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Kansas City Wizards 10 Questions: Tony Meola | Coachspeak: Bob Gansler
Posted: Saturday March 11, 2000 09:24 PM
By Jeff Diecks, CNNSI.com In making offseason changes to a Wizards club that stumbled to an 8-24 record and a last-place finish in the Western Conference, new Kansas City general manager Curt Johnson hopes to have followed one of coach Bob Gansler's favorite training slogans: "Find a way to make the guy next to you a better player." Specifically, Johnson found a strike partner for Alex Bunbury. "Last year we had one box player, and that was Alex," Gansler said. "After a while, folks do figure that out." Enter "Danish Dynamite" -- forward Miklos Molnar, who has exploded in preseason training and is receiving votes from MLS coaches as the league's expected scoring leader. Molnar, the 29-year-old striker who led Denmark's first division in scoring two years ago with 26 goals, scored five goals in three games in the MLS spring training tournament. On paper, the Wizards have a strong combination with Molnar's finishing skills and Bunbury's strength in the air.
Gansler plans for Molnar to benefit from Bunbury's back-to-the-goal work. Bunbury, a 32-year-old veteran of the Canadian national team, joined the Wizards in midseason and put some bite into a team that set an MLS record for futility with its 0-7 start. The Wizards managed to go 8-10 after Gansler took over for interim coach Ken Fogarty, who had replaced Ron Newman on April 14. But the team ended 1999 with a seven-game losing streak, taking last place for the second straight year after winning the Western Conference in 1997. Along with the addition of Molnar, Gansler hopes to turn the Wizards around with a group of veteran players with proven track records. The roster features a combined 433 national team appearances (not including Gansler's 36 games as U.S. coach and 25 as a player), the most in MLS. Leading the way is Tony Meola, tops among U.S. goalkeepers in victories, appearances and shutouts. Meola, who arrived before the 1999 season along with defender Alexi Lalas in a trade with the MetroStars, suffered a knee injury three days before the season opener and missed the first 23 games. He allowed just 10 goals in the nine games he played. Lalas retired from soccer following the season, and the Wizards continued the overhaul of their defense in a February trade with Colorado. Kansas City shipped Scott Vermillion and an international allocation to the Rapids for defender Peter Vermes and defensive midfielder Matt McKeon. The teams also exchanged second-round draft picks, with the Wizards moving up five spots and selecting forward Peter Byaruhanga of UAB. In the first round of the draft, the Wizards made Indiana defender Nick Garcia the No. 2 overall pick.
The addition of McKeon should allow midfielder Mo Johnston to go forward more often. Johnston had three goals and four assists in 29 games last season, his lowest point total in four years with the Wizards. The team's leading scorer in 1999, Preki (seven goals, 11 assists), also slumped to his lowest point total in four years with the club. The 1997 league MVP turns 37 in June. With an eye toward Preki's advancing age and declining point totals, Gansler plans to limit the midfielder's minutes by using him as a supersub at times. "He's a trump card. If we can see that we can exploit that, we'll use him in that way," Gansler said following a preseason win over the Miami Fusion in which Preki helped set up four goals as a second-half substitute. "He's not happy with that, right, because he wants 90 minutes. But actually he played so well tonight he doesn't have much argument. We talked for a couple hours today just about this. Not me telling him how to play soccer, but just me trying to convince him that it's about us and how we win this game." Preki proclaimed himself fit and ready for the season. "In my mind, I'm a starter who plays 90 minutes," Preki said. "In his mind, we'll have to wait and see."
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