I don't like being the voice of negativity, but our bogeyman team, in excellent form, vs our mangled-up husk of a squad that really could have used another three weeks of preseason... I'm not feeling so optimistic. I'd honestly settle for a close loss at this point. Unless we get some guys back healthy and soon. If we get some firepower back off the injury list I'll start to have some hope. Unless this is the international break game, and we're losing Ndenbe, Tzionis, anyone else?
Next one? What, has the season already started? I am almost positive we didn't play this last weekend
Haha, that's how I've answered several people since the weekend. They ask if Sporting played over the weekend, and I tell them that they were... involved in a game. We definitely have gotten used to SKC starting really brightly. I can see why moods are low, since usually the team degrades over the season. But I think with injury recoveries and getting the new kids to gel, we'll actually see a reverse trend of improvement over the year. Only questions are if we hit the playoffs and how we look once we do.
Was looking at the numbers for the team, if KC gets none of the injured players back they'll literally have 18 available players for this game, and that would include 3 goalkeepers. We'd be 1 injury to a field player away from using a hardship call up from SKCII. Meanwhile, RSL is also dealing with injury issues with no Ochoa (among others). They also lost Glad on Saturday to what looked like a hamstring injury.
I chose to believe. I also cannot really see us further degrading. Though, I mean, Zusi and Roger are playing way too much for senior citizens. Also: Is there any reason to start to worry about Melia? I know, gaffs happen, to everyone. and with the tremendous speed of our defenders, maybe he just can't follow the ball... Okay, seriously though.
RSL is coming into the game with this record - Draw, Win, Win Win. The draw was against Houston, but wins against, Seattle, New England, and Nashville scoring 5 total goals and conceding 3. That would indicate an in-form high performing team. SKC coming into the game with this record - Loss, Win, Loss, Loss. The win against a bad Houston team, but losses to Atlanta, Colorado and Chicago scoring a total of 3 goals and conceding 9. That kind of performance would indicate a team looking for help and answers. Is there any hope that SKC gets out of this game with their dignity in tact against their long-time rival in front of their home crowd?
What do you consider their dignity in tact? Because that phrase comes off like you're expecting them to get crushed like 5 or 6 to 1.
Or, maybe he meant get crushed by a mere 3 goals. Or 2 goals. Or, maybe just lose by 1 goal but have zero answers and create few chances and never have a chance to sniff a draw. These are all possible. I see a number of ways to lose dignity at CMP this weekend.
Guess I was trying to think of a time I felt that low about a home result and the only times I could think of were the big losses to LAFC and San Jose.
I fully admit I viewed this season through Sporting Blue tinted glasses and was overly optimistic. I thought we'd plug the Kinda shaped hole in our midfield well enough early, then be full speed once he returned. I thought Mauri would step and give us something. I thought Uri would be great depth, and Walter would be a top tier MLS 8. Old Roger, I thought, would be perfect in a depth role. Duke would be a great late game energy burst (when he wasn't starting at RB). Hernandez would be hungry and take a step forward. Cutting Mauri loose a week into the season might be the least thought through roster decision we've seen with SKC. I don't mind dumping him. He was clearly dumpable. but waiting until there's no budget relief and without a plan on how to replace him was destructive to our chances in 2022. I mean, that position was important to us. Doyle called him, hilariously now, the most important player on the SKC roster for the season. What we're left with is a wildly unbalanced side. We're low on skill,but low on speed. We're either too young or too old. The book on us is so well read around MLS that clubs leave it on the shelf. Deconstructing the SKC Way at this point is pretty simple. Now, without Pulido, we were not going to be a SShield or better than 5-7 candidate. But we had major team speed and midfield issues, and i fell for the notion that we'd addressed them when we had not. TL,DR: We get out of this game with some dignity if we give a glimmer of hope that we have something positive to offer in 2022. If we, again, fail to do that, we're all feelign the shame of what could have been.
This about sums up my thoughts too. I trusted that Vermes knew what he was doing with Mauri, and I believed that the RB pool of Zusi/Pierre meant that Pierre was likely to be seeing some real MLS minutes as a breakthrough player. Time may prove me right on that latter bit, but it's not looking so shiny at the moment...
I mean, Zusi, at 35, plays a position that is vital to our success but demands an insane amout of running. At this point, in 4 games, we've restricted him to 360 minutes. roger, 35, has been given a paltry 323 minutes. When they were young and fit, at this pace they wore out in August. At this age, probably around May the injuries start to pile up and they're finished for the year
That was 7-0, July 4, 2001. The Fire fans gave KC fans in 2011 who traveled to Chicago a DVD with that game on it (with a cover that had mls cup 2000’s logo so it actually made a coaster).
I think there are a lot of reasons to be question SKC's 2022 prospects. Zusi and Roger probably will not get much younger. Fontas, Uri and Zusi probably will not get much faster. Pulido probably will not play much during rehab. Mauri is unlikely to be less jettisoned. True, with Salloi, Russell, Kinda, Shelton and Uri back, we're a much better side than we were against Chicago. But it isn't silly to think the sky is falling during a meteor shower. Positives: Isi is really good, thus far. Fontas, on the ball, is still class. Logan is really good. T-zone is exciting. Sweat has some really nice moments. Hernandez is back. The other newbies will take time. We know our front line has series talent. Walter has looked good at both the 8 and 6. Question: Sweat is a savvy vet. Can he spell Zusi on the right side? Edit to add: Okay, I checked his history, and apparently no. However, Logan N has split time between right and left sides while playing in France. His better spot is left, but he had 4 starts as a right back for Guingamp, 8 at RB, in 20/21
My comment wasn't directed at anyone here. It's more the freakout I'm seeing on Twitter and the Cauldron FB page, which is a toxic mess.