Sporting KC’s path to the top of the West will require a return to its roots

Sporting KC lost to Monterrey FC in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals at Children’s Mercy Park. By

The locker room was mostly hushed late Sunday, indicative of Sporting Kansas City players’ uncertainty about how to characterize a match that had gone so well for half an hour, then so poorly for 50 minutes, and then satisfactorily once again for the final 10.

It left the primary takeaway from a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls difficult to pinpoint. Well, for some. As he encapsulated the entirety of the 90 minutes, Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia traced back to the club’s roots.

“We have to get back to that organically positive defensive team,” he said. “We have one shutout so far in…