KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sporting KC is gearing up to kick off the club's 27th season in the MLS with a trip to Atlanta United FC this Sunday afternoon.
SKC's season ended less than three months ago. The team was eliminated from the postseason playoffs Nov. 28.
Fast forward to February, players are adjusting to the quick time off. Manager Peter Vermes says the offseason flew by in the blink of an eye.
"The length, the grind and then the demand — it's really tough for them," Vermes said.
Sporting KC veteran striker Dániel Sallói says training in Arizona this past month has set the team up perfectly for another long run if all the pieces can align.
"That's going to be the big question for the team, how we manage and change things around and find success, because I'm very positive, I'm very confident. We had a good preseason," Sallói said.
Vermes agrees this February was one of the best preseasons the club has ever had.
"Probably coaches say this all the time, and I don't want to get lumped into that, but this is one of the better preseasons that we've had," he said. "What I mean is just the schedule, the way we went about our business. I don't think we overloaded the guys, I think we were smart in the way that we approached it."
Senior defender Andreu Fontàs agrees the mentality in Arizona was a huge reason the club has found early success in 2022.
"We all came back with the right mentality," Fountás said. "We work hard, and again I think we played really well in some aspects that it is not easy at the beginning of the season."
Following a plethora of roster changes, the club now sets its sights on a strong playoff run with last year's disappointing end as motivation.
"This [weekend] is gonna be a big challenge for us, a big test, already in Atlanta. We'll see where we stand," Sallói said.
Kickoff Sunday is set for 2 p.m.