Throughout the 2017 Major League Soccer season, FC Yahoo had regular conversations with four well-known players. They spoke candidly about the swings of the long and grueling season and their hopes as the playoffs crept ever nearer. In the first installment, Benny Feilhaber talks us through his year, which would begin with hope of an MLS Cup title and a resurrected U.S. national team career, crescendo with a U.S. Open Cup triumph, and end in a haze of disappointment.

Date: March 3

Record: 0-0-0, tied for first in the Western Conference

Benny Feilhaber: “Every year you say you want to a trophy and you want to win MLS Cup. But I think this year that’s more a reality than maybe in the last three seasons. The last three years we’ve had some good teams, but we’ve had some weaknesses as well. I think in this offseason, we really went after trying to fix those weaknesses. And I think we have, for the most part. Our goal is very, very simple this year. Not only to be competitive and be very consistent in the regular season, but it’s to put ourselves in a much better spot in the playoffs. To at least have a home game, so in the top three or four in our conference.”

In 2014, 2015 and 2016, SKC was eliminated in the Knockout Round, playing each game on the road. And it was eliminated on a late goal, on penalties, and on a dubious goal, respectively. And in the latter game, Sporting’s would-be winner was probably wrongly disallowed.

Feilhaber: “In both 2015 and 2016, we had moments where we took our foot off the gas, for whatever reason, and that cost us a higher seed going into the playoffs. It’s pretty easy to get over once the season’s over. For me, anyway, I’m not thinking about it every day anymore. But we know, these last two or three years, how close we were to making a run. Last year, I told a buddy that whoever won between us and Seattle would win MLS Cup. I had a feeling.

“In terms of individual goals, I’ve waited a long time to get called back into the national team. It’s something that, to be honest, I thought it was a door that closed on my career. And now that it’s reopened, it’s something that I want to be very much back a part of. I hope I get called in for every single game there is. I hope I play and I hope I’m playing in every game in my club team as well.”

Date: May 4

Record: 5-1-3, first in the Western Conference

Feilhaber: “We’re all very aware of how early it is. And how things can change quickly in MLS. You can have a really good stint and then potentially go into a really bad stint. Those are the things you have to avoid throughout the season.”

The mood in the locker room has been upbeat.

Feilhaber: “For the most part, you’d like to try to keep it constant. And I think we do a good job of that. Having said that, there’s always more jokes going around, more smiling faces. People are excited to come to training when you’re winning. You’re excited that every game day is coming up. When you’re losing, it’s tough. You’re in a lull and you don’t know how to break the trend. There’s a little bit more apprehension in practice. Between the coaches and the players, there’s a little more of an annoying feeling where you’re not sure where you’re at. It’s a little bit walking on eggshells. That’s why it’s so difficult to get out of.”

Sporting has held six clean sheets in nine games, giving up just a third of a goal per game.

Feilhaber: “More so than anything, I think we’ve started the same back six every single game. So there’s a big factor of continuity in that sense. You can see it with the stats and how few goals we’ve give up. It wouldn’t shock me if we’re the team at the end of the road that’s given up the least goals in the entire league because that’s something that we do focus on and really work on a lot.

“We feel like it’s one of the parts of our game that we can really have consistency throughout the season. There’s going to be times when you’re can’t score goals, when for whatever reason the ball is not falling in the back of the net and you’ve got to grind some games.”

Feilhaber has been playing well, but another national team call-up has been elusive.

“It’s tough. For my perspective, I think I’m playing better than I was a month ago. This is the point of the season that I feel I’m playing my best soccer, so it’s always frustrating not to be called in. It’s about playing well, not worrying about what’s happened in past call-ups and keeping your head in the right place and seeing what comes of it. It’s still a big goal of mine.”

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