A main reason the Kansas City Wizards have been near or at the top of the Eastern Conference all season long can be seen in one simple statistic: the club's road record. The Wizards have three wins and only one loss in six matches away from Arrowhead Stadium this season, even when it has meant fighting back.
"We've created on environment where when we go on the road now, we don't want to get a point or we don't want to hope for a win, we expect to win," midfielder Kerry Zavagnin said.
That winning mentality will carry Kansas City into Columbus for its midweek encounter with Sigi Schmid's squad at Crew Stadium again expecting to win -- even if they fall behind. In each of their past five contests, the Wizards have fallen behind 1-0 but have lost only once.
"We've helped [the players] look at things objectively. In all the games we've gone down, we haven't played poorly. I think that has rubbed off on them," said head coach Curt Onalfo. "But it's down to their character as individuals. We have a bunch of excellent competitors all the way through."
Pointing to players like Yura Movsisyan and Ryan Raybould, who contributed two goals and an assist in the Wizards 3-3 comeback against the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium last Saturday, Onalfo lauded his players for pushing each other to perform. Competition within the club is a staple of Onalfo's philosophy, but their effort has also been a big part.
"If you look at how we trained from day one in preseason, we took a whole lot of weeks before we gave them 90 minutes. We really set a foundation," Onalfo said. "We monitor their exertion rate on a daily basis to make sure that they are fresh come game day. If you saw (training Tuesday), we did very little because it's all about the game on Wednesday. Physically that has helped us tremendously."
Playing from behind can take a toll on a team, but when the attack leads the league in goals per game (as the Wizards do, averaging 2.2 goals per game), it's sometimes easier to climb out of the hole.
"We have been giving up a few more goals than we like to, but we don't give up a tremendous amount of chances in a game," Zavagnin said. "That's one thing that we are going to try and build on."
Although Columbus ranks near the bottom of MLS in goals scored, it put in three against a stingy New England defense last Saturday and is averaging two per game in their its four outings. The Wizards know they will be occupied on the defensive side of the ball.
"Anytime you have multiple threats like Columbus does, you have to be concerned about all of them, but a lot of their attacking shapes and tendencies go through [Guillermo Barros] Schelotto," said Zavagnin. "So he's a guy that we will especially have to be aware of where he is on the field and when he drops back into the midfield."
Said Onalfo: "They are a team that needs to win games, so they are going to send numbers forward, which I think is to our advantage. ... They are a very good team that has been unfortunate. Like any team in MLS, you have to be ready for a dogfight and they are a good team and we're ready to stick out our chest and fight for the game."
An extra incentive for the Wizards in Columbus is that a win would award Onalfo head coach honors at the MLS All-Star Game in Colorado against Scottish side Celtic FC on July 19. Onalfo is largely responsible for the Wizards' winning mentality at home and on the road.
"All the players have responded in a positive way. Right now, we're not a team that is looking to keep our head above water and scrap ourselves into the playoffs. We've changed our mentality here in a short amount of time, and that's credit ... to the entire organization from the owners through Peter Vermes, the technical director, and Curt and his staff," said Zavagnin. " ... That mentality is not something that happens overnight, but it's something that has been created pretty quickly here. So [Onalfo being the all-star coach] would be well-deserved."
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
