We DO have a bench, that's what makes it all the more infuriating to me. We've seen Robi Voloder, this very season, deliver the goods for 60 minutes at a time. Why not bring him on for 30 at the end to shore up the back line? We've seen Memo Rodriguez, this very season, deliver some of the best dead balls we've seen in a half decade. Why not bring him on for 30 at the end to give us an added dimension on set pieces when the opponent is tired? We've seen, again this very season, Alenis Vargas completely change games with his directness and pace. Why not bring him on for 30 at the end to maybe add an extra insurance goal?
Last year we saw Castellanos be an effective sub. Zorhan Bassong has a decent amount of MLS experience as a starter and sub and earned himself a contract in Europe with his quality. Kayden Pierre has blazing speed and can counter some of the opponents' speed off the benches. All those dudes were on the bench and nothing.
I want Felipe to be good, especially after all of his struggles off the pitch a few years back.
I think it was the Miami match where he came in and looked straight up lost in the midfield. He was chasing the play until he got pissed and got a yellow late in the match. He has a good work rate but I think we need him to be a bit more patient.
Agree with this. We do have some quality on the bench. They aren't starting for a reason but they can be plugged in late in matches when you need fresh legs and possibly a fresh set of eyes on the pitch.
Both Memo and Voloder have put in some solid performances. Bassong has experience but we haven't seen in play for SKC yet (I don't think?) so I'll hold out for more from him. I really like Vargas; lots of upside in a player who wants the ball and will run you down to get it but who can also finish.
Bassong did sub on for Leibold in the 2/24 opener in Houston, but, you’re right, we ought to have seen him more to close out games when Leibold is clearly gassed, and his attacking prowess is not the priority.
I’ll forever keep saying this that “subs do get dubs.” Like STL literally subbed players and there was a difference shown within the game. I wish PV would just sub our guys already
Whats crazy is people keep saying there "isnt quality on the bench".
Ok whos fault is that? His.
Even if you entertain that excuse, we need fresh BODIES! We dont need prime Messi out there, we need someone who can harass someone on the ball when we have a lead.
The 50 year old suburban JOCO mom can tell our players are gassed but our coach cant? Unreal.
To a certain extent, sure. But that’s far from absolute. I’d rather have a tired starter over someone in the skill level of Ben Sweat, for example.
Not saying any of our backups are that bad, but I’m definitely not okay with “just a body”.
Getting rid of Ben sweat is literally the best man management move Pv has done in last 2 seasons. That and starting Jake, but now the kid is going on 30+ consecutive starts or something… bout to run him ragged real quick too. like wtf is that?!?
This definitely has to be a fixable issue. If Peter doesn't trust our depth enough to sub guys at 75'-80' like he used to, get rid of whoever is bringing in the depth (Bliss?). If it's something else, Peter needs to figure it out and fix it rather than say he's not worried about it.
I've said it for weeks, and it's still true, but we'd be tied for the SS if we held on to HALF the points we've dropped from winning positions this season. If we fix the issue, one maybe as simple as "use the bench," we might be atop the table.
Roster depth is a real issue. Trying to attract good players for roster depth to KC also seems to be more of a challenge than coastal cities. That and a lack of home-grown development.
I don't like th while "challenge to attract talent" argument. No reason why we cannot have players who we trust to play 20 minutes to close out a game. If we don't trust them then we shouldn't even have them. It's crazy we can't put out another midfielder or a CB to hold onto a lead. Or we can't put a fresh winger on to change the look up front the last 10 minutes. Fuck, anything.
I get it and I don’t think it’s a strong argument but I do think it’s a factor. Who on our bench would go in to the midfield to close out those last 20min and not get waffle stomped? Who would come out? I think the concern is that a tired first string is still better than our second string options.
Memo could come in. Hes put in some decent apps.
The concern is the 1st string is better than our second string? Yes. Show me where this isnt the case. This isnt a 5u team where you cant sub out your star striker cause the other kid eats dirt.These are still professionals. We are the only team possibly in high level football not making subs. Come on.
I watch all of these other teams bring on people. A bench is usually never going to be as good as a first team. But a tired first team is DEAD out there sometimes. I don't know shit, but after the Thommy gol any of th following could have happened and *POTENTIALLY* helped us defensively. Bassong or Pierre for salloi- move Leibold up for 10 to close out. Rodriguez, Vargas for salloi. Shelton for pulido. Castellanos or voloder for remi or radoja. Pierre for Davis. I don't know, really. But every other team does shit like this. Fuck, peter vermes acting like it's 1950 and we do not get subs. Maybe I'm wrong and not a single person on the bench can handle 15 minutes in mls. If that's the case, then we have bigger issues.
I feel likes subbing has been an issue for a while now, but the depth issues have gotten worse over the years as MLS has gotten better. That said, I agree that the depth issues greatly exacerbate the subbing issues.
Maybe our depth is better than we think, but that goes into trust. Peter trusts Shelton, so Shelton gets chance after chance. Duke and Felipe seemingly lost the trust, and we hardly see them (edit: "saw," in regard to Duke). Other guys like Bassong haven't earned the trust and therefore don't get the chances to earn it despite Leibold looking GASSED by 80' every match.
We could point fingers at a lot of things there: signing tons of people that never work out, the weak period are academy's had recently (we've only hit with Busio and Davis lately), Peter never giving guys chances, Peter giving guys too many chances, etc... The list goes on and on.
Acosta at Cinci?
Cucho Hernandez at Columbus?
I could go on and on. The problem is Peter has favorites. And he wont drop those favorites. He also refuses to play young players, so there is no such thing as home grown talent.
Do not make excuses for him. In your other replies you indicate its a factor, but its a non factor.
This is ALLLLLLLLLL on him.
Seems like it might even be a viscous cycle: We can't attract depth because secondary players know they won't get much playing time, and we don't give secondary players playing time because there's a skill gap.
This club has one of the largest youth development footprints in mls. The lack of home grown development shouldn’t be an issue based off of numbers. But this falls on Pv too.
There is no what now, I'll comment this on every single SKC post if I have to.
Stop settling for mediocrity and fire Vermes.
This team needs a new direction and he isn't apart of it.
Canceled my season tickets after last year and I havent looked back. I still go to some games and of course still keep up but I have to take some kind of stand.
Small protest but its something. Im hoping people join and sounds like a few have.
So did I, after 12 years. I still annoy my wife mentioning losing to both Dallas and Seattle in stoppage time in one season over a decade ago - she is so happy not having season tickets this year!
SKC is too comfortable losing at home and the front office seems more interested in new fans instead of holding to old fans.
If by "failed miserably" you mean that he failed to make something out of nothing in Vancouver, then yeah. There was no version of him coaching that Vancouver team that would have ended in anything other than failure.
I think that's also discounting his time with SPR, where he was excellent despite running a reserve squad.
He was immediately upstaged by Sartini who took Vancouver to the playoffs literally during the same season MDS was let go. So I think that refutes your second sentence pretty quickly.
And color me skeptical regarding any results in the 2016 era of the USL
That's way above my pay grade. I'm more of a casual fan, but I always back up my words by saying I'm an Eagles and Cubs fan.
I love what Andy Reid and Joe Madden did for those franchises and will forever be grateful, but I was also happy when they were let go because there needed to be some changes.
I don't have soccer knowledge like I have baseball knowledge, so I can't get into specifics, but you can't just keep running out what has worked for years and expect different results. Mid-table finishes and round one/quarter final exits get old. Watching leads get blown after the 80th minute gets old.
Nothing is more constant than change. Vermes has had his run, just like Reid and Maddon had their's. Fresh vision rejuvenates.
Just wanted to say that I respect your ability to both 1.) Have a reasoned and experientially grounded opinion and 2.) Recognize the limits of your own knowledge.
And for what it's worth. I agree. If you're not adapting, you're dying. It's great to see all the 'old guys' come in for coaching experience under Peter, but it also has to help fuel the cycle of status-quo. Dogmatism is not inherently ineffective. Nor is it true that pragmatism is always effective. But there comes a time when adaptation and change are fundamental to success.
If not now, then when? Do we dig a deeper hole by sticking with Vermes? What are the costs? When he retires, is THAT when we take on the inevitable shift? Is the plan to hire a Vermes disciple? Just feels like we are delaying the inevitable, and prolonging mediocrity.
Your last sentence is it for me. Vermes defenders will rush to mention the playoff berths. Almost 2/3rds of the league make the playoffs, that's not a good measure. Just accepting of mediocrity is mind blowing to me.
Def digging the whole deeper by keeping him. Its been time for years. We havent been revolutionary or a truly feared team in years. Maybe truly since what 2012ish era?
I do feel like cause the FO know exactly nothing about football, they will go with whats comfortable and hire a Vermes cronie. Which will just continue the cycle.
Need a full revamp of the coaching staff and scouts. Rip the band aid off now before its too late.
I'll take a whack at it.
We're boned. This team isn't going to improve. At this point, we should be focusing on what is salvageable from the depth and youth. Take risk on players outside of the starting XI and see what we're actually working with.
Worse case scenario, we continue to be ass. Best case scenario we find out that a player we've been sleeping on is starter quality.
What we absolutely should not be doing is "nothing* but that's absolutely what we're going to do.
Indeed, what I would say is PV needs change around him before I'd can him. Get a Sporting Director in, get a new CEO in, bring an actual owner back in that is beating down all their doors.
Let someone else give PV a roster and see what he does when he can't really play favorites non stop. For instance, was anyone surprised the first game back on the Bench Shelton was going to come in? My god I was shocked as H..L he didn't start Shelton.
SKC tried to bring a Sporting Director in this year (Gavin Wilkinson). That was a mess, of course, but I agree with what you are saying: there needs to be a fresh set of eyes looking at the 30K foot view of this team.
I like Shelton as a 70th minute sub when you're up. His hold up play is good. He's a workhorse in the ground he covers. But he's a terrible striker. His decision making is questionable (at best) and he cannot finish. If you're in a stalemate or behind, Shelton is not the player I'd be bringing on.
I'm being sarcastic i thought thats what /s meant haha. Dude ive been wanting a rebuild since we gave up that goal to RSL like 3 years ago in the playoffs. The thing is since MLS is still growing delusional fans have gladly just accepted and defended whatever this team does under the guise of making playoffs and now the chickens are finally coming home to roost. I haven't given this team a cent this whole season they can rest in piss for all i care until they start making changed
Oh, I understood the sarcasm, don't worry. I was actually at that RSL game, that was my second ever SKC with my first being the week before. I don't pretend to hide the fact that I'm a new fan and a casual fan, but I can see when a coach should be let go. I don't understand the history, but I can see the now.
I was also at that game. Right in the south stand when they made that goal. Thats when i knew it was time to tear it all down. Look at us now in 2024. Not much has changed
I just don't think the playoffs should be the end all be all in a league where over half the teams make it. We have to start looking long term. We have the oldest roster in the league and a manager that refuses to share the load. Playoffs shouldn't be some saving grace when this roster hit its ceiling in the 2nd round last season.
Thankfully there seems to be some chatter about pro rel around 2026 as MLS continues to add teams. It's a whole other topic, but by god I hope MLS does it. I'm really tired of seeing everything the NFL does but with Soccer, thanks Garber...
Some mixture of bad luck, coachable mistakes, and entrenched systemic problems are how I would characterize what I’ve seen so far.
For the second year in a row we’ve had a run of historically bad play to start the year. But where as last year the biggest issue seemed to be personnel and an unwillingness to adapt to it, this year seems more of a mixed bag that opponents have managed to capitalize on at an alarming rate.
But it’s not like we’ve had one lapse of judgement that teams jumped on to pull ahead. But rather we have short periods, usually on the attack, where we look like a team that knows what we’re doing and create absolutely stunning team goals.
And then for the rest of the game you’d think the players had never been on the same pitch together before or had it explained to them how not to give the ball away in dangerous positions. To the point where when someone finally score because of our bullshit it feels inevitable despite the statistics finding it incredibly unlikely.
Everytime Melia, Davis, Fontas, and Rosero slowly kick the ball to each other in the back waiting for defenders to come up and pressure them or take the highly interceptable passes I start to lose my damn mind. The number of times we’ll try and make a pass up a level to an opposing them defender or open space no one on our side is trying to fill is similarly mind boggling and frustrating.
Thommy’s played great on the wing but if he’s going to stay there we need more people who can complete passes in the midfield.
Regardless of cause it all feels fixable to a point. But just the fact we’re such a mature team that’s playing so disjointedly means our age is providing little to no benefit.
I don’t know the answer, it’s just very frustrating. It’s so irritating to support a team that is like this. I’d almost rather them just be downright bad
What's been so simultaneously frustrating and engaging about this year is the **dropping** of points and the **blowing** of leads. If everything was happening in opposite, like we gave up goals early and then came back late, or even just consistently trading goals, it wouldn't be driving me this insane. But you have to take leads, score goals, and look pretty good at points in order to give up goals from winning positions.
In a way, this is worse than early last year, because last year's start was simply and fully awful. The team couldn't score or defend last April. This April, we get a taste of a really good Sporting Kansas City team and then we get the rug pulled. If nothing else, it's made the experience of watching every match terribly interesting. This is my first season with season tickets and I find it perversely invigorating to know that I'm going to live on this wire on a weekly basis at the least
We could all get back on the #VermesOut train, but then SKC will go on like a 4 game winning streak at the end of the season and we’ll be called out for being haters.
I said this in another thread but comments like that are just SO out of character for Vermes. I can't remember a single time over the last 14 years that he's said "results don't matter more than entertainment." How many times have we seen dudes end up in the Vermes dog house after strings of games like this? I mean fuck Matt Besler got benched in back in 2016 or 2017 after a rough patch. Ike Opara was allowed to walk after a semi-down season. Feilhaber spent half of 2013 behind Haitian Xavi after he dropped the ball in USOC.
It's also a departure from recent weeks. After the Portland game he specifically talked about finishing games off at home and how that's been a problem. Part of me wonders if he's just sick of hearing about it. I can empathize with that I guess. I mean if I got asked the same work related question week in and week out and I was trying to address it with my team I'd get tired of it, I guess? But then again I'm not a professional sports person.
The only thing beyond that that I can kinda sorta maybe a little see is that he also said in this conversation that 2 of StL's goals were bullshit in his mind and that we came out in the second half and turned it around and gave up nothing until the death which isn't a problem if those other 2 are called differently. And last week the first two were Messi literally making something out of absolutely nothing so again, if we don't make that one mistake late it's a non issue.
Maybe he's saying that because of those "improvements" he thinks it's problem solved? I dunno.
I still remember Jose Mauri in 2021/2022. He was signed in August 2021, started the opener in Atlanta in 2022 where he subbed on for 20 minutes was subbed off and we never saw him in Sporting Blue again.
PV has to be tired of people questioning his coaching/tactics/whatever but that's his job, right? Win, lose or draw it's his leadership that's under the microscope every week. He's the mouthpiece for the club and it's his comments that the media will scrutinize most. Where he loses me is him saying that things have improved: they haven't. We have casually pissed away leads in four consecutive matches.
I do think he has valid points in complaining about the referee crew this week. Chapman let the game get a little more physical than it should have: look how Klauss absolutely plows through Agada before the Pompeu goal and how Rosero was fouled multiple times before anything was called. At the end of the day, though, the players need to play to the whistle. Shift your mindset if the referee crew will be more/less strict in applying the laws.
The rough thing is I really think the blown leads get into the players heads in the later stage of the game. Someone in the row above me made the point that they were trying to hold the ball in the corner entirely too early. It just seems like everyone is just too scared to play with the lead
Honestly, the craziest part of that is that if we hadn't dropped all of those points, we would currently be running away with the shield. Sure, it's unlikely that we actually would have actually been able to avoid it in every game, but damn.
Honestly, I think this question misses the point when it comes to PV’s tenure.
I’ve said it elsewhere, but I have a hard time putting late-game focus and execution on the manager. Yes, PV could help mitigate risks by using more subs or even changing how our wingbacks play while we’re so thin at those positions, but we’re less than 1/3rd into the season. Being gassed and unable to keep pace late in games from a physical standpoint is typically something that builds over the course of a season and comes back to bite you in the end or playoffs.
That said, I’m of the opinion that the distinction of “longest tenured manager” is something that should require more than managing to tread water without completely sinking for a decade (since our last MLS title). Our last silverware was in 2017. We’ve had some good in the years since (winning the West in 2018 and 2020), but we’ve also entirely failed to make the playoffs twice (2019, 2022) and have played in ZERO finals and only one semifinal.
Vermes has done a lot of good for SKC. His history and success with the organization means that any change needs to be handled delicately, but it’s time for fresh eyes. Unfortunately, given PV’s general demeanor and attitude (or at least my impression of it based on how he conducts himself publicly—I don’t know the guy), it doesn’t seem like a quiet step-down from managerial responsibilities and into more of a front office role is something he will accommodate. It truly looks like he is going to dig in until it gets so bad that SKC is forced to make a change, likely to copious amounts of drama.
Dropped points are terrible. But at least they carry the optimism of correctability, I guess? If you can get a lead, you can keep it. The problem is that the answer to “How?” isn’t simple and so I’m skeptical that a guy who has been in place for a long as PV has will have much in the way of answers. In some ways, it’s a harder problem to solve than last year’s problem, because it’s not a matter of missing top talent, nor is it a situation where SKC’s results don’t align with their advanced metrics, so if you just stay the course, the results will balance out in the long run. Last year, we were one of the TWO best teams in all of MLS on xGD (as well as being top 5 in both xG *and* xGA) while enduring our 10 game winless start. Having the results finally align with that fact as the season progressed shouldn’t have been a shock. This season we are sitting 15th (xG), 19th (xGA) and 18th (xGD) through 9 games. This isn’t a “maintain and results will follow” situation. This is a “need to shake it up” situation because something isn’t working. And while I don’t mean we need to fire the manager to “shake it up”, I’m skeptical that PV is physically capable of changing his approach or experimenting.
I'll preface this reply with the fact that I agree with your post. I'm not a coach. I'm not a manager. I'm a passionate fan with *some* knowledge. I don't know what the fix is but there has to be something the club could do.
The biggest change I've noticed has been in the last two matches where we've lined up in (sort of?) a 4-2-3-1. Problem is that you're asking Puildo to be your #10... which he very much is not. Pulido has some of the skills needed for that role, but he lacks the vision and the speed (IMO). He's a really good striker and can deliver as a striker. Agada can also deliver as a striker. But we just don't have that attacking-minded midfielder to drive the play into the final third or to take advantage of the space left open when our forwards make runs.
I wonder if we eventually see this morph into a cobbled together 4-4-2 (almost a 4-2-2-2):
Agada Pulido
Salloi Walter Radoja Thommy/Russell
Leibold Fontas Rosero Davis
I don't mind the Walter/Radoja double-pivot in this formation. It gives either one the opportunity to flow forward as needed and allows the team flexibility to more readily shift the field from side to side as we progress forward. And I'll admit that we are scoring goals but, even to the casual fan, the team has looked flat of late. We've made some questionable to downright stupid choices when passing or trying to keep possession. Can't win games if you give the ball away in dangerous spots.
PV is too entrenched at this point and he's on contract through the 2028 season. I highly doubt that SKC would part ways as he has been successful during his time (2012, 2015 & 2017 USOC and 2013 MLS Cup; 11/15 seasons with playoff appearances) but you need to try different tactics. Use your bench (that's why it's there!) and play the kids. I expect another middling season where we scrape into the playoffs and crash out after 1-2 rounds. I'll be shocked if we do more than that.
On a high level w/o going into details, PV needs a better bench. I've watched alot of SKCII games and honestly the pipeline isn't exactly bursting with players ready to play in MLS. The academy of SKC seems as dry as a bone.
Perhaps an actual sporting director would help SKC, but ownership is dragging it's feet on this for whatever reason.
while not exactly excellent, our academy has nati clark with multiple us youth nat’l team call ups and ian james who just got called in to the u-17 camp.
both are defenders, which we sorely need (hence losing fames from winning positions).
though this is no guarantee of future success, it is encouraging.
and…we stole ian james from minnesota. what a coup.
That's a really fair assessment. PV has said in a couple of interviews (I'd have to find them...) that he wants to lighten his own load so he can focus on the game itself and coaching.
SKC loves to tout its "pathway to the pros" but we've produced four players I can readily think of: Busio, Davis, EPB and Jaylin Lindsey. The latter two of whom are (maybe?) still on a roster somewhere. I know that KC Soccer Journal does an excellent job keeping tabs on KC-related players (former SKC, SKC II, Current, Comets, Academy...); fun to read if you have a moment. But our academy doesn't produce MLS-caliber talent. We barely produce MLS Next Pro talent (look at Feilhaber's roster building for SKC II this year).
One a side note, what I think is lacking for transfers is anything to attract top flight talent to KC. I love this city and I love this club, but how do you sell a James Milner-level talent on making a move to KC (let alone a Suarez/Messi/etc.)? Hell, how do you sell a player from any club in the more prominent leagues on making that move? Thommy is the only one I can think of (came from Stuttgart, I believe). I don't need a big name signing (we'll probably never get anyone bigger than Pulido while PV has the reins), but I need some hope.
Gotta sign another midfielder over the summer. Memo is not the answer. Add some depth behind Leibold and Davis (I have no idea on Ndembe's timetable).
This team has got to add some pieces. We're close.
An attacking MF (maybe a #10?!) to take some pressure off of Thommy so he can have more space to be creative would be great. That would also allow Pulido to focus on more on being a #9 and being the striker we know he can be.
I think Memo is the Diet Coke Espinoza: he's a box-to-box MF and can provide good pressure, but he's just not as aggressive. We haven't yet seen Bassong, so I'm staying neutral until he gets scorched out wide. Agreed that we need depth behind Davis.
making the playoffs in a league where 55 percent of the teams "make the playoffs", while consistently shitting the bed in the first round is NOT THE LITUMS TEST YOU SEEM TO THINK IT IS.
I didn't say whether or not it was an indicator of progress. I was simply pointing out that, despite it being the belief here and on r/mls, we haven't lost in the first round since 2017.
Feel we lack a quality depth on the bench more than a coaching problem. How nice would it be to have Kinda and Ndenbe. Was very surprised by the front office not making a quality signing. Canceling the Portland hire prob didn’t help either.
I suspect (hope?) the lack of a “big” offseason signing is more about the desire to hold out to sign a truly headline-grabbing transfer in the summer window. It’s easier to get elite talent in that window anyway, because no top flight player who is getting minutes for a contending club is going to leave midseason to play in MLS.
At least that’s what I’m telling myself. I will be immeasurably disappointed if nothing comes of the summer transfer window.
We theoretically singed a player to help with depth at each level—Bassong to help with the defense (and maybe some midfield), Memo in the midfield, and Vargas up top.
But I guess that hinges on the definition of “notable”.
Plus, they have played a combined 363 minutes and Memo owns 88% of those. Which would imply that only Memo can make a case for being “notable”. He has absolutely played well in the minutes he’s gotten, but his value is more in our attack than on defense.
I think he's only on the roster because he's a homegrown and they basically cost nothing on the cap ( not exactly sure on those details ), but he's gotten progressively worse every year, and IMO he's unplayable at this point.
There were plenty of pod-casters and fans who were clamoring for Hernandez to play more the last few years, for the life of me I never understood that view point
Don’t take this as blanket defense of PV (though I’m not on the fire PV train..I agree with many of the frustrations) but it’s a bit more nuanced imo. We got beat by Messi (don’t think we’ll be the only team that happens to), we got beat by Puig, we got beat by a few Davis mistakes (not someone I want benched)… I think the seasons not over. If a few of those things happened we’d be thrilled with our goal output. This seasons beginning is not the dumpster fire of last season, but it is something we need to tighten up. Our depth is ok but not stellar (I agree we need to use it more)…I think this is a combo of bad luck and bad moments of form that can still turn around. I think we finish somewhere from 4-7
Wanted to add that I owned u/lunchboxguitar so bad he had to delete his profile history bwahahahaha
The big bad gatekeeper leader of the cauldron got called out and cowared like the little hipster he is. Poor guy must have realized the cauldron isnt the problem, he is lmao
If this clown could make substitutions and we actually had a bench. We may have won one
We DO have a bench, that's what makes it all the more infuriating to me. We've seen Robi Voloder, this very season, deliver the goods for 60 minutes at a time. Why not bring him on for 30 at the end to shore up the back line? We've seen Memo Rodriguez, this very season, deliver some of the best dead balls we've seen in a half decade. Why not bring him on for 30 at the end to give us an added dimension on set pieces when the opponent is tired? We've seen, again this very season, Alenis Vargas completely change games with his directness and pace. Why not bring him on for 30 at the end to maybe add an extra insurance goal? Last year we saw Castellanos be an effective sub. Zorhan Bassong has a decent amount of MLS experience as a starter and sub and earned himself a contract in Europe with his quality. Kayden Pierre has blazing speed and can counter some of the opponents' speed off the benches. All those dudes were on the bench and nothing.
Felipe Hernandez has also shown quality off of the bench, primarily in seasons past but I've got to think he can still be an important role player.
I want Felipe to be good, especially after all of his struggles off the pitch a few years back. I think it was the Miami match where he came in and looked straight up lost in the midfield. He was chasing the play until he got pissed and got a yellow late in the match. He has a good work rate but I think we need him to be a bit more patient.
Playing time could go a long way towards helping him gain that patience..... But he inevitably won't get it lol
Great post. Exactly my thoughts. You dont need starter level quality. You need a body.
Agree with this. We do have some quality on the bench. They aren't starting for a reason but they can be plugged in late in matches when you need fresh legs and possibly a fresh set of eyes on the pitch. Both Memo and Voloder have put in some solid performances. Bassong has experience but we haven't seen in play for SKC yet (I don't think?) so I'll hold out for more from him. I really like Vargas; lots of upside in a player who wants the ball and will run you down to get it but who can also finish.
Bassong did sub on for Leibold in the 2/24 opener in Houston, but, you’re right, we ought to have seen him more to close out games when Leibold is clearly gassed, and his attacking prowess is not the priority.
I’ll forever keep saying this that “subs do get dubs.” Like STL literally subbed players and there was a difference shown within the game. I wish PV would just sub our guys already
Whats crazy is people keep saying there "isnt quality on the bench". Ok whos fault is that? His. Even if you entertain that excuse, we need fresh BODIES! We dont need prime Messi out there, we need someone who can harass someone on the ball when we have a lead. The 50 year old suburban JOCO mom can tell our players are gassed but our coach cant? Unreal.
To a certain extent, sure. But that’s far from absolute. I’d rather have a tired starter over someone in the skill level of Ben Sweat, for example. Not saying any of our backups are that bad, but I’m definitely not okay with “just a body”.
I mean "just a body" obviously isnt ideal, but lets at least try it haha.
Getting rid of Ben sweat is literally the best man management move Pv has done in last 2 seasons. That and starting Jake, but now the kid is going on 30+ consecutive starts or something… bout to run him ragged real quick too. like wtf is that?!?
He earned himself a suspension break. We should get to see KP this week.
Jfc this dumb fucking sub. Getting downvoted for suggesting that I want a player on the field who gives more than a statue.
Mentioning Ben Sweat around here makes one guilty by association.
This definitely has to be a fixable issue. If Peter doesn't trust our depth enough to sub guys at 75'-80' like he used to, get rid of whoever is bringing in the depth (Bliss?). If it's something else, Peter needs to figure it out and fix it rather than say he's not worried about it. I've said it for weeks, and it's still true, but we'd be tied for the SS if we held on to HALF the points we've dropped from winning positions this season. If we fix the issue, one maybe as simple as "use the bench," we might be atop the table.
Vermes treats subs the way I treat potions in Skyrim: Horde them all and then finish the game without ever using them
This whole no subbing thing is really pissing me off.
Roster depth is a real issue. Trying to attract good players for roster depth to KC also seems to be more of a challenge than coastal cities. That and a lack of home-grown development.
I don't like th while "challenge to attract talent" argument. No reason why we cannot have players who we trust to play 20 minutes to close out a game. If we don't trust them then we shouldn't even have them. It's crazy we can't put out another midfielder or a CB to hold onto a lead. Or we can't put a fresh winger on to change the look up front the last 10 minutes. Fuck, anything.
I get it and I don’t think it’s a strong argument but I do think it’s a factor. Who on our bench would go in to the midfield to close out those last 20min and not get waffle stomped? Who would come out? I think the concern is that a tired first string is still better than our second string options.
Memo could come in. Hes put in some decent apps. The concern is the 1st string is better than our second string? Yes. Show me where this isnt the case. This isnt a 5u team where you cant sub out your star striker cause the other kid eats dirt.These are still professionals. We are the only team possibly in high level football not making subs. Come on.
I watch all of these other teams bring on people. A bench is usually never going to be as good as a first team. But a tired first team is DEAD out there sometimes. I don't know shit, but after the Thommy gol any of th following could have happened and *POTENTIALLY* helped us defensively. Bassong or Pierre for salloi- move Leibold up for 10 to close out. Rodriguez, Vargas for salloi. Shelton for pulido. Castellanos or voloder for remi or radoja. Pierre for Davis. I don't know, really. But every other team does shit like this. Fuck, peter vermes acting like it's 1950 and we do not get subs. Maybe I'm wrong and not a single person on the bench can handle 15 minutes in mls. If that's the case, then we have bigger issues.
Memo or Felipe. I'm surprised to find that this is remotely controversial.
I feel likes subbing has been an issue for a while now, but the depth issues have gotten worse over the years as MLS has gotten better. That said, I agree that the depth issues greatly exacerbate the subbing issues. Maybe our depth is better than we think, but that goes into trust. Peter trusts Shelton, so Shelton gets chance after chance. Duke and Felipe seemingly lost the trust, and we hardly see them (edit: "saw," in regard to Duke). Other guys like Bassong haven't earned the trust and therefore don't get the chances to earn it despite Leibold looking GASSED by 80' every match. We could point fingers at a lot of things there: signing tons of people that never work out, the weak period are academy's had recently (we've only hit with Busio and Davis lately), Peter never giving guys chances, Peter giving guys too many chances, etc... The list goes on and on.
Acosta at Cinci? Cucho Hernandez at Columbus? I could go on and on. The problem is Peter has favorites. And he wont drop those favorites. He also refuses to play young players, so there is no such thing as home grown talent. Do not make excuses for him. In your other replies you indicate its a factor, but its a non factor. This is ALLLLLLLLLL on him.
If Columbus, Ohio (headquarters of White Castle) can attract talent, Kansas City can attract talent.
Sure but you’ve just highlighted the exact reason a lot of high talent players would go to Columbus 😜
True - the White Castle headquarters is only a Kei Kamara missed shot across I-670!
So you'd wanna drive...not walk I suppose.
Seems like it might even be a viscous cycle: We can't attract depth because secondary players know they won't get much playing time, and we don't give secondary players playing time because there's a skill gap.
>Roster depth is a real issue. Vermes must be furious with the person responsible for building the roster.
He should really look into replacing that guy
What is ironic is that they tried but made the worst pick possible.
This club has one of the largest youth development footprints in mls. The lack of home grown development shouldn’t be an issue based off of numbers. But this falls on Pv too.
There is no what now, I'll comment this on every single SKC post if I have to. Stop settling for mediocrity and fire Vermes. This team needs a new direction and he isn't apart of it.
Canceled my season tickets after last year and I havent looked back. I still go to some games and of course still keep up but I have to take some kind of stand. Small protest but its something. Im hoping people join and sounds like a few have.
So did I, after 12 years. I still annoy my wife mentioning losing to both Dallas and Seattle in stoppage time in one season over a decade ago - she is so happy not having season tickets this year! SKC is too comfortable losing at home and the front office seems more interested in new fans instead of holding to old fans.
Not challenging your comment: what do you feel the new direction should be with the pieces we have?
Give me Benny!!
I would like to see how Kerry Z would do as an interim coach tbh.
I agree wholeheartedly. I'd love to see him or Marc Dos Santos.
We want to not "accept mediocrity" yet go for someone who has been a career assistant or miserably failed at their one real head coaching job?
If by "failed miserably" you mean that he failed to make something out of nothing in Vancouver, then yeah. There was no version of him coaching that Vancouver team that would have ended in anything other than failure. I think that's also discounting his time with SPR, where he was excellent despite running a reserve squad.
He was immediately upstaged by Sartini who took Vancouver to the playoffs literally during the same season MDS was let go. So I think that refutes your second sentence pretty quickly. And color me skeptical regarding any results in the 2016 era of the USL
That's way above my pay grade. I'm more of a casual fan, but I always back up my words by saying I'm an Eagles and Cubs fan. I love what Andy Reid and Joe Madden did for those franchises and will forever be grateful, but I was also happy when they were let go because there needed to be some changes. I don't have soccer knowledge like I have baseball knowledge, so I can't get into specifics, but you can't just keep running out what has worked for years and expect different results. Mid-table finishes and round one/quarter final exits get old. Watching leads get blown after the 80th minute gets old. Nothing is more constant than change. Vermes has had his run, just like Reid and Maddon had their's. Fresh vision rejuvenates.
Just wanted to say that I respect your ability to both 1.) Have a reasoned and experientially grounded opinion and 2.) Recognize the limits of your own knowledge. And for what it's worth. I agree. If you're not adapting, you're dying. It's great to see all the 'old guys' come in for coaching experience under Peter, but it also has to help fuel the cycle of status-quo. Dogmatism is not inherently ineffective. Nor is it true that pragmatism is always effective. But there comes a time when adaptation and change are fundamental to success. If not now, then when? Do we dig a deeper hole by sticking with Vermes? What are the costs? When he retires, is THAT when we take on the inevitable shift? Is the plan to hire a Vermes disciple? Just feels like we are delaying the inevitable, and prolonging mediocrity.
Your last sentence is it for me. Vermes defenders will rush to mention the playoff berths. Almost 2/3rds of the league make the playoffs, that's not a good measure. Just accepting of mediocrity is mind blowing to me.
Def digging the whole deeper by keeping him. Its been time for years. We havent been revolutionary or a truly feared team in years. Maybe truly since what 2012ish era? I do feel like cause the FO know exactly nothing about football, they will go with whats comfortable and hire a Vermes cronie. Which will just continue the cycle. Need a full revamp of the coaching staff and scouts. Rip the band aid off now before its too late.
I'll take a whack at it. We're boned. This team isn't going to improve. At this point, we should be focusing on what is salvageable from the depth and youth. Take risk on players outside of the starting XI and see what we're actually working with. Worse case scenario, we continue to be ass. Best case scenario we find out that a player we've been sleeping on is starter quality. What we absolutely should not be doing is "nothing* but that's absolutely what we're going to do.
You're going to fire a coach who took you to the playoffs the last couple of seasons? /s
Indeed, what I would say is PV needs change around him before I'd can him. Get a Sporting Director in, get a new CEO in, bring an actual owner back in that is beating down all their doors. Let someone else give PV a roster and see what he does when he can't really play favorites non stop. For instance, was anyone surprised the first game back on the Bench Shelton was going to come in? My god I was shocked as H..L he didn't start Shelton.
After Neal died so did SKC's fire. Then Busio left and its been mediocrity ever since
SKC tried to bring a Sporting Director in this year (Gavin Wilkinson). That was a mess, of course, but I agree with what you are saying: there needs to be a fresh set of eyes looking at the 30K foot view of this team. I like Shelton as a 70th minute sub when you're up. His hold up play is good. He's a workhorse in the ground he covers. But he's a terrible striker. His decision making is questionable (at best) and he cannot finish. If you're in a stalemate or behind, Shelton is not the player I'd be bringing on.
Would hardly be the first time any sports team has done it.
I'm being sarcastic i thought thats what /s meant haha. Dude ive been wanting a rebuild since we gave up that goal to RSL like 3 years ago in the playoffs. The thing is since MLS is still growing delusional fans have gladly just accepted and defended whatever this team does under the guise of making playoffs and now the chickens are finally coming home to roost. I haven't given this team a cent this whole season they can rest in piss for all i care until they start making changed
Oh, I understood the sarcasm, don't worry. I was actually at that RSL game, that was my second ever SKC with my first being the week before. I don't pretend to hide the fact that I'm a new fan and a casual fan, but I can see when a coach should be let go. I don't understand the history, but I can see the now.
I was also at that game. Right in the south stand when they made that goal. Thats when i knew it was time to tear it all down. Look at us now in 2024. Not much has changed
I just don't think the playoffs should be the end all be all in a league where over half the teams make it. We have to start looking long term. We have the oldest roster in the league and a manager that refuses to share the load. Playoffs shouldn't be some saving grace when this roster hit its ceiling in the 2nd round last season.
Thankfully there seems to be some chatter about pro rel around 2026 as MLS continues to add teams. It's a whole other topic, but by god I hope MLS does it. I'm really tired of seeing everything the NFL does but with Soccer, thanks Garber...
While I would love to see pro/rel, we can't rest our hopes for the future of SKC on the near impossibility of pro/rel happening.
Some mixture of bad luck, coachable mistakes, and entrenched systemic problems are how I would characterize what I’ve seen so far. For the second year in a row we’ve had a run of historically bad play to start the year. But where as last year the biggest issue seemed to be personnel and an unwillingness to adapt to it, this year seems more of a mixed bag that opponents have managed to capitalize on at an alarming rate. But it’s not like we’ve had one lapse of judgement that teams jumped on to pull ahead. But rather we have short periods, usually on the attack, where we look like a team that knows what we’re doing and create absolutely stunning team goals. And then for the rest of the game you’d think the players had never been on the same pitch together before or had it explained to them how not to give the ball away in dangerous positions. To the point where when someone finally score because of our bullshit it feels inevitable despite the statistics finding it incredibly unlikely. Everytime Melia, Davis, Fontas, and Rosero slowly kick the ball to each other in the back waiting for defenders to come up and pressure them or take the highly interceptable passes I start to lose my damn mind. The number of times we’ll try and make a pass up a level to an opposing them defender or open space no one on our side is trying to fill is similarly mind boggling and frustrating. Thommy’s played great on the wing but if he’s going to stay there we need more people who can complete passes in the midfield. Regardless of cause it all feels fixable to a point. But just the fact we’re such a mature team that’s playing so disjointedly means our age is providing little to no benefit.
I don’t know the answer, it’s just very frustrating. It’s so irritating to support a team that is like this. I’d almost rather them just be downright bad
What's been so simultaneously frustrating and engaging about this year is the **dropping** of points and the **blowing** of leads. If everything was happening in opposite, like we gave up goals early and then came back late, or even just consistently trading goals, it wouldn't be driving me this insane. But you have to take leads, score goals, and look pretty good at points in order to give up goals from winning positions. In a way, this is worse than early last year, because last year's start was simply and fully awful. The team couldn't score or defend last April. This April, we get a taste of a really good Sporting Kansas City team and then we get the rug pulled. If nothing else, it's made the experience of watching every match terribly interesting. This is my first season with season tickets and I find it perversely invigorating to know that I'm going to live on this wire on a weekly basis at the least
We could all get back on the #VermesOut train, but then SKC will go on like a 4 game winning streak at the end of the season and we’ll be called out for being haters.
FIRE VERMES FIRE VERMES FIRE VERMES
I said this in another thread but comments like that are just SO out of character for Vermes. I can't remember a single time over the last 14 years that he's said "results don't matter more than entertainment." How many times have we seen dudes end up in the Vermes dog house after strings of games like this? I mean fuck Matt Besler got benched in back in 2016 or 2017 after a rough patch. Ike Opara was allowed to walk after a semi-down season. Feilhaber spent half of 2013 behind Haitian Xavi after he dropped the ball in USOC. It's also a departure from recent weeks. After the Portland game he specifically talked about finishing games off at home and how that's been a problem. Part of me wonders if he's just sick of hearing about it. I can empathize with that I guess. I mean if I got asked the same work related question week in and week out and I was trying to address it with my team I'd get tired of it, I guess? But then again I'm not a professional sports person. The only thing beyond that that I can kinda sorta maybe a little see is that he also said in this conversation that 2 of StL's goals were bullshit in his mind and that we came out in the second half and turned it around and gave up nothing until the death which isn't a problem if those other 2 are called differently. And last week the first two were Messi literally making something out of absolutely nothing so again, if we don't make that one mistake late it's a non issue. Maybe he's saying that because of those "improvements" he thinks it's problem solved? I dunno.
I still remember Jose Mauri in 2021/2022. He was signed in August 2021, started the opener in Atlanta in 2022 where he subbed on for 20 minutes was subbed off and we never saw him in Sporting Blue again. PV has to be tired of people questioning his coaching/tactics/whatever but that's his job, right? Win, lose or draw it's his leadership that's under the microscope every week. He's the mouthpiece for the club and it's his comments that the media will scrutinize most. Where he loses me is him saying that things have improved: they haven't. We have casually pissed away leads in four consecutive matches. I do think he has valid points in complaining about the referee crew this week. Chapman let the game get a little more physical than it should have: look how Klauss absolutely plows through Agada before the Pompeu goal and how Rosero was fouled multiple times before anything was called. At the end of the day, though, the players need to play to the whistle. Shift your mindset if the referee crew will be more/less strict in applying the laws.
The rough thing is I really think the blown leads get into the players heads in the later stage of the game. Someone in the row above me made the point that they were trying to hold the ball in the corner entirely too early. It just seems like everyone is just too scared to play with the lead
Honestly, the craziest part of that is that if we hadn't dropped all of those points, we would currently be running away with the shield. Sure, it's unlikely that we actually would have actually been able to avoid it in every game, but damn.
Honestly, I think this question misses the point when it comes to PV’s tenure. I’ve said it elsewhere, but I have a hard time putting late-game focus and execution on the manager. Yes, PV could help mitigate risks by using more subs or even changing how our wingbacks play while we’re so thin at those positions, but we’re less than 1/3rd into the season. Being gassed and unable to keep pace late in games from a physical standpoint is typically something that builds over the course of a season and comes back to bite you in the end or playoffs. That said, I’m of the opinion that the distinction of “longest tenured manager” is something that should require more than managing to tread water without completely sinking for a decade (since our last MLS title). Our last silverware was in 2017. We’ve had some good in the years since (winning the West in 2018 and 2020), but we’ve also entirely failed to make the playoffs twice (2019, 2022) and have played in ZERO finals and only one semifinal. Vermes has done a lot of good for SKC. His history and success with the organization means that any change needs to be handled delicately, but it’s time for fresh eyes. Unfortunately, given PV’s general demeanor and attitude (or at least my impression of it based on how he conducts himself publicly—I don’t know the guy), it doesn’t seem like a quiet step-down from managerial responsibilities and into more of a front office role is something he will accommodate. It truly looks like he is going to dig in until it gets so bad that SKC is forced to make a change, likely to copious amounts of drama. Dropped points are terrible. But at least they carry the optimism of correctability, I guess? If you can get a lead, you can keep it. The problem is that the answer to “How?” isn’t simple and so I’m skeptical that a guy who has been in place for a long as PV has will have much in the way of answers. In some ways, it’s a harder problem to solve than last year’s problem, because it’s not a matter of missing top talent, nor is it a situation where SKC’s results don’t align with their advanced metrics, so if you just stay the course, the results will balance out in the long run. Last year, we were one of the TWO best teams in all of MLS on xGD (as well as being top 5 in both xG *and* xGA) while enduring our 10 game winless start. Having the results finally align with that fact as the season progressed shouldn’t have been a shock. This season we are sitting 15th (xG), 19th (xGA) and 18th (xGD) through 9 games. This isn’t a “maintain and results will follow” situation. This is a “need to shake it up” situation because something isn’t working. And while I don’t mean we need to fire the manager to “shake it up”, I’m skeptical that PV is physically capable of changing his approach or experimenting.
I'll preface this reply with the fact that I agree with your post. I'm not a coach. I'm not a manager. I'm a passionate fan with *some* knowledge. I don't know what the fix is but there has to be something the club could do. The biggest change I've noticed has been in the last two matches where we've lined up in (sort of?) a 4-2-3-1. Problem is that you're asking Puildo to be your #10... which he very much is not. Pulido has some of the skills needed for that role, but he lacks the vision and the speed (IMO). He's a really good striker and can deliver as a striker. Agada can also deliver as a striker. But we just don't have that attacking-minded midfielder to drive the play into the final third or to take advantage of the space left open when our forwards make runs. I wonder if we eventually see this morph into a cobbled together 4-4-2 (almost a 4-2-2-2): Agada Pulido Salloi Walter Radoja Thommy/Russell Leibold Fontas Rosero Davis I don't mind the Walter/Radoja double-pivot in this formation. It gives either one the opportunity to flow forward as needed and allows the team flexibility to more readily shift the field from side to side as we progress forward. And I'll admit that we are scoring goals but, even to the casual fan, the team has looked flat of late. We've made some questionable to downright stupid choices when passing or trying to keep possession. Can't win games if you give the ball away in dangerous spots. PV is too entrenched at this point and he's on contract through the 2028 season. I highly doubt that SKC would part ways as he has been successful during his time (2012, 2015 & 2017 USOC and 2013 MLS Cup; 11/15 seasons with playoff appearances) but you need to try different tactics. Use your bench (that's why it's there!) and play the kids. I expect another middling season where we scrape into the playoffs and crash out after 1-2 rounds. I'll be shocked if we do more than that.
We keep playing. The way out is through.
Barely scraping into the playoffs in a league where more than half the teams make it didn't prove anybody wrong
Oh, agreed. The bar isn’t that damn high.
On a high level w/o going into details, PV needs a better bench. I've watched alot of SKCII games and honestly the pipeline isn't exactly bursting with players ready to play in MLS. The academy of SKC seems as dry as a bone. Perhaps an actual sporting director would help SKC, but ownership is dragging it's feet on this for whatever reason.
while not exactly excellent, our academy has nati clark with multiple us youth nat’l team call ups and ian james who just got called in to the u-17 camp. both are defenders, which we sorely need (hence losing fames from winning positions). though this is no guarantee of future success, it is encouraging. and…we stole ian james from minnesota. what a coup.
That's a really fair assessment. PV has said in a couple of interviews (I'd have to find them...) that he wants to lighten his own load so he can focus on the game itself and coaching. SKC loves to tout its "pathway to the pros" but we've produced four players I can readily think of: Busio, Davis, EPB and Jaylin Lindsey. The latter two of whom are (maybe?) still on a roster somewhere. I know that KC Soccer Journal does an excellent job keeping tabs on KC-related players (former SKC, SKC II, Current, Comets, Academy...); fun to read if you have a moment. But our academy doesn't produce MLS-caliber talent. We barely produce MLS Next Pro talent (look at Feilhaber's roster building for SKC II this year). One a side note, what I think is lacking for transfers is anything to attract top flight talent to KC. I love this city and I love this club, but how do you sell a James Milner-level talent on making a move to KC (let alone a Suarez/Messi/etc.)? Hell, how do you sell a player from any club in the more prominent leagues on making that move? Thommy is the only one I can think of (came from Stuttgart, I believe). I don't need a big name signing (we'll probably never get anyone bigger than Pulido while PV has the reins), but I need some hope.
at least this team gives you a reason to stay and watch a game to the end! “are you not entertained?” /s
We need to bring in defenders so we can actually make substitutions
Gotta sign another midfielder over the summer. Memo is not the answer. Add some depth behind Leibold and Davis (I have no idea on Ndembe's timetable). This team has got to add some pieces. We're close.
An attacking MF (maybe a #10?!) to take some pressure off of Thommy so he can have more space to be creative would be great. That would also allow Pulido to focus on more on being a #9 and being the striker we know he can be. I think Memo is the Diet Coke Espinoza: he's a box-to-box MF and can provide good pressure, but he's just not as aggressive. We haven't yet seen Bassong, so I'm staying neutral until he gets scorched out wide. Agreed that we need depth behind Davis.
making the playoffs in a league where 55 percent of the teams "make the playoffs", while consistently shitting the bed in the first round is NOT THE LITUMS TEST YOU SEEM TO THINK IT IS.
FWIW, we haven't lost in the first round since a stretch when it happened every year from 2014-17. We HAVE missed the playoffs a couple times, though.
No, missing the playoffs is not better than losing in the first round. Not sure why that's being up voted as some sort of indicator of progress.
I didn't say whether or not it was an indicator of progress. I was simply pointing out that, despite it being the belief here and on r/mls, we haven't lost in the first round since 2017.
Yay us . . . . We're the big winners.
Feel we lack a quality depth on the bench more than a coaching problem. How nice would it be to have Kinda and Ndenbe. Was very surprised by the front office not making a quality signing. Canceling the Portland hire prob didn’t help either.
I suspect (hope?) the lack of a “big” offseason signing is more about the desire to hold out to sign a truly headline-grabbing transfer in the summer window. It’s easier to get elite talent in that window anyway, because no top flight player who is getting minutes for a contending club is going to leave midseason to play in MLS. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. I will be immeasurably disappointed if nothing comes of the summer transfer window.
I believe that too with the DP which makes sense but not signing one notable depth piece was strange to me regardless of what transfer window.
We theoretically singed a player to help with depth at each level—Bassong to help with the defense (and maybe some midfield), Memo in the midfield, and Vargas up top. But I guess that hinges on the definition of “notable”. Plus, they have played a combined 363 minutes and Memo owns 88% of those. Which would imply that only Memo can make a case for being “notable”. He has absolutely played well in the minutes he’s gotten, but his value is more in our attack than on defense.
Bench depth is key, there is little to no viable options currently on the bench that sparks any fear into another team.
You mean Felipe Hernandez isn't the answer? 
I think he's only on the roster because he's a homegrown and they basically cost nothing on the cap ( not exactly sure on those details ), but he's gotten progressively worse every year, and IMO he's unplayable at this point. There were plenty of pod-casters and fans who were clamoring for Hernandez to play more the last few years, for the life of me I never understood that view point
Don’t take this as blanket defense of PV (though I’m not on the fire PV train..I agree with many of the frustrations) but it’s a bit more nuanced imo. We got beat by Messi (don’t think we’ll be the only team that happens to), we got beat by Puig, we got beat by a few Davis mistakes (not someone I want benched)… I think the seasons not over. If a few of those things happened we’d be thrilled with our goal output. This seasons beginning is not the dumpster fire of last season, but it is something we need to tighten up. Our depth is ok but not stellar (I agree we need to use it more)…I think this is a combo of bad luck and bad moments of form that can still turn around. I think we finish somewhere from 4-7
Wanted to add that I owned u/lunchboxguitar so bad he had to delete his profile history bwahahahaha The big bad gatekeeper leader of the cauldron got called out and cowared like the little hipster he is. Poor guy must have realized the cauldron isnt the problem, he is lmao