With Thursday’s unveiling of the 2011 MLS regular-season schedule, Sporting Kansas City learned they will be embarking on the longest road trip to start a season in MLS history.
As they wait for their new stadium to open on Thursday, June 9 (ESPN2), manager Peter Vermes will lead his side through 10 road games over the first 11 weeks of the 2011 season.
“We’ve already talked to the guys about it and the second time we come to Arizona we’ll talk about it a little more,” Vermes told reporters on a conference call. “In the end, we’re going to have 17 games on road [in 2011] and if 10 of them wind up first, they wind up in the first 10. We have to play those anyway.”
Three MLS teams have had to start their season with similarly long road swings in anticipation of the opening of their new stadium. The Columbus Crew had the most success with a 5-2-0 record to start 1999.
[inline_node:320590]However, Chicago in 2006 and Los Angeles in 2003 did not fare as well. The Galaxy went winless in eight matches (0-4-4) while the Fire collected only 10 points of 27 available (2-3-4).
“I feel good with the way that we played on the road last season, especially in the second half of the season,” Vermes said. “Being in the middle of the country, compared to teams on the East and West Coast, we probably traveled half the miles they did.”
Sporting may use their road record in 2010 as reason for hope. However, their 15-point haul away from home last season was only better than six other teams in the league.
In the end, it will be the new soccer-specific stadium currently being constructed in Kansas City that will serve as the club’s primary motivation to plough through the tough stretch.
SEE: News, images, live cam of KC Soccer Stadium
“If you told us we had to play 16 road games to open the season, every guy here would say, ‘Absolutely, let’s do it,’” Sporting captain Davy Arnaud said Tuesday in a media conference call. “It’s going to be a special place for us. … I can’t describe to you how excited we are about getting into a place of our won.”
From a tactical standpoint, Vermes is just happy to finally be getting on a bigger field after the recent seasons in the tight confines of CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
“We probably played better away from home than at home,” Vermes said of the club’s 2010 campaign, his first full season as manager.
“I really think that we have a very athletic team with a lot of team speed and on a smaller field it kind of nullifies those pieces of your game,” he said. “I really think that our team is better suited for a bigger field. When we get into our stadium it’s going to bode very well for the way we play.”
