SPORTING KC MANAGER PETER VERMES
On Sal Zizzo’s smooth transition to the team…
His qualities are the reason why we brought him on the team. We think that he fits our style of play. He’s doing good, but it’s still preseason. We’ve got a long road ahead of us. But the good thing is that there are a lot of things that we have been training on and there are a lot of things that he has already. He is a very coachable guy and he’ll be able to implement things very quickly.
On the importance of getting the whole squad match fit and ready for Champions League…
It’s a high demand on the guys playing two full 90-minute matches in one day. But we like to make sure that everybody’s getting that under their belts. It’s a very demanding day and the guys are a little banged up and they’re fatigued and also they’ve been on the road for a long time. So, a little bit of boredom or whatever you want to call it sets in. But, it’s good for them to get hard and be strong and fight through that mentally. On top of the physical component, there is the mental aspect too. The guys are getting through it and getting through it well, and we still have a little time to go here.
On Jon Kempin’s performance…
He’s played in two big matches now and I think he’s played really well. He’s made some really good saves and he has been really confident with his feet. His distribution is tremendous for his age. I am very pleased to see his progression.
On the ability to adjust to different scenarios…
The game is always going to present you with different situations and you have to be able to at times rev it up when you have too. At times you have to be able to bring it back. You have to be able to play while you’re up, play while you’re down, play when you’re up a man, play when you’re down a man. It’s all those situations that will present themselves. It’s good when you see them early, so you know how to deal with them. I think the guys realized in the first half that we didn’t play as well as we would have liked to. But, it was just us; our own problems. In the second half, we were a much better team and I underline the word team. We were a much more cohesive group and I think in the first half we were much more individuals. That was the difference in the two halves.
On the fitness level, if the season were to start tomorrow and the guys needed to go 90 minutes…
They put some hard work in this week. Yesterday was even a hard day and to come out and play 90 minutes like they did today and work through it, it’s not an easy task. There’s other things that go into it, but I feel confident that their gas tanks are building and getting stronger. And they need to be in a place so that we can play at a high tempo next week.
On Jimmy Medranda…
These situations are good for him. He’s young and he’s getting some real opportunities to train and play within the group. He is still learning. Now he’s getting a live dose of it because he’s playing in meaningful games. All these preseason games are meaningful because they provide us with a high level of play and a decent tempo. There is a physicality and pace to the game that he hasn’t had the chance to participate in a lot and he’s getting that experience now. I think each time he plays, there are certain things he’s doing better and all the sudden you see something else and his position around the goal changes. He’s done a good job thus far and he’ll continue to grow for sure. He’s got a lot of interesting things in his game especially going forward that can really help us be dangerous in the attack.
On Dwyer’s finish…
I said to the guys that goal is exactly what we have been looking to do in our play. We had the ball on one side of the field and we switched it. We almost played one touch across the field, diagonal run to the corner of the eighteen, great service and exceptional timing by Dom to get up and finish the ball with his head. It was a great play all the way around.
