A match between the teams tied for next to last in the Western Conference and with one already eliminated from playoff contention and the other on the brink of it, doesn鈥檛 seem the most compelling game to come along. But since this one is between St. 不良研究所导航网址 City SC and its biggest rival, Sporting Kansas City, it鈥檚 a little different.
鈥淔or me, this next game against Kansas has nothing to do with the season,鈥 said City SC goalkeeper and captain Roman Burki. 鈥淭his is a personal thing. We have to win. This is a game which should be for everyone here a very important game. I just can explain it, like how it was in Dortmund with Schalke (in the German Bundesliga). If you win that game, it鈥檚 like you won the championship, like you won the league. You just need to win that game. And I鈥檓 gonna be ready, and I鈥檓 gonna prepare myself for that game, just to win that game. And I don鈥檛 think about how it would look like if we would win because we won last week. I don鈥檛 care. I just want to win, beat Kansas.鈥
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鈥淓verybody working in that building knows that Saturday is an important game for us,鈥 said interim coach John Hackworth, 鈥渁nd whether it鈥檚 my cycling buddies who are like, 鈥楬ey don鈥檛 worry about any other game, but you better beat Sporting,鈥 that鈥檚 not a choice. That鈥檚 what it is.鈥
The third meeting of the season between the teams is Saturday at CityPark (7:30 p.m. on Season Pass on Apple TV) and all that鈥檚 really left for either team is pride. Sporting Kansas City was eliminated from playoff contention last Saturday by Minnesota and City SC will be eliminated this Saturday if it either fails to win or if Minnesota wins or ties at Colorado. In two previous meetings this season, both at Children鈥檚 Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, the teams played to ties, a 3-3 game in April where Tomas Totland evened up the game in the 92nd minute, and a 1-1 tie in July, with SKC got the equalizer in the 73rd minute, one of those games in which City SC could not close out a lead. Whoever wins on Saturday can claim supremacy for this season in the derby.
City SC鈥檚 play has stepped up since the Leagues Cup ended with the additions of attackers Cedric Teuchert (who Hackworth said is 50-50 for the game with an ailing knee), Marcel Hartel and Simon Becher, along with left back Jannes Horn and center back Henry Kessler. In its five games since Leagues Cup, City SC has two wins, two ties and one loss, its best five-game stretch since the season began to come apart in May.
鈥淲e definitely improved a lot,鈥 Burki said, 鈥淚 would say, playing with the ball, not just shoot the ball away when we are up or when we are in a difficult situation. When we have to defend, we actually try to keep the ball a little bit longer, and so I鈥檓 pretty happy with the way we are going. 鈥 I鈥檓 very happy with the team that we have. Very happy.鈥
Burki may be happy now, and he鈥檚 had a ringside seat for the team鈥檚 miserable defensive performance. City SC gave up 45 goals in 2023. This season, with four games to play, it has allowed 57.
鈥淚鈥檓 not gonna lie. That鈥檚 probably the most goals I conceded ever in my career in a season,鈥 Burki said. (Actually, he had one worse year, giving up 63 for Grasshopper Zurich in Switzerland in 2011-12, when he was 20 years old.) 鈥淚t feels horrible. I usually don鈥檛 want to talk after that but I mean it鈥檚 just like quality of defending. We had two different coaches, Bradley (Carnell) saw the things a little bit different than what we want to try and do now. And I think sometimes for the player, it鈥檚 not easy to just switch things that we have done for one and a half years with Bradley, or maybe still stuck in your head somewhere, and in the heat of the moment, you do this instead of the things we are trying to implement now. So it鈥檚 definitely not easy for the defenders, but also it鈥檚 not just the back four. It鈥檚 the whole team that has to defend better. And usually when we do analysis and videos, you see that it starts up front with another mistake that we made.鈥
There will be some challenges for Hackworth in this game. Along with Teuchert鈥檚 50-50 status, Chris Durkin鈥檚 knee was still inflamed and he wasn鈥檛 practicing as of Thursday, and Hackworth termed him 鈥渘ot looking good.鈥 Indiana Vassilev is in concussion protocol after taking a hit to the head in practice. But Horn and Eduard Lowen, who missed some or all of the San Jose game last week, were practicing and looking ready. It鈥檚 also the first of three games in eight days for City SC, though it鈥檚 facing an SKC team that lost the U.S. Open Cup final in overtime on Wednesday in Los Angeles, which makes for a busy week for it.
Amid the teams many hardships, one thing that has gotten easier for Burki, the goalkeeper said, was his need to deliver postgame talks after bad results. Not because the team didn鈥檛 need them, but because Hackworth was doing them first.
鈥淗ack is doing a really good job,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 usually the guy who鈥檚 here for the negative stuff when I have to be angry. But Hack is also a very emotional guy who was coming straight to the point (in the dressing room), not talking around the topic. So he鈥檚 coming straight to the point, and that鈥檚 something I like. So I can breathe and calm down for myself.鈥