Sporting Kansas City's parting with goalkeeper Luis Marin was initiated by the former No. 1 and not by the club, manager and technical director Peter Vermes said.
“He has a personal family situation that has come up,” Vermes told reporters on Wednesday, “and he came to me and asked if I could understand that he has to move on, because he has to take care of something with his family, and he can't here in the United States. He has to do it down in Chile. So I have to respect situations like that, and I did, and that's really it. There's really nothing else to it.”
Marin, who lost his starting job to former pool 'keeper Tim Melia eight games into the season, did not elaborate on the situation, Vermes said.
“He came to me, and he didn't want to talk about it, and I understand,” he said. “I was willing to grant his request, based on the fact that – look, I'm not going to stand in the way of somebody. When there's guys that have situations – foreign players that have situations, and they need to leave, and they're away for a couple of days, I let them do that. Because I know what it's like to be a foreign player, in a different country, and then you're so far away from your situations, and your home, and all that stuff.”
Vermes said Marin made the request after Saturday's scoreless draw at Seattle, which saw Melia record his second shutout – facing only one shot on goal – and stay unbeaten in four starts.
“I didn't know this was going on,” Vermes said. “He came up to me, and he'd been thinking through it, and so when it came to Saturday night he was already like, 'I really need to do this.' I said, 'Why don't you take until tomorrow, overnight, and come sit down and talk to me. I'll work with you in different ways.' He just said, 'I can't do it. It doesn't feel comfortable.' So I respect it.”
Melia's performance and the recall of Jon Kempin from a loan to the NASL's San Antonio Scorpions have Sporting's goalkeeping situation in good hands, Vermes said.
- Get more SKC news at SportingKC.com
“We're great,” he said. “I don't have any concerns at all. We have Tim in good form, and Kempin back, and we'll see how it goes over the next so many weeks.”
Vermes said Kempin might get the start when Sporting begin US Open Cup play on June 16, but that was not yet set in stone.
“I'll have to see,” he said. “It just depends on how we're going, what our rhythm is and all of that. I'm not committing to that, by any means. It's not like Tim's been playing a boatload of games for us.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
