Sporting KC has struggled through 1st 2 games but isn’t panicking. Here’s the rationale

First, the facts: Through two games in the 2023 Major League Soccer season, Sporting Kansas City has accumulated just one point and no goals scored.

But the MLS club’s players and coaches aren’t overly concerned ... yet.

The team didn’t start last season well, either, and by the time things turned around, Sporting was out of the playoff chase. But as winger Daniel Salloi sees it, the experience and confidence he and his teammates gained along the way should serve them well now.

“We could all feel the importance of getting points on the road — or instead of getting a tie, getting a win — how important that is at the end,” Salloi said. “I think we went through it all and none (of us) want to be in the same situation again, not making the playoffs.”

“I think I can feel a lot more bite to the team this year than I felt last year.”

This week, Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes discussed the context of the club’s first two matches and the effects of travel and injuries. The team’s first match was pushed back two days by poor weather in Portland, which had a domino effect on preparations for last weekend’s game in Colorado.

After losing 1-0 at Portland on a Monday, Sporting returned to KC Tuesday. That left time for a regeneration session Wednesday and one full practice Thursday before the trip to Colorado Friday. Then they had to face the Rapids at altitude, in below-freezing temperatures.

To be clear, Sporting KC doesn’t want to use that as an excuse. But you can’t digest the first two results of the year without understanding the context and backdrop for those matches.

“We’re disappointed in the result in Portland,” Vermes said. “For me, that was an excellent performance from a mentality perspective, but giving up the soft goal was also a great lesson for the group.

“We’ve talked about it and we’ve worked on it endlessly in the preseason because there’s situations that you have to be able to manage.”

As for the result in Colorado, a scoreless tie on Saturday, Sporting KC will call it a good one considering they haven’t won in Commerce City since March 29, 2014 (they are 0-5-4 there since).

As for injuries, strikers Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda are still working their way back from injuries, and injured captain Johnny Russell could still be a few weeks away from playing.

Those are some huge pieces to the puzzle in Sporting’s attack.

“When I know what we have in our team and what’s there (on the roster) ... the goals will come,” Vermes said. “I’m not worried about that.”

The one area Vermes thinks Sporting can improve upon is the cleanliness of their possessions.

“You have to be able to keep the ball and not lose the ball in critical areas of the field or in certain situations,” he said. “We’ve got to continue to grow in that area because that stops the transition from the other team to get chances on your goal.”

Sporting’s slow start offensively is reminiscent of 2017, when Vermes’ team went the first 217 minutes of the season without scoring. They’re at 180 minutes and counting entering Saturday’s home opener against the L.A. Galaxy (7:30 p.m.).

“I believe that’s coming,” Vermes said of the eventual breakthrough. “Hopefully, that’s going to be this weekend.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 10:59 AM.