Sporting Kansas City's Manager and Sporting Director Peter Vermes appeared on The Program on Sports Radio 810 with Soren Petro following the team's awe-inspiring 4-2 comeback victory in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32.
Petro begins the interview by asking Vermes about his thoughts on Tuesday's psychotic match and about how much it meant to him and the team. Vermes responded by saying that it is a step in the right direction and proof that the effort and commitment are still within everyone in the club.
Vermes hinted at the formation change he went with at the beginning of the match, and the tactical switch to change it in the first half while talking about the Open Cup clash, and Petro asked him to elaborate on it more. The Sporting KC boss dove into his thoughts on the tactics and what was going through his mind when he decided to revert back to Sporting's signature 4-3-3 formation.
He then talked about his motivation around the substitutes and the strategy around when he would bring on and how he would play them.
After talking more about the game within the game that went on during the Open Cup, Petro switched up the conversation to talk about the progress the team has made this season. Now 11 matches into the season, Vermes mentions that he has seen guys who have been around the team for a while begin to round into form, and the new guys start to figure more things out.
The duo changed topics again, focusing on the importance of Sporting's next three MLS regular season matches, which take place over the course of the next eight days. Vermes previewed Saturday's opponent the Portland Timbers and praised their defensive prowess.
The show wrapped up with Petro's final four, with topics from milk and cookies to the Rugby World Cup that the United States will host in 2033.
Fans can listen to the interview in its entirety here, and can catch all of Saturday's action in Portland on 38 The Spot or at SportingKC.com with kickoff set for 9 p.m. CT.
