Vermes: Sporting KC Working on a Center Back Signing in the Next Week
The Sporting Kansas City head coach stops by The Program to share the team’s biggest needs. Also an update on Pulido availability vs Portland.
Sporting Kansas City’s season is set to begin Saturday Monday as they headed out to face the Portland Timbers. Ahead of that meeting, Sporting KC manager and sporting director Peter Vermes stopped by The Program to speak with Soren Petro.
Petro: “Have you filled all the holes you wanted to fill, or do you have something else in mind, maybe also in the season?”
verme: “We’re still looking for another centre-back. We have boys all over the world right now. We’re working on a few players we aimed. We want to add one (pause), we need to add a centre-back. This is an area of the field. I think everything else is damn good.”
Petro: “You just pointed out, these are not things that happen overnight. Do you have one or more types in your sights? Anything in the works to get this done later in the year?
misrepresentation: “Someone from our team is in a country right now that is actually working on a deal with a club and a player. [I’m] I hope that it can be completed in the next so many days. You and I have talked a lot about this. It’s a very difficult thing when you’re making these deals, especially internationally, because it’s not just us that are usually interested, there are many different teams around the world. So you are in competition with that. I’m always optimistic. I think our club speaks for itself. The league is growing all the time and I think there are a lot of players who want to come here now. I hope there is Possibility that we can get something done in the next as many days to a week.”
(emphasis mine)
The clues to scouting in another country could be the reports that Brian Bliss was in Costa Rica to scout Alajuelense CB Alexis Gamboa. Of course he could be somewhere else by now, that was a week ago.
The CB position was hit hard by the injury-caused absence of Kortne Ford for the entire season, and so far only younger, more inexperienced players have joined the team in second-round selection Chris Rindov and USL Championship veteran Robert Castellanos. Even the alleged regular players Andreu Fontas and Robert Voloder have little experience in playing together and Voloder is just 21 years old.
If they can address that need, I would feel a lot better this season.
Pulido Injury Update
Soren also asked Vermes about Alan Pulido’s progress and Vermes confirmed the injury report we shared that he had been upgraded to ‘questionable’. I know my first reaction was that playing him on that awful turf in Portland felt dangerous. Vermes apparently shared these concerns.
“I’d say he’s probably got a few that many weeks left,” Vermes said. “I’m just saying that because I want to make sure his overall fitness is good. I don’t want him tweaking a hamstring or quadriceps right now.
Vermes continued when asked if we’d see him in Portland, “That’s not disrespectful either, but I wouldn’t put him in this game anyway. The pitch and all, just for the first game, I wouldn’t do that. I think it would be hard to see him in the Colorado [Rapids] Game. Who knows for the home start.”
Other hot topics in the program
Of course, Peter didn’t just talk about the plight at CB and Pulido. There were several other themes that stood out from the interview, including:
- His contact from the USMNT for a job or jobs he had turned down
- He pointed out that draft pick Stephen Afrifa was “most likely” added after he left school in April/May.
- He has the best three keepers he’s ever had but declined to name a starter
I recommend listening to the full interview.
When time with Peter isn’t enough, he also spoke to the media on Thursday, addressing his contract extension, declining to be interviewed by the United States men’s national team and a host of other issues, including:
- With two minutes left on Johnny Russell’s shift in the final preseason game against Phoenix Rising, he went hard for a ball and pinched his hamstring.
- Overlooking the Portland Timbers in the opener
- Options to replace Russell during his absence. He listed: Duke, Thommy, Shelton and Tzionis
- About tips to become a manager and its longevity
- An update on Nemanja Radoja’s injury
We’ll next hear from Peter after Monday night’s game in Portland.
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