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

This is not a loan, correct?

 

Correct, Andy Edwards tweeted that Toni's deal is a permanent transfer, not a loan. The #9 jersey did not go unclaimed for very long.

 

Very bold choice for a number, but the #9 was one of the lone "low" numbers available.

 

Sources saying that he will occupy the 5th of 8 international roster spots. Beiler, Uri, Medranda, Toni for sure ... I thought both Jerome and P Joseph (both Hatian) would use international spots making it 6 ... wonder if the status on one of those two has changed (or if Joseph has been put on IR and we just haven't seen that officially announced).

 

Dang, you guys gotta be more specific. First couple of posts and all I see is we signed "Toni" and he's going to wear number 9. I started to get really excited.

Oh well, so who's the Spanish Toni going to replace?

 

Figured we wouldn't repost things we only know from the Sporting website. Probably not replacing anyone since we only have 29 of 30 roster spots filled (with 2 players drafted still around but unsigned).

Like vividox said ... depth for the left side (LB and LW).

I wonder what this means for a player like Soony. Presumably our RW/LW options are Zusi, Sapong, Zizzo, Toni, Peterson, Saad (not in that order in MY opinion). Does Soony get some time in OKC or ORL? You're not sending Peterson there because it's not like he needs games to develop. Seems like Zizzo and Sapong are ahead of Saad and this Toni player has a chance to be as well (not assuming so, but it might be safe to do so). Does that mean Soony may get sent down? I'm trying to figure out who does go on loan and when (Vermes said he'd know in 2 weeks ... that was 3+ weeks ago I believe).

Everyone is assuming Kempin to Oklahoma City (for good reason). I'm guessing Duke and Ellis to Orlando. I think Lopez in Oklahoma City is also a possibility. IF either of the two draft picks are signed as player #30 (or 31 if P Joseph is on the IF) then they are options too. I think E-PB stays in KC due to high school commitments and most other players are too vital to send down. Soony is an interesting option IMO though.

 

Joseph takes an international spot, Jerome does not.

 

Never understood Saad's fall from favor last year. I thought he was really getting somewhere when suddenly he stopped making the lineup. Him being sent to OKC or OCSC would be a really bad deal for him. Maybe he'll move towards midfield depth? I think he could be a very solid replacement in the midfield for Benny should the need arise. But then, no one asks me.

Been trying to find info on Toni. He's a little guy, I see. Fast? Tricky? I strongly suspect he'll be pushing for the winger spot instead of the fullback one.

 

Not sure I agree with Soony being sent down as a bad deal ... given how he's younger than Dwyer was and would presumably get the time and potentially come back and battle for a spot near the end of the season and playoffs similar to Dwyer. I'm with you though, I rate him higher than Sapong and Peterson for sure on the wing ... and don't know enough about Zizzo and Toni to say where they fall. Very strange.

 

Thanks!

 

Less a bad deal than the fact that he already broke through on the professional stage and through no slump of his own fell out of favor. That's a rough reason to end up in the third division. Guys like Dwyer last year hadn't ever made any sort of impact at the top level. That's why it seems rough to me.

 

Are you guys getting worked up over a demotion to Saad that hasn't happened?

 

There is no worked up, and this is all of course hypothetical. Really, I'm only a little bit sore about how Saad vanished late in the season when he looked like he was really starting to break out a bit. My memory is probably sorta fuzzy, but I don't recall that really being his fault.

 

Agree, no "worked up", just speculation about who will be sent down, what the wing depth chart looks like with the new addition.

I actually hope we see more of Zusi in the midfield next to Benny and in front of Uri, providing more options at wing for Toni, Zizzo, & Saad.

 

So, do we know if Dovale is left-footed?

 

He is.

I would have agreed about putting Zusi in the midfield last year, but the more I've seen of him on the right wing, the more I think that's his ideal position right now. Plus it gives Benny run of the midfield, which would put Sporting at its strongest. Not sure what I feel about the left wing, though, as between all these possible guys we don't have anything like a clear frontrunner.

 

I agree that Zusi is a great RW ... just wanted to get some more technical attackers out there than what Nagamura brings to the midfield. Don't question his Bite/Work Rate, that sort of thing but I'm a fan of ball on the ground/technical attacking soccer and would love to see Benny pushed back into that box to box role next to Uri after seeing him play that role in Seattle (and I didn't think I'd be saying that). What about this (only because we saw a bit of it in preseason) ...

Dom
LW Beiler Zusi
Benny-Uri
SS - Besler-Collin-Myers

Like you, not positive who the best LW option is in that formation but it would likely be Zizzo/Toni/Saad if you're trying for possession and attacking through the midfield on the ground.

I can see this more when chasing a game, but I hope we see it more no matter what.

 

I do actually like that setup, but it's a very forward-minded midfield. Neither Benny nor Uri have tremendous bite defensively, and so they're either gonna have to be totally a-game and up for defending, or the back line will have a tough tough day.

Funny how Vermes is all about tough, hard workers and all that... and his last few big signings have been poacher Bieler, attacking mid Benny, and little winger Toni. Now, the first two have shown a great willingness to adapt to Peter's style, but I find it intriguing that these are the kind of players they're going after. Slow going for him, but it looks like he's trying to change the team to something cleverer and better on the ground. Moving in that direction worked very well last year--let's see what it does this year.

I'm mildly optimistic.

 

I thought Zizzo was right sided.

 

Having a real left sided winger will be amazing for us. We had it in Convey for a period (when he felt like playing) and the ability to swap Convey/Kamara at the time was very useful. I suspect we will see Toni link up with Sinovic more than we have seen in the past and be a bit more like what Myers/Kamara had (when I ran the statistics at one point in mid-2012 they easily had the most passes between them of any two person combination).

We'll be able to get some better natural width on both sides of the field and open up play for our center 3 to operate... and then we'll be able to swap the two wingers and give the outside defenders something completely different to think about.

Now, I will say that I totally crush on Zusi so keep that in mind, but I love how he sees the field. He makes really good runs off the ball both to free himself and to open space up for teammates. He reads the defense very well and he has answers to break them down. What's even better is that Feilhaber has shown the ability to do this as well and when both Zusi and Feilhaber are operating in the same space I think the combine well. The goal v. Houston which was Zusi-Feilhaber-Dom had some of that... Zusi vacates the center of the Houston midfield by taking the ball right by Feilhaber and then giving it to him in space where Feilhaber is now past Houston's 2nd line of defense.

I never expected to be putting Feilhaber in the Espinoza/Nagamura role, but I agree with those who thought that Saturday was a great day for him and I think he can definitely pull that off now. Having a midfield of Zusi-Feilhaber-Uri is almost scary in its vision and passing ability. Combine that with the space that will be created by having wingers on the touch lines and fullbacks which can overlap...

Basically - I have have been of the opinion that the one position we could most benefit from was LW for over a year now. I was really hoping that Convey would pull his shit together and be the man and was quite disappointed when it was apparent he was not. Suffice to say that I'm quite excited to see what this guy can do for us and am desperately hoping he pans out. Unfortunately, I also consider that it takes like 5 months to get used to SKC by itself and a few months just to convert to MLS, so I kinda fear that we won't really see his potential until the end of the season or even next year... but there's always the hope that he's a quick study and already in Sporting Fit shape.

 

Probably because it's easier to turn a proven poacher or proven attacking mid into a tough, hard worker, than the other way around.... And like you hinted at, so far it seems to be working with Bieler and with Benny.

 

Yes ... I think if Zizzo is in, Zusi is moved. Most of our wingers need/should be versital enough to play the LW ... especially since Toni is the only "natrual" left sided attacker.

 

Also ... I'm pretty sure the "shots, shots, shots, shots" with very few "finishes" from everyone on the team lead Vermes to determine exactly what you said ... you can make guys hustle easier than you can teach them to finish.

 

I looked up the stats last year. But Kansas City was way out ahead of everyone else in shots in league history. I can't recall where our shots on goal stat was (no more than even with the other top teams) and our goals is well behind some other teams.

Better accuracy or shot selection and we might have a couple more stars by now.