To the outsider, the only change apparent in the Kansas City Wizards might be an increased focus on a more attacking style of soccer. But behind the scenes, there is a renaissance going on.
"We're basically an expansion team," said Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo. "We have a brand new organization. The only difference is we have a team."
The new beginning is designed to improve the club now and for years to come, and its chief architects are Onalfo and technical director Peter Vermes, both hired last August after OnGoal, LLC took over the club.
The very fact that OnGoal decided to create the position of technical director was the first decision that reshaped the club from the previous structure.
"You have to have someone overseeing the soccer side, the technical side. There are so many little issues that come up on a regular basis that a coach may not be focused on, and assistant coaches have other responsibilities," Vermes said. "Somebody that can see the big picture is very important, not for the first year, but three, five, and 10 years out. That includes player personnel [and] just an overall philosophy of the club."
The team of Vermes and Onalfo, both former MLS players and both self-professed hard workers, hit it off immediately.
"The thing that has been so enjoyable with Peter is that from day one when I sat down for the interview process, I could see that he wanted to play how I wanted to play," said Onalfo, formerly an assistant coach with D.C. United and the U.S. national team. "That makes things a lot easier -- not to say that we don't disagree at times, but there's an unbelievable respect for each other. I couldn't be happier working with a guy like Peter."
Reshaping the Wizards on the field has included implementing some shared crucial principles.
"I think there has to be discipline within a team. I think both Curt and I share that, on and off the field. You have to treat your players like professionals. You can't baby sit them 24 hours a day -- they're grown men, professional people, and they have to be treated as such," Vermes said.
Critical to success in MLS is an understanding of the U.S. player and the MLS experience, an area where Vermes, Onalfo and the coaching staff they have constructed excel.
"They have played more recently, so the relationship between the coach and the player is a little different now. [Curt] can relate to the players a little bit more. Peter was playing not too long ago, as well. Both guys have been involved in, and played, the game recently. A lot of the guys can relate to them, and I think they're doing a great job," said right midfielder Davy Arnaud.
"You have [assistant coach] Chris Henderson who was a player last year and a guy that we were playing against last year. So he relates really well to the guys. Dave Tenney does the 'keepers and he does the fitness thing; [assistant coach Kris] Kelderman is another guy you can go and talk to. They have a really good blend, and they work well together."
The result has been a team that not only attacks more according to the shared tactics of Vermes and Onalfo but is altogether more confident.
"The coaches have put confidence into this team," Arnaud said. "They said from the very start that they're confident we have a good team and that we have a group of guys who can be successful, and they are giving us every opportunity to be successful. We've started off well. It makes guys more a lot confident when you are winning games as well."
Currently the Wizards are 4-2 on the season, and, of course, a club is ultimately more successful if games are won on the field. That's where Vermes and Onalfo's tactics, and relationship, will be tested. After all, Vermes is the boss here.
"The whole entire staff has been incredible. Curt brings a newness, a freshness to what's here; he has an incredible energy level, he's a very motivated individual and has the ingredients to be successful," said Vermes. "To this point he has proven that. I've said all along that the interesting time for the Kansas City Wizards will be when we go through a little bit of a bad patch, and it's how you deal with that."
Vermes and Onalfo and their staffs meet on a regular basis to manage the players and their organization. The system allows for early recognition of difficulties that could derail their best laid plans.
"You can't shy away from the battles that will take place every day," Vermes said. "The other thing we both share is that soccer is a very simple job. At the end of the day, you have to be willing to work hard at what you do and come every day to put in place what it is you have trained and practiced for. So you have a game plan, you go out and execute it."
That shared attitude of facing challenges straight on has soaked into the player's daily demeanor, as witnessed by their ambition at training.
"The one thing that this team has gained that I haven't seen in the past, at least in a long time, is that there is a real competitiveness on a daily basis. That competitiveness has turned into guys thinking that no matter what situation we're in on the field, we can win," said Vermes. "At times before, the team gave up in games, but now there is a strong belief that they can go into any situation and they can come back, or win, or do whatever needs to be done to be successful in that game. That's a strong quality."
Perhaps the strongest bond between the Wizards guiding pair is their mutual belief in each other.
"A big reason why I wanted this job was that I have enormous confidence in Peter," said Onalfo, "And even though we are similar, we complement each other very well."
At the end of the season, the proof of this pairing of two similar minds will be more concrete. But now the product on the field is complimentary to Vermes and Onalfo's synergy and their vision.
"It's a very difficult league to be able to [make moves], so we identified areas of the team we wanted to improve on. We are very pleased to say that we've addressed all of those concerns in the offseason," Onalfo said. "Bringing Carlos Marinelli into the team was the last piece of the puzzle for right now. But it's a constant evaluation process for seeing how we can improve. It's just a matter of getting all those guys healthy on the field at the same time, and when we do, we feel like we're going to have a very, very good team."
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
