SKC vs Vancouver 6/3

This is the main takeaway. We got a point on the road, in a game where a draw was probably a fair result.

That said I'm still not comfortable at all with McIntosh in goal. Dude gives me a heart attack at least once a game. At his age he should be coming into his prime, similar to Melia in 2015, but he's just not. If I'm going to have these heart attacks I'd rather it be with a young keeper.

 

I mean, I really rate Kinda. But the difference between him and Pulido at the 9 is staggering. Folks like to casually label Alan a "false 9," but man the game looks so different when Vermes puts an attacking midfielder up front in his place. I will say, though, contrast either to Brian White and I can see why fans are rather to get a more classic striker on the team. That kid is scary.

I've been cheerfully following the rumors of Pulido going back to MX, but games like this make me pretty nervous. There's a poise and shape to the team when he is here that I'm not sure who else can bring. Lot of hope riding on Agada returning, perhaps.

 

Back in the day when a keeper's main, and only, job was shot stopping, McIntosh (not intyre, I think I am going to start calling him Mac), I think he'd have seemed more valuable. As the announcers kept saying, again and again, he does have very quick hands. But that final play of his, I remember doing that exact thing, several times, in my keeper time. It was never a good thing, but today, when everyone is supposed to trend towards Keeper-sweeper, it exposes a really big problem.
So the question: Using the hot hand principle, which is usually tied to gathering results, does Vermes stick with Mac, or hand Pulskamp another chance? Was this performance a hot-hand outing? I mean, draw and he has been in goal for our renaissance. But I am with you, In the words of Fred Sanford, moments like that bring on "the big one."

 

I too find that Kendall will make my heart race but so does the play of the rest of the team. The team is definitely playing better but the recent run of form is still too much reliant on luck. Seattle underestimated us, Minnesota was on a bad run of form, LAFC was unlucky they did not score more, St. Louis was just a mess, Portland is the outlier as we clearly dominated at home, Dallas was also unlucky the did not score more, and the same goes for Vancouver. The team is balanced now but unstable and the slightest change could send it back to the doldrums of the start of the season.

 

That's a really interesting take. Kind of scary, but interesting. I would say that there really isn't a single area in which we aren't noticeably better right now. We were just horrible in the first 10 games (Vermes told the broadcast crew we should have had 4 wins in the first 10. Playing as we were, I have no idea which ones). but just how fragile we might be is an interesting take. I will say that Rosero has been huge for us, so holding on without him was impressive.

 

The original forecast on Agada was 12 weeks out, which includes rehab and getting back to game shape usually, so that would mean, unless there has been an update I've missed that says it's not going well, getting game time beginning with Cinci in the league's cup (probably a few/10 minutes). Given the typical recovery time from the actual injury (not ready to play, but ready to rehab), I'm wondering if there are any sightings? It wouldn't be unheard of for someone to be in water training six weeks out from the surgery.

 

Vermes system has always been reliant on a very good 6 to be its most successful.

 

You can see the difference when Radoja plays. He's just natural to the position, Walter pushed further upfield, Radoja picks his moments, clogs lanes, falls into a 3 Cb role. The question on this, as vital as he is, why do have a single 6 on the roster?

 

Because it's a miracle when we have a single acceptable 6. The closest we've ever been to two at once was the Uri/Olum days, and good god that sounds like a nightmare on paper.

Isn't that Jake Davis's normal position, though?

 

Counter point from the apologist gallery -- It's better than not having any 6 on the roster.

 

Wait, seriously? I keep hearing him referred to as a midfielder but had presumed it was an 8 of some form or another. Most likely I thought that b/c if we had a six just hanging around in SKCII for months, then what the heck?!

 

Yeah, this has largely been my view of the team since the Repeat Years, as I call them, of 2014 through 2017. PV's success is largely due to the talent he is able to find and how healthy that talent can stay through whatever PV puts them through. His coaching, not so much. BenDover's post about Radoja makes me start sending out the good karma that he stays healthy. But PV churns them up, he does or does not do something that allows or pressures players like Pulido, Agada and even Melia to play injured. It is Sports 101 that if an injury keeps you from 100% you get it checked. Better to sacrifice a small amount of time to a small injury than suffer through a long recovery.
It is his terrible coaching that keeps a player like Afrifa on the bench having played 1 game and 1 minute when Shelton gets 13 minutes against Portland. You cannot gain experience playing in MLS unless you play in MLS. We are leading 3 to 1 in a game at home that we are controlling very well, what better time to bring in the new striker and say show me what you got. Even if he is not ready it is highly unlikely that he would have been responsible for a loss or a tie. PV just wastes and wears out players and it is what I dislike about him most.

 

OMFG? Is it?
So, Vermes really does not trust young players, does he? I mean, given the returns we're getting on Davis playing out of position, I'm gonna assume he would have been as good if not better in his natural role. That would have allowed Walter to play his natural role, and would have allowed us not to start and vastly overstretch the physical ability of a 36 year old. Walter in the right sided 8 would have produced much, much better cover for the other 36 Vermes insists on playing but who was also shown to be physically less than up for it this season. And this, of course, would have allowed thommy just to play his position.
The cascade effect of that would have been really interesting to see.

 

Exactly!

 

I could be way off. He might just be a more honest 8 than a 6. I tried to find his history with SKC II and didn't really see any matches as a Vermes-style defensive mid. So I'm probably just confusing everybody.

That said, even if he normally is an 8... A defensively-talented, workhorse midfielder with a solid read of the game could certainly be trained into the 6 position. I mean, if we got good mileage from Busio in that position, we certainly could have seen an attempt with Jake!

 

At the least he could have been playing instead of Roger, who was simply not at all capable of thriving in the number of minutes we were giving him

 

Yeah, I feel like Hernandez is ahead of Davis in the midfield, but both have been behind Espinoza.