Monday, October 31, 2011

Sporting Kc Easily Topple a Distraught Colorado Rapids Side


Teal Bunbury and Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids vs. Sporting KC
The man of the hour, Teal Bunbury. - via Getty Images

Last night Sporting Kc might of had the best start to a 2-legged playoff match-up ever when they beat Colorado away 2-0 in Denver on a freezing Halloween-eve. Beating Colorado was great for Sporting's confidence heading into the second leg at LSP, not to mention the fact that Colorado now have to play on Wednesday without SIX starters and a suspended Tyrone Marshall.

It was a quiet 1st half to say the least and it seemed as if both teams were OK with the 0-0 draw but then after the break Teal Bunbury drew first blood. The goal came after some decent possession for KC, Julio Cesar picked his head up in the middle of the park and played a fantastic through-ball right into the path of Bunbury who easily finessed it into the bottom right corner. Sending the traveling supporters into a craze

It was again Bunbury who was causing the Colorado Rapids back line trouble in the 59th minute when he made a darting run in to the box with the ball at his feet as Tyrone Marshall came through the back of Bunbury, prompting the referee to give a PK and a red card to the offender (not to say Bunbury didn't go down easily).

KC talisman Davy Arnaud could of made it three when he was played an excellent through ball by Jeferson who found the racing Arnaud, but the 31 year old couldn't really get a solid foot on it and Perkins made the save.

All-in-all it was a great win for Sporting Kc. We put a huge dent in the defending MLS champions' playoff chances with that win, and now Sporting Kc know that they are only 2 wins away from being in the MLS Cup final. However, I applaud the Rapids players, they didn't get upset and nasty after the loss like the NYRB's did, poor showing from the "best of MLS".

Friday, October 28, 2011

Sporting Kc To Face Colorado Away In One Of Two Games

Earlier tonight it was learned that Sporting Kc will face Colorado away on Sunday night in Denver. Following that first away game Sporting will welcome The Rapids to what should be a hostile environment at  LSP on Wednesday in the second and final game.

Colorado beat Columbus 1-0 off of a lone Omar Cummings goal right before half-time on a freezing Thursday night in Denver. Following the win Colorado earned the right to face Sporting Kc in a 2 game series. While The Rapids are a decent squad, it could be worse for Sporting Kc. The LA Galaxy will have to fly 2,450 miles across the entire US from LA to NY to face a Red Bull's side that is gaining momentum at the right time. This is what LA receives for winning the supporter's shield?

Regardless Sporting Kc just needs to go to the mile high city and get at least a draw knowing that when they come back to KC the friendly confines of LSP will be waiting to greet them.


Saturday, October 22, 2011

FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Player Values

Here are some of the values of certain players on FIFA 12 UT. If you are paying under the projected price then it's a steal, if you pay over you're getting scammed. Also, if you have any other projected values for players then please share, if it sounds right it'll most likely get added. FYI I buy most of my players from La Liga so there will likely be a lot of them listed.


Name - Position - Rating - Club - Country - Projected Value(in coins)


Nilmar - ST - 83 - Villarreal - Brazil - 4k-5k
Thiago - CAM - 79 - Barcelona - Spain - 300-400
Bruno - CDM - 82 - Villarreal - Spain - 500-600
Raul Albiol - CB - 82 - Real Madrid - Spain - 1k-1.5k
Diego - CAM - 83 - Atletico Madrid - Brazil - 1.5k-1.8k
Toulalan - CDM - 81 - Malaga - France - 400-600
Ibrahimovic - ST - 88 - AC Milan - Sweden - 90k-96k
Higuain - ST - 86 - Real Madrid - Argentina - 8k-10k
Rooney - ST - 90 - Manchester United - England - 300k-380k
Aguero - ST - 86 - Manchester City - Argentina - 100k-105k
Valencia - RW - 83 - Manchester United - Ecuador - 4.5k-4.7k
Suarez - ST - 85 - Liverpool - Uruguay - 24k-28k
Gerrard - CM - 87 - Liverpool - England - 160k-170k
Modric - CAM - 88 - Tottenham - Croatia - 45k-50k
Nesta - CB - 85 - AC Milan - Italy - 2.5k-2.9k
Thiago Silva - CB - 87 - AC Milan - Brazil - 85k-87k
Lucio - CB - 85 - Inter Milan - Brazil - 15k-20k
Pazzini - ST - 83 - Inter Milan - Italy - 500-1k
Drogba - ST - 86 - Chelsea - Ivory Coast - 75k-85k
Lampard - CAM - 87 - Chelsea - England - 86k-90k
Arshavin - LW - 83 - Arsenal - Russia -1k-1.2k
Van Persie - ST - 86 - Arsenal - Netherlands - 30k-34k
Krasic - RM - 82 - Juventus - Serbia - 1.5k-2k
Chiellini - CB - 84 - Juventus - Italy - 17k-20k

Thursday, October 20, 2011

FIFA 12 Career Mode Tips

Picture via: http://soft.elecinlife.com/fifa-12-career-preview-mode-before-the-user/

FIFA12 newbies and career mode legends alike have already enjoyed a wonderful month or so of career mode. But this years career mode is a different beast than previous years gone by. I've been a FIFA gamer since '05 and I've racked up well over 45 hours of career mode. So I guess you could say I know the game like the back of my hand and I have some useful tips on what arguably is one of the best career modes to date.

Starting Out
When starting up career mode you will have three game modes inside of career mode itself for you to choose from, "player mode", "manager mode", and "player-manager mode". If you select the traditional "manager mode" then you will be promptly whisked away to select your team. 

Selecting your team is one of the most important things in career mode. Whether you choose Manchester City for it's +150,000,000 spending budget or a League 2 side with the hopes of promotion this step is essential.

Day 1
After selecting the team I generally like to go and check out my new squad. I assess where the problem areas are and where my strong points are where I want to build my team around. So let's say you have a 73 CAM in a team where the average rating is 66. You would want to build your team around him, but be careful, don't put him in a formation where there is 1 or more of his positions, otherwise he might not be as potent. Also, play young guys. This is an extremely important part when selecting your starting XI, I've managed teams where I've had a 17 year old striker with a rating of 65 go all the way to 69 in one season.

Transfers
Be smart with transfers, they are one of 2 ways to add players to your squad, buying players through the transfer market is one. The first thing I like to do is sell all the players with the lowest ratings. Or players that I deem unworthy. Don't hold on to a young player with a rating of 45 in hopes that he will be the next Messi, clubs will buy, trust me. I then will toggle between the highest and lowest transfer costs and sell accordingly. If I can sell a 70 for $2,000,000 and then buy a player with an equal or greater overall I will. And if I have an aging player with very little stamina I will sell them. (Yes I have sold Del Piero before). But be careful not to sell too many players, if you are competing in domestic and European competitions as well as league then it is important to have good depth within ones squad.

Free agents/Loans
Another thing I do when I start any season is look at the free agents and loanees. Buying free agents and loanees is a great way to save money while still getting some quality players. The best part about buying either of these two is that it won't cost you a single cent of your transfer funds. The only thing that will be depleted is your wage funds, but generally since free agents are not on a team they will join you for a reasonably low price. 

On the other hand don't forget to sell young players via the loan option as well. But sell them to clubs you know they will get playing time at, otherwise they might not progress like you want them to. 

Simming vs. Playing
Simming games is a great tool when you use it correctly. Use it against teams that you know you could easily beat manually. Don't use it against teams that are close to you in the standings. But be extremely careful when simming away from your stadium, home teams in FIFA automatically have an advantage when simming, for the obvious reasons of course. 

Scouting
One of the best additions to the game this year is the scouting system. Not only is it better than last year's re-generation system it is also extremely fun and is a way to keep you interested. Through scouting I have literally found the next Messi. (A 16 year old from Mexico)

Be careful when selecting your scout though. Select someone that you can afford but is also not total rubbish - the higher the scout the better the players. Also, when sending your scout to the various parts of the world be aware that some regions can produce better players than other regions. For example, if you send a scout to Asia in search of a center back you probably won't find the next Barcelona star. But, if you look in Italy for a playmaker you can probably find some bright prospects.

Selecting Players For the Youth Squad
When selecting players for your youth squad don't be too antsy. But don't be too slow. If you buy them early due to the odd chance they could have an overall rating of 62 at 14 years old you're likely in for a bust. Every month your scout will give you an updated list of new or old players. But if you wait too long other clubs will sign them and they'll end up in the abyss of world football.

End Of the Season
Upon completion of the season you will be able to either stay with your club or move on. When deciding where to go choose the club that you think you can be the most successful with. It's easy right? Not really, sometimes the clubs that have $150,000,000 spending budgets are just too much to resist. One time, due to some rich investors FC Dallas, (an MLS side), had over $100,000,000 dollars to spend. I chose them and ran rampant in the MLS. Winning the championship and the domestic cup 3 years in a row. 



Thanks for reading, have fun!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Playoffs: Welcome Back KC

-Davy Arnaud celebrating with the Cauldron after the game, courtesy of SportingKc.com

Saturday the 15th of October 2011 will go down into the history books as Sporting Kc confirmed their spot in the playoffs with a 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls. Whether this club can go farther is yet to be seen but as of now fans across the area are celebrating. And rightly so, Sporting Kc hasn't made it into the playoffs for 2 years. And even in 2009 they lost in the first round to Columbus. But this year, there is new belief. To lose out in the opening round would do terrible injustice to our club that has quite literally experienced the highs and lows of soccer in slightly under 7 months.

But, even if we fail to progress in the playoffs there would still be progress within the club that may not necessarily be seen by the naked eye - this team is young. The average age of the players who started against NY was 26 while the backline's average starting age was 24, one of the lowest in MLS. And with the likes of Soony Saad(19), Jon Kempin(18), Daniel Cyrus(20), and Kevin Ellis(20) waiting for stardom, this team can go far. But this season it has been a mix of young and old who have lead Sporting to the playoffs. Jimmy Nielsen(34), Omar Bravo(31), and Julio Cesar(32) have all been key figures this season and have really stepped up as leaders after the loss of talisman Jimmy Conrad and Jack Jewsbury leaving earlier this year. 

No matter how old they are winning on Saturday afternoon in the fall sunshine was a big step for these players. Winning the cup would be an even bigger step. And quite frankly I can't really think of any other club more deserving of it than us, except for maybe Seattle. Certainly club captain Davy Arnaud couldn't. Arnaud recently broke the all-time league appearances for Sporting Kc, surpassing assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin's mark. Arnaud was probably the happiest man at LSP on Saturday (pictured above). He's been with this team for almost 10 years now and has watched it grow into something bigger than he could ever anticipate. 

Now, as October comes to an end the playoffs are just around the corner and I think I can speak for all fans when I say, WE WANT THE CUP

Friday, October 14, 2011

The Regular Season Final

Win against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday and this year's Sporting Kansas City will have accomplished something that hasn't been accomplished in 2 years - making the playoffs. It's quite interesting to look at how far this team has come in those 2 years. From the hallows of Community America Ballpark to the great rooftops of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park a lot has changed. And a win against the Red Bulls would make even more history.

"Win and we're in" has been a phrase whispered upon the lips of quite a lot of supporters in the past couple of days. Quite frankly because it's true. But how easy will it be to beat this Red Bull side. Well, first off, if we win it would almost completely shatter the Red Bulls own chances at the playoffs, something that just about every team in this league would want to do. But the Red Bulls do have quality, there's no denying that. We all know how good Henry and Marquez are but there have been some other great performers for NY this season. Luke Rodgers, Lindpere, Solli, and Agudelo to name a few. So as you can see there is a lot of class in the Red Bulls camp.

As for Sporting Kansas City well we have a number of stars too and I believe that we have a real shot against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon. Our front line was smothered in April when we last played the  Red Bulls to a 1-0 loss but Sapong, Kamara, and Bravo are all hitting fine form and will look to make some magic for the home team.

My prediction?

Sporting Kansas City - 2(Bravo, Kamara)
New York Red Bulls - 0

Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Playoffs, Sporting Kansas City Style



It's that time of year again and the Sporting Kansas City faithful are getting geared up for what should be an exciting playoff race. Albeit the spot still isn't locked down, Sporting Kc have a very good chance at being with the MLS elite when the playoffs kick off in late October and early November.


The next game Sporting Kc has to clinch a playoff spot might just be the biggest of the season, as Sporting welcome the New York Red Bulls to LSP. And when the final "regular-season" game comes around on October 22 Sporting Kc will have to face DC United, a team that as of right now are 5 points out of a playoff spot. However, if we were to win against the NYRB's next Saturday we would clinch a playoff spot. In-fact if the season were to end today we would be in the playoffs no questions asked.


Basically, no matter what happens there is a 98.2% we will make the playoffs. But we don't want to just finish in a wild-card spot and hope we win the following game to actually get into the playoffs. No, we want to finish top of the East and have as many playoff games as we can here at LSP, plus the higher we finish the better chance there is of us getting a lower-quality team to face. If we choose to let fate handle our playoff destiny then we could end up facing a team of a higher caliber. I mean, which hypothetical scenario would you want to have: Away playing against a star studded LA Galaxy? Or home against an expansion side Portland Timbers? I would choose the latter one. On the other hand, just making it into the playoffs would deem this season a success, and would save Peter Vermes' job. After we seemingly shot ourselves in the foot with a horrendous 10 game road trip that saw us sink to last place in the entire league. But, due to some great home form and some stand-out performances from the youngsters (Sapong, Besler, Zusi, etc.) we now find ourselves in a situation that other clubs would die for.



Saturday, October 1, 2011

Sporting Kc's Actual Playoff Chances

As the season comes to a close many fans will be wanting to know where their team is in the playoff race. Fortunately Kurt Austin (@kaustin01) shared with me a sweet site displaying stats on Sporting Kc's playoff race. I'll go ahead and post them here for some quick analysis.

98% - Chance Sporting Kc will make the playoffs.

8.6% - Percentage points it changed our chance of making the playoffs after the 2-1 win over Columbus.

0% - Chance Sporting Kc finishes with the Supporters Shield.

100% - Percentage Sporting Kc has at getting first seed in the Eastern Conference if they win their last 3 games.

64% - Percentage Sporting Kc has at being in the playoffs if they lose their last 3 games.

53, 51, 50, 49 - Points needed for Sporting Kc to finish in a playoff spot.

-2.3% - Percentage points it will change our chance of making the playoffs if we lose against San Jose.

You can check out where I got these stats and some other cool stuff here