When you outline what has happened with injuries during his time at KC and now being an older play ... this was unfortunate only for the first contract. SKC was not required to sign Pulido to a lengthy and expensive extension late last season.
Never say never, one of my favorite koans, because crazy things happen. Did you see a 10 man Wizards beating Man United in a friendly? I did not. And the corollary to the second statement is that doing the same thing and expecting different results is also a sign of delusion and being overly optimistic. Is this not true of any team in MLS? I would make an argument that success in team sports is mostly about making your opponent pay for their mistakes. Sure Miami may be better than some at punishing a mistake but how many SKC mistakes just this year have been punished by teams that are not Miami? 15 dropped points in 5 of 8 games does not bode well for success. As for Pulido I have no more sympathy for him or the club. When I learned that for multiple games the SKC medical staff were draining fluid from his knee after each game I lost respect for both. For SKC this is not how you treat multi million dollar talent. For Pulido he should have stood up for his health not his playing time. I would like them to use the money for a true team retreat, just the boys, and some counselors, to an undisclosed location, even to management. This team needs a shared mentality like what I saw from Miami. That is really how Lionel got so good, or anyone for that matter, he has benefitted from great teamwork.
I was at the Man U game, along with my wife and kids. Was a fun match and a transformational moment in KC soccer. My favorite Wizards/SKC player, still to this day, scored (Davy). My son's future club coach, Stephane Auvrey, anchored the midfield. The man who will always have a posse in KC, Jimmy Conrad, got a red card on a fairly bogus call. We sat next to a group of Man U tossers who were cheering for the Wiz by the end of the match. Rocky vs Ivan Drago stuff. Those were fun days. Sure, we played in a baseball stadium and there was so little interest in the club that you would walk up to the ticket booth on game day and get seats wherever, but the Cauldron was solid and loud. Game day was fun. We had just survived a potential sale. We were a club on the rise. Full of the possibility that a new ownership group provided. Back to the point, I don't see many minutes for Afrifa and no way Tzionis plays again. Tzionis is on the game day but there is no intent to play him. They don't list him on the SKCII game day because they know he has no future in KC, and (this is where it gets sick) they don't want to give him an avenue to showcase his ability. With no avenue for playing time other than a national team callup, his value will be greatly diminished once his contract expires. This is what former players mean by the PV mafia. Sadistic stuff.
I think offsetting some academy costs seems the most likely "on field" way to spend some of that money. Afrifa has seemingly lost his spot that he won in preseason to Vargas already (I personally had rated Afrifa as 4th or 5th best front 3 on SKCII last year behind Vargas, Vidal, Cruz, and potentially even Draper, he just didn't impress me at all). Tzionis is just a template basically of PV's vindictive total control of the team at this point. Especially when both play at home and he doesn't throw him a bone.
Yeah. He got hot at the right time and secured his payday. Honestly, great outcome for him, and I don't really begrudge him that. But it's setting the team back, and that's not great fun. Vermes talked in that big piece the other day about how he hates the contract side of things and is stepping away from it as much as he can. I have yet to see any change to the club's strategies, outside of continuously paying more and more for talent that stands out less and less in the league. Part of the effect of this expansion the league has seen is a greater competition for MLS-level foreign talent that is still excited to be here, and we're one of those sides feeling the squeeze I think. Part of that is the city we're in, but not as much as the club likes to pretend it is. I think foreign players can look at Peter's track record and realize that SKC will choose Vermes over his players every day of the week. It's not some big secret, haha. Anyways. I don't mind a starting forward lineup of Salloi - Agada - Russell, with the strong caveat that Salloi needs rotation/competition and Russell needs significant rotation. On the right, I think Vargas is a bright spark and I'm hoping to see his development happen on the pitch, every week. On the left... still don't see anyone who is an upgrade over a downswing Salloi. Definitely not Shelton and sadly still not Tzionis - I know "he's been done wrong" but also I can't believe how poorly he fits into any version of the Sporting lineup he appears in. Not his fault necessarily, but that dude needs a fresh start elsewhere. This whole conversation is so different when Ndenbe is healthy.
I hate to go where I went, but I'm fairly certain that is what is happening. I also don't begrudge Pulido for making money. Athletes have a limited time to cash in on their skill. The KT tape on his shin is concerning. Its probably nothing major but you don't put KT tape on if you are feeling great. Hopefully he gets his season turned around. The problem with Salloi/Agada/JFG - Thommy slots back to midfield. In that setup, he ends up occupying a lot of the same space as Salloi, since Thommy is a winger and not really a mid. That forward lineup also means Pulido at the 10. I've seen enough of that to know I don't want to see anymore.
I'm okay with Thommy - Walter - Rodoja as the starting midfield. I know Thommy wanders and all, but I don't think he's the net detriment to Salloi that people say. I dunno. I can make a lineup that feels like a B-, but I can't seem to raise that grade no matter how I reshuffle.
We've now seen Pulido at the 10 twice. the first time out, SKC were dominatnt for 70 minutes, then fell apart. I don't think that was on the 10. This time out, he was invisible. I'm not so sure that's on him as much as a tactical choice. We played from the backline to the front line, a lot. The truth is it kind of worked. we scored twice and could have had a couple more. But it looked like a tactical choice to bypass 10, and Pulido was lost in figuring out how to adapt (Thommy did a nice job. Salloi also sucked). As we've noted, maybe he was injured. Pulido has a great game. We just didn't see it this week. I'd be willing to let him learn a bit more about this role while he plays, because if he really can figure it out, he's a massive plus there for us.
I'm with you on this. As much as I complain that Pulido has been MIA since signing the contract I think he could have the skillset to be a #10 for us and we're paying him a chunk of money so let's see where it goes for a bit. He certainly hadn't been productive up top for us lately. Say what you will of Agada's touch and/or decision making but he's at least got some goals recently. I really like Thommy more on the wing too so maybe we can rotate Thommy/JFR/Salloi/Vargas on the wings and rotate memo and Pulido in the midfield. This all of course relies on PV actually using subs to work though.
At this point in 2024, SKC is dead last in players used, with 18. Miami is first with 27, most are in the 21-23 range. I was surprised that in that stat, in 2023, SKC was first, with 26.
I was thinking that the Cisneros loan was a bad sign for our pro-player pathway, as this is a player we've had on the roster for several years, haven't ever really played, and shipped off. Now, it happens, all the time, everywhere, that young prospects don't make it. But I don't really get why he was being kept on the senior roster
He came up with my kid and I know the player well. Parents used to drive him to practice at Swope from Omaha every day. Lots of sacrifice. I'm surprised he hasn't given up and gone to play in college like most players in that 2003/04/05 group did. Ozzie is one of many examples that speak to inability of the academy coaches to identify local talent through their tryout process or from recommendations from local clubs. Looking back, it was a miserable failure. The few academy success stories are not from what is our homegrown footprint, but rather from imported talent. As to why was he kept on the roster? He's cheap. And they don't have anyone better.
I have the same problem. The starting 11 is OK, not great, but there are no real bench options available to improve upon OK. Anyone that lived through the endless series of Chiefs 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7 seasons recognizes what SKC have become. Mediocre.
Yep, in a league where as many teams make the playoffs as in MLS, this is a playoff team, that's it. Maybe they go on a run in the USOC with fewer MLS teams in it, but otherwise this team isn't winning a trophy this year and will get somewhere between the 4 and 9 seed.
Interesting graphics for the match vs Miami. Credit: MLS Statistics and Analysis @mlsstat To me, shows a very unballanced attack. Playing to Salloi, whom I think most would agree was invisible. So much focus on the LW, yet no goal. So little down the right, yet two goals from the RW. Nothing down the middle, which is par for the course with Pulido at the 9.
There's an insane number of cheap players, in the US, around the world. If Vermes had zero belief in him, which i think the numbers and now loan show is the case, why TF didn't we try someone else for that slot. Should SKC have developed him, or seen that he wasn't up to MLS level years ago, maybe. But more than that, there needs to be a reason for every slot on the first team roster.