Sporting Kansas City 1–3 Real Salt Lake: Tactical Breakdown of a Team Going Backwards

A promising kickoff time, a familiar performance, and more growing concerns about formtion and squad quality

Saturday night’s Sporting Kansas City match was one of the few that kicked off at a reasonable time for me to watch live from the UK. Most Sporting KC MLS games kick off around 3:00 AM over here, so a 9:30 PM start for the trip to Salt Lake felt like a luxury. After watching Southampton defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup quarterfinals, I was ready to see Sporting Kansas City (hopefully) take points off Real Salt Lake. Beer in hand and snacks, I was ready to go.

I shouldn’t have bothered watching it live. Having gone back and watched the match again on replay, it was even worse than I remembered.

I had been high on Sporting Kansas City all offseason and through the opening matches of the campaign. That optimism has evaporated over the last two fixtures against what I would classify as mid-level Western Conference opponents.

At this point, Sporting Kansas City have the worst squad in MLS in terms of overall quality. Yes, teams like Philadelphia Union, CF Montreal, and Orlando City have fewer points, but each of those sides has more top-end talent and better roster balance.

Sporting Kansas City have Lasse Berg Johnsen, Dejan Joveljic, and Manu Garcia. Beyond that, there is a steep drop-off. There are players like Calvin Harris who can contribute, but the 4–1 loss to the Colorado Rapids showed exactly why Colorado were willing to let him leave for free at the end of 2025.

The rest of the squad is filled with low- to mid-level MLS players. Some are in the league simply because MLS now has 30 teams and teams need bodies. After watching this 3–1 loss to Real Salt Lake, it is difficult to argue otherwise: Sporting Kansas City are the worst team in MLS—not in terms of points, but in terms of overall quality.

This isn’t a rebuild. A rebuild implies a foundation. This is a poorly constructed roster, largely assembled by a sporting director who left the club last week, leaving Raphael Wicky to try to make sense of it. That is an incredibly difficult position to be in, especially with key players potentially leaving in the near future.

Let’s be clear: Sporting Kansas City’s results are not primarily Wicky’s fault. The squad he inherited is not good enough. In some areas, it barely resembles a complete roster. There are players who should not have been promoted to the first team yet. Ian James and Jacob Bartlett stand out as players elevated out of necessity rather than readiness.

However, Wicky is not without blame. He needs to stop trying to be more clever than the situation allows. This group does not have the tactical intelligence or experience to execute complex, fluid systems that require constant positional rotation. The players simply are not at that level. Hell, some of these players can barely defend in one-versus-one and two-versus-two situations.

On Saturday night, Wicky attempted to match Real Salt Lake with a 3-4-3. I am not a UEFA Pro Licensed coach, but I do hold UEFA coaching licenses, and this much is clear: this team needs simplicity.

Find a formation that suits your best players and stick with it. Many of these players—particularly those developed entirely within the American system—have not been coached to operate within highly fluid tactical structures. That lack of understanding is evident on the pitch.

Preseason offered a glimpse of something workable. The 4-4-2 with a high press looked effective. Since then, that identity has disappeared. The team is not just inconsistent, it is regressing. The last two matches have looked nothing like the early-season performances. Or perhaps those early matches masked deeper issues, and this is simply regression to the mean.

First half collapse: Tactical mismatch and structural Issues

Saturday’s approach bordered on tactical self-sabotage. Matching three slow center-backs against Real Salt Lake’s dynamic front line was asking for trouble, and it took just four minutes for that risk to be exposed.

The opening goal came from a cheap giveaway in midfield, allowing midfielder Diego Luna to drive directly at Ethan Bartlow. Bartlow backed off, giving Luna space, but the bigger issue was organization. As Luna drifted to Bartlow’s right, Ian James was nowhere to be found. He had followed his runner instead of maintaining the defensive line.

Even then, John Pulskamp could have done better. Luna’s shot came from around 20 yards out, and it beat him. Just like that, it was 1–0. Spoiler alert: Two of RSL’s three goals came from around 18 yards or further out. Against Colorado in week 5, Sporting conceded four goals from inside the penalty area, with two inside the six-yard box.

Bartlow struggled throughout the half. His positioning was poor, his pressing was hesitant, and his passing was rushed. Real Salt Lake consistently found space between the lines, and Sporting Kansas City spent long stretches chasing shadows. Bartlow was hooked at halftime.

RSL nearly doubled their lead in the 22nd minute, only to be denied by the crossbar. They struck the woodwork again in the 41st minute. The woodwork made as many saves as Pulskamp in the match.

At halftime, Sporting Kansas City were fortunate to be down only 1–0. The underlying numbers tell the story. Sporting managed just two shots, one on target, with an xG of 0.12 and a single touch inside the Real Salt Lake penalty area. The 3-4-3 experiment failed.

Bartlow was fortunate to remain on the field just before halftime after being beaten for pace on a through ball that should never have been allowed to develop. Pulskamp bailed him out with a save, and VAR reviewed a potential foul. Thankfully, the referee did not overturn the decision. After watching three red cards given for extremely soft fouls in the Toronto FC–Colorado Rapids match earlier in the night, it was refreshing to see some restraint.

Second half: more of the same

Real Salt Lake came out for the second half exactly as they finished the first, attacking Sporting Kansas City’s defensive structure with ease.

In the 55th minute, they doubled their lead, and once again, it came far too easily. Jansen Miller was isolated in a one-on-one situation against Sergi Solans and was turned inside and out. He should never have been left alone in that scenario.

But the problem started earlier in the move. Sporting pressed high, yet a hopeful pass from right-back bypassed the entire midfield. No Sporting player occupied the space where the ball traveled. Shapi appeared to let it go past him without attempting to intervene. Zavier Gozo collected the ball, drove forward unchallenged, and found Solans, who had time to shift the ball onto his right foot and finish.

The defensive organization is abysmal. That has not changed from last season because it was not properly addressed in the offseason. By the time the second goal went in, Diego Borges had replaced Bartlow, making his debut, but the structural issues remained. Sure, Or Blorian will arrive in the summer on a free-transfer. There is no guarantee anything will change. Somehow, Sporting Kansas City have only conceded 14 goals. Not the most in MLS.

The defense is poor, but the attack is nearly nonexistent. Only five goals were scored by Sporting KC before MLS week 6.

This does not feel like a rebuild. It feels like 2025 all over again. Again, that is not entirely on Wicky, but he must simplify things. Stop trying to match opponents tactically. In MLS, that rarely wins games. Set the tone. Be proactive. Make other teams adjust to you. Make your team difficult to defeat.

With injuries factored in, there is even less reason to overcomplicate things. Zorhan Bassong should have started at left-back, and the team should have lined up in a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1. The midfield must be structured to protect a weak and inexperienced center-back pairing.

A brief spark: Joveljic delivers again

Despite everything, Sporting Kansas City found a way back into the match. Down 2–0, they managed a rare sustained possession sequence. The ball was worked out to Justin Reynolds, who delivered a cross toward Joveljic at the top of the box. The Serbian forward struck the ball cleanly, hitting the inside of the post and scoring to make it 2–1.

It was another example of Joveljic creating something from nothing. For a brief moment, there was hope. But it did not last.

Defensive Fragility and Midfield Issues

From that point forward, it was all Real Salt Lake again. The defensive issues are obvious, but the midfield is just as much of a problem. Too often, Sporting’s midfielders are jogging back in transition, leaving the defense exposed and outnumbered. There is a clear lack of urgency and, at times, a lack of fitness. More running in training needs to happen.

On 82 minutes, the game was put beyond reach. Gozo struck a powerful effort from outside the box that flew past Pulskamp, making it 3–1. It was another avoidable goal, another example of space being conceded in dangerous areas. Real Salt Lake could have scored a fourth, hitting the post yet again.

Sporting improved only marginally in the second half. They recorded three shots, two on target, and an xG of 0.36. Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake registered 11 shots in the second half alone, with three on target.

Sporting may have led some defensive metrics, but that is a reflection of how much defending they were forced to do. Those numbers are not a sign of strength, rather they are a symptom of sustained pressure.

Sporting Kansas City are going backwards.

The tactical experimentation is not working. The squad lacks quality and balance. The defensive structure is fragile, and the midfield is not doing enough to protect it. The attack relies almost entirely on moments of individual brilliance, primarily from Joveljic.

Raphael Wicky needs to make a decision. Pick a formation. Simplify the approach. Make this team difficult to beat. Right now, they are far too easy to play against.

Because one thing remains true: Sporting Kansas City have one of the best finishers in MLS. But if the structure around him continues to fail, it will not matter.

If you want honest, in-depth, and unfiltered analysis of Sporting Kansas City and MLS, subscribe to Drew FC on Substack. Read more of my Sporting Kansas City material at ReportingKC.com.