A boring first half where it seemed that Seattle had the run of things generating more chances and completely dominating our midfield. Lopez and Zusi helped KC move forward, but it just seemed that we were physically pushed around by a bigger, more compact Sounders team. During one of their advances they were able to produce a corner off Hartman’s right side; the cross came in low and no one was placed on the near post, allowing the rebound to be knocked in through the position normally occupied by the shortest guy on the field (from later corners it seemed to be Zusi). Whatever the reason for not having someone there it was either the specific player’s fault or Hartman’s for not physically placing someone there; Mistake #1. Still, at the end of the half the game was pretty balanced and KC was generating a few chances.

The second half started with KC on the attack using both Michael Harrington and sub Chance Myers (in for an ineffective Leathers) off the wings (Wow, did Myers seem comfortable back there or what? so much for playing him in the middle; it reminds me of another coach who playerd one of his back out of position for most of the season… I’m sure it will come to me).

The tie came off a pretty bad Harrington shot on goal that just crossed the box and was redirected in by a streaking Zoltan who came in from behind Leo Gonzalez. KC kept up the pressure and a few minutes later they took the lead when Davy Arnaud skipped a poor cross from the right side that no Sounders defender cleared (and at least one missed), which allowed Josh Wolff to knock the ball in past Cassey Keller.

Although leading, KC could not hold the midfield and the Sounders’ attack kept pressuring the backline. Another corner kick brought the tying goal when the cross came to the near post, Hartman missed the punch-out, leaving the goal open for Roger Levesque to knock it in easily (Mistake #2). A few minutes later came another KC mistake, this time by Matt Besler who got outsmarted and outmuscled by Freddie Ljungberg on a ball that should have been cleared (Mistake #3) near the KC box. Ljungberg stole the ball and fed Nate Jacqua for an easy goal.

The story of our season in a nutshell; 3 plays we gave away, 3 goals.

Commentary: I was impressed with rookie Graham Zusi who, with Zoltan, was one of the best Wizards on the field (interesting that the KC mls website has Besler on the POTG poll, even with his huge mistake, and did not Zusi; I guess I must have watched a different game; that and of course the fact that Zusi is not from the KC area). It seems that playing a few games as a starter has Zusi’s confidence. His understanding with Lopez seems to be growing, although with Arnaud and Jewsbury he did seem out of sync which may not be his fault after all. (I’m anticipating hate e-mails from people wearing their blue tinted glasses and for whom these 2 players can do no wrong ).

Too bad Zoltan didn’t get a start with Kamara. I guess Vermes will stay with his boy Wolff who again scored but overall has been doing pretty poorly in the last few games. It would be nice to see Kamara so he can show us what he has and if he’s worth the money he’ll be looking for next year. Oh well, I can only hope our new coach (and our new Technical Director? need to remember to include that on my Xmas list this year) will have some MLS coaching experience and have a better eye at evaluating talent than our current one.

By the way, I know Seattle won, but Freddie Montero was horrible; he missed 2 EASY sitters in the second half. I know he’s good (he’s shown it most of the year) but I wonder if trying to get some payback for “Punk-Gate” weighted a bit too heavy on his little frame. Also I would love to know what the deal is with Cassey Keller’s anger, the guy was really going at it with the ref, the linesman, and even Kei Kamara. He needs to chill and double up on the Metamusil before the game because anger like that MUST be derived from constipation and bowel irregularity. Still, you can’t deny the guy still has it as a keeper and a leader.

I have no highlights yet but they will be posted when available.

KC seemed to dominate a lot of the run of play on Sunday but it translated into absolutely nothing. A Kamara shot off the post (which isn’t considered a shot on goal) and Zoltan’s goal were the only dangerous plays that translated into something. Meanwhile, Brian Mullan and a 10 men Dynamo squad managed the game as they needed to, and actually took the lead when Mullan danced around Michael Harrington for what seemed to be hours before sending a cross from the right side that was missed by at least 3 KC defenders before Luis Angel Landin just tapped it in for the lead. Landin, who Jonathan Leathers forgot existed, scored his first MLS goal.

KC continued to move the ball but with little success against the 10 man Houston. We had little attacking power, where Josh Wolff looked his age, and Kamara looked alone up front. Add to that the fact that “The Coach” still has a man crush on Davy Arnaud and Jack Jewsbury who are in line to the “where are they now” award since their real selves have not been sighted since around week 8 of this season. They have had poor form, have contributed little, and at this point I see them as players taking a spot from youngsters that cannot do any worse. Maybe the time off will do them good and will lead to a better 2010.

Back to the game: In the 73rd minute a very nice cross from Lopez to Zoltan (who will not stop running while on the field) finally ended in the equalizer, which still “keeps us in the playoff hunt”, as some MLS writer I’m sure will make note of. The truth being that the slight glimmer of hope that was left from last week has now been extinguished, and we can now start looking towards 2010. Also, I don’t know about you guys, but the fact that we have “a 4 game unbeaten streak” as the KC Wizards website says, really does not make me feel any better about missing the playoffs; of course I could be suffering from the “glass half empty” syndrome but who could blame me at this point in the season.

It’s noteworthy to mention that Vermes again brought Chance Myers into the game for a brief appearance that reminded me why I think “Ryan Leaf” when I see him, since it appears that he has also lost the power to make semi-decent crosses (passes?), which in my book was all Vermes was asking for when he started using him a few weeks back. We also saw a glimpse of Roger Espinoza on the bench, which quashed the rumors of him running away from KC, while we still have no news on why, steady starter Hercules Gomez did not make the trip to Houston. Three defenders, 2 midfielders, and one forward on our bench; good to see we were going all out to win this game.

Here’s a suggestion, since it’s over, why don’t we play Kamara and Zoltan up front and use a couple of youngsters in the middle and give that a try. Will we really miss Arnaud, Jewsbury and Wolff that much? Wolff hasn’t scored in 2 games so probably his hot streak has come to an end again and it will take him about 6 or 7 games to get on another one so just for fun let’s see a change.

All in all we tied a game we should have won leaving 3 games in this disaster of a season. All I can hope from On Goal is that they actually shed some dead weight from the team and maybe start by getting someone in the front office that can make some good player-personnel decisions, because, honestly Peter Vermes is not the man. I know he’s well liked here in KC, I know he won a title here in KC, but that means nothing when it comes for finding talent and running a team, and his 3 years here and the players he has brought in prove that. Hey, if those were the only creditials to get a front office job imagine all the players the Yankees would have working with GM Brian Cashman.

While 2007 was a year to remember, 2009 is a year to forget. But lets face it, this is KC, where Chief’s GM Carl Peterson was finally fired after stinking up the place for years, and the Royals are the Royals; do I really expect that On Goal, a business with few soccer people at the head, will fire their top soccer man after this season? The answer is no. Too bad though, since the mess that we are in is mostly Vermes’ fault because his stint as a coach has proven that Curt Onalfo really didn’t have that much to work with.

No highlight available. Sorry.

White – Hartman, Myers, Hohlbein, Wahl, Harrington, Colombano, Jewsbury, Marinelli, Victorine, Lopez (Arnaud 46), Sealy

Orange – Kronberg (Pardo 46), Leathers, McKenzie, McMahen, Kraus (Miles 62), Souter (Pizarro 46), Zavagnin, Morsink, Espinoza, Pore, Trujillo (Souter 82)

Final score was a 2-2 draw with goals from Marinelli and Sealy for the White team and Morsink and Pore each grabbing one for the Orange. Of note, Jimmy Conrad was held out of the scrimmage for most likely precautionary reasons. Full recap can be read here.

The week off also gives a few Wizards the chance to recover for next week’s game against the Red Bull up in New York. Davy Arnaud, Carlos Marinelli, and Sasha Victorine are all still nursing injuries. Sitting even on points with Toronto and New England at this point in the season is a definite success, but the team is looking to rebound from back to back losses.

In other news, the US Open match may take place at College Boulevard Activities Center on June 4. The match will be between the Wizards and the winner of the Los Angeles-RSL qualifier. That news is from the bottom of this article from the KC Star, courtesy of Kansas City Soccer Review.

Another soft goal was conceded in the 34th minute, as Chance Myers and Kevin Hartman had a miscommunication just outside the box. Myers looked like he was trying to shield his man, Robbie Rogers off the ball so Hartman could grab it, but Hartman couldn’t get to it in time and Rogers poked it in. So the Wizards faced an uphill battle, compounded by a red mist moment by Roger Espinoza. He lashed out with his elbow at Frankie Hejduk and landed a shot to Hejduk’s face. The ref had an easy call giving Espinoza his marching orders.

The Wizards were the better team in the second half, although it wasn’t until Carlos Marinelli made a substitute appearance and helped spark the offense. In the 79th minute, Scott Sealy (another substitution) was pulled down in the box and Claudio Lopez calmly finished from the spot. Unfortunately, the Wizards couldn’t steal a point in the last 10 minutes.

The coach was proud of how his team responded to adversity. Disappointing to concede soft goals like that, but in the end, defense will continue to be key. It would also have been nice not to be down to 10 men, but what happens, happens.

Going forward, there were more than a few positives. The team had a positive reaction to the adversity of being down a man, and showed composure scoring. Lopez continues to play well, and despite not exactly lighting up the score sheet, his passing and skill automatically make the Wizards a better team.

Next Opponent:
The Wizards don’t play again until May 17, as they will next travel to face the New York Red Bull who drew 1-1 at Toronto. Time to step up and bring the losing streak to a halt.

Finally, the highlights:

The difference this week (aside from actually scoring) will lie in the midfield. Last week against Toronto, the Wizards did a poor job of holding onto the ball. Obviously, they were under intense pressure, but consistent mental mistakes made things easier for Toronto. With Carlos Marinelli scheduled to return to the starting line up, this could potentially solve the problem. However, with the depth available to Curt Onalfo, maybe a slightly different line up to keep players on their toes.

Look for Chance Myers to continue his solid play on the right hand side. The few times that I’ve been able to see him, he adds a counter attacking option whenever running forward from his right back position. I think it also may be only a matter of time before Claudio Lopez gets another goal. After scoring in the first game, I thought he could start out in fine form. But he deserves time to adjust and let his teammates adjust to his style of play as well. In the end, I don’t think the Wizards will be able to get anything off this game.

Columbus 3-1 KC

• The Wizards shot themselves in the foot a number of times with sloppy turnovers, especially in the first half.
• The bungled clearing attempts cost them the first goal, as defense continues to be a bit inconsistent. Guevara’s goal was ugly and he may have been offside, but come on now. Terrible defense leads to goals
• Toronto really came out of the gates in the first 15 minutes with a real attacking mindset. Good job by KC to weather the storm.
• The fans in Toronto continue to impressive. The field may be astro turf, but with every game likely to sell out this year is great.
• Ivan Trujillo loved hugging the back post whenever Lopez fed in crosses. Crash near post. Also, not a great finish after a nice set up by Claudio in the 70th minute.
• Amado Guevara played like a monster. Great free kick in the 78th minute.

Hardly a disastrous loss, but more of a step back than anything else. Toronto played great and the Wizards were on their heels for a large part of the game. Onfalo tried to make the right moves, bringing on Scott Sealy and Carlos Marinelli, but they couldn’t crack the Toronto defense. It is still early, after all.

The progress of the defense will be important to monitor. This week saw a moment of blundering leading to the first goal. Conrad remains solid at the back, and Harrington’s speed kept runs from Wynne at bay. Chance Myers was a bit inconsistent, with some strong runs forward, although at times his final touch let him down. Bottom line is that the number of sloppy turnovers cost them.

Here are the highlights, courtesy of MLS.


Next Opponent:
Next stop is Columbus. Wizards look to get back against the Crew, who sit in first place with the best record in the MLS. They took down the Dynamo 1-0 last weekend.

Oh yeah, it’s just the fourth week of the season. Still, it’s a good thing to get a road trip off on the right foot even if your team didn’t play up to par. Jack Jewsbury got the winner in the fourth minute off a beautiful ball from Claudio Lopez. Jewsbury controlled the ball, was helped out by a dodgy move from the Fire’s goalie, and smashed it home nicely.

They did well to hang on for the rest of the game and come away with the win. Both sides had chances to win it. The Fire ended the game with 19 total shots. For the Wizards, Tyson Wahl came close, lashing a shot off the post while Chance Myers saw his chance (ha!) go over the bar. Hartman played well and would be my pick for man of the match – although I didn’t see the game. Thanks, Univision. Claudio actually got a brief respite, coming out for the last four minutes of the game. And Sasha Victorine made his midfield debut as well after battling injuries this off-season. The promising thing about this squad is that the MLS has yet to see them with everyone health.

Next Opponent:
Next stop on the tour is Toronto. Should be a tough crowd, but a winnable game on the road. Toronto has picked up their game thus far. It will be no walk in the park.

Last night was an indication of what could happen if they underperform. It wasn’t a bad showing, but nothing stood out. The first goal given up, an own goal off the foot of Jack Jewsbury. And to be honest, it was a freak goal. Jewsbury was trying to clear and it flicked off of Tyson Wahl’s head onto Jewsbury’s shin and ended in the net. The Wizards looked to rebound quickly, and when Kurt Morsink was felled in the box, Jewsbury was given the chance to atone for his sin and leveled the score at one.

From there, the rest of the first half was all New England. Jimmy Conrad was beaten down the left side by Khano Smith who crossed it in front of two Wizard defenders to Sainey Nyassi who punched it in. Another set piece in the 40th minute then led to the death blow, and it was 3-1 at the half. The defense on both occasions faltered mightily, unable to simply clear that ball from danger. But the offense didn’t bail them out in the second half.

The fight the Wizards showed during the final 45 was lively and inspired, but the Wizards touch in the final third of the field betrayed them to defeat. Chance Myers and Roger Espinoza, both picks in the SuperDraft (stupid name) made their debuts respectively. Myers looks like he’ll be a starter soon enough; he had some nice runs down the left side, but his crossing can use some work. He’s a real big kid too and should become a formidable force on the wing.

Highlights/lowlights:

Next Opponent:
Houston comes to town still looking for their first win of the season. They were spanked by the Revs 3-0 during opening weekend. Wizards look to restart their winning ways.

This weekend may feature the debut of the number one overall pick in the Super Draft as Chance Myers tries to overcome a toe injury he suffered last week and maybe grab a start. A complete preview as well as injury list is available here on the MLS main page.

The bottom line of this game is simple. Both the Wizards and the Rapids are out to prove that last week was no fluke. The smaller confines of Community America Ballpark should continue to provide a solid homefield advantage for KC, and I see them walking away with a 3-1 victory.