Has Sporting Fit Turned to Sporting Fades Again?
By Eric Harris
Could another late season swoon lead to another road playoff trip?
Sporting Fit is a mantra that Peter Vermes has instilled in his team as long as he’s managed Sporting Kansas City. The idea that you can wear down your opponent and outlast them. So far since their MLS Cup, Sporting has done the exact opposite of that. And they look to be having another August/October slump.
Now winless in their last four, the late season faltering has fans anxious that another knockout round exit could be in the cards. Sporting’s last three seasons have ended due to increasingly frustrating knockout round exits. As the season went on SKC looked to be on their way to hosting a game, or even competing for a bye. Now another road playoff game is possible, and against a team who has gotten the better of them twice in this stretch.
The slump has become way to obvious to ignore now. In the past four years, Sporting averaged 1.65 points per game before August 1st. After August 1st? That drops all the way to 1.13 points per game. Sporting KC drops from getting better than a win every other match to just barely squeaking out draws.
Why is this happening? The first answer is due to the congested schedule that Sporting often puts on themselves by over extending themselves in the Open Cup. Their three worst dropoffs in 2014, 2015, and this year all featured several summer matches in either the US Open Cup or CONCACAF Champions League. The on year they didn’t have as big of a drop off (from 1.42 ppg to 1.30) there was no deep run in an additional tournament.
Why Has It Happened in 2017?
This year the congested schedule issue is compounded by an injury to Tim Melia at the worst possible time. Sporting has tried to make a living this year of squeezing the life out of opponents and eeking out one goal games. That becomes a lot more difficult without your starting goalkeeper. Who by the way has led the league in goals allowed by a wide margin.
So for Sporting KC to rebound in the playoffs and keep this year from ending like the others one of two things has to happen. Either a striker has to find a vein of form that hasn’t been there yet, or Melia has to comeback with super human strength. Neither seems all that likely at the moment.