Kansas City, Kan.- Tomorrow Colorado Rapids travel to Children’s Mercy Park to take on Sporting Kansas City. The Pids are in the middle of a three game road trip. SKC are coming off a win at LA Galaxy. This will be Calvin Harris’ first match against his former club. To talk about all this, we reached out Daniel Sperry from the KC Star.
Burgundy Wave: So the narrative going into this season was that this was a rebuild year to end all rebuilds. New front office, new head coach who was hired way too late, and only 12 players or however many assigned. A 2-2 draw against Columbus isn’t bad. They won at LA Galaxy 2-1 over the weekend. Is this team actually not terrible? What have they done to overcome the small roster size?
Sperry: I think Rapids fans will know as much as anyone about the way teams are covered and the narratives built in pre-season from outside those 100 ft deep in a 1 ft wide trench are usually a little suspect. Despite an obviously low number of players, Sporting has chosen to emphasize getting it right rather than flooding and seeing what sticks. When you approach it that way, you bring in players who fit the culture they want to build and where they want this system to go years from now.
Sporting’s last three signings have landed for a rumored $7.5 million in transfer fees. None of them will be DPs. And only one will be available for the weekend. The simple thought on this team right now is that they certainly are all pulling in a singular direction. And as the top-end earners get added to this squad (3 open U-22 initiative slots) as well as the addition of Or Blorian (Israeli League’s highest-rated center back) in the summer, the team starts to look closer and closer to a contender — at least for a playoff spot.
BW: Raphaël Wicky is in his first year at the club. Previously coached Chicago Fire, so he knows MLS. Formation wise, it looks mostly like a 4-3-3. What is he trying to get the team to do well or emphasize? How much are they a work in progress?
DS: It might look like a 4-3-3 on the surface, but it’s extremely fluid. With the ball, it’s more of a 4-4-1-1, and in defense, it almost ends up a 5-3-2 or 5-4-1. Some of that is due to personnel and player types available so far. I do think he would prefer a more traditional 4-2-3-1 look when it’s all said and done, with everyone on the roster available for selection. Because the roster is still a work in progress, the lineups and formations will be a work in progress towards the “ideal.”
One big positive is his game plans put players in positions to succeed through some hybrid roles tailored to player strengths. Jake Davis has been a major beneficiary of it, as was Shapi Suleymanov last week.
BW: Dejan Joveljić has three goals in four games. I’m sure that goal against LA felt good. What are his best attributes as a striker? What’s he done well this year?
DS: He is simultaneously a genius and a killer. There is a reason his elo rating in chess is 2600+. He has a way of seeing the game unfold and knowing exactly where to be. He is extremely disciplined and lethal if you give him even the tiniest of windows to get his shot off. The timing of his runs, when he arrives, where in the sequence it is, how to keep himself onside, all of those pieces to the equation are swirling, and he executes to near perfection every time. He is a perfectionist. He hates missing chances about as much as he hates losing. Just like last year, he has been incredibly efficient in finishing chances this year. If only he got more opportunities, he might go for 30 goals.
BW: The other DP on the roster right now is Manu García. He was one of the bright spots on a dismal 2025. What’s he do best in midfield? What does a successful 2026 look like for him?
DS: Manu is a great transition player. He is also sneaky good at his pressing and at picking the ball off people. He’s not your Carles Gil type of playmaker. If I had any type of player to compare him to, it might be David Silva. He is closer to an 8 than he is a true 10. A successful 2026 looks like consistent health and double-digit assists. If he plays more than 2000 minutes, Sporting ends closer to the playoff line than most thought they would be before the season started.
BW: I’ve been saying for years that center back was a point of weakness that SKC needed to address. It looks like Ethan Bartlow, former Houston Dynamo, and the unproven Wyatt Meyer are the starters right now on the back line. What have you seen from the defense so far this season? What are their weaknesses?
DS: Bartlow has been really good, actually. As the most experienced defender on the backline, he’s brought a very calming presence in the absence of Ian James (17-year-old top CB prospect, out due to injury). He has surprising aerial hops. Wyatt Meyer has been more of that typical left-footed ball-playing CB. He’s not bad, but I don’t know that Wyatt Meyer starting 30 games this year gets a team to the playoffs. Their weaknesses haven’t really shown yet this year, although at times, they aren’t the cleanest at clearing their lines. It has been easy for teams to pin Sporting back after set-piece situations, although they were a little better at that on Saturday.
BW: Rapids fans are always interested in how former players are doing. What are your thoughts on Calvin Harris through four games?
DS: I like Calvin. He was integral to both goals in the Columbus game, though I feel he has sandwiched two good performances (CLB, SD) with two underwhelming showings (SJ, LAG). I think his speed and vertical threat are something Sporting needed. But, if David Lee brings in another starting-caliber winger before the window closes on March 26, then I could see Harris moving to an off-the-bench role while Capita and [insert some other right-winger here].
DS: Lastly, lineup and score prediction.
Lineup prediction Left-to-right: Pulskamp; Reid, Meyer, Bartlow, Davis; Berg Johnsen, Bartlett, Garcia; Suleymanov, Joveljic, Harris.
Score: 2-2 draw.
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