Here’s why Peter Vermes isn’t worried about Sporting KC’s mixed-bag start to ’24

In the aftermath of Sporting KC’s 3-3 draw at home last weekend, manager Peter Vermes was asked about his team’s habit of dropping points at Children’s Mercy Park.

Vermes, who has coached the club since 2000, said he’s not too worried about that right now.

“I think we’re getting better at it, and I think we’ll continue to do that over the course of the season,” Vermes said. “You guys are worried about it. I’m not.”

Unsurprisingly, the last part of that quote didn’t sit well with some fans as Sporting KC began preparing for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. game at Minnesota.

In total, Sporting KC has dropped 14 points this season from matches in which Vermes’ club was ahead on the scoreboard at some point. If Sporting had dropped just half of those points, KC would be tied (with Inter Miami and the L.A. Galaxy) atop the Major League Soccer supporter’s shield standings.

In other words, Sporting KC has been good enough to win most of its games — but not good enough in the crucial late moments of undecided matches.

Sporting KC’s record of 2-2-5 through nine games finds the team 10th in the Western Conference, one spot outside the MLS playoff line. If two of those draws had been wins, Sporting would be tied for third.

“We’re all very well aware that we’ve dropped points,” Vermes said.

He said he understands why the questions are being asked but sees a team that is playing well in other aspects of soccer, including the most difficult: scoring goals.

Clearly, with 17 goals in nine games, Sporting KC hasn’t had too much trouble finding the net. That’s an average of just under two goals per outing. If Sporting maintained that scoring rate over 34 games, they’d be talking about a new club record for goals in a season.

Sporting KC can score in any number of ways: on the counter, through buildup and on set pieces — in fact, Sporting is scoring more goals on set pieces than it has in years. In sum, this is a far cry from the team’s output through 10 games last season.

And that’s largely why Vermes isn’t all that concerned at this point. The signs are there that Sporting KC can be a very good all-around team. But it needs the sorts of complete performances that produce points, not drop them.

“I think that what you have to do is face the things that you’re not good at,” Vermes said. “You have to face them head-on. You have to work at them.”

One more look back at last season: Once the 2023 edition of this team shook off its poor start and began scoring goals, the floodgates opened: KC scored 45 in its final 24 games.

Last year, it was a win at Seattle that helped propel Vermes and Co. into the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the league. Perhaps a similar turnaround — albeit defensively — is in the works this year.

“I think anybody can defend, and that you can teach anybody to defend,” Vermes said. “Now, you’ve got to remember .... there’s decision-making involved, and you always go with the decision-making of people.

“And that’s where the mistakes happen, or the success happens. And that’s why repetition of situations is very, very important.”