One day removed from an exciting 3-3 preseason draw with the Portland Timbers and the MLS regular season schedule release on Wednesday, Sporting Kansas City captain Johnny Russell and defender Luis Martins spoke to media about the club’s ongoing preparations in Arizona. Their press conference remarks are below, with an emerging theme revolving around Sporting's opportunity to compete in Leagues Cup later this summer.
Forward Johnny Russell
On Sporting’s progression in preseason…
We made a lot of good strides early on and we’ve been trying to implement that in games. Everyone came in fit, so lately you haven’t had to worry about getting up to speed. We got going early and now we’re able to focus on the tactical side of things. The things that we have changed I think are going to benefit us going forward as well.
On participating in Leagues Cup this summer…
We’re excited to be involved in it and it’s another competition—another chance to try and win a trophy, which is what we set out to do every year. We want to win whatever we play in, so it’s another opportunity for that at the end of the day. It’s more games and it’s more opportunities to win a trophy. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that, and it’s not a long tournament. We are going to be really excited about it.
On serving as the club’s new captain…
I don’t really feel like anything’s changed for me. The “captain” title is there but I still feel like I’m doing the same things. From that aspect, nothing has really changed. Maybe guys feel a little easier coming to talk to me, as well. It’s a huge honor getting the captaincy and it’s something that I’ve loved every day that I’ve been doing it. The guys make jokes here and there, but apart from that, I don’t think anything has really changed.
Defender Luis Martins
On the release of the regular season schedule…
We are getting prepared for a tough season and we are here to do the best we can. I think this is going to be a great season for us here at Sporting… Last season we played against the same teams every time. This season is going to be different, and for us that is exciting. We are excited to start and looking forward to playing the first game against New York and for our first home game against Orlando. We just want to have fun with the fans.
On participating in Leagues Cup this summer…
It’s great to have more competitions because last season it was so hard for us as players and as a club. This season, we are going to have a lot of games and a lot of fun, too. This tournament is great—and it’s an international competition, too, so we are proud to be there.
I played some international games (in Europe) and I think this is going to be a little different. The preparation is not like normal, week-to-week preparation in the regular season. Every game against a Mexican team is going to be exciting. The guys just need to be focused and enjoy the games. We don’t know the teams we are playing against yet, but when the teams come here, we will make sure we are prepared.
I’ve been here a year and I half and I have seen that Mexico always has great soccer teams. We as MLS teams are improving year by year, season by season. I think we are almost there and maybe we can compete with the great Mexican sides. We are working to improve day by day and looking to compete against teams from around the world.
On Sporting’s preparation for the new season…
We started last season so well, and after COVID came, we needed to restart again in Orlando. Like always here at Sporting, we are so competitive as a team and I think we are getting prepared well. We need to make sure we have the right basis for a great season. We showed some great stuff against Portland (on Wednesday) and we need to improve in some other areas as well. We will try to win every game and it’s going to be tough for us and the opponents as well.
