Sporting KC
Sporting Kansas City vs Los Angeles FC Match Thread
Sporting Kansas City looks to build on an encouraging comeback against Minnesota United as they take on Los Angeles FC
Sporting Kansas City vs Los Angeles FC
Time:Â 7:30 pm CST
Location:Â Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, KS
How to Watch: MLS Season Pass
Referee:Â Ismir Pekmic
The Teams:
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Sporting Kansas City
0-3-1, 1 points
13th in the West
Head Coach: Peter Vermes (17th season)
Availability Report: Andrew Brody – Quad (Out), Zorhan Bassong – International Duty (Out), Ian James – International Duty (Out), Joaquin Fernández – Back (Questionable), Dany Rosero – Ankle (Questionable)
Los Angeles FC
2-2-0, 6 points
8th in the West
Head Coach: Steven Cherundolo (4th season)
Availability Report: Denis Bouanga – International Duty (Out), Lorenzo Dellavalle – Thigh (Out), Olivier Giroud – Leg (Out), Marlon – Leg (Out)
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No midfielders on the bench tonight? Seems like it would have been a good opportunity to start Afrifa at left wing and keep Thommy in reserve as a sub.
Peter dosen’t do much that makes sense!
I mean, I guess you could move Davis into midfield and bring on Shelton or Barlett. Not sure Bartlett plays any right back. He would be more of a replacement for Radoja at the 6. There are options, but not necessarily game-changing ones late in the match if you are chasing a goal.
Voloder is off to an inauspicious start.
Is booting corner kicks 10 yards past the goal the strategy tonight?
Pulskamp.
He makes what would be a normal save for Melia seem impossible
My comment was about the first save. Didn’t you think it was quality work?
Puskamp may not have had to try for a save on the goal if Davis hadn’t been turned completely inside out on the winger after the thru ball.
I think he’s just raw talent wise and if we had a defense at all then a lot of that could be managed and coached up but the back 4 put him in a lot of bad positions which expose his lack of experience so going from Melia to him while also having this current state of the team is just pure pain, not that Melia was particularly great the last couple seasons
Yikes.
That was a nasty shot. Martinez hit a rocket, and it was fading to Pulskamp’s right. He was probably expecting it to curve the other way off the foot.
Everything is horizontal passes when SKC is in the final third. They need more direct play with thru balls to break a team down.
The only really direct and creative player is Manu and he’s not getting touches. Too much play out to the wings.
“it’s like sporting kc is down a man…”
yes, down a man, it has felt like that how many years now?
let’s go skc, but it’s not looking… good.
Does that make the Cauldron “The Eleventh Man?”
I clocked that line, too. All too familiar feeling.
Memo is good but this should have been a Bartlett-Rajoja game. Have those two play as 6s and let Manu Garcia play as a 10. Right now the midfield looks so toothless and disjointed. We need two players that positionally are good defensively.
Davis is going to dream about chasing wingers, frantically trying to recover from bad positioning.
Martinez is an absolute handful.
Will we ever find out if Afrifa could be the guy who can stretch the field for SKC on the wing?
I wouldn’t hold my breath.
the story this season is already
wait until we can move davis to midfield
wait until bartlett starts more
wait until they’ve played together more
wait until the next transfer window
wait wait wait
i will say though, skc looks… marginally better? what do you think.
if they look marginally better each game, i’m happier (but forever #vermesout after his idiotic brewhouse rant.)
I missed the brewhouse rant. What did he say?
oh, what was it? a year or two ago? you can search online and find it. i bet just ‘vermes brewhouse speech’ will get you there.
i’d give you the gist… but you may interpret it differently, so no spoilers.
Oh, I thought you meant this season he had a rant. I’d hope by now he would be humble enough not to do that again.
oh, yeah — i should have been more clear. watching skc does not inspire clarity.
i do like that it shows vermes who he is and he’s unapologetically who he is, i guess, and if someone said it was good to see the frustration from the coach, i woudn’t disagree
for too long i think fans just wanted to be heard.
unfortunately they waited too long, and are now trying to convince us to wait longer.
big mistake.
#vermesout, #reidout. but one is far more likely.
nothing against the man, vermes, but two things can be true: skc needs a new coach, and he needs a new team.
etc.
The Cauldron needs to be renamed “The Gaslight District” for all the excuses management gives for why we need to be patient. It’s the fans’ fault for expecting more.
awesome shot! awesome save (bummer).
skc with urgency(?) is an skc i can get behind. not the coach mind you. #vermesout etc.
You wanna see some goals watch the Current.
i mean, i see plenty of goals watching skc…
Touché.
So, if you were Vermes and wanted to shake up the game at halftime instead of waiting until the hour mark or later, what moves do you make? (Not that I expect any changes from him.)
Salloi should come in for Shapi and move Thommy to the right, Bartlett for Memo. I agree though, he’s not making any changes at halftime.
i don’t know soccer well enough to answer, nor will pretend to, but i’ve watched a bunch and here’s what i see this season: two skcs.
the first spends more time thinking about how to play than actually playing.
the second just plays—and lets the thinking catch up later
so i’d try to tell them to do the latter.
but vermes seems too much a plan the work, work the plan kind of guy.
there’s a saying about a plan and what happens to it when you meet an enemy, that might be relevant.
there used to be a third skc. the kind that gave up down a goal. i haven’t seen much of them yet these few games in, but our new players haven’t learned the system yet. zing!
How about something really crazy? Switch to a 3-5-2 to get more control in midfield and another attacker. Bring on a 3rd CB. Bring on Agada up top with Jolejvic. Bring Afrifa or Bambi on at left wing, move Thommy to midfield, Take Shapi and Memo off, bring Barlett in. If you can get away with it, try playing with 12 men for a while.
<sarcasm>
Sporting’s issue isn’t with midfield control in this match. It’s a total lack of ideas in the buildup. A 3-5-2 wouldn’t have us playing any more through the middle, but would likely funnel even more to the wings as the midfield would play on the wingbacks. It would just be cross after cross.
Believe me, I have been banging the “quit playing thru your weak wings and play diirect thru the middle” drum for a month. I was being sarcastic, knowing we would just see more of the same the second half.
We are not getting enough from the winger position. Too slow, too predictable, not enough combination play. I understand the monetary investment in Thommy and Shapi, but at some point, you have to throw more dynamic players in on the wings. Salloi played well last week and Afrifa led the team last year in successful take-ons. Either that or we need to bring someone in asap. Right now, the quality isn’t there.
Need a DP winger.
ASAP
Upside tonight: Miller looks ok tonight
Was just going to say that! He’s had some good moments and doesn’t look out of place.
Until he hacked down Ordaz for that set piece that led to goal 2. Woof.
Ndembe: There’s a concept known as “one touch.” When someone serves it on a dish for you, shoot it!
objectively
i think skc loses out, maybe gets a draw, until new england revs.
For the love of God, make some subs!!!!!!
You know you’re a diehard soccer fan when: You could be watching the NCAA Tournament, but you choose to endure another toothless effort from Vermes’ team, instead.
Eight corner kicks and I don’t remember one that was even remotely dangerous. Our set pieces are not good. When you have an attack that is as impotent as SKC, you need to find ways to score off those.
Nah. You know you’re a soccer fan when you have picture-in-picture and multiple devices.
signed a chick who was born and raised on Tobacco Road and knows who to keep an eye on during the tourney and other events.
eta: back duke or back off
You have a point. Do you ever remember seeing a first weekend that had so few exciting games, though? No buzzer-beaters or overtimes or humongous upsets. The whole weekend has been rather dull by NCAA Tournament standards. Even the marginal upsets seem almost predictable.
A quiet opening round means a bloodbath is coming….
imo 😇
i’m emotional
but here’s why i’m #vermesout
it’s an emotional reason.
if we had a new coach, and this game was exactly the same, i’d feel so much better about this game.
because a new coach would watch this and see, yeah, this isn’t it.
there’d be at least the glimmer of hope of change. vermes has made skc, and i’ve let myself, feel hopeless.
The response to you comment is progress. If you had posted that a year or two ago, there would be multiple replies about Open Cups and playoff appearances.
“we’re seeing the same thing againg from sporting kc…they could play 180 minutes and not break the spell.”
it’s a lot longer than 180.
If your manager is going to insist on playing down the wings and crossing, you need some actual skill at putting the ball on someone’s foot or head. SKC’s wings and midfielders need to spend an hour a day after practice trying to hit passes into trash bins or something. And it would help if you actually had at least two guys making runs when you cross it.
I really don’t understand why Mason Toye is coming in at winger over Stephen Afrifa. What has he ever shown at winger to bring him on there?
Has Afrifa played at all this year? I’ll be honest, I have not watched this team much this year so far.
Nope. He’s been presumably in the dog house.
Well. We should thank them. They are helping us develop the virtue of endurance.