From MLS Net WASHINGTON, D.C. (Monday, November 11, 2002) - The play of the day belonged to Kansas City Wizard midfielder Chris Klein. Klein, with the ball at his feet and closely guarded, earned himself a moment of separation from his marker and targeted the top right corner. Howard could only watch as Klein's well-paced curling shot settled in just under the upper 90, leaving several players and coaching staff shaking their heads. The team will resume training Tuesday morning.
Way to go, Chris. Seems he does this a lot- its always the near post to. Happened in NY and LA I believe.
Klein played the entire match and got an assist on the first goal. I didn't get to watch the game cause I was at the Chiefs game, but by the numbers he had to impress.
A beautiful cross from the right corner, bending away from the keeper. Olsen buried the header and the Sallie keeper didn't have a chance. Cletis' assist on Victorines' goal was also pretty sweet. He used the memory of an earlier let footed shot to freeze the Sallie defender and lay off a nice pass. All Sasha had to do was redirect. Nice win by th Chef's too.
First, it was a nice win complete with improved defense for the third week running. That's the best KC's defense will get this season. Still, the Chief's are irrellevant. They sit 9th of 16 teams tied with 4 other teams on 5-5. They are the best of the 5 teams at 5-5 as KC is 5-4 in the AFC (The first tiebreaker after DIV record). They have to make up 2 full games in the division (in other words sweep 3-0 and hope for help) to get in, or hope to jump over the 3 other teams currently at #6, 7, and 8 for a wildcard. In addition, hold off the likes of, CLE/PIT (whoever finishes 2nd), defending champ NE, JAX, and the Jets. The remaining sched. has the NFC West for 3 weeks, then the division the last 3 weeks. It will probably take 10-6 to get a road game. That means KC must beat sweep @SEA and ARZ, AND win two of @DEN, StL, @OAK, or SD. Tell me which of those 4 games will KC be favored? Remember KC was given the CLE game on the helmet throwing snafu or KC would be a dead 4-6. KC became irrelevant when they lost to JAX several weeks ago. On to proper matters: Klein again showed skill on several crosses, including the decisive one to shaghead Olsen. His physical presense allowed him to control the ball in ways bigger teams may not allow. It will be interesting to see if his game transfers to, say, the Germany's of the world. I hope we find out during the Confed Cup. Brilliantly, the goal made Chris Berman's Top 10 Plays of the Week at #7. No mention of #17 however as all credit went to the scorer. Klein's continued health will probably net him further time in Nat Camp. Good for KC as his quality should improve. Bad for KC as they have proven they have a tough time scoring anyway and have only an out of position Simu to adequately replace him on the right. With Nat time looming you can probably count on 4-6 games lost during the season. It hurts me to say this: Also during that game it's easy to think that dc could be much improved in 2003. With all of the kids they have playing in the U-20 WC and Olsen back healthy, they could be dangerous. Certainly all things are not equal and other changes will be made between now and then but consider this: dc absolutely has to be better don't they? The Mutts with Bob at the helm and a focused Cletus will not throw away 6-7 games next year. Those were last year's 9 & 10 seeds and the only teams to finish behind our guys. KC is aging rapidly, will have the benefit of a less crowded schedule, and has the same holes we saw all season. Preki will have to play 70+ min. and put 15+ points up, Klein will have to do Klein-ey things, and Igor and Dario will have to emerge at the top end of their learning curves. I know this sounds a bit gloom and doom. It isn't. The difference between champ LA and chump dc is a fairly small one. Smaller still is the one between KC and LA. I've been posting all post-Molnar that the assassin is necessary and absent in KC's scheme. I still believe that is the difference in this league right now.
How did a Chris Klein thread get turned into a Chiefs Playoff possibilities re-recrap? Chris Klein rocked, by the way. I should know, I was there! I saw Luke at the tailgate, so the Wiz-ahds were well represented.
Wearing team jerseys in the press box is frowned upon. Anyway, I was picking up three signed, game worn Wizard jerseys - that combined cost less than the Klein one - at the tailgate. Plus they were all long sleeved. I didn't put any of those on either.