Sporting KC: Four reasons for SKC fans to be thankful in 2020
By Nathan Dunn
After a rough 2019, Sporting KC has managed to make 2020 a year of great improvement.
After a disastrous 2019 season, which had Sporting Kansas City buried in 11th place of the Western Conference, Sporting has turned things around and climbed all the back to first place in the West.
With Sporting KC’s recent win over the San Jose Earthquakes and the recent losses of the Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC (handing SKC home-field advantage for the MLS Cup Final), there is plenty to be thankful for.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances in 2020, here are four reasons for Sporting KC fans to be thankful.
Wise Front Office
Led by Peter Vermes, the Sporting KC front office has articulated the greatest turnaround in MLS history. There were six offseason acquisitions that have made a great difference between the SKC of 2019 and the SKC of 2020.
Starting with the defense, the center back pairing of Winston Reid and Roberto Puncec has finally given SKC a decent foundation while Amadou Dia has given SKC more versatility on the left side. The midfield acquisition of Gadi Kinda has given SKC a different look with more creativity and a midfielder that loves to make forward runs.
The addition of Khiry Shelton has been extremely underrated, yet his intelligent movements off the ball open up space for others. Finally, while Alan Pulido has been in-and-out of the lineup, he has been extremely effective when he’s been on the field with seven goals and five assists in 14 matches.
While the defense remains a concern, perhaps they just need a bit more chemistry before being solidified. The owners have seemingly given Peter Vermes the keys to do just about whatever he wants, and they finally spent some major cash to get Pulido last offseason.
SKC fans should be thankful that the front office has a clear vision of what they want and how to get there. Without such a clear and effective front office, SKC would not have had so much success over the past decade and they might have even left town.