Coaches view: SKC at San Jose

Sporting Kansas City is back on the road tonight to face the San Jose Earthquakes at 8 PM CT. You can read the full preview here.

These two teams played once already this season back in March and it was significant in that is was the first game Sporting KC scored in the 2017 season. The first two matches were scoreless draws and it wasn’t until the 37th minute when Benny Feilhaber looped a shot in over David Bingham for the first goal of the year. An own goal by Bingham gave SKC the lead and a late goal by San Jose made the final 2-1.

This was also one of the few games that Sporting KC did not dominate possession.

Having played San Jose once this already, have they changed much and what challenges do they present?

Vermes: “There are a lot of similarities to the last time we played them. I think they are an incredibly hungry and mobile team in the attacking half and it causes a lot of problems for teams. They provide good service in to the box and they are just a dangerous team going forward, a really dangerous team. One of the things in games like this is you have to be hyper-sensitive, your concentration has to be on a very, very high level.”

It seem like no matter where his teams are in the standings, Dominic Kinnear’s teams often match up well with Sporting KC?

Vermes: “He does that for everybody, they are always a very competitive team. His teams are very competitive and they compete on every play. It’s a staple of the recipe for his teams and it’s indicative of who he was. He was a very hard worker as a player.”