Sporting Kansas City played a physical and lively game against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night that still somehow ended in a 0-0 draw. There were many new names in the starting XI and I am curious to see how my thoughts match up with other observers. So without further ado lets rate the boys in blue.
My scale:
1 – Never Play Again. You shall be cursed to the fifth generation for your travesties.
…
5 – Your play was completely unoffensive. You are a cream wall in an office park building.
…
10 – You are the chosen one! They will forever sing of your aptitude! You are the most interesting man in the world!
Starting XI
Tim Melia – 8
Got off his line quickly to break things down and command his box. Also had a few spectacular saves and really kept SKC in this game. While I think I still slightly prefer Pulskamp getting games between the sticks, it’s hard to say he could have played to the same level as Timmy.
Graham Zusi – 5.5
Looked good going forward but a lot of the Union’s offensive moves came down his side.
Dany Rosero – 7
A very impressive first outing. Showed a good sense of when to step up into the passing lane and when to contain the attacker.
Robert Castellanos – 5.5
Gave away a few fouls but generally looked solid defensively. Had a nice ability to switch spots with Robert Voloder when defending the box a few times.
Robert Voloder – 5.5
Looked much more defensively solid than any outing by Ben Sweat this season but also lacked the ability to progress the ball and many of his passes went straight to Union players.
Nemanja Radoja – 6.5
Looked really good in his 30-minute start before coming off injured. The most striking thing was how good his field positioning was which made his ability to break up plays look effortless.
Remi Walter – 7
Was doing his typical thing by getting all over the field breaking up attacks and distributing the ball well with quick short passes. Was really liking his play at the 8 before being forced to once again take up the role of the 6 when Radoja came off.
Erik Thommy – 3.5
Thommy looked good in the first half before falling off a cliff in the second. Held up the ball far too long and his passing really lacked something on the counter. Was directly responsible for many of the attacking plays in the second half falling apart.
Johnny Russell – 4.5
Looked pretty good for his first start this season. He seemed like he was holding back a bit on the run but he combined well with his teammates and got a couple of nice shots off.
Willy Agada – 4
Lots of effort and still makes great runs but your starting center forward needs to get more than one shot off.
Daniel Salloi – 4.5
Was combining really well with his teammates and I liked him occasionally swapping sides but again you need your attackers to be testing the keeper and he was not.
Subs
Roger Espinoza – 3
Looked flat-footed all night. Not sure what Peter was thinking putting a slow older player into this game given the frenetic place it was being played at.
Alan Pulido – 5
I am not totally sure what to make of Pulido. He showed off a lovely control of the ball and nifty combination play but he was also never where I expected our number 9 to be. Maybe he should be played in the midfield?
Khiry Shelton – 2.5
Was immediately obvious when he came on that the attack could no longer really progress if he was involved. He was also ineffective at the things he is supposed to be good at which are pressing and interceptions. I don’t get why Peter still brings him in.
Coach
Peter Vermes – 4
Peter overhauled the starting lineup but still does not trust his young players which really showed in his subs. All of whom besides Pulido were a disaster. The only real positive was it was obvious that the work rate was high this week and the team fought for every ball.
Conclusion
A few bright spots on defense but overall, this team still looks clueless in attack. I was hoping Pulido and Johnny would change that and they still might, but that outing did not give me a ton of confidence. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
I actually think I mostly agree. Both Pulido and Russell showed skill but also age and/or not full conditioning. Seems reasonable to hope that improves over time. Melia was vintage. Rosero has me really excited. The rest of the back line was solid and I want to see more. PV’s subs cost us any chance at a better result without improving our ability to maintain the existing result.
I wouldn’t give Zusi anything above a 4.5 for this game
Curious to hear why? I went back and forth on how to rate him a lot
Paulido looked hesitant, which is to be expected for a guy who hasn’t played for almost 2 years. Shelton was told by JR before the switch to Play Smart and Be Strong. He did neither. We desperately need to move on from him and soon.
100% Agree. The amount of times he is allowed to fail and still get run out as compared to the young guys is stunning
Shelton offered nothing but turnovers. Again. There was no reason to replace Agada, who didn’t look tired and has been able to play 90mins so far.
I actually think Thommy is getting dinged for the collapse of the midfield around him. How is he supposed to function with Roger as his supposed 2nd 8? Walter playing further back is ok. But only if there are two midfielders capable of running in front of him. And even if we had peak Roger, that isn’t enough creativity from midfield.
Both Russell and Pulido looked rusty. Which was to be expected. But I was more disappointed in Salloi. To me I didn’t see anything meaningful moving the ball forward. If he doesn’t have a shot, he doesn’t play the ball to Agada. Who is living on Dwyer Island 2.0.
That is an interesting point about Thommy
I thought a couple of the ratings were a little unfair or deserve an Asterisk because the second half wind gave them no chance. You can’t attack into a wind like that. You become extremely one dimensional because you literally can’t go over the top so their defense can push higher because you can’t attack the space in behind and they can throw an extra player or two up because your ability to counter is taken away. It really pins you back and forces you to try to hold on for long periods of time.
I also think Melia was the right option because Pulskamp already struggles with crosses and balls into the box in ideal conditions. Also has occasional communication issues (I see him close up for half a game sitting down low behind goal) and now it’s three changes with two new CB’s.
Great point about the conditions and Pulskamp!
I will admit I don’t fully understand match ratings, but I’ll give a little from all the matches I play in FIFA (even if that game is a bit broken at times).
If you get a shutout, all the defenders tend to get a bump unless they have a bunch of turnovers in bad spots. I don’t recall the defenders doing that. So, I’d probably bump all the defenders a bit (because we’d definitely crap on them if they gave up a bunch of goals).
Thommy isn’t great, but that rating feels harsh. The rest feels about right.
Yeah for defenders I think I look for both defensive excellence (see Rosero’s score) and/or distributional excellence. I think all the other defenders really struggled in one of those two categories. Maybe a little bump up for Castellanos would be fair?
Castellanos actually had very safe, somewhat boring distribution. Sideways passes mostly. If you look at the passing map on MLSSoccer.com, it’s usually super thick lines all around the back as they move the ball side to side. Instead, he has really thin lines to Rosero and Voloder only. Literally no lines forward to any of the midfielders, attackers, or even backwards to Melia.
It was probably in the gameplan to limit any mistakes he could make. But it also doesn’t jump start the attack like someone with better distribution is capable of from that spot.
I’d push just a bit on pulido because he’s always dropped back to the mid to be part of the build up. And with Khiry giving you absolutely nothing, and Daniel not being effective I think he had to drop back to get touches more than we give him credit. He’s not where we want him to be, but the fact that he was back heeling and moving around the field is promising. I’d bump willy down a bit because he also had some really dumb mistakes with that yellow and then put him self quickly in a position to get another with a run through of whatever Philly player he was jarring with. He’s got to control his emotion better.
Shocking but I’d rate Peter lower. I think tactically it was a bit better, but the preplanned subs completely killed off whatever push forward they had. Pulido not so much, but Khiry on was the nail in the coffin. I don’t understand the fascination but I’ve said it before. The Roger move made zero sense. You’re still in a position to chase a goal, push forward . So you put in your 2nd slowest, most over the hill player on the squad. Peter says he doesn’t want Roger to play as much as he has, but continues to use him in the same exact way game after game. Zero sense
Good point on Willy being a little stupid with the yellow
My only thought with the Khiry sub was that Peter planned for him to do more of the running/pressing with Pulido maybe not being quite fit enough for that role in his first appearance back. Still would be more intrigued to see Pulido/Agada together and am also getting tired of the seemingly preplanned subs. Can’t wait to have Johnny & Alan both fully back (and Gadi, too).
And my defense of the pre-planned sub is Russell can’t go 90 in his first start.
The qualm I’ll agree on is, “why Khiry?” Use Duke perhaps? This is where Tzionis being away, and Pierre being hurt limited him with wing type players.
Wasn’t sure if you were kidding or not with Pulido being in midfield. I think they should try it. Pulido at 10 and Agada 9. I’d even sit Thommy for a game to see what it’d look like.
I can absolutely see this happening, particularly if they are chasing a goal.