Sporting KC
Does Sporting Kansas City rebuild mean positive result in 2025 opener?
A new start. A fresh start. Everyone has hope as the 2025 MLS season begins for Sporting Kansas City at Austin FC.
It was a moment that pulled fans of Sporting Kansas City to the edge of the seat. A perfect switching ball from right to left, finding left winger Daniel Salloi deep in Austin’s end. A quick pass into box-present Logan Ndenbe who then fed for new #10 Manu Garcia at the top of Austin’s box saw a slick return to Ndenbe. A quick pass into striker Dejan Joveljic saw the new #9 dance around two Austin defenders. Would the moment be enough for Sporting Kansas City in its opening match of the 2025 MLS season, a season that needs to show continual progress?
A new start. A fresh start. Everyone has hope as the 2025 MLS season begins for Sporting Kansas City at Austin FC.
But that is all malarky. All that truly matters is wins and losses. Either you win or you don’t. Early matches don’t matter? Bah. Win now, even for a club amidst a self-proclaimed rebuild after finishing 13th in the West last season. That is reality. And that is exactly what Manager Peter Vermes and his charges aim to do.
Vermes went with the following Starting Eleven in Austin:
How our XI takes shape at Austin 👇#ATXvSKC | @BlueKC pic.twitter.com/Djj30Dc9UA
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) February 23, 2025
Likely due to Sporting Kansas City playing Tuesday night in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, neither of their designated players – #10 Manu Garcia and Dejan Joveljic – were in the eleven. However, two of Austin’s biggest offseason additions started on the pitch in striker Brandon Vazquez and former SKC midfielder Ilie Sanchez for their new head man Nico Estevez.
Absorbing mild pressure while staying organized and compact defensively is how Kansas City spent the first 15 minutes. Vazquez hit a slow-roller into Pulskamp in the 17th minute, but attacks were more probing than penetrating until then.
A counter from Austin ensued, yet ended with a Guilherme Biro header that bounded wide of Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp’s right post. Next, it was Owen Wolff free in the inner left channel after a ball from Ilie as the hosts found seams in Kansas City’s compact shape. Wolff’s steamroller, however, scooted right as well. Austin’s wide play had pulled apart Sporting, and the targeting of open spaces between right winger Daniel Salloi and now right #8 Memo Rodriquez would continue.
The 32nd minute saw Austin split Sporting’s press in their own end (leaving four KC players in their wake) and attack up the right wing. The final shot was blocked, but the hope for an away shutout were not glittering.
Shortly after Sporting earned a corner from the right. William Agada drove a header to goal from the serve, only to see Logan Ndenbe unable to move out of its path. In the scuffle in the box, right center back Joaquin Fernandez took a knock but was able to carry on.
Agada would be in the mix in the 37th minute. The Nigerian chipped skillfully for a running Salloi at the right edge of Austin’s six-yard box. Salloi’s low shot was rejected by goalkeeper Brad Stuver. But there was Agada 14 yards out just on the left. The first-time shot from perhaps Sporting’s most head-in-hands striker was powered over the bar, souring Sporting’s best chance of the match.
Austin was not impressed. Through an up-and-back Vazquez was sprung loose into Kansas City’s box a few minutes on. As Vazquez cut back to his left, Sporting center back Robert Voloder tackled the ball away to ultimately send the sides into the half at 0-0.
Joveljic and Garcia began the 2nd half in place of Agada and rookie Jacob Bartlett, giving the new attackers some time to get to know each other and pushing Nemanja Radoja to the #6. But it was Dani Pereira who would strike the first salvo. The Austin midfielder pushed his shot over the bar in the 47th minute.
Austin continued to stab at Sporting’s perimeter defense, and occasionally found half-chances. Sporting needed a breakthrough to change the momentum. Garcia took the ball in the 57th. Running left to center, Garcia smartly pushed the ball around one defender before hitting a shot through coming defenders. Stuver gobbled it up, but Garcia had sent a warning and put some life into the visitors.
Although less spectacularly, Ndenbe followed suit five minutes later. A free kick some 35 yards out was the result, yet Thommy’s direct hit from the dead ball rolled harmlessly out.
Twenty-three minutes into the second half and Joveljic had not touched the ball. Fortunately, Fernandez had, interceding on balls in the box, positioning himself wisely, and making good choices on the ball in the back for Kansas City.
Sporting shown bright, nevertheless, in the 71st minute. A switching ball to Salloi led to a quick interchange between Ndenbe and Garcia that led to some evading touches by Joveljic to work near Austin’s six-yard box. But Sporting’s 4-million-dollar man was nudged off the ball before he could find the net.
Dany Rosero and Zorhan Bassong then stepped onto the pitch for Kansas City in place of Fernandez and Memo Rodriquez.
Only two minutes later, Austin took the lead. Wolff sent in a corner that was allowed to bounce inside Sporting’s box. Erik Thommy and Pulskamp were near and Davis was at the back post. None activated to clear or claim the ball as it bounced off Osman Bukari’s head for an Austin lead.
Osman Bukari opens the scoring for @AustinFC!
📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/fQYgCbmDes pic.twitter.com/EOCAxlvsWP
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 23, 2025
It seemed that tradition would be honored as Sporting has lost all four road matches at Austin since 2021.
In the 82nd minute, Vazquez looked to make it two for Austin. Sneaking behind Rosero, the US National Teamer fired from his left only to see his shot shake the frame.
Adding value for Kansas City diehards was the entry of new acquisition Shapi Suleymanov for Thommy in the 84th minute.
A header from Rosero that trickled wide in the second of six minutes of extra time was the lone chance created by Sporting. Thus, a 1-0 loss would be their fate after producing seven shots and an expected goals (xG) of 1.2 in their season opener.
Moments of good moderated the moments of… typical. The schedule makers have not made it easy on this club trialing through rebuild. And it’s early. Momentum will come. The desire is it comes soon.
A flight to Inter Miami CF is up next up for Sporting Kansas City for Tuesday night’s 7:00pm CT away leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup series as they seek to overcome a 1-0 deficit after the home leg last Wednesday. Sporting’s next MLS match is the 2025 home opener Saturday versus San Jose Earthquakes at 7:30pm CT.
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Mediocre
There is no rebuilding. It’s just more of the same with cheaper players. 2028 can’t get here fast enough.
The game was poorly managed from the start. The starting 11 was really disappointing. The center backs (Voloder and Fernandez) were Sportings best players in the first half. Davis, Tommy, Salloi, and Radoja were all playing out of position. If Manu is only going to play half the game, I don’t understand why Tommy doesn’t start in the midfield and we give Afrifa a start on a wing. Then Radoja can play his regular spot and Bartlet can sub in later. Peter was trying to fit too many round pegs in square holes tonight. It just didn’t work at all.
Thommy needs time to get his sea legs on the wing. There’s no room for him in the midfield beyond this congested first part of the season so they need to let sending him up at the wing so he can find it. Or not find it. But he’s not going to beat out Garcia in the middle and he has no business being in one of the more defensively inclined midfield spots.
He could have spent the First half in the midfield so we had some sort of attacking threat there then switched to the wing at halftime when Manu came in. Vermes sent out a starting 11 in hopes of a scoreless first half.
One edit to the recap, Bukari scored off his shoulder. It was a stupid, lazy goal. That was one of the most frustrating parts of the game. Our performance was pretty mediocre, but that’s to be expected for a team that has only had a week or two fully together. I would’ve liked a different lineup, but it’s clear PV had Tuesday on his mind. I wish we’d prioritize the league, but that’s not Sporting’s philosophy. Hopefully we can look a little stronger at home.
on the bright side, Joveljic’s foot skills in front of the box were very exciting. Just needs to get the ball of his foot a little quicker.
It was actually off his head. The second view on the replay reveals it.
You’re right, on the slow mo last night, it looked like his shoulder but I rewatched. If I can make one more edit then, can we call it off his face? Dude looked surprised it came to him haha
As much as I like the additions they’ve made so far, at least on paper, I’m frustrated at the pace of it. Not that it’s going to take three windows, but the fact that they’ve moved so slow in this first window that we’re unprepared for real competition. The whole “we want to get it right” thing is laughable when you see all these other big signings around the league who were signed early in the window showing out for their teams and getting results.
And there’s literally no excuse. It’s all Burns, and he has no conflicting jobs. All he is supposed to do is sign players. And because of how slow he’s moving were basically giving away CCC and probably our first 3 or 4 MLS games.
The lack of urgency throughout this organization is just infuriating. And they’re going to start season with a half empty stadium because fans are over it. They had one of the longest off seasons in recent memory and they didn’t sign a DP until after preseason started. They still haven’t signed a U22. And urging patience is just annoying. We HAVE patience with the new players. We don’t have patience with lackadaisical front office work.
It’s even more frustrating knowing that the front office had extra time (do to missing the playoffs) to evaluate players, coaches and front office personnel to fill these open spots. Deals should have been in place before the window even opened.
Salloi on the right wing makes no sense to me. I don’t think he has a left foot to cut in on. He isn’t fast enough to get past a defender on his right foot to cross or shoot. He has never shown the propensity to drive at a defender and wrong-foot him consistently.
Some say he has always been our second best goal scorer since 2021. That’s in part due to the sheer number of minutes he has played relative to other wingers. It’s also partly due to the fact SKC has always had a second or third tier attack since Salloi has been around, so being second best isn’t saying much.
I think those of us who want to see someone else get a chance at an extended run at the wing in his place see his average xG+A per 90 is below average. Other than his break-out season in 2021 where it was about 0.87, his xG+A per 90 has been about 0.25 or so. The average rating for a winger is around 0.4-0.6. A top winger would be around 0.5-0.8. Anything 1.0 or higher is other-worldly. Mo Salah is having maybe the best season in the history of the sport at about 1.87 this year.
Nobody expects Salloi to have an xG+A per 90 of 1.0. But we want to see more danger created than 0.25.
We aren’t going to get anything better from Thommy on the left, either. So we are all frustrated with the lack of chance creation and goal scoring from our wings. Joveljic’s abilities will be wasted without proper service. The only way I can see SKC consistently scoring goals this season is right down the middle with Joveljic and Manu playing off each other.
This is so completely true. The problem is SKC rarely plays through the middle. They have went up a wing and lumped a ball into the middle to no runners for so long that I’m simply not sure PV knows how to play through the middle. I do hope it will happen though.
The wings are a problem on this team…they don’t create, rarely do give and goes and lose the ball as often as they complete a move or pass. Just watch the LW for Austin last night…he was a handful for Jake Davis. Salloi and Thommy were not a challenge for the FB’s on Austin from what I saw. Salloi had one good moment in the game on a very pretty pass from Agada. Futmob rated him 6.0 which is the 2nd worse rating on the team with Agada being 5.8. So in 2 games, Salloi was 5.9 (3rd worst) and 6.0 (2nd worst). To be fair, Thommy wasn’t much better (6.2).
The single best moment of the game came from Manu, Logan and Joveljic playing off one another. The funny thing is that Manu had to play off of Logan because if he passed it to Thommy, he wouldn’t get it back. Why oh why isn’t PV telling wings, CMs and FBs to look for Joveljic. Dude can score…no one else on the team is coming off of a 2024 season like him.
Good stuff, Howlie.
Thommy has more value as a midfielder because of his work rate. But even there he isn’t a consistent threat to create chances. Both Thommy and Salloi would be good bench pieces, but as starters it is very disheartening to see. I just don’t think this team has the personnel to play a 4-3-3. I’d much rather see a 4-2-3-1 or even 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1. The wings can’t even make accurate crosses, let alone create scoring chances.
Love that for all of the roster moves and “rebuilding” we got…basically the same lineup as last year? Hopefully it isn’t a sign of things to come for this season. There are some obvious solutions in the team that it’s painful to watch Vermes shoehorn guys in places.
You could even play Manu and Thommy together with Davis as a single pivot if you were chasing a goal. There is legitimately a halfway decent team in this roster. I just hope the word “rebuild” doesn’t become a hiding place for the coach or FO.
Agreed about Shelton at RB. I have said for years that his stamina and physicality and lack of fine foot skills pegged him there all along if he was going to be in the squad. With Ndembe and Leibold on the left, they are in pretty good shape. Drop Davis to RB if Shelton needs a day off.
SKC almost has to have a dual pivot system with the lack of upgrades at CB this year. They still need a couple legit CBs.
We have to hope the new signings in the attacking end can park Salloi and Thommy on the bench at least 3/4 of the time. Shapi will hopefully take the right wing spot. Still need a right footed winger to play over Salloi and Thommy.
They are at minimum 3 or 4 signings away from being a solid MLS team. But there are ways to set up the current roster that are much better solutions than Vermes rolled out against Austin.
Now that we have Brody, we don’t need to put Shelton in at RB. Shelton may have the physical attributes of a defender, but his positioning and awareness are still very low simply because he hasn’t been playing professionally in that position for very long. We’ve seen players transition to defense like that, but they were, objectively, higher level players than Shelton. He’s a bandaid for that spot and should only be used when necessary. Brody feels like a much better solution to that spot.
Also, I’m curious why you think Thommy needs to go to the bench? I can understand frustration with Salloi, but I feel like Thommy was one of the bright spots in a very dark season last year. I don’t like him on the wing as much, but I think he adds value in the midfield.
I hope Brody is what you seem to think he will be at RB. Honestly, I think it is 50-50 whether he earns more run than Shelton at that position. You made good points about Shelton’s awareness and positioning at RB, but he made significant strides to improve late last season. He got progressively better at not losing track of runners, and his speed and physicality showed on 1v1s late in the year.
Regarding Thommy, I just don’t think he is creative enough to be a starter. He is very average, stat-wise. He dribbles too much, gets disposed too much when dribbling too much, and doesn’t have an eye for the right progressive pass at the right time. He isn’t adept at making accurate crosses. The ball seems to stick when he has possession. He loves to shoot from well outside the penalty area when he’s anywhere close, regardless of where his teammates are.
On the plus side, he works hard and has heart. He can press in the opposition half relatively effectively, but he isn’t the best at tracking back to help defensively in our defensive third.
I think he is a great bench piece, but if we cannot recruit over him, the pitch becomes a lot easier to defend by opponents.
That’s fair criticism. I think that’s an issue we’ve had with a lot of players over the years. They’re solid players that don’t really excel in any one area but they work super hard. It’s difficult to justify getting rid of them because they don’t hurt us a lot, but they also don’t do a ton to aid us in that attack.
The club and fans have accepted “OK” and “average” and “hard-working” for too long. It’s like collectively we wouldn’t recognize excellence if we saw it because we have been conditioned to compare our “best” players with the other options available on the roster instead of comparing against all the clubs that have passed us by.