Well, after getting their ass kicked by RSL, I wonder what PV is going to do to prepare for the best team in the league. SKC have shown that they can't stop teams from scoring and lately have not been able to put the ball in the net. It doesn't look like a fun evening of soccer for SKC fans. Maybe Bradley will throw his entire bench out on the field to start the game to give his regular starters a rest. That would give SKC a chance to lose gracefully instead of taking a 4 or 5 to zero loss against their starters. Welcome to the Blue.... ugh... nope, just blue.
I'm trying to get myself psyched to go. Hard to imagine anything other than a wild slaughter. I think I'm going to go in the hopes I see Salloi score.
Maybe I am hoping against hope, but I except Sporting to give a really good effort in this game, especially if Russell, Besler and Gerso are fully fit. They might not win, but I am looking for a good game. If the team lays an egg, then everyone should start planning for next season.
Temperature is very comfortable, there is even a chilled breeze coming from, I assume, the Members Club. Oh, and SKC is sucking like an industrial vacuum. Lucky that Rameriez missed that sitter. 1 - 0 at the half.
Exactly what I expected. I can't think of a single metric or position on the field where LAFC doesn't massively outclass SKC right now. I don't even see a path to their level of quality.
LAFC - speed, talent, good finishing SKC - slow, aging, questionable talent, can’t finish = 5-1 loss Simple math.
The season has been over for weeks, since the loss in Open Cup. Glad you guys are finally catching up. SKC's debacle season was so predictable that it's been excruciatingly painful for me to watch. I don't understand why PV can't make the obvious adjustments needed, but its clear he can't course correct. He'd rather sink the ship than make adjustments and admit he did something wrong along the way. As for the difference between an LAFC and an SKC, it's all about where the salary budget is spent. LAFC - money invested in attacking players who make a difference in big games. Rossi and Vela. And when that didn't work (Horta) they moved on. SKC - Proportionally, most of our salary is invested on the defensive side of the ball. Lots if cash invested in Zusi, Fontas, Besler, Espinosa and Borath. Two of those players aren't even starting quality. And PV has the balls to talk about how the team played well but couldn't finish and LA took their chances. Gee, wonder why? FYI, same difference between us and Portland. The quality of their attacksing players is why we lost in the playoffs last year.
To be fair, based on the xG he's not wrong... #SKCvLAFC xG. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/4JgL6xO8nw— Ben Baer (@BenBaer89) July 4, 2019
Players like Rossi, Vela, Valeri, Blanco, etc. need one or two chances to score. Players like Croizet, Salloi, BF, Gerso and even Nemeth need a lot more chances. That's the difference between SKC and the elite, and it's been that way for years. PV spends money, its just invested on the wrong side of the ball and in the wrong players.
Not disagreeing with you, just saying that PV's comment about not finishing our chances last night vs LAFC finishing them isn't a false quote based on the xG.
Okay, I'm essentially stuck in the woods this summer. This is my first day of actual internet in weeks, so, of course, I haven't seen SKC at all, or heard them, and after today i will be away from the netz again for a month or so. But without the injury rash, would this be the prevailing thought? We all knew Zusi and Besler and Roger were nearing the end. Did we really know they were at it, esp after the high of Toluca? I'm not angry about the spend this past off season. PV's side convinced me he had put together a winner until the injuries hit and it all went to hell. I am a bit sad about the coming clear out that has to now happen before next season. I've really liked rooting for our core this past, what, decade? I still am not convinced PV will, or should, try to compete with LAFC on the attacking side of the ball. But if you don't, you really do have to put together a top or really close to top of MLS defensive side, and we are no longer that.
I'm not sure Roger is at his end. But he's definitely nearing it. A serious long term injury is just not something a player or manager can plan or compensate for well. That said, first order of business is finding his heir. I'd personally prefer to spend the cash on a real defensively talented dmid to slot along next to Ilie and give our team some spine back, rather than just hoping for another freak workhorse box-to-box guy to be available. I think a more 4-2-3-1 would still look similar in a lot of the important ways, but it would serve to bolster the middle of the field where Ilie has been so badly overrun for, let's face it, a couple years now. Also find some real rockstar fullbacks. Quit just back-converting players who suck at other positions. I think our CB pool is okay, assuming Besler regains his form and Barath stops being benched in favor of a player who I'd rather see out of contract this offseason... That's the big stuff for me. Maybe start shopping for a real contender to Melia. You're totally right though, sorting out the defense should absolutely be the priority. Assuming we can keep guys like Gutierrez, Gerso, Russell, and Salloi, we're pretty reasonable going forward still. Having a solid midfield behind guys like those makes a bigger difference in the attack than people like to decide. I've seen on the MLS website a handful of dippy writers exclaiming that SKC really just need a solid striker. But I mean, the guy would have to be a multiple-goal-per-game monster to be winning us points right now.
We are fairly spoiled as SKC fans. Never have we seen the team in this kind of position since the rebrand. Sure we suffered through some crappy seasons with the Wizards, but we haven't seen SKC languishing in the bottom of the table like this before. SKC is in dire need of reconstruction. PV has ridden the Zusi, Besler, Roger horse into the ground. Bringing Benny back just added to the aged look and performance of the midfield. All of them have good instincts and movement, but many times they are just outclassed in speed and athleticism. Time to move on. The back line is fairly pathetic and needs to be rebuilt with some strength and speed and size. When was the last time SKC scored on a corner? I think it was when Ike was still playing. Not one of those guys seems to be able to get off the ground and get their head on the ball. Overall, team speed is just underwhelming. The Spanish guys Fontas and Ilie look like they are dragging a safe when running down the field. Benny and Felipe are slow. Salloi has a lot of talent, but he can't beat anyone on the wing. And lastly, Nemeth. He just needs to go. He seems to have lost any mojo he used to have and now needs the perfect ball to his feet and completely in the clear to get off a decent shot. I don't know if the problem is Brian Bliss and Meghan Cameron or the influence of PV and KZ on player decisions, or just a lack of available money or a combination of all. Either way, they are going in to have to make some hard and maybe unpopular player decisions this year to change the trajectory of this team.
I think all this is absolutely correct. Except I think any hard decision being made will be popular. Fans know it's time for serious changes. The only really unpopular choice is continuing forward with a subpar side and hoping fans won't mind a lack of forward progress. Hell, right now, the only players I think we should absolutely keep without question are Russell, Salloi, Busio, Barath, Medranda, and Besler. The latter only if his salary is reduced and his role lessened. But really, there are a lot of guys on this team that I don't feel any connection towards at all, and if they get lost in the shuffle, so be it. I'd like to hang onto Felipe and Ilie and maybe Gerso. In no circumstances will I be happy to see the continuing presence of Fontas, Croizet, or Wallace. With massively reduced salaries and/or reduced roles in the team, I'm okay with Zusi, Nemeth, Espinoza, and Sinovic remaining. Them's my opinions. Sorry, haha.
Off the top of my head there was the corner that Barath headed to Nemeth who scored against Independiente in the CCL this year....