Inevitably, conceding five goals in any soccer match is going to elicit tough questions and criticism.
When FC Cincinnati conceded five in a 5-4 loss to CF Montreal on Saturday, it was goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer being criticized.
Vermeer made five saves in the match but also saw five balls pass through his net. That included spilling a rebound tucked away by Montreal in the first half, and later conceding a penalty kick in the second half that resulted in the 5-4 final.
Montreal, which trailed at 2-0 and 4-2, scored three goals in the final 18-plus minutes to win. The fault isn't necessarily all Vermeer's but he'll take his fair share of criticism as the last line of defense.
It's worth mentioning Vermeer had consecutive shutouts on June 23 and June 26 against Chicago Fire FC and Toronto FC, respectively.
Overall, FC Cincinnati is 3-4-2 with Vermeer in net after claiming him off waivers on April 30.
During his Monday remarks at the Mercy Health Training Center, FC Cincinnati head coach Jaap Stam defended Vermeer's play, which has increasingly been a subject of debate on FCC social media channels.
"There’s always criticism when you concede a goal toward a goalkeeper, and it’s always easy from the crowd, from the fans, whatever, to criticize people about things needing to be better or better choices or different choices," Stam said. "That’s also easy for me to criticize other people, maybe, about doing their job and what they need to bring. A lot of people don’t know the insights, how things work, how the situation is about making choices, about doing things, about how people are feeling as well. Sometimes they need to temper a little bit as well in terms of expressing their thoughts.
"Going back to Kenneth, Kenneth is a very good goalkeeper. We also need to be honest to him as well. Decision-making in the Montreal game, yeah, within certain moments, yeah, he needed to do better and he could have done better as well, and Kenneth knows that as well because he’s a professional. He’s very experienced. He’s played at the highest level in Europe in our game, so he knows what he’s done wrong and what he needs to improve, and that’s a very important one… with Kenneth, we need to also be critical."
The seven goals conceded over the last two matches, which also featured multiple blown, two-goal leads, has caused some to question whether Przemysław Tytoń might soon make his return for FCC after not playing since May 1 against Orlando City SC.
Stam said Vermeer and Tytoń were both good goalkeepers, and well-liked in the organization.
Tytoń, nickhamed "Titi," will likely get another chance in net eventually, Stam added, saying, "Of course, we look at the other keepers that we’re having. We’re looking – of course we know that Titi’s behind him. Titi’s doing very well in training sessions as well but we had basically the same situation."
"Titi probably could do very well because I like Titi very much as a goalkeeper and as a personality," Stam said. "He’s very professional with how he sets up. We see him in training doing very well, so there’s always the opportunity to play with (Cameron and Vallecilla) as well. It’s probably gonna happen, you never know.
FC Cincinnati preparing for Josef Martinez in Atlanta United match
Atlanta United, currently 10th in the Eastern Conference, comes to FC Cincinnati's TQL Stadium for Wednesday's match shrouded in uncertainty.
Atlanta on Sunday fired head coach Gabriel Heinze and installed Rob Valentine as interim head coach.
With that change came the expectation from both FC Cincinnati and Atlanta United that Josef Martinez, Atlanta's decorated goal-scorer, might play when the clubs meet in the West End.
That's noteworthy because Heinze recently declared publicly he decided Martinez would train on his own – leading to a potential showdown.
That showdown was quickly overshadowed by the Atlanta loss to New England Revolution over the weekend, which was followed by Heinze's Sunday firing amid wide-ranging allegations of disorganization and player mistreatment.
So obvious is the impact of Martinez on the Atlanta side that Stam didn't even need to mention him by name during his Monday remarks, which first referenced Martinez thus: "They left one out, probably he’s gonna come back in and everybody knows who that is. So, that might change things up."
There's a reason everybody knows who Martinez is, and what impact he could have against FC Cincinnati, a club Martinez dumped three goals on in 2019.
"Scored a couple of goals, I believe," Stam said, smiling. "Everybody knows his quality. Everybody knows how important he is. It’s the same when we spoke a little bit about Toronto and you talk about Altidore when he was out and coming back into the game… The player in particular himself as well in what he can do, we all know his ability. We’re aware of that and we need to be aware of that when he’s on the pitch."
Martinez, who tore his ACL in the first match of the 2020 season, missed Atlanta's three dates with Cincinnati last year.
Aside from being excluded from Heinze's plans, Martinez's scoring touch is slightly off his usual pace so far in 2021 – two goals in 397 minutes over seven appearances – but it's reasonable to think Atlanta could look to jump-start their most valued player with an appearance at TQL Sta
Brenner named to MLS Team of the Week
Brenner Souza da Silva might be turning a corner after his brace in Saturday's loss to CF Montreal.
Brenner scored for 2-0 in the 14th minute at Stade Saputo on what was simply a hustle play. Later, in the 46th minute, Brenner scored a classy back-heel goal, and became the first FCC player to have a multi-goal game in MLS.
For that, Brenner was named to the MLS Team of the Week for the first time.
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