Sporting KC vs Seattle Sounders 3/25 7:30pm [R]

I dunno know, that might actually be worth looking at

 

Stats when we played down a man for half an hour are a bit pointless. Instead, i will suggest that based on what we did have going before the second yellow made a two things very clear:
Zusi and Roger should retire. Like now.
I really hate the idea of having this sort of mess of an outing form a significant piece of my memories of two legends, and i'd be okay if they were along for lockerroom presence. But Zusi will have nightmares about this outing, and Chu will have wet dreams, and they'll be imaging the same stuff from their own perspectives.
Chu destroying Zusi was as complete a walloping of an outside back as I have ever seen. Good thing it was an established MLS star... uhm, no, well a clear Seattle starter...uhm, no again. Oh yeah, a U22 getting his first start because their starter (who IMO is the best lb in MLS) was away on nats duty.
Now, Zusi might have almost been a part of what we will call the SKC attack. connecting passes with 6 teammatles blah, blah.
But Roger? Can anyone here say with any seriousness that his outing in this match was a better effort than Mauri v Atlanta? He jogged when 3 years ago he would have sprinted. he made lazy passes. he didn't show for the ball. His positioning was within inches of f'ing shelton for 45 minutes. We've all played that half of soccer, when we were too drunk or hungover or injured or just old to really make a go of it, but he was painful to watch. He's done. The result might have spiralled out of control after he left, but it wasn't for lack of Roger. It was really sad to watch. FG was a massive, massive improvement, and i don't think he's MLS starting quality, or even one half level.
Completing our triangle of death was shelton. He was awful, unconnected (his passes found 2 teammates), unconvincing, weak on the ball. As noted recently on here, the three more years is a mistake on our part and tragic on his part, because he's lost right now and he really needs a new start. Maybe he's got a Rowe-esque revivial in him.
Finally, Sweat. Can't say his idiocy cost us this game, because we were worse on the opposite side of the field, but I heard the announcers start to prattle on about the first yellow being a bit cheap-ish as they showed the replays and through my Sporting colored lenses I was thinking, what they hell are they talking about, that's a nailed on yellow. It might even be orange. One of them noted it was the first really hard tackle of the night, though that would only be a tackle in the NFL sense of the word, because in soccer it involves the ball, at least marginally. And his second yellow? I guess he didn't use a pipe wrench, so there was that. This is the sort of two yellow red that the infractions committee, if they looked at two yellow reds (which I don't think they do, do they?) might decide merited several weeks out.
Positives, Agada got a goal and looked fast for the first time this season and Salloi had a wonderful half hour of play, and JFR was back on the field.
Finally, it takes a very, very rare manager to keep a team working the way they want it to work for more than five or six seasons. Schmetzler is to be congratulated for remaining able to coax whatever his gameplan is out of his side. I think his philosophy is get great players and put them in positions to do great things. Other managers who have been around that long seem to become really stale.

 

There was absolutely no sense in resigning Shelton. None at all. He was objectively the worst at his position last year. Brining him back - for three seasons nonetheless - was damn near a fireable offense.

Extending Vermes was at least grounded in some logic. But five years was too much.

So, I'm in violent agreement with you. Only I guess signing Shelton made no f*ing sense while Vermes was questionable and is now being exposed as making no f*ing sense.

Dammit. Five games in and this season is already 'cancel my tickets' worth.

 

The ownership group must give 0 ********s at this point. To look at last year and think, "yeah...I'll have 5 more like that" is just ridiculous. I get that there were injuries and we finished strong but you miss the playoffs and then re-sign the guy for 5 years? Maybe see how the next year goes with the new guys and returners and then figure it out?

Then we sign Shelton for 3 more years. It should have been a warning that this club is really out of ideas. Someone on reddit called Shelton the canary in the coal mine. We're going to have that dead bird reminding us for 3 more years how bad our roster building is.

 

What new guys? This feels like more PV excuse making. The defense was a ****ing train wreck last year. What did they do to improve it? They let Isi go. That wasn't an improvement. They brought in Leibold (already out injured). Brought in Radoja (not "fit enough"). Rosero...they waited until the season had started to sign what might be a competent CB. Wait that long and you have visa/paperwork issues. Maybe do that during the offseason and integrate the player during preseason.

Sweat - sure he's been awful. He's one of three LBs. The others are out injured with hamstring issues sustained during whatever the **** they do during preseason.

NOT RELATED TO YOUR POST - just me venting

Sweat was not the only problem. First goal, the slowest man in MLS couldn't/didn't want to track Morris. Second goal, Zusi turns ball over leading to goal. Third and forth goal, a U20 whips Zusi and no one marks Morris.

The issues with the defense, and with this group, are obvious and have been obvious to anyone who doesn't want to just blindly buy into all the soccer capital of America bullship speweed by ownership. 5 year extension to a man who has built one of the worst MLS academies and hasn't done much of anything with the first team in a decade. OK....tell me you don't give a shit.
3 year extension to Shelton, a player who isn't a professional soccer player, but did stay at a holiday inn express.

Fontas....this is the best example of what has happened. Sign a guy no longer good enough to play in europe to a long contract. Watch the defense get worse year by year and resign him as a thank you.

Paying a ton of money to Pulido, who may or may not actually be a soccer player. I haven't seen him in anything but social media posts in over a year, so I don't know anymore. Signing (and starting) two geriatrics. Not developing a single youth product besides Busio.

On and on and on. It takes a lot to alienate me and make me give up on a team that I have followed literally for decades, but I am done. PV couldn't coach his way out of a cardboard box. His ego is too big and he's run out plenty of people that could have had a positive impact on the team, and especially the academy (see related posts about youth internationals for who). KC youth coaches literally refer to his "yes man group" as the PV mafia. Ownership doesn't care. They are happy with almost signing stars and contending for the wooden spoon.

 

Is Zusi the slowest man in MLS, because the first goal was as much on him as anyone, straight run by the new kid who just blew by our aging vet.

 

Chad is one of the biggest PV homers there is. I'm sure the club loves his type of "media scrutiny".

Again, Sweat has been awful. But first goal yestereay - Fontas. Second goal - Zusi. After that who gives a $hit, you already lost. The team has scored 2 goals in 5 games. They weren't coming back.

As for the other games...hard to win when you don't score. Sweat has been terrible, I am not defending him, but its this type of media BS that has bolstered support for PV's mafia. Pin the blame squarely on the guy that builds the roster, coaches the team, trains the team, and is responsible for 100% of the teams performance. Don't pin it on the teams second or third string LB.

 

But no, Sweat was at fault maybe for the route, but we have way, way too many gaping, sucking wounds to put this loss on one player, esp one who was not directly responsible for any goal, while, say, Zusi can be tied to 3 and Roger can be tied to one, and shelton, etc

 

I'd love to see that "race"

 

I just rewatched, 1st goal- Zusi, 2nd goal- Zusi...

 

Seriously, am I wrong: Roger's 45 minute outing v Seattle was as bad or worse than Mauri's infamous whatever it was, 15 minutes?

 

Zusi 100 percent responsible for the second goal. Plays a random no look clearance out of his defensive end.

First goal, I'm sticking with Fontas didn't track his runner being the biggest issue. But there's plenty of blame on the first as well. Seattle went 90 yards in 4 passes. No defending was done on SKCs right flank. If Fontas checks his shoulder and is a little faster than your average over 50 year player (they now have walking soccer in KC....maybe he should try that) its not a goal.

 

You are not wrong. The Roger vs "unfit" Radoja is majorly puzzling and an example of PV mafia. If a guy PV hasn't had in KC for years plays like Roger, he gets benched or released. Roger plays like this, he starts.

How "unfit" must Radoja be where he can't displace Roger as the starter. Play him as your 6. If he's unfit, ask him to sit in the pocket in front of the slowest man in MLS and Voldemort. Get Walter into his best positions. Sit geriatric Roger. Bring him in at the end of the game if someone needs a breather.

 

FWIW, Radoja was out last night with a quad injury he picked up in training.

 

Seriously? What curse has been placed on this group?

Also, unfit players being pushed hard in training get injured.

 

As I jokingly said last night... at least it's not a hamstring...

 

To be fair, the kid who got by Zusi did run in a straight line, without a hint of a feint. How is a profesisonal supposed to deal with that kind of trickery?
On the first goal, I think a fair compromise is that they both sucked.
The real question is whether as they were getting repeatedly torched on the right, Sweat was watching from the left and thinking, "Hey, no one is worse than I am!"

 

My bottom line is that I won't quit on SKC because I'm an idiot and i don't quit on teams I love. but I'm not a happy fan, and I don't see getting much happier in the coming months.
Also, to echo LukeD: WTF do our training sessions consist of? Do we simply run until a set number of players are injured?

 

spot on. that's a spectacular self-own by our pr clowns.

 

Yeah. I was asking that question as a frustration at this point. Our new signings feel further from making an impact than they did at the start of the season. I can forgive a bit but man the integration process needs to be faster... Or straight-up binned when the team is flailing!

 

I know he's had injury issues... But if Pierre is not the guy to displace Zusi, they really need to sign somebody who is.