2013-14 Sporting Kansas City Offseason Thread (Now Comes with Spring Transfer Window!)

We're not even champions 24 hours... Boo on this thread!


Okay, now that that is out of the way.

There are also the Collin rumors where he said he was "misquoted" and the rumors of loans or moves for Zusi and Besler.

Also pretty sure Kronberg is out of contract too.

 

Jimmy should probably just retire while he's a champion.

 

Would not be surprised to see Nielsen retire, this is the perfect time for him.

Sad about Bieler, but wouldn't be surprised if he's gone. Was easily the best option up top in hold up play and scoring.

Isn't Nagamura at the end of his contract as well?

I wonder if we're going to see a wing signing that was rumored before to hopefully hop Sapong in the roster. I don't know if we're going to do go for another forward if Bieler leaves. Dwyer/Bunbury doesn't exactly excite me (maybe Bunbury once he gets a full off-season after his injury will improve for next year).

Midfield depth is another concern of mine. With CCL/USOC/CCL2 and the World Cup we'll be hurting. Don't know if some of the younger guys are ready to be consistant backups or if we'll look at signing someone else.

 

i hope Jimmy sticks around to coach at least. But it would be a good season to end on.

 

Unless Pascarella leaves I'm not sure that Nielsen would take a coaching job with the team.

 

Yeah, Jimmy retiring on a great win and moving into a coaching position with the team would be just wonderful. I love the guy, but you can see a full season really takes it out of him these days. Last night, he looked weary and hurting. Did his business, yes, and even though old man Juninho isn't in the league any longer, I still fear he can badly injure himself. I'd rather not see Kronberg step up as number one, as he's alright but definitely not on the caliber of the two keepers on showcase in the final. Dunno. I always feel a little bad for perennial backups, but that seems to be his most ideal role. Maybe we could sell him to Colorado as a backup, because then he'd know he'd actually get playing time when the injuries set in.

I have grown to love Paolo. Can't decide if SKC should keep him or perhaps find a younger version of him and splash perhaps even DP level cash for the fellow. They were looking at Jorge Claros not long ago... I can't recall if Claros is actually any good or not. Honduran international, I do know, but if we're looking for a Honduran international box to box midfielder...

Bieler... I still don't think he's the right kind of forward for Sporting. I feel like Peter thought he could change the dynamic of the team to suit a forward, but then he never changed the dynamic enough. The Feilhaber/Bieler connection should have been good, but those two never got many minutes together. Speaking of Benny, he'd better frickin stay. But for a forward, I honestly think, despite it not being as internationally cool and trendy and stuff, Sporting needs a number 9. A big man with a solid aerial presence and good footspeed. If nothing else than as a different style of attack from little Mr. Dwyer. If none of our strikers have any aerial game, that's a definite loss to our wingers' options when they look to put the ball into danger areas. If only one guy not on our backline can drop a good header under pressure, then we have a huge hole in our attacking ability.

Hm. Spouting ideas. I dunno. Offseasons are fun! Unless we lose players I like.

 

I thought Bieler and Saad linked up well together. But I wasn't aware of the behind the scenes info on Bieler. I think he is good and I still think I would prefer him to Dwyer right now, but if he doesn't wanna be here and/or PV doesn't want him here...it is what it is. Can't pay someone DP money and play them 10 minutes a game if at all.

I hope we someone better than CJ for the wing, and let either him or Teal move on. We should sell Dwyer to Orlando now at a hugely inflated value since he became a local hero in 1 season (and /or maybe work out some kind of deal for the expansion draft...)

Im going to assume Zusi and Besler stick around til the WC. CCL knockouts will be good for them. If they go on loan I won't mind as long as they don't get hurt hah. I would imagine one or both move on after that. If they go now...that would really suck and I don't know what we would do to replace them.

I hope we don't lose Collin, but I am reasonably comfortable with Opara if we do. I am sure Cup MVP will get him even more attention, so it is certainly a possibility. Would obv need to find depth again though if Ike takes over the starting role. And we need to look for wingback depth again. Early in the season I wasn't high on Chance, but I thought he looked a lot better as the season went on.

If we lose Paulo, we need to get someone else like him...maybe Roger would come back! not sure I would want him (Paulo) back at the salary he is at now though.

Agree that I am not sure I want Kronberg starting if Jimmy goes, and tbh I am not sure Jimmy can go another year. He looked like he aged a lot this season. But like I said, would love him to stay in the organization in some capacity.

 

In last year's version of this thread, the consensus was that Bunbury and Nagamura (along with Kamara) would be out of contract after this season. Given how vastly better the midfield played with Paolo in the lineup, my guess is that SKC will try to re-sign him, even though he is currently has the third-highest compensation on the roster, behind only Zusi and Feilhaber. I was hoping that Lopez would develop into his replacement by now, but obviously that did not come anywhere close to happening.

I honestly have no idea what will (or should) happen with Teal, and it may depend (at least partially) on what happens with Bieler. I watched the recorded ESPN broadcast when I got home from the game last night, and Monica Gonzales sure made it sound like he wants out. That is too bad, given how long Vermes supposedly watched him before finally bringing him on board.

As I have already posted elsewhere, I see the #1 need this off-season as a legitimate winger, preferably left-footed; someone who can run at defenders, make pinpoint passes, and finish consistently. Piece of cake, right? Perhaps that would facilitate returning Sapong to the center forward rotation, where his skills are a better fit. I agree that midfield depth is also desirable, although hopefully Joseph will be good to go.

I believe that everyone else is already under contract, although I am not entirely sure about Myers. The bottom line is that there should be a fair amount of stability. My question is: Who gets dropped to make room for any new acquisitions? My guess is that veteran role players like Gardner and even Peterson are the most likely to be turned loose.

 

We do have a handful of depth players who are aging and never likely to be all that good that we should slowly see replaced with quality youth prospects. I mean, surely we can find a better utility man than Gardner or a better winger than Peterson. They're both alright, but we could do better. So if we were to get a legitimate left winger (I'm sad that this inexplicably rules out Soony, who I think is fantastic, if a bit slow and not quite wingery enough), that would put us at four strikers with our current roster. CJ I think stays both because of his increasing versatility (and increasing quality on the wing, like in the second leg against Houston) and his locker room presence. You can tell the team likes him. At least seems like it. Bieler and/or Teal might go. Dunno. Switch out Nags for a faster, cleverer, meaner box-to-box destroyer, but leave the other two main midfield options the same, keep Zusi out on the wing because he's wonderful there, and I think we're set.

Problem is we're the champions. Every single team is going to look long and hard this year at how to beat us and our style and our players. If we stand still and assume the same thing will work again, it might be a very frustrating year.

 

With our period at the top of the conference the past few years, I think teams have already been trying to figure out how to beat our style, some with more success than others.

 

I think that you explained it right there; he has always been painfully slow to my eyes. Consequently, I actually think that he might have more potential as an attacking midfielder than as a winger; especially since he has gotten a lot better about looking for other options in the final third, rather than just shooting at the first opportunity.

Not sure about this. Nagamura is not just a destroyer, he also has some offensive skills--in fact, I would say that he is slightly better than Espinoza from that one standpoint. This facilitated more rotation among the three midfielders, which is a big reason why the team played better overall when he was in the lineup.

I agree with this, and I am confident that Heineman and Vermes have no intention of standing pat. Back to work tomorrow!

 

Yeah... the more I think about it, the more I want to keep Nagamura here. He's been an essential part of both our USOC final last year and our entire playoff run this year. If he'd been healthier this year, could have been an SS for us. Hm. I like his personality and presence with the team.

Plus he's a super nice guy.

 

Hopefully Sinovic stays and they make him a DP once Bieler leaves. Olum is a beast and should be around for years to come.

 

What?

I love Sinovic, yes. But who makes a DP out of a fullback? Even though I might rate him as one of Sporting's top five players, I don't think he's gonna need to pull in figures way higher than the average. Also Olum is like 30 years old already. He's a fantastic midfield/defense utility option, but unless Uri leaves, he's only going to fill in for injured or tired people.

Ah, I see it. Orlando fan. A little place in your heart for big ol Larry? I can get behind that.

 

based on what evidence? this is one of the more absurd things i've read on here in a long time. i have no problem re-signing nags for a lower salary and making him a regular starter, but he has no business having any offensive responsibilities. none.

aletheist, you're off the hook. mutinyfan has just taken your spot with regard to absurd comments on here. oh my.

 

And yet he did have such responsibilities, repeatedly, and the team as a whole played much better in those games. Granted, he was not the one scoring goals or even creating good chances, but the entire formation had more fluidity because he could interchange with Feilhaber and Rosell throughout. The point is that he was not just a "midfield destroyer," and this helped facilitate a (somewhat) more possession-oriented approach.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...emulates-David-Beckhams-American-success.html

Dwyer says he's going on loan to a championship side in January with an eye at a permanent move.

 

I'd say this is insane but this post is really on par with your USMNT posts

 

What?

I love Seth, he's done fantastic for us (and I'd love for him to get a camp cupcake call up) but DP he is not.

 

This is not about Paulo, in particular, but since he was reference...I don't care about salary. We heard Vermes comment that SKC has been in the bottom handful of teams in salary paid that past few years. If we overspend on a few guys and creep up that list a bit, so be it.

 

I would be disappointed if Dwyer leaves, but I think an offseason loan for him would be interesting.

I have heard that both Zusi and Besler won't be leaving even after the WC and both may be here for a while. Hopefully they figure out what is wrong with HX because I am a big fan of his even though he struggled at times this season. I have also heard that Bieler will most likely be gone which goes along with what everyone is saying.

I think we need a true winger, a no. 9, and a GK. Hopefully we could give Mechack and Kevin Ellis a chance at RB if Myers leave unless Vermes doesn't think either will be good enough to start.

I think a wild card, who could possibly be the odd man out is Soony Saad. He didn't play much (or at all?) in the playoffs and hedidn't seem happy that he was leftout of the 18 yesterday.

 

Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see us buy Medranda and I wouldn't be surprised to see him play more next year.