So now that the passion/disappointment has simmered a bit after a below mediocre season, I figured I's sit and look at the team as a whole and write about what I thought should happen for 2010.

Peter Vermes = Technical Director: After 3 seasons in this position I feel Vermes has done a less than stellar job.

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From past commentaries most everyone who actually reads what I write knows that I am not a fan of Wizards coach Curt Onalfo. Adding fuel to the fire was the pathetic display that team showed last Saturday in a 2-0 loss vs. a 10 man Columbus Crew. After last Saturday's performance, KC has 1 win in their last 7 games (2 of those non wins came against teams with 10 players for almost 1/3 of the game).

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Good luck to you Tyson--except against KC.
Today, the Wizards lost defender Tyson Wahl to Seattle Sounders FC in the expansion draft and waived forwards Ryan Pore and Ivan Trujillo and midfielder Carlos Marinelli. Good luck Tyson in Seattle and the other three in their future endeavors. We appreciate their efforts here in KC and wish them nothing but the best. Click to continue reading...

The team awards video from Saturday night is now up on YouTube. Watch it below:
Jimmy Conrad Crowned Team MVP;
Davy Arnaud Earns Golden Boot, KCW Heart Award;
Jack Jewsbury Tabbed Defensive Player of the Year;
Roger Espinoza Takes Rookie of the Year;
Ivan Trujillo Named Reserve Team Player of the Year;
Kevin Hartman Receives U. Click to continue reading...

Our boys won in the second match as well, earning a comprehensive 3-0 victory over the Revs' second team. We finished the year 8-1-2 and will be Reserve Division champions if Houston loses or ties tomorrow against the Chivas USA reserves. We'll keep you updated.
Scoring:
Trujillo (Hohlbein) 31
Watson (Pore) 42
Kraus (Marquess) 65
Espinoza left late in the first half with an injured ankle after a hard tackle from NE. Click to continue reading...

Sorry for the delayed post, here's the release about the match. On the Marinelli goal, I've seen elsewhere that Souter scored, but the refs said the initial fumble by Edwards went over the line and Souter pushed it in afterward. Enjoy the rest of the rundown.
KCW Reserves Defeat Toronto FC Reserves 6-0 Sunday
Kansas City Gets Hat Trick from Ivan Trujillo, Two Goals from Ryan Pore
MLS Reserve Division Match
Sunday, September 21, 2008 – 10:00 a. Click to continue reading...

Our KCW Reserve squad took on the University of Creighton today at our Swope Park Training Center, winning 1-0 on a goal from Ivan Trujillo. Creighton grad Michael Kraus provided the assist after coming on as a second-half substitute. Our reserves are now 6-0-0 against college and PDL teams in friendlies, including a 26-1 combined score line. Click to continue reading...

Our reserve squad turned in an impressive performance today against D.C. United's, winning 4-2 at the RFK Auxiliary Field. Below is a write-up from DCU's press dude Kyle Sheldon. He summed it up pretty well, so I won't try to squeeze it in before catching the bus to the airport. Note: Souter's goal was an absolute BOMB to start the second half. Click to continue reading...

That's probably the biggest question surrounding tonight's game against the Crew. Will Josh Wolff make his KC return? He's itching to do so. And if he does, how much of an impact will he have? Clearly, this is a team that needs goals in order to have any kind of shot at the playoffs. Trading Sealy is a bit iffy because of that, but according to Ives they received upwards of $125,000 for him - not bad.

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Thanks to the hard work of one of our interns, Libby from K-State, some outlying newspapers are paying a little more attention to us lately. I missed the printed version then, but a reporter from the Arkansas City Traveler traveled to CommunityAmerica Ballpark and took in a game. Here's the online version. Click to continue reading...

Kansas City Wizards 2 New York Red Bulls 1: Frankly to me the first half was not even a competitive contest. As I said in the chat at the time, I almost saw no reason to bother with the second half at all. LukeSassano epically was a waste of space and it was no surprise to me that he did not see any action at all in the second half.

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After collecting the exhibition Saturn Cup and New Mexico Cup, we moved to 2-0 in Open Cup matches. One was a play-in game, but a win is a win. We now play the Seattle Sounders next Tuesday at Qwest Field. Check kcwizards.com for a full recap.
Scoring Summary:
CAR – Santiago Fusilier (Ryan Solle) 44
CAR – Matthew Watson (Dan Antuniak) 58
KC – Ivan Trujillo (Michael Harrington) 68
KC – Claudio Lopez (penalty kick) 82
KC – Ivan Trujillo (Claudio Lopez) 94
KC – Ryan Pore (penalty kick) 119
Highlights from tonight:
Harrington's cut before serving to Trujillo for the first goal. Click to continue reading...

It seems that every time it rains before a Reserve match, the skies clear just in time for the game. The same was true again in the Kansas City derby, of sorts. The Wizards prevailed 5-1 through goals from Trujillo (2), Colombano, Victorine and Kraus. The Brass scored the first goal of the season against the KCW Reserves in an exhibition. Click to continue reading...

Sorry so blurry, the Moto Q camera phone on 6X zoom isn't the highest res ever. Coach talking to media, Jimmy signing autographs and Jimmy holding the trophy.
Ok, the running commentary is done. Some other notes. Jimmy Conrad's post-game speech to the crowd upon taking the trophy from an event organizer included the following:
"Thanks for coming out. Click to continue reading...

Not so surprising if ou've watched the game, but the story here is how careless the Wizards were with the ball - that and a fantastic free kick by Amado Guevara. After watching the game from the weekend, here's a few things stuck out to me:

• The Wizards shot themselves in the foot a number of times with sloppy turnovers, especially in the first half.

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Not so surprising if ou've watched the game, but the story here is how careless the Wizards were with the ball - that and a fantastic free kick by Amado Guevara. After watching the game from the weekend, here's a few things stuck out to me:

The Wizards shot themselves in ...

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The KCW Reserves won 3-1 yesterday following the first-team match for a clean sweep on the day. Patrick Nyarko scored in the first half for Chicago, but the Wizacd three after the break to earn a 3-1 victory. Second-half goals came from Ivan Trujillo, Eloy Colombano and guest player/former open tryout participant Nelson Pizarro. Click to continue reading...

Happy Hump Day folks. Hopefully this Wednesday goes quickly and gets you to a weekend of soccer action soon. Celtic and Rangers square off today in an old firm match. I'm trying to figure out how Cristiano Ronaldo will score in THAT match to increase his mind-boggling total. If anyone can do it, he can. Click to continue reading...

Lots to talk about before today's game. Unfortunately, I'm dead tired and don't have much to say, so I've scoured the Internets to bring the best of what's out there. Ivan Galarcep does a nice piece on the Wizards for soccernet, re-emphasizing that they are the team to watch out for this season. Last week against United the potential was definitely there, and as Trujillo and Claudio Lopez adjust, the attack becomes more dangerous.

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Lots to talk about before today's game. Unfortunately, I'm dead tired and don't have much to say, so I've scoured the Internets to bring the best of what's out there. Ivan Galarcep does a nice piece on the Wizards for soccernet, re-emphasizing that they are the team to watch out ...

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Goals by Trujillo and Lopez. More to come soon. Click to continue reading...

To cap it off, now it's the time for those who find the net. The forwards. The big question that faces the Wizards (as I may have mentioned in the past) has to be how they will fare without Eddie Johnson.

Part Three: Forwards

Scott Sealy: Target man from Trinidad & Tobago. ...

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Training went well again today, this time under sunny and windy skies. The team started with split drills with the defenders working on their shape and attacking players their shooting. Then, the players came together for full-field a 11 v 11 match. The only goal was scored by Ivan Trujillo and assisted by Carlos Marinelli. Click to continue reading...

With not much going on in Wizards camp (players resumed training Tuesday), new signings Ivan Trujillo and Claudio Lopez put on their kits for the cameras. Here's a sample of Lopez in the home jersey:

The team has training all week to prepare for the Saturn Challenge Cup this Saturday.

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With not much going on in Wizards camp (players resumed training Tuesday), new signings Ivan Trujillo and Claudio Lopez put on their kits for the cameras. Here's a sample of Lopez in the home jersey:

The team has training all week to prepare for the Saturn Challenge Cup this Saturday. Tickets .

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Piojo smiles for the camera during a Kansas City Wizards version of glamour shots. By all accounts (including his own), Claudio is very excited to be in Kansas City. During the media session today, Claudio even took a good-natured jab at teammate and captain Jimmy Conrad. "Jimmy isn't as funny as he thinks," Piojo said in response to a question about his new teammate. Click to continue reading...

Greetings Hillcrest loyalists, hopefully you're enjoying this chilly March day in KC. The guys got after it today after posing for a team picture. Practice was pretty standard. The goalkeepers trained on their own while the field players did a passing drill (three teams total with two teams on the inside and a third team around the field for wall-pass purposes). Click to continue reading...

The Wizards packed up at headed to the airport today, and are set to resume training next Tuesday in KC. Their last game in Argentina was a 3-0 loss to Estudiantes, marking their first loss of the Argentina leg of the preseason. They had previously won 3-0 against Club Atletico San Lorenzo, and the reserves drew 1-1 with Club Atletico Platenese.

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Hello Hillcrest Road readers, it's a great day to be a Kansas City soccer fan. It's spring outside (I hear birds chirping); our Designated Player has signed; the KC Kings are at nationals, and we keep on rolling through Argentine competition. We beat San Lorenzo 3-0 today on the power of two more goals from Trujillo and one from Marinelli, who continues his strong pre-season campaign. Click to continue reading...

River Plate backed out at the last minute, so we played Deportivo Moron instead. I know how that reads in English, but remember they're in a Spanish-speaking country. We dispensed them with little difficulty, winning 5-1 on goals by Trujillo (2), Marinelli, Jewsbury and Colombano. Lineups, details and a photo below. Click to continue reading...

Busy day so far in blogville! Trujillo is signed. Here are some YouTube clips of him that were posted some time back on Downthebyline. Check them out there if you haven't before.
Also, OzCitySoccer checked in with defender Aaron Hohlbein today in advance of AC Milan and Arsenal's big Champions' League (UEFA, not CONCACAF) tilt today at the San Siro. Click to continue reading...

Alright guys, just got off the phone from Argentina with the rest of the details. We played a 4-4-2 today to get a glimpse of the guys in another formation. The game was played in two halves with wholesale changes at halftime. First-half lineup:
---------------Hartman--------------
Jewsbury---Conrad---Wahl---Harrington
--------------Zavagnin-----------------
Myers---------------------------Watson
--------------Marinelli-----------------
--------Pore----trialist Paulo Troyano--
Second half:
----------------Kronberg---------------
Leathers---Hohlbein---McKenzie---Marquess
----------------Lowery-----------------
Kraus--------------------------------Souter
----------------Morsink-----------------
-----DiCicco------trialist Paulo Troyano--
Two big plays:
7th minute- Lance Watson scores after a nice build-up through midfield. Click to continue reading...

It's not so much the trades I'm reading about today that interest me, and not all are - how do you say? - consummated, as the fallout they're producing. Here's a quick tour, starting with the outgoing and confirmed. - Joseph Ngwenya to SK Austria. Sounds nice for the player, but what's it do to the [. Click to continue reading...