Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes has developed plenty of relationships with his fellow MLS coaches over the years.
Some have been occasional antagonists, others familiar postseason opponents, but few have the relationship that Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese shares with him: teammates.
Both Vermes and Savarese played with the NY/NJ MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls) in MLS’s inaugural season in 1996. While Savarese stayed there through 1998, Vermes only stuck with the MetroStars for that year before moving on to the Colorado Rapids and eventually the then-Kansas City Wizards.
In that one year together, Vermes said he loved playing alongside Savarese.