Sporting KC are coming off a remarkable win against Atlanta United. But are they given the respect they deserve? They have now shown everything required to win in different periods, but doubt still presides.
Respect is a funny old business. Fans almost demand it from national analysts and pundits, seeing a lack of respect as something that is demeaning of their team’s perceived quality, something that is often a little skewed because of the natural bias that all fans have towards their own teams.
But sometimes, there is a team that is genuinely not given the respect they deserve. They often come from a smaller market or smaller city. They sometimes don’t have the heart-fluttering individuals or sell-out stadiums to demand extensive coverage. They are easily, but dangerously, overlooked.
Related Story: Sporting KC are for real, but Atlanta United are better
This season provides perhaps the perfect example of such a team: Sporting Kansas City.
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Sporting KC wandered into Atlanta on Wednesday night with few, myself included, giving them a chance of victory, despite sitting top of the Eastern Conference. How wrong we all were. Sporting KC dispatched with Atlanta United with ease, even with the man advantage, leaning on a wonderful strike by young striker Daniel Salloi which arrowed into the far corner and a late counter-attacking-finish by Gerso Fernandes.
This win caps off a wonderful run of results in which they have now lost just once in the last seven, winning five of them, conceding only three goals in all seven games, keeping clean sheets in five of them. The fact that they are winning goals based on their defensive stability is not surprising whatsoever.
Last year, KC were historically great defensively, conceding just 29 goals across the whole campaign. In retaining much of the same personnel, as well as keeping veteran coach Peter Vermes, whose system is perfectly suited to a strong and stifling defence. It would have been shocking had they not been good defensively this season.
But early on, they weren’t. In their first four games, KC conceded nine goals, winning just two of those games by a slender goal. It didn’t come as a detriment to KC’s results, however, at least not to the extent that conceding an average of 2.25 goals per game would suggest, because they were able to score goals consistently, something that scuppered their success last season.
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This season, KC have shown different sides to their game in different periods. They are defensively strong. They can score goals. They can match the best in the league. They are resolute, experienced, and accomplished. They are for real. Are they the best in MLS? Perhaps not. But they do deserve respect, far more than they are currently getting.