Episode 106 - SKC vs Fire recap, Cup vs Cup discourse, and playing the yutes.

It was Sunday Funday(night?) at Children’s Mercy Park as Sporting KC kicked off their Leagues Cup campaign with a win against the Chicago Fire.  There were a couple surprises in the gameday roster and starting lineup along with a couple really nice headed goals to get the 2-1 victory.  Of course the beginning of Leagues Cup has also reignited the discourse around the tournament, which wasn’t helped by Don Garber’s comments about the Open Cup during all star weekend. Stephen Afrifa was one of the surprise additions to the starting XI and had perhaps his best performance in an SKC shirt including an assist on the game winning goal.  This highlighted an ongoing difference in opinion about how to successfully integrate and develop younger players between SKC’s technical staff and members of this podcast, but it was a welcome performance to see nonetheless. SKC brought out a familiar possession shape albeit from a different base formation than usual, and it did lead to having mostly firm control of the game and limiting opportunities for Chicago to take advantage of transition. In Potpourri we take a quick look at the Olympic tournaments for both the men and women, as both have qualified for the knockout stages before giving our one thing to look for as Toluca comes back to Kansas City next Monday.