Podcasts
Vermes calls out “shot stopping” and defense
Vermes didn’t name certain players, but he did point the finger at the defense and “shot stopping” after Sporting KC lost at Austin FC.
Peter Vermes will almost always backup his players. A few times over his tenure with Sporting KC, however, he’s let his frustration be known. And it’s meaningful when it does.
It’s often followed by a swift departure and a “mutually agreed to part ways” announcement. He won’t name names, but reference a specific play to make it clear with whom he is frustrated.
“I think that it was poor defending on our part on both goals. I also thought that we also could have done better just from a shot stopping perspective, especially the second one.” – Peter Vermes
After the 2-1 loss at Austin FC, Vermes mentioned the defense as a whole. But he also mentioned the shot stopping on the second goal. On this episode on Shades of Blue, we’re talking about Kendall McIntosh and if these comments mean a change is coming.
It should be noted Vermes did back up McIntosh later in the press conference when he pointed out many of the recent goals weren’t necessarily his fault. But will he make a change for The Big Bear, John Pulskamp? Or perhaps Sporting KC has changed their minds about the keeper of the future.
The media game was last week during the RSL game. Everyone survived without too many bruised egos. David gives us the analysis on everyone who played.
We dive into the draw with RSL, as well as the 2-1 loss at Austin FC on Saturday night. What went wrong? Where is SKC falling short?
We are already doing an offseason show with nine games left to play. Depressing, to say the least. But the fans are talking about a roster overhaul. Who on this roster is worth keeping around for a rebuild?
1st Segment – Media Game & RSL match
2nd Segment – Vermes Post-Game Audio from Austin FC
3rd Segment – Overhauling the roster
Find the KC Soccer Journal wherever you get your podcasts. Please subscribe, rate, & review! You can follow Cody @ThatCodyTho, Thad @TheBackpost, and Robert @SpKCLife.
Spotify | Apple
The Insane Ticket Costs of the World Cup in Kansas City
KC Current Acquires Marisa Jordan from Trade with NC Courage
What Model Should Women’s Teams Use?
What are Sporting KC’s Biggest Areas of Opportunity from Last Season?
Across State Lines: Smith Signs with NWSL Expansion Side Denver
Official: Sporting KC Trade for Goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland from Austin FC
KC World Cup News, SKC Rumors and KC Current Disappointments
What are Sporting KC’s Biggest Areas of Opportunity from Last Season?
KC Current Acquires Marisa Jordan from Trade with NC Courage
McIntosh could’ve done better on the 2nd goal. But the 2nd goal shouldn’t have even been a shot. The left side of defense went on walkabout. McIntosh also stuffed a 1v1 chance that would’ve ended the game. And saying he should’ve caught the ball on the 1st goal (as I’ve seen some suggest) is much. And I hate the trend of punching instead of catching. But from 3′ away, all you can do is parry.
He hasn’t been great. But he isn’t the problem. If the defense wasn’t a complete dumpster fire every. Single. Game. We wouldn’t be talking about him.
And who signed these defenders? #VermesOut
I still blame Bliss more than Vermes. Bliss is the head of scouting and technical director. He and his organization are actively finding guys. I’m sure Vermes has to sign off and I’m sure he does plenty of his own vetting before he does but there’s a huge difference between watching highlight packages or even a single match and actively scouting a guy and these are failures of scouting to me.
I’m still Vermes Out because he won’t fire Bliss and make big changes in the player personnel department like he should and because he won’t rotate players like his system requires but to me the person that found these guys is more to blame and I think we’ve seen enough evidence from 2021 untill now that when they have good enough players who will actually play like they care and do even the smallest amount of rotation the system itself can’t get great results. But still, we won’t get those players with Bliss’s scouting organization and we won’t get that rotation with Vermes managing the personnel in season.
Bliss is Vermes’ hire and reports to Vermes. If PV thought he was screwing things up, he could’ve shown him the door or sidelined him into a nothing job at any time.
He didn’t. So Vermes is 100% accountable. Nothing at Sporting happens that doesn’t have Vermes’ directives on it.
Bring back: Jake Davis, Willy Agada, maybe Pulido and Kinda if the deal is right. Walk: Duke, McIntosh, Walter, Ford, Castellanos, Rindov, Flores. Retire: Zusi, Espinoza, Russell, Fontas. Sell: Ndenbe. Find another way to move on from: Rosero.
Duke, McIntosh, and Castellanos will never be at MLS level. They’ve had enough time and they just don’t have it. Walter doesn’t bring enough to justify his price tag. Ford can’t stay healthy. Rindov and Flores won’t get the development they need here anyway so why bother? Ndenbe is actually worth something so might as well use the U22 initiative for what it’s for. Rosero is lazy and it’s too late in his career to fix that.
I’d make Davis my starting right back for the next 4 years with a new deal. I’d sign Pulido for like 2 more with an option for a third and sign Agada for a short one as well to see what I have. I’d keep Kinda until he retires and hope he wants to coach in the academy after that.
You can’t force Fontas to retire. He’s here for the next few years.
Aside from not being able to make guys retire, I have a few thoughts: Considering Liebold is older, keeping Ndenbe to allow him to work on his offensive game makes sense. I agree he’s had mental lapses (how many times is he worried about covering for Fontas), but Rosero is hardly lazy. He covers for his CB partner constantly, especially on transitions. If you think he’s too undisciplined that’s one thing, but I wouldn’t call him lazy. Side note: He’s also 5th on the team in goals. Walter is a fantastic 8 for our system, and I don’t think he’s overpaid considering his work rate, connecting ability, and progression skills. I think Ford is a great deal. Even given his current injury, he’s not making much (I want to say around 175k) and his floor is serviceable-to-good backup CB. I find it interesting you want to bring back Kinda, Pulido, and Agada (I do agree with bringing them back) who have all been hurt just as much or more than Ford and make much more money.
Agada is worth keeping just because you aren’t going to find a forward fitting Sporting’s style as well for less than he’s making. Even if he was mediocre, which I don’t think he is, when healthy.
You can’t force players to retire. And with the limited roster sizes and cap in MLS, you can’t shove players into the reserves and let them rot like you can in Europe. You can loan them out. But what USL team is going to pay full salary. Which means you still eat the cost.
Also, Walter is among the league leaders in ball recoveries. He’s one of the few decent signings in the current era.
Doing the needed squad clear out is going to take years, unfortunately. Just like it has with the Fire after Bliss wrecked them.
Is Cody ok? He was MIA last week and logic and priorities were all over the place this week. Agada is an absolute bargain for his production and performance, let alone his potential. And vermes rotated in an “ok” manner, but didn’t do it early enough in the first and second games. You have to rotate or you will run your squad into the ground.
We rotated our offense well, but not our defense. I wonder how much this played into our lapses, going 270+ minutes in 8 days, with 2 games in Texas. In July. Did this affect our ability to perform 100%? Likely.
Definitely keep Walter, Ford on reduced salary, pulido for the right price, Russell for reduced salary and play time, and davis. The problem is I have no idea about most of those players’ abilities and talent because they are injured or never see the pitch.
It is so hard to judge players on abilities when the spine is so consistently weak and collapsing. How many CBs have we had since 2018? Too many. You can’t form a spine without consistency, development or money. I think we won’t see a good spine without dedicating a dp spot to CB, and not as a one-off. Fontas is slow, but pre-injury he was much more able than he is now. In that regard you couldn’t have predicted the injury nor his limitations afterword. That does not in any way excuse his re-signing for extension.
I could say more, but PV out.
Agreed. I hope Cody is OK. Running your players with recent serious injury history into the ground out of spite that they likely aren’t coming back is a choice, I guess. As is walking away from a young, energetic, goal scorer on a bargain salary.
And I’m not understanding why people (not you, Murse) want to let Walter go. He’s among our most consistent players. Maybe not elite, but really solid.
Agree with you on Russell, and unfortunately, agree with you on Fonti. And I think the Fonti extension looks worse because Voloder has struggled to make that position his.
Maybe there’s some grand plan here but I’m not seeing it. All I see is a club that seems to be struggling on all fronts, from play to academy to game day experience.
Perhaps David in the Chat is right, maybe Benny’s the answer for them next year.
I came here to see how Cody’s takes are coming across too.
Agada is a steal on his salary. And if you can’t see why that’s true, and Zusi being hurt all the time at a non-premium position making $100kish more is not a good deal, then I think it’s disingenuous.
Also, I thought the rotation this week was solid, outside of the central defense and honestly, probably Remi. He looked tired. He talked about being tired after the last three game stretch when we had him in the locker room (having a newborn I’m sure isn’t helping). No reason Roger can come on and close some of these games out.
But to criticize Vermes for rotating when we usually criticize him for not, is odd. And Cody was immediately called out on it in defense of everyone else in the pod. I think Cody is usually pretty rational, but it came across very irrational.
Time permitting, I’ll try to put together something on the salaries, contract lengths, etc. (though it’s all readily out there in stories I’ve written in the past, but maybe updating exactly where things stand would be useful).
This comment read harsh when I re-look. I’ll say, I mostly agree with Cody A LOT of the time.
Just not the last 30 minutes of this pod. Give or take, I listened to half of it super early this morning, can’t really remember what was on that half… just a rumor of a nutmeg 🙂
So Cody really just seems upset and disappointed. Like his heart wasn’t in those arguments and perhaps his emotions were calling the shots. I do it too and then realize what a bad take it is. I sense the underlying frustration growing from each of you. It is hard to he Mr sunshine 24/7 when you are covering hot garbage.
At least SKC II are good?
I didn’t read your take has harsh, Chad. To me, Cody sounded like a guy who had a week and needed a little unfiltered venting.
I was thinking this yesterday. I suspect I speak for everyone when I say we really appreciate the whole KCSJ crew for keeping this corner of the internet alive and vibrant. Especially through several rollercoaster years. If anyone deserves a place to irrationally vent about the value of a contract.
And I’m open to the idea of a “tip jar” or Patreon if it will help.
In all fairness to Cody, he spent the week tied up in the trunk of a car and escaped just in time to record.
“This comment read harsh when I re-look.”
I think you, Murse, and Eric are probably safe in your fair and supported (even if very pointed) criticism of Cody’s opinions. Doesn’t look like you guys are going to get hung out to dry like I was after supporting you when you didn’t like his comments before.
Great to see you back, Kat! Or… apologies if you’ve been around and I missed it.
Thanks, but I don’t know if I’m really “back”. I probably shouldn’t have said anything, but the contrast between you guys being able to freely critique Cody’s* views in this post and what I went through back in May is truly striking. I made a blanket statement on public discourse in support of Chad—without ever commenting on anyone’s opinion or perspective—and still got reamed here and in emails/DMs.
*it could be anyone, of course.
Well, I hope you come back when you are ready. I think I missed the May issue, but I do remember the nasty misogyny further back. And I think it’s good to remind us so we self police.
Yeah, I’m definitely sorry that happened to you. I’ve taken a bit of a commenting break too. All the losing could really take it’s toll on me, but I’m trying to channel it into writing or podcasting, and then move on to the next game.
The comments are good sometimes, but I have a bit of a “completionist” problem where I feel like I need to read everything, or I can’t read anything. So, I’ve been back into this thread, and a couple others, and haven’t opened others at all. It is freeing up a bunch of time!
Thanks, Chad. I really appreciate you saying that. It was a really crappy experience.
Good to see your name here. I took a long commenting break for a while, especially after my own round of vicious treatment at the hands of another commenter, and just dipped my toe back in when the Felipe Gutierrez (re)signing broke.
Going back to The Blue Testament, that person has a history of trying to bait and/or get a rise out of people by making inflammatory comments and taking zero accountability. But, whatever they were trying to pull with you and others in that match thread was simply gross. I’m both sorry and mad about it; it was hateful and unnecessary.
I don’t know how much more I’ll be commenting. I’ve already received two r!!! threats since first commenting this morning after not getting any since June.
What the French, toast?
Someone out there found my personal info and has enjoyed letting me know how they feel about my comments on here for the past year or so.
Who is threatening you? That’s not ok. If they’re posting on here, I’d like to put a stop to it.
I have no idea who they are or how many there might be. I’ve mentioned this before, but whoever they are has been emailing and DMing me through dozens of burner accounts for well over a year now. The reason I think they post or lurk here (previously TBT) is because their messages nearly always reference my comments. Like how I have an “agenda” I’m forcing on people, am “attacking” someone, or “invading” KC. Then how they’ll “teach me a lesson”. It’s exhausting and unpleasant, but the only way it stopped was when I went quiet on here, and even then it took several weeks.
Oh Lord, Ked. I’m so sorry. I don’t blame you for being done.
Thanks, Eric 🙂
Ked, if you want to tell me privately I believe you follow me on IG and Twitter and my DMs are open.
I can obviously ban someone on here, I’m not sure what I can do outside of that but it’s obviously NOT OK.
I don’t understand the world. Why can’t we just be decent to each other? I disagree with people all the time. Sometimes very strongly. But to threaten someone is insane.
If I had a clue who they were I would have said something, but I truly don’t. The onslaught after what happened in May finally pushed me to go dark on here, but apparently two months wasn’t long enough :/
I don’t have the Twitter but if you DM your email address to Chad, I’ll get it from him and contact you about steps you can take. It’s harassment and is arguably a crime.
Is there anything I can do to help? I really love for you to comment and feel good about it.
Thanks, Thad. I don’t really think there’s anything to be done except either I stop posting or they run out of handles for me to block and report. But I never stopped reading, listening, or watching (I don’t know what I’m watching, this team may have finally broken my brain this season), so I’ll be around 🙂
It’s good to know you’re still lurking at least. I’ve been experimenting with disengaging from most comment-based internet experiences, and it’s been mostly good although like an addict I find myself being drawn back. I don’t know many people interested in soccer or SKC IRL so places like this are my only outlet, and something’s lost when I only experience the team in my head. But then I run afoul of someone being, well, foul, to me or someone else, and I cut ties for a while again. I think many things about the internet are increasingly broken from the promise we saw in the ’90s, but that’s a deeper discussion.
SKC and the Current (and referees) have tried to break all of us this year. That is part of sports… but I really wish there was a way I could help. Do let David know, he might be able to help.
Hey, sorry if I missed something. That’s not ok. I don’t always see replies on here as there are no notifications for me.
.
I feel like you are mastering a different set of dark arts…. trolling. I’m here for it.
Is this the “content” Cody’s always talking about? Are we making content here? Now I feel like a puppet.
I almost fell for your trap to defend Agada’s contract, but I’m glad I’m a horrible procrastinator and didn’t post so I wouldn’t fall for your tricks. I will not dance for you sir!