Photo by Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports Images
By TATE STEINLAGE
Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes was pleased his side overcame a two-goal deficit Saturday in Houston against the Dynamo. He even praised his team’s will and their attitude in the face of adversity.
But that was the extent of his praise.
Speaking over a conference call following the 4-4 draw, Vermes was frank. His side, which had the Dynamo down a man with 10 minutes to play, allowed a late goal, only to escape with a draw thanks to midfielder Benny Feilhaber’s last-gasp, 20-yard half-volley effort. The result, Vermes said, isn’t indicative of the fact that Sporting KC “probably” deserved to lose.
“In a lot of respects, we didn’t deserve to get anything coming out of here,” Vermes said. “The only thing that I will say is that during the course of the game, we were very good and we didn’t give up.
“But when we went 3-3 and they kicked off, we should have went after them and really went after them, and we did not. That’s why all of a sudden they started controlling the game. We’re up a man, we should have went after them big time. We did not do that, and that caused the fourth goal — here we sit.”
Nevertheless, Sporting KC was able to piece together heroics in the final moments with Feilhaber’s beeline strike — able to celebrate, unlike one week ago when the LA Galaxy headed in a game winner in the dying seconds of the match.
With the Galaxy defeat in mind, coupled with the loss of defender Ike Opara to injury and the piecing together of new faces in the lineup, one would imagine that a come-from-behind performance is a positive statement moving forward.
Vermes doesn’t necessarily see it that way.
“There are some moments that are like that, but I’m not sure if this is one of them,” he said. “We gave up too much in the game. We gave way too much in the game. The positive thing is that we came back and didn’t give up. But we didn’t recognize the moment.
“You can say all the words, but in the end, the words don’t mean anything. It’s about making sure the actions are taken care on the field.”
The next step for Sporting KC, according to Vermes, is doing just that.
“It’s being able to put 90 minutes together of, not only a good performance but also understanding what is needed at every moment of the game and being able to manage those over the course of the 90 minutes,” he added.
Sporting KC, 2-2-4, will attempt to take the next step next Sunday at Sporting Park against former Eastern Conference rival Chicago Fire. Vermes hopes the matchup is able to remove the bittersweet— though perhaps more sour — taste from Saturday’s draw.
“When you play like that, you’re always going to get beat,” Vermes said. “That’s not good enough on our side. We have to be much better — much better. That’s not good enough.”
Do you agree with Vermes’ postgame comments? Do you think Sporting KC’s performance was praiseworthy or “not good enough”?
Share your comments below.
poor fitness….throughout the them
Good teams can’t allow short handed goals. And we are not a good team. We have cap space, roster space and an open DP slot. Time to add some talent.