Sunday, September 18, 2016

Sporting KC Give Up Late Equalizer; Drop Points at Home Again

If there's one thing that seems to be able to be counted on in the 2016 season for Sporting KC, it's probably their knack for giving up late goals. It's almost to the point where you can see them coming, really.

It happened again on Sunday afternoon, about fifteen minutes from time, and less than two minutes after the league's all-time leading scorer subbed into the match.

It's got to be frustrating for the players and coaches to constantly face questions about why they couldn't hold onto a lead late in a game.

It seems as if the team's luck has simply run out, or at least very low. A team that used to be able to get by with a few mistakes simply can't afford that luxury anymore. The slightest mistakes are now ruthlessly punished every single time.

The thing of it is, I'm not sure what can be done about it. I'm sure Peter Vermes could tell them to cut out the mistakes until he's blue in the face (and has) and mistakes would still happen because players are still human.

The more points the club drops at home, they have to make them up on the road, but their road form has been pretty poor. At 2-8-4, only San Jose and Portland have fewer road wins, while only Vancouver, Houston and Real Salt Lake have more road losses in the Western Conference.

I hate to say it, but the chances of this club making the playoffs are starting to look more remote than they did even a few weeks ago. That may not be the worst thing in the world for this club. The fans wouldn't like it, but it would allow the club to start to rebuild just that much quicker.

What it is, exactly, they need to do to make this club better for next season and beyond is probably a question for someone smarter than I am. I'm just the Rangers PA guy and I've watched a lot of soccer, as a fan and an official.

Whatever it is, though, will need to be done quickly as the game moves too fast to do anything less.