Sporting KC announced on Monday that veteran midfielder Justin Mapp had joined the club as the first MLS free agent signing in League history. Mapp and Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes shared their remarks in a conference call with media members on Monday afternoon. Click here to view Sporting KC's 2016 transaction tracker.
Sporting KC midfielder Justin Mapp
On how he fits into Sporting KC's style of play...
I think it’s a good fit. I’ve only seen the team from afar playing against them for a number of years. I know the type of players they have and I’ve got a sense of the coach Peter is. Knowing the players they have and the way I like to play, I thought it felt right for me and my game.
On his week-long experience as an MLS free agent...
About a week ago, once the free agent window opened up, I had interest from several teams. Peter reached out to my agent and expressed interest, and it’s something that I wanted to explore right away. It all happened pretty quickly, and I feel the free agency process was a bit new for all of us. We weren’t exactly sure how it all worked at first but we made it happen.
On having the freedom to negotiate with teams of his choice as a free agent...
It was definitely refreshing, but maybe a little overwhelming because no one had really gone through this. You’re just trying to take it all in and weigh all the variables. The players who have played in this league a long time who have helped the league grow kind of deserve this opportunity, especially in the latter stages of their career. They’ve put in the time, they get more of a say as to where they live, where they play, whatever their case may be. So it was refreshing, but the process was definitely something different.
Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes
On the process of interacting with Mapp during the free agency process...
It was easy to understand that Justin was going to be sought after by probably all 19 teams in the league outside of his former team in Montreal. He’s been a very good player in MLS and I think he has some special qualities as a player that any team in the league would want to have. We knew that it was going to be a bit of a competition, but at the same time, I think it came down to what Justin was looking for. He had the opportunity to make this decision, and from our point of view it was us trying to give a clear picture of who we are and how we see him within our team.
Most of you know that there are a lot of great players out there, and we are very specific about the types of players we think fit with how we play. That why we made Justin our No. 1 target in free agency. We knew that if we could get him, we would do anything we could because we feel he has the qualities that fit the way we play.
On how Mapp fit's into Sporting KC's style of play...
The thing about Justin is that he can play on the left or the right. He’s left footed, so he can come inside if he’s out on the right and be even more in combination play as a playmaker through the central channel. If he’s playing on the left, he has the ability to serve a ball unlike many guys in this league. I think he’s got one of the best services in the league and one of the best touches. The other thing is he has the ability to take players one versus one and beat them on the dribble. In other situations he can play behind the forward as a true playmaker.
As you guys have seen a lot of times when we’ve played, teams have packed it in, and you need players who have the qualities that Justin has to be able to help open up the defense. He’s someone who is not only good in possession but on the dribble and has great service. I think he has a knack for the goal as well. He has very good instincts, and I think all those qualities are going to fit in well with us.
On the benefits of MLS introducing free agency for veteran players...
It truly does give players a choice at the end of their career. I don’t think Justin’s at the end of his career, but if you’re 28 and you have eight years in the league, you should get a chance to pick a place where you want to be. That’s very valuable because it could be location, it could be a financial decision, it could be the opportunity to play within a style that suits them. It gives them a choice, so it’s another step in the growth of our league. It’s provided Justin and the rest of the candidates to have a choice at a time when they’ve put a lot of good years into the league. Now it’s about them getting the opportunity to be at a place where they’d like to be.
On Sporting KC's next offseason roster moves...
We’re definitely looking to add a player to each line. It makes it easier that we were able to close this opportunity as early as we did because it’s really helped us as well. Now we can concentrate on the other lines of our team. We added another goalkeeper (Alec Kann via the Re-Entry Draft), which was an important aspect. So we’re still looking to add another midfielder and another defender.
