This Saturday, San Diego FC will look to extend their winning streak to four when they face a struggling Sporting Kansas City team at home. Coming off of a revenge game against Colorado, SDFC claimed their much-anticipated victory with a score of 2-0. Chris McVey netted a header goal and Anders Dreyer continued his recent form with another goal. The 13th place Kansas City team promises to be a tough challenge, despite their recent results. As always, let’s get into it!
A Complete Performance
According to head coach Mikey Varas, SDFC put in a “complete performance” on Wednesday night after they beat Colorado 2-0. “We have to enjoy that, as a city, as a region, we have to enjoy that.”, he said. “This moment right now, we can’t let that feeling slip because we get a taste of what this thing can be.” Varas continued. It is true – the boys in chrome and azul played with very little flaws. Mikey Varas said he was “inspired” by the performance and praised the team for continuing to attack when they went up in score and not letting themselves get complacent.
Chucky, Dreyer, and Mighten delivered another stellar performance. The three showcased their ability to drop into a defending role when needed while hustling back up the field to create chances. Chucky seemed more confident than ever when taking on defenders. He and Mighten ran straight at defenders, causing the Colorado backline a lot of grief. It was a solid win that proved that the team is trending in the right direction.
Another Quick Turnaround
Now comes another challenge of getting prepped for a quick turnaround against a team that is struggling but is playing pretty well, nonetheless. In a league where parity is a priority, no one team can be taken lightly. It remains to be seen what Mikey Varas will do with his starting lineup as the team has played two games in five days. Surely, fatigue will be an issue for the upcoming Saturday game but if the coaching staff believes everyone has recovered well, we may see the same starting eleven again.
Bombino and Willy are likely to get a third consecutive start together. The wingbacks have impressed in their ability to get up the field and join the attack as well as distributing the ball. Last game, after the blocked PK, Luca Bombino went down holding his head as it seemed he was kicked in a scuffle for the ball. He seemed OK in the end, but precautions may be taken if he indeed did sustain an injury.
Willy had a bad mistake that led to a goal in the RSL game where he gave away a bad pass that was intercepted and capitalized on by Diego Luna. In the last game, Willy slightly extended his arm while defending a cross, which struck his arm and led to a penalty—one that CJ ultimately saved. Varas showed confidence in the speedy defender, giving him a start after a crucial mistake versus RSL so it’s fair to assume Willy, if match fit, gets another start on Saturday.
Scouting The Opponent
Sporting Kansas City comes into San Diego currently sitting in 13th place in the Western Division standings. After a very rough start to the season, which saw them winless in their first six games, they parted ways with long-time head coach Peter Vermes. The Sporting coach of 16 years and a National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee could not right the ship and changes needed to be made.
Kansas City was able to come away with three victories in their next five games, but the damage has been done, and they find themselves in the bottom of the table, despite the recent wins. On Wednesday, SKC took on St. Louis in a mid-western rivalry game. SKC went down 2-0 early but fought back to get a much-deserved 2-2 away tie.
High press and possession is the name of the game for this Sporting Kansas City team. They tend to play a 4-3-3 and are not afraid to push numbers forward to press teams who play out of the back, like San Diego. Their transitional play is complemented by the quick pace of the team. One thing SKC does very well is transition as a unit. If San Diego wants to find success via their play-out-of-the-back style, they will need to do so quick because SKC is fast in getting numbers back to defend.
Players To Watch
San Diego – For SDFC, one name comes to mind when taking a look at who has been the most effective on the pitch. Anders “Fire” Dreyer leads the team with six goals and will look to continue his scoring streak on Saturday. With six assists to his name, Anders isn’t just scoring goals, he’s contributing as well.
Sorting Kansas City – Dejan Jovelic. The Bosnian International and Kansas City #9 has been one of the few shining stars for the struggling team. Originally an LA Galaxy player, SKC acquired Jovelic in February. He scored 34 goals in the four years he spent with Los Angeles. Jovelic, who leads the team with six goals, combines speed and strength to battle through defenses and exploit tight spaces, consistently finding opportunities between the lines.
Taking Care of Business
In the past three games, SDFC have done a tremendous job at winning the games they are supposed to. They are showing big improvement capitalizing on their chances as well as ball-movement with intent. The execution of the plan gets better and better with each game as the starting lineup firms up without too many changes. One thing is for certain, if SDFC can repeat Wednesday night’s performance over and over again, the sky is the limit for this team.
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