Why new Sporting KC signing Jose Mauri must adapt quickly to help out his new squad

Life has been moving quickly for Sporting Kansas City’s latest midfield signing.

Sporting KC signed Jose Mauri on Aug. 5, but the club’s twitter account made his signing “photo-shoot official” Tuesday afternoon, posting the familiar scene of a new player holding a Sporting KC shirt in front of the large screen above the South Stand at Children’s Mercy Park.

Such photo-shoots tend to be the first time fans catch a glimpse of new players.

But that isn’t the case for Mauri.

The Argentine-Italian midfielder signed with Sporting KC just hours before the club-record sale of Gianluca Busio to an Italian team last month. Since then, Mauri had been pinned down in a whirlwind of paperwork and league regulations.

First Mauri had to sort out some passport issues and have his P1 Visa accepted in order to play in the U.S. Then, upon arrival, he had to undergo a period of quarantine in which he was only capable of doing individual workouts away from his new team.

Finally, late last week, Mauri was able to join his new teammates in practice and begin learning how to play in Sporting KC’s system. That process alone would usually take a few weeks, but thanks to a shortage of midfielders right now for Sporting KC, Mauri was tossed straight into the starting lineup on Friday night at LAFC.

“Honestly, I was a bit surprised I was thrown in without the training,” he said Tuesday.

Mauri occupied the holding midfield role in Saturday’s 4-0 loss at Banc of California Stadium. He was replaced in the 67th minute with Sporting KC down 2-0.

Mauri, who has played with Italian giant AC Milan, enjoyed a quiet if not unspectacular debut.

The midfielder arrived in KC from Argentine club Talleres, who’d just begun its season a couple of weeks before Mauri’s departure to America. The timing of the transfer meant that Mauri is still close to preseason form and fitness yet joins a Sporting team entering the most important stretch of its season.

“It’s not his fault, it’s just circumstances,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said. “That’s why it’s important to have players and have an opportunity to rotate players around, so a guy like him can build his minutes. But I think he did well in the game the other day.”

The midfielder completed 75.6% of his passes and won 60% of his duels — and those numbers should only increase as he continues to integrate into his new team.

In Vermes’ estimation, one of Mauri’s strengths is his ability to send accurate passes both short- and long-distance. He missed a couple of those passes against LAFC.

“He saw a couple of really good opportunities,” Vermes said. “He just either hit them short or just didn’t play them well enough. But I think that has a lot to do with the fact that he’s not in form yet.”

Fans can also expect more mobility out of Mauri in games to come. He wasn’t given many instructions by Vermes Friday, except to remain central in order to maintain his energy and not burn out too early.

His movement capabilities were stunted even more once KC went down to 10 men. It took Vermes just nine minutes to sub Mauri off the field following Roger Espinoza’s red card.

Although he said he feels more natural playing in the No. 6, Mauri will also slot into a more advanced No. 8 role at times this season.

Defender Nicolas Isimat-Mirin may return this weekend against Chicago, allowing Ilie Sanchez to slot back into the six and aMauri a chance to rest or move up the field.

“I feel more comfortable at the six and I can play the eight, as well,” Mauri said. “I wouldn’t say I’m better at one or the other, just kind of depends on the structure of the game we are playing.”

This story was originally published September 7, 2021 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Why new Sporting KC signing Jose Mauri must adapt quickly to help out his new squad."