Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes joined Fescoe in the Morning on 610 Sports Radio this morning ahead of Saturday's match in Columbus. Below, hear the interview in its entirety as well as highlighted excerpts from the conversation...
On the team's approach year over year...
"I think, for us, we want to be a team that's competitive at the end of each season. That means getting into the postseason. It's definitely something that we expect to do so we're not going to look at it any other way."
On the team's progress season to season...
"At the end of each season, we look at where we were lacking in the season prior. And then start trying to build a team with some of those qualities that we think are going to help us get further into the postseason. Throughout the season, we're trying a bunch of different things. Whether it's giving younger players some experience which ultimately gives us a deeper roster. And then sometimes we do things tactically that we have to be able to switch to during the postseason, as well."
On the best player he's coached...
"I think people don't realize how good Zusi is. I think that he is a world-class player. He goes about his business every day and he has an incredible work ethic, just a team guy all around."
On maximizing the impact of key players...
"There are players in the game that you want on the ball when you have the ball…Guys like Zusi, Oriol Rosell, Benny Feilhaber, players like that you want on the ball as much as possible. We want those guys to be on the ball first and the most. How do you do it? It's a lot of training. It's how we build out of the back and how we develop our system to make sure that those guys are on the ball the most."
On the 4-3-3 formation...
"I like the system because it gives you the ability to attack with numbers. And at the same time, you still have the ability to defend in a way that is not one that you're always just sitting back. You can still high press a team and cover up a lot of the different spaces that are less open normally in other systems. You have to recruit players that can play in that system and not only play one position in that system, but can play multiple positions in that system. That's one of the things we have with most of the guys in our team."
On entering the final month of the season...
"The first piece is that we have to make the playoffs. The second part is that we have to put ourselves in a position that we have the ability to get some home field advantage through this. It just makes for less travel and it gives you your home field to play on. There's a lot of different things that position can give you. At the same time, the great thing that I think has been accomplished by the team this year is that we've had a pretty good road record. One of the best in the league. And come playoff time, you have to be able to play on the road. That's been a very positive mark thus far."
