Major League Soccer
Well, That Was Messi (has anyone made that joke before?)
Who were the top performers from each team?
How are we all feeling midweek? Adrenaline worn off? Disappointment still lingering? Me too.
Of course, when the move to Arrowhead was announced, many people, me included, had opinions on it, and I’ll own up to being slightly not thrilled with it, feeling like it was the incorrect decision for a number of reasons, but I would have been happy to have been proven wrong. Was I proven wrong? Probably! It seems like the event was a huge success and I hope besides just giving some people a chance to see their favorite player and one of the greatest to ever play, it also converts some new people to coming out to see Sporting Kansas City on a regular basis. Because man, although I don’t live in Kansas City anymore and watched the game on television, it looked like just an incredibly fun night.
That said, would I rather have had a 3-2 WIN at Children’s Mercy Park than what we got at Arrowhead? Absolutely. But Sporting’s ability to hold on to a lead has become worrying. I could sort of hand wave away past transgressions as blips or momentary nerves, but apart from a good opening and two great goals, Sporting Kansas City looked to be a little rattled at times, especially after the sixty or so minute mark.
I don’t have a lot more to say, if you watched it, you know what you saw. A pretty good outing from Kansas City spoiled by another late game collapse, instigated by none other than one Lionel Messi.
As far as player ratings go, this one felt a little…. Bifurcated? A bit of a split between “pretty good” and “pretty bad”. Here, take a look:
| Team | Player | Rating |
| Inter Miami | Lionel Messi | 7.75 |
| Inter Miami | Diego Gomez | 7.5 |
| Inter Miami | Luis Suarez | 5.75 |
| Inter Miami | David Ruiz | 5.5 |
| Inter Miami | Sergio Busquets | 5 |
| Inter Miami | Nicolas Freire | 5 |
| Inter Miami | Jordi Alba | 5 |
| Inter Miami | T. Aviles | 4.5 |
| Inter Miami | Drake Callender | 4.5 |
| Inter Miami | Julian Gressel | 4.5 |
| Inter Miami | Benjamin Cremaschi | 4.5 |
| Inter Miami | Y. Bright | 4.5 |
| Inter Miami | M. Weigandt | 4.5 |
| Inter Miami | Franco Negri | 4 |
| Team Average | 5.25 | |
| Team | Player | Points |
| Sporting KC | Erik Thommy | 7.5 |
| Sporting KC | Tim Leibold | 5.5 |
| Sporting KC | Willy Agada | 5 |
| Sporting KC | Tim Melia | 4.5 |
| Sporting KC | Daniel Salloi | 4.5 |
| Sporting KC | Nemaja Radoja | 4.5 |
| Sporting KC | Jake Davis | 4.5 |
| Sporting KC | Andreu Fontas | 4.5 |
| Sporting KC | Remi Walter | 4.5 |
| Sporting KC | Johnny Russell | 4.5 |
| Sporting KC | Dany Rosero | 4.5 |
| Sporting KC | Felipe Hernandez | 4 |
| Team Average | 4.75 |
Some great stuff from Erik Thommy, and I feel like Jake Davis had a better game than the numbers played out for him, but when a team drops three on you that’s tough to really justify. Leibold with the assist gets himself a few bonus points. Really hoping to see Pulido come alive, there have been some great glimpses of him, but I still feel like he’s a bit disconnected from the transition play and not getting the service he needs, nor is he always putting himself in the best place to get it.
Those are my stray thoughts, anyway. Overall, I was entertained. The irritation is still there, and now no lead will feel safe, so that’s going to make for a “fun” season 😐
Jake Davis Signs a Long-term Contract with Sporting KC
Across State Lines: Dwyer Signs in Oakland
Juice Boxes and Post Game Stats: Comets Fall in Game One
Predict the Lineup: Sporting Kansas City vs. Real Salt Lake
Assessing Sporting KC’s Season 10-Games In
Assessing Sporting KC’s Season 10-Games In
KC Current Roster Musings
Sporting KC Fall on the Road to Minnesota
Sporting Kansas City vs Minnesota United FC Match Thread
Alan Pulido was so nonexistent that he didn’t even get a rating?!
Davis had a pretty rough night IMO. Got roasted by Gomez on the first goal, failed to even try to pressure Messi on the second, and showed limited urgency to bail out Tim’s terrible pass on the third. It’s hard to REALLY blame him for that third since it was Melia’s terrible pass that caused it but Jake also put forward some the weakest effort we’ve seen from him in an SKC shirt to prevent the disaster IMO.
That being said, I think the ratings for a lot of dudes is too low. So far this season Leibold has been matched up against Dorsey/Carasquilla, Espinoza, Paintsil, Moreno, and now Messi/Gressel. The fact that Peter can’t see that by the end of these games he’s a pile of Tim Leibold shaped goo isn’t Leibold’s fault and I thought, other than the fact that he mishit one (critical) pass, that he was pretty dang good all game. I thought Rosero put in a pretty decent shift as well. Suarez was silent until a mistake that had nothing to do with Rosero occurred and that was largely because Dany did good to keep him at bay. And lastly, Remi. When he came out our entire midfield fell apart. I think that tells you everything you need to know about the positive impact he had on the game before he got hurt.