Foreign Exchange: Three questions with the Kansas City Star's Daniel Sperry
Stefan Cleveland is now the starting goalkeeper for SKC, and won on Wednesday while Austin FC didn't. We talked about this and more with our favorite SKC reporter.
On Saturday night, Sporting Kansas City comes to Austin FC for what suddenly looks to be a vibes-saving match if nothing else. Playoff chances would certainly dwindle with a dropped three points at home against the worst team in the West (record-wise) ... though SKC is coming off a 3-1 home win over LA Galaxy on Wednesday, contrasted with Austin FC's 5-0 loss to SKC, so SKC will also see this as a golden opportunity to add a win to a win.
To prepare for the match, we checked in with our friend Daniel Sperry — catching him at a Kansas City Current match Friday night while in an H-E-B line — and fired off three questions to him. He provided fantastic answers as he always does, and we now know a little bit more about everything — including how former Austin FC goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland is faring between the sticks for SKC.
To the questions!
It’s been a challenging season for SKC so far … is that what you expected headed into the season opener or is worse than you were anticipating (and why)?
Yes...and no? I didn't expect them to be even a .500 team. But I expected much more competitive performances. I think they've been competitive in spurts, but then go through phases in games where they lose themselves. On this team's roster, 13 of the 24 players (already incredibly small!) are making the minimum.
So there is a clear talent gap between them and even middle-of-the-pack rosters. When that talent gap exists, a team can make up for some of it with a good mentality. We've seen bad soccer teams with great mentalities (2023 St. Louis) do well for extended periods of a season. But when the requisite mentality is there 50% of the time, you're not going to win games. I think Sporting found that mentality on Wednesday. The question is whether or not they can continue to tap into it.
Does Raphael Wicky just need a mini-preseason to get his team playing better (and presumably institute his system), or have you seen enough to know Wicky won’t work there?
I think Rapha simply needs more to work with. Most teams have "similar" enough players that when someone is missing. They can somewhat plug the hole without drastically changing what they want to do.
Through injuries and poor performance, I don't think Wicky has come close to actually setting the team up in the way he wants to. Both players and staff have admitted at times that they're in a place where they might need to simply find a way to get results, rather than playing the way they want the team to look at the "culmination" of this rebuild.
I don't think we've seen enough to know Wicky won't work yet, because I don't even know if we've fully seen how Wicky wants his team to work. That puts the emphasis on David Lee to get him a better roster as soon as possible.
At goalkeeper, Stefan Cleveland has emerged as the starter there … do you think this is temporary, or is he taking hold of the job? And how’s he looking so far?
I am not sure. The org has stated confidence in John Pulskamp multiple times in recent years. I think the change came mostly because the team, at times, doesn't play with a cool head. And frankly, Pulskamp isn't the calming voice that says a veteran backup is. Pulskamp's shot-stopping ability is unquestioned, but there are more pieces to the goalkeeping puzzle than just that.
Cleveland has spent time as a backup to two elite goalkeepers, Stefan Frei and Brad Stuver. Sometimes when the back line is going through a storm, it just needs a calming presence. And right now, that's what I think is putting Cleveland ahead of Pulskamp on the depth chart. I don't know if you can put any of the goals conceded in the last three games on him, and he's made stops when called upon in crucial moments. As long as he doesn't make mistakes, the job will likely be his for a bit.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
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On Saturday night, Sporting Kansas City comes to Austin FC for what suddenly looks to be a vibes-saving match if nothing else. Playoff chances would certainly dwindle with a dropped three points at home against the worst team in the West (record-wise) ... though SKC is coming off a 3-1 home win over LA Galaxy on Wednesday, contrasted with Austin FC's 5-0 loss to SKC, so SKC will also see this as a golden opportunity to add a win to a win.
To prepare for the match, we checked in with our friend Daniel Sperry — catching him at a Kansas City Current match Friday night while in an H-E-B line — and fired off three questions to him. He provided fantastic answers as he always does, and we now know a little bit more about everything — including how former Austin FC goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland is faring between the sticks for SKC.
To the questions!
It’s been a challenging season for SKC so far … is that what you expected headed into the season opener or is worse than you were anticipating (and why)?
Yes...and no? I didn't expect them to be even a .500 team. But I expected much more competitive performances. I think they've been competitive in spurts, but then go through phases in games where they lose themselves. On this team's roster, 13 of the 24 players (already incredibly small!) are making the minimum.
So there is a clear talent gap between them and even middle-of-the-pack rosters. When that talent gap exists, a team can make up for some of it with a good mentality. We've seen bad soccer teams with great mentalities (2023 St. Louis) do well for extended periods of a season. But when the requisite mentality is there 50% of the time, you're not going to win games. I think Sporting found that mentality on Wednesday. The question is whether or not they can continue to tap into it.
Does Raphael Wicky just need a mini-preseason to get his team playing better (and presumably institute his system), or have you seen enough to know Wicky won’t work there?
I think Rapha simply needs more to work with. Most teams have "similar" enough players that when someone is missing. They can somewhat plug the hole without drastically changing what they want to do.
Through injuries and poor performance, I don't think Wicky has come close to actually setting the team up in the way he wants to. Both players and staff have admitted at times that they're in a place where they might need to simply find a way to get results, rather than playing the way they want the team to look at the "culmination" of this rebuild.
I don't think we've seen enough to know Wicky won't work yet, because I don't even know if we've fully seen how Wicky wants his team to work. That puts the emphasis on David Lee to get him a better roster as soon as possible.
At goalkeeper, Stefan Cleveland has emerged as the starter there … do you think this is temporary, or is he taking hold of the job? And how’s he looking so far?
I am not sure. The org has stated confidence in John Pulskamp multiple times in recent years. I think the change came mostly because the team, at times, doesn't play with a cool head. And frankly, Pulskamp isn't the calming voice that says a veteran backup is. Pulskamp's shot-stopping ability is unquestioned, but there are more pieces to the goalkeeping puzzle than just that.
Cleveland has spent time as a backup to two elite goalkeepers, Stefan Frei and Brad Stuver. Sometimes when the back line is going through a storm, it just needs a calming presence. And right now, that's what I think is putting Cleveland ahead of Pulskamp on the depth chart. I don't know if you can put any of the goals conceded in the last three games on him, and he's made stops when called upon in crucial moments. As long as he doesn't make mistakes, the job will likely be his for a bit.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
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