Foreign Exchange: Three questions with the Kansas City Star's Daniel Sperry
Austin FC plays SKC tomorrow in its first elimination scenario match of 2026. We checked in with an SKC expert to learn how the team's changed since playing Verde in May.
Austin FC returns to action on Saturday night, with the Apple TV stream starting at 7:30 pm and Los Verdes hosting a watch party at Austin Beerworks - Sprinkle Valley. And, with it being a match against Sporting Kansas City, I would say it's a winnable match, but then that takes me back to May, when the most winnable match of the year (per American Soccer Analysis number) turned into a franchise-transforming home loss.
This one will be at Sporting Park (formerly Children's Mercy Park), and there is an elimination scenario at play for Verde. Per MLS:
Austin will be eliminated from 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs contention if:
Austin draw at Kansas City AND LA draw at LAFC AND Colorado win vs. Vancouver AND Salt Lake win vs. St. Louis; or
Austin draw at Kansas City AND LA win at LAFC AND Colorado win vs. Vancouver; or
Austin lose at Kansas City AND LA win/draw at LAFC AND Colorado win/draw vs. Vancouver; or
Austin lose at Kansas City AND Salt Lake win/draw vs. St. Louis AND Colorado win/draw vs. Vancouver.
There's also an I-35 Cup on the line! If you didn't know this exists, it indeed does, involving the four franchises along the massive and often unpleasant interstate freeway. And SKC's still not only in it, but with three matches against fellow I-35 teams remaining, isn't reliant on other teams to win it. SKC will just need to stack up some wins.
While it was never my favorite road trip back in my Striker days, Daniel Sperry — who writes for the Kansas City Star and recently launched a new Substack — once graciously introduced me to KC barbecue, which I'm better for knowing about (though I prefer how Texas does it). He also graciously answered these questions, and remains my favorite person to check in whenever I have SKC queries. He also asked me questions; here's what I said.
To the questions!
Wins have been hard to come by for SKC this season, though one of the team's three away wins came in Austin. When everyone involved looks back on 2026, will it be considered a lost season, or building toward something better in 2027?
I think the second half of the year will feel like building, but the season was already lost in the first half. Sporting's noisy neighbors (St. Louis City SC) went on a 20+ match unbeaten run and won a domestic trophy after finishing in very similar places in 2025, and they probably had equal rosters going into the season. Sporting KC has been left in the dust by said neighbors this season.
[Head coach Raphaël] Wicky has been as much of a failure as [City head coach Yoann] Damet was a success in St. Louis at getting the most juice out of the squeeze. There are some small bright spots. But I think folks will look back on it as a lost year that cleared the deck and got a few good building blocks in. But serious questions remain about whether Wicky was the right hire.
General manager David Lee has been busy moving players in and out ... André Luiz seems to be fitting right in, but how has the remaking of the team been overall?
I think the roster is much closer to being playoff-competitive than many people think. DPs absolutely change the equation, and the first DP on the roster after fully clearing the deck was Luiz, who has been electric. Add two more players like that at the other three "front four" positions, and you're looking at a formidable attacking group.
The big question is what is behind it. Sporting added three new caliber starters to the backline: Emir Karic, Or Blorian, and Moisés Mosquera. The latter two are CBs, while Karic is a left-back who can play as an overlapping fullback, a wing-back, or drop in and play CB when SKC plays out of the back with three. The only problem has been health.
Blorian had a truly life-saving heart operation months into his time in Kansas City, and probably won't return to play until the sprint season. Mosquera was lights out and arguably one of, if not the best, players on the field in most of his minutes, but he's been out with a hamstring injury for the last month. There is still a lot of work to do, but if they can find a true no. 6, a starting-caliber GK, and fill out the DP positions, they have something very intriguing on their hands next season.
We're obviously a little curious about how Owen Wolff might progress now that he's with SKC. He hasn't played much so far, but we hear he might play this weekend? What are the expectations for him? (MLS claimed in its 22 Under 22 writeup for him that he's "a centerpiece of the club’s ambitious rebuild" — is he really?
If he plays, I'd be stunned if it was more than 30 minutes. As for the long game, I struggle to figure out how Wolff fits into Sporting's grand picture. I think expectations were for him to come in, get healthy, and start contributing either at 10 or off the left wing. But the first part of that equation just hasn't happened.
They spent a lot of money on Capita, who, at his best, is an elite one v. one winger with good finishing capabilities. He's also one of the three fastest players in the league. Having him on the left and Luiz on the right seems like a match made in "inverted wingers" heaven.
Sporting hasn't played with a true number 10, but Wolff would probably fit there for now if healthy. But if you add a DP No. 10 like Sporting has said they want, what happens to Capita and/or Wolff? He can't drop deeper into midfield right now, as they're already weak defensively there. If Wolff is truly going to become a centerpiece for Sporting, they'll probably need a new system (and coach) that uses him properly.
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, and join us on Instagram to get updates on all our stories and podcast releases.
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Austin FC returns to action on Saturday night, with the Apple TV stream starting at 7:30 pm and Los Verdes hosting a watch party at Austin Beerworks - Sprinkle Valley. And, with it being a match against Sporting Kansas City, I would say it's a winnable match, but then that takes me back to May, when the most winnable match of the year (per American Soccer Analysis number) turned into a franchise-transforming home loss.
This one will be at Sporting Park (formerly Children's Mercy Park), and there is an elimination scenario at play for Verde. Per MLS:
Austin will be eliminated from 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs contention if:
There's also an I-35 Cup on the line! If you didn't know this exists, it indeed does, involving the four franchises along the massive and often unpleasant interstate freeway. And SKC's still not only in it, but with three matches against fellow I-35 teams remaining, isn't reliant on other teams to win it. SKC will just need to stack up some wins.
While it was never my favorite road trip back in my Striker days, Daniel Sperry — who writes for the Kansas City Star and recently launched a new Substack — once graciously introduced me to KC barbecue, which I'm better for knowing about (though I prefer how Texas does it). He also graciously answered these questions, and remains my favorite person to check in whenever I have SKC queries. He also asked me questions; here's what I said.
To the questions!
Wins have been hard to come by for SKC this season, though one of the team's three away wins came in Austin. When everyone involved looks back on 2026, will it be considered a lost season, or building toward something better in 2027?
I think the second half of the year will feel like building, but the season was already lost in the first half. Sporting's noisy neighbors (St. Louis City SC) went on a 20+ match unbeaten run and won a domestic trophy after finishing in very similar places in 2025, and they probably had equal rosters going into the season. Sporting KC has been left in the dust by said neighbors this season.
[Head coach Raphaël] Wicky has been as much of a failure as [City head coach Yoann] Damet was a success in St. Louis at getting the most juice out of the squeeze. There are some small bright spots. But I think folks will look back on it as a lost year that cleared the deck and got a few good building blocks in. But serious questions remain about whether Wicky was the right hire.
General manager David Lee has been busy moving players in and out ... André Luiz seems to be fitting right in, but how has the remaking of the team been overall?
I think the roster is much closer to being playoff-competitive than many people think. DPs absolutely change the equation, and the first DP on the roster after fully clearing the deck was Luiz, who has been electric. Add two more players like that at the other three "front four" positions, and you're looking at a formidable attacking group.
The big question is what is behind it. Sporting added three new caliber starters to the backline: Emir Karic, Or Blorian, and Moisés Mosquera. The latter two are CBs, while Karic is a left-back who can play as an overlapping fullback, a wing-back, or drop in and play CB when SKC plays out of the back with three. The only problem has been health.
Blorian had a truly life-saving heart operation months into his time in Kansas City, and probably won't return to play until the sprint season. Mosquera was lights out and arguably one of, if not the best, players on the field in most of his minutes, but he's been out with a hamstring injury for the last month. There is still a lot of work to do, but if they can find a true no. 6, a starting-caliber GK, and fill out the DP positions, they have something very intriguing on their hands next season.
We're obviously a little curious about how Owen Wolff might progress now that he's with SKC. He hasn't played much so far, but we hear he might play this weekend? What are the expectations for him? (MLS claimed in its 22 Under 22 writeup for him that he's "a centerpiece of the club’s ambitious rebuild" — is he really?
If he plays, I'd be stunned if it was more than 30 minutes. As for the long game, I struggle to figure out how Wolff fits into Sporting's grand picture. I think expectations were for him to come in, get healthy, and start contributing either at 10 or off the left wing. But the first part of that equation just hasn't happened.
They spent a lot of money on Capita, who, at his best, is an elite one v. one winger with good finishing capabilities. He's also one of the three fastest players in the league. Having him on the left and Luiz on the right seems like a match made in "inverted wingers" heaven.
Sporting hasn't played with a true number 10, but Wolff would probably fit there for now if healthy. But if you add a DP No. 10 like Sporting has said they want, what happens to Capita and/or Wolff? He can't drop deeper into midfield right now, as they're already weak defensively there. If Wolff is truly going to become a centerpiece for Sporting, they'll probably need a new system (and coach) that uses him properly.
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, and join us on Instagram to get updates on all our stories and podcast releases.
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