Sporting Kansas City Manager and Sporting Director Peter Vermes conducted a teleconference call with media today to discuss Major League Soccer's return to play and COVID-19 testing, among other topics.
With COVID-19 testing widely available across the Kansas City area, Sporting Kansas City covered the cost for players and coaches to be tested for the coronavirus this week at Compass Minerals National Performance Center, formerly Pinnacle, in Kansas City, Kansas.
Vermes’ full remarks are below.
On Sporting KC conducting COVID-19 testing in recent days at Compass Minerals National Performance Center…
We completed testing on Monday. We did COVID testing on Saturday and Monday, and the antibodies (test) as well on Monday. I can say that the process went very well. Unfortunately due to HIPAA, I can’t comment on whether someone was infected or not infected, but I can tell you that the process went really well. Players and certain people on the technical staff (were tested).
On the German Bundesliga continuing its season with matches in empty stadiums last weekend…
I watched and read some stuff on how they actually entered people (into the stadium) in the buildup for the game. I’m talking about people that actually worked the game, whether it was talent crews or what have you. I read up on that and thought it was pretty interesting how they segmented everybody coming into the facility. I thought it was pretty interesting to watch the staffs on the sidelines and how far they were apart from each other. That was something I didn’t expect, just the way I saw that. There was one game where the players got excited about scoring a goal and got together, and then (the league) said afterwards there wouldn’t be any further discipline. I thought that was an interesting comment.
I’ve watched games in that country when it’s a full stadium, so it’s completely different watching it with nobody in the stands. It changes the environment, for sure. Fans make the ambiance. That’s the beauty of sports. It misses that aspect, but it was good to see the game. One of the things you did see is you could tell the teams had been off for a little while. The rhythm of the game was off a little bit, but all in all, it’s great to get started.
On how empty stadiums will affect the quality of the game…
You don’t have much of a home field advantage without your crowd. The fans apply the pressure for the opposition. Watching (the Bundesliga) on TV, it just didn’t seem like the opponents had too much pressure on them, if you know what I mean. It just seemed like a game for them to play. I say again that we’re going to have to start somewhere. It’s not going to be perfect. We all know what perfect is, right? It’s full stadiums and playing in front of your home crowd and all of that kind of stuff. Right now, we’re not even close to that. As soon as we can get close to playing games in that environment, for me that’s going to be a big step forward.
On the prospect of MLS hosting a summertime tournament for all 26 clubs behind closed doors in Orlando…
I know that we’re a league of parity, and we could probably have a discussion all day about parity and all of that. At the end of the day, we truly have to get back on the field as soon as we possibly can, for so many reasons. Obviously I think we have to do it in a safe way. I think the idea of going to a single location, if that’s what it is, I personally am all for it. This is what I do for a profession. I know for the players it’s what they do for a profession. I do agree that it’s a huge undertaking logistically. It’s going to be pretty difficult, right? All of us are going to have to keep an open mind on the staff and player side that it’s not going to be perfect, but I think it’s great to be able to get a start.
The safest way is to do it in at least one or three or four locations. There’s been a couple of different models that were created. I do think (the Orlando plan) is the safest and will probably at least buy us some time as some of these other cities start to open up more and more, and hopefully we’ll get back to full training (in each city) based on the fact that we’ll have testing figured out by then as well.
On his conversations with players about the prospect of playing a tournament in Orlando…
I’d be absolutely lying to you if I said it hasn’t come up in conversation. I think for them, they talk amongst each other even though they chat on the phone and through WhatsApp channels and all of those things. At the same time, you can see when they come to (Compass Minerals National Performance Center) and they’re far away from each other, they still say things to each other. I wouldn’t even call it social distancing. I would call it one island to another where they’re screaming to each other at times. The bottom line is it’s definitely on all of our minds. We’re all thinking about it and trying to manage in our minds how we can get ready for it in all ways. Logistically, I’m sure there’s guys on teams who have wives that are pregnant, there’s foreign players here with families but they don’t have access to their families back home. There’s a lot of different things that we have to think about, so we’re talking about all of those things pretty regularly.
On the advantages and disadvantages of a round-robin tournament if play resumes in Orlando…
I think a game is a game. The challenge for the teams is going to be the amount of time we have prior to the first game and getting the guys ready to participate for 90 minutes with hotter weather than where most of us are coming from. It’s just going to depend on the amount of time we have prior to that game, but I do think the change in the rule for five subs is going to be a huge help to offsetting some of those injuries, for sure.
On the possible timeline for small group and team training…
Prior to getting on this call, I was on another and we were talking about the next date regarding small group straining. It’s in the league’s hands at the moment. I’ve been a part of that protocol discussion, but really it’s at the league’s hands. The protocol has been discussed; we’re just waiting on a date from them. If we’re supposed to go to Orlando, I hope it comes prior to that. I just don’t have an answer. I wish I did.
On MLS and NBA teams playing games in Orlando at the same time…
I don’t think it would be (negatively) affected at all. I’ve seen the layout of where we would be, or at least the proposed place that we would be. Honestly, we would be in our own bubble, basically. We would have no interaction with anyone else outside of that. We wouldn’t even see the (NBA) guys. Hopefully we would see some of their games on TV. That’s about it.
On the decision-making process behind playing a tournament in Orlando…
There’s chief medical officers, people from the league, athletic trainers, performance analysts. I mean, everyone is involved. It’s a smattering of all different departments that are weighing in on a lot of these subjects and topics.
If we were to go to Orlando or any other city for a tournament-style (competition), it would be 11-v-11 and we’d be playing games. So I’d hope the games aren’t no-contact and you have to keep social distance from the other team. I don’t know how that would work.
All joking aside, we have to get a number of days of full-team training. Everybody needs that to kind of get their team prepared. And again, I’m not just talking soccer. I first and foremost look at the physical (aspect) and let the soccer then follow suit.
On the potential training schedule while in Orlando or elsewhere…
I would say that’s not worked out yet. There’s a certain number of fields and you have all of your teams there. Then there would have to be a schedule that would be created for all teams to actually train. We haven’t seen that yet. Those are all things we’re still waiting on to see. Again, you’ve got to remember that this is a possibility. We have not been told that it’s confirmed. We’re getting ready as if we’re going to progress to small group training and then hopefully at some point testing we’ll be involved. Then we’ll get involved in full team training, and potentially we’d be allowed to play a game in our stadium. I don’t know what that looks like right now, but that’s how we’re preparing for it.
We don’t have any confirmation on anything, whether it’s going to one city or three or four cities where you have six to eight teams. At this moment, you have to be able to adapt and adjust quickly. Things are changing all the time, and I’ve become very accustomed to that. It’s amazing how things can change from one hour to the next throughout the day. Then all of the sudden you go three days and nothing changes. We’ve tried to keep our guys focused on the fact that we’re taking the first step of a few in front of us to eventually get into full team training. We’ve just got to keep doing things the right way so that safety is taken care of. Physically we’ve got to be a good job progressing the guys, and then whatever comes our way, hopefully we’ll be prepared for that.
On Sporting players’ progression at voluntary individual workouts…
The guys have a really good attitude on the days that they come here and work out. Today they’re off and they’re doing a yoga Zoom call. When they’re here, the guys have good attitudes and work really hard. What’s difficult is that it’s one thing to have a good foundation of fitness. The other part is, how fast does that translate into playing the game when you’re competing against somebody? And how fast is your recovery to go again? That’s what soccer is. It’s quick action, then you get a second to rest, then you’ve got to go again. The only way you get that is by playing against someone. None of us have the ability to do that. A lot of this is going to be dependent on how fast guys can translate whatever fitness they have now into a game situation.
On how Sporting is monitoring players’ activities outside of workouts…
Everybody has been here at their normal residences, whether that’s an apartment or a house or what have you. Basically they’re living their lives. Part of our protocol is that every night, they get a questionnaire sent to them. It’s digital and they have to answer the questionnaire. It asks questions like, “Where have you traveled today outside of practice?” We ask all of those questions and they have to respond. Our guys are really good about doing it. What it does is it gives us a roadmap of what they’ve done. If a guy’s going to a grocery store, OK, we get it. But if he went out and played poker with five other guys, that’s a problem sitting around somebody’s house. We’re monitoring that as a part of their comings and goings everyday. What we can’t have is a guy thinking that because the Plaza is open, he can now go out to O’Dowd’s and show up the next day. Even though we have social distancing, we just don’t want that to be the case.
We’re doing our best and I think the guys are doing a great job. When they wake up in the morning, they have to fill out another questionnaire about how they fell or if they have any symptoms, which we list out. That also triggers other questions if they answer yes to anything. From gathering information on their daily routine, I think we’ve got a pretty good handle on where they are. They also understand the importance of them still maintaining this environment. It wouldn’t affect just them, it would affect the team as well.
On his conversations with other coaches in MLS and around the world…
I’ve talked to a lot of people around the world and there’s all kinds of things going on. Everyone has their challenges. The other thing is that, in some respects, I think we’re really lucky in the United States and in Major League Soccer. The reason being is we have a coordinated effort and a set of standards that everyone is trying to follow. I don’t mean this disrespectfully to any of the other countries. But in other countries, you’re kind of a standalone club. We’ve got a different business model for our sport and we have a centralized governing body, which is the league. A lot of stuff does go through them, and for all intents and purposes, it’s made for the right rollout that we currently sit in. We talk to a lot of people, but the problem is that it’s hard to compare. Everyone is doing different things, so it’s hard to compare.
On the relationship between MLS and the players union…
I hope we’re all working towards getting back on the field. That’s what I would say. I’m truly not privy to those conversations (between MLS and the players union). The league is very calculated to keep individual teams away from those conversations and, more importantly, the information (discussed). I can be pretty aggressive on things, but it’s one issue that I completely stay away from just because I know that it’s a closed loop and I’m not getting in. If they’re not asking me, I’ll let them figure it out. What I would say is that I hope everybody is working towards the same goal, and that is getting on the field as fast as we can. I’m not suggesting that we do things that are unsafe or anything. I’m just more of the mindset that, if it’s testing, lets figure it out and let’s go do it, right? If it’s acquiring tests that is the problem, let’s figure out what the issue is. It’s trying to figure it out and move on. I’ll say it again: I hope we’re all trying to get back towards what we normally do as quick as possible, and knowing full well that it’s not going to be perfect but we need to start moving towards it.
On the prospect of MLS potentially being the first major sports league returning to play…
I think it would be great to be first, but we shouldn’t try to be first just to be first and then make a bunch of mistakes. I maintain that we have to be very thorough about what it is that we’re going to do. At the same time, it’s also when you’re in situations like this that you can be very critical of what other people are doing and how they’re doing it. At some point, people are going to have to make some decisions. When the decisions are made, we’re all going to have to work toward making it work. We’ve got to provide solutions. That has to be the focus. Would I love (MLS) to be first? Absolutely, I would love that. It’s probably the competitor in me as well that would like it that way. But it’s not for the sake of having a bad plan.
