Recent News From Sporting KC, Swope Park Rangers, and more
Brian Bliss made Director of Player Personnel
Former coach Brian Bliss, after being Technical Director at Chicago Fire since December 2013, has joined the Sporting KC technical staff as Director of Player Personnel.
The job Bill will do for Sporting will be to oversee player personnel matters while assisting in scouting internationally and domestically. In addition he will share responsibilities in player assessment for new USL team Swope Park Rangers and Sporting KC Academy reporting directly to Peter Vermes.
Bliss has served in a number of roles since his retirement from playing in 1998, where he was part of the Kansas City Wizards. He continued to stay in Kansas City by serving as assistant coach from 2000-2006, the team won the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup in 2000 and the US Open Cup in 2004.
Bringing in a Kansas City expert like Bliss keep continuity with the old Wizards family. While some would say this is a step back in terms of going with what is comfortable but the role was needed with the creation of SPR and an experienced hand was the safest bet.
Brad Davis Joins Sporting KC
Houston’s captain Brad Davis joins the reigning US Open Cup champions after a full decade in Houston in a trade that sent a second round pick in the 2017 draft and third round pick in the 2018 draft along with future considerations to the Dynamo.
At 34 Davis has a very long resume, 58 goals and 131 assists to go along with his 368 appearances and two MLS Cups.
There are few in MLS with this kind of resume from MLS Best XI honors and USMNT appearances. Any team who has aspirations of trophies needs good old heads with the experience and skill to back it up.
Matt Besler to US January Camp
Club captain Matt Besler is heeding the call of Jurgen Klinsmann and one of the older heads as the national team will face Iceland on January 31 and Canada on February 5.
The annual January camp is the first step in preparing for the home and away fixtures of World Cup qualifying against Guatemala in March and the Copa Centinario later this summer.
In defense Besler is by far the most experienced international of the player pool called up. Iceland while not a world power nearly qualified for the 2014 World Cup and qualified for this summers European Championship in a group with the Netherlands, Turkey, and the Czech Republic so a different type of test for a nearly 100% MLS based team.
Swope Park Rangers Adds Three Players
Alex Molano, 23 year old midfielder, joins Swope Park Rangers after impressing in the November open tryout having last played for Dallas City FC in the NPSL in 2015.
His career spans Sweden with Bodens BK and in Croatia with NK Vrapce and Dinamo Zagreb’s youth setup.
Nansel Selbol, 18 year old forward, joins directly from the Sporting KC Academy where he leads the U-18 squad with 10 goals in eight matches in the current US Soccer Development Academy season.
Originally from Lagos, Nigeria he moved to KC in 2014 and was on the Nigeria preliminary roster for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Selbol will official join as his P-1 Visa is still pending.
Jacob VanCompernolle, 22 year old defender, played with Oklahoma City Energy of USL in 2015 making 25 starts helping in the second place finish in the Western Conference subsequent playoff appearance.
