Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler knows his team needs to catch fire over the last two months of the regular season if it hopes to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs for a club-record ninth straight year.
The center back also acknowledges that the task at hand won’t be easy, especially with a daunting trip to Seattle Sounders FC on tap this Sunday at CenturyLink Field (9 p.m. CT, FS1, FOX Sports app, Sports Radio 810 WHB, ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM).
Even so, Besler remains fully confident that the side is capable of righting the ship as the calendar turns to a potentially decisive month of August.
“There’s still belief within the group. We have 12 games left, but we know we have to go on a run,” Besler said Thursday during his customary appearance on Sports Radio 810 WHB with Border Patrol hosts Nate Bukaty, Steven St. John and Jake Gutierrez.
“One of two things will happen,” he continued. “We’ll either not go on a run, not make the playoffs and have all offseason to dissect where we could have been better. Or we’re going to figure it out, things are going to click and we’re going to go on a run and make the playoffs. If that happens, I think we’re going to be in an awesome position because we would be one of the hottest teams going into it. History has shown that if you’re one of those teams, you have a really good shot.”
Sporting occupies 10th place in the Western Conference, six points below the playoff line, while the Sounders are second—a single point ahead of LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes and a hefty 11 points behind Supporters’ Shield leaders LAFC.
Seattle boasts an 8-1-2 home record at CenturyLink Field this season, but Besler and Sporting have emerged from the venue victorious on two previous occasions, most recently in 2016.
“The belief is still there, and until someone tells us it’s not possible for us to make the playoffs, we’re going to keep fighting for everything,” he said.
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