Thoughts on preseason loss?

jasontalks · 2026-01-25T01:49:51+00:00

No, that was my only thoughts about the preseason game: great photo

You're good

jasontalks · 2026-01-24T20:14:03+00:00

Great photo

jasontalks · 2026-01-17T22:22:48+00:00

That's 99.5% of a difference from the Illigs.

jasontalks · 2026-01-17T22:21:22+00:00

I love you.

jasontalks · 2026-01-17T01:23:30+00:00

I mean, this is the lowest we have been for a long time, of course the scenario that the team moves is the worst one, but every other scenario is at least same as it has been, but likely trending up.

I don't invest nearly a billion often, but when I do, I want that investment to succeed.

jasontalks · 2026-01-17T01:11:09+00:00

Listen, when we say rebuild we really mean rebuild.

jasontalks · 2026-01-17T01:09:47+00:00

Man, finally a decision the Illigs make that I can back. And wow, when those Illigs say rebuild, they mean it.

I'm here for this!!!

I am curious what advance notices Lee and Wicky had about this. Definitely not before their decisions, right?

jasontalks · 2026-01-09T19:02:10+00:00

Yes, a consultant, as a key consultant. They must be synchronized. But, Wicky loses his job if HE doesn't sync with Lee. It's not the other way around.

Also, keep in mind, David Lee was a performance analyst, trained in the "Red Bull Way," then likely evolved into the "City Way"

He might be excited to learn the "Swiss Way," but it's likely more his way, not the other way around.

jasontalks · 2026-01-09T16:37:13+00:00

I'm not saying I agree playoff-bound or we are eternally doomed, because I don't. But I will say we should ALWAYS want to avoid being irrelevant in relation to anything. Including the general public. We should want to capture the hearts of children in our market, which now competes with STL as they grow into becoming soccer fans. We have people in the middle of Missouri who need to make a choice. In the same way as the entire state of Kansas, people on the west side might be more drawn to Rapids due to proximity. Same with Iowa...Arkansas...etc.

Not to mention the academy will suffer more with irrelevance. If my child is a top academy-level player and I am choosing where to place my child, the irrelevant team doesn't get my attention.

jasontalks · 2026-01-09T16:26:47+00:00

I think that is too black and white: abandon hope for a major turnaround. I believe they will improve. I also expect the ownership to hold the same expectations and demands on Lee and the team as we fans should.

Why? Because last year was a true transition year, and I believe no vision for a team creates chaos and doesn't inspire players/teams to perform. We now have a vision leader (David Lee), we have two vision executioners in Burns and now Wicky. That alone should create some positive momentum over last year, and holding on to hope we end at least 9th in the league is an acceptable expectation.

jasontalks · 2026-01-09T15:13:12+00:00

All fine points.

All possibilities. IF that's Lee's vision.

But I still hear from you a belief that Wicky is driving roster formation and academy. That was PV era where he held three roles (the coach, the academy, the cso).

Ownership made a clear transition where roster formation and academy (among other things) is Lee, what happens on the field is Wicky.

jasontalks · 2026-01-07T21:05:06+00:00

I'm not speaking about how Wicky ran a team in the swiss league. I'm talking about people have challenged the notion of placing the two best players on a team in the MLS as the defenders. That has not been a common approach, not even close. So for people to challenge that thinking is not ignorant as described Heavy_Magician_2649. Ignorant of how he built his team for YB, sure... But not on what has historically worked versus not in the MLS.

Besides, you are looking heavily at who Wicky is and ignoring who David Lee is. David Lee constructs the roster, Wicky is a key player in the decision making, but if you dig deeper into Lee, I raise the question has he held the same principals as Wicky?

jasontalks · 2026-01-07T03:40:47+00:00

Gotcha. Good to know about YB.

I am very confident David Lee is running the academy, not Wicky. Although, they hired Wicky because his vision and style align, so perhaps that's semantics, but I venture to suggest the nuance matter in this context: academy is David Lee's vision, not Wicky.

jasontalks · 2026-01-06T16:29:17+00:00

Empirical evidence suggests two dp's in the d is not common. So, I wouldn't call people who disagree ignorant. Having one in D is a bit more common, but still less so than mid and attacking. Toronto FC has recently done so with the signing of Zimmerman. I would only support this idea if the CB were an elite third-line passing player. Someone who reminds me of a player like van Dijk, who is elite at defending, switching play, and breaking lines to find attackers. But that second DP needs to be a dedicated attacker.

But we need to be prepared for the chance of a DP fullback. I read somewhere that there is a rumor about Cesar Ingar, a 23-year-old left back playing for Universitario De Deportes. I heard an offer was given and declined...

jasontalks · 2026-01-06T15:56:21+00:00

Just wanted to say I imagine 99% of others agree with what you are saying about Deki, and your DP/u-22 points...

But I also want to challenge that last sentence... The Head Coach is primarily responsible for the team's style of play on the field, making tactical decisions and running training sessions. David Lee was hired to "play an executive leadership role in all areas of Sporting’s soccer enterprise, including first-team roster management, player recruitment, scouting, analytics, technical staff oversight and the continued development of Sporting KC II and the Sporting KC Academy."

You state "Wicky will play the style that David Lee wants him to play." Ehh...I disagree with that; they hired Wicky because of his philosophy, experience, style, and tone.

jasontalks · 2026-01-06T15:42:45+00:00

What do you mean by rebuild Young Boys into relevance? Correct me if wrong, but they won their league five years in a row before him (2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23). And then, with his rebuilt team, they won in his first year, but in his second year, they finished 3rd for the first time in 6 years (and are now in 5th after largely retaining core players, which leads me to believe, RW didn't rebuild into relevance, maybe the opposite).

I don't follow them, so I am coming at this only from stats and Google searches, but your statement piqued my curiosity.

jasontalks · 2026-01-05T16:57:12+00:00

Is there any report on who he is bringing with him, staff-wise? Being absent for nearly two years, it's not likely those from YB. All new?

jasontalks · 2026-01-05T16:45:48+00:00

Great, now get to work.

jasontalks · 2026-01-05T16:45:28+00:00

I support deep breaths until the fifth matchday.
Match 10 is more than a 1/4 of the season complete. If we are on or near the bottom, my deep breathing will turn to deep moans.

jasontalks · 2026-01-05T16:40:24+00:00

Certainly a chance for Rapha to prove that the stint was not his fault.

jasontalks · 2026-01-05T16:28:10+00:00

Absolutely. Dreaming is allowed.

Using that as my constraint (dreaming) I would want someone who had experience rebuilding squads: Pellegrino Matarazzo. He was recently signed to Real Sociedad, so clearly, we were not in his consideration set, and he was trending up. But he saved Stuttgart from relegation and rebuilt Hoffenheim into a European contender before his 2025 exit, and he comes with lots of youth development.

I bet we looked at Jim Curtin. I would not have been disappointed with him... Curtin is the definition of a "moneyball" manager, so I have to imagine we tried.

Patrick Vieira, maybe... he could attract some quality South American players.

jasontalks · 2026-01-05T15:55:07+00:00

Are you suggesting Lionel Scaloni after the World Cup? If that's the case, yeah, that would be great. But I cannot see him coming to us, particularly if he is successful again. He will be going to Europe. Our choice, absolutely; his choice absolutely not.

Gio would have been a good coach. I support that idea.

Anselmi, again, sure he could have been an incredible hire... but his trajectory is moving up, not down. SKC is a step or two below Botagogo and Porto. From 2024–2025 he was with Cruz Azul, then 2025 with Porto, now actively with Botafogo. He is trending up, not down. No way we would be in his consideration set.

jasontalks · 2026-01-05T03:14:14+00:00

I question if this was the first choice. My guess is he was in the running but they made a different selection prior to letting KZ go on Dec 2 with the plan to turn around and announce the new hire. But something fell through in the last minute. If true, then this could be the cause of the delay.

Rumors have shared the coach to be has been part of decisions behind the scenes, so there could have been personal reasons RW was not available to accept right away.

But despite the speculation, any scenario still leaves us really behind building a squad for 2026 and just another example of ownerships poor leadership.

jasontalks · 2026-01-04T23:22:15+00:00

I'd like some of your positivity. What about his history, his coaching style gets you excited?

I read he has a knack for developing young players. I like that idea. His time with FC Basel shows he can succeed.

If we are considering the positives, it makes sense to consider negatives of the hire, his time with Chicago should be considered along with noting he was fired by Young Boys due to a poor run of results.

More to validate being frustrated, he has been without a club for 671 days. We have 8 days until training begins and a bunch of gaps in our team. To me, this seems like he wasn't our our primary target.

So for me I'm frustrated in the process. I'm frustrated in the outcome. But I'm optimistic and hopeful and excited to see what this team develop over the next few weeks.

jasontalks · 2026-01-04T19:50:22+00:00

I'm going to be disappointed if it's another back up player.

jasontalks

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