KANSAS CITY, Kan – Sporting Kansas City aren't exactly yawning at their 3-0 start, but they're not all that excited about it either.
“This doesn't mean that much to me,” said midfielder Roger Espinoza, whose 84th-minute red card made for some nervous moments down the stretch of Sunday night's 1-0 victory over Toronto FC. “Obviously, I'm happy that we're 3-0, but at the end of the day, it doesn't mean anything in terms of trying to get to the MLS Cup. You've got to stay humble and do well.”
Espinoza – and the other players who have been around this club for a while – speak from experience, and that, center back and captain Matt Besler said, makes it easier to stay level during a hot start.
“I think it's up to the veteran guys that have experienced how this league works to share their knowledge with the rest of the team,” Besler told reporters, “and to set the tone.”
In 2011, their first year under the club’s new brand, Sporting started the year with a 1-6-3 record – all on the road, while waiting for Children's Mercy Park to open – and then raced to a first-place finish in the Eastern Conference before crashing out against Houston in the conference final.
In 2012, they started 7-0, finished atop the East again – and once more fell to Houston in the playoffs, this time in the conference semis.
“And the following year, we went 3-3-3 – exactly .500 – through the first nine games, and that was the year we won it,” Besler said. “So the first 10 games, I don't think you can read into anything.”
Even so, the numbers so far – Sporting have two shutouts, have never trailed in a match and have yet to concede during the run of play – aren't too shabby.
“I think the team is disciplined,” manager Peter Vermes said during his post-match news conference. “I think we have been taking our chances pretty well. Everyone is stepping up from different places. I think that is the reason why we are getting results.
“But it is so early in the season; I can only imagine what is going to come. It doesn’t really matter because we have only played three games. We have a lot more ahead of us. We have an incredibly tough opponent [Real Salt Lake] in two weeks, and that is what we need to get ready for.”
Those clean sheets, goalkeeper Tim Melia said, are due as much to the play in front of him as to his ability to make explosive, acrobatic saves.
“They've been so good,” Melia said. “They've been so organized. They've given up maybe an opportunity – maybe an opportunity – a game. If we can be good defensively first, we have the firepower to get goals. I think if we continue along that path of making it really difficult to be scored on, it's going to be a good season.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
