Sporting KC’s Wooden Spoon fight

The Shades of Blue Soccer Show is tracking Sporting KC’s Wooden Spoon fight this week as the club looks to remain the only MLS original to have never finished in last place.

Clearly, SKC have been a much better team since the arrival of Andre Luiz. He’s sparked an obvious turnaround in the last five matches which has given hope they can climb out of the cellar. Their 12 goals scored in those five games make up nearly 40% of their tally for the entire season!

But as strong and competitive as they’ve looked in those five matches, they only picked up two wins. Three one-goal losses have been exciting, but time is running out and they need to turn more of these positive performances into points.

With that terribly unlucky 2-1 loss in Seattle, SKC dropped their game-in-hand over the other teams in the battle to avoid the Wooden Spoon.

• 25th Columbus Crew – 29 points
• 26th Minnesota United – 29 points
• 27th Toronto FC – 29 points
• 28th Atlanta United – 27 points
• 29th CF Montreal – 24 points
• 30th Sporting KC – 21 points

Through 27 matches, they sit at the bottom of the table with just 21 points and a goal differential of -33.

Yes, that is shockingly poor. It’s 13 worse than CF Montreal, who are just above Sporting KC in the standings. Here’s to hoping it doesn’t come down to that.

Let’s take a look at the last seven matches to close out this season:

• HOME vs Portland Timbers – OCT 10
• Away at Nashville SC – OCT 14
• HOME vs Real Salt Lake – OCT 17
• HOME vs Austin FC – OCT 24
• Away at Minnesota United – OCT 28
• HOME vs FC Dallas – OCT 31
• Away at San Diego FC – NOV 7

Sporting KC have four home games and three away games to make up a three point deficit to CF Montreal. But the four other teams are within striking distance as well. This is Major League Soccer after all, and strange things are inevitable.

There’s no denying Sporting KC have found a new level. They’ve shown they can compete with just about any team in the league… short of a nine-minute window against the Philadelphia Union, that is. The offense has been revitalized and the goals are there. The defense, on the other hand, is still far too leaky.

The speed, skill, and smile from Andre Luiz has changed everything. But will it be enough for Sporting KC to avoid the Wooden Spoon and keep the streak alive?

The show also dives into the KC Current’s 5-1 throttling of Bay FC and Debinha’s hattrick. We give our predictions with just three matches left in the NWSL season.

We’ve also got plenty to discuss with the US Men’s National Team after a 3-0 win over Mexico. The Yanks have won six of their last eight and the new wave of youth has looked really promising in the first friendlies since the World Cup. What was that about a Golden Generation???

Segment 1 – Sporting KC gut punch loss to Seattle Sounders
Segment 2 – KC Current & US Men’s National Team
Segment 3 – SPOON WATCH!

Find the KC Soccer Journal wherever you get your podcasts. Please subscribe, rate, & review! Feel free to yell at Cody @ThatCodyTho, Thad @TheBackpost, Carrie @crobbie20, and Robert @SpKCLife.

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