Fresh off announcing his return to Sporting Kansas City, midfielder Roger Espinoza joined Manager Peter Vermes, Sporting Club CEO Robb Heineman and club commentator Nate Bukaty to conduct a fan forum at the Sprint headquarters on Tuesday. Below are notable excerpts from the question-and-answer session.
Heineman on his excitement of Espinoza returning to Sporting KC…
Of all the guys that have left the club, there’s one guy whose jersey I still have framed on the wall in my basement, and it’s Roger’s. I always hoped Roger would come back, but I never knew if he would for sure. When you talk about the reputation of Sporting KC and how we play in the system Peter has implemented, Roger is how that reputation became known here in Kansas City. What we’ve always tried to do is accommodate the aspirations of our players who want to go over to Europe. But for them to then aspire to come back, it’s an amazing thing. It’s a great thing for me to be able to welcome Roger back home. Now I get to take that jersey down off the frame in my house and start wearing it to games again.
Vermes on his expectations for Espinoza…
My expectation of Roger is obviously much higher than it was before he left us. I actually think he’s entering the prime of his career as well. When you’re a young player, you’re trying to make it. You’re trying to find your way. Roger has found his way. He can now be a leader for the other guys and help them along and be a mentor for them. Although we have veteran players now, they aren’t necessarily open to helping the next young guys take their place in the team. That’s something that goes with getting older. Roger has the ability to mentor guys in the prime of his career, so that’s going to lend itself to a lot of success for us.
Vermes on Sporting KC’s new signings making the team more versatile…
I think with this new group of guys we’re bringing in, there’s a level of aptitude that’s going to allow us to play not only our normal 4-3-3 style, but also change our formation quite drastically depending on who we play. It’s because of the personnel that we have, and it’s going to be fun for me to see how that evolves over the course of the preseason and over the course of this year.
Vermes on the main challenge of moving to the Western Conference…
I do think it’s going to be very competitive. But the real challenge for us is we’re going to have to fly to Vancouver, Portland, Seattle and San Jose. Those trips are tough. We lose a couple of days of training for that week because we have to leave a day earlier based on our flight schedule.
Heineman on Sporting KC’s transition to the West…
Over the entire collective, maybe the West is better than the East. But I feel like the best team over the past few years has been in the East, and it’s right here in Kansas City. We’re excited now to move to the West, and there are no doubt some good teams. I think it’s a little bit more open the way teams play out there. But they are going to find it very difficult to come to Kansas City. We have to go out there more often, but they have to come to Kansas City more often. I think we feel very comfortable about the challenge before us.
Vermes on the benefit of allowing Sporting KC players to leave for Europe…
Something we got from the Uri Rosell transfer is that international players are now contacting us. Instead of us telling these players what Sporting Kansas City is all about, they have met or played with Uri in either Spain and Portugal and come to us and say, “You don’t have to tell me your story. Uri has already told me about you. I really want to come here.” So if we’re open to letting our guys leave and play in Europe, we’re actually attracting more players than we will lose in the long run. Roger is a perfect example of that. He’s back with us, he’s matured, and he really wants to be here.
Espinoza on European players’ aspirations of playing in MLS…
I can say that there are many guys from Europe that want to be here. Even right before I left, there were some teammates saying they wanted to come here as well. I will encourage them to come, obviously to Sporting. Even when I was playing in the Premier League, a lot said they wanted to come now or later in their careers. There is a (challenge) with the MLS salary cap, and they’re making pretty good money over there. But in the future the league will change and continue to improve, and those players will come.
Vermes on new Chilean goalkeeper Luis Marin…
He has excellent experience and he’s fantastic with his feet. I actually sent [former Sporting KC goalkeeper] Jimmy Nielsen to Chile for a week to scout him and spend time with him. Jimmy called me on my birthday and said, “I have a birthday present for you. This goalkeeper you sent me down here to look at is the closest thing to me. We’re very similar, but there’s one thing we’re completely different – this guy’s feet are 100 times better than mine. You’ve found a keeper who can play out from the back the way you want to play.” So we’re very excited about that.
Vermes on new Hungarian forward Krisztian Nemeth…
Six years ago I wanted him to play here, but the problem was he was bought by Liverpool. He started there and has moved around a bit. His last stint was the one I thought was most impressive—when he went and played in Holland. He played the 4-3-3 the whole time and played all three positions up top. He can play with his back to the goal. There are certain attacking guys that are good at receiving the ball in good areas of the field and getting the shot off. There are others that can make their own shot. This is a guy that can make his own shot. That’s something that we’ve lacked at times. His movement off the ball is also great. You put him on the front line with Dom [Dwyer] and [Graham] Zusi, and suddenly you have a lot of options and players that can cause problems.
Vermes on Sporting KC’s objectives in the MLS SuperDraft…
We’re looking for more field players. Right now we have three first round draft picks – the 10th, 12th and 20th – as well as the 30th overall pick. In the draft, we’ll probably focus on outside back positions and maybe someone on the wings.
