KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After having to wait nearly a month for his first match action of the year, Chance Myers now has to take another week off.
Sporting Kansas City's veteran right back doesn't mind, though – not because he has any lingering aftereffects of the groin strain that sidelined him through March, but because the bye week gives him more training opportunities.
“I guess I know what it's like not to play for a couple of weeks,” Myers told MLSsoccer.com after Monday's light training session. “But no, it's good to play the game and go back to the drawing board and see the things you need to get better at – just mentally be sharper and make sure our lines are connected better.”
Myers went the full 90 on Saturday, in Sporting's scoreless home draw against Real Salt Lake. Kansas City's next match is a home date with Montreal on April 19.
“It feels good,” he said on Monday. “No lingering effects. It's a good thing. It was just really fun to get back out there. When you don't play for a while, you miss it a lot.”
Manager Peter Vermes praised Myers for his energetic play along the right flank and his durability in his first match back.
“He went 90 minutes, which I wasn't sure he was going to,” Vermes said on Monday. “But while the game was playing, I never thought twice that he was going to die out or something. He looked very good, and I thought he managed the game very well for his first game back.”
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Myers' return also marked the first time Vermes has been able to start his top four defenders – Myers, center backs Aurelien Collin and Matt Besler and left back Seth Sinovic. That quartet anchored the league's stingiest defense in each of the past two seasons.
“It's a consistency within the team,” Vermes said. “That consistency within the team has always been an important aspect, and they understand the movements of each other and how to cover each other, and that familiarity is an important thing within any team.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
