Over the next month I will be putting out a series of previews for MLS (not The) this season. I know you are all wondering why should I care about MLS, however here are a couple facts to get you going.

• Since 2007 the league has gone from 13 to 24 teams (and counting)
• Last year MLS added a new team in LA owned by Will Ferrell, Magic Johnson, Nomar Garciaparra, and Mia Hamm!
• Soccer has the longest run time of the 4 major sports in 90 minutes, however because there’s no commercials the game only lasts 2 hours.
• Great players such as Josef Martinez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Carlos Vela, and many many more come to a tv near you every week!
• ESPN+ has made it very easy to find each game every week.

Sporting Kansas City

Owner: Sporting Club

Coach: Peter Vermes

Previous Season Record: 18-8-8 1st in West (Conference Final)

U.S. Open Cup 2018: Quarterfinals

Top Scorer: Daniel Salloi 11 Goals

Stadium: Children’s Mercy Park

2018 Recap

Sporting KC had an awesome year last year. They were a force in the Western Conference and played a very appealing style. They had a breakout star in Daniel Salloi, and seemed poised for a Cup Run. Unfortunately they ran into the hot as wildfire Portland Timbers who knocked them out of the playoffs.

Overall though they cannot be mad at a season where many felt they over achieved considering the roster they had. If a casual MLS fan looked at their roster they may not recognize one name on there. But this is an organization that has always thrived on a team mentality and they utilize that moving forward.

Off Season Transactions

*A couple things to highlight here:

• Krisztian Nemeth has been in and out of Kansas City like a god damn Pez Dispenser.
• Andreu Fontas and Botond Barath (all time name team) will shore up the back line.
• Brad Evans retiring is not only sad for KC but sad for American Soccer.
• Khiry Shelton is a tough loss up top.

2019 Outlook

After a first place finish last year this team is well positioned heading into the 2019 season. They brought back Nemeth to hopefully score some more goals, and are looking for Gianluca Busio to have a breakout season and become a midfield star. They still have the two men who have been there through it all, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi. These guys have both been in KC since 2009 they have become synonymous with the organization with over 500 appearances between them.

They may need some work in net, but other than that they are a very complete team from top to bottom. If they stay focused they can easily finish in the top 3 in the West again and have a shot to bring some hardware back to Kansas City.