Kansas City Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo likes to give respect to his team's opponents -- sometimes lots of it.
Onalfo's comments the past few weeks included calling the Western and Eastern Conference leaders, Seattle and Chicago, arguably the best teams in all of MLS at the time the Wizards played each team.
After going 1-0-1 in that stretch, including an unbelievable 2-2 tie with the Fire on a goal in the 89th minute last Saturday, Onalfo might need to leave a little wiggle room for his own squad.
Yes, at 2-2-1, the Wizards record is not flashy, but that's what a 0-2 start (thanks largely to a rash of injuries and a national-team call-up) will do for a team.
The record, much like the play the first two weeks, was not indicative of how dangerous a now nearly full-strength Kansas City is to the rest of MLS.
Depth that was missing with the injuries has been key. Take last Saturday in Chicago for example.
Chicago came out guns blazing, scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes and appearing to choke off a Wizards chance at getting a point before things really even started.
"They are a very good team," Onalfo said. "And, they kicked our butt for 45 minutes."
But then, said Onalfo: "We reassessed and told ourselves at halftime that we couldn't cry over spilled milk. We had to find a way to get it going. We felt like if we could find a way to get a goal, we could get the second."
Onalfo is known for his tactical expertise and player management, but he is in an absolute zone currently, moving multiple players into different positions within a game and having it all work.
Last Saturday was no different.
The sluggish start prompted Onalfo to insert Michael Harrington for Santiago Hirsig at halftime and Michael Kraus for Lance Watson in the 73rd minute.
Again, the Wizards struck gold.
"I thought all the guys who came into the game had an influence," Onalfo said. "I thought Krausey was very dangerous. I thought Mikey was solid and even better when we pushed it to the right, and obviously he sent a nice ball in for the second goal. He has proven to give us a real lift off the bench at this point, which is real luxury to have with his speed.
"We always tell (the substitutes) they have to have energy and make and impact, and that's what they did."
It hasn't been all coaching and tactics leading to the Wizards march up the Eastern Conference standings, however.
Josh Wolff began the Chicago game at the left midfield position before moving to striker. He responded to the move with two goals (his first two-goal outing since 2005) in a performance that earned him MLS player of the week honors.
His second goal came in the 89th minute, giving the Wizards the tie. The first, 11 minutes previous, came courtesy of a mind-blowing play from Claudio Lopez.
"Claudio's pass to Josh for the first goal was absolutely world class," Onalfo said. "I don't know if many people appreciate that ball, but for him to see where Josh was, do it in two touches and curl it literally around the back line, it was absolutely a world-class ball. You don't see too many of those balls in MLS. You just don't."
Maybe not, but then again, not too many figured the Wizards would see such a sudden turnaround in its play after watching the team start its year in the fashion it did.
Beat the New York Red Bulls convincingly at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Thursday night in front of a national audience, and the Wizards could gain a few "best in MLS" votes.
Curtis Kitchen is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
