Player Focus: Can Graham Zusi Inspire Sporting KC to MLS glory?

There’s been some turnaround at Sporting Kansas City. Just three years ago the Kansas City Wizards were in danger of dropping out of MLS altogether, with the club underperforming as a whole. Poor crowds and poor form on the field meant relocation was discussed but instead Sporting KC was born.

Indeed, the team was rebranded and have since become one of the league’s best success stories, attracting some of MLS’ biggest crowds to the club’s state-of-the-art stadium.

Now after three full seasons with the team, Peter Vermes has turned Sporting KC into genuine title contenders, winning the Eastern Conference title two out of the last three years with Graham Zusi the club’s marquee name. So how important is Zusi to Sporting KC’s chances of winning the MLS Cup this year?

The loss of Kei Kamara to Middlesbrough has had an impact on Sporting KC’s potency in attack, underlined by a stretch across September and October when they scored just twice in four league fixtures. But even without Kamara Sporting KC have shown enough conviction to make it to the final four in the MLS playoffs.

Against the New England Revolution before the international break, Zusi demonstrated just how valuable he is to his team, putting on an assist for Seth Sinovic and hitting the woodwork himself. By making 6 key passes Zusi was an attacking hub for Vermes’ side as they progressed to the Eastern Conference final.

However, in the first leg against the Houston Dynamo Zusi’s contribution dropped dramatically, making just one key pass in 90 minutes. His pass success rate also dropped from its season average of 76.6% to 65% and he didn’t complete a single one of his three attempted crosses.

Zusi’s four years at Sporting KC have turned him from an infuriatingly inconsistent peripheral figure into a fully-fledged member of the USA national team. When Jurgen Klinsmann’s side struggled to a draw against Scotland and a loss to Austria this week some suggested the Americans had missed Zusi.

Although Zusi has failed to match up to last season’s prolificacy in terms of assists, the Florida-born playmaker is still a central part of Vermes’ system. Seven this season is still enough to put Zusi on top of Sporting KC’s assists column, but that tally is a marked decrease on last season (15). Yet that could be down to the fact that Zusi has had a lower standard of striker on the end of his crosses, with Kamara leaving the club in August and Claudio Bieler struggling with injury for much of the campaign.

Zusi averages more accurate crosses per game than any other player in the league, with 2.9 per game, suggesting that it is the strikers on the end of the balls into the box, rather than the player himself, which are dragging down his assists tally.

In terms of key passes per game, Zusi dominates Sporting KC’s column, making an average of 3.1 per game, the third most in the league. To put that into perspective the next best key passer at the club is Benny Feilhaber, with just 1.4 per game.

While Zusi might be more of a David Beckham than Ryan Giggs (meaning he likes to beat the defender with a cross or a pass rather than a dribble) he is still Sporting KC’s most prolific dribbler, making an average of 1.5 dribbles per game. Once again Feilhaber is next best, with just 0.7 per game.

Zusi has built a reputation over the past couple of years in MLS as being the perfect teammate. The 27-year-old has never been the most prolific player in front of goal. Although his 6 goals this season does rank him as the club’s third top scorer, his shots per game ratio (1.9 per game) highlights a wastefulness on his part.

With Sporting KC’s possession-based game – they boast the second highest average share of the ball in MLS (55%) – Zusi is crucial in providing the team with that cutting edge in the final third. It is the most difficult quality to find in a player, but Zusi has it in abundance.

If Sporting KC are to complete the club’s remarkable turnaround since 2010, and win the MLS Cup, Zusi will have a big part to play.