2023 MLS Regular Season Record: 12W - 8D - 14L
Key Takeaways from 2023
It’s about how you finish
Sporting Kansas City was arguably the turnaround story of the season. In the first ten matches, they only scored three goals and didn’t record an assist until their ninth game. Yet, somehow, they still managed to secure a spot in the play-in round for the playoffs and even defeated the number one seed and new rival St. Louis City in two matches that SKC dominated. Initially, I thought this might spell the end for head coach Peter Vermes, but kudos to the organization for sticking with him through the difficult start.
SKC employs the 4-3-3 as their primary formation. Alan Pulido took back the role of starting center-forward, flanked by Johnny Russell and Dániel Sallói on the wings. Erik Thommy and Rémi Walter featured as the two central midfielders, with Nemanja Radoja as a defensive midfielder. The backline was anchored by Andreu Fontàs alongside Dany Rosero, with Jake Davis and Logan Ndenbe typically operating as fullbacks.
As mentioned, SKC's attack was dismal to start the season. Not only were they failing to score, but their chance creation was among the lowest in the league. It wasn't until Pulido returned from a long-term injury that they began to find their rhythm, and even then, it took a few matches. By the end of the year, they finished with the ninth-most shots on target but still remained in the bottom ten for big chances created.
Believe it or not, despite their scoring woes to begin the year, Kansas City posted a net-positive Goals minus Expected Goals (G - xG) performance at +5.0. This can largely be attributed to their top scorer Pulido, who netted 14 goals in the regular season compared to an expected 8.4, resulting in a +5.6 xG difference.
SKC’s other top performer in G - xG was Russell, who scored eight times compared to 4.7 xG. Thommy and Sallói finished right at the trend line but also posted the most shots across the club.
I find Sporting Kansas City’s possession stats the most intriguing. Traditionally, they aim for possession and employ a high-press. They had majority possession in 20 of their 38 total MLS matches, and if you discount their first ten matches and playoff rounds, it’s 17 out of 25. This is a key point when analyzing SKC. By ignoring those first ten matches and observing how the group adapted, you can see that their rankings across the league steadily increased with each game week in most categories.
Goalkeeping was a bit of a mess for most of the season, even when they started scoring. Primarily because starting keeper Tim Melia missed a significant part of the year, and Vermes couldn’t settle on a starting keeper between Kendall McIntosh and John Pulskamp. Defensively, they faced an average number of shots on target from opponents, but their save percentage and goals conceded numbers were below the league averages.
However, in terms of post-shot expected goals, SKC finished just above zero at +0.2.
Melia was their top performer at +3.5 for PSxG, while backups McIntosh and Pulskamp finished at -3.3 and 0.0, respectively.
Sporting Kansas City had one of the best records starting from May, which is pretty wild. I’m a big fan of Vermes and loved seeing the group turn it around. Going into the 2024 season, it’ll be interesting to see how the club picks up where they left off because it ended on a high note.
Top Sorare Fantasy Performers
Goalkeeper: Tim Melia | L15: 41 | 60+ pts games: 6 | Clean sheets: 5 | Penalties saved: 2
Defender: Andreu Fontàs | L15: 54 | 60+ pts games: 14 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Clean sheets: 8
Midfielder: Gadi Kinda | L15: 50 | 60+ pts games: 10 | Goals: 5 | Assists: 6
Forward: Alan Pulido | L15: 54 | 60+ pts games: 12 | Goals: 14 | Assists: 4
Extra: Dániel Sallói | L15: 56 | 60+ pts games: 16 | Goals: 9 | Assists: 8
2024 Outlook
Last Updated 2/14/2024
Tim Melia Rating:
Outgoing Players
Cam Duke - Central Midfielder - Out of Contract
Gadi Kinda - Attacking Midfielder - Option Declined
Kendall McIntosh - Goalkeeper - Out of Contract
Roger Espinoza - Central Midfielder - Option Declined
Kortne Ford - Centre-back - Option Declined
Felipe Gutierrez - Central Midfielder - Option Declined
Graham Zusi - Left-back - Option Declined (retired)
Incoming Players
Zorhan Bassong - Left-back - Free agent signing
Alenis Vargas - Centre-forward - Transferred from Desamparados (after loan spell with SKC II)
Memo Rodríguez - Left Midfielder - Free agent signing
Business as Usual
Sporting Kansas City is having a quiet offseason so far in terms of new additions. They parted ways with quite a few players, including long-time full-back Graham Zusi, who retired. SKC has also opened up a designated player spot with the decline of the option on Gadi Kandi.
What they do with the open spot remains to be seen. I was looking through Matt Doyle’s depth charts, and he had a spot ahead of Erik Thommy marked as a potential DP CAM. It makes sense, but I can’t help but wonder if a high-quality center-back would benefit the roster more or if, considering this might be Johnny Russell's last season, they bring in his replacement during the summer.
Otherwise, most spots are accounted for, and the only areas I see needing improvement are the fullback positions. Logan Ndenbe is out for at least the first half of the year with an ACL injury and he had replaced Tim Leibold as the starting left-back.
SKC starts the season against opponents who will have midweeks due to the Concacaf Champions' Cup. I actually think they may have one of the easier schedules to start the year.
Projected Starting Lineup
Melia. Is. Starting. Keeper.