For the Glory KC is back with the 153rd episode of the show!
Before you do anything else, can you take our Sporting KC and MLS fan survey? Thanks!
The main event, for the second straight week, are the KC Current who shook up the soccer world. First, Vlatko Andonovski is out as the coach but is promoted? It felt weird to us as well. Sheena and I talk through the sudden change and shed some light on the move and all the other front office changes around the Kansas City Current.
Then we can't avoid the pain of discussing the premature end to the season for KC, as NJ/NY Gotham bounced them from the playoffs unexpectedly late in extra time. We break down the injuries, the decisions that led to those, the games highs and lows and everything in between.
And before the sadness ends, we have to discuss the departure of Hailie Mace from the Current. And another KC Current player is on the move too. Plus, the KC Current are up for nearly all the awards.
Sporting Kansas City were less in the news, but Major League Soccer on the whole made massive waves this week. First, they announced a schedule change to a "winter" schedule in 2027. In between there will be one more "regular" season, then a mini season they are calling a "sprint" to start 2027 before the full switch to the summer to spring move in July of 2027. We break down our feelings on the moves and try to capture each side of the equation (for more depth, check out my Op-Ed on the subject).
The league also confirmed big changes with the Apple TV deal, including the end of MLS Season Pass.
Beyond that, there are rumors of more changes, including the elimination of conferences and a new five division MLS setup. Sheena was very upset at my proposed divisions from nearly a year ago! And of course, MLS may change their playoffs again too.
Before we depart, Ike Opara and Sporting KC II made news too, and SKC even signed a player, Cielo Tschantret. If only every week of the offseason was as busy as this one! It's a long episode, but maybe there won't be anything that happens this week?
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 152nd episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City's 2025 MLS season is over and we're in that news lull where it's unclear if anything major is going to happen anytime soon. That said, we have a ton of tiny Sporting KC stories that could easily fall through the cracks if you aren't on social media.
Before we get to that, if you haven't yet, please take our survey on the Sporting KC 2025 MLS season! Thanks!
On today's episode, Sheena and I discuss the rumored opening day of the 2026 MLS season, rumors around Santiago Munoz staying in Kansas City, new salary information, Ryan Schewe re-signing, an analysis of SKC, Benny Feilhaber news, another coach moving on and Zorhan Bassong getting another call-up.
The real main even though is the KC Current who bounced back from their first loss in 17 games to earn a come from behind victory, without Temwa Chawinga, over the San Diego Wave. They also basically did it without Bia, who went down injured as well. We have updates on both of those injuries and a preview of the opening playoff series with Gotham FC.
Beyond that, we look back at the Kansas City Current's remarkable season, talk about Temwa lifting another Golden Boot trophy, share out thoughts on Lo LaBonta re-signing with the team and her time with the USWNT and much more.
It's an episode of many, many tiny stories about SKC and the Current. We also briefly talk about a lovely bio of KC Current owners Chris and Angie Long that you should go read in the Kansas City Star.
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 151st episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City's 2025 MLS season has mercifully come to an end. On a points per game basis, it was the worst season in team history. This past week brought about the biggest series of offseason changes in recent memory. Of the 17 players David Lee and his staff had to decide on, only four are guaranteed to be back in 2026 (with ongoing negotiations with two more). As things stand today, there are just 12 players on the roster.
Sheena and I work our way through all of the Sporting KC players whose options were declined, whose loans were not picked up and who are simply out of contract and not in negotiations to return. There were some names, like Erik Thommy and Logan Ndenbe, that fans took harder than others. All of this should lead to a busy offseason since Lee has room to add up to 18 players to the roster.
Beyond the roster moves and subsequent press conference, Sporting KC made other news around the US Open Cup, the MLS SuperDraft, coaching moves and an international call-up. We even spend a few minutes on the Decision Day snoozer between SKC and the Houston Dynamo and the upcoming MLS offseason schedule.
The KC Current had a pretty terrible week too, primarily because of the injury to Temwa Chawinga. They also happened to lose a meaningless game to the Houston Dash, but that paled in comparison to the injury news. There was some positive news around the Current with numerous international call-ups and the expansion of their Academy setup.
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 150th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City didn't play, so they can't break our hearts this week. In fact, it's pretty optimistic with Wednesday's press conference with new President of Soccer Operations, David Lee. He introduced himself to the fanbase and media and made a strong first impression. For a deeper dive on that press conference, we've got that in article form, but we'll take you through the big notes.
Even though Sporting KC have a CSO hired, it won't stop Sheena and I from thinking we know best and deciding the fate of the 17 players who are out of contract, on options years or have loans that include a purchase option. If you prefer nearly 6,000 written words instead of listening to us talk, I joined six other KCSJ colleagues in the written word earlier this week. Sheena did call this "some of her best work," so you should probably listen. It was fun!
As a bonus, even though there are only eight guys on guaranteed contracts, Sheena and I discuss who of those we'd actually like to keep too, with Daniel Salloi and Shapi Suleymanov getting the most attention.
In the Sporting KC round-up we spread that good word that SKC cannot win the Wooden Spoon, Mike Burns is sticking around and vent a little about that silly SKC/Minnesota United game we never talked about.
The KC Current just keep winning. A record-breaking number of wins in fact! And points. And shutouts. They've vanquished a quality Gotham FC squad and Angel City FC since we last spoke, so we catch up on all things Kansas City Current.
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 149th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City did what we've been asking for and hired a new President of Soccer Operations. David Lee is in charge of all things soccer over at Sporting KC, and he'll report directly to ownership. That's actually the first (serious) subject on the pod. CSO? PoSO? General Manager? Sporting Director? Technical Director? To quote the former King of the Seven Kingdoms, Robert Baratheon, "titles, titles, titles."
On today's, not quite an emergency podcast, we learn about David Lee's professional past, his time with NYCFC and his track record of success.
He also comes out of the City Football Group (CFG) empire, so we tell you what the heck that means and what impact that likely had on the resources he had at his disposal and how it could both be benefiting him and limiting him at other times.
Sheena and I also weigh in on Lee's history of youth development and a knack for signing young talent. A lot of that is CFG related, but it also could be the direction he decides to take with Sporting KC. There is so much to talk about with Lee, you should probably just download the episode already!
As a tease, here are some of the quotes from the media we'll cite around the excitement of the David Lee hire:
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 148th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City put up one of the worst performances in recent memory when they went on the road and lost 4-1 to the LA Galaxy. The dead-last-in-all-of-MLS Galaxy. They gave up a hattrick in the first half to Designated Player, Joseph Paintsil, and he frankly could have scored four or five goals on the night. It's a worrying trend with how they start games and how they end the first half of games.
Despite it being bad, and it was very bad, it wasn't all bad. Dejan Joveljic scored again, this time against his former team leaving him 4th in the Golden Boot standings. There were positive moments for new starters Memo Rodriguez and Stephen Afrifa (and bad ones but let us have this). Robert Voloder came off the bench and made his case to still be on this roster.
Sheena and I also discuss all the follies and how much of the blame should be heaped onto John Pulskamp (spoiler: not much in my eyes). And we have to discuss that Shapi Suleymanov red card.
Unfortunately, we also have to update the "race to the bottom" by Sporting KC. They are dangerously closer to 'winning' the Wooden Spoon for the first time in club history. The only hope may be that other teams also play bad, which D.C. United and St. Louis City did their part this weekend.
In the SKC Round-up we also cover how much General Allocation Money the new Chief Soccer Officer (CSO) is going to have to work with and some good and bad moments from the final SKC II home game.
The KC Current lifted us up a bit on Friday though, with their dominant 4-1 win with a heavily rotated lineup. There were brilliant moments, debuts, firsts and more. And we have to talk about how Temwa Chawinga was placed ridiculously low on the Ballon d'Or voting.
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 147th episode of the show!
The KC Current are the headliners this week, and probably should be each week, because they had themselves a marvelous weekend! After the Washington Spirit dropped points to Angel City FC on Thursday night, that opened the door for the Kansas City Current to lift the shield on Saturday night. All they had to do was win.
And of course they did! They defeated the Seattle Reign 2-0, lifted the NWSL Shield as the best record in the league, with five games remaining. It's the fastest ever shield win in league history, breaking the previous record set by the 2014 Seattle Reign.
But that Reign team ultimately didn't win the NWSL Championship. They lost the final to FC Kansas City, coached by Vlatko Andonovski. Sheena and I work through all the emotions and moments from the night and how the KC Current can't let that happen to them.
Across town, things were much worse for Sporting Kansas City. They lost, yet again, this time to the Vancouver Whitecaps. And it was a depleted Whitecaps side who were missing most of their stars. It didn't matter as SKC fell behind just over a minute into the game and never recovered.
Then again, they did play some kids and try some different things for next year. So, I supposed we sort of got what we were asking for last week. But losing sucks. And St. Louis City won, so Sporting KC are closer to the Wooden Spoon (for the worst record in MLS) than anything else and now behind their cross-state rivals.
On one night, the KC Current proclaim themselves one of the best teams in the world and Sporting KC get eliminated from playoff contention. What a weird night for Kansas City soccer.
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 146th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City really wasted our time this weekend. Sure, the game was close, only losing 2-1 to Real Salt Lake. But any idiot could see this lineup wasn't going to work. A midfield three of Nemanja Radoja, Jacob Bartlett and Jake Davis. Where is the offense coming from? Why is Radoja playing the 8? He has a single position, being a defensive midfielder in a single pivot. A role he's spent almost no time playing in 2025. Which is fine, let Barlett get those minutes. Or even better, let Davis and Zorhan Bassong play in a double pivot (Bassong was suspended for this game).
And why is Joaquin Fernandez playing any minutes for this team? He has shown he hasn't done enough to earn a new contract. His deal runs out at the end of 2025 and his exorbitant salary has not been earned. Ian James picked up a concussion, so he wasn't available. But new loanee Alan Montes is. See if he has enough talent to keep around beyond the expiration of his loan this season. They have a purchase option. I have a dream formation he'd fit right into.
Worst of all, the game was so conservative, and Kerry Zavagnin didn't go offensive until the team was down 2-0. It felt like a wasted game. We'll get into that, and other thoughts from the RSL game before moving on to other topics like the KC Cauldron "Hot Seat," an injury update for SKC and England possibly coming to KC for the World Cup.
Finally, the KC Current couldn't pull off yet another win. They played to a 0-0 draw with the Washington Spirit without the injured Temwa Chawinga. Temwa should be fine according to Vlatko Andonovski.
The game was another hot one, featured a red card and the Spirit showed why they are the 2nd place team in the NWSL.
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 145th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City failed once again to do what they haven't been able to do all season. String together back-to-back wins. That leaves them all but eliminated from the 2025 playoffs, simply seeking to avoid a slide that puts them at the bottom of the table. We spend just a little time on the Austin FC game (but we still had a few thoughts) and move to more pressing matters.
Both of our next conversations were triggered by a simple tweet from Andrew Weibe.
First, we talk through that Chief Soccer Officer (CSO) search update, including that it'll happen before the season is over, they are in final interviews, and the move will come from outside the organization (so no Mike Burns as CSO).
Then the last paragraph sparked a bit of a discussion online.
"CSO could make wholesale changes. Seventeen players out of contract. Two of three DP spots could be opened, all three U22."
First, the two DPs Sporting KC have, cannot be bought down. So, the implication is that Dejan Joveljic or Manu Garcia could be sold, and Weibe went on to confirm that's what he meant. So, should Joveljic be sold? If so, how much will that cost a team to pry him away? He's just 26-years-old. He's at 17 goals and counting this year. Sheena and I get into the discussion and the fan reaction around that idea. I try to break down why it might financially make some sense, but also assess the risk involved in such a move.
Finally, the KC Current continued their winning ways with their 12th straight game without a loss, including only a single draw. The game was their 9th road win of the season, an NWSL record. With the Washington Spirit also winning, they remain only 14 points clear of second place. That won't allow next weekend to end in them winning the shield, but if they beat the Spirit, it'll all but lock up the trophy.
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 144th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City broke a nearly two-month winless streak on Saturday night against the Colorado Rapids. The streak went back to their last win, also against the Rapids, on July 4th in Commerce City. And while "winless" is technically right, it was worse than that. Between victories over Colorado, Sporting KC were 0-5-1, with just a single draw against NYCFC.
The defense was still flawed, and defense often starts further up the field, so there is blame to go around. Colorado should have scored far more than the two goals they put in, if not for outstanding individual efforts from John Pulskamp, Robert Voloder and Ian James. But it was something else that stood out on Saturday.
With Manu Garcia still unavailable due to injury, Kerry Zavagnin finally used Santiago Munoz as a straight up #10. You could call it a second striker, but he was floating all over creating opportunities. He was involved in so many attacking sequences and seemed to unlock Sporting KC's creativity. Not every sequence ended with a shot, but there was so much promise.
Another move I've been asking for is not starting all three strikers together. It leaves no impact subs on the bench to play forward. With Mason Toye starting on the bench, it was a combination of him subbing on and Santi unlocking the midfield that led to the game winning goal. Munoz played a perfect ball to Toye to finished with precision to push SKC over the line for their seventh win of the season.
Of course, Sheena and I talked about a lot more Sporting KC happenings in this episode, including:
The KC Current did what we basically expect them to do at this point. Just keep winning. They've won twice since our last podcast and clinched a playoff spot. They aren't that far away from locking up the NWSL Shield. But ultimately, the season will be defined by what they do in the playoffs. Before we get there though, we talk through the victories over the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage.
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 143rd episode of the show!
Weather was top of mind in the two Kansas City versus Orlando matches as both games experienced three plus hour delays.
Sporting Kansas City initially looked like they were going to keep some of the positive vibes from the San Diego game going when they had a solid first half against Orlando City. Then the second half happened. While the lightning delayed the game, the second half absolutely lacked electricity for Sporting KC.
Personally, I think the tactical changes were all wrong and a lot of it went down to the substitution patterns and decisions. Maybe it was because all three center forwards started the game, so there were none to bring off the bench. However, it felt like it all centered around team captain Zorhan Bassong.
As soon as Bassong was forced to move to left back for a fatigued Tim Leibold, everything fell apart. Sporting KC interim manager Kerry Zavagnin switched to a very conservative midfield by bringing on Nemanja Radoja and Jacob Bartlett and flipping into the 4-3-3 out of the team's second attempt at a 4-4-2. If the team wanted to push for a win, a back three likely shores up the defensive weaknesses and keeps Bassong and Jake Davis in the midfield together. It may not have worked, and hindsight is 20/20, but the decisions made were a disaster. Or maybe it was just the players inability to execute.
If instead it was a back three of Jansen Miller, Alan Montes and Robert Voloder, the team could have gone much more attacking with the wingbacks and not ruined the defensive chemistry of that Bassong/Davis double pivot. Sheena and I weigh in on that, and a lot more from the 3-1 loss to Orlando.
In the SKC round-up we have stories on Gianluca Busio, Latif Blessing, SKC II and a lot more.
The KC Current had weather issues of their own on Saturday. As many pointed out when the schedule came out, a 3:00PM start time in August for the Orlando Pride match-up was never going to work. The league should have realized it wouldn't work far before they left fans sitting in the stadium for hours with updates every 15-minutes before a larger delay was announced.
When the game was finally played, the product on the field suffered and KC broke their eight-game winning streak and earned their first draw of 2025. All while failing to score for the first time ever in CPKC Stadium. It's hard to maintain your homefield advantage when so many fans had left due to the heat.
In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 142nd episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City didn't get the much-needed win against San Diego FC. It's not unexpected when a team well below the playoff line plays the best team in the conference it may not work out. Sure, they lost 2-0, but I'm here to tell you they actually executed their gameplan exceptionally well. Their chances just didn't go in. The dominated the expected goal (xG) battle, but the only number most will care about is the final score.
However, there are positives that can be taken away from the loss and things to look forward to in the final nine games of the MLS season. Sheena and I will get into more detail in the episode, but those things are:
As a bonus category, we look closer at the 4-4-2 and decide if it should be that, or another formation for the rest of the year.
Beyond those keys, we also discuss the flopping of San Diego FC, the poorly officiated game from Pierre-Luc Lauziere (which may have literally led to injuries), updates on other injuries (Erik Thommy in particular) and a bunch of other topics from the game.
In the SKC Round-Up, we covered the newest Sporting KC signing (Alan Montes) and his brief debut, the departure of Dany Rosero, some Mike Burns transfer window quotes and the news my colleague Thad Bell broke that the $500k in GAM from the William Agada trade does not expire.
The KC Current played twice since our last episode, both of which were wins. First, they beat Racing Louisville then they took down the Utah Royals. Both were victories on the road. But there was a ton of other KC Current news:
In the Digital Crawl, we kept it brief on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 141st episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City are slipping. Both in results and down the table. Their latest loss, a 3-0 shelling at the hands of the Vancouver Whitecaps, leaves them back in 13th place in the Western Conference and six points out of the final playoff spot with just 10 games to go.
In fact, the team has won just three times in their last 13 attempts. The team is 3-5-5 in that stretch having picked up just one point in the last three games. Sheena and I try to figure out what is wrong. The team has started slow and the midgame adjustments from Kerry Zavagnin are strong, but is he making bad starting lineup choices? (More Jake Davis please! And perhaps a Santi Munoz start?)
Maybe it's finally time for a different starting formation since the team is quick to switch to a back three in games, but they have yet to start a game in one. Or is it all an illusion and they just look good in the second half because of game state? When you are chasing the game and throwing numbers forward, of course you are going to create more chances, and your opponent is going to sit back a bit.
We also discuss the transfer window, which opened this past week. Sporting KC made a trade for a third open international roster spot which may mean they are going to be busy. We look at what positions they should target.
The KC Current made a bunch of news despite not playing any official games. They filmed some of Ted Lasso season four at CPKC Stadium this past week. Jason Sudeikis and friends have been all over KC, including Swope Park, the Plaza, maybe your neighborhood and this week they'll be at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
In actual soccer news, the KC Current played a scrimmage in very poor weather against Chris and Angie Long's other team, HB Koge, and won 5-1. The team also officially announced their 2,000-seat stadium in Riverside, MO, where KC Current II, the Academy and other regional events will be played. It includes an additional performance center and four more fields (bringing the total to 12).
In the Digital Crawl, go deeper than usual on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 140th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City returned home to a not very warm welcome from the Seattle Sounders. After getting out to a 3-0 lead in the first half, Sporting KC managed to claw their way back and nearly earn a point but ultimately fell 3-2.
Kerry Zavagnin made some halftime adjustments, and his strikers went out and earned penalty kicks and drained their chances in the second half. It just wasn't enough to overcome the large deficit. However, during the second VAR review for a PK, Seattle's Nouhou seemingly lost his mind throwing a ball at a fan.
That led to an exchange with the referee that will surely land him in further hot water.
Outside of that, we break down many of the game's biggest moments, give our thoughts on the lineup and tactics and gush some more over Jansen Miller. Go watch his Behind the Shield.
While the SKC game was going on, the KC Current were handling business in the first ever Teal Rising Cup. Despite rolling out a lineup of almost entirely backup players, KC handed Palmeiras a 3-0 loss to advance to the finals of the tournament. They will play Corinthians, who needed extra time to pull off a 1-0 win over the Chicago Stars.
The Current game saw the returns of Lo LaBonta and Alex Pfeiffer from injury, and also, I stumbled around on the field at halftime "leading" Team Storm to a 2-0 victory in the media game over Team Heartland.
In the Digital Crawl, we also touch on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 139th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City went on the road and picked up their first win in the Rocky Mountain State since March of 2014. The Colorado Rapids were caught napping early and despite obscenely high expected goals (xG), couldn't find a way back into the match, losing 2-1.
The game had its ups and downs, but even with a few down moments, John Pulskamp shined on the night with numerous saves and the game winning assist. Just one more assist this season will tie the single season record for a goalkeeper in MLS.
Outside of that, Sheena and I take a closer look at the Kerry Zavagnin era. Counting points only since he took over, the team would be fifth in the Western Conference and even counting the prior Peter Vermes games the team was in 10th at the time of recording. Is it time to lock KZ up as the permanent coach?
We also broke down the standout moments of the game, talked about the new Logan Ndenbe injury, Jacob Bartlett's pending suspension and a whole lot more.
In the Sporting KC round-up, we catch up on stories for Jack Kortkamp, Daniel Salloi, SKC II and the immense amount of salary budget that's about to open up at the end of the season.
Not to be left out, the KC Current had quite a few things going on this week, including a large list of free agents they need to make decisions on. We also discussed Kansas City vying for a WNBA team, the USWNT's victory over Canada, the Claire Hutton goal and the upcoming media game this weekend.
Also, if you want discounted tickets to the Teal Rising Cup games and to support #TeamStorm, click here.
In the Digital Crawl, we also touch on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 138th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City returned to action for a double game week, but before we get to the games, we have to talk about the MLSPA salary release that included a lot of new numbers for Sporting KC players and a lot of updates to existing players. Needless to say, there are some shocking numbers that are both too high and frankly, too low.
After that, we moved to the two games from the week, first tackling the 2-1 come from behind victory over Charlotte FC. The game featured two stoppage time goals, including Mason Toye's first ever for SKC and Dejan Joveljic's hamstring injury/cramp inducing 11th! At the beginning of both sequences, you'll find Manu Garcia pulling the strings. That's despite a nasty head injury he picked up.
We also sufficiently got off top with an update to why Khiry Shelton's hair was pink, Wilfried Zaha somehow avoiding a dissent yellow and John Pulskamp heroics.
For Real Salt Lake's 1-1 draw against Kansas City, we had to discuss the return of Johnny Russell and William Agada. Including Russell's beautiful (if painful to watch) header and his new haircut. Sheena's favorite topics often have nothing to do with soccer, so Erik Thommy's goal celebration seemed to evolve into the "bowling arrow."
Matt Besler also went on the wall and shared some parallels with both Jansen Miller and Jacob Bartlett. The lineup found SKC short-handed and led to the first ever MLS start for 17-year-old Ian James at center back.
But no Sporting KC game would be complete without refereeing controversy. While Jake Davis being sent off got a lot of the attention, that actually appeared to be the right call. It was what happened to Davis just before his sending off that left us baffled. How Gozo remained in the game is unbelievable.
The KC Current are in their summer break, but they make an appearance in the Digital Crawl with the key re-signing of Michelle Cooper to a long-term deal through 2028.
In the Digital Crawl, we also touch on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 137th episode of the show!
The KC Current lead off the show today with Sporting KC taking the weekend off. They played their last NWSL game until August 1st when they welcomed Angel City FC to town this past Friday night. While it was a closely contested match-up, the depleted Kansas City squad was able to put together their sixth consecutive win and stretch their lead in the standings to eight points as of this writing.
Angel City, despite being far down the table, were competitive and kept the match close. If not for penalty kick saving heroics by Lorena and possibly a Sarah Gordon cramp, the game may have had a different outcome. We got into all kinds of topics from the game.
In addition to game action, we got an update on what the Current will be doing on their upcoming break (outside of the Teal Rising Cup) and covered all their international call-ups for the upcoming international break, including Izzy Rodriguez's first call by the full USWNT.
Sporting Kansas City didn't play this weekend, so we just ask one question about them. What is your hope for the rest of their season? Sheena and I gave somewhat different answers and got into a debate about the quality of the roster. In particular around Daniel Salloi and Shapi Suleymanov. We both agreed they need to make moves and the secondary transfer window opens July 24th.
In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 136th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City have lost back-to-back games for the first time in the Kerry Zavagnin era. While results haven't been perfect, it's a testament to how much better this team is. Against FC Dallas, it felt like an opportunity to avoid this very result as Dallas entered the game on a six-game winless streak. And it really felt like Sporting KC were the better side on the night.
At least until things went off the rails. Referee Sergii Demianchuk had an outsized impact on the game. Sheena and I get into the dicey officiating on the night and if we thought the right calls were made. A lot was made of the Khiry Shelton red card, but that may have actually been one of the more accurate calls. The first yellow, who knows based on the broadcast. But the second, Khiry cannot make that challenge. There was a lot of poor calls though, and a lot of bad replay work.
Sheena also made it out to Children's Mercy Park for the first time in 2025 and she brought some newbies. Sheena gives her breakdown on the atmosphere and the view from the South Stand.
We also round-up a bunch of SKC stories, including Zorhan Bassong going back on national team duty, updates on Gianluca Busio, Benny Feilhaber, Johnny Russell and more.
The KC Current won their fifth straight and their 10th of the season on the back of three goals in the first 19 minutes that would prove too much for Racing Louisville to overcome. We also update what we know on Lo LaBonta's injury and the final results of HB Koge's season in the Danish league.
In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics and start times:
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 135th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City came back down to earth this week with a tough loss against Los Angeles Football Club on the road. Things looked bright early when Dejan Joveljic scored his 10th goal of the season off a Manu Garcia assist. But the lead didn't even last until halftime.
Calamitous set piece defending led to a 1-1 halftime score and the capper on a bad game for Memo Rodriguez led to the game winning penalty kick for Denis Bouanga.
Speaking of Bouanga, despite him having a goal and an assist, Jansen Miller seemed to be in his head. Maybe Bouanga gets the last laugh, but all the victimizing Denis did came at the expense of others, not Miller. Jansen more than held his own against one of the elite players in Major League Soccer. It's wild to say Miller (and frankly Pulskamp again) had good games when three goals went in. But they really did. And the joy Miller clearly gets from hounding attackers was all over his face.
Sheena and I also discussed lots of other topics including: the return of Jake Davis from injury, the return of Stephen Afrifa from the bench, Khiry Shelton's ever-changing hair color, a bloody Shapi Suleymanov, who the heck was the captain after Daniel Salloi subbed off and many other topics from the SKC/LAFC game.
Before we got to the winning KC team, we also had to talk about the big news that Benny Feilhaber has landed a job with the Oakland Roots of the USL Championship. It's a short-term deal. Is it so he can make sure he's available for the Sporting KC job?
The KC Current went out and crushed it again, this time winning on the road against the newly crowned CONCACAF W Champions, NJ/NY Gotham. Michelle Cooper and Temwa Chawinga scored early, but it was the VAR that may have come to their rescue late. The officials seemed to get most things right when overturning Gotham goals, but that Esther goal is a little dicey to change.
We also discussed a really good interview Forbes did with Chris and Angie Long along with the new 2,000 seat stadium the KC Current are building at their Riverside complex.
In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
For the Glory KC is back with the 134th episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City went on the road and picked up a massive three points in a statistically defiant weekend. It was their first win in Houston since October 3, 2020. They had been 0-3-3 in their prior six visits in all competitions. The victory also broke a 19-game winless streak when they gave up the first goal in a game. Adding to all of that, Kerry Zavagnin has now been in charge for 10 games and has led his team to an appropriate 4-3-3 record. KZ is now responsible for 15 of the team's 16 points in 2025 and Sporting KC find themselves just four points south of a playoff spot.
A big part of this successful run under Zavagnin is the emergence of John Pulskamp as a quality starter in Major League Soccer. Despite getting beat by another goal of the week candidate, he absolutely stood on his head for stretches of the game against the Houston Dynamo. He actually had a career high eight saves, including perhaps the save of the night when he shut down Griffin Dorsey one on one.
Going into the season, it felt like a big risk to have three very young goalkeepers. There had been an expectation all offseason that a veteran goalkeeper would be added to a group that was 23, 22 and 17-years-of-age coming into the season. And it is not as if there haven't been growing pains. Sporting KC have allowed 28 goals in league play, but by no means has the defense helped out Pulskamp for large stretches. Personally, it feels like John has saved many shots he shouldn't save, which is supported by him being in the 95th percentile of post-shot expected goals per shot on target. Elite numbers.
Elsewhere on the podcast, Sheena and I discuss the comeback by SKC, including a brace from Dejan Joveljic, Santiago Munoz's first goal with Sporting KC, Zorhan Bassong's delightful free kick and header, both of which led to goals and many other moments from the game.
However, even with the win, I can't help but bring up the terrible officiating from referee Jair Marrufo. He has a dicey history refereeing Sporting KC games and that didn't change on Saturday. He had numerous questionable calls, which I break down. Perhaps the biggest questionable moment was a miss by Marrufo and the VAR when a handball went uncalled in the box. It wasn't as egregious as the error that may have eliminated SKC from the 2023 playoffs (also against Houston), but it seemed to be a clear handball. The lack of camera angles is an indictment on MLS too.
The KC Current made plenty of news. Chris and Angie Long bought their second soccer team when the club announced the purchase of HB Køge Women in Denmark.
Lo LaBonta also made her debut with the US Women's National Team, Michelle Cooper started that same game and added an assist and Mary Long and Katie Scott scored for the US U-20 women to qualify for the U-20 Women's World Cup.
In another big move, the KC Current announced the Teal Rising Cup.
In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:
Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):
Upcoming Games
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.