Pulido’s goals (no pun intended) in KC: MLS Cup championship, individual scoring title
The first thing Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes asks potential foreign signings is this: “Are you interested in coming to play in Major League Soccer, and especially for Sporting Kansas City?”
The question’s simple enough, but the answers are pretty crucial. Foreign players’ eyes often wander toward America’s coastal cities and teams: the New York Red Bulls or L.A. Galaxy or LAFC, for instance. That’s understandable — international players are usually more familiar with such clubs. They typically don’t know much about MLS’ smaller markets.
Even when that market has a team as historically successful as Sporting KC.
So this was the question Vermes posed to newly signed Sporting KC star Alan Pulido ahead of his club-record-breaking transfer from Mexican team Guadalajara. Pulido to KC wasn’t a straightforward sell for Sporting, nor was it a straightforward decision for the Mexican soccer star, whose initial interest in MLS had previously been linked elsewhere — most notably San Jose.
That changed as Pulido, 28, did his due diligence.
“There were rumors about other MLS teams wanting me, but my closest proximity was with Sporting,” Pulido said Tuesday. “Then they went on and showed me the structure of the team, and that really motivated me to come here.”
Today, Pulido is officially Sporting KC’s new number nine, a component that’s been in dire need of upgrade here since the departure of Dom Dwyer following the 2016 season.
“At the end of the day, the thing that I’m very attracted to as a coach ... is he can score goals, and that’s the position he’ll play in as a number nine,” Vermes said of Pulido, whose 12 goals ties for second in the LIGA MX Apertura 2019. “But more importantly, he has an incredible presence: He’s a player that is good with both his left and his right foot, he’s good in the air with his head, but he’s also a very strong and competitive player.”
Standing 5-foot-10, Pulido is solid in the middle, technically sound with his feet and easy to play through — a polar opposite to what Kansas City saw in Krisztian Nemeth this year. His presence should afford Sporting’s explosive wingers more opportunities to get in on the action.
“I love his courage in and around the box,” Vermes said, “I love the way he’s not afraid to get in on really tough situations. He’ll stick his nose on the end of the ball, and at the same time he can hit the strike from distance, as well.
“So it’s pretty simple: He’s going to play center-forward for us.”
Pulido should pair nicely with recently re-signed forward Khiry Shelton in a two-forward system. He could even play on the wing in Vermes’ typical 4-3-3.
He said his focus in coming to Kansas City is to win the MLS Cup and finish as the league’s top scorer.
“My dream would be to of course fight for MLS Cup, to win the title — there’s no bigger dream or motivation than that,” he said. “And of course I want to enjoy the fans with my goals. I like to grow personally and I would like to be MLS’ top goal-scorer. That would be a big dream of mine.”
Lofty ambitions? Perhaps. But the last Liga MX scoring machine to migrate to MLS — the Seattle Sounders’ Raul Ruidiaz, who arrived in June 2018 — has scored 21 goals in 36 MLS appearances.
They’re different players with different strengths, of course, but that’s not a bad omen for Pulido ... and his new home and team in Kansas City.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Pulido’s goals (no pun intended) in KC: MLS Cup championship, individual scoring title."