On-field performance a letdown for opening night

The stage was set Thursday evening for what should have been a spectacular night on and off the field. Only half of this came true, though, as LIVESTRONG Sporting Park took center stage to the dismal and ugly 0-0 draw against Sporting's 'manufactured' rivals Chicago Fire.

For positives, the defense was solid for the most part, even fwhen Besler and Collin were left with heavy responsibilities as the full backs attacked and threw defensive duties out the window.

On the other side of things, Sporting Kansas City looked terrible on offense. Once again, they kept possession but lacked creativity and the final pass in the final third. Kamara, Bunbury, and Bravo--the starting threesome up top--practically made no genuine effect on the game. And that's exactly what you'd expect such a dynamic group of players to do. They're all so individually talented, but they haven't quite developed much chemistry as of yet.

Another thing I noticed over time this season, and most notably during the home opener, is that the main reason Bravo hasn't had much effect offensively is because the rest of the attacking players aren't providing for him properly. Omar is a player who wants the ball played to his feet, so that he has exact control on where the ball goes next. He doesn't want a hard-to-control ball rocketed at him from the outside, and at this point I understand why he's unhappy more than the rest of SKC's offense.

[+] Positives:

• Passing and control in the midfield
• Dependable and consistent centerbacks

[-] Negatives:

• Offensive creativity
• Offensive chemistry

Player Ratings

          Nielsen-7 (Kronberg-6)

Myers-6 Collin-8 Besler-8 Harrington-6

         Zusi-8 Sassano-6 Arnaud-7

      Kamara-6   Bunbury-6   Bravo-7

Man of the Match: Zusi

Overall Team Rating: 6

Future Fans of Sporting: Podcast Two

Length: 26:07
Hosts: Alex  (http://sportingbluekc.blogspot.com/) and Isaac (http://thefootychronicles.blogspot.com/)
Guests: None

Summary | Your hosts, Alex and Isaac, discuss these topics:

• -Opening day at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
• -Nick Garcia rumors
• -Shirt sponsor saga, and possible sponsorship candidates 

Link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-future-fans-of-sporting-/2011/06/10/future-fans-of-sporting-podcast-two


Enjoy.

Preview: The start of a new era

Tomorrow is the start of a new era for this franchise. Through the years of loyal support, fans alike have seen all kinds of changes to the team--to the name, personnel , coaching, and stadium. But what will unfold today is greater than any one change alone. Thursday, June 9, 2011 will be the day that several changes come together at once, and this franchise enters the era of Sporting Kansas City. The era of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. The era of a united crowd, with more love of soccer than in any other year in the club's history. Because of our great owners, under the driving and innovative lead of Robb Heineman, this club and its fans have finally been given what they've been lacking all the other years: the ideal resources to be successful. Even if you look back to last year, the team was playing in a minor league baseball stadium, not even fully filled with fans every game. 

Almost all of these memories have been wiped clean, though, because of the the ever-present excitement of this team's big turnaround. Now that Sporting Kansas City has created a great platform for success off the field, they need to focus on making this team a force on the field as well.

Team Breakdown

[Sporting Kansas City]- Last week, this team picked up a valuable point on the road during a dull 0-0 draw at Toronto. Their offense was left disappointed that they did not create enough high-percentage chances, however the defense will have gained confidence by earning Sporting's first clean sheet of the season. Now KC will move onto this much anticipated game. Because the team has been waiting so long for this day to come, I believe Sporting KC will come out flying, and attempt to put massive pressure on the Fire. And with high pressure, usually comes goals. That's what Peter Vermes will be hoping for, anyway.

[Chicago Fire]- Fire are coming off playing Seattle, where the game ended identically to Sporting's game: 0-0. With another dull draw, the average person would anticipate this to be a low-scoring match. I think otherwise. Both teams have quite a bit of offensive firepower. For Chicago, they have Diego Chaves and Gastón Puerari who are both on the forward line. The Fire also has the threats of Dominic Oduro, whose speed is known very well throughout the league, and Patrick Nyarko who is very skillful on the ball. However, Marco Pappa (possibly Chicago's main threat) will be gone due to the Gold Cup. It's good to keep in mind, also, that the team is on a long winless streak, so they are probably very low on confidence.

Starting 11

       [Bunbury]  

         [Smith]                           [Kamara]

       [Arnaud]             [Bravo]

         [Sassano] 

        [Harrington]                                         [Myers]

            [Besler]   [Collin]   

               [Nielsen]

Personal Battles

Diego Chaves vs. Aurelien Collin

I feel fairly confident of Sporting Kansas City's offense, but if they apply too much pressure on the Fire's defense, Chicago could be lethal on the break. Chaves has made a fairly successful debut season and was very dangerous in the second game of the season, when Sporting Kansas City traveled to Toyota Park in their second game of the season. I assume Aurelien Collin will take the job of preventing Chaves from finding net, but Besler may help out too.

Prediction

This is the perfect time for Sporting Kansas City to prove to the league that they really are a threat, and that the poor run of results was only because of the extensive road trip. I believe this game will be an offensive breakout for KC. The only main thing that I'm worrying about is Chicago on the break-away. However, if the offense provides the firepower that its been lacking lately, and the defense focuses for 90 minutes, then I believe Chicago and their traveling fans will go home in dismay.

Sporting Kansas City  3-1  Chicago Fire

                                     -Kamara -Bravo -Arnaud           -Nyarko

UPDATED: Sporting's kit sponsor saga

It's been a long, long time in the waiting for this franchise to get a kit sponsor. And the wait may not ever be over anytime soon.

It was several months ago when the discussions of a kit sponsor for Sporting Kansas City started to arise in the media, and within groups of Sporting KC fans. At first the whole thing was just that--a discussion. But then, when Robb Heineman got right in the middle of the topic, the discussion's level went from fantasy to for real.

There was a series of updates on this matter, whether from Robb Heineman on Twitter, or even in interviews with him from MLS. There was multiple times, when describing the matter of kit sponsors, where it was said that there would be big announcements coming in the following weeks. But nothing ever happened.

So here we are now, with the start-of-the-season road trip completed, without any new additions to the kit sponsor saga for Sporting. To me, this could mean one of two things: Either the club is still  right in the middle of working things out will possible sponsorship candidates, or Robb Heineman has a trick up his sleeve and may possibly unveil a kit sponsor for the team prior/following Thursday night's opening game at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. I'm going to go with the latter of the options, even though it's crazy. My reason? Robb Heineman has been extremely innovative, bold, and sneaky (in a good way) ever since he became president of this club, and he always seemed to keep the supporters on their toes.

So after all these events leading up to opening day on Thursday, I'm going to call it now: Sporting Kansas City will have a sponsor on their jersey when they walk out of the tunnels of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park for the first time.

UPDATE: On Twitter, Thad from The Back Post has taken my prediction of Sporting having a jersey sponsor by tomorrow, and torn it into shreds. He stated short and simple: "No jersey sponsor tomorrow for #SportingKC". In a later explanation, I learned that Robb Heineman was on the radio and said that nothing was planned for tomorrow to announce a kit sponsor.

I'm very bummed, but not surprised. Now all Sporting KC fans can do, is to do what they've become excellent at lately: Wait.

| Thoughts? Give your say in the comments. |

--Isaac

Recap: Solid defensive performance earns first clean sheet of the season

It wasn't pretty, nor thrilling. But by fighting and putting in a hard-working performance last night in Toronto, Sporting Kansas City earned what they've longed for all season: Their first shutout.

However, all of their hard work throughout the game did not pay off as much as they would have liked. Though Kansas City controlled the game with quick passing throughout the middle, they did not create enough high-percentage chances. The team looked smooth as they worked the ball through the back and up to the midfield. Then, they would spray it out to the outside wingers, but what the wingers did was just not creative enough. They would drive down the line, then play a cross into the box, which would never find a KC player in particular. It was just rather sloppy and careless. But maybe that's just the way Vermes wants them to play. It's just really confusing for me to watch at times. I mean, Sporting looks like they're trying to replicate Barcelona when they're using short passing in the midfield, working the ball around, and making quick, precise combinations. That mentality all goes down the drain, though, when they get closer to the box. The ball goes wide, and then it's dumped into the box lazily. With this sudden change in style, the team suddenly looks like the Bolton Wanderers, if you know what I mean.

On a lighter note, Sporting KC's defense was fantastic for a full 90 minutes (and, no that wasn't a reference to The Full 90, Mr. Gooch). Collin and Besler, anchoring the defensive unit in the center, were practically unstoppable, and they were working unbelievably hard, non-stop. Not only the center backs, but also the full backs had a pretty good showing. Harrington was aggressive on defense, and driving on offense. Myers, who started the game in place of an absent Espinoza, as well as an injured Sinovic, played pretty solidly on the defensive side of things. Although, he was sloppy and ineffective in offense. Last of the defense was Eric Kronberg, who started in place of an ill Nielsen. He had a really solid performance, and had one or two really good saves that earned the team the point and shutout. So overall, the team had a very solid defensive showing.

[+] Positives from Game:

• Solid Defense
• Quick passing in midfield
• Aggression/desire to win

[-] Negatives from game:

• Offensive creativity
• Passing in final third

Player Ratings:

                   Kronberg-8
Myers-4 Collin-8 Besler-9 Harrington-7
        Arnaud-6 Rocastle-7 Zusi-6
          Smith-7 Bunbury-6 Bravo-7

Man of the Match: Matt Besler who was tough, smart, and focused in the back, alongside Collin. On top of that, he made a game-saving tackle in the second half, when Toronto's Santos was about to strike within the box.


Now Sporting must move on and focus on their next challenge. Obviously, this Thursday is the home opener of LSP. Hopefully the offense brings more firepower to the game.

'The Future Fans of Sporting' podcast debuts

This morning, Alex Englén ( sportingbluekc.blogspot.com ) and I had our very first live podcast via BlogTalkRadio. In the first 'Future Fans of Sporting' show, we:

•  preview what this podcast holds for the future
•  review the Toronto game (along with our thoughts on the Members' Club)
•  and lastly, we preview opening day at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. 

Later, the show will be on iTunes. But for right now you can listen to the archive of the show here.


Warning: There are a couple of long pauses during the podcast, due to technical difficulties. Keep listening to the end, or skip ahead. You will miss some very important topics if you quit listening.

For newcomers, Alex and I started this podcast a couple of days ago to cover all things Sporting KC. We are going to try to get a podcast in about every week, most time on Sundays. Get alerts and news on the podcast by visiting our blogs, Twitter, and Facebook pages frequently.

http://thefootychronicles.blogspot.com/

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