Square Pegs in Round Holes for Sporting KC

For the Glory KC is back with the 201st episode of the show!

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Sporting Kansas City inches closer to unwanted history after a 2-1 loss to Austin FC, while the KC Current lock up an NWSL playoff berth.

Another second-half collapse has Sporting KC standing on the precipice of an all-time low. Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Austin FC pushed the club to 77 goals conceded on the year, just one shy of matching the MLS single-season record set by the San Jose Earthquakes in 2024. 

Stephen Afrifa provided the lone bright spot with his goal, but even he failed to score two more golden opportunities. On the other end of the pitch, calamitous defending and tactical paralysis ultimately unraveled the night. On the latest episode of For the Glory KC, we break down why manager Rapha Wicky refuses to adjust his system to his personnel, debate whether nineteen-year-old Ian James needs to start down the stretch and look at what Afrifa said postgame about his contract status.

We also dive into the front office restructuring with three major executive hires from European soccer and rugby, check in on the Wooden Spoon standings, and highlight a couple standout podcast from around the KC soccer community. And there are Ilie Sanchez, Johnny Russell, Tim Melia, Graham Zusi and Benny Feilhaber sightings and/or news!

Across the river, the mood was far more celebratory. The Kansas City Current punched their postseason ticket before kicking a ball on Sunday, then punctuated the weekend with a gritty 2-1 comeback win over the Washington Spirit at CPKC Stadium. Vanessa DiBernardo provided the game-winner off a record-setting setup from Croix Bethune, who officially broke the NWSL single-season assist record with her eleventh helper. We run through the postseason seeding race heading into Decision Day, dissect the disputed attendance numbers, and round up league-wide off-field news.

In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a couple more topics:

• Nashville SC locking up the Supporter’s Shield
• The US are looking to hose the first ever Women’s Club World Cup in 2028
• The UMKC Roos win the Summit League
• and the Ballon d’or results are in

Here is a rundown of sections and start times:

• Intro – 0:00
• Sporting KC – 7:09
• KC Current – 1:09:31
• Digital Crawl – 1:36:25

Upcoming Games

• Sporting KC @ Minnesota United, WED, Oct 28 at 7:30PM
• Sporting KC vs. FC Dallas, SAT, Oct 31 at 2:00PM
• KC Current @ Racing Louisville, SUN, Nov 1 at 1:00PM (Decision Day)

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled.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. 

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