We are back! After a bit of an extended break due to yours Drew’s visit to Los Angeles for the Open Cup Final, we have returned to find there are 2 games left in a season many people would like to forget.
The performance in LA was probably as good as could be expected, with a legit chance to steal the game late on Johnny Russell’s foot. Unfortunately once Extra Time started, the limitations of Sporting KC’s roster began to show through and the candidly much higher quality of LAFC took advantage.
Then Sporting were made to travel to St Louis on 3 days rest for a derby with the Pink Dog Food team, and were predictably short handed. There was a ton of rotation in player quality, and while the performance wasn’t exactly poor, a familiar refrain of the team with better players making better plays played out, and SKC took a 2nd consecutive 3-1 defeat.
In my distinct hope to find some kind of silver lining, we will discuss what appears to be more competent and improved performances in light of these results, and whether Peter Vermes has actually had one of the better coaching seasons of his career, if one of his poorer as the Chief Soccer Officer.
Finally, the Current try to secure some home playoff games, the USMNT’s first roster on Mauricio Pochettino is out, and LAFC comes to town for a re-match from that Open Cup final.