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:

• Sounders and Miami's wild Leagues Cup final
• MLS launching 'ref cam'
• Alyssa Thompson leaves NWSL for Chelsea
• Jaedyn Shaw getting traded during the podcast
• USMNT losing to South Korea

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• KC Cauldron Town Hall this Thursday!! - 4:00
• Sporting KC blow a lead Against Austin FC - 4:41
• A big update on the CSO hiring process - 29:26
• Should Sporting KC Sell Dejan for the Right Price? - 33:00
• Former SKC Player Movement - 44:35
• KC Current inch closer to the Shield - 46:16
• Digital Crawl - 59:05

Upcoming Games

• USMNT vs. Japan, Tues. Sept 9th at 6:30PM CDT
• KC Current vs. Washington Spirit, Sat. Sept 13th at 6:30PM
• Sporting KC @ Real Salt Lake, Sat. Sept 13th at 8:30PM
• SKC II @ North Texas SC, Sun. Sept 14th at 7:30PM

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:

• Our favorite goal of the night (there were so many good candidates)
• Pulskamp heroics
• That James save off the line!
• Daniel Salloi showing man strength
• International callups and so much more

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:

• St. Louis fire their Sporting Director
• Barbra Banda done for the year
• The USWNT game at CPKC Stadium

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC’s big comeback victory - 8:22
• SKC make moves and Intl. Call-ups in the SKC roundup - 54:24
• KC Current keep winning - 1:01:03
• Strife between ownership & the NWSL in the Current roundup - 1:18:32
• Digital Crawl - 1:26:47

Upcoming Games

• SKC II vs. Real Monarchs, Sat. Sept 6th at 12:00PM CDT
• USMNT vs. South Korea, Sat. Sept 6th at 4:00 PM
• KC Current @ Bay FC, Sat. Sept 6th at 9:00PM
• Sporting KC vs. Austin FC, Sun. Sept. 7th at 6:00PM

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:

• The US Open Cup Semifinals are set
• KC Comets legend Nacho Flores retires
• And Premier League Mornings Live is coming to Kansas City!

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC Collapse in Orlando - 2:38
• SKC Round-Up - 33:05
• Heat Ruins KC Current vs. the Pride - 47:55
• Digital Crawl - 1:02:48

Upcoming Games

• KC Current @ Portland Thorns, Sat. Aug. 23rd at 9:00PM CDT
• SKC II @ St. Louis City 2, Sun. Aug. 24th at 6:00PM
• Sporting KC @ Seattle Sounders, Sun. Aug. 24th at 8:15PM

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:

• A new women's team in KC - KC Astras
• USMNT Gold Cup loss
• Benny Feilhaber update

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Chad’s Media Game Glory - 1:16
• Sporting KC come back down to Earth - 9:57
• SKC Round-up - 40:25
• KC Current dominate Palmeiras - 43:34
• Digital Crawl - 54:43

Upcoming Games

• KC Current vs. Corinthians - Tuesday, July 15th at 8:00PM CDT (ESPN+)
• SKC II vs. North Texas - Friday, July 18th at 7:30PM
• Sporting KC vs. NYCFC - Saturday, July 19th at 7:30PM

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:

• USMNT Gold Cup success
• The passing of Diogo Jota

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC Break Their Losing Streak in Colorado - 6:30
• SKC Round-up - 46:59
• KC Current Free Agent Decisions - 56:36
• Digital Crawl - 1:09:34

Upcoming Games

• USMNT vs. Mexico (Gold Cup Final) Sunday, July 6th at 6:00PM CDT
• Sporting KC vs. Seattle Sounders - Saturday, July 12th at 7:30PM
• KC Current vs. Palmeiras - Saturday, July 12th at 8:00PM
• SKC II at The Town - Sunday, July 13th at 7:00PM

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.