Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On if he noticed any trends or themes in the four goals scored against them tonight…
“The one at the start of the game and the one at the start of the second half. Both of them were very similar.”
On what he thinks contributed to those two goals…
“The first one we gave away the ball when we were pushing up the field, and they win the ball and just play it straight up the middle. I mean the guy goes on a breakaway or something, and there’s nothing Adrian [Zendejas] could do. The second one, it’s a throw-in, and basically again we think we have the ball and the guy just goes right down the pike, right down the center again. One touch and he’s basically on a breakaway. Both situations were very similar in that regard. I think the other one, the first one, was a little different because we lost the ball in a pretty simple area of the field.”
On what the frustration level is throughout the club surrounding the defense’s poor form as of late…
“I think you just said it, frustration. We’ve always been a team that’s been very, very good defensively, and at the moment we’re not playing defensively at a level to give ourselves a real chance in the game. You can’t give up a goal to start two minutes into the game and two minutes into the second half. It’s demoralizing for the team. So, I don’t know what else to tell you. That’s just really hard to be constantly chasing again. We did a good job to get back into the game, we start the second half, we have a game that all up for grabs, and we give up a soft goal right away.”
On what he saw from Jimmy Medranda in his first start since May 2018…
“There’s things that Jimmy does well, but then there’s also things that Jimmy at times could be a little bit more better. Better decisions during plays, defending goal side as opposed to trying to win the ball from the other side of the player, just stuff like that. Obviously he’s got to get game fit. It’s good to get him minutes and to get him playing, but I just think that it’s going to take a little time to get him there. It’s really his first start in over a year, so it’s going to take him some time."
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber
On how the match unfolded…
“We were bad in the beginning, gave up a goal in the first minute or two of the game with a breakaway, which obviously should never happen. We had to fight our way back into the game to even it up and, you know, play okay towards the middle and back end of the first half and then come out with the exact same problem. We gave up a breakaway in the first couple of minutes of the second half. Then you’re fighting from behind again, and it’s not easy. Just not a good performance from us, and in a moment where we need to take any kinds of positives, I don’t think we can find any in this match.”
On the 10-day break before the next MLS match...
“Yeah, the only thing that’s good is 10 days to get more bodies back. Obviously some guys are on international duty, some guys are still coming back from injuries, some guys are still getting some fitness. So that’s the one thing that you can take from it: 10 days and hopefully we'll just have more bodies ready for our next match, because we need some new blood right now."
