Slowly but surely, Alan Pulido is starting to resemble the dynamic player who has led the line for Sporting Kansas City over the past several seasons.
After the 32-year-old saw his 2022 season wiped out due to a knee injury, he returned to the pitch on April 1 at the Philadelphia Union, his first match in nearly 16 months. Nearly a month later, he found the net in SKC's US Open Cup match against lower-division side Tulsa Athletic, then reignited his MLS account on May 7 in Seattle.
Fast forward to Saturday's 4-1 win over Austin FC and Pulido scored twice (19', 57') and assisted on a third goal. That's now three goals and an assist for him in the last two matches, boosting a Sporting KC side that's unbeaten in their last four games (3W-0L-1D).
"When he was injured, he put his head down and he worked extremely hard, and I think he's seeing the fruits of that labor that he put in, and I think you're also starting to see again the player that we originally had in the beginning," Sporting KC manager and technical director Peter Vermes said after the match.
SKC's club-record signing made an immediate impact in 2020 after being acquired from Liga MX side Chivas for a club-record fee (reported $9.5 million), totaling 6g/5a in just 12 matches. He added 8g/3a in 2021 before his injury forced him to miss the entire 2022 season.
Despite a "very frustrating" recovery process, Vermes praised his No. 9 for continuing to push through, paving the way for his eventual return to the field.
"He's a guy that wants to play, wants to be on the field. It's his passion and what he wants to do," Vermes said. "There's players that sometimes, they want to get out of everything, right?... He's never been that way from day one."
And Pulido's return to form comes as SKC are starting to find their way out of the depths of the Western Conference. They failed to win a game in their first 10 matches, leading to plenty of frustrations among the Children's Mercy Park faithful.
Since then, they've lost just once in their past eight outings (5W-1L-2D) and are in the thick of the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs race.
"It all comes down to the fact that there is a belief in the group. Everybody really believes that we are working towards the right goals," Vermes said. "We still have a lot of work to do. We haven't even come close to where I believe we can be."
