KCRag Forum

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Here's where it gets fun. Technically, the Supporters' Shield isn't awarded by MLS; so the non-profit foundation that actually awards it could use any tie-breaking procedure they want (in theory, at least).

However, since the Shield is officially recognized by US Soccer and is used to determine a place in the CONCACAF Champions League, they use the same tiebreakers as MLS.

ugggh. 4 losses in a row. our defense has become entirely untrustworthy. besler looks like he needs a rest. sinovic definitely needs a rest. collin has been somewhat inconsistent. juliao has severe tracking back issues.

not good. on the other hand, at least we didn't give up 3 goals again. so there's that.

Don't look now, but Sporting KC has given up 12 goals in their last 4 games.

Yea, what the heck is going on? The Royals are sucking all the success out of all the other sports teams.

Chivas folds. What a joke. They'll start a second LA team again in a few years. SKC will move to the Western Conference next year.

What does everyone think of SKC's chances in the post-season? Seems like they're kinda going through the motions right now.

KCMax wrote:Chivas folds. What a joke. They'll start a second LA team again in a few years. SKC will move to the Western Conference next year.

What does everyone think of SKC's chances in the post-season? Seems like they're kinda going through the motions right now.

They looked extremely flat yesterday. They didn't have the fight in them that they had last season, and I don't think it can be overstated how important Jimmy Nielsen was to last year's run. The goals were both a result of horrendous defensive decision-making and lackluster effort. That said, we have the players to win any game and are perfectly capable of robbing New York at their place. Our defense can't fall asleep on the job, but I feel like we will put up a better fight on Thursday. Coin flip for the NY game, but I like our chances vs. DC in a home and home.

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injuries and exhaustion. i don't expect to beat rbny on thursday, but i won't be surprised if we do. unfortunately, that has less to do with confidence in our team at the moment than it does with ny's penchant for failing in the playoffs. and if we do advance, i agree with bobby that dc is a better matchup for us in a 2-leg series than new england. if the unlikely happens and we were able to get past dc, there'll be a two week break until the next game, which could be exactly what we need to push on.

SKC and Houston will shift to the Western Conference in 2015 to make room for New York and Orlando. ChivasUSA will officially fold- their spot will be refilled in 2017 by a to be announced ownership group.

Isn't the West much better than the East teams?

Sporting just didn't look "right" last night; if nothing else, you can invariably expect them to be better-conditioned and...not being the team that's doing the bullying, but they've had a hard time doing either on a consistent basis the past couple of months and RBNY just imposed their will on them for nearly the entirety of the game.

At this point, I'm almost rooting for a loss on Thursday just so everyone can get some time off to rest/recuperate during the offseason. Here's the number of competitive games SKC has played since the beginning of 2013:

2013: 34 MLS regular season + 5 MLS Cup playoffs + 4 CONCACAF Champions League + 2 US Open Cup = 45 games
A six-week layoff, then preseason games begin in late January.
2014: 34 MLS regular season + 1 MLS Cup playoffs (minimum) + 6 CONCACAF Champions League + 2 US Open Cup = 43 games

Throw in preseason games/friendlies and various people being pulled for international duty and the MLS All-Star game...that's a lot of games.

beautyfromashes wrote:Isn't the West much better than the East teams?

Historically, yea. LA Galaxy have been strong, RSL has been very good, Seattle is obviously a rising star, and you have two of the strongest clubs from the East - SKC and Houston - coming over. It'll be a grind.

^^^
How come we haven't developed a rival yet? I know we kind of hate Chicago, and we have battled Houston several times in the playoffs. No one close enough? Any chance for a Minnesota or St. Louis team in the future?

Chivas USA was a joke from the start.

As far as Sporting goes, the game in New York is a one-game playoff, right? Hard to expect anything but a loss from the team that just beat us 2-0. It's unfortunate Sporting wasn't able to improve from last season.

Kansas City might be the first city to be eliminated from the playoffs of two sports in consecutive nights.

we had life there for awhile in the second half, but defense and goalkeeping let us down again. new york did all they could to let us win by missing at least 3-4 clear chances themselves.
a disappointing end to a disappointing second half of the season. hopefully we fix the positions that need fixing in the off-season (espinoza is rumored to be coming back from england for one position fixed) and we can have a successful 2015 campaign.

I had hopes for Kronberg early in the year, but yea that was disappointing.

KCMax wrote:I had hopes for Kronberg early in the year, but yea that was disappointing.

I think it made sense initially, but I'm ready to give up on that experiment. We were spoiled with Nielsen, but last night's clinching goal was embarrassing.

That said, kudos to SKC for making the playoffs yet again. I'll be intrigued to see what they do this off-season, and the rest these players will get is well deserved.

If I had a dime for every game SKC played a decent first half, only to give up the game winning goals late in the 2nd half, I'd have about $1.50. But, really, why did they keep giving up late goals?