Sporting KC 2019 Year in Review: Eric Dick

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. For the full list of players reviewed, head to our dedicated Year in Review page.

The Blue Testament continues our look back at 2019 with one of the backup men between the sticks — Eric Dick.

2019 Stats*

Games Played (Started): 1 (1)

Minutes Played: 90

Saves: 3

Goals Against: 6

Clean Sheets: 0

Penalty Kick Goals (Attempts): 0 (0)

Positions Played: Goalkeeper

2019 Salary: $73,699.58

Contract Through (Option Years): 2019 (2020, 2021)

*All stats from 2019 MLS regular season unless otherwise noted.

2019 USL Championship Stats

Because he played only in the USL instead of in MLS, it only seemed right to give a wider berth of stats. Apologies to Graham Smith and Gedion Zelalem who didn’t quite get this treatment.

Games Played (Started): 10 (10)

Minutes Played: 900

Saves: 44

Save %: 69.8

Goals Against: 19

Clean Sheets: 2

Best Moment of 2019

Adrian Zendejas getting traded? Eric Dick went into the week thinking his team preferred Adrian Zendejas over him when Sporting KC protected AZ instead of Dick on Saturday. Then three days later it turned out they only protected Zendejas to trade him to Nashville SC. Dick is now the backup goalkeeper. It’ll be interesting to see if SKC sign someone like John Pulskamp from SPR or if they add an outside veteran presence so that Dick can play extensively for SKC II instead of riding the pine behind Tim Melia. They’ll definitely need a third keeper.

Worst Moment of 2019

No one forgets their first start. Dick’s first MLS start is unforgettable too, but for an awful reason. He was trotted out on the final game of the season against FC Dallas only to give up six goals in a 6-0 loss on the road. It can’t be said enough that it was a team effort to be that bad but it’s never a good look for a GK to see the back of your net filled with so many balls. I’ll let your right your own jokes about balls and Eric Dick.

Interesting Stat(s)

69.8 percent. I highlighted this yesterday in Adrian Zendejas’ year in review story but Dick led all Swope Park Rangers in save percentage. Here is the full rundown:

1. Eric Dick - 69.8%
2. Adrian Zendejas - 57.8%
3. John Pulskamp - 57.5%
4. Maximiliano Trejo - 55.6%
5. Brooks Thompson - 40%

Dick is head and shoulders above everyone else. Pulskamp played the most by far but Dick outperformed everyone. Now if he could only learn to play better with his feet.

Fan Vote: Keep, Banish or Wait

Keep: 30.7%

Banish: 40.2%

Wait: 29.1%

Even I have advocated for keeping Zendejas over Dick. Sporting Kansas City went another direction. While Sporting hold contract options for 2020 and 2021, I expect Dick will need to show he’s the keeper of the future sooner than later or he’ll risk not being around much longer. Keepers develop much later than field players but there are a lot of promising kids waiting in the wings at the SKC Academy and the Swope Park Rangers Sporting KC II.