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PODCAST

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast

Drew VanderPloeg and Cody Welton

A conversation on topics involving the MLS club Sporting Kansas City. Tactical breakdowns of match performances, discussion around personnel and their usage, and previews of upcoming matches. Some additional content around other USMNT and MLS news as appropriate. Want to participate in the discussion? Join us on the Podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/pkg4S85qR2

sports soccer

All Episodes

01:56:49

Episode 87 - Rusty openers, stadium upgrades, and...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2024/02/29

Sporting KC kicked off the 2024 MLS Season with what could be called a less than crisp performance down in Houston but came away with a road draw that looks just fine in the results column. While fair to have some frustration with the level of quality the team played with compared to their opponent, the defense was (mostly)solid, and there were inklings of progressive ideas that just didn't quite come off during the match.SKC used their media day on Tuesday this week to launch a number of

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01:32:48

Episode 86 - MLS Organizational Drama, the...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2024/02/22

We are back after two weeks off, and it seems all that has happened is people got more mad at MLS over its reticence to prop up the Open Cup and the referee lockout. We discuss how important these issues really are to anyone than other than the most plugged in fan and whether parsing them to the nth degree is valuable in any way. The SKC roster situation is fairly boring. All of the roster additions were in what could be considered bench positions and it appears the open Designated Player slot will

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01:48:45

Episode 85 - Preseason Phase One Ends, Creating...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2024/02/01

Sporting KC have made it through the first phase of their preseason in Miami, and we try to make something of what has happened there over the past few weeks. There is some instructive information regarding the depth chart, and apparently a few players have made positive strides. One player who has not, Marinos Tzionis, has made us question both the philosophy and execution of the club's player acquisition strategy SKC traded two international roster spots for a cache of General Allocation

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01:39:34

Episode 84 - SKC parts ways with Gavin Wilkinson,...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2024/01/25

Barely more than a week after a fairly uncomfortable press conference was convened to announce Gavin Wilkinson's hiring as Sporting KC's new Sporting Director, Principal Owner Michael Illig released a written statement on the SKC website stating that they have mutually parted ways. This was in response to consistent pressure from fans, business partners and key stakeholders. While it was good to see club leadership relent and fix an obvious hiring mistake, some questions remain on how we

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01:32:18

Episode 83 - Sporting KC hires Gavin Wilkinson

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2024/01/18

We aren't doing this podcast or the fans of the club justice if we do not talk about the extremely questionable decision of Sporting Kansas City to hire Gavin Wilkinson as its new Sporting Director. We do our best to cover the most important details of this decision, the history of Wilkinson as a front office leader, and his culpability in multiple instances of women being mistreated. Music by The Spin Wires

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01:24:18

Episode 82 - Messi comes to Arrowhead, How to fix the...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2024/01/11

We are back after a several week hiatus after Sporting KC dropped the bombshell that the home match against Inter Miami would be moved to Arrowhead. This obviously sent shockwaves through the SKC community, and we try to break down all the various perspectives on the move and the potential it holds for the club long term. Gadi Kinda officially left SKC for Maccabi Haifa, and the announcement video was patently absurd. MLS tried to say nah to the US Open Cup, but was rebuffed. We discuss the

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01:58:48

Episode 81 - End of Season Report Cards, MLS Hot...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/12/14

Drew and Cody bring out their exam results and discuss the season grades for players on all 3 lines as well as the technical staff. There were highs and lows, and opportunities for improvement, and we cover them all. It seems increasingly likely that Gadi Kinda's time in KC is over. We discuss the big picture reasons for that change happening as well as how SKC could move forward. Finally MLS hot stove is in full gear, and we will learn a lot in the next couple weeks how KC will go into the

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02:06:01

Episode 80 - Drew plays GM, two Sporting Legends say...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/12/07

We tried to prepare ourselves last week, but the finality of the decisions to move on from Graham Zusi and Roger Espinoza have us feeling some kind of way. We spend some time memorializing their impact and discuss how things may move forward from here. Speaking of moving forward, the roster decisions allowed Drew to do his annual nerdy spreadsheet work and talk through multiple ways SKC could potentially strengthen their roster this winter or perhaps in the summer. Things are far more positive than

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01:20:47

Episode 79 - SKC's Season Ends, Tactical cuteness,...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/11/30

Sporting KC were unceremoniously eliminated from the MLS Cup playoffs Sunday night in Houston. The team maintained their 4-4-2 mid block/low-pressure setup meant to create counterattacking opportunities that worked so well against St Louis, but it was ineffective against Houston. We discuss the tactical plan, whether it was the most appropriate choice, and the struggles the team had in getting quality goal scoring chances from the transition events they created. There was of course a dubious

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01:53:34

Episode 78 - Three week breaks, negating Hector...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/11/22

Because there is nothing else going on, it seems everyone is focused on being MLS scheduling professionals. We discuss the three week break and how much it really matters, as well as how avoidable it really was. We dive deep into the upcoming match against Houston, how they like to progress the ball, and how SKC might negate it. Tactical Corner is a deeper dive into Alan Pulido and what makes him good, and why it's hard to see if you only look at trailing indicators. Also, how he lets Salloi

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02:04:56

Episode 77 - Things you love to see

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/11/10

SKC unceremoniously sent St Louis back across the state to start their offseason after a fairly comprehensive 2-1 scoreline that honestly flattered their opponent. It was a competitive affair for about 20 minutes until SKC settled in and fairly significantly controlled the match the rest of the way. Logan Ndenbe cemented his status as "Playoff Logan" right before rupturing his ACL and somehow playing for another 40+ minutes on it. It was an insane display and a heartbreaking injury for a

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01:49:38

Episode 76 - SKC invents winning playoff games on the...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/10/31

Sporting KC had two consecutive playoff "wins" this week after winning the PK shootout against San Jose after a fairly uninteresting 0-0 draw on Wednesday and then took the wood to St Louis in their park on Sunday night. The former being everything we have come to expect from this team on short rest against a team that didn't want to play soccer, and the latter being the exact opposite. Luchi Gonzalez seemed to be banking on his best odds being waiting for an SKC defensive

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01:34:58

Episode 75 - Take that Doubters!

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/10/25

We're making an Ali-like return to this podcasting space to discuss SKC's improbable run into the MLS post-season and the "no one believed in us" narrative that the coach seems insistent on giving air to. In fairness, we had significant doubts about this potential outcome, so we were apparently the "doubters" he was referring to, and we are willing to own that. That said, we will also discuss the fact that being pessimistic about the team's prospects, and being

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01:37:10

Episode 74 - The word of the day is Stale

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/10/06

We get some things off our chest. Things around Sporting Kansas City are in a word, Stale. The playing style, the general energy around the club, the decision making characteristics of the coach, etc, etc. We discuss the frustrations around not just the 4-1 loss to St Louis, but the feeling that it was generally inevitable. The playing format never sufficiently attacked them when they were disorganized, and appeared to be more interested in managing a result more than attaining one. Finally we

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01:24:34

Episode 73 - Jekyll and Hyde SKC return, a Tale of...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/09/28

Sporting KC put in a fairly listless performance on the mid-week versus Nashville and it was unfortunately something we saw coming. Thankfully they brought much higher intensity against Houston on Saturday and even managed to raise it higher after an unfortunate red card for Johnny Russell. We dive into the differences in the way SKC attack when they have Alan Pulido or Willy Agada in at striker, and how it impacts the personnel around them. There are some potential positive setups for both players,

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01:15:32

Episode 72 - SKC gets some good fortune(for once),...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/09/20

Sporting KC come home from Minnesota with 3 points, which would normally be a reason for optimism. Unfortunately SKC seemed to be more lucky than good on Saturday night and while that is also a welcome change from previous performances, it is hard to take it as a positive into the next two games on short rest against quality opponents. Alan Pulido gets his official contract extension, and we think it is due. While it does mean things will likely remain the same for some time, he's probably the

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01:44:18

Episode 71 - SKC Return to Earth(why were we...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/09/14

Sporting KC did a lot of the things we have come to expect from them the past couple years when playing on the road: Had veterans make significant mental errors, played soft in the midfield, and showed a complete lack of urgency attacking in transition until they were down multiple goals. We shouldn't be surprised by this, but it still is very frustrating to watch. We discuss the structural issues with the club and staff, and the somewhat disenchanting feeling that nothing significant could

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01:43:06

Episode 70 - Drinking the tears of your enemies, The...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/09/07

It was a derby atmosphere in Children's Mercy Park on Saturday and the game lived up to the hype. It was a fairly comprehensive performance by SKC even if STL fans don't want to admit it and blame the referees for their lot in life(get in line). There was a lot of bantz before the game, even leading up to player intros, and we are here for it. This is what makes rivalries fun, and we can tell this is only going to intensify in the future. Lots of key performances from SKC players that are

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01:42:52

Episode 69(NICE) - SKC Plays an actual game(and...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/08/31

SKC is back and it was a comprehensive 3-0 win vs San Jose. While the score may have flattered SKC somewhat, it was a deserved win regardless. Drew and Cody discuss the quintessential JFR game(including the injury), the tactical personnel choices, Tim Melia doing his thing, and what we will be calling "The Full Fontas". Tactical Corner is focused on building out of pressure, for reasons that should be pretty obvious. This is less of a structural discussion and more of a fluid one

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02:17:12

Episode 68 - Pulido Renewals, Roster Construction,...

Home and Away - A Sporting KC Podcast ·

2023/08/17

SKC hasn't played a game(again) this week, so we focus on the management portions of the club, discussing how MLS clubs are constructed and the potential options for how you do it, the Pulido contract renewal and how it impacts SKC's future roster construction prospects, and why the KC Current are getting fined for chartering what amounts to a Spirit Airlines flight to Louisville. As promised, there is a fair bit of time devoted to Game Models. What are they? How are they put together? What

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