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The 2019 MLS season is one Sporting Kansas City fans will be looking to forget. But with a very long offseason ahead that may not have soccer until March (assuming no MLSPA strike), we feel compelled to look back at the good and the bad from 2019. The Blue Testament starts our look back with the player on the team that probably had the best year — Felipe Gutierrez.
2019 Stats*
Games Played (Started): 32 (31)
Minutes Played: 2,722
Games Suspended: 2 (both from yellow card accumulation)
Goals: 12
Assists: 3
xG (expected goals): 9.72
Positions Played: All three midfield spots
2019 Salary: $1,649,999.96
Contract Through (Option Years): 2020 (2021)
*All stats from 2019 MLS regular season unless otherwise noted.
Best Moment of 2019
August 4th against the Seattle Sounders. Felipe Gutierrez scored a brace in a 3-2 win over the highly ranked Sounders. It felt like the kind of thing that could turn a down season around. SKC would go on to lose the next two games in what effectively seemed to end Sporting’s season.
Worst Moment of 2019
Scoring the saddest brace in his history against the LA Galaxy on September 15th. While he scored twice, one was in absolute garbage time and his team allowed seven goals. The only game that may have been lower was the last one of the season against FC Dallas where Sporting KC lost 6-0. But since the Galaxy game was the real back breaker, I’ll stick with that one.
Interesting Stat
Of Felipe’s 12 goals, eight of them came in just four games as he had four braces throughout the season (New England Revolution, Toronto FC, Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy). Oddly, SKC were just 1-1-2 in those games with disappointing draws against the Revs and TFC and of course the aforementioned LAG debacle.
Fan Vote: Keep, Banish or Wait
Keep: 97.3%
Banish: 1.3%
Wait: 1.3%
A month ago we asked, with a few games to go in the season, should Sporting KC keep, banish or wait until the end of the year to decide on the fate of all their players. Felipe Gutierrez landed 2nd on the list in terms of keep (behind only Johnny Russell). For me, this is a no-brainer (not to mention he’s under contract). He’s the teams MVP and I can only assume the ‘banish’ and ‘wait’ votes are from frustrated fans.