Sporting KC and a Tale of Lowered Expectations

For the Glory KC is back with the 83rd episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City are now winless in five straight. Heading into the Real Salt Lake game, it never really felt like they were going to win, but they kept it close for a long time. There were six changes to the lineup, as well as four subs used. The offense wasn’t clicking but John Pulskamp nearly came through with some hero ball.

Sheena and I weigh in on that lineup choices, all the missing players for illness (Radoja) and injury (Rosero and Walter). Plus, is this the last we’ll see of Marinos Tzionis? It felt like he was setup to fail playing out of position with zero minutes in MLS or MLS Next Pro this year.

One of my favorites, Alenis Vargas, has some answering to do for that performance against RSL. I advocate for the ‘kids’ all the time, but this was a terrible shift from Vargas that might see him relegated back to SKC II or the proverbial Vermes ‘doghouse.’

And we absolutely can’t avoid talking about this bizarre situation between Daniel Salloi and Brayan Vera.

Here is the full sequence. You can see Vera and Salloi jockeying for position and as Vera tries to shed Salloi he does look like he whacks him in the head. Not sure if it's intentional or not.

You can even see him seemingly tell Pulido later he bumped his head. #SportingKC #RSL pic.twitter.com/xQuhzaxWUb

— Chad Smith (@PlayFor90) May 5, 2024

It wasn’t all downer news around Sporting KC though. Jake Davis signed a long-term contract extension, which is a welcome addition. And it seems really likely that Alan Pulido took a pay cut, which is a big deal.

The Kansas City Current nearly lifted our weekend up before a four-hour delay in the game and a flukey second half goal that allowed the Houston Dash to draw level. Despite the Current outshooting the Dash 29-8, including 14-3 with shots on goal, they couldn’t pull off a win and find themselves at least temporarily out of first place looking up at the Orlando Pride.

What a weird goal for Houston… Franch and Wheeler get it all wrong. Wheeler should just let Franch pick it up but she kicks it off her.

Wheeler had just come in for Mace who went down injured. #KCBaby #HOUvKC pic.twitter.com/Jc6gAuBIg8

— Chad Smith (@PlayFor90) May 5, 2024

The way the rain delay was handled and the scheduling nightmare it has left the Current in was the ire of Vlatko Andonovski in the post-game press conference. We have thoughts!

Included in the game discussion on the broadcast was the news that Gabby Robinson may be getting a look for the United States Women’s National Team. Go Gabby!

Interesting to hear Gabrielle Robinson in the conversation for #USWNT inclusion on the broadcast. She got zero love last year in any rookie of the year conversations, probably because the Current just weren't winning. Those that watched knew she was a special prospect last year.

— Daniel Sperry (@sperrydaniel94) May 5, 2024

In the Digital Crawl, we hit a few topics, including:

• Sporting KC II fall short against North Texas, but win awards for April
• The 2027 Women’s World Cup isn’t coming to the US or Mexico
• Plus: The Columbus Crew advance in CCC, Kelley O’Hara plans to retire and more

Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):

• Sporting KC lose to RSL – 4:18
• Jake Davis signs a new contract – 41:18
• Alan Pulido may have taken a pay cut – 43:59
• KC Current vs. the Houston Dash and the weather – 47:57
• KC Comets come up just short – 1:16:54
• Digital Crawl – 1:23:00

Upcoming Schedule:

• Sporting KC at Union Omaha – Wednesday, May 8th @ 7:00 PM CT
• KC Current at Seattle Reign – Wednesday, May 8th @ 9:00 PM 
• Sporting KC vs. Houston Dynamo – Saturday, May 11th @ 7:30 PM
• Sporting KC II vs. Colorado Rapids 2 – Sunday, May 12th @ 2:00 PM
• KC Current vs. North Carolina Courage – Sunday, May 12th @ 5:00 PM

Spotify took away our ads, so we turned on “Listener Support.” Don’t feel obligated, but if you have a few spare bucks and are a fan of the pod, we’d appreciate your donation.

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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