KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Left for dead. That is what the Kansas City Wizards were on June 14, 11 games into their 2008 Major League Soccer season.
In front of a sellout crowd, the Wizards had just suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss to the eventual MLS champion Columbus Crew in what was a long-awaited homecoming -- their first home match after six games and more than two months away from CommunityAmerica Ballpark. A scoreless tie the game before had dropped them to last place in the Eastern Conference. They would stay there until July 10.
On life support, Kansas City would rise like the famed phoenix by season's end. And now, the club is pulsing, and the vital signs are good for the future.
"We made the playoffs, had a very good run at the end of the season, which bodes well for next year, and in the process we played a lot of young players," said head coach Curt Onalfo, who has guided the Wizards to the playoffs in both seasons since taking over the club that had missed the postseason party the previous two seasons. "Those are all good signs."
In many ways, the 2008 season was one of adjustment for Kansas City. The signs of transformation at their new home in Kansas City, Kan., throughout the offseason were symbolic of a team that had left its 12-year Arrowhead Stadium home: changing to a 3-5-2 formation in preseason, and adding Argentinean Claudio Lopez, their first designated player to the roster.
Things began well with a 2-0 victorious christening of what would affectionately be called the "CAB" against D.C. United. The atmosphere and the win signaled good times. A stay atop the conference through April 25 followed. Then the strong palpitations faded in a seven-game winless streak, the sixth game being the 3-0 thrashing courtesy of the Crew.
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SIGHTS & SOUNDS
Along the way, Lopez contributed well, but overall the attack (having quickly returned back to a 4-4-2 system) sputtered. From their third game through their 14th, Kansas City failed to score more than one goal in a game, being shut out five times in that span. Their leading scorer for much of the season was center back Jimmy Conrad, who ended up with six goals to his credit on the season, most off headers from set pieces.
"Anytime I'm the second-leading goal scorer it's cause for concern," Conrad said.
Young players like wide midfielder Roger Espinoza, center backs Aaron Hohlbein and Tyson Wahl and fullback Jonathan Leathers showed potential and, with the vets at times, made costly mistakes. But a six-game undefeated streak followed the Columbus loss to keep the Wizards afloat. August began with a 2-0 loss at D.C. United, and the Wizards would fall again, earning only one victory in the next five contests. Inconsistency was a maddening consistency.
"The latter stages of the season we were consistent; that's when we played our best soccer. Going into next year, we just have to realize that to be one of the teams that is going to get home-field advantage, you really have to be more consistent throughout the year," said Jack Jewsbury whose switching from right back to right midfield to center midfield was symptomatic of the Wizards' lack of a true identity.
Striker Josh Wolff returned to Kansas City after departing for two seasons in Germany with 1860 Munich. But his addition was only the beginning of a late-season fine-tuning orchestrated by Onalfo and technical director Peter Vermes. Veterans Scott Sealy and Sasha Victorine were dealt to San Jose and Chivas USA respectively and forwards Herculez Gomez and Abe Thompson were acquired from Colorado and FC Dallas.
The Wizards were three games under .500 and in sixth place in the conference, but a resurrection commenced with Onalfo's lineup chosen for a Sept. 13 home match against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Davy Arnaud joined Jewsbury in center midfield to provide endless energy and their variety of attacking abilities were accented by the speedy and relentless Gomez taking up at right midfield and the physical Thompson pairing with Wolff up front.
The result was a complete 2-0 victory against the powerful Galaxy. With Lopez stepping in to provide a further jolt, four wins and a tie were gained in the next six matches, including a dramatic 3-2 win at home against San Jose in stoppage time that proved to be the eventual playoff clincher.
"It took us 22 or 23 games to really find that lineup that we had consistent success in," said Conrad. "Heading into next season, we already know what is going to be in place -- this is how we're going to make it work -- [we already know] what CommunityAmerica Ballpark is all about, not having to ease into that for a couple of months. That should make us a lot better knowing all that stuff is in place."
The Wizards were strong at home (nine wins and two losses) during the regular season; however, they were not strong enough in their only playoff game at the CAB. Their old Columbus friends drew level at 1-1 in the dying minutes of the first leg of the conference semifinal series after the Wizards held on for 15 minutes a man after a red card, and Kansas City fell victim at Crew Stadium 2-0 a week later to end their season with a 3-1 loss on aggregate.
"Our team has an awful lot to be proud of this year. Obviously you always want to be the team that's holding up the cup at the end of the year. But we dealt with an awful lot this year, and we put together a really impressive run at a crucial time of the year," said Onalfo. "We established a very good home record, and we're building something that's really special for the future."
Wahl, rookies Espinoza and Leathers, and a late-blooming Kevin Souter (an open tryout discovery) played crucial roles down the stretch and will help keep the Wizards moving forward. And although the retirement of long-time leader and midfield force Kerry Zavagnin will leave a gap, a solid veteran presence from players such as Conrad, Jewsbury, Arnaud, Wolff, Gomez and goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, among others, remains.
Offseason interest will likely center around strengthening the Wizards' punch in front of goal and adding more quality depth all around -- something that started with the acquisition of Adam Cristman from New England the day after MLS Cup 2008. If an increase is team speed comes with those two, all the better.
"We almost have the whole lineup in place, we just have to add a few parts and maybe upgrade in a few areas if that's possible ...," said Conrad. "I'm actually very, very excited about next year. As much as I'm disappointed about this year, when I reflect upon it, it could potentially be a huge stepping stone for our future success."
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