Well, Sunday KC outshot Houston 15 to 9 but only had 3 of those shots on goal while Houston actually got one goal out of its 5 shots on goal. I’ll admit that the Wizards did create opportunities and probably outplayed the Dynamo, but the difference between a seasoned team like the Dynamo and a mid-level team like the Wizards is that the Dynamo stole a goal and knew how to defend it while could not buy a ball in the net. KC did have a few close calls to tie with a header off the bar and a Claudio Lopez free kick in stoppage, but Houston managed to take the 3 points back home.

This was KC’s 3 loss this year at home and it would seem that we are really lacking an attacking punch and that makes us the predictable team that we are today. Yes we are waiting for Adam Cristman to “spruce up” our offense, but I cannot believe that the Technical Staff and coaches have the attack of this team dependant on a single player that has yet to see the field this year. We did create the opportunities against Houston, but we did not have the offensive weight to make them count.

On Tuesday in the US Cup KC started a very “starter heavy” team against the Sounders in Tukwila, Washington, and yet again the came up short with a pitiful offensive performance. I base my comment on both what I heard from the “homers” on the Seattle radio broadcast and the stats/write ups I’ve seen in different reports. The fact that KC had 6 total shots and only 1 of those on goal seems to prove that the team is in horrible offensive slump that has gone on for almost a month with little relief in sight (it would actually seem that we are getting worse). I understand the frustration that many have with the fact that we lost on a penalty, and although it was a call that in real speed could have gone either way in my book, by ref Abiodun Okulaja (who is not my favorite ref anyway), the truth is that there is no reason for us to be in these situations every single game. Had KC gone out and played an offensively surprising game and scored a few goals it would not matter what Okulaja did at the end of the game. We need to stop depending on that one missed call or on the Lopez free kick that goes just wide.

In the end we are out of the Superliga and again out of the US Cup and now, the fact that Onalfo used a lot of his starters for this game to show how serious he was about the match, has put him in the position of not being able to excuse yet another failure. For all the talking that was done on how the depth of this team was to be tested and how the reserves were to play a “vital role” in the Superliga and US Cup matches, truth be told Onalfo used a starter heavy team for each match (except for the Minnesota game) with nothing to show for it, with the added negative impact of now dealing with a group of tired players.

Hindsight being 20/20 I would have preferred to send in our Reserves for the Superliga; they get the experience and our starters get the break. With 3 players missing due to Gold Cup call ups and a few more due to injuries our depth (or lack of) will be tested for a few more weeks (not as many times now that we are out of US Cup and Superliga).

I understand that when Coach Onalfo started off he had one of the worst teams in the MLS and has now taken the team to 2 straight playoffs since he’s been here, but the fact that the Wizards swoon in the middle of the table throughout the year and end up having to make runs at the end to qualify at the bottom of the Conference shows that we are far from reaching the elite status of the league. Add to that the fact that this year more than ever we seem to be stuck with a predictable offense, a spotty midfield and defense and depending on our keeper time and time again. Yes, Coach Onalfo got us out of the deep rut, but I don’t know if he’s the one that will make us take the next step to the elite rung of the MLS that teams like Houston sit on.

At this point I wonder if a team like KC should look for one or two players in other MLS teams to revitalize the offense and try and bring the team closer to an elite status, specially due to the fact that players like Lopez, Conrad, Hirsig, Wolff and Hartman are not getting any younger and it would seem to me that we should be looking to put together a team to win now. I could venture and say that we do have a lot of young players that ride the bench with little or no chance of playing and that could be used as trade bait if packaged correctly.

I don’t know right now where are the Wizards headed, and it’s frustrating. At the beginning of last year, before Lopez was brought in I thought we were going with an all youth team but ended up getting Lopez and then adding veterans like Gomez, Wolff, and Thompson. This year we have a more veteran team and add Hirsig but we are achieving little (if not less). So what gives. As a fan (short for fannatic) I could have lived with the youth movement but if you scrap the youth movement for a win now attitude I believe you better win now.

Whatever Onalfo and the Technical Staff decide to do it needs to be done fast; we are at midseason and we are are under .500. I think Onalfo’s and Vermes’ seats are getting a bit warmer.

Here at the highlights of the Houston game and the penalty in the Sounders game. Also Hillcrest Road has some highlights and the play in which the penalty was called. (http://www.hillcrestroadblog.com/2009/07/wizards-sounders-highlights.html) :

By the time the game kicked off the Wizards knew that a tie would get them into the next round since New England had beat Atlas. One would expect a more ball controlling, possession style game from KC so as to force Santos to open up and look for the goal; in other words, control the tempo, avoid the mistakes and take advantage of the openings Santos was leaving. Well, I can say without a doubt that it didn’t happen that way. A punchless KC could not hold the ball, just had a few REAL chances to score and if the soccer gods were fair, would have ended the game with 5 or 6 goals against them. A Hercules Gomez shot and a Jack Jewsbury header were the only real threat that the Santos goal faced, while poor Kevin Hartman was getting peppered with shots clanging off his goal posts (twice), multiple saves and close calls; all in all not a very inspiring half of football for the Wizards.

The backbreaker for KC was losing Jimmy Conrad to an injury right before the half and putting pressure on an inexperienced Rauwshan Mckenzie to try and hold back the Santos attack that Conrad himself struggled to do while in the game. As the half ended I was hoping that KC was going to strengthen the midfield so as to control the game a bit more, keeping in mind the score was tied and all KC needed was a tie. Regardless of what Coach Onalfo wanted to do, it was clear that his defense had weakened and the constant loss of possession was going to put the line under more pressure.

The change that took place was for a midfielder, but not someone that holds the midfield but for an attacking mid. Onalfo pulled out Lance Watson from the right back position, mover Jewsbury there and then plugged in Davy Arnaud as an attacking mid. That might have brought a bit more offense, but it left the middle of the field wide open for Santos to move the ball; and move it they did, missing at least 3 scoring opportunities. Neither Arnaud nor a lackluster Santiago Hirsig could control the onslaught and soon enough in the 61st minute Santos opened the scoring through the 4 lane wide gap that was the Wizards defense.

In response to that 3 minutes later Onalfo brought in Michael Harrington into the midfield for Aaron Hohlbein, KC’s most experienced defender on the field at that time (Jewsbury is a mid); the though of what was to come made me cringe since now KC was in a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 (wherever you want to put Arnaud) against a team they could not stop with 4 defenders let alone 3. Add to that the fact that last week’s performance proves that Harrington is in a slump and needs a long time on the bench to either resort things in his head or wait for Lance Watson to give him back his spot at right back since he continues to struggle as a midfielder.

Santos’ answer to this change, another goal, this time from a counter after Roger Espinoza did not get a foul call where Santos brought the ball quickly and allowed Mares to cross a nice floater towards Matias Vuoso who just physically abused Matt Besler going over him and leaving Hartman with no chance; 2-0. Down by two KC now pulled Hercules Gomez and brought in Michael Kraus to try and salvage something, but little came of it, and it wasn’t until Arnaud was fouled on a run towards goal that Claudio Lopez to buried the free kick to bring KC closer.

The Wizards continued to pressure trying to find an equalizer but missed on 2 clear chances: first Espinoza was able to get a shot off that hit the post and then in stoppage time a nice cross by Harrington sprung Hirsig free but alone vs. the Santos keeper he got off a very weak shot. Off this last play Santos counterattacked again and scored their 3rd and final goal. A bad loss that sees the Wizards Superliga run come to an end.

Player Ratings: Kevin Hartman(6), Lance Watson (5), Jimmy Conrad (4), Aaron Hohlbein (5) , Matt Besler (4), Herculez Gomez (5) , Santiago Hirsig (3), Jack Jewsbury (5), Roger Espinoza (5), Josh Wolff (34), Claudio Lopez (6); Subs: Davy Arnaud (4), Rauwshan McKenzie (3), Michael Harrington (3) Michael Kraus (1)

Players of the Game: Claudio Lopez & Kevin Hartman: Most of KC’s attacks came from of through Lopez’s feet; he sometimes makes shooting/passing decisions that make me scratch my head but he’ll make up for it a play later with a nice pass or a good play. In Hartman’s case, the man saved KC from finishing the game 5 or 6 goals down; enough said.

Commentary: A few weeks ago I had commented that KC seemed to play the same system regardless of the situation or the team and although there have been arguments to the contrary, this game in my mind proved this. I understand the idea of trying to win a game, but when a tie is all you need I believe that more possession oriented game plan should be used in search of the win. Instead KC, when not able to cross midfield passing the ball then went ahead and started launching long passes which most of the time gave Santos back possession of the ball. I think that when the offense is suffering as it really did for these Superliga games (2 goals: 1 own goal and 1 free kick) possession becomes the key and KC did not possess the ball.

I also don’t understand the insistence in playing Michael Harrington at midfielder. First of all he’s a natural defender, and secondly he is in a horrible slump where he’ll make one good cross (the one Hirsig missed) out of 5 or will get flustered and give away the ball too easily (like he did a couple of times at the end of the game). The Michael Kraus sub also makes me scratch my head since he only provides effort to the attack but little physical presence (he’s done next to nothing after that goal in Colorado); I know Thompson is also in a slump but he does open spaces as a big body.

All in all the Superliga was a super embarrassment. We tied a preseason Atlas team; tied an injury ravage New England team (with an own goal); and lost against a preseason Santos team in a game that if things in soccer were always fair would have ended 7-3. Now KC is going to US Cup play and back to MLS play with holes in the defense and midfield and in a position that if things go badly could see them fall out of contention very quickly.

I know I don’t make the lineup but I would love to see Jewsbury as a central defender on Saturday against Houston; yes we will miss the push forward, but he knows how to defend and can help organize a very young defense; that is if he isn’t too tired from playing every single Superliga game.

On the Referee: Typical CONCACAF mediocre refs. He hurt both teams, but the linesman on the bench side was horrible on his offside call. With a $ 1 million purse one would hope that at least for the international matched the could get better refs.

Here are the highlights:

Again, can’t say much about the actual match – who played well, who sucked – because of that whole couldn’t watch it issue. For anyone super curious on how things went, Andrew Wiebe over at KC Futbol kept a play-by-play. So go there to check that out. He’s got a good thing going over there as well, so add it to your blogroll.

I have a meh feeling about the loss. If that makes any sense. A bummer to lose any game, but with the form in the league, full focus on the remaining half of the season can take precedent. Which is a good thing, because if this squad has any hope of making it to the playoffs, they’ll need no distractions. A clear indicator of this was the lack of starters from the weekend who made it into the starting lineup against Seattle – Jimmy made an appearance in the second half, making him essentially the only regular starter in the game. Good that Onalfo gave his starters a rest, especially with a real good chance for three points on Thursday.

Fun tidbit number one: Check out the write up by the KC Star. No one seems to care about the US Open Cup. Fer reelz.

Fun tidbit number two: a quick “did you know?” Fact: according to Wikipedia, seven cities in the world have the nickname of Emerald City. They include Seattle, Green Zone in Baghdad, Sydney, Australia, Eugene, OR, and Muntinlupa in the Philippines. There’s a couple more, so just click on the link.

The busy week continues on Wednesday as the squad will travel back to KC. Josh Wolff will be unveiled on Thursday, and then later that night it’s a night game at the CAB against New York. Finally, the action comes to a halt on Friday, with a friendly against Atlas AC, the Wizards Mexican partner club. That came out funny for some reason.

Despite a few chances, it looked as though the Wiz might crash out. However, Roger “red card” Espinoza drew a penalty in the 82nd minute which substitute Claudio Lopez drilled into the top of the net. Lopez had subbed in for Ryan McMahen in the 65th minute. His presence would also prove valuable during extra time, as his pass to Trujillo set up what became the game winner about three minutes in. Caolina did themselves no favors by getting two red cards, and finished the game with nine men. Ryan Pore rounded off the scoring by drawing a penalty and taking it himself to make things final.

Overall it was a solid effort for most players. Onalfo showed intent by the substitutions he made in the second half. Bringing on starts like Lopez, Trujillo and Harrington signaled that the coach was going out for the win. It does cause some concern, seeing as it’s a short turn around to Friday’s game against Dallas. To be fair, other regulars like Scott Sealy, Jimmy Conrad, and Jack Jewsbury got the night off. Next up for the Wizards will be the Seattle Sounders, who got by Chivas USA 2-0. The game will kick off at 10 PM ET at Qwest Stadium, and if my hunch is correct, will be streaming live on USLLive.com. Next up is Dallas on Friday.

Other Reports from the Internets:
+Official write up from the MLS.
+Mike from Down the Byline shares his thoughts.
+Kansas City Soccer Review with a review.
+The official team blog has a go.
+Last but not least, the Kansas City Star says nice things.

With the Wizards struggling and the next two matches (New Mexico Cup this weekend) not part of league play, I’d be surprised to see Onalfo play a lot of first-teamers. Lopez will probably get a rest, as he has played third most minutes of any player this season, behind only Jimmy Conrad and Kevin Hartman.

For those of you that weren’t paying attention, the Wizards captured the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup in 2004. The tournament now has a bit more incentive behind it, with the winner securing a place in the CONCACAF Champions League. Still, I’d expect a lot of the reserves to play in these next two matches.