One day removed from an exciting 3-3 preseason draw with the Portland Timbers and the MLS regular season schedule release on Wednesday, Sporting Kansas City captain Johnny Russell and defender Luis Martins spoke to media about the clubâs ongoing preparations in Arizona. Their press conference remarks are below, with an emerging theme revolving around Sporting's opportunity to compete in Leagues Cup later this summer.
Forward Johnny Russell
On Sportingâs progression in preseasonâĤ
We made a lot of good strides early on and weâve been trying to implement that in games. Everyone came in fit, so lately you havenât had to worry about getting up to speed. We got going early and now weâre able to focus on the tactical side of things. The things that we have changed I think are going to benefit us going forward as well.
On participating in Leagues Cup this summerâĤ
Weâre excited to be involved in it and itâs another competitionâanother chance to try and win a trophy, which is what we set out to do every year. We want to win whatever we play in, so itâs another opportunity for that at the end of the day. Itâs more games and itâs more opportunities to win a trophy. It doesnât get much more exciting than that, and itâs not a long tournament. We are going to be really excited about it.
On serving as the clubâs new captainâĤ
I donât really feel like anythingâs changed for me. The âcaptainâ title is there but I still feel like Iâm doing the same things. From that aspect, nothing has really changed. Maybe guys feel a little easier coming to talk to me, as well. Itâs a huge honor getting the captaincy and itâs something that Iâve loved every day that Iâve been doing it. The guys make jokes here and there, but apart from that, I donât think anything has really changed.
Defender Luis Martins
On the release of the regular season scheduleâĤ
We are getting prepared for a tough season and we are here to do the best we can. I think this is going to be a great season for us here at SportingâĤ Last season we played against the same teams every time. This season is going to be different, and for us that is exciting. We are excited to start and looking forward to playing the first game against New York and for our first home game against Orlando. We just want to have fun with the fans.
On participating in Leagues Cup this summerâĤ
Itâs great to have more competitions because last season it was so hard for us as players and as a club. This season, we are going to have a lot of games and a lot of fun, too. This tournament is greatâand itâs an international competition, too, so we are proud to be there.
I played some international games (in Europe) and I think this is going to be a little different. The preparation is not like normal, week-to-week preparation in the regular season. Every game against a Mexican team is going to be exciting. The guys just need to be focused and enjoy the games. We donât know the teams we are playing against yet, but when the teams come here, we will make sure we are prepared.
Iâve been here a year and I half and I have seen that Mexico always has great soccer teams. We as MLS teams are improving year by year, season by season. I think we are almost there and maybe we can compete with the great Mexican sides. We are working to improve day by day and looking to compete against teams from around the world.
On Sportingâs preparation for the new seasonâĤ
We started last season so well, and after COVID came, we needed to restart again in Orlando. Like always here at Sporting, we are so competitive as a team and I think we are getting prepared well. We need to make sure we have the right basis for a great season. We showed some great stuff against Portland (on Wednesday) and we need to improve in some other areas as well. We will try to win every game and itâs going to be tough for us and the opponents as well.
