Kamara has chance to show up Dynamo
Wizards' newest forward given quick opportunity to face former club
Related
With three games remaining, the Dynamo sit atop the Western Conference, biding time until the MLS Cup Playoffs begin. Kansas City's postseason is much less certain as the team is 12th in MLS and needs to win each of its last four.
For Kamara, however, Saturday is simple: he just wants to make sure Houston knows what it gave up when they traded the forward to Kansas City for little-used Abe Thompson and cash.
"I have to be honest about the situation," Kamara said. "I was surprised I was getting traded. I didn't want to leave Houston -- the position that we were in. I wanted to play with the team.
"For them to say that's what they wanted to do, that's saying they didn't want me on the team anymore. I was shocked, surprised. But, I just have to let that go, look forward."
As easy as Kamara made it sound, it can't be.
Houston has been the talk of MLS for much of the season, supplying highlight-worthy goals and a league-best 0.97 goals against average. Kamara scored five of Houston's 35 goals. He was part of those highlights -- including, ironically, a game-winning header against the Wizards in a 1-0 win at CommunityAmerica Ballpark earlier this season.
Out of pure need for a player with his skill set, Kansas City traded for Kamara, uprooting a player from Houston, where the reaction to the trade has curiously ranged from lukewarm to good riddance.
At 6-foot-3 and 186 pounds, the striker possesses physical traits other Wizards forwards do not, including an all-around natural ability to bother opposing defenders.
Kamara demands space and, in two games since the trade, his presence around the net has appeared to open opportunities for a Wizards club that struggled mightily through the summer to score.
Kansas City midfielders have already begun sending service into the box with more confidence, looking for the striker to either finish the play with another jaw-dropping header or possess the ball long enough to find a Josh Wolff, Davy Arnaud or Claudio Lopez on a run.
According to Kamara, his game is what Wizards technical director/interim head coach Peter Vermes wanted, and more importantly, wanted is how Vermes made Kamara feel.
"He told me he watched the way I played," Kamara said. "He studied my game. That's kind of what they need on the team right now -- a big guy up front who can hold the ball, but can also use my speed to give defenders problems. That's what I've been doing.
"I told them that I'm willing to come in and help the team in any way that I can. It's an honor for a team to want you, no matter where you were before. No matter what happened. For a team to show interest in you, saying they want you to come in, they want you to help the team, that they have a role for you; that's an honor.
"When [Peter] told me that, I felt good about the situation."
Kamara's supporters believe playing for Kansas City could be a very good thing for him.
"Family members calling me," Kamara said, "friends telling me, even teammates from others places I've played at, saying 'it's time for you to show the team that let you go that they're missing out on something.'"
The transition has been a smooth one.
"It's been good. It's been better than expected," Kamara said. "I know I said earlier in the year that Kansas City was the worst place. I didn't want to come there. But, it's the opposite. It's better than what most guys in the league expect Kansas City to be like."
The organization's commitment and professionalism has been noticeable also.
"The [training] complex is one of the best," Kamara said. "We didn't have facilities like this in Houston. It's nice here. The coaching staff, they treat you pretty well. It's a good group of players. I mean, who wouldn't want to play next to guys like Claudio Lopez? The things [the organization] does, it makes the game so much easier for you."
It helped that Kansas City wasn't full of cowboys and hay bales -- which is what Kamara said he braced for.
"It's kind of like you come to [Kansas City], and it's an unknown place," Kamara said. "You expect the guys to be changed, like different from everybody else in the league. You kind of feel like everybody would be all country over here for some reason.
"But, you come in and it's just the same guys, same attitude from all the other teams. They have the same mentality. Everybody wants to win."
Everybody wants to win this weekend, true, but against Houston, excuse Kamara if might want it a little more.
Curtis Kitchen is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
