What to do without Alan Pulido? It may be Khiry Shelton’s job for the year. Or maybe new signing Nikola Vujnovic takes over. Either way, Pulido’s season-long absence considerably lowers this team’s ceiling.
Of course, it’s SKC and Peter Vermes and the floor is, as always, higher than most. But if you’re an SKC fan, how good are you feeling about having to rely on Johnny Russell and Daniel Salloi having career seasons again to reach the same level as last season? It’s not the worst bet you could make, but it’d be a lot easier to envision with Pulido drawing defenders. On top of that, there are questions about who starts and how effective they can be in midfield. Some key pieces are a bit on the older side, too. And I question whether the depth has improved on the league’s least substituted team in 2021 to make rotation seem a little more viable.
This year could potentially look quite similar for SKC fans. That being said, a lot of fans elsewhere in the league would take a standard SKC season without a second thought.
