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 – 5.5
None of the goals were his fault and he did come off his line quickly a couple of times when needed.
Graham Zusi – 4.5
Was roasted by Cade Cowell all night, but did have a rocket attempt on frame and was generally effective in attack.
Dany Rosero – 5.5
Picked up a lot of slack for Zusi with Cowell and looked comfortable on the ball. At times maybe a little too comfortable and rangy in his runs.
Robert Castellanos – 2.5
Got himself a red card and gave away a PK. Enough said.
Robert Voloder – 3.5
Cristian Espinoza has his number and ruthlessly exploited it all night. Also was slow to come back and help Castellanos with what would eventually lead to the PK. Add on top of that very little attacking contribution and I really hope we only see Voloder as a center-back going forward.
Remi Walter – 4.5
Was everywhere but did little to meaningfully advance the ball.
Felipe Hernandez – 5.5
Looked lively in the first half and did a great job pressing and forcing turnovers. Was disappointed to see him come off.
Erik Thommy – 5
Thommy had a decent game but still lacked the final ball which you really want to see from your attacking #8.
Johnny Russell – 4
Seemed off all night. Was not willing to track back defensively or really open up on the run. Maybe he is still nursing an injury? Or has father time claimed its next victim?
Alan Pulido – 3.5
Was struggling with the physicality of the game and his first touch was really letting him down.
Daniel Salloi – 4.5
Still not great from the Hungarian but gave him a slight bump up for the (in my opinion) missed penalty kick that he should have gotten called.
Subs
Andreu Fontas – 3.5
Looked lost in defense and could not keep up with the pace and dynamism of San Jose’s attack.
Willy Agada – 4
Put in a lot of effort but had very little to show for it. Missed an obvious pass to Zusi in the box and failed to get a shot off when he received a great ball at the top of the box.
Khiry Shelton – 3.5
Khiry is not a good player, and at some point, I have nothing else to say.
Marinos Tzionis – 4
Did not really have an impact. Was decent in possession but had no clue how to penetrate San Jose’s low block.
Cam Duke – 4
Showed some pace and was nice to have someone who could actually keep up with Cowell. On the other hand, he lost the ball a couple of times and generally looked suspect in 1v1 defending.
Coach
Peter Vermes – 3
I am just done. I don’t get why the only time Cam Duke can see the field is when the game is already lost. I don’t get why you start Zusi who you know will be mismatched against Cowell. I just don’t get any of it. Maybe none of this is fair to put at Peter’s feet but at some point, the manager and sporting director have to be the throat to choke when a team is playing as badly as SKC is.
Conclusion
This season is basically done eight games in and that really, really sucks. I am not sure what comes next or what to do about it, but it just feels bad.
Totally agree, but I think some of the ratings were a bit high. I do feel that most of the issues seem to come from the management and coaching. There is no life in the team and no comradery like they used to have. I blame Vermes (and the Owners) for most of this.
I don’t know who gets blamed if not Vermes. Everything in this organization has his fingerprints on it. The players are his. The staff are his appointees. And almost all of them are people associated with Vermes previously in some way.
Institutional Knowledge is great…when things go well. But when everything is stale? The institution doesn’t know how not to perpetuate itself.
Your comment about Shelton made me lol. I would have given Melia a 4.
There is no leadership right now. The team is going through the motions, but I don’t see anyone stepping up and being a leader. The whole team is lifeless. I watched the press conference with PV, and we all know how passionate he can get. Even he seems defeated at this point. When the coach shows no emotion, how do you expect the team to be passionate and rally together to improve? Even if you fire PV or anyone with staffing, how will that boost morale? How do you inject excitement for the game when the postseason is quickly slipping away?
Yeah, I was surprised Melia’s rating was that high. None of the goals were his fault. But you don’t escape scrutiny when you pick the ball out of the net 3 times unless you have as many worldie saves. And he didn’t.
As far as injecting morale with a new coach goes, statistically, New Manager Bounce is a thing. So in a real sense, the honeymoon a new coaching staff would bring might be the only thing that saves this season. Also, a new set of eyes and tactical ideas are probably what this team needs in both the short and long term. I would suggest the roster needs a clearout. Which isn’t going to happen until next season. People would get annoyed at some of the names I think need to move on. But better to let a player go a year too soon than a year too late, or four, in the case of Zusi and Espinoza.
I agree. I think there are only a couple names on the roster worth keeping. A lot of fan favorites need to go
The guys at home and away talked about this a couple of weeks ago as well. Worth a listen
Yep. There are a few guys I would be sad to see go (or at least would have before this season started, by now I’m close to no longer caring), but this group has not achieved anything in 6 seasons. Their ceiling is looking great for stretches of a season before getting humiliated at home in the playoffs. There is no winning culture or championship-level DNA on this team. It’s been in need of major changes the last 5 offseasons but the biggest moves have been to announce new contracts for the same old players (bring back Shelton from Germany! bring back Uri! Trade for Feilhaber!) and trading away the few academy products with promise. Finally, it sucks they spent big on Pulido and it didn’t work out, but the plan for all 4 years he’s been here is hope he can play or lose until he can play again.
I think they need to keep Zusi for many reasons. He would be a great back up or relief person. I do agree that he and Roger are in their twilight and should not be starters.
Definitely disagree. Their twilight was 5 years ago. I don’t understand how Vermes had no problem moving on from Besler, couldn’t wait to dump Sinovic, traded Opara and Sapong and Dwyer years ago, but Zusi and Espinoza are apparently on lifetime contracts. Along with Fontas, they’ve been at the core of a defense that has been torn apart year after year. Maybe 5 years from now a new coaching staff can bring them in if they’re interesting, but right now this team needs fixed at every spot.
I’m not opposed to Zusi being a backup. Outside of a few games, he’s been fine. I can appreciate what he brings to the team when he’s playing well. I wonder if that was the intention, but then Kayden Pierre was injured. It’s not realistic for him to start every game. I hope Cam Duke isn’t the permanent backup until Pierre can return.
At this point, it feels like PV should be planning for the team’s future. I’d be shocked if he were fired, and hell would have to freeze over for him to step down voluntarily. I think he needs to clean house and bring up some SKC II players. If our season is going to be bad, let’s find out what talent you have. Let the young guys play and build them up. I doubt that would happen though.
Johnny should be a bit higher. 4.5 or 5. Everyone else is too high. Zusi deserves a 0. Castellanos gets a 0. Thommy gets a 2.
This team sucked and played with no heart.
I think it was still not their worst performance of the year. But it is painful to watch and it is not at all clear to me how this team starts to look better
I’m just curious as to which game you thought was worse? My memory is admittedly not awesome so perhaps I don’t recall, but this was lifeless soccer. Even before the red card, SKC was meh. I don’t even have it in me to throw stuffed animals at the TV this season when SKC does something stupid. The apathy is real. Next game, I’m going to fire up funny animal vids on my phone because that will provide some level of entertainment.
A zero for Zusi?
I need to watch it again, but I specifically remember him dropping a couple dimes from deep. He hit the crossbar with a good effort from outside the box. I can’t recall what his culpability was on the opening goal, but I know the cross came from his side.
The red card screws everything up afterwards (and I don’t know if there are zeros, but that has to drop you to the lowest score).
In case you want some perspective, the previous coach that got fired for his poor performance, Curt Onalfo, started with an horrendous 3-2-3 in his first 8 games. His longest streak that year without a win was 4, and that was when he got fired. At least the Wizards were winning a few, 5-6-7, before they pulled the trigger. Now can someone remind me who the impatient Technical Director was back then?
LOL! That’s perfect! Ever since it happened, I’ve been thinking Vermes would never have offered himself that 5 year extension after last season. I mean, the guy released Gutierrez when he wouldn’t take a pay cut after an injury (and it was the right move). He’s ruthlessly pragmatic. Unless it’s him, I guess.
Good stat Steve.
And Bryan, I’m with you, he never gives someone a deal like this. Even guys he loves, like Zusi and Espinoza get one and two year deals.
Except for Shelton. Dude got 3 years with an optional 4th based on very, very bad soccer. Not that you needed to hear this…I just wanted to say it! 🙂
Touche, you got me there! That contract continues to baffle. If he’s making the league minimum come salary release day, then it’s borderline acceptable. Borderline!