Soccer <\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a long, frustrating season of change for Sporting KC<\/a>, one that\u2019s seen them below the playoff line all year and now simply playing spoiler down the stretch. They did a good job of that last week with a thrilling 4-2 win<\/a> over Colorado<\/a>. This week\u2019s matchup? A battle with suddenly high-scoring Austin FC<\/a> on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n La Verde\u2019s figured things out in the attack over the past two months \u2013 or so it seems anyway, with multiple goals scored in five of their last six outings. They\u2019ve exhibited a level of attacking output that had eluded them for basically the entire season up to that point.<\/p>\n And now they\u2019ve just about punched their postseason ticket, which would mark just the second playoff appearance in club history. A win wouldn\u2019t clinch it mathematically, but they\u2019d be right on the precipice.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Sporting Kansas City<\/strong><\/p>\n Austin FC<\/strong><\/p>\n Interim head coach Kerry Zavagnan has had a massive task in replacing the man he\u2019d assisted for nearly 600 games, Peter Vermes. He\u2019s come in and done what he could to shake things up, giving more chances to the likes of 2025 MLS SuperDraft pick Jansen Miller<\/a> and homegrown d-mid Jacob Bartlett<\/a>, and has now given multiple starts to 17-year-old center back Ian James<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t all been smooth \u2013 by the underlying numbers, Sporting are the worst team in the league \u2013 but there\u2019s been a\u2026 lightness, I guess? A freedom, maybe?… Anyway, there\u2019s been a lightness or a freedom to how Sporting have played over the course of this season, and a real joy to it at times. Last week being a great example.<\/p>\n And there\u2019s also been enough wins to keep them mathematically alive, to the point that if they get all three points in this one, they\u2019re just five below the line with five games to go.<\/p>\n Is it going to happen? I don\u2019t think so. But another week of wondering \u201cis it going to happen?\u201d means another week of keeping the vibes high and another week of renewing the overall club culture, and that\u2019s a significant, long-term victory.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n This is a fanbase that really wants to see attractive, winning soccer, and it\u2019s been a long journey to get to \u201cattractive, winning soccer,\u201d but honestly\u2026 well, I still don\u2019t think they\u2019re there yet. But they\u2019ve made real strides! Head coach Nico Est\u00e9vez had a lot of work to do piecing a largely new roster together, and it feels like it\u2019s all sort of mostly flowing in the same direction. Finally.<\/p>\n So now it\u2019s about refining their attacking edge while getting the midfield and defensive mix \u2013 still some open personnel questions there, especially this weekend \u2013 correct. And also, quite obviously, it\u2019s about collecting points.<\/p>\n As it stands, Austin are seventh in the West on 38 points. Win this and they climb a spot to sixth, but more importantly, they push the gap between themselves and 10th-place Houston<\/a> to nine points, which, frankly, could be insurmountable for the Dynamo.<\/p>\n Again: they can not officially, mathematically clinch a playoff spot with a win. But c\u2019mon. Three points in this one, and they\u2019re in.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s been open, attacking soccer under Zavagnin and they have been committed to that, no matter the game state. You can crack them open for sure, but you have to be precise. Because if you\u2019re not\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Even the best teams on the continent have struggled \u2013 at times \u2013 against that Sporting attack this year.<\/p>\n They don\u2019t directly press you into turnovers as often as they used to, nor do they get on the ball and keep it like they used to. It\u2019s more of an attacking principle of opportunism, with the idea being that whenever the opposing defense gets slightly unbalanced, you do not give them a chance to rebalance. You exploit that. You attack, downhill at pace.<\/p>\n While that principle doesn\u2019t change, there\u2019s been more flexibility in the formation for the first time in more than 15 years. Lately, it\u2019s been a 4-2-3-1, though just as often it\u2019s a pure 4-4-2.<\/p>\n None of it has really fixed the defensive issues \u2013 this team does not play compact through the midfield, and they\u2019re often slow to get pressure to the ball. That means the entire backline has had to do a lot of chasing and win a lot of 1v1s in spots where you don\u2019t want your CBs to have to be winning 1v1s.<\/p>\n These are the things those underlying numbers I mentioned have been screaming about since Matchday 1. Sporting are a fun team, but still not a great one, and most everyone they\u2019ve come up against this year has been able to exploit that.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s clear Est\u00e9vez made fixing the defense his No. 1 priority this season, and that\u2019s understandable given how poor they were against the ball last year. To me, it was a surprise that it was actually a pretty standard 4-4-2 for most of 2025, with Vazquez playing up top alongside Uzuni.<\/p>\n Since the Vazquez injury, though, Est\u00e9vez has played around more with the formation, as well as the line of confrontation. Last week against San Jose, it was a sort of hybrid 4-3-3\/3-4-2-1 with Jon Gallagher<\/a> shuttling between the midfield and wide on the left, while Wolff was sometimes a free No. 8, sometimes a winger:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n They had just 36% possession and played one of their deepest lines of confrontation on the year. That gave them plenty of space to counter into:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 MLS Espa\u00f1ol (@MLSes) August 31, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Can they do the same this week with Rubio up top? He\u2019s much more of a No. 9.5 than a pure center forward \u2013 since Vazquez got hurt, Rubio has actually spent a lot of time playing as a true No. 10 in a 4-2-3-1 \u2013 and there\u2019s no way he\u2019s going to attack space in behind like Vazquez did and Uzuni does.<\/p>\n I half wonder if they\u2019ll look something like San Diego<\/a> this weekend, with Rubio starting as a No. 9 but then dropping in to form a diamond midfield in possession while the wingers make outside-in attacking runs. That would seem to make the most sense given the personnel on hand. Though without Dani Pereira<\/a> running the midfield (he\u2019ll be doing that for Venezuela in World Cup qualifiers) that level of control becomes exponentially more difficult to achieve.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019ll be a 4-2-3-1 again, I think. At least until the hour mark, at which point Mason Toye<\/a> will come on again and it\u2019ll flip to a 4-4-2.<\/p>\n Also, note that I\u2019ve got Montes in that backline, but it could just as likely be Miller (James, along with CM Zorhan Bassong<\/a>, is on international duty).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n I\u2019m going to call it a 4-3-3 with Rubio playing as a false 9. Also, I\u2019m betting new signing Mateja Djordjevic<\/a> will make his debut.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also thinking with Pereira out, and both Ilie S\u00e1nchez<\/a> and Besard Sabovic<\/a> hurt, Wolff will drop into midfield with J\u00e1der Obrian<\/a> coming in at left wing. Which actually makes a good bit of season since Wolff is a real two-way player who can slip runners through (as above), and Obrian loves attacking into space.<\/p>\n But I don\u2019t know for sure. This team is very, VERY short-handed right now, so Est\u00e9vez has some decisions to make.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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Sporting Kansas City<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Austin FC<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n