Stats for first SKC starts

Many were surprised by Sporting Kansas City’s lineup Wednesday night against Seattle Sounders FC. It featured three players making the first starts of their MLS careers. Going on the road to one of the toughest places to play in the League, it was a bold move. After the 1-1 result, it paid off in the long run as Sporting KC is in the middle of a stretch of seven games in 22 days.

In the midfield, Michael Thomas took the spot normally played by Julio Cesar, while Peterson Joseph filled Graham Zusi’s position for most of the night. Up front, Soony Saad moved to the winger spot which is usually occupied by either C.J. Sapong or Kei Kamara.

In his MLS debut, Thomas did everything he was supposed to do, be the main connecting point between offense and defense and hold the middle of the field on Sporting KC’s end. For the most part, he did just that as Seattle only got off three shots on net.

Just in front of Thomas was Joseph who had a bit of trouble getting into the game. He completed just 15 successful passes but didn’t make any major mistakes in his 50 minutes of action.

Saad, who is only 19 years old, made a big transition moving to a winger spot as opposed to his normal position as a pure, central striker.  Nevertheless, he moved up and down the field well and almost produced the team’s second goal on this strike that hit the top crossbar.

By looking at Saad’s heat map on the field, you can tell he was trying to get into the action as much as possible. The Opta data shows several positive contributions on the night, including four successful crosses which was most of anyone on the field Wednesday.  

Obviously with this being their first starts in MLS play, each one of them has plenty of room for improvement. The good thing to know after the match with Seattle is that they have the capabilities to become more than spot-starters in the future.