Back in late July we heard from Robb Heineman that the friendly against Chivas de Guadalajara was looking good to take place in October this year. Late last night the Star put out an article saying that today the team would announce that the friendly will take place on Wednesday, October 12th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. That is the Wednesday after KC's weekend off from league play the weekend of the 8th and right before what could be a very big game at LSP against the New York Red Bulls on the 15th.
A month later, my opinion hasn't changed on this game. At that point of the season, with only 2 games left KC should be focused on qualifying for the playoffs, or improving their standing to try to get a better seed. Not playing a friendly. Especially when those two remaining games are at home against New York and away vs DC, two Eastern Conference rivals that are currently right on KC's heels in the playoff race. I'd rather the team be avoiding congesting their schedule at this point. And while some guys will certainly be given the night off, I expect Omar Bravo to get a good amount of time during the game, since this was part of the deal with Chivas when we signed and then loaned him back to Chivas.
UPDATE: The team did announce it this morning, tickets are on sale to season ticket holders right now and go on sale to the general public on Friday. Certainly in many of the comments I've seen many fans are not really in favor of this, especially with the timing.
I generally agree with your critique of the timing of this friendly.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if this was the only feasible time for both squads then I believe it is a net positive over the medium term.
I trust that the coaching staff can correctly prioritize a friendly versus the stretch run to end the regular season. A solid half for the starters against a very good Chivas team is much better than a intra-squad scrimmage against some our own reserves.
A good showing will increase the SKC fanbase and the prospects for future Mexican Primera players' willingness to come to SKC.
A good showing will increase the fan base? That's skeptical at best.
ReplyDeleteChivas is probably the most popular Mexican team. Many Mexicans that are stateside still prefer or exclusively follow the Mexican league. Showing comparable quality and an improved crowd atmosphere could impress some Chivas fans enough to also support SKC. The logic is transparent.
ReplyDeletePretty confident that any of the fans who had only attended Wiz(ards) games will be shocked by the overall experience.
I just wonder if Dan ever has anything positive to say.
ReplyDeleteThis may turn into a good half of practice for players still coming back from injury — without taking chances to get them hurt again.
I thought the coaching staff did a good job handling the friendly with Newcastle United. And it still was an entertaining game (especially for nil-nil).