Last time out, Sporting Kansas City showcased a display of offensive firepower that led to six goals and a momentous step forward in U.S. Open Cup play.
Now, nearly two weeks later, Sporting KC is itching to return to action, although it won’t be easy facing Vancouver Whitecaps FC, who is tied atop the MLS Western Conference standings, after a long layoff.
“The one negative you always have with that is that you don’t have the rhythm of playing a game,” Sporting KC manager Vermes said Friday when asked about the lengthy break in between games. “That’s always a tough thing, and we’ll have to deal with that. Hopefully we’ll get out of that rustiness real quickly in this next game.
“But it’s a fine line, because you could make a game somewhere in that time off where you can play a regular 11v11, but then you’re almost defeating the purpose of having time off so I think you go wherever the most positive is. We probably needed the break mentally and physically. We got that piece of it, so now we can hopefully get back into form quicker and knock off that rust.”
Rhythm was the theme Friday at training. Sporting KC embraced the 11-day break, using the time to heal injuries and recover mentally after going 7-1-2 across all competitions dating back to May 3. Jacob Peterson (ankle contusion) and Paulo Nagamura (lower back strain) are expected to be available Sunday. Meanwhile, Seth Sinovic (concussion-like symptoms) and Bernardo Anor (hamstring strain) are inching closer to a return after participating in select workouts this past week.
Jalil Anibaba is expected to be out six weeks with a quadriceps strain, but the resurgence of Chance Myers — coupled by the versatility of Amadou Dia — has Vermes and company confident moving forward, albeit conscious of the challenge ahead having not played in nearly two weeks.
“We’ll see if it’s good or bad,” Sporting KC captain Matt Besler said about the time off. “It’s always good from an injury standpoint because you get time to recover. It comes at a pretty decent time for us, right in the middle of the season, so we can take a step back and reflect on the first half of the season and get ready for our second-half push.
“But at the same time, it takes you out of rhythm. A lot of times you’ll see a team who hasn’t played in a while take a while to get into a game. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen. We’re going to do everything we can to prepare the right way so that doesn’t happen, but that’s one of the challenges of not playing a match in two weeks.”
Dom Dwyer and Servando Carrasco especially welcomed the break. The duo made the trek to Cascadia territory over the weekend to root on their spouses and the rest of the U.S. Women’s National Team in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
“For those guys, it was good,” Vermes said. “I’m pretty open when it comes to a lot of stuff with our players and it’s not just soccer, it’s anything with family. When (Aurelien) Collin was here, I was very open with him because he had a tough situation with his girlfriend, then fiancé and then wife, where it was really hard for her to get a visa to get into the country. A lot of times, if we had a two-day weekend, I’d extended it to a three- or four-day weekend.
“There’s life outside of soccer and I respect that a lot. I think I’m really open when it comes to that stuff. I know a lot of people who I played for were not … You have to be respectful of that sometimes and sometimes you have to give those guys an opportunity to do that.”
Sporting KC’s next lengthy break won’t come until October, just a few weeks before the scheduled start of the MLS Playoffs. And while the jury is still out when it comes to the pros and cons of this break, the team is simply eager to get back to its winning ways.
“We put in a good a performance last game and it’s a very important game against Vancouver this weekend, so we’re looking forward to that,” Dwyer said.
