Sporting Kansas City is not in good shape, but it is in much better shape than it was a month ago, earning all four of their 2023 season wins in the month of May.
Many were calling for the ousting of longtime gaffer Peter Vermes – in fact, many still are. But the coach, who took over the club in 2009, is no stranger to pressure. Heck, he might even revel in it.
"It actually galvanized what I was thinking because it pissed me off," he said after the match to the media. "So now I'm like, 'OK, now you're going to see.'"
Last night's match, a 1–1 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps on the road, was a hard-fought contest. Referee Lukasz Szpala handed out eight yellow cards throughout the match and awarded a penalty to Vancouver at the 88' mark to even the scoreboard.
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Credit to Vermes and KC, who put on a solid defensive effort and managed to keep Vancouver at bay after their club-record 6–2 drubbing of the Houston Dynamo in mid-week.
"You could see it coming in training," Vermes said. "Once we got the guys just back in training, you could see the way it changed the confidence in the group."
Sporting KC has a lot to correct with plenty of time in the season to do so. Case in point, they currently sit twelfth in the Western Conference with 17 points while the Whitecaps sit sixth with 21.
If Vermes and co. can string together another month of success, July's gonna have a whole different vibe emanating from the "Paris of the Plains" and Vermes might be looking to distance himself from yet another fluctuating wave of naysayers.
This article was originally published on 90min as Sporting Kansas City continue to improve.
