Why Sporting KC players are already feeling pressure heading into Saturday
While it’s still very early in the 2023 season, some players are already considering Sporting’s match on Saturday a must-win. With no wins and only one goal to show for their efforts in the first four matches, the pressure is beginning to mount.
“When you start counting the weeks, and then you still haven’t had your first win, then you start to worry,” Daniel Salloi said. “That’s what I don’t want to get us to.”
After all, a trophy is not won or lost in week five of the regular season. Including Saturday’s matchup, Sporting still has 30 matches left, which means plenty of time to pick up points and get into playoff position. But there’s a recent history behind this urgency, too.
Last season, Sporting had two wins through its first five matches but then failed to pick up another until the 13th. The results failed to come — and sometimes they were there before self-inflicted wounds saw the three points escape.
Optically and statistically, the team hasn’t played poorly outside of a few moments. However, those moments have yet to go unpunished, and that’s what happens when things aren’t going your way. Erik Thommy, Sporting’s on-field captain in Johnny Russell’s injury absence to start this season, alluded to that luck in a press conference on Thursday.
“In the last home game, we had 32 shots,” Thommy said. “What else should we do? It was enough to score maybe one, two or three goals.”
Saturday’s opponent doesn’t get much tougher either for Sporting KC. A long-time Western Conference Foe, the Seattle Sounders come to town for one of the earlier matchups between the two teams.
Coming off their first postseason absence in their Major League Soccer history, the Sounders started out on fire in the first couple matches before taking on some difficult tests in FC Cincinnati and LAFC.
Salloi joked that in any season it might be acceptable or understandable to drop points against a team like the Sounders, but they’re just not in a position where they can continue to afford that.
“It’s going to be a very tough game,” Salloi said. “I hope we bring our best.”
Sporting might see a small boost against Seattle, as Russell and Alan Pulido could potentially return to the matchday roster. During bits and pieces of training on Tuesday, Pulido lined up at striker with Salloi and Russell flanking him, a sight not seen since November of 2021. Both are listed as questionable ahead of Saturday’s match.
It would be a shock if either started, and Vermes was coy on the level of the involvement during Thursday’s press conference, but he said there is a chance for both of them on Saturday.
During an Instagram Live from the recovery pools this morning, Alan Pulido teased a potential return on Saturday saying he’s “Ready for tomorrow.”
The return for Pulido is something that has been anticipated over the last few weeks as he was simply seeking to regain form and sharpness. Russell’s involvement seems less likely given the way Sporting KC has handled muscular injuries to start this season, but with the questionable tag, there is always a chance.
Sporting KC kicks off against the Sounders at 7:30 p.m. from Children’s Mercy Park, where a standing-room-only crowd is expected.
This story was originally published March 24, 2023 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Why Sporting KC players are already feeling pressure heading into Saturday."