Episode 98 - Where do we go from here?

Sporting Kansas City went down to Austin this weekend and lost their 4th straight game and pushed their winless streak in league play to 7, but at least the effort was good.  Peter Vermes made promises to sacrifice quality for effort where necessary but the only lineup changes were swapping backup defenders for other backup defenders. While we can perhaps agree that in general the players were trying harder than the last match, they still have multiple weaknesses that cause them to ship goals in a very frustrating manner, something that seems counterintuitive given the ideology of the coach and the consideration that effort and mentality were significant problems. Thankfully, we did get a bit of a palate cleanser last night in KC with Sporting putting in a pretty comprehensive beat down of FC Tulsa in the US Open Cup round of 16.  There were significant performances from players we do not regularly see, and Vermes did not hesitate to ensure that regular starters came in and pulled a shift at the end of the game when he certainly could have rested them with a view to the trip to Portland on Saturday. Elsewhere in the soccer universe, MLSPA salaries are official and man did they become a topic of discussion, NWSL loves stoppage time, SKC gets linked to a Venezuelan midfielder you’ve never heard of, and both the Men’s and Women’s national teams post rosters for their last friendlies prior to a major tournament. Sporting Kansas City went down to Austin this weekend and lost their 4th straight game and pushed their winless streak in league play to 7, but at least the effort was good.  Peter Vermes made promises to sacrifice quality for effort where necessary but the only lineup changes were swapping backup defenders for other backup defenders. While we can perhaps agree that in general the players were trying harder than the last match, they still have multiple weaknesses that cause them to ship goals in a very frustrating manner, something that seems counterintuitive given the ideology of the coach and the consideration that effort and mentality were significant problems. Thankfully, we did get a bit of a palate cleanser last night in KC with Sporting putting in a pretty comprehensive beat down of FC Tulsa in the US Open Cup round of 16.  There were significant performances from players we do not regularly see, and Vermes did not hesitate to ensure that regular starters came in and pulled a shift at the end of the game when he certainly could have rested them with a view to the trip to Portland on Saturday. Elsewhere in the soccer universe, MLSPA salaries are official and man did they become a topic of discussion, NWSL loves stoppage time, SKC gets linked to a Venezuelan midfielder you’ve never heard of, and both the Men’s and Women’s national teams post rosters for their last friendlies prior to a major tournament.