'Resilient' Wizards welcome Chicago
Kansas City hope to extend five-game unbeaten streak vs. the Fire
The first half of the 2008 season showed that the Kansas City Wizards could be nicknamed "Team Resilient" for their steely mental makeup. After surviving a stretch of six road games and a concurrent seven-game winless streak, which included the bottom falling out in a 3-0 loss at home to Columbus, the Wizards have righted the ship enough that they can still reach their lofty preseason goals. But not before rectifying what was yet another mental battle in last week's 3-3 draw at Columbus.
After 24 minutes, K.C. was up 2-0 in their battle to redeem the previous lambasting the Crew gave the Wizards. By minute 38, K.C. was down 3-2.
"Sometimes in soccer, strange things happen. We were on the end of three, quick, unanswered goals that all of a sudden made us all shake our heads. It was a big-time character check," said Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo. "Quite frankly, I was extremely pleased with the way our guys managed that. Often teams fold, they can't regain the momentum."
Josh Wolff's goal in the 75th minute salvaged a point for Kansas City. Yet the team's coming together to gain the draw was not just another mental battle won, it was the gaining of a valuable point.
"We've had to deal with more challenges at this point than we did last year. I think we're more hardened. I think we're a better team than we were last year," Onalfo said. The point gained puts the Wizards within four points of the third-place Fire and seven behind the second-place Crew. Their total of 21 points after 16 matches leaves them four points short of last season's 25 points, when they squeaked into the playoffs with 40 points at the end.
"If you look at our record, out of 16 games we have five wins and six ties," Onalfo said. "So 11 out of those 16 games we've gotten results. Is it good enough? Not for my liking -- I want to be farther up the standings."
It looks like the rest of the season will be a mental battle as well. And it begins on Sunday against the man who displayed all his skill, guile and determination in the MLS All-Stars' 3-2 defeat of English Premiership side West Ham United with a clever back heel assist and a sharp cut and cool, well-placed finish.
"[Blanco]'s a guy that makes a difference in the game. The key for us on Sunday is to limit his influence," said Onalfo. "There's no secret: any time he has the ball and has time and space, he can pick you apart. And Chicago has a lot of guys who know how to run off the ball and that are fast, so we have to make sure that we do a good job regardless of where he is on the field and get close to him."
Being wary of potential disaster is part of the hardening of the Wizards. They're more ready than ever for Blanco and the Fire.
"[Goals against are] something we take very personally, especially on the back line. We had a few times where we turned off and really let [Columbus] get a step on us," said center back Aaron Hohlbein, referring to the Columbus comeback which began on a free kick. "That's something that we focus on -- stepping on a dead ball. [We focus] on limiting other teams' opportunities in and around the box in terms of set pieces and just shoring things up, making sure that when we have a lead we keep it."
Getting the lead will fall mostly to the frontrunners, whether the two will be Wolff, designated player Claudio Lopez, or Davy Arnaud. The Wizards and Onalfo have figured out which two will run up top now that Wolff is near full fitness, but Onalfo doesn't want to give anything away.
"We have a lot of nice combinations there," said Onalfo.
The tactical scheming reflects the mental warfare Kansas City has been through. Putting it all into practice toward the aim of making the playoffs and finishing in the top two in the conference beginning Sunday.
"We've had a good week of training, and we're ready to roar," Onalfo said.
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
