This week Drew is joined by Daniel Sperry of the Kansas City star to break down all things Sporting KC this week. Cody unfortunately had some life requirements get in the way of recording this week but should be back next week as usual.

Sporting KC struggled to make a substantive imprint on the match in Vancouver, as we had unfortunately predicted might happen last week. Kerry Zavagnin did make substantive tactical changes at halftime that did appear to make a positive impact on the game, but it left us wondering why these choices aren't made to start games rather than in the middle of them. There is a concern that there are two Kerry's, one who puts the tactical plan together and is fairly risk averse a la his mentor Peter Vermes, and the pragmatist game manager that makes the right changes to improve his team's prospects in games that is very different from his predecessor.

We also talk about a lot of MLS Hot Stove topics(that unfortunately do not include Sporting KC yet), as well as the return of NWSL regular season play for the KC Current this weekend.

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Sporting KC went behind early in both games since the last episode, in what is becoming a worrying trend in home matches this year. They did show fight in both matches, performing much better in the 2nd half of each, which is also becoming a noteworthy trend of late.

The roster has limitations, and interim coach Kerry Zavagnin is making due as best he can with the players he has at his disposal, along with making aggressive changes when things aren't working. That said, the team continues to appear to have significant limitations in influencing game state on their own, rather reacting to it, but also taking advantage when it goes in their favor.

The summer transfer window is about to open and we discuss what is reasonable to expect from this window both in SKC's available flexibility but also the potential for significant change given that there is still no CSO in place to drive the strategy of the team.

Finally, a quick discussion about MLS All Star, Miami figuring out how to manipulate the rulebook to sign Rodrigo de Paul, and a quick preview of SKC's upcoming visit to Vancouver.

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National media was alight with the various visualizations of the 3+ xGD that Sporting KC gave up in Commerce City on Friday night, yet they still came home with the 2-1 victory. We talk about some of those underlying numbers, how they belie a concerning trend of likely unsustainable results and the context within how they have happened.

We also talk through the biggest areas of need on the roster as the summer transfer window opens. A lot of it is dependent on how the club means to play going forward, and so much of that is in flux given the lack of certain Front Office personnel that it is very hard to predict. But we give our ideas on what we would do if given the decision making authority.

The USMNT looked much the inferior team vs. Mexico in the Gold Cup final, but given the discrepancy in first choice talent, perhaps it wasn't as big of a concern as many are making it out to be. There were some useful performances in this tournament as the team looks to reintegrate many of their first choice players this fall and build to 2026.

Finally a quick preview of the Seattle Sounders coming to town on Retro Night where the 2000 MLS Cup/Supporters Shield winning team will be honored 25 years on from that triumph.

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Sporting KC got a late win in dramatic fashion vs Charlotte on Wednesday before having to hold on late against RSL to survive a late red card from Jake Davis and maintain a 1-1 result.

We dive into the interesting parts of both games, both the tactical changes at halftime vs. Charlotte as well as Ian James' first start for SKC against RSL, concluded by a discussion about perhaps the most deserving Sporting Legend for quite some time, Matt Besler.

We dive into the information in the latest MLSPA salary release, and what it tells us about how the team had been managed previously, along with what options it has in the future.

The USMNT and USWNT have had a lot of action since our last recording, and we discuss the various different items of consequence regarding both teams.

Finally a preview of this weekend's clash with the Colorado Rapids on the 4th of July.

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Sporting KC finally returned to the friendly confines of Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday Night, but were unable to give the fans a victory as they fell to FC Dallas 4-2.  

SKC was able to take the early lead again in this one off of a pretty curling shot from the top of the box by Shapi Suleymanov, but in a familiar refrain the team was unable to maintain their defensive posture in central midfield, and FC Dallas used it to pull them out of shape prior to a nice crossed ball from Shaq Moore onto the foot of Petar Musa equalized.

Then things got a bit weird, as the referee made a couple tight calls against Sporting KC leading to a penalty for Lucho Acosta, and an early trip to the showers for Khiry Shelton as Sporting had to play down a man for the last half hour plus stoppage time while already down 2-1 on the score sheet.  I think it is fair to credit SKC with the fact that they did still try pretty aggressively to attack Dallas’ goal even with the man disadvantage, but that led to two more fairly simple finishes for Bernard Kamungo and Lucho Acosta, meaning that outside of a late consolation goal from Santi Munoz, that SKC would be heading into this 10 day break having two straight losses after having seeming to have somewhat righted the ship prior to that..

The USMNT drama continued last week with Christian Pulisic and Mauricio Pochettino trading public barbs, before they thoroughly dismantled a Trinidad and Tobago team that seemed mostly disinterested in even attempting to play in their Gold Cup opener.  That wasn’t the only fun performance this weekend though, as the Kansas City Current continued their dominance at the top of the league while still missing several key players.  They did let Louisville back into this one late but then Temwa did what Temwa does and iced it after a nice ball from Claire Hutton sent her running down the flank and Temwa did the rest.

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.

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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.

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