Three Things that Went Very Well for Sporting KC versus San Diego

For the Glory KC is back with the 142nd episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City didn’t get the much-needed win against San Diego FC. It’s not unexpected when a team well below the playoff line plays the best team in the conference it may not work out. Sure, they lost 2-0, but I’m here to tell you they actually executed their gameplan exceptionally well. Their chances just didn’t go in. The dominated the expected goal (xG) battle, but the only number most will care about is the final score.

However, there are positives that can be taken away from the loss and things to look forward to in the final nine games of the MLS season. Sheena and I will get into more detail in the episode, but those things are:

1. The Jake Davis/Zorhan Bassong double pivot
2. Santiago Munoz and Dejan Joveljic starting together
3. The return of Robert Voloder (he made such a difference)

As a bonus category, we look closer at the 4-4-2 and decide if it should be that, or another formation for the rest of the year.

Beyond those keys, we also discuss the flopping of San Diego FC, the poorly officiated game from Pierre-Luc Lauziere (which may have literally led to injuries), updates on other injuries (Erik Thommy in particular) and a bunch of other topics from the game.

In the SKC Round-Up, we covered the newest Sporting KC signing (Alan Montes) and his brief debut, the departure of Dany Rosero, some Mike Burns transfer window quotes and the news my colleague Thad Bell broke that the $500k in GAM from the William Agada trade does not expire.

The KC Current played twice since our last episode, both of which were wins. First, they beat Racing Louisville then they took down the Utah Royals. Both were victories on the road. But there was a ton of other KC Current news:

• Vanessa DiBernardo is pregnant and on maternity leave
• Ally Sentnor arrives in the biggest trade in NWSL history
• Katie Scott is out on loan to Racing Louisville
• Kayla Sharples re-signed through 2027 with an option for 2028
• and Temwa Chawinga is up for the Ballon d’Or

In the Digital Crawl, we kept it brief on a few more topics, including:

• SKC II’s first two wins
• Sean Nahas is fired by the North Carolina Courage
• Benny and the Roots slip against Colorado Springs

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC dominate, and lose – 5:49
• SKC make a signing with more to come – 49:23
• KC Current win twice and make a ton of news – 59:47
• Digital Crawl – 1:24:34

Upcoming Games

• KC Current vs Orlando Pride, Sat. Aug 16th at 3:00PM CDT
• Sporting KC at Orlando City, Sat. Aug 16th at 6:30PM
• SKC II vs Dynamo 2, Sun. Aug 17th at 12:00PM

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they’ll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

You can find For the Glory KC wherever you get your podcasts. Search “For the Glory KC” and be sure to subscribe! Here are some helpful links:

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Be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast. Five-star ratings and reviews will help others find the pod. On Spotify you can review on the mobile app by clicking the three dots. On Apple Podcasts, it’s much easier. If it’s not quite five-star worthy yet, feel free to let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@PlayFor90 or @ForTheGloryKC). Sheena essentially runs our FTGKC BlueSky, so that’s a great way to get her takes. You can also reach Sheena on BlueSky @iamsheens.

You can follow us me on BlueSky (@ChadCSmith). Also, you can find the podcast on other social media platforms: @ForTheGloryKC on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook or you can email us at ForTheGloryKC at Gmail.

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