Foreign Exchange: Three questions with the Kansas City Star's Daniel Sperry
Dejan Joveljić has 16 goals for an SKC team no longer coached by Peter Vermes. That's the tip of the intel iceberg we've gathered ahead of Sunday evening's match.
While national sports fans might not thrill to a depleted Austin FC traveling to Sporting Kansas City for MLS' Sunday Night Soccer offering on the National Football League's opening weekend, certainly you're interested in Verde's exploits!
To help feed the prematch hype, we reached out to Daniel Sperry, who covers SKC and the KC Current for the Kansas City Star. Thanks to him, I know vastly more about the city's barbecue scene than I did on my first of several trips to the City of Fountains a few years back.
It'll be a little weird tonight, given that Austin FC's activated Ervin Torres, Antonio Gomez, and Adrián González on short-term call-ups, with five first-teamers out on international duty. We covered that and a whole lot more on the latest Emergency Podcast, if you want a little more perspective on the matchup factoring in Friday's press conference, in which Nico Estévez messaged that the lineup won't be all that different even though it will.
Let's get some SKC intel, shall we?
It's weird not to say "Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes" ... how has the Kerry Zavagnin Era been so far, and do you anticipate it's an era that will last beyond this season?
It's been about as good as it could be, given the clear limitations to the organization at the moment. Things are thin in the coaching staff and backroom staff. The roster itself is thin on talent. SKC elected to use the two DP and four U-22 model, yet it only has two and two.
Still, this team fights hard and is in most games for a good stretch. Despite their lack of deep talent and defensive frailties, they seem to punch above their weight due to willpower.
Zavagnin's biggest thing has been trying to get the tactics right from the start. His in-game adjustments are master tactician-level. But sometimes the starting point leaves a lot to be desired. He departed from the Vermes era 4-3-3 in recent weeks and has mixed up a 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 on occasion, and got some good performances against much better teams, but not the result. That was until last week.
There will be a significant amount of change this offseason. From the roster to the backroom staff, SKC are fully rebuilding the club. I wouldn't be surprised if he's given the chance to at least run it back next season, unless the new chief sporting officer hire (whenever it comes) has a clear candidate in mind.
Dejan Joveljić is a player that Austin fans know well, in part for scoring the goal that officially knocked Verde out of the 2024 playoffs. How has he been as an addition, and has he adopted to how SKC plays or has SKC had to change its approach to accommodate what he does?
Joveljić is tied for third for the best single-season goal-scoring total in club history with 16 on the year. All but two of his goals have been to tie or take the lead for Sporting KC. He is the epitome of clutch, clinical, and efficient all in one. If SKC had a better cast around him, there's a chance he'd have won the Golden Boot. He has been everything that SKC expected, and more.
It's been a bit of both. He doesn't drop deep and play around in the buildup in the way Alan Pulido or even Khiry Shelton did. He's a target forward, but in a poacher's way, not necessarily as an aerial target. I think Sporting has had to learn how to find him where he's most dangerous, which is finishing off cutbacks and crosses, or getting him driving in on goal.
We understand Manu Garcia's hurt and Erik Thommy's recovering from injury ... what's the prognosis for both of them, and how would their involvement change things (and help SKC's chances)?
Garcia won't play this week. The team is being cautious with him as he very quickly reinjured his hamstring coming back against San Diego a few weeks ago. Thommy will likely play, and I'd be surprised if he didn't feature for at least a half, if not longer. Thommy will be an asset in the attack and gives them something different than the typical inverted winger look that Sporting KC has had for so long. Sporting didn't win from July 4 until last weekend. While Thommy never played last week, it's not a coincidence that a dip in form came with the absence of the team's captain.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
We learned a little bit more about Nicky Beloko's brief sojourn in Austin, and quite a bit about why Austin FC's sporting director didn't bring in more players during the summer transfer window.
While national sports fans might not thrill to a depleted Austin FC traveling to Sporting Kansas City for MLS' Sunday Night Soccer offering on the National Football League's opening weekend, certainly you're interested in Verde's exploits!
To help feed the prematch hype, we reached out to Daniel Sperry, who covers SKC and the KC Current for the Kansas City Star. Thanks to him, I know vastly more about the city's barbecue scene than I did on my first of several trips to the City of Fountains a few years back.
It'll be a little weird tonight, given that Austin FC's activated Ervin Torres, Antonio Gomez, and Adrián González on short-term call-ups, with five first-teamers out on international duty. We covered that and a whole lot more on the latest Emergency Podcast, if you want a little more perspective on the matchup factoring in Friday's press conference, in which Nico Estévez messaged that the lineup won't be all that different even though it will.
Let's get some SKC intel, shall we?
It's weird not to say "Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes" ... how has the Kerry Zavagnin Era been so far, and do you anticipate it's an era that will last beyond this season?
It's been about as good as it could be, given the clear limitations to the organization at the moment. Things are thin in the coaching staff and backroom staff. The roster itself is thin on talent. SKC elected to use the two DP and four U-22 model, yet it only has two and two.
Still, this team fights hard and is in most games for a good stretch. Despite their lack of deep talent and defensive frailties, they seem to punch above their weight due to willpower.
Zavagnin's biggest thing has been trying to get the tactics right from the start. His in-game adjustments are master tactician-level. But sometimes the starting point leaves a lot to be desired. He departed from the Vermes era 4-3-3 in recent weeks and has mixed up a 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 on occasion, and got some good performances against much better teams, but not the result. That was until last week.
There will be a significant amount of change this offseason. From the roster to the backroom staff, SKC are fully rebuilding the club. I wouldn't be surprised if he's given the chance to at least run it back next season, unless the new chief sporting officer hire (whenever it comes) has a clear candidate in mind.
Dejan Joveljić is a player that Austin fans know well, in part for scoring the goal that officially knocked Verde out of the 2024 playoffs. How has he been as an addition, and has he adopted to how SKC plays or has SKC had to change its approach to accommodate what he does?
Joveljić is tied for third for the best single-season goal-scoring total in club history with 16 on the year. All but two of his goals have been to tie or take the lead for Sporting KC. He is the epitome of clutch, clinical, and efficient all in one. If SKC had a better cast around him, there's a chance he'd have won the Golden Boot. He has been everything that SKC expected, and more.
It's been a bit of both. He doesn't drop deep and play around in the buildup in the way Alan Pulido or even Khiry Shelton did. He's a target forward, but in a poacher's way, not necessarily as an aerial target. I think Sporting has had to learn how to find him where he's most dangerous, which is finishing off cutbacks and crosses, or getting him driving in on goal.
We understand Manu Garcia's hurt and Erik Thommy's recovering from injury ... what's the prognosis for both of them, and how would their involvement change things (and help SKC's chances)?
Garcia won't play this week. The team is being cautious with him as he very quickly reinjured his hamstring coming back against San Diego a few weeks ago. Thommy will likely play, and I'd be surprised if he didn't feature for at least a half, if not longer. Thommy will be an asset in the attack and gives them something different than the typical inverted winger look that Sporting KC has had for so long. Sporting didn't win from July 4 until last weekend. While Thommy never played last week, it's not a coincidence that a dip in form came with the absence of the team's captain.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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