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The Kansas City Current started this season with a bang, christening their new stadium with a head-turning five-goal performance against the Portland Thorns. The catch, however, was that what could have been a franchise-defining blowout win turned into a 5-4 nailbiter in favor of Kansas City.
“The ones who know me know I’m terrified,” Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after that first match. “I can’t even think that we got scored on four goals.”
It was a recurring point of emphasis even though the Current remained unbeaten for the next 14 matches, namely because seven of them ended in a draw or were decided by one goal. By the Olympic break, Kansas City had a league-best 40 goals, but had surrendered 22 which was more than any other team in the top six and 10 more than Orlando who handed the Current their first loss, 2-1.
They needed change, so they used the summer transfer window to overhaul the entire spine of the defense. On Saturday, Kansas City opens its playoff…
