2010 Kansas City Wizards

[KCMax]

Home opener March 27 at Community American Ballpark against DC United.

http://web.mlsnet.com/t105/schedule/2010/

How does the club look this year?

[ComandanteCero]

i haven't been following the news over the off-season, so i was surprised to see they replaced Hartman.  Considering the win today, it looks like things may go well.  I guess we'll see.

Side note:  watched part of the Chicago-NY game, and the stadium looks great.  I especially like that the camera is elevated high enough so that it looks like a "proper" soccer game where you can see the spacing between players a lot better.  It shows that simple things like that can really improve the viewing experience of the game (I wonder if they had to create a special tower to get the camera that high since i don't think the stadium gets that kind of elevation).  I hope the Wizards do the same thing when they finally get their stadium built.

[TheSmokinPun]

I bought my ticket earlier this week, got really ill, tried to get them to sub it out through their box office to no avail, but I share the same eye disorder with one of their execs so they are going to make it up to me, awesome locally owned staff.

Otherwise, awesome win tonight, really surprised that we won that big.

[AllThingsKC]

I hope this is the start of a very successful season for the Wizards!

[NDTeve]

how was the crowd? Going to make an effort to make some games this year.

[KCMax]

how was the crowd? Going to make an effort to make some games this year.

Sellout crowd of just under 11k.

Apparently the Wizards have signed a star soccer player from India. Its kinda amazing that in a country that huge, you don't see more Indian players in international leagues and their national team is not a factor at all. Is soccer not that big a sport in India?

[mean]

It's no cricket.

[ComandanteCero]

well, India has problems with developing athletes period.  If you look at their representation at the Olympics (both summer and winter) it's really embarrassing considering their population.  They don't have the programs in place to develop and nurture the athletic talent that they almost surely have.

[LenexatoKCMO]

well, India has problems with developing athletes period.  If you look at their representation at the Olympics (both summer and winter) it's really embarrassing considering their population.  They don't have the programs in place to develop and nurture the athletic talent that they almost surely have.

Well and culturally it seems like they put a tremendous emphasis on education; perhaps upwardly mobile youth are discouraged from sport lest it interfere with studies? 

[mean]

And with 33 million deities, who has time for sports...

[WSPanic]

India had a reality game show called "Million Dollar Arm" - or something along those lines. I think the two winners are still with the Pirates' organization.

[KCMax]

Wizards defender Michael Harrington was the victim of an April Fool's Joke. This made SportsCenter.

Wizards Player's Cat Photo Shoot An April Fool's Classic

[kcjak]

Wizards defender Michael Harrington was the victim of an April Fool's Joke. This made SportsCenter.

Wizards Player's Cat Photo Shoot An April Fool's Classic

Saw this on tv last night - hilarious. I don't know this player's personality, but seems to be a guy who thinks very highly of himself and was stoked to think he was gonna be in a Maxim layout. Photog had him in cat face paint and crawling around. The other players must've sent the video everywhere.

[KCFutbol]

Michael seems to be a pretty decent guy from what I've seen. He has a pretty good sense of humor.

I suspect Jimmy Conrad may be behind the prank. Whoever is responsible, they did a great job pulling it off. The team seems to be pretty cohesive this year which is a good thing.

If they can build on the demolition of Handball United, Wizards may be in line to win some silverware this season.

[staubio]

Great article on the 2010 Wizards changes, with some nice complimentary parallels to our fair city:

http://www.mlssoccer.com/content/monday ... ansas-city

[KCMax]

So another shutout this past weekend. Nielsen is pretty good, eh? I guess Colorado is considered to be a pretty dirty team? Good to see the Wizards match their physicality. Is this a team that could potentially go all the way? They seem to have some pretty exciting pieces in place.

On another note, it looks like MLS attendance is off to a good start, even with KC playing in a tiny stadium (and selling it out). Philly opened their franchise to a crowd of 34,000. NY, Chicago, LA and DC all drew over 20,000 for their home openers. Seattle of course, drew 36,000. Geez.

[TheSmokinPun]

I was there, right behind the west goal. Awesome game, too bad the ref let it get out of control late in the first half, then became overtly authoritarian for the rest of the game. Also, right as the whistle blew, one of the Rapids kicked the ball right to a guy 3 rows behind me, guy then proceeded to leave with said ball. I take it he has no idea of stadium rules at all.

[KCMax]

Kansas City Wizards re-acquire defender Shavar Thomas

Kansas City Wizards make offer for Monaco?s Eidur Gudjohnsen

The Dallas game was pretty disappointing. Dallas really could have blown the game open a couple of times, but they left the door open and the Wizards just couldn't capitalize. We did get hosed out of a PK, but still they needed to create more opportunities it seems.

To those more knowledgable soccer fans - is it a style of play we employ, or a lack of talent that has caused the Wizards to be the most offensively-challenged team in the league? Or both? I'd really like to see a more aggressive style of play but is our personnel just not equipped for that? Seems like a big guy like Kamara would be ideal for that - am I wrong?

[staubio]

Kansas City Wizards re-acquire defender Shavar Thomas

Kansas City Wizards make offer for Monaco?s Eidur Gudjohnsen

The Dallas game was pretty disappointing. Dallas really could have blown the game open a couple of times, but they left the door open and the Wizards just couldn't capitalize. We did get hosed out of a PK, but still they needed to create more opportunities it seems.

To those more knowledgable soccer fans - is it a style of play we employ, or a lack of talent that has caused the Wizards to be the most offensively-challenged team in the league? Or both? I'd really like to see a more aggressive style of play but is our personnel just not equipped for that? Seems like a big guy like Kamara would be ideal for that - am I wrong?

I wish I had a good answer for this. Our philosophy certainly has been attack-minded. Up until Dallas, we've employed a very positive 4-3-3 formation. We've got some great talent, but the Wizards always find a way to underperform their potential.

I see a couple of problems with the way things have been setup:

-Josh Wolff. He has been deployed as the target guy up front, but he is short and has lost a step or two of his speed, which was his great advantage. He is a much better player combining with others up front but pretty much pees himself when one-on-one, which is the situation he is most often in as part of a 4-3-3.

-Midfield. Nobody really seems to know what to do in the midfield. No great source of creativity. No great connection to the forwards. Auvray being injured hurt, since he seems to be the type of player that maintains possession and wins the ball, taking pressure off the defense, but we're not seeing a lot of clever offensive moves from the midfield.

-Defense. The back line has been a rotating cast, meaning they never really got settled. When you can't trust your back line, you play more negatively. The center backs need to be solid. Jimmy Conrad is starting to show is age and the team has yet to settle on his partner in the middle. With fullbacks like Espinoza and Harrington, with plenty to add to the attack, they need the freedom to run up the wings and provide service.

Not sure what I would do to overhaul this team, but it seems like they just keep tweaking it and they never settle in.

[KCMax]

This city's sports teams are just cursed. I have seen three Wizards games now, they have dominated in all three, and they have lost all three. Watching them play Chivas was like watching a HS team play a bunch of kids. The Wizards just dominated. The ball was near Chivas goal for all but a few minutes of the second half. And in those few minutes, the Wizards made two stupid turnovers, and allowed two goals by a kid that a year ago was playing in a pickup league. Unbelievable. This city's sports teams do just enough to lose.

There's always next year I suppose. 

On another note, which one of you was the streaker at halftime?