Beyond the Box Score: Vermes' men coped with numerous setbacks in 2014

Sporting Kansas City’s injury woes were a persistent storyline throughout the 2014 season. The narrative reared its ugly head as early as March (Ike Opara, C.J. Sapong), bled into the summer (Chance Myers, Paulo Nagamura, Eric Kronberg), continued in the fall (Andy Gruenebaum, Erik Palmer-Brown, Jacob Peterson), and peaked during the final week of October (Benny Feilhaber, Igor Juliao).

Grueling World Cup campaigns for Designated Players Matt Besler and Graham Zusi only exacerbated Sporting KC’s late-season exhaustion and subsequent dip in form.

A hobbled roster forced Manager Peter Vermes into constant reshuffling of the lineup. Much has been said about his 33 different lineups in 35 MLS matches and the club record 30 different players to have started a game.

"The difficulty we (have) is that we’ve played a boatload of games with a squad that’s already been depleted, and we keep trying to plug holes and it hasn’t been easy," Vermes said after Sunday's loss to New York in the regular season finale.

What is less apparent, however—and what should be appreciated when this season is reflected upon—is that Vermes’ men faired marginally better coping with lineup instability than past MLS teams.

Sporting KC became just the 14th team in MLS history to field 30 different starters in a single season. Of the previous 13 clubs to do so, only four advanced to the postseason, one finished the year with a winning record (2008 Chivas USA, 12-11-7), and none of them won a playoff series.

Needless to say, Vermes’ 14-13-7 record and postseason appearance is no small accomplishment given the rash of bad breaks his team suffered. As illustrated by the chart below, other teams have been in Sporting KC’s precarious position. Yet arguably none coped better than the club that was in contention for the 2014 Supporters’ Shield through mid-August.

MLS clubs to start at least 30 players in a single regular season

As evidenced by a four-game losing streak in all competitions to end the season, the injuries and fixture congestion were too debilitating for Sporting KC to overcome.

"Our team is tired and you can tell," Vermes said Sunday. "We’re tired in a lot of different ways. When you look at so many different guys that have been injured—guys who’ve had to play way too many minutes when they were fatigued—it’s taken its toll."

Perhaps the best evidence of the club’s burnout were a few telling statistics in last night’s defeat to the New York Red Bulls, just one week after a loss to Deportivo Saprissa ended CONCACAF Champions League aspirations:

• Sporting KC registered three total shots, the second fewest in an MLS match in club history.
• Sporting KC had 28.2 percent possession and completed just 144 passes. That's the team's lowest single-game possession percentage and the second lowest pass total since Opta began tracking the stats in 2011.
• Prior to Thursday, Sporting KC was unbeaten in 45 straight MLS matches (43-0-2) when leading in the 75th minute.

Players, coaches and supporters never want a season to end the way it did Thursday in Harrison, New Jersey. Unless the year culminates with the lifting of a trophy, as it did in 2013, the end often leaves clubs wanting more than they ultimately earned. But if anyone could benefit from a long, restful offseason, it's Sporting KC.

“Unfortunately, it didn't go our way,” Vermes said last night. “But I can't fault the guys who were out there for anything. They did what they had to do. Unfortunately, we came up short. I know they're very disappointed, as is the staff, but they did themselves proud, in my opinion.”