While true, this same team lost a home playoff elimination game to a team that got 3 goals from 3 SOG. A game SKC dominated with 20 shots, 8 SOG and 60 % possession. Just one of many examples that in soccer, if you count on anyone and everyone to score, no one scores when it matters.
To counter that I point to 2014-2016 when we relied on Dom Dwyer to score goals regularly for us and we still struggled to score when it mattered.
I wasn't trying to say it wasn't your point. I was just agreeing with you both. PV may not always be correct, but he always has definite opinions on what he sees in our squad. He sounds very much as if he likes Nemeth, a lot, right now. Also, as we all know, we have and will build our best sides from the back forward. That's where we will create separation between SKC and the rest of the league
I'm also not discounting the potential offensive upgrade of what appears to be Rowe replacing Roger. Rowe and a healthy Felipe could add a lot more good/great goal scoring opportunities. That being said, does the defense handle the likely drop off to "peak Roger" running around the midfield causing havoc and thwarting opponents offensive runs. Roger had a knack for funneling an attack to places SKC wanted to defend and limiting the effectiveness of those opponent runs.
More so, Roger by design spent a lot of this season dropping into RB to let Zusi move forward. Does Rowe have that tactical intelligence? Hard to say. Roger didn't always.
Or Felipe ... I could see Felipe playing "Rogers' role" as much as Rowe. Rowe did spend some time at LB last year (not that it makes him suited to cover for Zusi). You also wonder if Zusi does less of that with Wallace on the other side (potentially) or with Rowe helping Felipe create more from the middle instead of always out wide? Lots of possibilities.
Every time I think of Wallace playing LB for us, my stomach drops. I don't know if Felipe would drop to that fullback position or not. Doesn't really play to his strengths at all. He's never shown a particular defensive bite, so I'm not sure he can lock a side down like Roger is able to. He was mostly on the left, which was Seth's side, and didn't need his frequent intervention. I dunno. Gut instinct says that we'll see a more reserved Zusi this year, as his last year was absolutely remarkable from a stamina and health perspective. I don't expect that to happen again the same way.
List of teams that have won MLS Cup since SKC last won, and their regular season goal leader. 2014 LAG - Keane 19 goals 2015 POR - Adi 16 goals 2016 SEA - Morris 12 goals 2017 TOR - Giovinco 16 goals 2018 ATL - Martinez 31 goals 2016 Seattle is the anomaly. They beat a better Toronto in a PK shootout after a 0-0 Cup final. TOR was lead by Giovinco (17 goals).
I think last season was the first season in MLS history when a player won both the golden boot and the MLS cup. Just a fun thing. My question on your stats is what were the next couple of goalscorers on these teams? Typically, I feel like teams with pretty well spread goal stats were the champions at the end of it all.
Here we go: 2014 LAG: Zardes at 16, Donovan at 10 2015 Portland: nope, Adi was the runaway. No one else had more than 5. 2016 Seattle: Dempsey at 8, then no one more than 4 2017 Toronto: Jozy 1 behind Seba, then a couple of 8s 2018 Atlanta was pretty much all Martinez So maybe your point stands better than I thought it would. Dominant goal scorers may be more the key to winning the league than I thought.
So put a different way using Inca's numbers, Portland is the outlier, because the other teams weren't reliant on a single goal scorer as they got support from other players as well. For reference: KC's top 2 goal scorers in that stretch (to match up with Inca's numbers). 2014 - Dwyer 22, Zusi 5 2015 - Dwyer 12, Feilhaber/Nemeth 10 2016 - Dwyer 16, Feilhaber 7 2017 - Gerso 8, Salloi 6 2018 - Salloi 11, Russell 10
Though Buzz I think a point could be made that while we did rely very heavily on Dwyer, he was insufficient as a player to lead us to a trophy (though I'm aware, yes, he did lead us to a Cup in 2013, but his goal against Houston was like half the goals he scored all year, right?). Guys like Keane, Gio, and Martinez are high level difference makers. Guess the question is if we need one of those in the middle. I'd argue Russell on the right wing has the leadership, quality, and clutch to do that for us.
Mia Hamm says, "Hi!" (one goal from some 20+ WNT WWC/OG knockout games) On the other hand, we could always look for the next Michelle Akers.
Last year we had 65. Is any of this out of the question? Nemeth - 15, Russell - 12, Salloi - 12, Felipe - 5, Rowe - 5, Zusi - 3, Wallace - 1, Gerso - 4, Croziet - 3, Roger - 1, Busio - 2, Hurtado - 3 ... that's a record breaking year for "team goals". I don't know if we need a "record breaking year" to get back to a Conference Finals. The issue isn't getting to the playoffs, it's can we get goals when the competitions raises their level. It will likely be hard due to hopefully a deep CCL run and the squad rotation required to do that ... but I think our defense can improve as well and let up fewer than 40 ... although that was good for 3rd best in the league.
Absolutely you need other players to win. Inca's numbers support that. I'm not advocating for a one guy gets all the goals kind of team, or (gasp) a return to Dom or nothing. But I would like a guy we can rely upon to score more consistently in big matches. If your leading goal scorer is a 7-10 goal a year guy that is one goal per 4 or 5 games. In a tournament setting, that means you're getting one or two goals tops that player. The next group of players is the goal every other game kind (the 15-20 goal per year guys). I'd feel much more comfortable in a tournament (like MLS Playoffs) knowing I have a guy like that on my team. I also understand that it takes a ton of $$ to get a quality CF and we may not have the ability to sign that guy AND keep our good core of players. Understanding that is the situation, we're set up about as solidly as we can be. Anyway, the CF situation here is what it is. Sort of like being a Chiefs fan and waiting for a QB....
I get that, but you do realize that we have better than a 7-10 goal scorer on our team? We had two double-digit guys last season and a couple guys not far off that. So we're somewhere between what you're talking about and Atlanta, haha. I think as our roster reshuffles over the next three or so years and the older guys start phasing out, we might be seeing more of an emphasis on attackers within the budget. Might.
If Nemeth gets 15, I'll be shocked. I mean, in 23 MLS seasons, we've had, what, 3 or 4 15 goal seasons total? Even calling for anyone to get 12 for this team is stretching. Two 12s and a 15 is pretty ridiculous.
That's completely fair ... and I'm sure the "backup" wings will get more and the starting wings will get fewer (as will Hurtado and Nemeth) due to squad rotation. I also think that with more money going towards 'non' attackers, MLS goal scoring overall should go down a bit.
I don't think these are out of the question. I do think that Salloi will be the one who gets 15. I think he might get 18. Towards the end of last season, he figured out something new and it was pretty special. But, to be successful over the course of the season, we don't need a 15 goal scorer. If Russell and Salloi each grab 10-12 and Nemeth grabs 6-8, I think we will still end up with something very close to our production this year. That said, what will matter more than goals scored is goal difference, and we can keep a 25 GD but getting back to a tighter defense. As for an MLS cup, I think that's going to rely on playing lockdown defense and being able to get a goal or maybe two from the collective. That's what we lacked this past playoffs. We gave up goals we shouldn't have given up. If we are going to be back to title contenders, it won't be because we outsocre sides who spend 5x on their attacks what we do. It will be because our attack is good enough, and our defense is great.
Listened to this podcast... https://www.sportingkc.com/post/201...mpions-league-roster-building-and-more-sports Vermes is really high on Barath. Start around 16:50. One thing Peter notes is how calm he is on the ball and that "And then if he has to, he can lay the wood as well, he can crush a guy - which is, uh, not a bad thing." LOL I'm ready for tonight.
Very cool. I am wondering if Vermes will be forced as the season goes on to not always use Besler and Fontas as his starters. They may be our best two CBs but there is a lack of athleticism and aerial presence there that means he might have to pick a lesser partner to counter teams?
Now that the roster is set, do we have any idea where we stand in regards to the massively confusing budget MLS rules? are we right up against the cap? Close? We have four open roster spots. We have 8 int slots filled (apparently, while international HG players do not count as INT slot holders, that's only if they join "the year before a player turns 16" which, if my math is correct, means when they are 15 and Salloi arrived later than that). Also, this tidbit from the rules: Homegrown Players on either the Supplemental Roster or the Reserve Roster may earn (including achievable bonuses) in aggregate each year up to $125,000 above the Reserve Minimum Salary ($56,250 in 2019) or the Senior Minimum Salary ($70,250 in 2019). Does anyone have any idea what this actually means? The aggregate bit, I mean. Does that mean the total pay to each player, or all of the players holding down Supp and Res roster spots? I mean, does this mean the kids are off budget up until they reach the $195k (for supp) or $180k (for res), or does this mean if Salloi gets his money, there is less for Busio? I found it interesting that of the four unfilled roster spots, two are from the senior side. This might make sense if we think that Salloi, Busio, Kuzain, Linsey and AR (as he will henceforth be known I'd suggest, but am open to any ideas. Rwat?), will play like senior roster players but why not keep them on an off budget list. Oddly, thought, we have two open reserve roster spots, which can be $56k each, which says a lot about how little PV thinks of our draftees.