**2012 Sporting Kansas City\Soccer Thread**

[|Zach|]

Sporting Kansas City was eliminated from MLS Cup contention after losing to Houston 2-1 aggreagate over the span of two games. They finished the year as US Open Cup Champions and a Kansas City team record of 63 points.

MLS Cup Final | LA Galaxy vs Houston Dynamo | December 1st, 3:30 CT









Final Regular Season Eastern Conference Standings
Full MLS standings here.



2012 US Open Cup Champions.

[verbaljitsu]

That. Is. Awesome.

[|Zach|]

There are 80-100 supporters making the trip northwest for the Vancouver and Portland games.

[memyselfI]

Ouch. LOL Was that actually in the paper?

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by memyselfI

Ouch. LOL Was that actually in the paper?

Yup.

[memyselfI]

Originally Posted by |Zoccer|

Yup.

When? I must have one.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by memyselfI

When? I must have one.

This morn I believe. Haven't seen it with my own eyes.

[|Zach|]

Pre-Match Ramble: Is it time to tinker with Sporting's lineup?

Charles Gooch
The Kansas City Star
Six games. Six wins. 18 points. This actually needs more numbers to make it a completely mind-altering sentence: Sporting KC have trailed for a grand total of 24 minutes, just finished a streak of not allowing a shot on goal in 335 minutes and, oh yeah, have only ceded one solitary goal.

To amass this streak, manager Peter Vermes has been pretty consistent: 10 players have started all six games. If it weren't for Teal Bunbury getting the nod over C.J Sapong in the season opener, that would probably have been 11 players with six starts.

Chance Myers, Matt Besler, Kei Kamara and Roger Espinoza have logged the maximum 540 minutes. Seth Sinovic is one minute shy of joining that group. Aurelien Collin and Graham Zusi have played more than 500 minutes.

What's more: While 17 players have actually seen the pitch this year, only the top 12 have accrued more than 90 minutes on the field (and Bunbury has just over that mark with 92). The most popular substitutes, Paulo Nagamura and Jacob Peterson, have logged just 85 and 52 minutes of action, respectively.

It's hard to argue with the results and you hate to break up a good thing. But this season is a marathon not a sprint. Kansas City improved its depth in the off-season to combat the length and difficulty of an MLS season.

There are going to be challenging weeks (schedule-wise), injury concerns (KC have been very fortunate to date) and man-management headaches (Michael Harrington could start for a few teams in MLS, but has only 1 minute on the field this season).

With a tough back-to-back ahead (Vancouver on Wednesday and Portland on Saturday) and the first injury (midfielder Julio Cesar has already been ruled out of Wednesday's match with a hamstring strain) though, it's time for Vermes to put the team's depth to good use.

The most likely change will be Nagamura replacing Cesar in the defensive midfield role -- which is what happened last Saturday when Cesar went down in the 6th minute.

After that, it's anyone's guess what Vermes will do. This is the first real test of Vermes' man management skills this season. Can he find a way to rotate his squad without sacrificing the momentum that his starting lineup and substitutes have created?

That's the key question. But there are others to be answered over the next four days.

Does Harrington give Myers/Sinovic a rest at fullback? Will Dom Dwyer get his first start (or, if not that, his first appearance)? Are there minutes for Soony Saad? Can Vermes afford to rest either Espinoza or Zusi with Cesar injured? Is it better to rest a central defender now (Collin or Besler) than risk an injury through over-playing later? Will some of the young guys who impressed during pre-season and/or reserve matches (Dom Dwyer, Soony Saad, Konrad Warzycha) get a chance to prove themselves?

My educated guesses? Peterson and Harrington will get a start (though not at the same time) for Convey and Sinovic, respectively. Dwyer and/or Saad will get minutes off the bench. And, if Cesar returns to the lineup on Saturday, I think we could see Luke Sassano give Roger Espinoza a breather (either as a starter or a second-half sub).

Getting the young guys and the fringe starters action now could be a huge help later if an injury presents itself. The more chances a player can gel with his teammates, the easier the transition.

If, for whatever reason, Vermes decides to continue riding the hot hands (which wouldn't be too crazy: after the team's game on Saturday, it won't play again until May 5) he'll definitely have to start rotating in May when the U.S. Open Cup looms.

About the Match

Kickoff is 9 p.m. on Wednesday on KSMO-TV with Callum Williams and Jake Yadrich on the call.

The Whitecaps are 2-1-2 on the season with both wins coming in the first two weeks of the season. Vancouver last played on April 7 and lost 3-1 to San Jose. The goal was the team's first since March 17th.

Projected line-up for Sporting KC: GK: Jimmy Nielsen-c; DEF: Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic; MID: Paulo Nagamura, Graham Zusi, Roger Espinoza; FWD: Kei Kamara, C.J. Sapong, Jacob Peterson. SUBS: Jon Kempin, Lawrence Olum, Michael Harrington, Luke Sassano, Soony Saad, Teal Bunbury, Bobby Convey.

Prediction time: Kansas City 1, Vancouver 0. The winning streak continues as the slumping 'Caps struggle to score.

[Nickel D]

What has to bother us fans the most is the goal that disappeared due to an unknown foul. Why aren't refs required to announce fouls publicly to all like in American football games (by hand signals)? Why are there not follow-up official explanations/announcements/apologies from the league after they review mysterious/questionable calls so at least some accountability and some sort of closure can occur?

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by Nickel D

What has to bother us fans the most is the goal that disappeared due to an unknown foul. Why aren't refs required to announce fouls publicly to all like in American football games (by hand signals)? Why are there not follow-up official explanations/announcements/apologies from the league after they review mysterious/questionable calls so at least some accountability and some sort of closure can occur?

The foul that was wrongly called was a push off on CJ Sapong.

[|Zach|]

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...1016#f8d72bb2c



SANDY, Utah – There’s no doubt that Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis has strong beliefs about the way in which he would like to see the game of soccer played. Not only does he want to be successful in a results sense, but he also wants to win with an attractive, flowing style.

So is Kreis a fan of the style implemented by Sporting Kansas City, who topped RSL 1-0 over the weekend in a matchup between arguably the two best teams in the league so far this season?

“No, I’m not. I think that it’s an overly physical style,” Kreis told Salt Lake-based ESPN700 Sports Radio on Tuesday. “I think that it relies on being a very disruptive game. There’s not much rhythm to any game that you watch that they play in. I don’t feel like they create a ton of their own chances. I feel like they are picking up a lot of chances off of winning the ball in the opponents' half of the field.”

Kreis did acknowledge, however, that the tactics are working for Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes, no matter the impact on the aesthetic quality of the game.

“I will say this – it’s proving to be extremely effective right now,” Kreis said. “Over the second half of last season and the first six matches, they’ve won a lot of games. And that is [ultimately what dictates] whether you are successful or not. It’s not always whether you play pretty soccer, it’s how many wins you can tuck into your belt, and they’re doing that very well.”

Just don’t expect to see RSL adopt a similar brand of soccer anytime soon.

[DJay23]

Originally Posted by Nickel D

What has to bother us fans the most is the goal that disappeared due to an unknown foul. Why aren't refs required to announce fouls publicly to all like in American football games (by hand signals)? Why are there not follow-up official explanations/announcements/apologies from the league after they review mysterious/questionable calls so at least some accountability and some sort of closure can occur?

Don't they communicate what they saw to an official scorer? Is that what the little Madonna mic is for? I'm seriously asking because I don't know, just guessing.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by DJay23

Don't they communicate what they saw to an official scorer? Is that what the little Madonna mic is for? I'm seriously asking because I don't know, just guessing.

Ya I am not sure about the exact process either.

I know at least in the MLS the refs are pretty communicative about what is going on with a foul be it from just talking on the field or letting the 4th official know.

[DJay23]

Originally Posted by |Zoccer|

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...1016#f8d72bb2c



“No, I’m not. I think that it’s an overly physical style,”

"Overly Physical" What does that even mean?

[Reaper16]

RSL can get pretty chippy themselves. Sounds like a combo of sour grapes/stubbornness from Kreis

[verbaljitsu]

soccer...the only sport where calling someone "physical" is an insult.

Kreis is a moron, and he clearly hasn't watched any games....including the one he was coaching against Sporting in. I guess corner kicks aren't chances...because I distinctly remember seeing about 15 of them. 2 goals scored on those corners.

His critique also doesn't line up with the stats on OPTA. No one can pass against Sporting anywhere on the field, but they especially can't do it in the offensive third, and sporting has dominated possession against every team but RSL, who kicked the ball around their defensive third all night and *actually* created no chances (except for one shot by an offsides player). So SKC isn't just relying on taking the ball and starting fast breaks. They take the ball in their own third and then buildup with possession. Lead the league in shots, shots on goal, corners, and just about everything else.