Why not move Espinoza up switch the Harrington to LB and run out Myers at RB rather than start Wolff.
i likes this Wolff did do pretty well coming on the 2nd half though (aside from that through ball to Bunbury, that was terrible). But he has looked better as a sub than a starter.
The back line's only allowed 1 goal in the last 3 league games, I wouldn't change that up personally. Plus it can't be good for Myers that he didn't even make the bench last week.
What are your thoughts re: Wolff replacing Smith? My thoughts: Wolff is no longer an effective center forward. However, I know that he is going to play defense, and crash the far post when the ball is on the opposite side of the pitch when we attack.
Jeez. Let's just find some fast kid in the USL and sign him to one game contract. That has to be better than Wolff. Right?
Our weakest spot on the roster is the left/right wing depth. We need a quality winger like the desert needs the rain. Kamara is a poor, he likes to pull up when we have the the initiative so we lose it, and when he is forced to put a ball in early he normally over hits it or plays it into the wrong areas. Davy Arnaud has played right mid and wasn't great there, Wolff has done time at right mid this season and is largely average, even Zusi has had a stint out there but aside from Espinoza we really haven't got anybody with experience on the left. Kamara has switched over there a couple of times, but he is even worse over there than the right. There is nothing in the Swope Park Rangers that can help. I am loathe to pull Espinoza out of defense. I'd do what hasn't been mentioned. Stick Kamara up top properly, Zusi on the right, and have Teal out left leaving Wolff on the bench. Teal seems to naturally want to look for Kamara no matter what, I want them on the field together. His passing is better than Kamaras and he is a more direct player less inclined to silly trickery than Kei and more likely to play the simple ball early. If Zusi isn't cutting it out right we can alternate him and Davy and have Wolff come in late if we need something new but I want that center mid and defense left alone and Zusi on the right. The alternative is leave everything else alone and use Ayagabusi ..... or Beesley ... that is our depth on the left. Why is Diop in an MLS kit? Anybody?
Good evaluation! You are spot on re: Kamara. My sense is he wants to be the center forward, doesn't put the full effort as the right winger. He said that much during an interview with Tad about a week ago. The part about putting fort effort is my opinion.
I haven't been able to formulate a good answer to that either. If forced, I go with a physical presence. I'd guess that if I've seen every practice - obviously I have not - then he probably shows those abilities in practice with some degree of upward curve on performance. If any player shows continued improvemnt, even bad players or ones that are not performing in games, it's hard to dismiss the "upside". He's a big guy who gets involved. Other aspects have KC as a decent "barometer" team for MLS. KC beats bad teams at CAB while losing to medium or better teams. The columbus win being a notable anomole. KC has to find a way to score two in the same game, continue improvement on defense (certainly other teams are letting KC off the hook lately), and possess the ball with more reverence and ideas. It's not exactly sage advice. Pretty basic. KC isn't doing some basic things well at all. The silver lining is that 1-0 victories while looking sub-par and gettign out-shot is generally a good thing if problems get solved later. KC isn't clsoe to playoff caliber yet and doesn't have a spot today. Winning is always the best perfume for the stink. Other good things are 0 red cards last game, KC earned quality shots, clean sheet, and good attendance for once. Although execution wasn't always choice, vision of wing players seemed to be just a smidge better than normal as well. Sort the mental first, then worry about precision. All good things.
He's a defensive mid who, for various reasons, has been played completely out of position every time we've seen him come in. Now, I'm not going to say we shouldn't get rid of him but it's a bit unfair to judge him based on his in-game performances.
However, if at some point we need to dump another SI to sign somebody new, I would say he is high on the list of dumpees.
Not a good injury report, I wonder what PV is thinking for Saturday's line up? KANSAS CITY WIZARDS OUT: MF Zoltan Hercegfalvi (R knee sprain/torn ACL), MF Birahim Diop (concussion) QUESTIONABLE: MF Ryan Smith (R hamstring strain); FW Josh Wolff (L quadricep strain) PROBABLE: DF Jimmy Conrad (abdominal contusion)
Only problem I see is Smith (which I think most of us were expecting him further down the list). Conrad will play. If Wolff can't be play I think we'll struggle but I won't be overly disappointed.
Diop's concussion was probably a result of banging himself in the head for missing that sitter in stoppage time last week.
He should have put it on target ... he even took time and side footed/placed the ball instead of going for power ... it was an awful finish.
Doesn't matter where Wolff should have played it, Diop HAS to put that on net with all the time he had.
What I am saying is that is a secondary ball. Diop did make a good run and should have finished, but the primary pass has to be to Bunbury who was in front of the goal. The degree of difficulty is much less for Bunbury.
But you also have to factor in the degree of difficulty of the shot itself. Teal didn't have the space and time from where Wolff was playing the ball, Teal had a poor angle to get much of a touch on the ball. Diop had the better angle, had more space, more time, he has to finish it.
As tough as it was, I re-watched the game. At first I thought it was the best pass to make. Bunbury was running at full speed, if the ball is squared, it's a sitter for him. If he is unable to make that play, he deserves to be on the bench. By the way, Bunbury had a similar chance against man u. Smith made a square pass to him, but allowed the ball to go under his left foot. He is starting to get to the right spots, but he needs to finish when the opportunity is there.
Smith practiced "lightly" today. Vermes said that in press conference but I also saw him doing some stuff. Not the hard scrimmage but ball work, a juggling game and some shooting. Or by a coach...