As quick as he is to defend keeping a player off the pitch because he's not fit enough, Peter Vermes is even quicker to defend his players – and his league – against criticism he thinks unfair.
And the way Sporting Kansas City's manager sees it, US national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann was off the mark when he knocked player fitness during the recent January camp.
“Totally disagree with the comment,” Vermes told reporters on Friday. “You know, I have a lot of respect for Jurgen. Obviously, he was a great player. He's done tremendous things as a coach as well. But that doesn't mean every time somebody opens their mouth that they're right.”
Klinsmann issued the criticism after a 3-2 away loss to Chile on Jan. 28, saying his MLS-heavy roster wasn't fit enough to see the match through to the end. He clarified those remarks in a subsequent interview, while discussing the possibility of overhauling the January camp format.
While Vermes' club has not played since ending the 2014 season with a 2-1 playoff loss to New York on Oct. 30, the MLS Cup playoffs did not wrap up until early December. On top of that, 2014 was a World Cup year, and a significant number of Klinsmann's January call-ups took part in that tournament as well.
“To expect those guys to be in top form in a January camp,” Vermes said, “is – and I mean this – utterly ridiculous.”
One World Cup veteran who didn't make the January camp was Sporting winger Graham Zusi, who is recovering from a stress reaction – one step short of a stress fracture – in his right foot.
“That's an overuse injury,” Vermes said.
The timing and geographical demands of the MLS season also put extra wear and tear on the league's players, Vermes said, something that Klinsmann – who played professionally and coached exclusively in Europe before taking the US job in 2011 – did not have to deal with before.
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Part of his disagreement, Vermes said, “comes from taking in how big our country is, and our league, and the amount of travel that goes with it, and the environment that we play in. If you're a European player, you're playing through all the colder weather months, as opposed to the hot-weather months, like we do here. That takes a toll.”
Then, he said, there's the mental weariness that comes with wrapping up a long – and in Kansas City's case, frustrating and injury-filled – season.
“So to think that you're getting a break at the end of your MLS season, and the World Cup's over with, and to think that now what you're going to do is, right away, stay in shape? You also have to get away from the game, and the physical aspects of it, from a mental point of view,” Vermes said. “Because that, sometimes, is more draining than the physical side.”
Sporting center back Matt Besler, who started every match in Brazil and also was among Klinsmann's selections in January, said he feels he's just where he needs to be at this point on the calendar.
“At the January camp, we were comparing a lot of our data to the camp right before the World Cup,” Besler said. “Obviously, that Cup data is going to be higher than it is in January. So I think that was probably the case. But for me, personally, fitness is not an issue.”
Besler did not directly criticize the US coach's remarks but said his offseason priority was always to get in shape for the start of MLS play in March.
“I think it's unfortunate that a player has to answer questions about fitness. It's something we don't want to do. I won't say anything about his comments,” Besler said. “He can say whatever he wants. But from my perspective, my goal is to be at my peak fitness on March 1. That's when my season starts. It goes from March to December. So on Jan. 15, we devised an offseason plan for me to hit my peak fitness on March 1. I think that's what most of the guys did.
“So if the expectation was different, that's something that needs to be discussed, so we know going into a camp where we need to be. But honestly, I think he just likes to push his players.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
