Podcasts
Should we get Worked up About the Sporting KC Losses?
It’s two games into the season and Sporting KC have lost them both 1-0. How much should we be upset by these results and is there promise?
For the Glory KC is back with the 120th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City played their first two competitive games of 2025. While we warned you not to overreact to the initial results, it hasn’t stopped a slice of the fanbase from getting quite worked up. We work our way through both the freezing cold of the Inter Miami game and the slightly less cold, but rainy Austin FC game to talk takeaways.
Daniel Salloi caught a fair amount of grief for his performance in both games. But there was a lot of other notable things that happened. There were Sporting KC debuts for Dejan Joveljic, Manu Garcia, Shapi Suleymanov and Jacob Bartlett. 19-year-old Bartlett started both games! We give our opinions on their performances and those of their peers.
Plus, a look at the injury report, a few tactical wrinkles, and a breakdown of the Austin goal before getting to some breaking news from the week. Sporting KC cut Alenis Vargas and signed Andrew Brody. Erik Thommy was named captain and Roger Espinoza got hired to SKC’s coaching staff. And a little roster composition news came out as well.
Finally, the KC Current had another relatively quiet week, but they extended the contract of new signing Haley Hopkins who just arrived via trade. They also had a few national team call-ups and some new NWSL rules came out, including a bump in the salary cap from $2.75 million to $3.5m.
In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:
- A ref asking for Messi’s jersey
- USWNT results
- Benny Feilhaber’s new job
- KC Comets just keep winning
- and a Tony Meola update
Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):
- Sporting KC freeze against Inter Miami – 8:11
- SKC vs. Austin FC in the Season Opener – 26:48
- Captain Erik Thommy – 48:32
- Alenis Vargas released – 52:01
- Andrew Brody signed – 57:18
- Sporting KC story round-up – 1:00:27
- Sheena does Manu Garcia bio – 1:07:30
- KC Current news – 1:14:46
- Digitial Crawl – 1:18:28
Upcoming Games
- Sporting KC @ Inter Miami – Tuesday, Feb. 25th – 7:00 PM CST
- Sporting KC vs. San Jose Earthquakes – Sat., Mar. 1st – 7:30 PM
- SheBelieves Cup
- USWNT vs. Japan – Wed. Feb 26th – 9:30 PM (San Diego)
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Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
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Ike Opara Departs SKC II and the Team has Just Six Players
Sporting KC signs Cielo Tschantret as a Homegrown Player
Vlatko Andonovski steps away from coaching to focus on Global Sporting Director
Jereko Signs Permanent Deal with HB Køge
Opinion: The “Winter” MLS Schedule is the Right Move
Hailie Mace Says Goodbye to Kansas City and the Current
MLS Schedule and Apple TV changes
Vlatko Andonovski steps away from coaching to focus on Global Sporting Director
Opinion: The “Winter” MLS Schedule is the Right Move
This is just business as usual. No one should be worked up about it, and fans expected. The only way I see our side making the playoffs is because the MLS takes almost everybody into the playoffs.
The Austin game was a winnable away game, in league play, verses a team that is also trying to work in new players. I am disappointed in the management of the game. Specifically the starting line up and playing so many players in positions they are unaccustomed to being in. I realize there is match congestion and Vermes is managing minutes. The league game should have been more of a priority. Honestly what result is more likely…getting a road win in Austin or winning in Miami?
Sorry, I haven’t listened to the pod, but the Ref-Messi jersey thing seems a bit overblown. First of all, I watched the game. Thommy and Messi clearly traded jerseys on the field as they each walked off in their cold gear with the opposing jersey over their shoulder. I also saw later stories saying the ref asked for an autograph for a family member. Not a great look either way, but he’s been punished and I don’t remember any egregious calls that swung the game.
I don’t understand cutting Vargas. I thought he’d be pretty good. They definitely missed his speed in both games so far.
Does anyone but me wonder what the hell Dejan was thinking? Agada and sallio have started off exactly like they played last year. Let’s try Afrifa and toye for god sakes. This is why I didn’t renew my season tickets. It the definition of insanity, doing the same stuff over and over expecting different results!!