Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast

Sporting KC traveled to LA this weekend a bit short handed due to a rapidly increasing injury list and it looked like it as LAFC were the far better side on the night and came away as 3-1 victors in what could almost be described as a tune up match for them before they begin their club world cup campaign in a few days.  There was a moment of brilliance for Sporting as they scored a very beautiful goal that was very much against the run of play to take a 1-0 lead late in the first half.  It was unfortunately short lived as LAFC were able to equalize before halftime and then drew a penalty to go up 2-1 causing Sporting to have to push their numbers forward for an equalizer that allowed LAFC to create havoc in transition, which eventually led to a stoppage time 3rd goal.We've reached the midpoint of the season, and it's probably time to take stock in where this team is, what performances we've been warmed by so far this season, and what is reasonable to expect from the team the rest of the year.  There are opportunities to improve both on and off the field, as well as a run of home games over the next several weeks to hopefully string some positive results together.Finally we will check in on everyone's favorite topic to be mad about online, the USMNT, the KC Current continuing their dominance even as they struggle with injury issues of their own, and a quick preview of the upcoming home match against FC Dallas.

Sporting Kansas City were able to come away with all 3 points after another come from behind performance this time in Houston, on the heels of a Dejan Joveljic brace and Santi Munoz' first goal in Sporting Blue.  Houston piled on quite a bit of pressure in this one, but SKC were able to survive the onslaught and come away with a 3-1 victory.There were a number of positive performances, including Goalkeeper John Pulskamp continuing to improve and play with confidence, Jacob Bartlett having one of his better performances in recent weeks, and of course Joveljic being clinical in front of net.  Unfortunately it wasn't all positive as SKC really struggled in the opening minutes of the match, requiring two very nice saves from Pulskamp to keep Houston off the board until Sebastian Kowalcyk's banger put SKC behind early, a trend that is becoming worryingly familiar.  Interim coach Kerry Zavagnin was able to make some adjustments both at the hydration break and at halftime that allowed Sporting KC to mitigate Houston's attack while they looked to create and finish chances of their own.  There remain some questions about whether Sporting KC create the volume of chances necessary to maintain this level of success though, and whether there need to be more structures in place to help them do so.Finally, we'll talk about the Sounders players protesting the amount of the Club World Cup bonus they receive, the Fire finally potentially getting a stadium that doesn't suck, the KC Current invading the USWNT roster, and a couple other potpourri items before a quick preview of SKC's trip to LAFC this weekend to take on the team that recently punched their ticket to said Club World Cup last weekend.

It was a tale of two halves at Children's Mercy Park on Saturday Night as Sporting Kansas City came out fairly flat in the first half of their game against New England.  Showing very little of the defensive organization that kept San Diego at bay the weekend prior.  New England repeatedly exposed space on SKC's right flank and scored two goals in the first half.  Thankfully the response was incoming as interim coach Kerry Zavagnin made 3 changes at halftime that immediately breathed life into the squad and they scored 3 goals in a matter of 16 minutes to take the lead in the 2nd half.Unfortunately they were unable to hold that lead for the rest of the game as Robert Voloder went down with a broken collarbone, and his replacement was unable to handle the transition speed of Luis Diaz as he repeatedly got free along SKC's left flank and served several dangerous balls in until Maxi Urruti finally got the equalizer.  Sporting KC did push for a game winner late, but were unable to get it in the net and had to come away with a 3-3 draw on what was obviously an emotionally draining night for several of the players coming off the news of Gadi Kinda's passing earlier in the week.That Zavagnin was able to make these impactful changes was certainly welcome, but it also has led to questions as to why they were necessary in the first place, and how effectively Zavagnin is setting up this team for success, or whether the players he's been given to try to achieve it are of the quality necessary for this team to continue to progress.Finally we will cover St Louis continuing to be messy, the Current continuing to roll even with an expanding injury list, and everyone's favorite topic, USMNT roster discourse before getting to a preview of the match in Houston this weekend.

MLS Rivalry week for some reason coincided with the first mid-week match day of the year and Sporting KC got the very short end of that stick having to travel to St Louis and San Diego after having just been in Portland the weekend prior, but were able to come away with two road draws after a comeback performance in St Louis, and a very pragmatic defensive-oriented 0-0 draw in San Diego.While the defense continues to gel and the performances of the center back pairing and goalkeeper John Pulskamp advance in a positive manner, there are some concerns regarding the attacking prowess of the team and whether there are the right structures or instructions in place to help the team put the ball in the net.  Some of this is situational given the schedule and game state due to squad rotation, but I think we've seen enough to have some realistic concerns about how the team is executing offensively and to discuss what we think needs to be addressed.Finally, we'll discuss the Current taking down the Pride but at significant cost to the health of the roster, Leo Messi being down so bad he's whining about referees, and do a preview of the upcoming home match vs the New England Revolution.Music by The Spin Wires

This is a quick one before the STL match on Wednesday. Drew and Cody give their thoughts on the performance in Portland on Saturday before previewing the derby against St Louis. Some things have improved, but others still need work.Music by The Spin Wires

Apparently the force was with Sporting Kansas City on Star Wars Day on Sunday as they needed to make some history to come home away with the 1-0 victory vs the Galaxy, doing so without registering a single shot in the game.  While it wasn't necessarily the kind of historical moment SKC fans were hoping to be attached to, 3pts is 3pts, and it took a very organized professional performance defensively to accomplish, led by both centerbacks Jansen Miller and Robi Voloder, as well as goalkeeper John Pulskamp.If anything can be said of the Kerry Zavagnin era so far in Kansas City, it is that he has certainly raised the floor of the performances of the team.  Not once has the team ever felt out of a game, and the problematic mistakes that have been a bugaboo of the past seem to have been significantly reduced, if not outright eliminated.  That said, I am not sure the ceiling has been raised a ton in the process.  We'll discuss what we see as potential next steps to build on this foundation that Kerry is putting in place, and what our hopes are for the continued progression of the team this season.Finally we will talk about the Current's 2nd loss in a row, FIFA and CONCACAF's latest cash grab play for a Club World Cup spot, and do a preview of a matchup that will seem pretty familiar as Sporting KC heads to Portland this weekend, given they just played each other here in Kansas City just a few weeks ago.

Sporting KC traveled to TQL stadium on Saturday and unfortunately were unable to come away with a result as Kevin Denkey scored two goals, one being an immediate goal of the year candidate meaning Zorhan Bassong's first professional goal went wanting and Sporting KC took a 2-1 defeat.Kerry Zavagnin made some interesting tactical choices in this game, leaving FCC to attempt to dictate play much of the first half and limiting space for them to play into, before opening the game up a bit after halftime as the team started chasing goals.  Either way, the execution of the plan in both halves was actually pretty competent, the scoreline notwithstanding.While the team did eliminate the big mistakes that have been a hallmark of this season, there were still plenty of areas for improvement, that said, they often appeared more to be limitations of the players themselves, rather than something coachable that can significantly improve over time.  We'll talk a bit about the project SKC has in front of them still from a roster building perspective, as well as the influence recruiting has on their ability to sign the players that can have the impact they need.Finally, we will preview SKC's return home for Sunday Night Soccer at Children's Mercy Park vs. the LA Galaxy.  It seems quite appropriate that the Galaxy are coming to town on Star Wars Day.

MLS After Dark was in full form late Saturday night and Sporting Kansas City was a prime protagonist as they won a wild 5-3 game in San Jose bouncing back from a frustrating defeat the prior weekend at home vs. Portland.  Daniel Salloi earned MLS Player of the Matchday honors bagging 2 goals and 2 assists and narrowly missing his first career professional hat trick.It was yet another game under the direction of interim coach Kerry Zavagnin where we saw Sporting KC be more dynamic and effective in their attack, getting their new DP#10 Manu Garcia in advantageous spaces and giving him the opportunity to let his vision and touch create multiple chances for Sporting KC to score.  It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, as San Jose piled on tons of pressure in return most of the game, and there were still some familiar issues defensively both on set pieces as well as closing down space in their own defensive third.  That said, everyone that listens to this podcast or follows this team closely at all is aware of the defensive deficiencies, and that for Sporting KC to win games with any level of regularity, will need to continue being aggressive on the attacking half of the field to compensate.  Tactical corner will be focused on some things we think SKC can work on that are not necessarily talent dependent, at least in technical skill.  There are some simple things regarding their rest defense posture as well as their line management that can be rectified with better organization and coordination, and they could at least limit the amount of negative events they are attempting to recover from.This week in Potpourri, MLS Hot Stove is scorching as we record this podcast with the MLS Primary Transfer window closing tonight at midnight, and SKC has been a key figure in the goings on over the last 48 hours, both bringing in a new player and saying goodbye to a fan favorite.  Speaking of fan favorites, the KC Current pushed their unbeaten start to the season to 5 games this past weekend, and their shutout streak to over 400 minutes as they continue to outclass every opponent they come across.  Finally, we will preview SKC's early afternoon away trip to Cincinnati, and discuss whether we think they can keep this level of attacking performance clicking and potentially make it a 3rd win in 4 matches of the Kerry Zavagnin Era

A frustrating Sunday afternoon in Children's Mercy Park saw Sporting Kansas City fall to the Portland Timbers 4-2 in a match that was plagued by all too familiar defensive mistakes and lapses in concentration.  Interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin tried to warn us in his press availability earlier in the week that this team would still lose games at times and while there was certainly continued progress in chance creation offensively, some familiar problems defending restarts came back to bite them and put them in an increasingly difficult, and ultimately insurmountable hole to climb out of.On a positive note, it was perhaps the best game we've seen yet from Shapi Suleymanov, scoring a goal, also earning two yellow cards and a PK, and generally giving Portland's left side all kinds of problems.  And yet he was removed from the game after 55 minutes in an attempt to bring fresh bodies to attempt to press Portland even further that was unfortunately fairly ineffective.  This was one of several choices Kerry Zavagnin made in this game that were certainly different than we are used to seeing from his predecessor, and certainly showed a willingness to try things and recognize that a 4-2 loss and a 7-2 loss count the same in the standings.  That said, it also reminded us that not all change is necessarily good, and it did seem to limit the effectiveness of the attack for a significant period of the 2nd half.  We'll dive into game #2 of the Kerry Experience this week and discuss what changes we see, and what we liked and didn't like about the decisions he made.Finally, Mike Illig sat down with Sam McDowell of the KC Star and offered some illuminating perspective on where he'd like to see this team go in the future, the Great Kevin de Bruyne Bake Off has begun as 4 MLS teams are now vying for his services, and a trialist appears at Sporting KC practice this week.Music by The Spin Wires

A collective euphoric release of literal months of pent up energy was finally able to be expelled at Children's Mercy Park on Saturday night as Dejan Joveljic slotted home two goals in the 2nd half of what had otherwise been a pretty cagey derby match with Pink Dog Food SC, meaning the good guys came away with a much needed 2-0 victory, and Kerry Zavagnin got an undefeated start to his time on the SKC sideline as interim head coach.  It was a match that did feel different in the stadium, both in atmosphere as well as the tactics on the field.  While the changes were far from wholesale, Kerry did put his imprint on the match and the team in this game, and by and large the decisions he made seemed to work effectively, and addressed areas of need that we've highlighted a bit recently.There were a number of standout performances, especially the two Designated Players that were brought here to help create goals, and we got to see them make good on that promise, additionally getting into combination areas centrally with each other, and giving all of us some sense of optimism about the potential of their partnership that was candidly hard to see before this match.We will get into all of that and more this week, as well as discuss Tim Melia's retirement, some more big moves in MLS, and what we thought of the USWNT's performance in two friendlies against Brazil this week before doing a preview of this Sunday's brunch match against the Portland Timbers.

Shockwaves were sent through the Kansas City and American Soccer Universe on Monday morning as Sam McDowell broke the news no one expected we would ever hear:  Sporting Kansas City and Peter Vermes had parted ways.  It was an unceremonious end to an almost two decade run on the technical staff of the club that included 4 trophies, as well as his playing career in KC that included the MLS Cup/Supporters Shield double in 2000.  He will widely be remembered as a key component to the immense growth of soccer we've seen in Kansas City and the United States the last 30+ years, and his name will continue to hang proudly on the wall in Children's Mercy Park.It was an unfortunate end to Peter's time leading the club, but a necessary one for the team to start on a new journey towards meeting the high standards Peter created during his time here.  Regrettably the team had fallen from that caliber in recent years, and ownership agreed that it was time to make a change to attempt to start a process to recapture that level of success.Mike Illig met with a large cadre of local and national media at Compass Minerals National Performance Center to discuss the decision and the plans to move forward.  He spoke with a significant amount of candor regarding the amount of work ahead of him and the organization as they look to replace a head coach for literally the first time.  Peter's fingerprints are on every inch of the facilities in which he worked, and it will take quite a bit of time to unravel the vast responsibilities he took on his shoulders and place them on both current and incoming personnel.In the meantime, Kerry Zagavnin, Peter's longtime assistant, and someone who has been at the club for even longer than Peter when you combine his playing and coaching career, will take the reins on the sidelines coaching the team.  Illig was very clear that Kerry had been promised this opportunity for some time, and that there was no other choice for who would step in as the interim manager while they both evaluate his performance as well as the potential candidate pool.  It will now be Kerry's charge to build and implement a tactical plan to address the significant needs of this team on the field, both offensively and defensively, and we will try to dig into some ideas of what adjustments we think could be made to help improve the on-field success of the team and build meaningful progress.And if you hadn't forgotten, our rivals from across the state come into Kansas City this weekend to try to keep that winless streak going.  They are a staunchly defensive team that Zavagnin and the staff will have their work cut out for trying to break down and get a result against on Saturday.

Sporting Kansas City returned to their losing ways on Saturday night in a staid, depressing, and rather familiar feeling performance losing 2-0 to LAFC.  LAFC was the 2nd in a row of very solid defensive opponents that do not care that much about possession and unlike Minnesota last week, did not relax once up 2-0 and gave SKC no opportunities of consequence to attack, and SKC was certainly not up to the task of creating said opportunities on their own.Peter Vermes lamented this fact after the game in his post game comments, stating that LAFC were simply the better team in every phase of the game.  While it was a fairly obvious statement, it rings a bit hollow as the team spent $9M in the offseason supposedly improving the quality of the attacking players on the roster only to see them struggle with the exact same issues as in the past.  There are of course reasonable arguments to be made about rapport building and time playing together, but this all feels so familiar it is hard to believe that this is simply going to get better with time.We will discuss what we would do both with the personnel and tactics to try to get something out of this team, as well as discuss the reality of the situation that Peter Vermes finds himself in, and whether we believe he is capable of pulling the team out of it.Finally we will look at the fun soccer team in KC, the Current as they start the season 2-0, a USMNT that sadly looks just as ineffective offensively as Sporting KC, and preview Sporting's upcoming road trip to Frisco to meet up with the now Lucho Acosta-led FC Dallas.

Sporting Kansas City has officially ended their losing streak, and not in the manner anyone would have expected both in how the game unfolded, nor the final score line. The first Orange Ball game in Children's Mercy Park history led to a wild comeback in the 2nd half, with Sporting scoring 3 goals in a 12 minute span before eventually coming away with a 3-3 draw against Minnesota United.  Now, a draw does mean that the team still has not won a game since the middle of September last year, but we are going to try to stay on a positive note for as long as we can this week, given the limited opportunity to such positive vibes so far this season.Something that appeared to spark the comeback was a welcome sight: Substitutions.  Peter Vermes was candidly fairly proactive in making changes, both at halftime and early in the 2nd half in an attempt to change the game, and it worked.  Daniel Salloi, Tim Leibold, and Memo Rodriguez made significant impacts to how the left side of Sporting's offense functioned in the last half hour of the game, and noticeably helped get the game back on level terms.Tactical corner this week will take a further look at coaching ideologies, how they can differ while still creating success, and what adaptations coaches like Peter Vermes who firmly believe in structure have to make in order to maintain success in the current game.  We've spent a lot of time on the podcast the past several months talking about how an overemphasis control and structure could potentially be a bugaboo for the long term prospects of the club, and we will expound on that conversation further as well as suggest things we are seeing positional play coaches implement in their systems as well as the subtle shifts Vermes appears to have employed as well.Finally we will take a quick look at how the USMNT is doing vs. Panama(the game is being played as we are recording this), check in on the Current as they started off their 2025 season with a bang, and do a quick preview of this weekend's upcoming matchup vs. LAFC.

Sporting Kansas City has now extended their losing streak to 10 straight games in all competitions stretching back to last year as they lost 2-1 to DC last Saturday night.  If that sounds like a familiar introduction to you, I only had to make 2 changes to the text from last week's intro to achieve it.  The opponent, and increasing the losing streak total by 1.  To say that things have gotten pretty rotten in the state of Missouri(and/or Kansas) would be putting it pretty mildly.There were some tactical wrinkles to this game, another debut for a new player on the roster(taking us up to 7 already this year), and an actual goal from the run of play that was pretty fun.  But unfortunately there was still a lot of sloppy play in both the offensive and defensive third that have fans pretty apoplectic about the prospects of the club this year.  It also has the members of this podcast asking questions about how this team means to score goals this year, as well as keep them out of their own.The annual GM survey by the Athletic dropped this week, with some predictable responses combined with some interesting tidbits and ideas of how MLS can improve in not only salary spending and schedule management, but also in scouting, both in sophistication as well as managing prime areas to scout in.  Also, the USMNT has dropped their roster for the final rounds of the Nations League, and there were some fun additions that may have been a bit unexpected.Finally, we will preview the Minnesota game this weekend, and discuss whether we believe SKC is effectively equipped to handle the Loons gameplan.

Sporting Kansas City has now extended their losing streak to 9 straight games in all competitions stretching back to last year as they were unable to find a goal while up a man for over 40 minutes against San Jose in Children's Mercy Park last Saturday night, in front of the first home opener non-sell out in the venue's history.There are a lot of (candidly)reasonable opinions asking for patience with this team due to the circumstances it is in through the 4 games played this year, but given the recent history, it is not surprising to find that most fans have run out of it, hence the empty seats you could too easily see in the stadium Saturday night.  Too many familiar themes reared their ugly heads during this match, and it is difficult to look at the performances on the field so far and come to the conclusion that some significant change in fortunes is coming.One of the standout concerns from this game and the others this season has been a prevalence of indecision.  This is not a new problem, it has permeated this team for some time now, and it leads to significant errors defensively, and a general feeling of inaction offensively.  While you would expect that some of this improves as new players build more time in training together over the coming weeks, it is a familiar refrain that certainly has the members of this podcast questioning if it can be fully remedied with the currently available options on the roster and coaching staff.Finally, the KC Current at long last release their teal kit, The Bartlett Brothers get an opportunity to match up on Saturday, and will Christian Benteke end Robi Voloder's MLS career?

We've gone from waiting months on end to have a game to watch and analyze to having two in one week!  Really three if you want to get technical, but 2 since the last time Cody and I got together to grace your ears with our enlightening and insightful analysis.  Unfortunately, the trend of losing those games has continued, leaving the vocal portion of the fanbase in the comments sections at large to be having totally rational reactions regarding the state of the team.We spent a lot of time last week discussing silver linings from a 1-0 loss at home to Miami given the defensive performance, but now that we are getting a bit larger sample size of games certain performances are standing out, both on the positive and negative side of things.  Given that all 3 games have been losses, we would be remiss to ignore those negatives, even if given context we can perhaps see opportunities for them to improve.A couple of weeks ago we did silly season overreactions, and this week we will be shifting into way too soon overreactions, discussing all of our takes from the first 270 minutes of Sporting KC's season, and what things we definitely feel super confident about stamping our names on as completely correct and not the least bit half-baked takes.Finally, we'll discuss how even refs want Messi's jersey, why George Brett thinks St Louis sucks, and a fairly unexpected exit for Alenis Vargas.

Drew has only partially thawed out from a bone chilling evening at Children's Mercy Park that saw Sporting Kansas City finally play a game of meaning, unfortunately losing 1-0 to Lionel Messi and Friends in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup tie.  This game couldn't have come at a better time for us as it has been what has seemed like an interminable offseason causing us to spend way too much time parsing information and we finally have a game to see and evaluate and assess.There were a number of surprises in the lineup for this match, some due to fitness issues and others due to players playing in positions we did not expect.  And while the result wasn't ideal, there was a surprising amount of pragmatism, realism, and optimism regarding the performance especially from a defensive perspective against a very talented attacking opponent.Tactical Corner this week will focus on that defensive shape, that while not necessarily earth shattering, inventive or new, showed a remarkable amount of organization given how few of the personnel meant to accomplish it were new to the team, and spoke to many of the references Peter Vermes made towards “mentality” last year which could easily be read as effort to execute effectively.Finally, we will cover a couple news items around the team before doing a quick preview of the team's season opener in Austin this weekend.

Manu Garcia arrived in KC just in time to be greeted by a snowstorm and his new teammates returning from preseason. We take a look at some much too soon predictions for the team filled with a bunch of partial information from preseason scrimmages and lineups.Peter Vermes made the rounds on radio shows this week giving some insight into some of the offseason transactions and the things he is looking for from the team. It is always good to have a listen to what he has to say as he is often more forthcoming in these interviews than he is during normal press availability.We spend some time overreacting to everything that happened this off-season, given that said off-season is almost over, hopefully it gets it out of our requisite systems so we can get ready for an actual game of meaning Tuesday evening vs Inter Miami.Finally, a quick discussion about both Claire Hutton and Michelle Cooper getting calls up to the USWNT for the SheBelieves Cup, as well as the Soap Opera saga involving Lucho Acosta and Evander, as both find new homes and Portland gets money to re-invest in a new DP#10.Music by The Spin Wires.

We have spent the last two weeks anxiously twiddling our thumbs waiting for the official announcement of two transfers from Greece, and little did we know that another transaction was brewing that was going to subvert them both from right here in MLS.  Sporting Kansas City became the very first club to use the league's new cash for trades system, acquiring Center Forward Dejan Joveljic from the LA Galaxy for $4M and signing him to a new Designated Player contract that will keep him in Kansas City for at least the next 3 years.  This move came as somewhat of a shock to SKC fans as it went from a somewhat throwaway comment by Tom Bogert on Thursday's Soccerwise episode to a done deal Saturday evening.  There is a lot to like about Joveljic and the concept of SKC locking up a DP#9 for the foreseeable future, but it does raise questions about William Agada's standing with the team and his future in KC. We did get more good news just 36 hours later as the reported transfers of Manu Garcia and Shapi Suleymanov from Aris Thessaloniki in Greece were officially announced on Monday morning.  Sporting KC has now both a DP 9&10 signed, laying out reportedly around $9M to do so, as well as adding more attacking depth with Suleymanov.  While there is still opportunity to improve the roster further, and some reasonable questions as to how quickly these changes will yield positive results, it is certainly safe to say that SKC is making moves to try to move forward from a fairly dour 2024 season. With the addition of Garcia, we can finally start to look at how the midfield may operate in 2025 including the depth chart and likely roles within the tactical structure.  Midfield control was area of significant concern in 2024, and while the addition of Garcia will certainly help raise the level of the midfield in general, there is still some discussion about how to employ these players effectively to both enable positive chance creation while eliminating opponents' opportunities for attacking transition events.  We'll discuss what we expect this midfield to look like and how Peter Vermes and Co may go about addressing what should be a significant area of focus this season. Finally, we will take a quick look at my favorite MLS release of the year, the updated roster rules.  Now, I promise not to spend 20 minutes talking about how to manipulate the rules to maximize the amount of GAM you can receive or what this new 31st slot on the roster means.  But we will cover a couple items of note that are of consequence to Sporting KC.

The combo meal of transfers appears to have developed in Thessaloniki as Sporting KC work to close the transfer of Spanish Attacking Midfielder Manu Garcia and appear to be close to acquiring his Aris teammate Right Winger Shapi Suleymanov as well.  We have a few reported details on the structure of this deal and why it's happening in this manner, even if it caused one member of this podcast to get pre-emptively grumpy about what could appear to be a bulk discount strategy for player acquisition by the front office. But, this wasn't the only new player connected with Sporting Kansas City this week, as they have also reportedly put in a bid on 21 yo CB Bryan Okoh, currently with RB Salzburg.  Okoh has candidly not played a lot of soccer over the past couple seasons, and when he has, it has mostly been in the Austrian 2nd Division, not with the Salzburg first team. So this is another somewhat underwhelming player in profile based on what we can glean from the internet.  Obviously, those searches have limits, but it is hard to think this is a signing that could immediately come in and significantly improve the quality of SKC's back line. Sporting KC has wrapped up their Florida leg of preseason and is en route back to KC as we record this podcast before heading out to California for phase 2 of the preseason and the Coachella Valley Invitational this upcoming weekend.  They are unfortunately coming back with no wins across their 3 scrimmages, but did finally get on the score sheet today against Charlotte.  Perhaps the most notable information gleaned from these games came in the post game press conferences where we learned that it is unlikely any personnel are going to be added to the goalkeeping room, that a couple of the non-contract players in camp appear to have impressed, and that while not official yet, the process for acquiring players is progressing in a positive manner. Finally we will discuss MLS releasing the details of what teams are participating in what non-league tournaments, including SKC's potentially very limited non-league schedule, as well as talk about player enablement within a tactical structure in tactical corner.

Finally, after almost a year of saying it was the position of highest priority, Sporting KC have been reportedly in negotiations with a DP #10 target, Manu Garcia of the Greek Super League club Aris.  SKC fans have to feel like the old lady titanic gif that says “It's been 84 years…” upon hearing this report.  There is obviously work yet to be done to get this deal completed, but it is finally a clear sign of intent from a club that has until now, only been capable of relaying promises without results. It did not take long for the takes to come pouring in about Mr Garcia, from parsing his injury history, to tearing apart his goal-scoring stats, to asking “Who the hell is Aris Thessaonliki” to salivating over some absolutely absurd passes in his YouTube highlight videos.  Thankfully I am a certified sicko and fired up Wyscout to look at some of his event comps and hopefully can provide a bit more detail on the player and what his potential might look like.SKC also played a game(sort of) against FIU last Saturday.  These scrimmages rarely tell you much and this one even less so given 5 players were held out for precaution and they could only play a 60 minute game because SKC had so few players available to participate.  That did not stop too many people from trying to parse any useful information from the game that we literally have no actual information on than 8 tweets and a post game press conference.  Honestly the post game presser was more useful for gleaning gems about playing style, Mason Toye's attributes and how the team looks to use them, and Mr Burns' trip “overseas” that we have since learned likely included a stop in Greece to work on the Garcia deal which is still pending. We teased it last week, but we are going to do a bit of a tactical refresher on the tactical setup we think is most likely to be deployed by Vermes this year.  He has been giving us tidbits during his media availability and the players have as well that should help clarify expectations, and it has been a minute since we dusted off the positional play handbook as well as the possession structures and counter-pressing shapes and pressure triggers that we expect to see and what that means for maximizing the personnel the team has available to it.  So, this is as good of a time as any to review and refine our perspectives on that philosophy. Finally, we'll do a quick review of analytics perspectives on the heels of Matt Pfeffer joining the ASA pod this week, discuss Diego Luna's breakthrough with the USMNT, and take a look ahead at the upcoming week as the European transfer window comes to a close and transactions being worked on there start to accelerate.

Peter Vermes and Mike Burns convened for their first press conference of the year and it was rife with news and details about a number of changes we've been discussing over the past several weeks, as well as some new information that we had not yet heard from the club.  We learned the details of the Pulido transfer to Chivas, a new signing at center forward to spell William Agada now that Pulido is gone, and the revelation that anyone that becomes the team's captain this season needs to have the cajones to take it.  There was also some discussion around tactics, and hearing Vermes echo the sentiment of this podcast at least once or twice about areas the team needs to improve.   Mike Burns did discuss that the Pulido transfer has accelerated their planning regarding the timeframe to execute on this project, and merely days later MLS announced some significant changes to some of the roster building mechanisms that he will need to utilize to accomplish those goals.  The internal transfer system was implemented, GAM became perpetual, and there were some other changes to create more flexibility in how a team looks to build its roster, which was a word that was echoed by Burns several times on Friday. Finally, we will discuss what our expectations are for this rebuild project and how it might correlate to other clubs we've seen accomplish the same of late, as well as cover some of the frenzy of hot stove news around the league with numerous teams making moves at a pace that means Tom Bogert is probably killing his phone battery 3 times a day, as well as check in on the club in Miami as they get preseason started.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Alan Pulido completed his oft rumored, but rarely taken serious return to Chivas de Guadalajara, the club from which Sporting KC acquired him back in 2020, and seemingly couldn't go a single offseason without being linked back to.  We considered this to be a contract that Sporting KC would not be able to reasonably get out of, and had resigned ourselves to the fact that his presence would be a significant portion of the rebuild planning Mike Burns and Peter Vermes are attempting to architect.  How little did we know? Transferring Pulido to Guadalajara is the most recent in a variety of offseason moves that have created tons of flexibility in how the SKC front office wants to approach rebuilding the roster.  The problem is, that requires acquiring players to fill those roster slots, and as of the recording of this podcast, the only players that have come into the team are literally in high school.  This has led to some consternation amongst the fanbase as to what to expect from a team currently only has 19 rostered players, most of which are of the role-playing variety.  We'll get into whether it's time to panic, and what to reasonably expect from this team this season. Finally, we discuss the departure of a staple on the SKC coaching staff, the holiday season ritual of Adidas kit leaks and SKC's in particular, as well as a quick update on the goings on with the KC Current offseason.

Cody got knocked out by some kind of virus that destroyed his vocal cords, so I was able to scour the transfer market for a short term loan from Daniel Sperry with the KC Star to join the pod this week. The MLS and Concacaf Champions Cup schedules have been released, and a certain Argentinian World Cup winner is returning to Kansas City, this time to the friendly confines of Children's Mercy Park.  MLS did make some needed adjustments to their TV schedule meaning we do have a couple Sunday evening games in KC this year as well as what looks like a brutal run through the month of May. It is the offseason, so Tactical Corner gets replaced with Roster Corner as we look at the moves SKC is making to attempt to reinforce and rebuild a roster that will have a fair amount of turnover.  There were some new Homegrown signings, an expansion draft, the Superdraft that was decidedly less super in coverage this year, as well as an actual rumor worth discussing coming out of Brazil for a young Argentinian winger. Finally - The Current sign some goalkeepers, National sports media gets a whiff of MLS Cup ratings, and MLS keeps dropping transparency bombs out of nowhere and tells us exactly how much Allocation Money every team is starting the season with.

It is officially the “Hot Stove” portion of the year and the rumors and announcements are starting to pour in around MLS and Sporting KC has even been mentioned in one or two.  With most of the teams in MLS having publicly announced their roster decisions we have the opportunity to look with in the league and see if there are any players standing out that SKC may potentially want to look at to solidify a few areas of need within the roster.  As usual, I have gone deep down a rabbit hole of identifying every available player, their age, position, most recent compensation and the league mechanism they'd have to go through to come up with a couple interesting ideas of areas the team might be able to focus. There was quite a fervent discussion on the H&A discord last week regarding the goalkeeper situation and how SKC might look to fill that spot on the roster.  I think we can provide some context around what is most likely as well as what makes sense based on the decisions and communications made to date by the team. We also have an Expansion draft coming up for the new San Diego Franchise which means it's time to discuss who can/should be on SKC's protection list.  Mike Kuhn did a lot of the legwork for us on this already to help break down where the margins are and we'll have a quick discussion on what we expect to happen. Finally - there were a number of coaching changes that happened since we recorded last, the Concacaf Champions Cup draw is coming, PRO Referees continue to be messy, and there's a little matter of an MLS Cup Final this weekend to discuss. Music by The Spin Wires

Sporting KC announced their long awaited roster decisions last week, moving on from 8 of the 16 players eligible for an exit at the end of this season.  This created quite a stir as a couple of the players leaving have legitimate shouts to be SKC Legends one day.  It is never easy to make changes like this but it is the type of change both of the proprietors of this podcast have asked for as well as fanbase at large.   Mike Burns met with the media last Friday to discuss these changes, plans for the future, and how he is looking at building the roster this off-season.  It was a surprisingly candid press conference, with relative openness to discuss how he means to go about replacing key players on the roster in much greater detail than we have become accustomed to.  It also showed an understanding of key areas of need in the Sporting Department in order for the front office to function effectively in the current version of MLS. The USMNT took care of business against Jamaica in a 5-2 aggregate win moving them onto the CONCACAF Nations League final stage.  The away leg in Jamaica was predictably cagey, much to do with the pitch conditions and hostile environment.  The return leg in St Louis got going with a bang early, and showed some new sophistication in how this team attacks opponents that should it continue could certainly help raise the ceiling of its performances in the future. Finally, we have to discuss the Current exiting the NWSL playoffs in rather frustrating fashion, as well as cover a few topics around MLS including the upcoming 2nd round of the playoffs that seem like we've been waiting a month for. Music by The Spin Wires.

We will be mostly focusing on topics around the world of Sporting Kansas City soccer this week, because candidly that is the only place where anything of note is currently happening.  Both MLS and NWSL have begun their playoffs and there have been a number of interesting stories emanating from those matchups that caught our eye. The USMNT is convening for their first meaningful matches under Mauricio Pochettino as they take on Jamaica in a home-home series in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League, with plenty of questions due to injuries in key positions as well as some returning players that missed the September friendlies. Finally we will cover a number of interesting news topics coming out of MLS in the past couple weeks, including coaches being hired in Chicago and San Jose, a coach being fired in Philly, and Taylor Twellman allegedly not being able to control his temper.

The offseason has well and truly begun and given the length of time before SKC plays another meaningful game, the feelings of malaise and cynicism regarding the future prospects of the club seem to be permeating the fan base.  We spent a fair amount of time talking about the amount of work that Peter Vermes and Mike Burns have in front of them and the length of that timetable was predictably frustrating. We also briefly discussed the comments Vermes made in the press just prior to our recording last week, and part of that discussion certainly eluded to a fairly drawn out process before making and announcing decisions on what players will be leaving the club and who might be returning.  His rationale for using the available time to make those decisions effectively was sound, but for a fanbase eager to visualize these significant changes he kept referring to, it was another ask for patience amongst a group that has very little left to give. Given the amount of available time for the team to make these decisions, it allows us to do some fantasy GM-ing of our own on the podcast.  Having already discussed the 4 players out of contract, we will focus on those with option years available to be picked up next year, who we think is worthwhile to keep around, and who can make room for potential signings.  Additionally, we will take a look at the known free agent class and discuss whether any of them makes sense for SKC to make a run at. Finally we will discuss how pervasive boring soccer has become in the world game(and MLS), the ridiculous Ballon d'Or discourse, a potential schedule change after the 26 world cup and take a look at whether the Current can make it up into 2nd place and gain homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

Sporting KC went out with a whimper as they traveled to Frisco TX on Saturday night to close out a fairly forgettable season against FC Dallas.  Much of how the game went was a microcosm of the season as a whole, including giving up a bad goal, making ridiculous mistakes due to poor communication, and Willy Agada being the only one creating chances of any significance in the game. While we may have expected it to be a curtain call for a number of players on the team, most of them didn't even make the trip as they were “injured”.  This created a fairly unbalanced lineup that certainly influenced SKC's ability to impact the game in the way they wanted. There has been a lot of talk about the upcoming rebuild this offseason, and the factors that are driving it, being a lack of spending to date, the lack of mentality in the locker room, or the incomplete nature of the roster build.  Peter Vermes has finally started to say the rebuild word out loud, as well as making clear commitments on where the club will be looking to spend in the offseason.  We'll discuss some of these structural changes that need to be made, and assess what realistic expectations should be had of the club next year as well as in the off-season before competitive games begin again next February. Finally we will spend some time discussing a fascinating discussion David Gass had with Bobby Warshaw around youth development and the implications it has for Sporting KC, as well as the Temwa for MVP discourse, and finish with a quick preview of the MLS playoff race which begins with the Eastern Conference play-in game tonight.

Sporting KC welcomed LAFC to Children's Mercy Park on Saturday night for what was billed as a re-match of the US Open Cup final and a final opportunity to close out the home season on a positive note.  What it was instead was a stark reminder of how vastly different the trajectories these two teams are at the moment.  It was so bad that anyone at the stadium within viewing distance of a television decided to watch the end of the Royals game instead of being subjected to that 2nd half performance. It also reminded us how Sporting has to perfectly execute a game plan at their maximum capability to even compete with a team of this quality, and how quickly the dominos fall when they do not.   We finally got a look at summer window signing Joaquin Fernandez, and while it was a short 45 minute cameo, I think there were some things to be positive about regarding his performance, even if it was clear he was not close to 90 minutes fit. After the game there were a lot of quotes from Peter Vermes and the players regarding the need for this team to go through significant change to raise its competitive level(our favorite word mentality was thrown around again), as well as the recognition by some of the longer standing members of the team that their time may be at an end in Kansas City, whether they want it to be or not. Finally, the Current get a goal from someone other than Temwa(if a bit un-repeatable), the MLS 22 under 22 list predictably has no SKC players on it, and both Jurgen Klopp and Gregg Berhalter find new jobs.

We are back!  After a bit of an extended break due to yours Drew's visit to Los Angeles for the Open Cup Final, we have returned to find there are 2 games left in a season many people would like to forget. The performance in LA was probably as good as could be expected, with a legit chance to steal the game late on Johnny Russell's foot.  Unfortunately once Extra Time started, the limitations of Sporting KC's roster began to show through and the candidly much higher quality of LAFC took advantage. Then Sporting were made to travel to St Louis on 3 days rest for a derby with the Pink Dog Food team, and were predictably short handed.  There was a ton of rotation in player quality, and while the performance wasn't exactly poor, a familiar refrain of the team with better players making better plays played out, and SKC took a 2nd consecutive 3-1 defeat. In my distinct hope to find some kind of silver lining, we will discuss what appears to be more competent and improved performances in light of these results, and whether Peter Vermes has actually had one of the better coaching seasons of his career, if one of his poorer as the Chief Soccer Officer. Finally, the Current try to secure some home playoff games, the USMNT's first roster on Mauricio Pochettino is out, and LAFC comes to town for a re-match from that Open Cup final.

Drew has returned from the Pacific Northwest and while he enjoyed much of his trip to Seattle, the soccer was not a reason why.  Sporting KC came away with a pretty lackluster performance and a 2-0 defeat to the Sounders that honestly could have been even worse.The absence of Jake Davis was apparent pretty early in this match, as the Bassong/Walter double pivot struggled to contain the Sounders and often lost central control as has often been an issue with this team when Jake has not been in the midfield.Candidly it's been a bit difficult to find new and inviting topics to cover when it comes to this team as the negative results continue to pile up.  I went crowd-sourcing on the Discord for ideas and it led me to dig into some historical data on this team and remember fondly of simpler times when Khiry Shelton playing CF was the only thing to really complain about.Finally, the Current look much better the 2nd time around vs Orlando, Joaquin Fernandez is finally in full training, and we preview 3 more matches coming up including a Cup Final.

If you had told me that Sporting KC was going to head up to New Jersey without a number of players and come away with a 1-1 draw before the game started I'd have probably thought that was a decent result.  Unfortunately, the way they went about achieving said draw left a bit of a sour taste in the mouths of fans and was a reminder of how many leads the club has shipped in the 2nd half of games the season.   Sporting KC will also be without perhaps the most promising member of the roster, Jake Davis, for the next 2 league matches after he somehow acquired two yellow cards in a matter of 10 minutes.  Jake continues to be a bright spot in a pretty dour season, and it's telling that his suspension is causing as much consternation as it is amongst Sporting KC fans. We will dive a bit deeper into the Roster conversation as it seems Peter Vermes is trying to get good looks at a number of players over the waning months of the season, and discuss what type of turnover is good, and what can perhaps be too much. Finally, there are a number of topics to cover in Potpourri before we do a quick preview of another road trip for Sporting KC as they head to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seattle Sounders.

In the category of “Things I did not expect to open with,” Sporting KC won twice in the last week and maintained shutouts in both games!  They had maintained a grand total of 3 shutouts in all competitions this season prior to last Saturday night, so to get two in a row was, shall we say, unexpected.  The performances in both games were significant improvements defensively over what we have become familiar with lately, and they also did not get punished for every single mistake like they often have this year, so perhaps some luck is turning their way in that regard. There was also a fair bit of tactical fluidity in both games, specifically in possession structure, that seemed to be personnel dependent.  This is a welcome shift in philosophy from Peter Vermes and the coaching staff, and one we have been pining for basically for the entirety of this podcast's existence, and gives us something to nerd out on a bit in tactical corner this week. In Potpourri we discuss KP's move to Belgium, KU football invading Children's Mercy Park, and the menagerie of roster moves the KC Current have made as their summer transfer window closes.

Leagues Cup has become a bit of an extended break for Sporting KC, and probably one they welcome after the level of schedule density and player availability issues that they had encountered over the past several weeks.  The players and staff all got a welcome few days off and hopefully are returning to training this week with a renewed sense of motivation as they look towards the last couple months of the season that hopefully include a legitimate run at the US Open Cup trophy. Unfortunately that also means that for the proprietors of this podcast, the only soccer we had to consume were the games played by the teams that actually advanced to the later rounds of Leagues Cup and it certainly underlined the gap in capability between Sporting KC and the teams they ostensibly want to be competing with in the future.  It also brought to light some concerns about what SKC is actually trying to accomplish on the field from game to game, and what their goals should be for the remainder of the MLS season as they look to identify the right personnel to take forward into 2025 and what the game model should be to get the best performance out of said players. In Potpourri there is some significant USMNT coaching reporting that has yours truly quite excited, the KC Current win their first trophy(technically), and the Leagues Cup continues to be a bit of a bugaboo for Liga MX teams for a variety of reasons which has their fans questioning the competition in general.

We're back!  After an inopportune bout of COVID for Drew, we have returned and wow have things gone well for Sporting KC in our absence.  Actually, I'm sorry, the exact opposite has happened as their Leagues Cup campaign hit the skids.  SKC went down 2-1 at home vs. Toluca in a match they certainly could have gotten a result from had things gone a bit more their way, but perhaps from a quality perspective may not have really deserved.  Then they headed to Columbus where the predictable happened, they got sent home again with their tail between their legs after a 4-0 defeat. But there's good news!  Sporting KC have signed a player!  What's that you say?  It's a Centerback?  Oh.  From Spain?  Shocking.  Who barely played last year because of a knee injury?  Yay. Let's be honest folks, there isn't a ton to get super excited about when it comes to this team.  We know that.  But as any Chiefs fan that existed prior to 2017 will tell you, that's what makes the elation that much more significant when things finally start to go your way.  In the meantime, we will continue to break down this team, flaws and all, and hopefully provide some combined levity and catharsis for both ourselves and you as we progress through this season. In Potpourri there was some actual good news, the USWNT brought home gold for the first time in 12 years.  The KC Current made it to the final of the Summer Cup which is in…checks notes..October.  And on Wednesday they are kicking off some other tournament called the “Women's Cup”?  The MLS is strong with the NWSL.  And, speaking of MLS and NWSL connections, a 16yo kid gets derided on the internet for “reporting” something the adults in the room should really have done a much better job of vetting.

It was Sunday Funday(night?) at Children's Mercy Park as Sporting KC kicked off their Leagues Cup campaign with a win against the Chicago Fire.  There were a couple surprises in the gameday roster and starting lineup along with a couple really nice headed goals to get the 2-1 victory.  Of course the beginning of Leagues Cup has also reignited the discourse around the tournament, which wasn't helped by Don Garber's comments about the Open Cup during all star weekend. Stephen Afrifa was one of the surprise additions to the starting XI and had perhaps his best performance in an SKC shirt including an assist on the game winning goal.  This highlighted an ongoing difference in opinion about how to successfully integrate and develop younger players between SKC's technical staff and members of this podcast, but it was a welcome performance to see nonetheless. SKC brought out a familiar possession shape albeit from a different base formation than usual, and it did lead to having mostly firm control of the game and limiting opportunities for Chicago to take advantage of transition. In Potpourri we take a quick look at the Olympic tournaments for both the men and women, as both have qualified for the knockout stages before giving our one thing to look for as Toluca comes back to Kansas City next Monday.

Sporting Kansas City allowed fans to have hope of a potential turn around for about 3 days after dispatching a terrible San Jose team on the road last Saturday.  Unfortunately they followed it up by closing out this very dense stretch of the schedule with a loss in Vancouver and a 1-1 draw at home vs the Pink Dog Food CITY SC team on Saturday night.  The good news is, this means Cody is sufficiently grumpy about this team again so you will get the entertainment you expect from this podcast. The secondary transfer window is open and while there is a lot of generalized talk about Sporting KC making a signing or two this summer, very little news of anything concrete has appeared as of yet.  We'll discuss what the potential is for additions this summer, and what we should reasonably expect from the team the rest of the year. Tactical corner will be a look into a nuanced, but important change to the shape SKC and Vermes are employing with Pulido and Agada on the field at the same time.  It has its positives, but it also has some dependencies that could be impacting the ability to use other players effectively.   In Potpourri the KC Current sign a new Center Back, and kick off the Summer Cup with a 3-1 drubbing of Houston in a game that saw both teams reaching deep into their rosters to complete the game.  Finally, we look into the beginning of Leagues Cup play as Chicago comes to town on Sunday night.

Sporting Kansas City's performances were apt to be described best by Genarro Gatusso over the past week, but did reside mostly in the “sometimes maybe good” department, getting 2 consecutive wins at home over FC Dallas including a weather-interrupted Open Cup quarterfinal last night that went the full 120 minutes.  This had the effect of somewhat washing out the sour taste of a frustrating final 30 minutes in Colorado on the 4th of July that erased what was a fairly well executed, if unexpected, game plan for the first hour. I don't know if it's fair to say SKC are making a turn, but we have seen more solid performances from certain players, and the coaching staff appearing willing to move on from some others that continue to make significant mistakes.  This all taking into account the level of the competition, which in the case of Dallas, candidly isn't very good. Tactical corner this week will be a look into how Vermes both looks to use his midfielders and fullbacks, and what kinds of dependencies that creates as well as the traits it requires to succeed.   In Potpourri, we discuss Tactical Manager's favorite news release of all time, Gregg Berhalter being fired by US Soccer.  What realistically can the fanbase expect from a replacement coach? Are people's expectations way too high?  Who do we like for the position.  Finally we will each give you one thing to look for with two more games coming up in the next 6 days.

Is that a light at the end of the tunnel we see?  Sporting Kansas City finally announced the hiring of their long awaited Sporting Director on Friday, former long time New England Revolution GM Mike Burns.  Then they followed it up with a comprehensive beat down of Austin FC at Children's Mercy Park on Saturday.  Both of these stories have caveats, as they often do, but it was nice to have some semblance of positivity around a club that has had very little for some time. On Tuesday we got to hear from both Peter Vermes and Burns in person as well as commitments from ownership about upcoming investment in the roster.  There is a lot to unpack about this situation, from the choice of Burns, the reporting structure, the decision making matrix, how much actual money they have and what their freedom is to spend it, and what other areas the club is looking to invest in to enhance its ability to be a more effective technical department in the future.  As you can all imagine, we have a lot of thoughts on this and will do our best to share them in a meaningful and informative manner. SKC has a ton of games coming up(there will probably be 3 between now and the next time we record this podcast), including a pivotal matchup in the US Open Cup should Sporting want to try to extract any kind of positive vibes from this season. Outside the SKC news, the USMNT got bounced from Copa America so of course everyone is having an exceptionally rational response to that and apparently calling for Jurgen Klopp to coach the team, the KC Current smothered Houston on Friday night, and CPKC stadium is going to be the home of the NWSL Cup Final.

Every time we think things can't possibly can't any worse, Sporting KC finds new depths of despair to plummet into and that was on full display in Columbus last Saturday.  Peter Vermes tried a new formation, but the players seemed ill equipped to execute the positional responsibilities it entailed, and they candidly got dog walked out of the stadium in a 4-0 defeat.  What a wonderful homecoming game for Aidan Morris though. The result left a number of fans asking when any substantive change would actually happen.  This was the kind of defeat that has gotten many an MLS coach, even those with storied careers like Sigi Schmid fired.  On Monday, Sporting KC did release communications about someone leaving the club, but it was not the droid the fans were looking for.  It was instead Brian Bliss.   This roster is in desperate need of the overhaul that Mike Illig and Peter Vermes have been open about discussing in the press, so we will take a look at what realistically that “overhaul” could look like and how much substantive change might actually happen given how significant the financial investment will likely need to be to accomplish it. Music by The Spin Wires

Things are rotten in the state of Missouri(or Kansas), and a predictably hard portion of the SKC schedule has produced two more frustrating losses making it 10 losses from the last 12 games.  But, look on the bright side, at least the San Jose Earthquakes exist.  While both of the games did end in losses to very good teams in the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, there was actually some semblance of positivity due to the significantly improved chance creation over those games.  They also tried some alternate tactics and players that have at least in moments appeared to breathe some life into the attack.  The team still struggles to defend in transition, but at least they aren't as depressing to watch in possession.  Either that, or things are so bad that fans will find anything that appears the least bit positive to latch onto. American Soccer Analysis released their annual league survey addressing the analytics departments of every team in MLS, and unsurprisingly, Sporting KC was 5th from last in the league in the survey.  It is hard not to correlate their poor run of form lately with the limitations(perceived or valid) of their analytics practice, and continue to think that this club is falling further and further behind its rivals in multiple areas.  We will dive into the information from this survey, what it really means, and how it's not as simple as saying “do analytics” and things all of a sudden get better. Finally, a number of topics in Potpourri, including a rumored acquisition from Norway that now appears to be incorrect, some sad news regarding Felipe Hernandez, our update on the fun soccer in KC being played by the Current, and a quick look at both continental competitions happening this summer before we do a quick preview of Aidan Morris' farewell match vs. SKC. Music by The Spin Wires

It finally happened, after almost 2.5 months, Sporting KC won another MLS game.  They certainly got some help from their opponent to do so, but it is 3 points nonetheless, and the vibes were good for at least Saturday evening in Children's Mercy Park. Mike Illig sat down with Sam McDowell of the KC Star for what is becoming an annual event where the relationship between fans and Peter Vermes had once again become so tenuous he had to address the questions about whether Vermes should remain at the helm.  In a decision that certainly left a significant portion of the fanbase apoplectic, Illig made it clear that the team would not be making a change at this time, and that they would rather be making a significant roster overhaul over the next 14-ish months and Vermes would be entrusted to help oversee it.  We will spend some time chatting about this decision, why we think it was made, and what this means about the rebuild we have been saying has been coming. Finally the Current keep rolling, the USMNT gets pantsed by Colombia, and things do not get any easier for SKC as they head to LA to take on the Galaxy this weekend.

It's been two weeks since we've last recorded the pod and not much has changed!  Sporting KC have lost 3 more games since that time taking the total to 7 in a row, and are now legitimate Wooden Spoon contenders given their measly 2 wins on the season from 16 games.  You heard that right, after Saturday's game against Seattle, the season will be half over, and the best case scenario is Sporting will have 3 total wins.  And given their performances to date there isn't much optimism that it will actually increase to that number, either from the fans or the oddsmakers. Given the state of the club and the fact that Cody and I have gotten a bit worn out talking about the same old problems every week, I posted to both social media and the H&A Discord asking for questions from you, the listeners(this is your reminder to join the H&A Discord server if you want to interact both with us and listeners of the pod, link is in the show notes).  We will spend much of this week's pod trying to answer those questions as best we can, and interweaving our thoughts on the current state of the team and how they've reached this level of futility while we do. Finally, the USWNT finally gets a couple matches with Emma Hayes on the sideline and while it's hard to take a ton from two friendlies, early returns were pretty good.  Venezia makes it back up to Serie A but not without potentially damaging our hopes for seeing Gianluca Busio in Children's Mercy Park next week with the U23's, and we do a quick preview of this weekend's upcoming match vs. Seattle. Music by The Spin Wires

Sporting Kansas City went down to Austin this weekend and lost their 4th straight game and pushed their winless streak in league play to 7, but at least the effort was good.  Peter Vermes made promises to sacrifice quality for effort where necessary but the only lineup changes were swapping backup defenders for other backup defenders. While we can perhaps agree that in general the players were trying harder than the last match, they still have multiple weaknesses that cause them to ship goals in a very frustrating manner, something that seems counterintuitive given the ideology of the coach and the consideration that effort and mentality were significant problems. Thankfully, we did get a bit of a palate cleanser last night in KC with Sporting putting in a pretty comprehensive beat down of FC Tulsa in the US Open Cup round of 16.  There were significant performances from players we do not regularly see, and Vermes did not hesitate to ensure that regular starters came in and pulled a shift at the end of the game when he certainly could have rested them with a view to the trip to Portland on Saturday. Elsewhere in the soccer universe, MLSPA salaries are official and man did they become a topic of discussion, NWSL loves stoppage time, SKC gets linked to a Venezuelan midfielder you've never heard of, and both the Men's and Women's national teams post rosters for their last friendlies prior to a major tournament. Sporting Kansas City went down to Austin this weekend and lost their 4th straight game and pushed their winless streak in league play to 7, but at least the effort was good.  Peter Vermes made promises to sacrifice quality for effort where necessary but the only lineup changes were swapping backup defenders for other backup defenders. While we can perhaps agree that in general the players were trying harder than the last match, they still have multiple weaknesses that cause them to ship goals in a very frustrating manner, something that seems counterintuitive given the ideology of the coach and the consideration that effort and mentality were significant problems. Thankfully, we did get a bit of a palate cleanser last night in KC with Sporting putting in a pretty comprehensive beat down of FC Tulsa in the US Open Cup round of 16.  There were significant performances from players we do not regularly see, and Vermes did not hesitate to ensure that regular starters came in and pulled a shift at the end of the game when he certainly could have rested them with a view to the trip to Portland on Saturday. Elsewhere in the soccer universe, MLSPA salaries are official and man did they become a topic of discussion, NWSL loves stoppage time, SKC gets linked to a Venezuelan midfielder you've never heard of, and both the Men's and Women's national teams post rosters for their last friendlies prior to a major tournament.

Things seemed to finally have reached a breaking point after Sporting KC lost again at home to Houston making it zero league wins since March, 2 total wins out of 12 games, and a point total under 12 from 12 games for the 3rd season in a row.  Peter Vermes did not hold back in his post game press conference calling the goals they conceded “atrocious” and “amateur at best”, while questioning the effort and mentality of some of the players.  He then doubled down in a fairly frank radio interview with Soren Petro and provided additional detail surrounding what he feels to be unacceptable playing behavior by several members of the squad. Daniel Salloi seemed to echo his feelings after the match with similarly stern commentary regarding players not having the appropriate mentality on the field. On the opposite side of the table, the Kansas City Current continued their unbeaten start through a whirlwind 8 days that saw cancelled flights, charter planes grounded for turbulence, and an increased defensive solidity that had Vlatko Andonovski effusive about how much he is enjoying coaching this team and still himself not knowing what their ceiling truly is. In other news this week, Jake Davis got a new contract, MLS finally got a bit more transparent with teams' roster makeup and designations, and Jesse Marsch became the new Canadian Men's National Team. Music by The Spin Wires

The Sporting KC Comms department made sure to let us know how well SKC had performed on the road this before the game up in Minnesota, conveniently leaving out the fact they had only played 3 road games all season.  That backfired a bit as the boys in blue took a 2-1 defeat at Allianz Field with yet another attempt to make the 4-2-3-1 happen.  It doesn't seem like it is going anywhere anytime soon so we take a deeper dive into the setup, how it is traditionally used, how SKC seem to be trying to use it to their advantage, the issues they are having implementing it effectively, and what the long game might be. We were dealt another full iteration of the Willy Agada experience, complete with dangerous runs and the highest xG performance on the team, which was also combined with a poor shot on said high xG chance, a wonderful off-side goal and naive turnovers on the ball. Vermes' post game comments are drawing the ire of some supporters again, both for his old man yells at cloud moment holding up a tablet screenshot of goal that looks offside without taking into account parallax effect, but was actually likely onside when you do, but additionally for taking a fairly measured approach to discussing the team's results to date.  This has also led to some areas of the internet to ask whether Vermes is too comfortable given his contract situation and whether he has the requisite drive for results the fans expect.   Finally, we have to talk about the Current some more, as they are the toast of NWSL early in the season, and we will also try to ascertain whether SKC's fates are likely to change this weekend in Salt Lake. Music by The Spin Wires.

It felt like Groundhog Day in Children's Mercy Park on Saturday night as Sporting Kansas City scored first, and held a lead into stoppage time only to give up a late equalizer on a somewhat unfortunate, yet somewhat self inflicted series of events,  and this increased their tally of dropped points from winning positions to 14 on the season. In fairness, Sporting KC was pretty lucky to have that lead, after a pretty wild own goal equalizer and then a bit of brilliance from Andreu Fontas and Erik Thommy to go ahead in a match they were otherwise struggling to create a meaningful imprint on. It was a very physical match, which certainly dominated the discourse both locally and nationally after the game, with SKC fans bemoaning the referee for not making foul calls and most of the national media wondering how SKC had become this soft.  we've been saying this for years From a good news perspective, at least the coach isn't worried about it. Music by The Spin Wires

72 thousand plus midwestern soccer fans descended on Arrowhead Stadium Saturday to see Sporting KC take on Leo Messi and Inter Miami and were treated to several golazos on both sides of the ball and an unfortunate 3-2 loss for the good guys in blue.  The environment was honestly pretty cool, and it did give a glimpse of what professional soccer could look like in this region, but it also highlighted the length of the road to get there and how much of it we have left to traverse. Sporting once again scored first in the match but were also once again unable to maintain that lead and they have now have one win from 5 home matches this season, a troubling statistic for an MLS team and leaving them with an uphill battle after this weekend with 4 of their next 5 games coming on the road. We will cover some rule changes and the Open Cup draw in potpourri, as well as do a preview of this weekend's derby against the pink scum to the east. Music by The Spin Wires

Sporting KC seems to be hell bent on shipping 3 goals in the 2nd half of home games, as they did it again on Sunday afternoon, turning a first half that had fans feeling great about the team's prospects into a horror movie.  This team continues to have a bipolar nature to their play that is creating significant frustration for both the fan base and its coach, who blamed the 2nd half performance on “poor management”, which was an interesting choice of words. There were obviously some bright spots, and we will be sure to address them as well as identify when the tides began to shift and the insufficient nature in which the team and manager adapted to the situation which led to the collapse. The MLS Board of Governors met this week and Paul Tenorio of the Athletic has details on some roster changes coming for this summer.  They are definitely incremental changes, but do allow for more flexibility in how teams architect rosters, and we''ll spend a bit of time discussing what these changes mean for the league at large and for Sporting KC in particular. Music by The Spin Wires

Sporting Kansas City traveled to the great white north and came away with a 3-1 victory in Toronto thanks to a couple bombazos from Remi Walter and Jake Davis, with a cherry on top of the sundae resulting from a very fun and dynamic play by Alenis Vargas.  We spent a lot of time bemoaning useful depth on the pod last week, and with several starters unavailable it was reasonable to expect that things would be fairly difficult for Sporting in this match.  Instead, we found several solid, useful performances from roster spots we do not normally see, and definitely did not last year when similar injury woes hit them. The KC Current have started the season perfect and there is a lot to be excited about with this team.  They've made several fun additions, and it appears they have a clear identity that while well coached, also seems to be fairly uncomplicated which perhaps is a good thing for this team given the talent level of its players. Music by The Spin Wires