KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Wizards may be undefeated in four straight heading into this weekend’s game in San Jose, but that doesn’t mean they’re satisfied.
Not by any means.
Despite victories against Columbus and Toronto, Kansas City took early leads against both Colorado and Real Salt Lake only to have their opponents equalize and take a share of the points. In the grand scheme of things, that’s four points lost rather than two points gained for a team trying to claw its way back into the playoff picture.
“For a team in our position,” forward Ryan Smith said, “we can’t afford to let that happen.”
Fortunately for manager Peter Vermes, it’s a much better position than the situation Kansas City found themselves in before their recent run of results. The Wizards have gotten on the board first in each of their previous four games after compiling a dreadful 0-8-1 record in their first 14 matches when conceding the opening goal.
Even though they haven’t always been able to hold onto the lead recently, Vermes said he expected his players to hone that killer instinct as the team builds on its current run and continues to put itself in good positions early in matches.
“Some of that is repetition of situation,” he said of the Wizards difficulty finding the all-important second goal. “You have to be in that position to be up one goal to then go and get the second one. The great thing about those games is when we scored, we got a couple opportunities right away; we just didn’t finish them.”
Against Real Salt Lake last week, Kansas City had plenty of chances to put the game away in the first half but let the visitors off the hook long enough for Robbie Findley to sneak in at the back post to steal a draw.
“We had enough chances in the first 30 minutes to put them away,” Vermes said.
The Wizards were clearly disappointed to walk away without the full points despite the banner season RSL are having. Against San Jose, and any other remaining opponent for that matter, the Wizards know they can’t be satisfied with a 1-0 score line.
As Smith learned from his experience with English Premier League side Arsenal, a team known for putting matches away in a flurry, the best way to follow an early goal is to push forward in hopes of locking up the result with even more.
“Once you get the first goal, you knock a team’s confidence,” Smith said. “The next thing you should do is try to get another goal as soon as possible and keep plugging away to do that. Then you create a deficit that is hard for them to get back.”
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Six points removed from the final playoff spot with 12 games to play, Kansas City know all about deficits. Now, the challenge for the Wizards will be to consistently put themselves in a position to seal the game, starting this weekend against the Earthquakes.
“It’s something that is a constant work in process,” Vermes said about finishing an opponent off, “and it’s something that you have to be in live to actually get better at it.”
