KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sporting Kansas City didn’t wait long to fill the hole left by the release of Supplemental Draft pick Mike Jones last week, announcing the signing of left back Seth Sinovic on Tuesday to add depth to the back line.
Sinovic spent his rookie season in 2010 in New England after being selected in the second round of the MLS SuperDraft. The 24-year-old Leawood, Kan., native made 18 starts and appeared in 20 games, but was waived by the Revolution. He trialed with Real Salt Lake at the end of March before latching on with Kansas City.
“He's played games in the league, and he has some good experience,” Sporting manager Peter Vermes said in a statement. “We're glad to have him here, and he'll provide us with some needed depth.”
Sinovic, who had been on trial at Sporting for the past few weeks, will provide another viable option on the left side of the defense. And that's exectly where cover will likely be needed as SKC head into a busy stretch of games with the possibility that starting left back Roger Espinoza will join Honduras for the Gold Cup duty in June.
Jones was released last week after failing to progress the way the coaching staff had hoped, after being picked 28th overall in the Supplemental Draft. He was one of three draft picks to be signed by Sporting along with C.J. Sapong and Konrad Warzycha, and the latter is unlikely to play this year after suffering a knee injury during preseason.
“We are constantly evaluating players every day,” Vermes said. “If you’re not moving forward, that means you are going backward. If you aren’t moving forward, then we’ve got to move on and find the next guy.”
Collin, Júlio César likely to stay at center back
As red cards and injuries mounted through the first five games of the season, the two defensive constants for Kansas City were Jimmy Nielsen and Matt Besler.
That changed against the New York a little more than a week ago, when Aurélien Collin and Júlio César manned the center of defense, leaving Besler on the bench for the first time this season. After some struggles for both early on in their Sporting tenures, the duo had a solid game despite the team’s frustrating 1-0 defeat.
All indications are that Sporting will stick with Collin and Júlio César after that performance, but Vermes said the choice to change directions wasn’t an indication of Besler’s play but simply a decision to try a different combination.
“[It was] nothing earth-shattering, just a decision to go that way,” Vermes said. “[Besler] has played well. His coming out was not an indication of bad play – I like the way he’s progressing. I feel good that we now have a good contingency of central defenders so if someone does go down, we’ve got guys that can go in and play just as well.”
