Sporting Kansas City: Rebuilding the Roster

Peter Vermes has not been hesitant to create a small overhaul of his 2014 squad that bowed out of the MLS Cup playoffs before they really got started. The cutting down of the squad due to declined options, transfers and trades has resulted in Sporting KC only having 19 players as of writing on the roster for 2015. We're going to take a look at the remaining 11 spots available and how Sporting will go about filling them.

The Current Roster

Below is the current roster, sorted by position. Sporting has eight defenders, one goalkeeper, three forwards and seven midfielders. Soony Saad is technically still on the roster but with recent rumors sending him to Thailand on a transfer, we kept him off the list for projection purposes.

#	POS	Player Name	Age	HT	WT
5	D	Matt Besler	27	6'	170
7	D	Chance Myers	27	6'	165
15	D	Seth Sinovic	27	5' 10"	170
4	D	Kevin Ellis	23	5' 9"	160
3	D	Ike Opara	25	6' 2"	180
2	D	Erik Palmer-Brown	17	6' 1"	175
40	D	Igor Juliao	20	5' 8"	145
	D	Jalil Anibaba	26	6'	185
14	F	Dom Dwyer	24	5' 9"	180
37	F	Jacob Peterson	28	5' 10"	165
16	F	Claudio Bieler	30	5' 11"	171
21	GK	Jon Kempin	21	6' 1"	170
8	M	Graham Zusi	28	5' 10"	160
6	M	Paulo Nagamura	31	5' 8"	155
10	M	Benny Feilhaber	29	5' 9"	160
12	M	Mikey Lopez	21	5' 8"	160
94	M	Jimmy Medranda	20	5' 5"	150
20	M	Jorge Claros	28	5' 9"	155
	M	Bernardo Añor	26	6' 1"	178

Now, taking a look at where Sporting Kansas City was less than a year ago with their starting lineup against the Seattle Sounders on March 8.

This lineup is different from their primary lineup due to injuries and preparing for the Cruz Azul match since Uri Rosell, Seth Sinovic and Chance Myers were out for this match. We can already see how different the club is just from this lineup, however. Five players on this squad are no longer on the club and half of the 18-man game day roster that day is gone.

Sporting KC has already made a couple of moves to fill the holes left by the offseason transactions with Jalil Anibaba and Bernardo Anor, both very versatile players who can play multiple positions. Still, there's holes in the depth chart at a lot of positions and we're going to take a look at where there's holes and how they can be filled.

Defense

	Right Back	Center Right	Center Left	Left Back
Starters	Chance Myers	Jalil Anibaba	Matt Besler	Seth Sinovic
Second String	Igor Juliao	Ike Opara	Ike Opara	Bernardo Anor
Third String	Jalil Anibaba	Kevin Ellis	Kevin Ellis	Kevin Ellis
Fourth String	Kevin Ellis	Erik Palmer-Brown	Erik Palmer-Brown	Jacob Peterson

This is the current depth chart for Sporting defensively and they're actually pretty well set here. The acquisition of Jalil Anibaba gives them a starting option if they choose, or he can be the backup while Ike Opara starts at centerback. He is a lot like Kevin Ellis where he can play all around the back line and is very valuable in that way.There is a discussion to be had as to whether Opara or Anibaba will get the call to start next to Besler, so we arbitrarily went with Anibaba just to fill out the depth chart.

This depth chart assumes everyone is healthy. If Chance Myers is not ready to go for the start of the season after suffering a torn achilles, that obviously changes things. As it stands now, however, Sporting seems pretty set defensively both with their starters and their depth. They're able to go four-deep at each of the positions and the new acquisitions fit in nicely to the team. Sporting probably won't have to focus on players here for the rest of the offseason unless they decide to bring in a big-name centerback to start next to Besler.

Midfield

	Attack Midfielder	Box-to-Box	Defensive Midfielder
Starters	Benny Feilhaber	Paulo Nagamura	Jorge Claros
Second String	Graham Zusi	Bernardo Anor	Mikey Lopez
Third String	Bernardo Anor	Benny Feilhaber
Fourth String	Jimmy Medranda	Mikey Lopez

Benny Feilhaber is, without a doubt, the starter at attacking midfield and Graham Zusi can fill in there as well if need be. The only problem with that is it takes away an attacker from the right wing, which we will discuss in the next section.The midfield is where things get a little more dicey. At the top they are pretty good with basically the same starting lineup they ended the season with. The depth, however, gets tricky, especially at the defensive midfielder position.

Mikey Lopez is really the only option to slide into the defensive midfield is Claros is unavailable and, considering his history with the Honduran national team, there will be times this season where Claros is unavailable. Bernardo Anor alleviates some pressure off of the box-to-box spot but Sporting will probably be looking for another piece to that puzzle.

Forwards

	Left Winger	Center Forward	Right Winger
Starters	Jacob Peterson	Dom Dwyer	Graham Zusi
	Bernardo Anor	Claudio Bieler
		?

Yes, Jacob Peterson is currently the starting option at left winger. He started opening day 2014, so he may as well start opening day 2015. Sporting is likely looking for someone who can be an immediate starter on the left after they ran through a rotation of guys including Soony Saad, Toni Dovale, Sal Zizzo and CJ Sapong, depending on who was available. The inconsistency at this position will probably be a focal point in rebuilding the forward depth chart in this offseason.

I included a question mark at center forward since Robb Heineman said in his interview with Kevin Keitzman on Dec. 15 that there was a new forward signed to back up Dom Dwyer. While there can be assumptions made that this means Claudio Bieler is gone, he is still currently on the roster so we'll put the question mark below him until a name surfaces.

With Saad, Sapong and Zizzo gone, there is no one to backup Graham Zusi at the right wing so a move will likely be made to get some depth there.

Goalkeepers

	Goalkeeper
Starters	Jon Kempin
	?

With Andy Gruenebaum and Eric Kronberg gone, Jon Kempin is the only goalkeeper on Sporting KC's roster. He spent most of the year in Oklahoma City, although he did make a couple of starts when Kronberg and Gruenebaum went down with injuries. Another part of Heineman's aforementioned interview was saying that there was a done deal with a new goalkeeper. Once again, we don't know the name of the new player so he'll just remain as a question mark on the depth chart.

It is highly, highly unlikely that Kempin is the opening day starter in 2015. It's likely that this new keeper is Luis Marin, who has been rumored to join Sporting KC. Sporting still need to plug in a second goalkeeper, whether above or below Kempin on the depth chart, to round out the position.

Filling the holes

Based on the depth charts, this would be the opening day lineup in 2015.

This is not a terrible lineup, but there are definitely improvements to be made. The priority position signings, in my opinion, should be at these positions.

1) Defensive Midfielder Starter or Depth

2) Starting Goalkeeper

3) Starting left winger

4) Right-Wing Depth

5) Box-To-Box Depth or Nagamura replacement

6) Goalkeeper Depth

There are ample opportunities to acquire some of these positions, whether with veterans or new players. Here are the upcoming events that Sporting can take some new members for the club.

December 18: MLS Re-Entry Draft Stage 2

Sporting Kansas City passed in the first stage of the Re-Entry draft, as did 17 other clubs. There is still a large list of players who had their options declined by their clubs available for selection. Here's a full list of the players available. Sporting will have the ninth pick available in this draft if they choose to take a player.

January 15: MLS SuperDraft

Sporting will have a lot of chances to pick up players in the 2015 SuperDraft. They will have the 10th, 12th and 20th picks in the first round alone due to the trades of Teal Bunbury and CJ Sapong, as well as their natural pick. They will have the 30th overall pick in the second round after dealing Michael Thomas, losing their original pick in the trade for Benny Feilhaber. They will have the 53rd and 74th picks overall in the third and fourth rounds respectively to complete the draft. The SuperDraft will add six new players to Sporting, should they choose to sign them.

The roster will continue to change in the three months leading up to the season. Peter Vermes has shown an ability to find unknown or previously inept players and turn them into solid contributors. With 11 spots currently open on Sporting KC's roster, Vermes will have a lot of players to work with as Sporting KC heads into the next season.