Sporting KC Sporting Director Mike Burns
Opening remarks…
First of all, I want to thank you all for coming here today. I do have a few remarks and then I'll open it up for questions. I'll get right into it – obviously, ‘24 was a disappointing season for all of us, players, fans, coaches, staff. To be honest with you, when I arrived in the summer, without question, I had one eye on the remainder of the ‘24 season, but I also had an eye on ‘25, ‘26, ‘27, and looking forward as well to the next seasons. As ‘24 started to wind down, I think it became apparent and evident to everyone that we could certainly not go into ‘25 with the same roster and the same team that we had in ‘24. Obviously, the results weren't there. So in MLS, there's not a ton of opportunity or times of the year where you can make significant changes to your roster. This is the primary time at the end of one season – November, December, going into January of next year. We had some really difficult decisions to make as a staff. When the season ended, we had 26 players under contract, 15 of whom were either out of contract or had an option. 11 were guaranteed. So really, we had decisions to make on 15 players. We chose to exercise options on seven players and move on from eight players, four of whom were out of contract and four options we declined, as I think was released yesterday. All eight players that aren't coming back – I don't want this to sound disingenuous because I've only been here a short amount of time – but a sincere thank you to all of them for their commitment to the club. I'd also be remiss if I didn't single out three players in particular in Tim Melia, Johnny Russell and Andreu Fontas, who have been not only great players for the club for a long time, but ambassadors, teammates, in the community, with the fans. Peter (Vermes) and I met with Tim, Johnny and Andreu and while I won't get into the specifics of those meetings and discussions, what I will say is they were extremely difficult conversations to have from our standpoint, but also I think it's important to note – what I will say about the meetings with those three in particular was the level of professionalism that they exhibited in those meetings was impressive, because it's not an easy message to deliver. They've been tremendous for the club. I'm sure, and I don't want to speak for them, that they'll have some mixed emotions right now, as do we. But I hope, if not right now, I hope in time they'll also look back with fond memories of their time here and think that the club was also great for them. So I'll answer questions after if you have more specific questions about that. I think it is appropriate to single those three individuals out. 2025, I think there's two words that come to mind from me and one is optimism and the other one is opportunity. Because of the roster moves that we've made – I'll talk a little bit on and off the field. Let me actually get to the off-field stuff first. One of the things Peter and I did in this off season is we met with ownership and we outlined where we felt we needed more horsepower just in terms of from a staffing standpoint. I can't tell you how supportive ownership was. We haven't posted it yet, but I'll share with you today, in the coming weeks we will look to hire an assistant sporting director whose primary focus and responsibility would be oversee the second team and the Academy. We'll add to our scouting department worldwide, we'll add to our analytics department. Those are areas that those job positions will get posted soon and we're very excited to add that. We feel that we need it. We get support from ownership and we'll move forward on that front. From a player on-the-field perspective, like I said, opportunity and optimism are the two key words I think for right now. I say that because we have the ability to go into ‘25 with – we can add a Designated Player, we can add Under-22 Initiative players. We have enough flexibility, we don't have complete flexibility, but we have flexibility where we can add in all lines of the field with all different mechanisms. We'll look at the re-entry, we'll look at free agency, we'll look at the SuperDraft, we'll look to sign Homegrown Players, we have international roster spots so we have a lot of flexibility to add players, which we will and we have been working diligently since actually before the season ended on potential targets. We've traveled internationally, but we want to make sure we get the right guys. Without question, our primary focus is a 10. We're looking for a guy that can kind of break down lines in the final third, ideally can score, can set up goals. But as you all know, probably the nine and the 10 are the two hardest positions to find anywhere in the world. So we are working diligently on that. We'll look to add on all lines of the field. That's kind of where things stand now. We will use all the mechanisms that we have at our disposal to try to make our team better for next year. That's the main goal. We certainly do not want to have ‘25 mirror the ‘24 season.
On refreshing the roster in terms of personalities and if things had gotten stale…
I think that's a fair question and I think it's not an inaccurate statement or question or combination of. I think the short answer is yes but we also feel that we need to make changes on the field, but we also need to make changes in the locker room. So I don't know if I'd use the word stale, but I understand we need to get new bodies in, and I don't mean just new bodies for new bodies. We hopefully are going to sign the right guys both on and off the field. So I can't completely disagree with that, but we need to freshen up the team on and off the field. This is only one step. Like I said, we had 11 guys that were under contract. I kind of want to be careful how I say this – if we had the ability to make more changes, we probably would have after this year. But the reality of it is, and the honest truth of it is that 11 guys, and not all 11 guys, some of them have contract protection, but we would have probably made more changes. When we're evaluating everything and we have only the ability, and I say “only” – it was a decent amount of players, but when you have 15 players everything has to come into factor, right? Do we feel short-term, mid-term, long-term projections, in terms of the players that we're not bringing back, where do they fit into that? How can they help us in the locker room off the field? And honestly you have to factor in budget, right? It's a salary cap league, so that matters on every decision you have to make or that I have to make or that I have to be involved in. it all factors into it. But we need to get some other guys some opportunities. One thing I will say for all returning players and any players that we bring in, and again, I don't want to step into a world or cross the line into on the field because that's Peter's world – I'll never tell him who has to play, who should play, all of this kind of stuff. But I've had enough conversations with him and the staff this offseason, and I can say this for all returning players and whoever comes in, if they're not hungry and they're not fit, they're not going to play next year. When you talk about staleness, it's not just a staleness on the field, it's refreshing everything we're doing to get the train back on track. This year we weren't. Everything we're doing as a staff is to get focused and refocused players, coaches, staff, everyone so that we're on the same page going into next year.
On if the club is committed to using a DP spot on a number 10…
I can't imagine, because of that position, I can't imagine that we would be able to add the number 10 that we're hoping to add without it being a DP. Because when you look worldwide, other than the nine, they're the most expensive player for a reason. We're looking to bring in, hopefully, a guy that we feel can be a gamechanger, that's only part of it. A huge component for us is the personality, is the character. We want to try to bring in the right guy on and off the field, in the locker room, all that. This is not making excuses, that's hard to find. We've already traveled internationally, we've met with players, we've seen players live. We're just not there yet. But I would be very, very surprised if one of our DP slots is not used on that number 10. It would be a slight miracle if it's not. One thing I will say is, one thing we haven't done yet because we want to see how things unfold over the next few months is we haven't made any decisions yet on whether we're going to go the two (DP) and four (U22) model or three (DP) and three (U22). It'll depend on how things shake out and how things play out with players over the next few months. We're not married to a three and three. We're not married to a two and four, but we do right now have the ability to add both Under-22 and a DP and we're 100 percent looking to use those. Ideally, those will be signings that we'll do in the winter. But also it may be a situation where we leave something open for a summer. Because in the global game, sometimes it is easier a little bit – not necessarily in MLS – but to acquire players in the summer. So we'll look at all of that and we are looking at all of that. But again, to just kind of cut to the chase, we have our targets, we have priorities, and it's with 100 percent the goal of just making our team better next year.
On the difficulty doing business in the winter when for most leagues it’s their secondary window…
It's more challenging. As I just alluded to – and it's a good question, fair question – it is more challenging for us to sign players in the winter. It's just like us, right? If a team wants one of our players in the summer, depending on where you are – like this year we moved Kayden (Pierre) – I can't tell you what would have happened if we were fighting for Supporters’ Shield and he was our starter. It's harder to move guys out in the summer because you're in the middle of our season. It's also harder for us to acquire players in the winter because it's the middle of a lot of other clubs (seasons). So that's a back and forth and that's challenging. I can't tell you how many times that I've heard, “well, we can't do it right now because we don't have a replacement,” but in the summer they have time. So that's why we want to be smart about how we go about it. Ideally, we'll have all of our players and all of our signings done, but we may not. I will speak for Peter, I know how Peter operates. In a perfect world, he would like to have all of the players signed by January 1. But this year, the offseason is even shorter than normal for us because of the qualification for Concacaf Champions Cup, the draw is on the 11th, it's very likely we could play earlier, which means our preseason starts earlier. There's all of those things that are factoring into it. Ideally, we'd all love to have our roster set in January, I just don't know how feasible that's going to be given what we just discussed and what players are available to us.
On if it’s easier to bring a true number 10 to MLS since some leagues target more versatile players…
I don't think easier is the right word because – and I say that not to dispute you – but I think again, the nines and the 10s, they're never easy to sign. They're just not. They're at a premium. They're hard to find. Then you look at the sevens or 11s a little bit differently, but the nines and 10s are really, really challenging and really tricky. That's why they make the most money.
On if the team is targeting younger or more experienced players…
The short answer is both. We want to take full advantage of the Under-22 Initiative. So whether that's one player or two players remains to be seen. I'm not saying we're eliminating this as a possibility, but I think kind of our mindset is we would try to find ideally a little bit more experienced number 10 that isn't an Under-22 Initiative, but that doesn't mean we're ruling it out. Some of it is who's available and who we can get. But we want to use both of those. Like I said earlier, I just can't imagine that the 10 won't be a Designated Player. Ideally it will not be an Under-22, but it very well could be. We'll look to fill both of those roles. The Under-22 Initiative for me is massively important because it's a little bit higher risk for sure because they're younger and they're less experienced, but if we hopefully get it right, not only will they impact us on the field, but maybe there's potential for transfer value down the line. So that's kind of how we're looking at that. We're in a good spot that we don't have to decide right now whether we're going to go three and three, four and two. The other thing is, just because a player was designated as a Designated Player this year, we have the flexibility in conversations with the league, we can convert those players so it doesn't impact their salary, but it impacts the letters next to it. So we can make changes, which is a good thing for us. We'll look at that as well.
On how many new members of technical staff the club is looking to add…
The additions to the analytics department, we're working through the number of those people. For the scouting department, it's going to be pretty robust. Right now, we have two independent contractor scouts in Europe. We'll look probably to add another scout in Europe. We need to have a presence in Central and South America. So it could be up to two or three more there. It might be one domestic scout as well. We are really going to ramp up the scouting department, which I'm super excited about, and the assistant sporting director – that'll be one role, that'll be one person that we'll bring on sooner rather than later.
On the team’s next highest priority after a number 10…
It's a great question. I'll double down on it, a 10 is the priority. But we will look to add to all lines. We will bring in another goalkeeper. Right? Because right now we have two. So 100 percent we'll bring in that. In an ideal world, that'll be a domestic goalkeeper as well. Our preference would be not to have to use an international slot there, but we may have to. We're not there yet. In the backline, we have a lot of numbers right now in terms of the number of players we have in the backline, but we'll also look to add there. In the midfield, it will be a winger, a 10, and right now we have Alan (Pulido) and Willy (Agada) up top. As someone once told me, you can never have enough good forwards. So if a forward presents itself or we have an opportunity to sign another forward, we will as well. I know that's saying everything, but it's all true. I think we're not doing our job if we don't. To look back at ’24, we need to get stronger everywhere, whether it's a starter, whether it's a depth piece, whatever it may be. So there's no line that we're looking at – midfield, defenders forwards – like we're saying, “okay, we're fine there,” because we're not fine there. We're not fine anywhere. So we’ve got to get better everywhere. Now, is that reasonable to think we're going to be able to make additions in every line this winter? Probably not, but that doesn't mean we're not going to try.
On if he has specific areas of the worlds where he likes to recruit players from…
Not necessarily. I mean, just in the last two months, I've been to South America, I've been to Europe with one of our scouts. It's a global search, and that will continue. So I wouldn't say there's any one specific area of the world that we're focusing on. We're focusing everywhere.
On if a lack of senior roster spots makes it difficult to sign the players he would like…
No, not necessarily. Some things could change with our current roster between now and the start of next year. Right now, on a plus side, we are going to receive back some of the international slots that we traded away. Right now we have three. We believe we're really close for one of our current players to receive his green card, which would open up a fourth. So right there we have three or four international slots alone that are available, not even touching upon the domestic piece. So we feel pretty good with where we're at from flexibility to add players.
On using Sporting KC II to bring players into the first team…
One thing that I've noticed in my short time here is that I do believe that we try to do a good job of vertical integration from our Academy to our second team to our first team. One other thing that may be a little bit of a change with the second team going into ‘25 than in the past is that we may look to sign some younger international players. I wouldn't say that's the priority at the moment. But one thing that we'll talk to whoever the assistant sporting director is, is that we'd like to at least explore the possibility of bringing in some young international players in the 18 to 22 range to see how they adjust to not only living in the U.S. but playing for our second team with the hope, if we get it right, that they may be able to transition to the first team at one point, which we traditionally haven't done in the past, but we'll look to do that this year as well.
On Erik Thommy moving from an option to a guaranteed contract…
I'm impressed that you're following it that closely. I don't typically like to talk about player contracts, but I know the league and we and I have to get there too, in terms of more transparency. So just bear with me, I'll get there eventually. When I arrived in the summer, Erik had an automatic trigger which he had already hit, so he became guaranteed midway through this year. He was automatically guaranteed because his option triggered – it was over the two or three years prior. So he is guaranteed.
On what he’s learned about the U-22 Initiative and best positions to target…
Right now, when you look at our team, we have Logan (Ndenbe) and Robi (Voloder) that occupied those two. I think, moving forward, at least for the next signing – while I hesitate to even say this, certainly publicly – I think we'll look for the Under-22 Initiative player to be an attacker. We have two defenders right now. But we'll look to bring in an attacking Under-22 Initiative player. It doesn't mean it's 100 percent going to be that, but that's what we'll look to do. I don't think we're looking at it right now as it can only be in a certain area of the field. I think we're looking at our team and our roster right now where we think that player might help us. I mean it's stating the obvious, but generally speaking, return on investment is if an attacking player hits it big, it's usually a little easier to move that player on than a midfielder or defender. But I think it's also twofold. It's one, we would like to sign an Under-22 Initiative that can help us in the attacking third, but also there's a huge advantage from a budget standpoint to signing an Under-22 player, in terms of the benefits that we get. So we think it's smart to use those spots.
On Benny Feilhaber’s departure as SKC II head coach and whose decision it was…
I'm going to be completely honest with you, I was traveling internationally when Peter and Benny met, so I was not in that conversation. I don't want to speak for Benny and I don't want to speak for Peter. What I will say is my understanding of it is that Benny has aspirations to coach at a higher level and we as a club are completely supportive of that and that the separation was amicable. So that's all I can really say to that because like I said, I was not here, I wasn't part of it. I would have liked to have been part of that conversation or at least involved, but that's my understanding of it. We certainly wish Benny nothing but the best. He's obviously been here a long time and a long-serving member of this club on and off the field. We wish him tremendous success.
On the search for a new SKC II head coach…
It’s just starting now. I don't think we've actually even officially posted it yet, but I can assure you there has been quite an influx of resumés already received.
On if the expansion of the technical staff will help the team recruit Academy players from outside the club’s geographical territory…
Yes, probably more the domestic (scout), not as much so on the international independent contractor scouts that we will look to bring on board. They'll be more focused on the first team. Primary focus, first team. Secondary, second team. Less so with the Academy – that'll be more our domestic scouts than anything.
