Wolff uses experience, strategy to keep scoring goals

Josh Wolff has seen his share of soccer pitches in his career. The Kansas City Wizards forward is a 10-year Major League Soccer veteran and veteran of the U.S. National team.

This season, Wolff has started off scoring goals at a more rapid pace than at any other time in his career, already notching six goals.

However, scoring goals is nothing new for Wolff, who has 68 career goals and ranks in the top 15 all-time in MLS.

Wolff started his playing career in 1998 with the Chicago Fire and came to Kansas City in 2003. He also played the 2007 season for the 1860 Munich football club in Germany.

As a key member of the national team for a decade, Wolff has played in 52 games and two World Cups. He has scored nine goals and notched five assists for the U.S.

Wolff, who lives in Leawood, is married to wife Angela. The couple has three children who play soccer.

The Sun caught up with Wolff following a recent practice at the Swope Parkway Training Center to talk about his career and success this season.

Q. You have scored more goals at a faster pace this season than you have earlier in your career. Is there a specific reason for that?

A. Not really. In reality, I don’t think I’ve played quite 200 (career) games yet and scored 70 goals, so that’s not bad. Usually we start camps in February or January with the national team, so it’s a busy schedule. This year it was more of a normal preseason, which I haven’t really had since 2000. You get the proper buildup and the proper base. And you’re just fresher. Also, the beginning of the year I started out wide, which is not a normal position, so I went back up top and scored a lot of goals.

Q. Because of your reputation, do you think teams gear toward you and try to stop you?

A. No. I don’t think I’m so imposing that I will get special attention. They know who I am and are aware of where I am because I’ve spent a number of years in the league and have a pretty good scoring record. But I play the forward differently than most. I look to combine and I’m smaller, so I look to use spaces and intelligence more than anything. I rely on the guys around me a lot. And I said it early on, that I’ve had some pretty good serves and for me as a forward I have to continue to make good runs. For me as a forward, that’s been my staple – my movement off the ball and my movement off the line.

Q. What did you learn from playing all those games with the national team? Is there something different you learn from those games as opposed to just a regular MLS game?

A. The national team, No. 1 it’s a quicker pace and makes your brain think quicker and make good decisions at a quicker pace. The year 1998 was my first time with the national team and it’s a growing process. I was young then and I’m still learning now. As a player you have to be open-minded. Whatever you think you know, there’s still more to learn. We don’t have such a great tactical sense in the country, so it’s one of those things where as you move along, you gain that-experience and wherewithal within your sport and within your team. It helps. You get to the national team and it gets you to another level. I was in Chicago and we had six or seven guys on the national team. When they would go away and come back, it was just a big difference. In the way they played, in their level. When I started to go, it was the same thing. That’s why when we have guys go it’s great. It brings a different level and a different gear to your team. And certainly individuals are able to impose that on other players. Hopefully the younger guys see it and are able to pick up on it.

Q. In that same vein, did you learn new things when you played overseas?

A. Yeah, I think there’s just a real tactical sense in Germany. Not knowing the language, you have to be able to read situations and understand the game a bit better. Early on you’re not able to communicate as easily. You have to be in tune with the game and positions. I played a bit of a different position, forced to be quick a little more. I’ve had some injuries over the years and I’ve always known there’s going to be a time where I’m not going to be as fast as maybe when I was 21 or 22. You have to think differently on how to get away from guys. It just goes down to having some soccer sense and soccer savvy.

Q. Thinking back to when you were growing up, was there a most important piece of advice you got about soccer?

A. Not really. Just make sure you enjoy it first and foremost. Certainly there’ve been times where it hasn’t been enjoyable. As I’m older now, you see the end more than you see the beginning. So you try to have a good time. We have a good time in the locker room and the team has a good chemistry, so that’s a big part of it. But try to enjoy it. It’s still a game, but it’s a job as well.

Q. Is there something young players should always know about trying to score goals?

A. For me, it’s try not to overthink it. We complicate the game and make it too difficult. If it were easy, everyone would be scoring. Have a way that you play. Some people just have a knack and an ability. Some people are just natural goal scorers. I’m not going to say I’m a natural goal scorer, but I know how to score goals. For me, it’s thinking your way around the field and trying to create chances. Try not to overthink the situation. It’s an ebb and flow of confidence. If everyone had it, it would be amazing. It goes through stretches with extreme confidence and then you go through stretches where you lack that killer bite around the goal. But it comes and goes. You just try to stay positive.

Q. Is there a most common question when you are out in the community working with kids?

A. Yeah. What’s your favorite color? Very important soccer questions. Not really. A lot are, ‘When did you start playing?’ or things like that. But that’s the beauty and innocence of having kids. Now that I have kids, it’s critical to get out there and spend the time with them, five minutes, 10 minutes, whatever. The kids eat it up. You don’t always realize that and maybe I took it for granted.

Q. Nowadays in cities across the country there is a soccer team and the ability to go see players and maybe meet them. That’s something you, and probably a lot of the players on this team, didn’t have. Do you think that’s important?

A. I don’t think it’s important, I think it’s critical to our sport. The organization and new management here has made that quite clear. We meet early in the season and they tell us, ‘You’re going to be in the community and you’re going to do a lot.’ Like I said, when I was younger, there wasn’t as much. It’s vital for our league. You see the stadium being built, you see the soccer community being built. That has a lot to do with building professional teams in the right way.

Q. You see teams with rabid fans like in Seattle or Toronto. Do you take notice when you play teams like that?

A. Absolutely. I think as players you take notice, as management you take notice. You want to pull bits and pieces from every place. But you have to be aware of your market. Our market is different from Seattle; our market is different from Los Angeles. We have a little bit of ethnicity, but you have to stay true to who your fans are. We’re a community type team. Where I live in Johnson County, soccer is everywhere, and kids are everywhere. That’s why I think it’s important to get out to schools and get out to camps. I think they’re doing it the right way. And hopefully we’re getting a good stadium and a nice facility and kids and families can jump on.

Q. You talk about your kids playing soccer. Is there anything you try to impart on them about the game, or do you just want them to share the enthusiasm you have for the game?

A. Yeah, I want them to enjoy it. Not to put too much pressure on them. I grew up around parents that wanted it more than the kids did. It’s sickening, because those kids fall off. They learn to spite the game and to spite sports. If the kid has the hunger and desire, I absolutely invite them to do everything. I have a 6-year-old, a 4-year-old and a 9-month-old, and they are just consumed by soccer. And they love it.

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