Sporting KC
Sporting KC falls 2-1 in Austin
Defensive mistakes lead to a pair of early goals
Sporting Kansas City fell on the road at Austin FC 2-1 Saturday night. A three-minute lapse early in the first half led to Sporting KC dropping all three points on the road. Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes managed the third game in a week by leaving captain Johnny Russell, Alan Pulido, and Tim Leibold on the bench as changes from the last match. The game plan was to manage the first half, keep it level, and bring on the extra offense in the second half. Unfortunately, Sporting KC was having to chase the game when those subs entered the match.
It did not take long for Austin FC to take the lead Jon Gallagher crossed the ball into forward Gyasi Zardes. Austin’s number nine flicked the ball on goal from close range. Sporting KC keeper Kendall McIntosh made the initial save but deflected right back to Zardes. The veteran Zardes did not miss on the second chance when he volleyed into the back of the net in the 17th minute.
Our No. 9️⃣ gets the party started! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/X1N4w7YVJW
— Austin FC (@AustinFC) July 16, 2023
Less than two minutes later, Austin doubled the lead when the Sporting KC defense broke down. Austin chipped a ball into the SKC box over the efforts of Dany Rosero and Andreu Fontas. Logan Ndenbe was the only defender in the box. The ball bounced to Ethan Finlay who one-timed it on goal and past a diving McIntosh in the 19th minute.
.@AustinFC doubles their lead in under 3 minutes❗️ pic.twitter.com/xbiWD9Tjw7
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 16, 2023
Austin continued to look good but the tide slowly turned after their second goal. The visitors earned a corner and made the most of the opportunity. Daniel Salloi took the corner and sent the ball across to the goal to a crashing Rosero. The Sporting KC defender unleashed a strong header that powered through Austin keeper Brad Stuver.
BIG HEADER from Dany Rosero cuts the deficit in half. Game on 💪
Watch #ATXvSKC free on @AppleTV 👉 https://t.co/QlHGFl2A5m pic.twitter.com/8T6ToFGgqh
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) July 16, 2023
At half-time, Vermes brought on Russell and Pulido for Marinos Tzionis and Stephen Afrifa. Gadi Kinda came in for Erik Thommy in the 57th, recently re-signed Felip Gutierrez was brought on when Nemanja Radoja picked up a knock in the 66th and Tim Leibold relieved Salloi in the 81st. The Sporting KC veterans were unable to notch an additional goal to steal a point on the road.
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Not specific to this game, but does anyone else agree that
1. Salloi is very meh? I want and expect him to do more, but he’s consistently just kind of meh. Taking too many touches here and there, aimlessly going to the end line, trying g the same switchover over and over again and then losi g the ball, etc.
2. Russell is nowhere near what he was, like, he’s taken a huge drop off. I’d still rather have him on the team as opposed to not, but he’s not the game-changer he was, he’s slower, and very predictable. He’s still a solid player with skill though, but his play is definitely nowhere near what it was.
Yes, 100% on both.
I think Salloi is streaky — he has some great stretches and then a lot of quiet. It’s too bad they have no one to push him.
For Russell, I wonder how much his injury has affected his poor form. He looked great the first half against RSL, though. At this point, a timeshare with Tzionis seems best.
It feels we need a complete rebuild at this point.. We all love Johnny but eventually time catches up. Pulido is probably gone. Outside of Thommy/Kinda our midfield is meh and even they are inconsistent. Our center backs are about as good as KC Currents. The only hope I have for the future roster is Jake Davis and maybe Salloi but he has definitely regressed compared to 2 years ago.
Russell is a shell of what he was before the injury. He doesn’t have the explosiveness to slalom between defenders like he used to. Or the pace to round a defender. And I don’t think that’s something that will come back.
As for Salloi, he’s a wide striker. He’s never been particularly pacey, skilled as a dribbler, or a great passer. He’s just fast enough, just big enough, to be a handful for a fullback 1v1. But he’s not a good match-up on a center back. So his value to the team is his knack for goals. When his shooting boots are on, that’s a good thing. But when he’s not finding goals, he’s not tying up center backs like a central scoring threat would.
Russell became predictable and easy to defend. Age and injury have added to that issue.
Salloi is 2nd on the team in goals and leads the team in assists. If he’s meh, what is everyone else?
I don’t think comparing to others as well as previous years is the best example. Thommy has more assists, just is missing the goals. I would hazard that if given minutes on left wing comparable to salloi, tzionis would have similar production. And right now, the only comparable players with meaningful time are Shelton and Russell. Tzionis is off that list because he didn’t get much play time with other core players.
Thommy and salloi both have 4 assists. Thommy’s xA is 2.4. He’s overperforming on assists which means his teammates are picking him up. Salloi has a xA of 4.9. He’s underperforming by nearly a full assist. He’s putting in good balls. He also leads the team in xA. 2nd in xG.
Thommy has also underperformed on his xG. 4.4 xG. 3 goals scored.
Thommy has 6 assists this season per the app.
At least one of those was against Tulsa in the us open cup.
I’m using FBRef in MLS competition.
The app has salloi with 5/5. I’m not counting stats against Tulsa.
Outside of Pulido, Salloi’s the best offensive player on an abysmal attacking team. We all know his limitations (if he could head the ball, he’d had at least 3 more goals this year).
Charging at the end line and trying to cross from an impossibly tight angle is a team-wide problem and must be something that’s coached. Gerso was the first one I noticed doing it, and it actually worked occasionally his first year, but now it’s all the attackers try to do.
Russell’s unfortunately at the end of the road. He was dynamic for 2-3 years, but between age, injuries, overuse, the entire team getting worse, and every defender in the league knowing his moves, it’s no longer effective. That’s the trouble with signing guys in their late 20s – there’s a short window to win a title, and SKC’s missed it big time by now. If we had any trustworthy, quality depth, Russell could be a force playing 30-45 minutes, but that won’t happen with PV.
6 goals given up in 3 games. haha. A shame SKC didn’t win the first two as this result would obviously be more palatable.
I haven’t watched as much lately due to work and my band being busy, but I have caught highlights and watched in the dark this weekend (I was one of the lucky people who didn’t get power until yesterday evening after the storm Friday) on my phone. Purely on this game alone, I still don’t understand why Gutierrez was the move to fill our open spot. I get that we already made a move for rosero, I get that Pierre and Zusi are still on this team. I still think the move to make was a capable defender. Fontas is a liability. Whatever he gives you as a passer does not outweigh the garbage he gives you as a defender. Jake has done ok covering, but a right back that can give you more than adequate would help out and could of gotten a leg up in the offseason. Pierre is the future, and Zusi along with a bunch of others need to be this offseason. Getting a capable veteran that can hold the fort down and not be almost 40 would help. But instead we bring another guy at the end of his career in a position that seemed to have more depth than the rest of the areas on this team. I get it can be possible this is just a rental for the rest of the season, I just think that there could of been better uses for a “rental”.
I liked afrifa. He’s not pushing to be a starter currently, but you can see the makings that he can be great once he puts it all together. I just worry that based on our track record with young guys, he won’t realize it here. I also didn’t understand all the rotations and McIntosh still starts. I almost feel for John at this point.