Sporting Kansas City Head Coach Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match…
I think we started fine, started well. We talked about it, they’re good on the counter, and we have to be good with the ball and I think we were. But then we gave it up on three actions in a row when the game opened up and they went in on us. We thwarted the attacks and then there was the Thommy situation when he was in the middle of the park and got pushed from behind and the ref doesn’t call it. We turned the ball over and they go down and that’s where that first goal starts. The second goal, I’ve watched it from a different angle, and I would say he is offside. If they’re calling Khiry [Shelton] offside, I’m thinking their second goal was probably offside as well. I think that at the end of the day, they were better in the important moments of the game.
On Willy Agada getting back onto the pitch…
It was good, I didn’t even know if he had 20 minutes, but it was good to get him minutes prior to us restarting the season. That was the whole idea, trying to get home into some of these games at the end before we get back to the regular season. The good thing is he’s healthy, he has no problems and he’s back. Probably for him, scoring the goal is a good confidence builder.
On correcting mental errors late in the game…
There were some fatigued, mental errors tonight. Saying that, fatigue makes cowards of us all. We got tired, and we just didn’t want to make the runs and that can’t happen. The ball that went over the top and the guy went on the breakaway, we have to easily see that situation. It was too easy, way too easy. We will for sure in the next couple of weeks talk and work on that stuff. Not even work on it, we’ll get it corrected for sure.
On the focus during the time off…
We have a bunch of guys like Willy [Agada] who need training because we didn’t have Alan [Pulido] again in this game so we were missing our two forwards. We have to get those guys back in. The good thing is Gadi [Kinda] and guys like that are getting fit and hopefully the weather is going to change as well and that will serve us well.
On missing Alan Pulido tonight…
I thought that Thommy did a very good job last game, but I think you’re asking him to do Yeoman’s Job. Last game I was thinking, maybe 10 minutes for Agada, and him doing 20 in this one is big. It will be nice to have both forward’s available especially as we go into the final push of the season.
On John Pulskamp’s performance…
John [Pulskamp] is not at fault on the goals by any means. He was very good. Made some big saves, especially early on. He was good. It wasn’t him it was more defensively if anything else.
On the overall impression of the team in Leagues Cup 2023…
In group play against Cincinnati and Chivas I thought that, in both games, we had a good command in both possession and chances. Even when we were a man down in Cincinnati, we were able to go into their place and score three goals. We were in a good place for sure and we played very well away from home. We were getting back to ourselves. It helps that Pulido was on the field in the first game. I would say that even in this game, as we started, we were in our groove a little bit and there were a couple of things that happened that took us out of it as I said earlier. Coming out of this there are a couple of good things. There are some players that have been out for a while and are now back in. We have a couple of weeks of training now that we can really overload these guys in the training aspect and get ready for our first game when we return back into the regular season. That’s going to be one of the more important aspects. That one, the guys are fit and the other is that we have availability of a majority of our players because we’re going to need all of them for the final push.
Sporting Kansas City Forward Willy Agada
On getting back on the pitch…
To be honest, it was difficult, but today is a moment I’ve been waiting for since the day the doctor told me I had to go through surgery. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for since that surgery. I’m happy I was able to get connected with the boys again even though we lost the game. That was not the result we wanted. For me personally, I am so excited to be back. I want to say thank you to the fans and everyone that texted me or talked to me on Instagram and supported me and prayed for me. All thanks to everyone and I was so excited for today even though we lost.
On scoring tonight…
I always feel like we can do better. Just playing with these guys, they trust me and make it so easy. They always put you on the mark. You just need to position yourself where you need to be, and they will always help you. I feel like we can still do it. This game is the game that we love. Even though tonight is not the result that we want, we get to look forward to the next game and hopefully, we can keep on getting better.
On the feeling he got after scoring…
I was so excited because I missed those moments. I just don’t know what to do other than say thanks to God. You just need to appreciate God all the time and it’s such a moment. We just need to pick our heads up for our next games. The League Games are so important for us, and we need to win these games so we can make the playoffs.
On staying focused before the next MLS match…
This was a game where we just need to take the good things and pick our heads up. We have to work together as always. We’ve been playing like a consistently good team for a while now and I think we need to put this game aside and focus on the league again. That’s what’s important for us now.
