After their 1-0 loss to the Eastern Conference-leading New England Revolution on Sunday evening at Arrowhead Stadium, the Kansas City Wizards called their performance what it was: one with a lack of energy and missed combinations resulting in just a single shot on goal and another home game without getting three points.
"We don't make excuses," said Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo, "It wasn't a good performance."
The easy excuse could have been that the Wizards were playing their first competitive match in 17 days, and so needed time to sharpen their play.
"You should be able to get your rhythm by [the 15-minute mark]. There's no excuse not to be able to put passes together, hold the ball, and play," said midfielder Sasha Victorine.
Onalfo also expressed surprise in the lack of crisp play by his club but gave much credit to the Revolution, who were playing the last of a fatiguing five games in 15-day stretch.
"It's a very good team defense. They work extremely hard. They compete extremely well. They win a lot of first and second balls," he said. "They are a very tough team to play against; that's the reason they're in first place."
New England had the best scoring opportunities on the night and finally broke through in the 72nd minute. Taylor Twellman knocked home a rolling cross from Khano Smith at the back post for his 10th goal, and fifth game-winner, of the season.
The only good thing Onalfo and Victorine were able to pull from the circumstances was that the Wizards play again Wednesday when the Chicago Fire come to Arrowhead.
"It gives us a chance in three days to turn around and change things," said Victorine, who was out of the starting lineup for the first time all season, but came on in the 60th minute as K.C. pushed for the win.
"Right now, our rhythm is off, and we're still trying to figure out how we want to play and it's the last third of the season," Victorine said. "We should have ourselves going in a peak right now. It's frustrating."
After narrowly missing the playoffs the last two seasons, the Wizards now find themselves in a familiar position as they battle for one of the eight playoff spots in Major League Soccer. Only six points separate them and three other teams in the chase for the last two playoff spots. One of those teams is Chicago.
"We're worried about ourselves; we're not worried about anybody else. That's the way you have to deal with this stuff. The important thing is that we get ourselves ready for Wednesday," said Onalfo.
Victorine believes ready means being able to adjust.
"We need to be able to figure out how, when we're not playing well, when our rhythm is off, to get back into the game, how we change the rhythm," said Victorine. "When we get the ball moving quicker and we isolate guys one-v-one, we're a dangerous team. When we don't move fast enough, we have a performance like tonight."
Any more like Sunday and the Wizards will have no one to blame but themselves.
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
