Welcome to single-game elimination: It’s Sporting KC vs. man-marking Quakes on Sunday

Another end-of-year awards season has come and gone in Major League Soccer and Sporting Kansas City was snubbed in every category.

Alan Pulido missed out on Newcomer of the Year. Gianluca Busio wasn’t even a finalist for Young Player of the Year. Erik Hurtado didn’t win Goal of the Year for that epic strike a few games back. Heck, the MLS Best XI didn’t include a single Sporting player.

And yet Sporting KC still holds the top spot in the West.

Now, we’re not saying that the players who did win those individual awards were undeserving. Lucas Zelarayan was a good choice for Newcomer of the Year, and Diego Rossi, just 22, put up an MVP-worthy season for LAFC.

But the fact that Sporting Kansas City has managed to rise to the summit of the Western Conference without a single award winner is testament to the philosophy of a Peter Vermes club:

Team always comes first.

“I love the fact that our guys buy into it,” the coach said Friday. “And at the end, all they want to do is win something together.”

There truly is no standout performer for Kansas City this season. Pulido is clearly expected to perform — that comes with the label of being KC’s most expensive signing ever — but the Mexican star forward isn’t the only Sporting player who pads the state sheet.

Five Sporting players have scored five or more goals this season. Pulido leads that list with seven but is supported by Johnny Russell and Gadi Kinda with six each and Khiry Shelton and Hurtado with five apiece.

Hurtado’s five have come in just 371 minutes of play. That’s a goal every 74 minutes.

“It’s no secret in this game — it’s a team sport — and the teams that understand that better are the ones that have the success,” said Ilie Sanchez, who has started 12 games this season while taking some time away with family in his native Spain.

During that time, Busio slotted right into Sanchez’s No. 6 role and had the best stretch of games he’s produced in a Sporting KC shirt. And when Sanchez returned, Busio moved right back into his natural central midfield role.

“I look at our team and I know the guys have really, game in and game out, brought it every day,” Vermes said. “Whether others think that or not, it’s not really concerning to me.

“My focus is I want to make sure the guys that have been doing that all along continue to do that as we move into this next game, and then other players continue to get better from game to game.”

Sporting Kansas City’s quest to “win something together” begins Sunday against the San Jose Earthquakes in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The format: single-game elimination.

For many on this Sporting KC team — including Pulido, Kinda, Busio, Jaylin Lindsey, Roberto Puncec and Winston Reid, to name a few — this will be their first taste of MLS playoff soccer. The likes of Russell, Khiry Shelton, Tim Melia and Sanchez will be counted upon to show them the way. But even then, those veterans have only experienced two-leg aggregate playoffs.

“What I could feel my first year and my second year in this team is that when the playoff time comes, everything raised up,” Sanchez said. “And I mean the intensity of the games, the aggressiveness of the games, or even the referee’s style of calling games.”

Sporting faces a tricky task against San Jose. KC hasn’t played the Earthquakes since 2019 because of this season’s abridged 2020 schedule brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Earthquakes won both games the pair played in 2019.

The Earthquakes often shift tactics based on the opposition, either before the game or in the middle. That’s where Sporting’s veteran leadership comes into play.

“Once the game begins, things change,” Vermes said. “There are different things that the other team could do and you have to make adjustments on the fly — and we’re going to need guys that have the experience of being inside those white lines in those playoff situations to help in times of need in the game.”

The Quakes’ overall playing style hasn’t changed much in their second season under manager Matias Almeyda. It’s an aggressive man-marking system that incorporates a “spare man” on defense who can help in one-on-ones.

Sometimes, however, that style can lead to another player being unmarked. When that’s happened, opponents have been able to hit San Jose on lethal counter-attacks; two blowout losses this season by San Jose — 7-1 to Seattle and 6-1 to Portland — are good examples.

But if they’re able to stifle a team offensively, it can make for a really tough night for the opposition.

“The thing that stands out is I think at times they’ve been the recipient of unfair criticism, in that they get chastised or criticized for at times playing man-marking,” Vermes said. “But I think at times they’re incredibly organized and they have an incredible work ethic on the field.”

“We have an incredible amount of respect for their game, the way they go about their business, and know that it’s going to be a battle.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Welcome to single-game elimination: It’s Sporting KC vs. man-marking Quakes on Sunday."