With Sporting KC heading back on the road to face Montreal this Saturday, I caught up with MLSsoccer.com's Armchair Analyst, Matt Doyle, to preview the match. The match will kick off at 3:00 p.m. CT on Saturday with live coverage available on KMCI (38 the Spot), SKCTV, ESPN 1510 AM, and La Gran D 1340 AM.
Jonathon Feyerherm: What do you take away from the previous meeting at Sporting Park (4-0 win by Sporting KC) heading into this match?
Matt Doyle: Montreal definitely has to take a lot from it. They kind of gave themselves a lesson on what not to do. Dom Dwyer scored both of his goals from that spot right between the two centerbacks. If you want to be a good team in any league, you cannot get split there. I don't expect the game to play out the same way but teams have tendencies and good coaches understand that. There are no more surprises in MLS anymore. Everybody's scouting. There will be similarities and the question is can Montreal make it a little bit dissimilar in terms of their defensive performance. It's going to be the same two teams playing so it won't look entirely foreign.
JF: What are your thoughts on Eric Kronberg and his play since taking over as the starting goalkeeper this season?
MD: The stop on Bernarndo Anor was one of the best stops of the year and especially impressive to see a big guy get down that quickly. That's a harder save for a bigger goalkeeper than it is for a guy like NIck Rimando or Jon Busch. His confidence is only going to grow as the season progresses. He's been around Sporting KC for almost a decade so he knows what the team is about and has the confidence of the guys around him and I think it shows.
JF: Sporting KC are a side that typically doesn't change their style very much in away matches. How do see their high pressing style matching up against Montreal at home?
MD: I'm a big proponent of relying on what you do well. Know thyself first and foremost. That's what Sporting KC does. They press whether they are at home or on the road and there are some subtle differences but it's not usually a lot. I expect to see that but at the same time, Montreal's really only dangerous when they get players in behind. They don't do a whole lot of build-up play through the middle. They just try to play direct, hit to open space and use their athleticism. One of the dangers of playing the high press is that if a team makes that one special play, they can put a forward or midfielder in-behind the back line and then you're usually forced to foul and probably give up a red card or allow a one versus one with the goalkeeper. There are some things to play around with. I would expect Vermes to maybe drop a lower line of confrontation in the second half if Sporting KC are protecting a result. That's not unusual at all. He's been doing that for years.
JF: How do you see these teams matching up in the midfield?
MD: I like a lot of Montreal does with the ball but they are very slow to put pressure on in the midfield. They allow guys a lot of room to pick passes and make plays. When you allow Benny Feilhaber that time and space, he's finding ways to burn you. And the other thing is that if you don't put pressure on and allow opposition to make good passes easily, then you put yourself in a lot of trouble. That's especially problematic against Kansas City because you can't let anything come easy to Uri Rosell. If everything starts coming easy to him, then he finds Feilhaber and Nagamura and Zusi in better and better positions. If you start getting those guys in better and better positions, it's like a domino effect. Suddenly, you're looking at chance after chance and eventually even if the forwards are struggling, one of those is going to get put away.
