Sporting Kansas City: Five players to watch in 2018

Sporting Kansas City kicks off the 2018 season on Sunday night against New York City FC. Soccer season is finally here! Now, who should we keep an eye on?

Even though the Major League Soccer offseason isn’t all that long, Sporting Kansas City has been out of the action since October when they disappointed in the playoffs yet again. Their loss to Houston in the first round was their fourth straight year of being one and done in the postseason.

While we hope that 2018 can see these guys get back to their winning postseason ways, it certainly won’t be easy. The club made some moves that showed they might be headed more for a rebuild on the horizon, but don’t get it twisted… Sporting KC is still a good team.

They won the U.S. Cup last year, their fourth in the last six years and we know this team has what it takes to make it to the playoffs. They’ve made it to the postseason for seven straight seasons (basically since they’ve been Sporting KC), so making it to the playoffs in 2018 is certainly expected from this bunch.

So, who should we be paying attention to in 2018? Let’s start with one of the most important positions.

TIM MELIA – GOALKEEPER

Obviously the key to winning games is having more points than the other team and not allowing the opposition to get a ball past the goalkeeper. Tim Melia had his best season as a professional last season, starting in 31 games and allowing 24 goals throughout the season.

To put those numbers into perspective, the most games Melia had started before 2017 was 27 the year prior and he allowed 30 goals that year. He’s getting better and that should scare opponents when facing Sporting KC.

Sporting is usually prone to being involved in lower scoring affairs and that’s what makes Tim Melia so important to this club. He’s done beautifully as the club’s starting goaltender over the years and that should give fans all kinds of comfort when it comes to the 2018 campaign.

Tim Melia is one of the best goalies in the league and that’s definitely not something to take lightly.