The team are off to Arizona tomorrow morning and we simply will not get to see any preseason preparation in the flesh for a while, but this wasn’t the reason I felt a little down leaving training today.  Unlike Thursday when I had gone out of my way to avoid watching those on the outside looking in, today I could not help doing so.  They scrimmaged today, the entire preseason roster divided into three teams – with one group made up of kids who looked smaller, younger and slower than those they are looking to replace on the roster.  Amongst them, local kid Matt Kuhn, the one guy I wanted to excel had fleeting moments of promise undermined by the need to take an extra touch once in a while.  I have never met Matt but I am friends with his brother, I stand at the back of the Members Stand with Mike Kuhn during games at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park and he is good people, I wanted this to work out for his family on a personal level and for his brother simply because I know Mike would love to see him make it.

Alas for Matt and the majority of real rookies in the group, the curtain probably fell on all to short careers just before 10:30 this morning when practice finished.  A few of them might find a home in USL if they are inclined to go looking for it, but the reality is that college degrees and the job hunt will probably start on Monday.  As the sessions wound down Mike chatted with his brother Matt – as we walked towards the exit.  “I wish I had gotten more time”.  He was talking about scrimmage time, but between being drafted on January 14th and probably being released in the next 24 hours it may be the the summation of his entire professional career.

It is a tough fact of professional sport and especially soccer in the USA.  The pyramid isn’t exactly deep or broad, beyond the USL level there is nothing.  How quickly a dream can come and go.  It was a sobering and saddening thought.  Of course we see this every year, the often anonymous faces come and go and you cannot help but think of them as having little chance but this year I knew just enough about one of them to wish that the status quo wasn’t what it is.

Cuts will be made before the team leaves in the morning.

As mentioned earlier the entire playing staff was divided into three teams that scrimmaged together.  It was fairly low pace stuff and unfortunately it the first two standout names of Peterson Joseph and Kevin Ellis who both picked up injuries.  Joseph is a diminutive, speedy, technically gifted player but I wonder about the lack of physicality he brings to the table within the rough and tumble of MLS. He has the build of an Olsen twin. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with him but he looked to have picked up a bit of a strain today after dancing through a defense like it wasn’t there and scoring.  I could not help but be impressed and then he pulled up.  Hopefully it does not hamper his efforts in Arizona too badly.  I can certainly see why he has been signed … but the Sunil Chhetri warning sign is blinking a bit. If you are going to be a minnow, you need to be exceptional to make it and I am not sure he really is.

Kevin Ellis went down in a crumpled writhing heap during the scrimmage after rolling an ankle.  He didn’t bare weight on it again during training and left ice packed and not under his own steam.  It looked to be a very painful injury and Ellis was visibly distressed for minutes after the fact. I would not be surprised at all to find out that he had X-Rays and MRIs this afternoon.  Hopefully it really is just a sprain. We’ll find out soon enough.

I finally had a chance to have a look at Konrad Warzycha playing following the knee injury that had kept him out of the team for the entirety of the 2011 season.  He has a bit more size to him than I remember and I found myself wishing Teal Bunbury was out there to compare him to.  His father was a hell of a player back in the day, if Konrad comes close he’ll be a good capture and he showed well today scoring a couple of goals, including a nice turn and shot.  He has decent control, a good touch and in a strange way reminds me of Zoltán Hercegfalvi – there is a brain involved in his play. There is some promise there, and he should not be overlooked while everybody is focusing on other new signings.

For notes on individual players … check out Down the Byline.