A preview of Sporting KC’s 2014 season

For the third year in a row, Sporting Kansas City enters the season as a presumptive favorite to win a Major League Soccer championship. Last season, Sporting realized its potential and claimed the cup. Defending it won’t be easy.

Sporting’s schedule is one of the toughest Eastern Conference slates in years, with the East shedding its inferior label. Changes to Major League Soccer’s regular-season schedule also don’t help. A couple of years ago, all MLS teams played each other twice in a season; the new format requires teams in their respective conferences to play each other three times a season while playing clubs in the opposing conference once.

Last season’s Eastern Conference also-rans — Toronto FC, D.C. United and Philadelphia Union — opened their checkbooks and upgraded their rosters. Toronto, which has not reached the playoffs since joining the league in 2006, made the biggest splash, signing top American midfielder Michael Bradley away from erstwhile Italian club AS Roma for $10 million and adding veteran English star Jermain Defoe.

The improvement of those three franchises, as well as such up-and-coming squads as the Columbus Crew and the New England Revolution, makes Sporting KC’s run through the 2014 regular schedule more challenging than last season.

Sporting returns with a squad largely intact from last year’s championship team. By re-signing defenseman Chance Myers, Sporting KC holds together the league’s championship defense from the last two years. As long as Myers, Matt Besler, Aurélien Collin and Seth Sinovic stay healthy, Sporting should field the best defense in North America.

While the defense figures to be as steady as always, however, this year’s team faces three big question marks.

Who can be depended upon to score goals?

Fielding a true offensive threat has bedeviled Sporting KC and its fans for the last three seasons. Since his 2012 rookie-of-the-year campaign, C.J. Sapong has flashed potential as the club’s go-to scorer. But Sapong was so inconsistent last season that the team sent him to minor league affiliate Orlando City to regain his touch. Sporting spent big money last year on Claudio Bieler, but the Ecuadorean never seemed to fit into the team’s lineup and never realized his potential as a clinical goal scorer. The team’s success this season may rest on the shoulders of up-and-coming forwards Dom Dwyer and Soony Saad. Trading once-promising Teal Bunbury to New England signaled that the club is putting its trust in Dwyer and Saad to round out the team’s scoring attack.

Does the team have a top-flight goalkeeper?

It has been four years since Sporting KC has had to worry about its goalie. Eric Kronberg takes over for Nielsen.

Kronberg has been around Kansas City longer than anyone but has played less than most of the players on the roster. Kronberg has the luxury of a top-notch defense in front of him. But the club may not hesitate to swap in former Columbus Crew starting goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum if Kronberg’s goalkeeping isn’t tidy.

How will Sporting KC hold up having to play three competitions this year?

Last season, Sporting KC advanced beyond the early stages of the CONCACAF Champions League tournament, featuring top clubs from North and Central America. So three days ahead of this season’s MLS home opener, Sporting resumes tournament play against Mexican club Cruz Azul at Sporting Park and then travels to Mexico March 19 for the final match in the two-game playoff format. If Sporting keeps winning in the tournament, the club keeps playing.

Throw in a compressed MLS regular-season schedule, due to a three-week break in June for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (the United States is expected to call on Graham Zusi and Matt Besler for soccer’s biggest competition), and the next season’s Champions League (Sporting is automatically qualified after winning the MLS Cup), and Sporting faces almost year-round competition. Sporting held up well toward the end of last year despite the additional games. But the team will probably rely on younger, more untested players in some of these matches to give the usual starters a breather.

Despite these questions, Sporting KC appears primed for another run into the MLS playoffs and should be the team to beat for the championship.

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MEET THE NEW GUYS

Jimmy Nielsen retired. Sporting traded Teal Bunbury and released little-used reserves Kyle Miller and Brendan Ruiz. And trades brought two new faces to the team.

Andy Gruenebaum

Number: 30

Age: 31

Position: Goalkeeper

Gruenebaum comes to Kansas City from Columbus, Ohio, where he had a strong year as starting goalkeeper in 2012. His performance that season was overshadowed a bit by not having a good team in front of him. He still managed to be among the league’s top goalkeepers that season. Things didn’t go quite so well last year. Injuries sidelined Gruenebaum for several games late in the season, and Columbus management figured that the Blue Valley North High School graduate was expendable and traded him to Sporting for a second-round pick in the 2016 MLS draft. Gruenebaum should see some action in U.S. Open Cup play and could take over for projected starting goalkeeper Eric Kronberg should he struggle.

Sal Zizzo

Number: 11

Age: 26

Position: Midfielder

Sporting KC plucked Zizzo in a swap with the Portland Timbers, trading cash for the well-traveled midfielder. Zizzo saw limited field time last season due to injury and fell out of favor with Portland’s new coach and playing style. The speedy Zizzo will have to fight for minutes with Sporting, a team with established midfielders Graham Zusi, Paulo Nagamura and Benny Feilhaber.

REPEAT? IT WON”T BE EASY

Can Sporting keep the MLS Cup in Kansas City? It’s a strong team for a repeat, but history isn’t kind to defending MLS champions. Since the league started in 1996, only D.C. United, Houston Dynamo and the L.A. Galaxy have claimed back-to-back championships. Here’s a look at how the last five MLS Cup champions fared a year later.

2008: Columbus Crew

Columbus looked primed for another trophy, finishing 2009 with the best record in the league. But the Crew suffered a stunning first-round playoff loss to eventual champion Real Salt Lake.

2009: Real Salt Lake

Like Columbus, Real Salt Lake had a strong regular season after its 2009 MLS Cup victory. Also like Columbus, Real Salt Lake suffered a first-round playoff upset to FC Dallas, which would advance to the championship game but lose to the Colorado Rapids.

2010: Colorado Rapids

Colorado’s championship victory followed an unremarkable regular season. The team got hot in the playoffs and claimed the cup. The following season was another milquetoast campaign, but the Rapids made the playoffs and beat Columbus in the first round before losing a two-game playoff series to Sporting KC.

2011: L.A. Galaxy

A formidable Galaxy squad defended its title in 2012, beating the Houston Dynamo for the second time in as many years. It was the MLS swan song for international star David Beckham. It was also a rare repeat championship in MLS history.

2012: L.A. Galaxy

The Galaxy didn’t have Beckham in 2013 but still had a solid team that finished behind Real Salt Lake and Portland in the Western Conference standings. Real Salt Lake knocked the L.A. Galaxy out of the playoffs in the second round and went on to lose to Sporting in the championship game.

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FIVE MUST-SEE GAMES

March 8: Sporting KC at Seattle Sounders, 2 p.m.

Sporting opens regular-season play against one of the league’s best teams — and, perhaps, in Major League Soccer’s toughest stadium atmosphere.

Sporting hasn’t always fared well against the Sounders, and the season opener is the first meeting of these teams since Seattle signed U.S. star Clint Dempsey.

April 5: Real Salt Lake at Sporting KC, 7:30 p.m.

In a rematch of last season’s MLS Cup Final, can a Jimmy Nielsen–less Sporting snag another win from its Western Conference foe?

May 23: Toronto FC at Sporting KC, 7:30 p.m.

Toronto’s trips to Kansas City have been great opportunities to scalp cheap tickets. Toronto has usually been a feckless, faceless squad — easy pickings for a Sporting victory. This season, Toronto brings a compelling team to Sporting Park, largely due to American midfielder Michael Bradley.

September 26: the New England Revolution at Sporting KC, 7 p.m.

Teal Bunbury looked like a future Sporting star in 2011. But a season later, his goal-scoring pace fell off — even before a season-ending injury. Bunbury played a limited role on last season’s squad, and Sporting traded him to New England in the offseason. By the time the Revolution comes to Sporting Park for this match, the two squads will have played twice earlier this year. But this marks Bunbury’s first appearance before the Cauldron in a different shirt.

October 26: New York Red Bulls at Sporting KC, 7:30 p.m.

ESPN is scheduled to broadcast the season finale at Sporting Park, which could double as French legend Thierry Henry’s last pro match, at least in Major League Soccer. Henry was arguably the best player in the world during the early aughts while playing for English Premier League club Arsenal. His MLS impact has been limited, but he has always been a draw for crowds, much like David Beckham. New York and Sporting sat atop the Eastern Conference standings last year, so this season-ending matchup could have playoff implications.