FC Dallas comes to CMP Sunday on 2 days rest after beating Portland 3-2 for the first of two games back to back vs SKC. Both managers will be strategizing over player movement for the best outcome in league and USOC play. SKC’s only realistic chance for silverware this season is the USOC, so I think that’s where PV will put most of his attention. But, I’ve been wrong before.
#SKCvDAL Sports Medicine Report Sporting Kansas City Questionable Defender Robert Castellanos (Ankle) Defender Dany Rosero (Hamstring) Midfielder Nemanja Radoja (Foot) Midfielder Remi Walter (Knee) Out Defender Logan Ndenbe (ACL) Midfielder Felipe Hernandez (Administrative Leave) FC Dallas Questionable None Out Defender Geovane Jesus (Knee) Midfielder Patrickson Delgado (Knee) Midfielder Liam Fraser (Upper Leg) Midfielder Paxton Pomykal (Knee) Forward Jesus Ferreira (Upper Leg) Forward Alan Velasco (Knee)
When we subbed in the second half, it had to have been the fastest lineup SKC had fielded in years. Agada, Afrifa, Aliens, Thommy, Bassong all on. Pulido, Johnny, and Leibold all off. We had more rushes in ten mins with this group than we have had in multi game stretches earlier this season. Lotta that was the game state, but I also think it helps when you actually have speed on the field (and slower players not on the field). Also, the UFC biz in the corner was immediately in front of my son’s club team. They all want in on Wednesday.
Really fun game tonight. Sweet brace from headers by Agada and a first touch winner by Memo. I do wish though that they had taken more advantage of the speed of Agada and Vargas with more balls over the top, especially when the Dallas back line was up near the center circle. I thought Kayden had a great game not sure why he was subbed 'cause he did not look depleted or injured to me. Memo had some killer corner kicks and crosses into the box. Agada's pass on the first Dallas goal and Fontas's on the second are howlers. They were not the only ones, theirs were just the worst. So many players losing focus during a game is not good. And Zorhan, oh Zorhan, your 25, and yes Arriola was an a%$h*le, yellow card offense rightly given, but you gotta take the mature high road Zorhan. That was a prefect chance to waste some time with clutch of the forehead, a drop to the ground with some rolling theatrics. What is most amusing though is that I think he is eligible to play Wed., the red only applies to MLS regular season. Good crowd too, Wednesday is going to be more fun I bet. Are you afraid that what we are seeing from these players with options is not long term improvement but more like runs of good luck?
I'm afriad they're doing too much to put themselves in a position to get a new contract in 2025 when this roster needs a makeover.
Ok, please tell me like I’m an elementary school D student, bc my view is that this scenario beats the alternative. We aren’t getting 25 new players in camp next year and we will need players one way or the other.
OTOH Buzz, Agada is now top 10 in MLS is xG ( I know, 30th in goals scored, so a bit disturbing, but he is putting himself in really good positions, and he is a top 15 or so goals per minute guy. He's worth keeping around. I like memo, and Jake is young and deserves to find his way, and Pierre can play if he can stay healthy Castellanos is cheap, so i don't need to see him leave. Meanwhile, Khiry didn't look great, Tim L looked okay at best, Fontas looked bad
I don't know what a healthy percentage of roster turnover each year is, but I don't think its 50%. Although most of the time you would hope your starting spot is better than ours.
Who exactly are you talking about? 2025 Options Agada? His stats still show he needs an extreme volume of chances to actually score goals? He's an OK backup forward, but he's not a starter. I'm OK with bringing him back as a reserve No.9. The issues at forward are with the starter, not the backup. Castellanos - he looks pretty good and I would be OK with him coming back. Memo? - He's relatively cheap and a good backup midfielder. Bring him back. Pierre, no thanks and he's done nothing to merit coming back. He'll probably suffer a paper cut and be unavailable soon. The U22s? Good bye to all of them. Maybe Ndenbe justifies a 2025 option if he's cheap. Tzionis and Voloder have repeatedly shown they are not good enough and both need to be gone. Thommy? Our best player by far. Hope they bring him back. Ozzy - good bye. 2025/26 options Flores - Nope Rindov- Who? Afrifa - He's cheap. Bring him back but he needs to be an SKC II player for a while. Bassong - One of the many outside backs that need to be jettisoned from the roster. Back to my point, the 2025 option players aren't the issue. Most of those are players that, if brought back as backups, are actually pretty good fits and players that aren't that expensive (Memo, Agada, Castellanos specifically). The problem is that if you want to TRANSFORM this roster, you have to be willing to let players with contracts that are THROUGH 2025 and 26 go. That is where the real disaster deals are (Radoja, Leibold, Felipe H., Rosero, Shelton, Pulido, Salloi). Those are all starters, most are expensive, and most aren't good enough.
See my comment above. Lets look at the typical starters Pulido - here until 2026 Salloi - here until 2026 JFR - out of contract 2024 - thank you but time to move on Walter - out of contract 2024 - hope they bring him back Thommy - option to resign through 2025- please bring back Radoja - 2025 Leibold - 2025 Fontas - 2024 - no way they can bring him back Rosero - 2025 Generic RB - Bassong/Pierre/Davis. All expire in 2024 and none are good enough. Melia - out of contract in 2024. So, out of 11, at least 3 aren't coming back (Melia, Fontas, JFR). Assume a new RB and maybe Walter doesn't come back. That would be 5/11. Almost 50%. And we still haven't addressed the real problem (PULIDO/SALLOI).
On Agada, while he has missed a lot of opportunities, he has been in a great position to score really often. While he hasn't done that, he is scoring every 156 minutes this season, which is really good in MLS. These numbers are pretty similar to what he showed in his first, half, season with us. He's tied for first in MLS in xG per 90, fifth in overall xG. He's clearly a confidence player, which is a problem for consistency. But, while he's trailing Afrifa who is producing a goal every 108 minutes (though with only 3), he's doubling the rest of our attack in production with fewer minutes. Esp as he is not an expensive option, he is well worth keeping. Given the way MLS rosters work, I don't think we can afford to get rid of Davis, Pierre, Memo, Castellanos. Players who can start, even a couple games for us, and earn nothing, are wildly valuable under a salary cap. Seeing as our U-22s lose their cheapness, I don't see how we can keep any who aren't seen as core starters. So if Logan is healthy again, maybe him. I would suggest that either Thommy or Radoja have been our best players this season, though Walter has probably been shown to be our most important. I'd like to keep all three. We need to replace Fontas with a high quality starter option. So, we get to pay out and cancel two contracts each year now under the new MLS rules: Pulido will cost a fortune, but I'm not sure why we'd keep him, except for the aforementioned fortune. God, Salloi? could we still sell him? Melia? Okay, he's been fine, but we cannot rebuild with a 40 year old keeper. We have to find a new starter. Russell has been great, but it is time to say goodbye, unless he just really wants to stay and take a cut to $350,000 or something and is seen as a late game sub.
that’s my issue put with more words. The fact that the players that aren’t stepping up are the ones that are here long term.
OK, that makes sense. It is very frustrating that the ones that we are stuck with are the ones that aren't producing, while several that could leave are the ones picking up the slack.
Glass half empty..... The magical "three transfer windows" down the road (end of summer window 2025), Salloi and Pulido should still be under contract. So guess who we are rebuilding around?
Which, also a total surprise, means we are rebuilding for a 4-3-3. If we added a legit MLS best 11 adjacent level CB for Fontas, a younger version level JR, a top quarter of MLS level keeper and either got a healthy Logan back, or upgrade our LBack (and we could do all of this plus a bit with potentially two free DP slots and four U-22 slots, this roster would be good enough to be a solid middle of the playoff pack side. Our attack wouldn't be top level (Agada could be, though, the numbers indicate), but our midfield is good enough with an upgraded defense to make it work.
If we never bought out Shelton or Fontas before now, what leads you to believe we'd ever do a buyout? Owners are too cheap and PV would rather spend his new budget on new guys not getting rid of old guys.
Well, if the budget is going to include the buyouts then might as well just keep the old players and use money on new players. There seem to be enough roster machinations that the FO can maneuver around a couple of big contracts to bring on new contracts. But part of the key will be whether PV can 'forget' that Pulido is on the roster whether we simply have to keep him rather than buy out.