On the eve of his team’s important matchup with the New England Revolution at Children’s Mercy Park, Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes joined The Program host Soren Petro for a 20-minute conversation on Sports Radio 810 WHB.
Understandably, the topic of injuries was quick to surface. Several Sporting players will be sidelined Saturday, prompting Vermes to utilize the squad depth at his disposal.
As for explaining the recent injury bug, intuition points to the club’s early-season fixture congestion. Sporting, which juggled the Concacaf Champions League with the start of the regular season, has already played 13 competitive matches. Most other MLS clubs have played six to eight.
But Vermes doesn’t necessarily think recent ailments to Matt Besler (hamstring), Roger Espinoza (knee), Erik Hurtado (knee), Jaylin Lindsey (knee) and Rodney Wallace (hip) have resulted purely due to playing twice a week.
“I don’t think it’s the extra games. I think it’s the fact that they come at the start of the year where you haven’t played 5-10 games in the regular season,” Vermes said. “You (have to) play in a competition where the other (Mexican) teams have already played two-thirds of their season. These teams are already used to the grind—they’re physically there and mentally there. All of that is engrained in them.
“What you’re asking an MLS team to do, right away, is be at the same place that (Mexican) teams are two-thirds into their season,” he said. “And you actually have to win; everything matters right away. It’s not just a physical challenge, it’s also a mental challenge. When you’re mentally tired, that’s when some of the physical injuries happen, and I think that’s been our biggest difficulty.”
Vermes and Petro then discussed the keys to shrinking the gap between MLS and other leagues around the world, including Liga MX. The Sporting manager believes it will require a two-pronged approach: (1) increasing the money available to MLS clubs, and (2) consistently developing young players who are able to make the jump from academy to first team.
Sporting and New England kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT Saturday with live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports GO, Sports Radio 810 WHB, SiriusXM FC and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM. Tickets for the match remain available at SeatGeek.com, including a $31 T-shirt and ticket package as Sporting celebrates community ties and civic pride during Kansas City Night.
Listen to the full podcast below.
