Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast

Sporting Kansas City got its 3rd draw in a row to start the season after an entertaining 0-0 final in Los Angeles where the score line did not accurately tell the story as to how the match was played.  It was a very up and down affair as often happens when these clubs meet, and likely was a fun one for neutrals to watch. That said, Sporting KC’s performance produced a familiar refrain from previou...

Sporting Kansas City opened up Children’s Mercy Park for the season with what has to feel like a heartbreaking draw at the hands of the Philadelphia Union, giving up the equalizing goal in the 5th minute of stoppage time after some dubious refereeing led to a late corner kick for Philly that they eventually converted.  This of course meant that the replacement referees were a significant topic in...

Sporting KC kicked off the 2024 MLS Season with what could be called a less than crisp performance down in Houston but came away with a road draw that looks just fine in the results column. While fair to have some frustration with the level of quality the team played with compared to their opponent, the defense was (mostly)solid, and there were inklings of progressive ideas that just didn't qu...

We are back after two weeks off, and it seems all that has happened is people got more mad at MLS over its reticence to prop up the Open Cup and the referee lockout. We discuss how important these issues really are to anyone than other than the most plugged in fan and whether parsing them to the nth degree is valuable in any way. The SKC roster situation is fairly boring. All of the roster additio...

Sporting KC have made it through the first phase of their preseason in Miami, and we try to make something of what has happened there over the past few weeks. There is some instructive information regarding the depth chart, and apparently a few players have made positive strides. One player who has not, Marinos Tzionis, has made us question both the philosophy and execution of the club's playe...

Barely more than a week after a fairly uncomfortable press conference was convened to announce Gavin Wilkinson's hiring as Sporting KC's new Sporting Director, Principal Owner Michael Illig released a written statement on the SKC website stating that they have mutually parted ways. This was in response to consistent pressure from fans, business partners and key stakeholders. While it was g...

We aren't doing this podcast or the fans of the club justice if we do not talk about the extremely questionable decision of Sporting Kansas City to hire Gavin Wilkinson as its new Sporting Director. We do our best to cover the most important details of this decision, the history of Wilkinson as a front office leader, and his culpability in multiple instances of women being mistreated. Music by...

We are back after a several week hiatus after Sporting KC dropped the bombshell that the home match against Inter Miami would be moved to Arrowhead. This obviously sent shockwaves through the SKC community, and we try to break down all the various perspectives on the move and the potential it holds for the club long term. Gadi Kinda officially left SKC for Maccabi Haifa, and the announcement video...

Drew and Cody bring out their exam results and discuss the season grades for players on all 3 lines as well as the technical staff. There were highs and lows, and opportunities for improvement, and we cover them all. It seems increasingly likely that Gadi Kinda's time in KC is over. We discuss the big picture reasons for that change happening as well as how SKC could move forward. Finally MLS...

We tried to prepare ourselves last week, but the finality of the decisions to move on from Graham Zusi and Roger Espinoza have us feeling some kind of way. We spend some time memorializing their impact and discuss how things may move forward from here. Speaking of moving forward, the roster decisions allowed Drew to do his annual nerdy spreadsheet work and talk through multiple ways SKC could pote...

Sporting KC were unceremoniously eliminated from the MLS Cup playoffs Sunday night in Houston. The team maintained their 4-4-2 mid block/low-pressure setup meant to create counterattacking opportunities that worked so well against St Louis, but it was ineffective against Houston. We discuss the tactical plan, whether it was the most appropriate choice, and the struggles the team had in getting qua...

Because there is nothing else going on, it seems everyone is focused on being MLS scheduling professionals. We discuss the three week break and how much it really matters, as well as how avoidable it really was. We dive deep into the upcoming match against Houston, how they like to progress the ball, and how SKC might negate it. Tactical Corner is a deeper dive into Alan Pulido and what makes him...

SKC unceremoniously sent St Louis back across the state to start their offseason after a fairly comprehensive 2-1 scoreline that honestly flattered their opponent. It was a competitive affair for about 20 minutes until SKC settled in and fairly significantly controlled the match the rest of the way. Logan Ndenbe cemented his status as "Playoff Logan" right before rupturing his ACL and so...

Sporting KC had two consecutive playoff "wins" this week after winning the PK shootout against San Jose after a fairly uninteresting 0-0 draw on Wednesday and then took the wood to St Louis in their park on Sunday night. The former being everything we have come to expect from this team on short rest against a team that didn't want to play soccer, and the latter being the exact opposi...

We're making an Ali-like return to this podcasting space to discuss SKC's improbable run into the MLS post-season and the "no one believed in us" narrative that the coach seems insistent on giving air to. In fairness, we had significant doubts about this potential outcome, so we were apparently the "doubters" he was referring to, and we are willing to own that. That sai...

We get some things off our chest. Things around Sporting Kansas City are in a word, Stale. The playing style, the general energy around the club, the decision making characteristics of the coach, etc, etc. We discuss the frustrations around not just the 4-1 loss to St Louis, but the feeling that it was generally inevitable. The playing format never sufficiently attacked them when they were disorga...

Sporting KC put in a fairly listless performance on the mid-week versus Nashville and it was unfortunately something we saw coming. Thankfully they brought much higher intensity against Houston on Saturday and even managed to raise it higher after an unfortunate red card for Johnny Russell. We dive into the differences in the way SKC attack when they have Alan Pulido or Willy Agada in at striker,...

Sporting KC come home from Minnesota with 3 points, which would normally be a reason for optimism. Unfortunately SKC seemed to be more lucky than good on Saturday night and while that is also a welcome change from previous performances, it is hard to take it as a positive into the next two games on short rest against quality opponents. Alan Pulido gets his official contract extension, and we think...

Sporting KC did a lot of the things we have come to expect from them the past couple years when playing on the road: Had veterans make significant mental errors, played soft in the midfield, and showed a complete lack of urgency attacking in transition until they were down multiple goals. We shouldn't be surprised by this, but it still is very frustrating to watch. We discuss the structural is...

It was a derby atmosphere in Children's Mercy Park on Saturday and the game lived up to the hype. It was a fairly comprehensive performance by SKC even if STL fans don't want to admit it and blame the referees for their lot in life(get in line). There was a lot of bantz before the game, even leading up to player intros, and we are here for it. This is what makes rivalries fun, and we can t...

SKC is back and it was a comprehensive 3-0 win vs San Jose. While the score may have flattered SKC somewhat, it was a deserved win regardless. Drew and Cody discuss the quintessential JFR game(including the injury), the tactical personnel choices, Tim Melia doing his thing, and what we will be calling "The Full Fontas". Tactical Corner is focused on building out of pressure, for reasons...

SKC hasn't played a game(again) this week, so we focus on the management portions of the club, discussing how MLS clubs are constructed and the potential options for how you do it, the Pulido contract renewal and how it impacts SKC's future roster construction prospects, and why the KC Current are getting fined for chartering what amounts to a Spirit Airlines flight to Louisville. As promi...

We are back from our almost month-long hiatus and Drew has returned rom New Zealand and Australia to find that not much has changed regarding the prospects of Sporting KC. We discuss the situation and the rather concerning lack of opportunity to do much about it. The USWNT has similar issues regarding an idealogue of a coach with very specific personnel choices that do not seem to allow the team t...

This week Drew and Cody discuss what was a fairly disheartening 2-2 draw in Houston, the boring nature of the team's tactics, and whether they were appropriate given the roster makeup. Radoja's absence was felt, and Drew is finally completely done with the Kendall McIntosh experiment. Tactical corner focuses on counter-pressing, how it is used, how SKC use it, and why it is an elite skill...

This week Drew and Cody discuss what was a fairly comprehensive performance for SKC vs the Vancouver Whitecaps. They were composed, meticulous, and at the right times creating chaos to take down the 3-0 victory. There were many key performances but perhaps none more important than that of Gadi Kinda. He is in some ways, the prototype of what this system needs from the 8/10 position. We dive into h...