Sporting KC
Agada to have Surgery and Dom Dwyer is on Trial
Breaking news out of Sporting KC training today has some bad injury news coupled with a potential immediate replacement.
No sooner does our weekly injury and availability update come out before more news breaks around Sporting Kansas City‘s unending injury woes. It started with the news that Dom Dwyer is on trial with the team.
A familiar face in #SportingKC training today: Dom Dwyer.
— Daniel Sperry (@sperrydaniel94) April 20, 2023
It seemed like a puzzling move knowing that Sporting KC just got back Alan Pulido, and Willy Agada lit the league on fire at the end of 2022. Then Managing Editor of the KC Soccer Journal Thad Bell dropped the news that Agada has a stress fracture that is going to require surgery and will be out “a while” per manager and sporting director Peter Vermes.
It looks like Agada will have surgery for an existing stress fracture on his tibia. Will be out for "a while" according to PV. #sportingkc
— Thad (@TheBackpost) April 20, 2023
Does it Have to be Dwyer?
So, why Dom Dwyer and not someone else? There are likely a multitude of reasons. The team may not have much financial flexibility. Despite Sporting KC’s transparency compared to chunks of the league, it’s still very gray how much extra General Allocation Money (GAM) they may have in their coffers from trades and transfers.
Another reason is the primary transfer window is closing on Monday, April 24th and there simply isn’t time to make a move internationally, so teams are forced to look domestically. Trades can still happen around Major League Soccer, or teams can sign domestic players that are out of contract. Here is where Dwyer comes in.
Dom Dwyer is a familiar face. He’s also second all-time in scoring in Sporting KC history behind Preki. However, he hasn’t been anywhere near that form in recent seasons. Last year he made 22 appearances (five starts) for Atlanta United. He did score four goals in just 605 minutes, a marked improvement over the prior years.
Before that he spent one season with Toronto FC, where they literally paid FC Dallas to trade for him (then they promptly bought out his contract and released him). Prior to that, he spent three seasons with Orlando City. The first of which was very successful (13 goals across 25 starts) before injuries slowed him so much that he only played 124 minutes in his final season and didn’t score at all.
Is this a good move? We’ll definitely spend a lot of time on that in the coming weeks. And at this point, he hasn’t been signed yet. It may not happen, but if I’m a betting man I’m saying it will. But as Mike Kuhn wrote in a fantastic story, you can’t always come home again.
Ike Opara Departs SKC II and the Team has Just Six Players
Sporting KC signs Cielo Tschantret as a Homegrown Player
Vlatko Andonovski steps away from coaching to focus on Global Sporting Director
Jereko Signs Permanent Deal with HB Køge
Opinion: The “Winter” MLS Schedule is the Right Move
Hailie Mace Says Goodbye to Kansas City and the Current
MLS Schedule and Apple TV changes
Vlatko Andonovski steps away from coaching to focus on Global Sporting Director
Opinion: The “Winter” MLS Schedule is the Right Move
The amount of injuries to this team is incredible.
That is all
Maybe he’s been humbled a bit since he’s been metaphorically beaten down since his previous stint. But I just think it opens a can of worms bringing him back. I also wonder what this does for pulido’s renewal. I saw there had been talks but nothing of note since that news, I wonder if it’s more likely pulido comes back since based on how injuries track with this team, willy is more than likely done for the season.
This is honestly my ONE near/non-negotiable with Sporting. Seriously. The only one.
See I wasn’t actively following the team when dom was on the roster, I was a casual fan. But from what I remember there was talk he wasn’t a great dude to be around…..
But man…..if only we had drafted a 3rd option 9 in the super draft this offseason that could of stepped in so we didn’t have to use the roster spot we freed up from a old leftback that we didn’t need to sign in an old striker………….oh wait…….he’s still in college because we didn’t ask what his plan was
Dom coming back is non-negotiable in a good or bad way? Like, you want him back? Or it’s a deal breaker him coming back?
Deal-breaker.
Monty Python’s “Bring out yer dead” skit comes to mind.
… I can’t.
If there’s a silver lining……it’s that at least Peter knew not to go ahead with Khiry as the backup 9 option. Come on guys, be positive for once
Who says that’s the reasoning?
Someone who said that sarcastically
I know, I was just doubling down.
Haven’t we been positive / told to be positive for ~months / ~years, as we await players coming back? This team is a mess.
Does anyone know the rules around promoting people from MLS Next Pro to MLS? Pau Vidal has been solid, feels like he deserves a look more than an aging has-been. I don’t see any reason that’s different than taking a flyer on someone like Dwyer who has clearly been declining for years.
This is a good shout. I’m not 100% certain how this would work. Did they pay a fee for Vidal? The press release doesn’t say. Barring that, I wouldn’t think it’d be an issue unless they are paying him a bunch (MLSNP has no real salary rules).
I would think he’d occupy an international spot, which would be KC’s last one (they traded on to LAFC and one to Columbus and are using the other five).
I could’ve swore I read something last year that there were rules around promoting guys from the second team designed to prevent teams from using MLSNP as a mechanism to skirt allocation rules and discovery processes and transfer fees and whatnot but I can’t find anything about it now. But it’s a good point about the international slot, and maybe it’s just not a good idea in general to sign a guy who has played single digit games in MLSNP to an MLS deal because if it doesn’t work out and he has to go back down you’re still out that roster slot and that cap hit on the senior team unless you release him and hope he’ll sign with the second team again. In that way Dwyer is safer. If he sucks just release him and take the hit without losing a prospect who might just have needed more time.
That’s what I thought. The few games I’ve watched in snippets, it’s been raving about pau. If it’s a depth temporary move, I don’t get why this wouldn’t have been the move to make…..I thought that’s what skc 2 was supposed to be for anyway
Cynically this feels like yet another clueless, out-of-touch-with-fanbase move by marketing-driven management. Hey, fans are grumpy! You know what’ll make them happy? Bring back an old team legend! Everyone knows nostalgia sells! Everyone loves having Zusi and Roger around! Have some more bread while Rome burns! There’s no possible other player in North America we could find that could play this position!
Is Dom an old team legend? I guess myself and everyone in my very small social sphere we were relatively indifferent to Dom even when he had his great year. He’s just not a guy that resonates with me. But then again, I tend to be very clueless about what and why most people in the world think.
I think it’s more the era he played in that makes him a part of Sporting history. Dom and Benny and Ike were big personalities. They had Soony and Sal, who everyone liked even though they weren’t stars on the field. And that doesn’t even cover Zeus, Roger, Seth, and Bees. Plus Dom has that great story of going to Orlando on loan and coming back to take the job from the DP Bieler. The current team just doesn’t have that, so I think everyone from that era is remembered with some level of fondness. Heck, I still love Jordy Quintilla! “Jake, I take!”
Yes, this is what I meant. Legend by association. As in, “hey, that’s a name casual fans will remember, let’s sign that guy!”
Dont you dare besmirch Jordi Qunintillas name! 🙂 He is still one of the people that I am most sad that we dropped. Feels like he was a rising star then Peter gave him the shaft
I weirdly held on to Quintilla forever too. I think it was an early part of my ‘hardcore’ nature around the team. I got attached for some reason.
“Jake, I go!”
(s) I think we should go after Conradinho. He still organizes pickup games whenever he comes back to town, so he’s probably no rustier than DD. He would likely be a free transfer. You wouldn’t have to hire a chef for his driver’s cat like the last YUGE name we went after. (/s)
So I actually looked it up and, according to transfermarkt at least, the answer is that there are 5 guys in North America with pro experience who are without a team right now who play striker. Beni Redzic, who was with FCDallas before an injury, but he’s primarily a winger. Dantoume Toure who was with the Rapids (loaned to their MLSNP team) before he got waived but he’s also primarily been a winger. Tosaint Ricketts who was with Vancouver last year before he retired (he’s 35). Tesho Akindele who was with Orlando last year before he retired. And Dom Dwyer.
I’m sure transfermarkt isn’t inclusive of literally everybody but it is crowdsourced so if none of the 39 million users know about a guy he’s probably not worth knowing about.
They can definitely still trade with teams who have players though, and I’d definitely prefer to get someone other than Dwyer, but trades take time and with Pulido’s recovery time isn’t really something they have unless we want Shelton playing CF again
I do not even really know how to vocalize all the problems I see with bringing Dom back. But I will try to list them:
I would want Pulido’s backup to be a younger player that could grow into his replacementDom has not been great (by that I mean he has been bad)He is a “PV Guy”, which is a bad thing because it means he will be played into the ground rather than letting a young player get a shotDom is injury prone, and older… so how long do you think before his legs spontaneously explode from being on the SKC teamPurely my preference but Dom always played kind of dirty and I don’t really like to see someone in Sporting Blue play that way
I guess PV lost Wilson Harris’s phone number.
lol yep
Or Wilson blocked PV’s #.
They’d likely have to pay a fee to Louisville to get him back. Which would complicate things too.
It would also amount to an admission Vermes made a mistake.
Don’t see that happening in any universe I can conceive.
#WeDeserveBetter
That Afrifa draft pick finishing up college must really not be high Vermes’ list. And why wouldn’t you just pluck Vidal up from SKCII like A&W and other have suggested.
I’m not as big a Harris’ fan as some seem to be. He was, and apparently remains, an impressive USL poacher. And maybe we could use that now with our general horseshoe-around-the-box-shoot-from-25-and-hope-something-bangs-in offensive approach… Eh, maybe I just talked myself into Harris over Dwyer.
I was thinking about Afrifa as well, but if the need is immediate then he can’t be the guy yet. Maybe Dwyer gets a short term deal with an easy out clause and Afrifa still signs in a month or so when he’s done with school?
I don’t understand why SKC wouldn’t go get someone like Juan Agudelo. He’s currently playing in the USL and had a good season last year. I wrote a piece a couple years ago about how he was a good free agent depth piece for SKC because he has a similar playing style as Alan Pulido. Agudelo is playing right now, and Dom Dwyer hasn’t played since October and when he was playing he wasn’t very good. Not to say Agudelo would light the world on fire, but he would be a good depth piece and he’s been playing so he’s fit right now. He just wouldn’t be free.
“I don’t understand why SKC wouldn’t go get someone like Juan Agudelo” – because that isn’t what the organization likes, cause it involves even a hint of critical thinking.
If we sign him, this goes back to what I’ve been saying about the organization and the rush to sign Vermes to a 5 YEAR extension after the worst season in a long time. They want to go with what’s safe, even if safe means old and not evolving to fit the current landscape. The organization has the same mindset of Vermes where “we won xyz 10 years ago” means that they just have to keep doing that and it’s bound to work again”; it’s feels like there’s a purposeful ignorance to the fact that the league has changed dramatically and there are a lot of internal issues that need to be fixed. They don’t want to address the need to revamp their whole approach to everything from the ground up, and think the fans are going to forget everything because “Hey, look at this guy we’re bringing back from when we were good in MLS 1.0”.
Don’t forget: “it’s all about perspective” – Jake Reid (that comment is my cornerstone for hating so much about the organization right now)
Agudelo is under contract. Most teams, even in lower divisions, don’t let guys walk in the middle of the season without some kind of compensation. Is paying a fee, or letting someone of value to the team go in a swap, better for a half a season guy than bringing in a warm body who put 4 goals up in 400 minutes for an MLS team last year? The thing that bugs me the most out of this whole thing isn’t even about Dwyer, it’s about how in the hell we have ANOTHER guy with an preventable injury that could’ve been avoided if they’d been smart earlier. They knew Pulido wouldn’t be able to go and that Afrifa was finishing up school. Why the heck wouldn’t you sign someone in the offseason when the market was more saturated?
I think the key statement there is “he is currently playing in USL and had a good season last year.” That team likely wouldn’t part with him for nothing and negotiations take time when other teams are involved. Is paying a transfer fee for a lower division guy really a better option than signing a league minimum free agent?
You couldn’t write a more Vermes / SKC headline. I love it.
Oh wait, no I don’t. Fire the dude. The more I think about it, the more I dislike it. My mood is tempered, however, by how funny this all is.
Good grief, I thought we already hit rock bottom… Where’s the bottom of this thing?
We’re going under…grab the scuba gear!
I’m not surprised by Dom Dwyer. It makes sense in the sense that PV needs someone who knows the system and can jump in fairly quickly. Luckily for Dwyer the system hasn’t changed since 2017. While most would look to their second team, PV pulled out his Rolodex (I think he uses one) and Dom is more than available. I will give Dwyer credit he’s always working out and he had four goals last year. We don’t even have four goals as a team this season. Do I think this makes any sense? No. Do I understand why PV called him up? Also, no but yes.
I feel bad for SKC II players. It has to be a realization you won’t make it to the first team easily. What is the point of having SKC Ii if you don’t bring players up?
Also, don’t get me started on Jordi Quintilla, one of my fav players for SKC. I still follow him on Instagram. I’d take him back! I think the nostalgia for those years is strong. It could be those were my early seasons of fandom, but the players were full of personality and passion. We are lacking that now.
I would say the system is actually much different. Dom was the end of the high press, quick fouls and ugly soccer. After he left, they tried much harder to possess the ball and build out of the back.
Quintilla isn’t anything special though. He’s done a whole lot of nothing since leaving. Plays for the 5th best team in the Swiss league (out of 10 teams).
Jake i go is an iconic moment but he wasn’t ever able to get out of first gear.
This would’ve been a perfect headline 20 days ago…
Although I’d much rather have Kei Kamara or CJ Sapong back before him,, Dom won a cup here. He’s a butthead but maybe, just maybe, he can be taught to shoot with his eyes open.
If The Onion wrote about MLS, I would have thought this was one of their articles from the title…I just can’t believe the unreal amount of unluckiness we have had with these new guys and their injuries. I liked Dwyer when he was with the team, but I know others have much stronger opinions about him. If this season is a bust, then why bring him back when we could potentially just try out a bunch of young guys? It’s not quite time to throw in the towel, but at some point the team will have to start evaluating who should stay from the current roster (which shouldn’t be a lot of them) and who we can pull from internally so then we have a solid idea of what we’ll need in the off season. Clearly we had no idea this past year and it’s coming to bite us in the butt once again. I am now 0% sad to miss the game tomorrow.
Don’t bring back Dom. Play the kids at this point. Dom brings nothing to this team.