Showing posts with label Chris Wingert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Wingert. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Catching up with Chris Wingert, Part II
(continued from yesterday)
KIR: There has been a lot of talk about the core, especially for a team that has had continued upheaval throughout its existence. What does that mean to you and how does that benefit the team going into the season?
Wingert: Well there’s no doubt that we’re in a better place than we were a year ago, just because we’ve had a year together and that core group of guys that everybody is talking about is back and that’s great. There’s always going to be little changes made on any team in any sport – that’s just the way things go. Anytime you have a chance to improve your team you’re going to do so. Especially in this league that’s constantly evolving and getting better. So I think that you need to do that to keep par with the rest of the league. But we’re confident in the guys that we have, and I think that the more time that we have together, the better we’ll be. I think the franchises and teams across the league that have really been successful since I’ve been in the league – teams like New England and Houston/San Jose – have kept a core together and its worked out to their benefit. And I think that we’re trying to do the same thing and I don’t see any reason why we should try to go in a different direction. That being said, there are little changes that sometimes can help your team, but we really have a lot of confidence in the guys that we have.
KIR: So what is it about that core, is it about knowing each others tendancies, knowing your role in the group, having confidence in each other?
Wingert: That core group has shown that we’re capable of succeeding in the MLS and all those guys are really willing to put the work in and keep their ego’s out of it and I think that’s huge. The guys that everybody is talking about are all willing to do the work for the team and I think that we really believe that by doing that we’re going to get results more times than not.
KIR: Is that unique to this team?
Wingert: I think it can be. In my experience – Columbus we had a good group of core guys and we were successful because of it. We won the Supporters Shield my first year. Unfortunately we lost in the playoffs, but we had one of the best teams. And we had an unbelievable group of core guys on that team. Unfortunately the following year we had some injuries and different issues that derailed us a little bit. In Colorado I don’t think that was the case. There was definitely a good group of core guys, bu the team as a whole including the staff – not everybody was on the same page and I think that hurt us. I think that we got by and still did alright because we did have some good players and there’s so much parity in this league that on any given day a team is able to win. But I do think it’s pretty unique. Obviously I haven’t been with every team but I would guess that there are some other teams that have a good group of core guys and that is why they are successful.
Trey: Were you and Nat in Colorado together?
Wingert: No, he left when I came in – at basically the same time. He left in ’05 and my first year was ’06.
KIR: As part of that core, I assume that one of the things that happens is that leadership develops and you seem to be a vocal leader out on the pitch. Is that something that you consider as part of your role?
Wingert: Definitely. Definitely. You know that’s something that I really kind of took to heart in college and then you come to the pros and it’s a different environment because as a rookie it’s hard to be a leader. But it’s something for a while that I thought that I could bring to the table and help whatever team that I was on and coming into this team especially with the overhaul and bringing in some new guys we happened to have a real young group. And it turned out that the veteran players ended up being guys like Kyle and myself and amongst others. And I felt like it was a role that I ultimately could fulfill and hopefully I’ve done that. I’ve let it be known to the staff that I want to be one of those guys. But I think it goes both ways, part of being a good leader is being a good follower. And I think that Kyle has been an amazing captain and I love to follow his lead as well. I mean every day in practice he’s the hardest working guy that we have and he’s a great leader by example. As a defender I think it’s great to have another voice back there. We have other guys with Nat and Nick too. Jamison is amazing too, but the language barrier is there a little bit so he’s not going to much of a vocal leader. I try to be a vocal leader, and so hopefully the guys take it well. I think it’s a balance you have to find between getting on guys, and building ‘em back up and giving them confidence. Hopefully the guys respond well to my criticism.
KIR: Is that leadership more important on the practice field than in the game or is it both?
Wingert: No, I think it’s both. I think it’s an everyday thing. It plays a huge role on the practice field but I don’t think it’s more important than in the games. I think it’s huge to have vocal leaders out on the game field as well, organizing and kind of instructing – so I would say that it’s two-fold there. Really three-fold because I think off the field it plays a big role there as well.
KIR: What are your thoughts about the team heading into the season? Is everyone pretty upbeat about it or what is the thinking?
Wingert: Yeah, were excited. For a while, we were having a little trouble with injuries during the first trip or two but guys are starting to get healthy now which is excited and I think we are starting to come together as a team. You don’t want to hang your hat on one game but we had a good performance last weekend (against DCU) and hopefully we are going to build on that tonight (against Charleston) and we still have a couple of weeks to go before our opener against Seattle. You know we gotta make sure that we keep moving in the right direction but we are looking forward to hopefully getting off to a good start which we weren’t able to do last year. And try to put ourselves in a better position from the get-go.
KIR: Are there any specific goals that the team has this year?
Wingert: I came in a little bit late and met the team a little late, so I don’t know if they talked about those specifics. If they did I wasn’t around for it. I would think that the main goal is to make the playoffs, but that is such a tough thing. Every year it gets tougher –we’re adding teams and teams are getting better. It’s a lot tougher than my first year or two. My first year or two there were only two teams in the whole league not making the playoffs, and this year I think it’s going to be seven I guess – so that’s almost half of the league. So it’s tough – it’s a big accomplishment to make the playoffs. But at the same time you’ve got to completely re-evaluate your goals and then you’re not satisfied with just making the playoffs. But I think we just need to worry about each game, as they come at us, and hopefully we’ll let the results take care of themselves. And if we concentrate on each game and we’re getting three points and getting a point every now and again on the road – sometimes it’s tough to get a point on the road every now and again – if we’re getting points all the way through then I think we’ll let the numbers take care of themselves and we should be alright. But you know we just need to focus on making sure we’re doing the hard work day-in and day-out out on the field and the results will come.
KIR: I assume that there is a feeling that the road performance wasn’t where you’d like it to be last year and that is a focus this year?
Wingert: It’s definitely a focus. With that being said, but in some instances I think we were a little bit unlucky. And you’ve got to be good to be lucky, and you know…things like that. But with that being said I don’t know – our record definitely needs to be better on the road, but when it came down to it we were able to get some huge points on the road even though we lost a couple when we could have had three instead of a tie – New England comes to mind. But when it came down to it at the end of the season we were able to get some really significant points and that helped to propel us into the playoffs. That was key and we can build on that going into this year. I think we’re confident going on the road. It’s not a lack of confidence. We feel like we play pretty much the same way – at least our mentality is the same, but for whatever reasons we weren’t able to get the results last year. So yeah, hopefully that will change this year.
We’re Ready to Rumble: Bring on the Sounders
Real Salt Lake –vs – Seattle Sounders FC
Saturday March 28, 2009: 8:30 PM
KUTV 2, KALL 700
Qwest Field, Seattle, Washington
Well, it’s finally upon us – tomorrow’s First Kick for RSL against the un-expansion-like Seattle Sounders. As you know Seattle had an impressive MLS debut last week against the expansion-like New York Red Bulls. The Emerald City darlings were led by young Colombian sensation Fredy Montero, who notched two goals and an assist in front of the raucous crowd of 32,000-plus at Qwest Field in Seattle. As a result, Montero ended up bringing home awards for both MLS Player of the Week and Goal of the Week.
However, while all eyes were on Montero, midfielders Brad Evans and Osvaldo Alonso played keyed roles helping to dominate possession of the ball in the opener. Forward Nate Jaqua also played quite well in the match, and looked very nimble working out on the edge of the box, combining with the rest of the attacking players.
Keys for Real Salt Lake
When asked what the key would be for RSL defensively to slow down the strong Sounder attack, RSL midfielder Javier Morales said essentially “the key is for us to keep the ball.” When asked a similar question, RSL defender Nat Borchers basically agreed – to paraphrase, “we’re best defensively when the ball doesn’t get past the midfield.” This is an area that RSL could present a much more significant challenge than the NYRB’s were able to last week. Morales will be a key in this role.
Although NYRB forward, Juan Pablo Angel, had a few chances in the match, Seattle’s defense was never really tested and didn’t face any consistent pressure as the Red Bulls only managed 8 shots. Real Salt Lake, on the other hand, averaged over 14 shots per game last season.
In addition to RSL’s midfield being a key, and RSL putting up more shots than the Red Bulls did to challenge Seattle, Real Salt Lake has the capability of quick counter-attacks with the speedy Yura Movsisyan and the speedier Robbie Findley. Look for quick distribution out of the back to be a focus when Seattle presses forward with four or five guys in the box.
Keys for Seattle
Seattle will need to feed off of the energy of the exuberant home crowd once again. Getting an early goal last week was a huge feet for the expansion team. They will need to try to repeat that performance this week.
Since Seattle saw little resistance in the midfield last week and were able to easily transition into the attack, they may be forced to show that they can create a strong buildup on a consistent basis during this match. At the same time, they will need to slow down the RSL midfield, and keep them from comfortably moving into the attack on their side.
How does Ljungberg fit in? As an attacking player he will likely get into the mix with Jacqua and Montero and put pressure on RSL to defend. In the process, Seattle needs to make sure that they don’t get overextended and commit to getting back defensively in the midfield. The forwards will also need to pressure the RSL defenders when they have the ball to try to create turnovers and disrupt RSL’s flow of play.
With the young right back, Tony Beltran, filling in for injured Ian Joy, Seattle may look to exploit RSL on their left flank. Jacqua and Evans occupied this side of the field in the offense for Seattle last week. However, it was the right side and Montero, that was the source of much of the creativity for the team last week. If RSL defender Chris Wingert bombs forward frequently as he is accustomed, he and his teammates will need to show some quick recovery in order to avoid being exploited by the Seattle attack.
Prediction
2-2 draw. I think Seattle is a decent team, but I think RSL may be able to expose some chinks in the armor that weren’t seen a week ago. I think RSL is a better team at this point but the environment will favor Seattle especially early in the match. In addition, if RSL has a potential key weakness it’s scoring goals consistently.
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC INJURY REPORT
OUT: DF Taylor Graham (left sesamoid fracture); GK Chris Eylander (right knee PCL sprain); MF Peter Vagenas (knee surgery);
PROBABLE: MF Freddie Ljungberg (left hip); MF Sanna Nyassi (L hamstring strain) …
REAL SALT LAKE INJURY REPORT
OUT: FW Luis Miguel Escalada (R ankle sprain); DF IanJoy (L hamstring strain);
QUESTIONABLE: DF Robbie Russell (R rotator cuff surgery);
PROBABLE: DF Tony Beltran (L hamstring strain); FW Robbie
Findley (L quadriceps strain); FW Tino Nuñez (R meniscus surgery)
LINKS:
Ljungberg will “play part of the game for sure” –> NewsTribuneSounders FC –vs- Real Salt Lake Match Preview –> Prost Amerika
Salt Lake begins their title quest –> Sounder at Heart
‘Shocking’ new team awaits RSL –> Salt Lake Tribune
Know Thine Enemy: Real Salt Lake of Sandy, Utah –> Seattlest
Sounders FC commence hostilities with Real Salt Lake –> MLSnet
Swedish star expected to play Saturday for Sounders –> Seattlepi.com
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Catching up with Chris Wingert, Part I
While in Charleston, I was able to catch up with Real Salt Lake defender Chris Wingert. We chatted about his USNT experience, his contract renegotation, leadership on the field, and about this RSL team. Here is part I and check back tomorrow for part II.
KIR: What was your national team experience like?
Wingert: It was great. It was great experience for me. I had been hoping to get involved with the team for a while. It’s been a few years since I wore a national team jersey. So I was obviously real excited. It was tough. We trained a lot. The training was real intense which is good. The level was high. Pretty much it’s the highest level that I’ve played at. So it was good to push yourself, and challenge yourself, but overall it was just great to be a part of it. Hopefully I did well enough for them to consider bringing me back in for the summer. You know there’s a couple of big tournaments and stuff. Just because of the busy schedule they’ll probably be bringing in a significant amount of guys, so hopefully I’ll be involved. We’ll see.
KIR: What do you take away from your experience that may help you out going forward?
Wingert: The biggest thing to me was the reminder of how it’s an everyday mentality and that you can’t just chose when to turn it on and turn it off. Bob really reinforces that in every session. I think that’s what it takes to become a better player and a national team player. It’s just a good reminder of that. I think we always work hard as a team with Salt Lake. It was good to see that at the next level that guys are working just as hard if not harder to make sure that their game rises when they are playing against better competition.
KIR: And you got a new contract during the offseason is that something that you were worried much about?
Wingert: I don’t know if worried is the right word. It was a bit stressful - partly because it went on for about four months which I kinda knew would happen. It just never gets done quite as quickly as you’d like to, but that’s just part of the negotiation process. I chose to do the deal on my own without an agent and so that put a little more pressure on me, and added a little stress to the negotiation because I wasn’t able to stay out of the negotiations. I did that on purpose and wanted to be involved with the process and I think that was a real learning experience and helped me to grow as a person. I think that it will help me on down the line. I felt strongly about what I was pushing for and I felt like I had all the information there at my disposal and I tried to use that to my benefit and everything ended up working out in the end. I’m happy as the staff has known for a while, I’m happy to be in Salt Lake. I made that clear pretty much since I’ve been here. There were some rumors going around about possibly having a chance to go to New York or a few other teams, but to be honest with you even though I’m from New York and miss my family and friends that are there, at the same time I’ve made it clear that I really like Salt Lake. I like the franchise, I like the staff, and I wanted to continue to be there. I think that helped the process and fortunately we were able to come to an agreement at the end.
KIR: So now that you have that behind you is it a big piece of mind to know that your future is going to be in Salt Lake for the next few years?
Wingert: Well, yes, and no. Yes it’s nice to have the process behind me and know that I got through it. I’m happier with my contract now than I was a year ago or even a few months ago – so that definitely allows me to put my focus 100% on soccer which is awesome. But at the same time, I know all too well that as I sign a quote, unquote four-year contract at this point it’s not really a four-year contract at this point it’s more for the league. And that anything can happen, so it doesn’t mean I’m definitely going to be in Salt Lake for four years but I’m not worried about that at this time. I’m happy with the situation. First of all, I’m young and single so I’m not dragging a family around anyway and I’ve enjoyed my experience in different cities. But I’m happy with the team and the situation and I think they are happy with me. So I think there is no reason that I should be moving anytime soon.
KIR: You have really emerged with this team after your time in Colorado and Columbus – do you think that’s just maturity as a player, or what do you think is behind it?
Wingert: I definitely think I’ve progressed as a player and I want to give Jason a lot of credit there, because I’m thankful to him that he’s really instilled a lot of confidence in me and given me the chance to succeed. With that being said though I don’t think I’m that different of a player. I did real well my first two years in Columbus. Once I started playing I played almost every game my rookie and second year and then got caught in a situation in Colorado where for whatever reason the coach didn’t see me as a consistent starter for them. I still played a decent amount – I mean everything I read is like I was constantly on the bench – I mean I played in every playoff game that they were in over the two-year span and I still played a decent amount. But it wasn’t as much as I thought I should be playing or wanted to being playing. So getting a chance to move was a great opportunity for me and I knew that Jason and Robin were coaches that I really wanted to play for. I was just getting to know Jason at the time – I didn’t know that much about him but I had heard a lot of really good things. And I’d known Robin from when we played together in Columbus, so I thought this would be a situation where I could really succeed and help the team succeed. And that’s turned out to be the case for the most part, but at that same time I think we need to make sure we keep moving in that direction. Which knowing their mentality – they’re not gonna stop and I’m not gonna stop either. So it’s not something we are satisfied with, we’re gonna keep pushing. We want to make the playoffs which is getting tougher and tougher in this league – so that’s a huge goal to start with. And then we’ve gotta try to push to that next step which is to win a championship.
KIR: On that note, what kind of things as a player are you working on individually or would you like to improve on? How do you take your game forward?
Wingert: For me, usually this has been my mindset and it definitely is now, that this is kind of trying to get better in every area. I’ve played both sides in the back so I’m consistently trying to get better with my right foot and my left foot, serving balls in, and just being consistent with my crosses. I think that’s a big part of my game, just trying to get forward and provide offense to the team. Just be more consistent with that. Continue to try to get better as a 1-v-1 defender when you are isolated on the outside. Just working on my quickness to close people down and when you get faced up to do a good job of not getting beat one-on-one. Those are some of my focuses, but really just try to get better in every area of my game. I do feel that I can provide some offense for the team, so hopefully I’ll get a goal or two this year which is something that has eluded me so far that I’m not too happy about. But things like that you can’t really press for you just have to work on those things every day in practice and let the results come.
(check back tomorrow for Part II)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Wingert Given Contract Extension
Real Salt Lake announced today a contract extension for defender Chris Wingert who was reported to have been unhappy with his current agreement. The extension is through the 2012 season and adds continuity to the core that the team has been trying to build.
The amount of the contract was not announced as expected, however I would guess that this would take him to right around the $100K mark. His experience with the US National Team earlier this year undoubtedly helped his bargaining power.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Photos from Practice at Rice Eccles: Friday June 6, 2008
Practice at Rice Eccles Stadium looked great today. The team chemistry seems to be getting better all the time. Everyone seemed loose as plenty of friendly/competitive banter among the players was included during play. Dema showed no signs of being sick, he was as feisty as ever. Espindola was nowhere to be seen, so look for a Deuchar-Findley tandem tomorrow. The reserve players practiced a little longer than the rest of the team (this included Mantilla). Olave appears to be starting next to Borchers again. Everything else looks to stay the same for Saturday. I'm not really expecting any surprises considering our success at home so far. Hope to see you at the game!
Enjoy-
(Left) Beckerman controls, "Pirate Style" (Right) Andy Williams practices his free kicks
(Left) Mantilla joins in after his electric-shock treatment (Right) Chris Wingert on the move
(Left) Will we see more of Cordoba? (Right) Dema lays an egg. Andy finds it rather amusing.
(Left) Nunez shows Borchers how to dance (Right) Chris is still on the move
(Left) Dema thinks about doing the "Crazy Ivan" (Right) Beltran and Kirby try for a block
(Left) Brennan's next performace will be at Ballet West (Right) Morales has six assists so far this season. He's tied for first in MLS.
Cordoba makes his move on Kirby
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