Running throughout the season on Sports Radio 810 WHB, the Sporting Kansas City Show is available on several podcast hubs including Spotify and iTunes as well as SportingKC.com. With Nate Bukaty, Aly Trost and Conall McCourt hosting the weekly program, Sporting fans have a place to go to catch up on club storylines, guest interviews and more.
Playing his first competitive match in over five months after recovering from a pectoral injury, Tim Melia was more than happy to enjoy an easy day at the office on Sunday.
Sporting Kansas City cruised to a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC, securing their first shutout of the season in Melia’s 2021 debut. The veteran goalkeeper was forced to make just two saves as Sporting dominated from wire to wire, racking up 27 shots and 67% of possession with two goals from Alan Pulido and an early strike from Daniel Salloi.
Appearing on a new episode of the Sporting KC Show this week, Melia spoke glowingly of an excellent team display that vaulted Manager Peter Vermes’ side to third place in the Western Conference.
“To get back out there quicker than expected, to hear the fans again, and for the team to perform the way they did and give me a gift of a game—I think Pulido made more saves than I did in the game,” Melia said, referring to a chaotic goalmouth scramble in the second half that saw Pulido accidentally blocked two of his own teammates’ shots. “The overall team performance was great and I’m really looking forward to getting going now.”
Sporting not only grabbed three goals and three points; they did so with razor sharpness and precision in all areas of the field. Their 91.6% passing accuracy was the fourth highest in MLS history against a full-strength opponent that received zero red cards in the match. As a result, Sporting manufactured one scoring chance after another while significantly limiting any attacking opportunities for the Whitecaps.
“It’s very important for us to respect and understand that we did nothing in that game that is not repeatable. Guys weren’t scoring with the outside of their feet from 30 yards away. They weren’t sending in these incisive passes where one out of 20 come off. Everything we did in that game—we took the simple option and we did it over and over to the point where we just disrupted Vancouver so much that they didn’t know where to go and we got them away from their style of play.
“We work on that all day in training—building out from the back—and we finally performed it completely on the field. As a team, we need to understand that we can do that again.”
Barcelona-bred center backs Andreu Fontas and Ilie Sanchez—the latter of whom was playing out of position—were particularly effective in distributing the ball on Sunday. Fontas finished with 102 successful passes and Ilie had 101, with the duo becoming the first MLS players this season to eclipse 100 successful passes in a match.
“Those guys have this level of comfort around your goal that other players just don’t have,” Melia said of Fontas and Ilie. “Ilie is such a good passer of the ball. To have someone like that in combination with Fontas, whose best attribute is his ability on the ball, it really leads to a very interesting and rewarding situation coming out of the back.”
Melia also showered praise on 20-year-old goalkeeper John Pulskamp, who started Sporting’s first five matches this season. Pulskamp helped the club to a respectable 2-2-1 start, becoming the third-youngest MLS goalkeeper to win a game in the process. Melia stressed that although he was on the sidelines to begin the year, he knew that it was imperative for Pulskamp to experience success for the betterment of the team.
“Whenever another goalkeeper is playing—especially a guy like John who is incredibly talented and has a very bright future—I want him to go out there and have the best success possible,” Melia said. “It is a team game. If another goalkeeper is playing and doesn’t win any games and suddenly you come back into the team, you have to climb up the ladder to get into playoff position.
“Whether you’re playing or not, you have to do everything you can to help the team. If you’re going to be out in the short term, you need to make sure you’re doing everything you can so that your (replacement) is prepared mentally and physically.”
Melia and Sporting (3-2-1, 10 points) will look to continue their winning ways Saturday when they visit the San Jose Earthquakes (3-3-0, 9 points) in a 9 p.m. CT kickoff at PayPal Park. Fans can catch the action live on Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app as well as Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
No Other Pub, a premier restaurant and sports entertainment venue in downtown Kansas City, will celebrate its highly anticipated reopening by hosting the official watch party for Saturday's match. From 8:30 p.m. CT until the full-time whistle, No Other Pub will offer multiple food and drink specials including $2 off appetizers, $4 Michelob Ultras and $4 select call cocktails. Sporting will also conduct ticket giveaways for the club's home match on May 29 against Houston Dynamo FC.
