Can't say I am optimistic and the lineup is okay and I wish more youth was starting but there is talent on the field and sometimes they come to play. Bassong and Voloder keep the average age of the 10 field players to 29.3. PV better be ready to sub early and often in my humble opinion.
What an embarrassment of a game. Much more lopsided than 2-0. Also a strong contrast in roster building and how actively developing your own players leads to first team success with crazy spending. Perfect way for PV to celebrate his 500th game coached for KC. About 200 too many.
I came away from this with a strong feeling that Salloi and Russell are part of our past, not future. It was a sad realization, though to be honest, not that first time this season I've thought that, but I thought Salloi had an exceptionally bad night. He needs a new start
Add Pulido to that list. JFR played him in with a perfect ball, but he's too slow and got caught by the defender. He's become the attacking version of Fontas.
i agree but I'm not sure it's possible in an SKC-verse to get rid of Pulido. russell is out of contract. Salloi has to have some residual value (TM still has him at $5.5 million, as many clubs actually use TM to determine value, maybe we could find a buyer). Pulido has two years left on his Richie Rich deal, and is very unlikely to want to walk away from it
I will also add to this that this is one of the weaker Seattle sides in the last fifteen years. They've been climbing in the playoff rankings because the West is inexplicably pudding-soft, but their fans have been hugely frustrated this season (until pretty recently, I think).
Yup, that is the unfortunate truth. As SKC fans all we can hope for is that they figure out a role for Pulido since it's not likely he's going anywhere. I still hope he can figure out how to play the 10.
Now it appears that the over/under for SKC total goals for the rest of league play with 5 games remaining is about 4. I would include the USOC in that total, but there is always a chance for a miracle in Cup play, however minuscule that may be.
So do I. I mean, there are older 10s in MLS who play really well, even beyond the Argentinian group. A point on this: The dropoff across the top has been so substantial in our big three that I wonder: Did they all drop off to meh or below levels, of did the steep drop off of one feed the suck of the others?
That’s a good point. None of them are dangerous on their own any more so no one can create opportunities for the other two to exploit. Maybe Pulido can be a poacher or someone that can get a goal against a packed in defense if he gets some service, but that is a very limited role for a DP. What a mess.
If we continue with the 4-2-3-1 with two people that cover a ton of ground like memo and jake in the holding roles and move Thommy to one wing and put Afrifa at the other with Agada up top then perhaps deeper lying Pulido could "work" with those more dynamic players around him. However that whole setup would just work better with an actual 10 and a more clinical 9 in there as well.
Do we pick up the Agada option year? We got so much to fix and his production at his number is good value, so maybe it's not a bad idea, but Pulido's contract is an anchor, so if we want a new DP 9, not sure Agada makes sense. OTOH, are we counting on Afrifa and Vargas to start on the wings? Are we thinking Salloi was sucked into the mire by the others? I have no idea who to keep. I think Davis has been pretty good at the double 6, and i 100 percent think we should be running that way.. But if we believe Pulido has to play somewhere, and the 10 it is, then goodbye Walter or Thommy? Or do we go exapnsion franchise, and strip it all down to the bone. Keep Pulido because he's so expensive to dump, and maybe Davis, Afrifa and Vargas.
No way we bring in ANOTHER DP 9 with Pulido here, that's just straight not happening. As for Walter or Thommy, I stand by what I said the other week, one or both need to not be back next year to have further roster flexibility.
You can get the same level of player as Walter for less. As for Thommy, it's an unpopular opinion but he's a black hole. Unless he's hitting low xG bangers, he's where the attack goes to die.
You absolutely can, Walter is being really exposed with this double pivot that KC is using now, he gets pulled out of position so much. As for Thommy, you're not wrong his passing isn't there, it's not incisive at all. It's why I think you could move on from both given their situation. I just think because of some of his play, it's harder for me to see PV getting away from Thommy.
This is why I think we should move him to the wing. If he's not expected to be that connecting #10 then it hides his passing weakness a little. But this means we need a real #10 (not Pulido) to take his place.
Thommy can be a JFR lite (or a dialed up Salloi) on the wing. Would he start, week in, week out, over Vargas or Afrifa? He's quite driven and he brings some real class on the ball. He's a very good MLS player. OTOH, he costs more than 10x what those two each do, and almost 10x what they cost combined. In Vermes old 4-3-3 system, Walter was out best mid. It was a system built for him and I think we all kind of loved him in it. But when he was dropped back into the 6 as a single pivot, he clearly lacked and ruined our shape. And now, from what we've seen of him in a double pivot (which I will continue to say it required these days) he's... okay? Almost okay? Part of it is that he's aged and been injured a bit. But I believe most of it is that he's a classic and quite good two way mid, but can't seem to learn the nuanced difference between what he was and what he now needs to be. Bassong and Davis are a better combo in that than Radoja and Walter. I am not sure Radoja and Davis aren't the best possible combo for us, but the injuries are a legit concern. TM says we've got 16 players with contracts expiring in December. Not sure that's correct. Ten of those are listed as having options. The only three players we've got under contract through 2026 are Salloi, Pulido and Vargas.
It is correct, we have 16, it's incorrect that we have 10 on options. 12 of the 16 are on options, only 4 are out of contract. Contract: Fontas, Melia, Russell, Walter Option: Afrifa, Agada, Bassong, Castellanos, Cisneros, Flores, Ndenbe, Rindov, Rodriguez, Shewe, Thommy, Voloder. Also, the new contract for Davis has him under contract until 2026 (actually 2027).