It was most definitely a rough year in 2022 for Sporting Kansas City. They were plagued by injuries, with most of their DPs managing to spend the entire year on the sidelines with knee problems. Naturally, any team in the league without their DPs is not going to perform. Captain Johnny Russell attempted to carry the load as much as he could, but scored just eight goals, while Daniel Salloi scored seven after his breakout 2021. The real story of the season was the pair of summer additions in Willy Agada and Erik Thommy. Agada scored almost every game he played in, scoring eight goals and tying the team's golden boot in just twelve games. Thommy was also very impressive in the midfield during this stretch. The team boost from these signings saw them go 6-2-2 across the final three months of the season. Though, they were still sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference at 11-16-7 overall. The late season spark brings some real excitement around SKC in 2023.
Sporting's two returning Designated Players, in midfielder Gadi Kinda and forward Alan Pulido, are going to feel like new signings. With that being said, Kinda is still injured and going through the rehab process, while Pulido is probably not ready to fully get involved in the action at this point. They will have to both ease their way in at some point. On the signings front, they acquired Nemanja Radoja to be their new starting defensive midfielder. The 30-year-old Serbian spent many years in La Liga playing for Levante and Celta Vigo. To start at left back, SKC went out and got Tim Leibold from Germany's Hamburg. More recently, they added Robert Castellanos, who has had a very strange path lately. Just last month, Castellanos left Nashville SC to join KuPS in Finland. After three weeks and three starts, he left the club immediately and returned to MLS and SKC. They boldly picked a non-Generation Adidas played in the draft at pick number eight, so they must have a lot of confidence in Stephen Afrifa out of FIU, though he has not officially signed yet. They let Uri Rosell go, and he will be signing with the LA Galaxy soon. Nicolas Isimat-Mirin left to join Vitesse in the Eredivisie.
There are serious reasons why Sporting Kansas City can do big things in 2023. Vermes's squad will be looking pretty strong throughout once his DPs are back to full strength. For the time being, they have guys that can do the job. Starting from the back, Tim Melia will be competing for the starting job in goal with Pulskamp and McIntosh, while Andreu Fountas and Robert Voloder are likely to be the CB pairing. Center back Kortne Ford picked up a tragic achillies injury, which takes him out of the conversation in defense. Their quick pivot was to sign Robert Castellanos. Graham Zusi is still going strong at 36 on the right side of defense, with Leibold on the left. Logan Ndenbe and Ben Sweat are the other LBs on the roster, but it doesn't seem like they need all three. Radoja, Thommy, and Remi Walter make up the midfield. Cameron Duke, Roger Espinoza, and Felipe Hernandez provide depth in CM. The wingers will be Johnny Russell and Daniel Salloi, with U22 Marinos Tzionis and Khiry Shelton in reserve. Willy Agada should start up top, but we will see how it shakes up when Alan Pulido is back into the fold. SKC has a plethora of young talent that will develop and see substitute minutes throughout 2023 and beyond. This season, Sporting Kansas City should be a team to watch out for in the Western Conference.
Projected XI: GK: Melia
DEF: Leibold, Fontas, Voloder, Zusi
MID: Radoja, Walter, Thommy
FWD: Salloi, Russell, Agada
Off-Season Grade: B
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