injury in June sidelined him for a long time.
Ronnie, Huckerby, Tebily - all are [...]
49. Steve Nash wants to bring MLS to Vancouver in 2011 It was recently announced that MLS hopes to bring two more new teams to the league in 2011. Seattle is coming on next season and Philadelphia the following year. Now all the talk of expansion teams is in Canada. I do still think that St. Louis will probably get one and likely Vancouver could get [...]
50. Wallace from the Milk Cup FCD has three players on the U.S. U-20 that is currently playing in the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland. Being the veteran of the three, we asked Wally if either he could send us a short note on how things are going, or ask one of the rookies...Anthony's note:
"I have a room to myself, so it'll just be my update on the trip, if that's fine.
Hey what's goin on guys. Yep, all is good out here. And yes, I have been hearing all the buzz going on with the team right now...very interesting time at FC Dallas these days.
We followed our game against the Galaxy on matchtracker, caught it about 35 minutes in and saw we were up 3-0. I haven't talked with anyone that was at the game yet, but I'm sure we dominated play.
The trip has been going really well. It's always good to be back with old friends, teammates, coaches, and staff. For the first two days, we stayed at a university in Belfast that was nice. Rooms were extra small. I mean, they were dorms, ha. We had a match against a local professional team while we were there. It was a good test for us because at the last minute we found out we were playing against them at a totally different field than where we practiced. We got a good result there, winning 3-1.
We took about 45 min bus ride from Belfast to Ballymena the next day, had two good practice sessions before the opening game against Northern Ireland, which we lost 3-1. No need to talk about that game.
Today (Wednesday) we played Wales and won 4-0 which was a great turn-around for us. Josh and I played 90, and Brek played like 75 - and he scored the first two goals for us. Now on Friday we play for 3rd place against Belgium.
So, good trip so far. Hopefully we get another win on Friday."
51. Questions/Comments Let’s take this chance to get to some questions and comments that have come across my Inbox lately. I read them all, but I’ve been busy so I haven’t had a chance to reply…
If the usl is the lowest level of the msl how do you explain the record against vancouver, toronto was only able [...]
52. ?nuff said?. Just a little sample from this article:
No.
I rather we play the 5-5-0 than to have a locker room cancer like him. WE can overcome this seasons results, but if we bring in a cancer like him we may be paying for it for longer than 1 season. “For what he brings to the table he is [...]
Abe's bending shot to the far right side in Sunday's 4-0 win over LA was voted as the MLS Goal of the Week today through fan voting on MLSnet.com. The last GOW by a Dallas player was Chris Gbandi's strike against RSL in 07.
Photo: Rick Yeatts / FC Dallas
54. Another Former Wizard Moves Former Wizards midfielder, Khari Stephenson has moved clubs. Stephenson, who would have played fellow former Wizard, Ryan Raybould, at his old club in Sweden, AIK, has now moved on to Aalesunds FK of the Norwegian Tippeligaen, the top division in Norway. Aalesunds is also the home to American keeper, Adin Brown, and midfielder Pat Noonan (who could be on his way back to MLS).
55. Brian McBride traded to Chicago Fire The rumors were true. Brian McBride is going to join the Chicago Fire. Toronto FC had the right to McBride, but McBride made it known that he wanted to play near his hometown which is right near Chicago. The Fire sent forward Chad Barrett to TFC along with future considerations in order [...]
56. Now Get Your Own Pizarro Love SF over at The Offside Rules has decided that our man Nelson Pizarro has something special about him. So much so, that he wants to feature a fan QnA on his blog about the young KC midfielder. Head over to the site and submit your questions to SF. We'll have Nelson answer the best of the best, and the very tip-top question will receive some sort of prize from SF, Hillcrest or the both of us. Enjoy.
57. Leathers Gets a Makeover Rookie defender/midfielder Jonathan Leathers likes his hair shaggy. So much so that he didn't get a haircut from the time he joined the Wizards in KC (January) to the team's return from Dallas early this month (July 5). Holy cow! That's a long time. The kind people over at ink decided that Jonny need a trim, and were generous enough to set it up. Read the ensuing "Manformation" article over at inkkc.com here (main story) and here (Leathers focused, with pictures) or pick up your own copy at one of those neat little green receptacles around town.
58. Again, what happened?? Apparently Olivier Tebily wants out? He hasn’t played much, which I assumed was due to undisclosed injury - but it would appear that he just hasn’t been cracking the squad.
I have to say, if I’m a professional who’s played in Europe, and I’m falling behind Velez on the depth chart, I’d want out too.
So what’s [...]
It's been a couple busy days upstairs since the last training session...The guys had Tuesday off, and were back at work today. Schellas addressed the team prior to practice about the recent announcements...the acquisition of Bruno...that Kenny is staying...that Arturo is leaving...and Juan Toja's status.
Then, he put the team through what is becoming a normal session...long and intense, but functional. The day ended with a running exercise - though that may be an understatement, as the guys were gassed when it ended...they met at the end of the training on the field and learned they have another session at the Michael Johnson Performance Center this afternoon. These are the days we?re glad we get to type.
MORE NOTES:
**While we still see the FCD name in media in Wales and Norway, we're moving on to other countries. Hitch tells us that the talks with Steaua Bucharest (Romania) have progressed, but nothing has been finalized. Toja, recovering from his quad injury, worked on the side with the training staff, and joined the team for the last drill of the day - the running part.
**Remember Victor Sikora - the forward / midfielder from Holland that trained with us a couple weeks ago? We're looking to bring him back...nothing has been finalized, but the coaching staff really likes him...
**Last Friday we told you that John Ellinger and Schellas were going to meet to discuss John's trip to Argentina...they?ve identified two River Plates players that they?ve requested permission to bring in, to see them with the current group: Lucas Gomez, a 21- year old forward, and 19-year old Lucas Malacarne, a left-sided defender. It's likely that next week we'll have both of the Lucas? and Victor training with us.
**Jamie Watson is here again. The staff called him in for Monday's reserve game, and asked him to come back for the rest of the week.
**Forward Assan Jatta from The Gambia is still training with the team. Schellas tells us that they wanted to see him in a larger field session, which was one part of today's training.
**Former UCSB goalkeeper Bryant Rueckner, who played with Eric Avila in college and John Ellinger knows from residency, has been training with us since last week.
**Arturo Alvarez stopped in to say goodbye to the team and staff, and pick up his belongings. He?s on his way to San Jose on Thursday.
**Bruno Guarda (in photo above) participated in his practice with the team today. He?ll wear #12. He's not technically a Generation adidas player, but like the Crew's Robbie Rogers, who was also taken in a lottery last year, he does not count on the senior roster. He does count as our fourth Brazilian player. Bruno will be eligible to play once he gets his P-1 visa, which could be next week.
**Dax McCarty played the second half for the U.S. Olympic team in a scoreless draw with Ivory Coast in the opening match of the ING Cup in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The U.S. plays Cameroon on Saturday.
**Brek Shea and Anthony Wallace played the full 90 while Josh Lambo was an unused sub on Monday for the U.S. U-20 in a 3-1 loss to host Northern Ireland. They play Wales today.
60. KC Star Features Juniors For those of you who didn't see today's D-7 section of the KC Star, jump over to kcstar.com's version of Bob Luder's feature on some KCW Juniors players. Luder focuses on some of the kids who are making long treks (three from Iowa, one from Wichita) to practice and play each week with our Juniors.
As you know, the program has been a huge success in its year-plus of existence. Our U-19s just finished as runners-up in the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship event and the U-17s were runners-up a year ago in their first-ever tournament, the inaugural SUM U-17 Cup. Our program will continue to grow until, hopefully, we see some homegrown talent take the field at Hillcrest Road, the stadium.
61. MLS Power Poll - Week 18 Blue Blooded Journo Power Poll is a weekly poll of all the BBJ bloggers. The rankings are compiled to form one composite list.
Big road win for Columbus moves them back up to second. Big home win for Dallas moves them up one spot.
62. Alright, what happened?? We sit now just past the halfway point of the season, and enthusiasm is waning. We?re talking across the board too, not just on the fan or player level. But we?ll start with the fans because, in a way, I understand it better. Frustrated is perhaps the best way to describe the average fan at [...]
63. July Player of the Month July is almost over, but the Wizards don't have another game until August. In the month of July, the Wizards went 1-0-3 in league. Add in a win and a draw in the US Open Cup and the Wizards were undefeated with a 2-0-4 record in the month of July. Unlike June, there are plenty of people with stats and play this month that could be considered for the Player of the Month award. Here are the candidates I considered.
Claudio Lopez - The Wizards DP had 2 assists in league play, but added another goal and assist to his total in the US Open Cup. Combine that with his continued play on the field and it's been a productive month.
Davy Arnaud - Arnaud had a goal and an assist in the month of July, and has returned to his regular high energy play that we came to expect from him before his off season surgery.
Jack Jewsbury - Jewsbury had two assists against the Crew, and while had some trouble defensively as well, has helped the Wizards go undefeated since he moved to right back. His work on Sunday night helping to shut down Blanco solidified his position as a candidate.
Kurt Morsink - Morsink has been one of the fans punching bags this season, but his play in the month of July has started to change people's minds. He's been more composed in the midfield and has picked up 2 assists. Along with that, he had a secondary assist taken away and another ball set up the own goal against Columbus.
This month I'm giving the award to...photo courtesy Thad Bell
Morsink has come into his own this month. He's been composed in the central midfield and even started to cut back on the cards. In fact, his godding got Blanco his yellow card that will see him suspended for their next game. While I can see a case made for any of the 4 guys I've listed, I'm going to give this one to Morsink.
64. Pizarro Gets Some Love Our friend Bob Rusert, regular Wizards contributor at MLSnet.com and kcwizards.com posted a nice story after Saturday's match about the debut of midfielder/forward/defender Nelson Pizarro. I list all those positions because, well, I've seen him play in all of them. Pizarro has three goals and two assists this year for the reserve team, scored one goal against Atlas AC and helped create the winner with a long run and low, hard shot that the goalkeeper couldn't save. He's a bundle of energy all the time and always has a smile on his face. I remember Pizarro from the open tryout. He looked good then, and he continues to look good whenever he steps onto the field. His is a truly good story.
Pizarro here on the left with fellow Open Tryout dude Kevin Souter shortly after the pair signed developmental contracts.
65. HAHA Moment of the Day You've probably all seen this by now, but check out this blunder in the South Korea-Ivory Coast match yesterday.
The U.S. Olympic team takes on Ivory Coast tomorrow at 5:30 a.m. CT in a pre-olympic mini tournament called the ING Cup. Check out the Olympic team's blog for more inside info here. The game won't be on TV, but you can watch live updates on ussoccer.com's match tracker system.
66. Cooper Staying FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock issued the following statement regarding transfer offers for Kenny Cooper.
?We received offers from multiple international clubs for Kenny Cooper during this transfer window, but we elected to decline them all. The international interest is a credit to Kenny, FC Dallas and the ever increasing talent level in Major League Soccer.
?Winning championships is our priority, and we feel strongly that Kenny will continue to be an important part of our success as we compete for the MLS Cup this year and in the future.?
67. What are the chances your team makes the playoffs? This morning I found a great site that tracks the odds that your team is going to make the playoffs at each week. Sports Club Stats tracks 8 different sports including Major League Soccer. It looks like a pretty neat thing Mr. Ken Roberts has built, a bit complex but still pretty cool.
So [...]
With his two goals and assist in the 4-0 win over LA, Kenny today was voted the MLS Player of the Week. Its the second time he's received the honor in his career. Congrats Kenny!
The Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected each week of the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from The North American Soccer Reporters (NASR).
PHOTO: MLSnet.com (Rick Yeatts/Getty Images)
69. FCD Trades Arturo Alvarez We had the sense this may be a busy week - late this afternoon, we completed a trade that send Arturo Alvarez to the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for allocation money and their first round pick in the 2009 SuperDraft, which was originally Houston's - acquired last week in exchange for forward Kei Kamara.
Artie was here for three and a half seasons, playing in 85 regular season game and scoring 11 goals with 11 assists. We wish him well (except when he plays Dallas, of course).
70. Thank You Fans To everyone that came out yesterday, a huge THANK YOU. Though we didn't get a victory, the atmosphere was outstanding. Chicago supporters forced The Cauldron to be as loud and boisterous as ever. I sat outside the press box for most of the match and enjoyed the sights and sounds, including this view currently up at kcwizards.com.
Yes, those are fans who couldn't get tickets to the sold-out match standing on top of a vehicle to watch the game from the CAB scoreboard.
Don't forget, if you didn't make this match but want to see us take on the Fire this year, we host them again on Sunday, October 5 at 2 p.m. CT (Telafutura match, so a mid-day start time) at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Buy tickets for that here now, as it will likely also sell out. Hopefully some people who came out yesterday only to see Blanco enjoyed the environment at CAB and will come back out again.
Here we go...the first news (of the week)...today, we acquired former SMU midfielder Bruno Guarda from Colorado. We give up our 2nd and 3rd round picks and allocation money. Bruno will occupy a place on the teams developmental roster.
Bruno played three seasons under Schellas at SMU. He's pretty excited to go pro, and have the opportunity to finish his degree here in Dallas.
The Rapids won a special lottery to obtain the rights to Guarda on July 22. Special lotteries are conducted by the league among interested teams for players who are not eligible to be discovered and who were not drafted (like Robbie Roger's last year). Twelve of the 14 teams participated in last week?s lottery for Guarda?s rights.
72. From the front office... We've received and answered questions from the media about both Kenny Cooper and Juan Toja. However, we continue to see inaccurate reports on various internet sites.
Yes we have received offers for Juan Toja and Kenny Cooper, and other players as well. Nothing has been finalized with any of them. It's a tribute to the players on this team, and the growth of the league when foreign clubs are watching the talent that plays in our league.
Last week, there were internet stories that erroneously reported that Toja had been sold. That never happened. Media that has asked any of us that are actually involved had the right story.
Toja never told any member of the media that the teams had agreed to terms, and was visibly frustrated when he was told that such a quote was attributed to him. Now, we have media reporting the Kenny Cooper is on his way to Europe. Which was news to him as he finished his recovery session and watched the reserve game on the adidas field this morning here at Pizza Hut Park.
Most fans and media understand that when there are any negotiations, it?s not common for teams to discuss those matters publicly. If anything gets resolved, we?ll be here to let you know, obviously when all the final i's are dotted and t's are crossed.
Thanks again for your support of FC Dallas.
73. FCD Reserves 2, LA Galaxy Reserves 2 Michael Dello-Russo scored in the 90th minute to give the FC Dallas Reserves a 2-2 tie against the LA Galaxy Reserves this morning on the adidas Field.
Ricardinho put FCD up early with a goal in the 14th minute. Chase Wileman sent a ball from the left across the field to Bobby Rhine, who one-touched the ball forward to Ricardinho in stride. Ricardinho calmly poked the ball past onrushing LA keeper Josh Wicks.
The Galaxy evened the score on a 52nd minute goal from Bryan Jordan, and then Alan Gordon put LA up 2-1 just twelve minutes later with a header off an Israel Sesay cross.
Dello-Russo helped FCD pick up the point just a minute before the final whistle when he received the ball near the right sideline. Dello-Russo then dribbled to his left toward the center of the field, cut back just inside the penalty area, and struck a hard shot into the upper left corner of the net.
Full recap will be posted on fcdallas.com shortly.
74. Updates?. …are coming. Apologies for the long wait, but check back over the next 24hrs.
75. Olympics and All-Stars The Olympics only comes around once every 4 years - so I figured I could take some time to think about the Olympics for a little bit. I had a hard time finding a full Olympic schedule - so here ya go: 2008 Beijing Olympics Soccer Schedule.
So a camping trip this weekend kept me [...]
76. A Set of Goose Eggs Photo courtesy of Alan Hainkel (Caught Looking Photography)
Last night, the Wizards and the Chicago Fire played to a 0-0 draw that saw both teams have some decent chances and a few PK calls turned away. Throughout the game, it seemed that it was Chicago that had the better of the chances, as Wizards goalkeeper had to come up big on multiple occasions to keep Kansas City in the game. On the offensive end, the Wizards didn't really test Jon Busch as much, but they had their chances. A poor touch from Josh Wolff kept him from getting a good shot on frame against the Chicago keeper. The Wizards also had the strongest claim for a penalty, when a cross struck the arm of a Chicago defender. The foul was called, but placed outside the box. Replays showed that a case could easily be made for it being a penalty kick.
In the end, though, a draw was a fair result, as both teams had the
Coach Onalfo trains during the session. His green team ended up winning the final 1-0 over Peter Vermes' orange team.
Defender Jimmy Conrad and midfielder Kerry Zavagnin hold a walking Gatorade ad and advance toward trainer Chet North as team President Robb Heineman looks on.
Chet was just minding his own business.
Until....
Splash down.
I heard it was cold.
Have a look at Chet's assistant, Kenny Ishii, second from the left in blue. He was enjoying watching his boss get doused.
Then PV got in on the fun.
Happy Birthday Chet..jpg)
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