Adding perspective to Sporting Kansas City’s unequaled start

Another kickoff. A few passes. Knock in a couple of goals. Deliver a couple of knocks. Notch another win. Move on.

It’s almost a little humdrum these days for wickedly effective Sporting Kansas City.

Wednesday’s trip into BC Place to face Martin Rennie’s resilient Vancouver Whitecaps figured to be Sporting’s toughest assignment yet. And, indeed, the Whitecaps pressed SKC’s defense like no others have this year. And by “press,” we mean: Sporting Kansas City allowed a goal and goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen actually had to break a sweat in his team’s 3-1 victory.

But Peter Vermes’ team was doing some pressing of its own on a night where the teams combined for 27 shots (9 on target). This wasn’t the best of matches – there were 27 fouls to go with the 27 shots, as SKC dates always lean toward the handsy and physical – but it wasn’t bad either.

So now the Midwesterners are 7-0-0, steamrolling right along. Let’s add some perspective to such a historic start.

• This is probably the best start in 17-years of Major League Soccer, even if it’s not statistically so. The L.A. Galaxy’s 12-0 launch back in 1996 included a shootout win. Plus, team strength varied wildly in those first weeks and months of a brand new league, so SKC’s achievement in 2012 comes in a completely different era, one leaps and bounds ahead of 1996 in terms of collective know-how and stability.
• Sporting’s +10 goal differential through seven games, extrapolated over an entire season, would fall in around +48 or +49. Will it stay there? Doubtful. But the club would easily set a league record by maintaining such an eye-popping sum.
• If you throw out the early years of wild-west, disparate team strengths, Real Salt Lake’s +25 in 2010 is the best goal difference of the last dozen years, and that one certainly could be in jeopardy.
• Two goals allowed, extrapolated over an entire season, would amount to fewer than 10. Again, that’s not going to happen. But just for the sake of perspective, Houston’s 2007 championship team set the standard, allowing 23 goals in 30 matches.

Next chance to upset the Sporting apple cart comes Saturday at Jeld-Wen Field, where Vermes’ team has little time for rest and regeneration ahead of the date against Portland.

Here are highlights of last night’s win at Vancouver:

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