Sporting KC preaching patience, belief to emerge from historically bad start
The situation Sporting KC players and coaches find themselves in after just 10 games of the MLS season is unprecedented in the club’s history.
Only one club has accumulated fewer points in 10 MLS regular-season games – ever. The 2019 Colorado Rapids had two draws in their first three games and failed to win until game 12 of the season.
It’s a dire situation at the moment and one Sporting player knows he has to extricate himself. Goalkeeper Tim Melia called it new territory on Tuesday and said the club must find a way to regroup.
“You can (either) bury your head in the sand and wait for someone else to do something, or you can take action,” Melia said. “We have to come together as a group and convince on the field. And that’s the mentality we’re all bringing to this game this weekend.”
One area Sporting will need to unwind quickly — perhaps starting Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in the Central game against Seattle — is the almost instantaneous deflation when you concede a goal.
“It has to stop,” Melia said.
Melia says it’s something the team discussed internally.
“We get hit. It’s going to happen,” Melia said. “It’s going to happen many more times this season and we need to be in a place where we can use that as motivation, not something that blows us away.”
Understandably, players are frustrated with where they stand. And with just three goals in ten games so far, attacking play has been a major issue.
So what’s wrong with the attack? As many have noted, including those on the list, too often players try to do it themselves instead of letting the situation take its course. A certain patience is missing in the last third because the players are pressing.
“Guys try to take the load on their shoulders but it doesn’t work,” Melia said. “So we have to go back to our draft and understand that we are a team. We have to work together to be successful and we have to do that.”
According to FBref.com, Sporting KC have the second most touches in their opponent’s last third in MLS, but they have the 11th lowest number of touches in the middle third. This also applies to the opponent’s penalty area.
Melia acknowledged that the players seemed to be “walking around as individuals a little bit,” but in a good way.
How do they solve their problems? It seems easy enough to get more touches in the opponent’s box, resulting in more chances and more goals. More touches inside the box would likely lead to more shots inside the box as well.
However, getting there requires a certain amount of patience.
“There is a high level of patience that requires discipline in the game,” said Sporting manager Peter Vermes. “Sometimes it’s your positioning. Sometimes you have the ball and your decisions.”
Vermes provided the example of players who get impatient because they haven’t found the right shot yet – and then take a bad shot to get a shot.
“When you’re playing your game, don’t think about those things,” Vermes said. “When you’re not playing like we are, you’re thinking about these things. We’re trying to get out of the thinking part of the game and be instinctive.”
Pick a phrase, whether it’s “uncharted waters” or “unprecedented times,” most apply to what Sporting is going through right now. Players, supervisors and fans alike feel it in the situation. But Vermes doesn’t want to wallow in the bad.
“Anybody could sit there and wallow all day and bla bla bla‘ Vermes said. “I’m just trying to find a solution.
“I know we have a good group. I believe in the group. I’ve said that many times. I know people probably think I’m crazy, but that’s okay. That’s how I get through what I do and I believe in our boys. We will find ourselves.”
Originally published