Our 2020 squad already showed me something I did not expect to see this season... this morning SKC finds itself alone in first place for the Supporters Shield. I'm not greedy and would be happy for SKC to find itself here only one more day this season.* *On Oct. 5th
My takes: About the best result Sporting could hope for to start the season without Felipe. Russell should be on the right, where he can cut inside using his left foot, Shelton can play on the left, and that is Gerso’s side, so hopefully Vermes will make that switch. Zusi will remain a liability all year, need to get Lindsey in and see what he can do. Puncec has a good game and Ilie just isn’t as strong as he once was. If Felipe is back on Saturday, you play him instead of Ilie. Can’t keep Kinda off the field. Much better end game management. So far so good.
Your first point (Shelton on the right) is because of your second point (Zusi's liability). Shelton's defensive work helped Zusi out a lot last night, and was the reason he was on the right a lot more than Russell was last night.
If that is the case, it’s a fairly scathing appraisal of Zusi as a right back (which I agree with). Zusi was weak sauce all game long. PV usually doesn’t play favorites so Zusi must be the best option that he has for right fullback, even with Lindsey sitting on the bench. Sad situation because that will be a trouble spot all season long and Puncic will have to clean up Zusi’s mess like he had to last night. Shelton was a nice surprise on the other hand. I didn’t expect much when they brought him back, but he looks a lot more comfortable and is more effective on the wing than he was at the 9 spot. I haven’t seen much chatter about Pulido, probably because outside of his header goal, he wasn’t very visible for long stretches of time. I’m still a doubter that he is worth what SKC paid for him. It’s just the first game of the season and I’m sure that he will develop a better feel for the MLS game and become more of a dominant presence on the field.
it was a good start, but i'm gonna hold off on talking about the team much until we play teams that are better than vancouver. i don't think the caps are gonna trouble many teams this year.
The games get progressively tougher in the next couple of weeks with Houston next and then Atlanta. That should show everyone just how far SKC has come since last year's collapse.
A CF is paid to score goals. He scored. What more do you need to see? I thought Pulido did well in the buildup and also worked back to receive the ball deep or help out defensively. That is a goal that previous SKC CFs don't score. Overall I thought the team looked pretty good. Kinda made a huge impact on the game and looks like a good fit in the No. 10 role. I have a feeling that by the end of the year our midifield will have Kinda, Roger and Felipe as the No. 6. Illie and Zusi looked like they did in 2019 (poor). If I'm the opposing coach I'm attacking our right side and pressing Illie.
Pulido's header was a true 9 goal. he found three inches of space in the box and made a half chance count. That is exactly what we've been missing for a long, long time. I get BenDover's point, but I think that's aesthetics. If I'm a neutral, Pulido is my least favorite types of striker, all he does is score and he does that by being good in space. For the 89 minutes of a game when he isn't scoring, or getting off a decent shot (he had one of those, as well) he's not interesting. But for my team, I want that guy. Kinda is fun. Russell is fun. Gerso is fun. they're cool to watch play and make exciting runs and Gerso's twist was electric. But Pulido, what we saw of him last year and this weekend, take him to the bank, because he's cash every time. That said, while I am really happy with his pace for 34 goals this season, I'm crazy thrilled with Hurtado's goals per minute pace of 1-1. We just need to find him 200 minutes over the course of this season and we're good.
I don't think I agree with this. To my eyes (I missed the first half, as a caveat), Pulido is the kind of striker who is happy to be involved in the buildup and possession, and he clearly was interested in pressing. The fact that he did not create or take a ton of chances was because his chemistry is not in place yet (hampered further by Johnny being shuttled off to his weak wing), which should improve, and because Gutierrez wasn't there to keep the midfield humming too. I think if we get our optimal XI out there for a couple of games, we'll see a much more directly involved and effective Pulido. The goal was a really nice start for him though! Got that stress off his back, which is terrific.
I think I overstated. He does all the little things and he's clearly game. I didn't mean to say he's inactive. From what I've seen of him, he doesn't do some of the big exciting things, like create havoc off the dribble. He's not Flash fast, he's fast enough. He finds space and he poaches. He's efficient and he's deadly. He's not a human highlight reel. What we saw this weekend, and your point on the monkey off his back is dead on, gives me a lot of hope that my preseason dreams of him banging in 20+ are pretty reasonable.