KC Current
The KC Current Have a Golden Opportunity they Must Seize
The upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup presents a huge opportunity for the Kansas City Current. If they don’t capitalize, the season is over.
2023 has been a rough season for Kansas City soccer. The Kansas City Current only just climbed out of dead last in the NWSL standings. Sporting Kansas City find themselves in 11th place in the MLS Western Conference standings.
Both teams were expected to be competitive (and they still may be). But it’s especially disappointing for the Current. They went to the NWSL Championship game in 2022 and added numerous quality players to their roster in the offseason and have fallen off a cliff and find themselves eight points out of the playoffs with just nine games to go in the regular season.
But an opportunity looms. The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Players have left for their respective nations after last weekend’s games. Every team is impacted, and the KC Current are no different, but they only lost a single* player: Debinha.
*Desiree Scott is on Canada’s roster but hasn’t played a minute in NWSL this year as she recovers from a surgery.
Now, she may be the best player in the entire league, so it’s definitely a loss, but they are built to deal with this break. They will play two more league games before a stretch of NWSL Challenge Cup games follows. The two league games are against the first place Portland Thorns and eighth place Racing Louisville.
Look how brutally hard they were impacted:
PORTLAND
- Adriana Leon (Canada)
- Christine Sinclair (Canada)
- Hina Sugita (Japan)
- Raquel Rodriquez (Costa Rica)
- Sophia Smith (USWNT)
- Crystal Dunn (USWNT)
LOUISVILLE
- Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa, provisional)
- Uchenna Kanu (Nigeria)
- Alex Chidiac (Australia)
- Savannah DeMelo (USWNT)
Kansas City has to win these two games. They aren’t going to catch Portland, but they are important points. And Louisville are one of the 10 teams ahead of the Current that they must pass.
Beyond the games ahead of the World Cup, teams will almost certainly be impacted on the tail end of things. The WWC Final is on August 20th. Even though only two teams advance to that (and two more to the third-place game on the 19th), it’s likely players won’t be ready to go right away upon their return.
NWSL league play resumes for Kansas City on August 18th and I’d imagine that game will be impacted. It’s possible the game after that could have players missing too (not to mention injuries that will surely happen). KC play the OL Reign (3rd) on the 18th and the Houston Dash (7th) on the 26th. Let’s look at their rosters and how they are impacted.
OL REIGN
- Jordyn Huitema (Canada, provisional)
- Sofia Huerta (USWNT)
- Alana Cook (USWNT)
- Emily Sonnett (USWNT)
- Megan Rapinoe (USWNT)
- Rose Lavelle (USWNT)
HOUSTON
- Michelle Alozie (Nigeria)
- Sophie Schmidt (Canada)
- Nichelle Prince (Canada)
- Allysha Chapman (Canada)
It could be argued the KC Current injury report is worse than some of these rosters’ international call-ups impact things, and I won’t dismiss that out of hand. However, Kansas City are used to playing without their injured players. They’ve had time to adjust. There is a hope the other teams will be reeling.
Plus, they now have back important players on the team like Elizabeth Ball, Vanessa Dibernardo, Morgan Gautrat and Kristen Hamilton. Not to mention all the talented players who haven’t missed time with injury.
What About the Loss of Debinha?
It can’t be understated how good Debinha is. However, sometimes there is an overreliance on a superstar and her being out of the lineup could actually make the team better (I just started Keeping Current which touches on this too). They have plenty of talent all over the pitch to fill in adequately (or far more than adequate in most cases). Also, while it’s improved in recent weeks, Debinha was a turnover machine that was actually breaking the KC attack at times.
TL;DR
The KC Current must win these upcoming games where other teams are impacted by the FIFA Women’s World Cup (and they should take a serious run at the Challenge Cup too which also has teams impacted). If they settle for a draw or two, the playoffs are probably out of reach. However, if they make it in, no one will want to play them because they’ll be the hottest team in the league. Last year they were the fifth seed and made the finals. They just need to get in!
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Gautrat has been so, so good when she’s played so far. It’s really a shame she’s been injured. I’d imagine even Lavogez might be ready to return by August.
Yeah, you can see the quality we all knew was coming when Gautrat gets on the field. I’d still love to know if she was injured when she was signed or got hurt after. The secrecy around the team with injuries is different.
It’s also a shame Lavogez missed so much of the season (which is something we’ve said about so many players this year). I wonder if Cami gets a pass on her roster build because of the injuries. To quote Sporting KC ownership, she didn’t have all the tools in the toolbox.
Even with the injuries she did not have CB depth. And I know they knew about many of the injuries. Scott, Lavogez, and Glas at the minimum. I think they knew about Gautrat as well but not sure on Vanessa.
I’ve been wanting to ask one of you guys who is around the team: What’s the deal with Winebrenner? I know they’ve been trying her at CDM a bit. Every time I see her play she’s rock-solid. And she’s a good passer. Why can’t she get a game at CD? Is she slow? All our “starters” are fast and athletic. But you don’t need to be a blazer if you have good positioning and don’t turn the ball over. I’m just trying to understand, because there have been many coaching decisions this year that make zero sense to me.
Also to those around the team – how long to Loera’s return?
To both of the above question, Thad would know better on Loera. I heard she’s working out, not sure if that means practicing.
As for Winebrenner, I think I’m watching something other than what you are seeing Bryan. I feel like she’s getting beaten a lot. Is it her fault? Her teammates poor positioning? I’m not sure. I’m not sure she’s any worse than Soto or Merrick who have gotten way more minutes, but they are all deficient in my eyes. They are all super young too, so hopefully they improve.
But it’s Ball in a class of her own at CB and Robinson is showing great promise. If Loera needs to play there (when healthy), she’d be my next choice (but I like her more further up the field at d-mid).
You are probably seeing better than I am, Chad. I can only remember her in limited cameos and in last year’s Challenge Cup. I’ve missed one or two games this year and I’ve given less than my full attention during a few losses. I might be having selective memory.
What’s funny is I feel like I’m usually biased towards her because I’m a fan. I remember sitting in the Blue Crew during the home opener and Sophia Smith making her look foolish. That said, Smith does that to everyone.
But there are other times I haven’t loved what I’ve seen and other than that she’s barely been out there. I do remember her being good in the Challenge Cup in 2022. Maybe it was having such strong players around her, and weaknesses show through with so much inexperience on that back line.
I am agreeing with Chad on Winebrenner. I really liked her last year and was disappointed when she did not get a lot of time after her injury. This year I thought she was not doing well on the back line. I think she did better at the 6 though.
It could be very soon,