A trip to the American Midwest awaits the Montreal Impact, this weekend. It will be a delicate away game for the Bleu-blanc-noir, who visits Children’s Mercy Park, AKA the Blue Cauldron, to play Sporting Kansas City, this Saturday, June 10, at 8pm EDT (TVA Sports, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690). Discover 10 things about the best defense in MLS this season.
Context
At the top of the Western Conference, Sporting KC played expansion team Minnesota United at the right time, last weekend, and the 3-0 win helped boost morale inside the locker room a few days before some key players left for international action. SKC had only won one of their previous five games and was caught up in the standings by both Texan clubs. We need to mention the Kansasians’ dazzling form at home: they are unbeaten in their Blue Cauldron since September 13, 2016, a 2-1 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Current form
L-D-W-L-L-W
Head coach
Peter Vermes (110-86-65 all-time as Sporting Kansas City head coach) became Sporting KC head coach on August 4, 2009, first on an interim basis, then permanently ahead of the 2010 season. His early playing days as a defender saw him move to Hungary, the Netherlands and Spain before he returned to MLS for the inaugural 1996 season. He then joined the Kansas City Wizards in 2000, winning MLS Cup and the Defender of the Year award in his first season there. Vermes retired in 2002 and joined the Wiz’s technical staff in 2006. The winningest head coach in club history, Vermes won the U.S. Open Cup in 2012 and 2015 and MLS Cup again in 2013 – he remains the only person to have won MLS Cup as a player and coach for the same club. Vermes was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2013.
Current top scorer
Dom Dwyer (5)
Players to watch
1. Ike Opara (#3) – Complete and physical defender, Opara also has this ability to find space in the opponent’s area on set pieces. He is also comfortable with the ball at his feet and controls Sporting’s start to the build-up.
2. Jimmy Medranda (#94) – The young and versatile Colombian player is an attacking threat on the wings. He can play pretty much everywhere: on the left or on the right, in defense, in midfield or further forward. Since the start of the season, he creates more than a chance a game.
3. Dom Dwyer (#14) – In three career games against the Bleu-blanc-noir, the Englishman, who also holds an American passport, has scored five goals. Danger.
Team profile
Historically, Sporting Kansas City holds the ball well. Comprised of technical players who like to control the game, the build-up is steady, patient, and looks to break lines by moving the ball horizontally. Penetration in the final third is done through the flanks, particularly on the right, from where crosses are sent in the box low and lethally: of the last eight goals scored by the Kansas City offense, five have come from low crosses from the right wing. Defensively, this season, SKC is imperial and leads MLS with only 10 goals allowed in 15 games. Their only flagrant weakness is in the air, with balls coming from the left: once again, five of the past seven goals against have been created from this zone.
In 2017 :
<span class="s1"><b>Shots on target*</b></span> |
<span class="s1"><b>Goals scored from inside the penalty area</b></span> |
<span class="s1"><b>Goals scored from outside the penalty area</b></span> |
<span class="s1"><b>Goals scored on headers</b></span> |
<span class="s1">=2nd (76)</span> |
<span class="s1">=14th (15)</span> |
<span class="s1">=3rd (4)</span> |
<span class="s1">=15th (2)</span> |
<span class="s1"><b>Possession (%)</b></span> |
<span class="s1"><b>Big chance conversion (%)</b></span> |
<span class="s1"><b>Successful passes in attacking third (%)</b></span> |
<span class="s1"><b>Duels won (%)</b></span> |
<span class="s1">3rd (57,5%)</span> |
<span class="s1">6th (60%)</span> |
<span class="s1">2nd (69,6%)</span> |
<span class="s1">3rd (52,3%)</span> |
*Source for all data is Opta
Tactical formation
4-3-3 is king in the American Midwest. Lineup against Minnesota United (June 3): Melia; Sinovic, Besler, Opara, Abdul-Salaam; Feilhaber, Sánchez, Medranda; Blessing, Saad, Fernandes.
Most recent game against the Impact
The strikers from both teams had a great evening on the evening following Quebec’s national holiday, last year: Didier Drogba registered an assist and won a penalty converted by Nacho Piatti, while Dom Dwyer answered with two goals to allow Sporting to bring back a point to the city renowned for barbecue.
Injuries, absences and call-ups (as of June 8)
D Kevin Ellis (thigh)
D Tyler Pasher (Canada)
D Graham Zusi (USMNT)
D Matt Besler (USMNT)
M Roger Espinoza (back)
A Soony Saad (Lebanon)
A Diego Rubio (knee)
Upcoming games
Sporting Kansas City v Minnesota United FC (US Open Cup, June 14)
San Jose Earthquakes v Sporting Kansas City (MLS, June 17)
LA Galaxy v Sporting Kansas City (MLS, June 24)
