KANSAS CITY ā Sporting Kansas Cityās 2018 season so far has been filled with wide pendulum swings in both phases of the game. They lead the league in both goals scored, and goals against, making their matches wildly entertaining to this point.
āPersonally, I think weāre always entertaining,ā said Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes. āIām sure people have differences of opinion on that. To be honest, I really donāt care.ā
The big swings started with their wild ride in Chicago, where a 2-0 lead turned into a 3-2 deficit, and then into a 4-3 win all within a twenty-minute span.Then there was a nervy 3-2 victory against San Jose with spectacular goals on both sides. And the cherry on top was last weekendās 2-2 draw at Colorado, punctuated by Diego Rubioās stoppage-time equalizer.
So far 2018 has been a roller-coaster for Sporting. So whatās the difference from 2017?
āThe difference between this year and last year is that I think we created a lot of quality chances last year, and the difference is weāre finishing more of those high quality chances [than] last year,ā Vermes told MLSsoccer.com.
āObviously that was an offseason objective. So I would say the plan was to [be more exciting], but not necessarily to have to come back two goals down. Thatās not the plan, but obviously it makes for a lot of exciting moments in the game.ā
Sporting KC newcomer Johnny Russell feels like itās been a concerted effort on their part to get more goals.
āItās something Iād spoke about, coming over here, thatās the way the manager wanted to go,ā said Russell. āSo it was something we had spoke about, and how we wanted to be this season.ā
With five different players contributing to their nine goals scored so far, itās clear that more people are stepping up and jumping into the attack for this offensive outburst from Sporting KC.
āItās not just the front three,ā said Russell. āYou look behind, youāve got Felipe [Gutierrez] and Roger [Espinoza] coming, youāve got [Graham] Zusi flying around the right as well. Weāre attacking in numbers, Itās not as if weāre left with āthe front three go and do your thing.ā You know, weāre attacking with six at times. So youāve always got options and itās exciting to be a part of that.ā