Johnny Russell was one of the success stories of the 2018 season in Major League Soccer. Signed from English Championship side in January, the Scottish attacker scored 10 times and contributed seven assists as he became a key figure of Peter Vermes’ Sporting KC side.

Speaking to FloFC on his way with his teammates to Denver to take on the Colorado Rapids, Russell talked about his ambitions for 2019, what it’s like to play under Vermes as an attacking player and his favorite Kansas City barbecue joint.

FloFC: After being in England for five years with Derby and now having spent a year in MLS, how do you feel like the sport is developing in the U.S.?

Johnny Russell: I think it’s continuing to grow. It’s attracting a lot more younger players which is only going to be a benefit for the league. You never know when it’s something that you’ve never tried before what it’s going to be like. I knew the standard was good when I was coming over, but I was surprised by just how good it actually was.

Flo: How important has a full preseason been to you ahead of the 2019 MLS campaign?

JR: I hadn’t had a break in about 17 months by the end of the season, so I was running on empty a bit towards the end. I got a bit of a break, not as big of a break as we usually get because of the tournaments starting earlier. I had a good preseason. I feel refreshed. I feel fit. I’m good to go.

Flo: Do you think MLS should be taking full international breaks given the number of players, including yourself, involved in international fixtures?

JR: I haven’t really thought about it before. It would be ideal for me, not missing any games. I think this is actually the first time that I’m not going to miss any games [when going away to play for Scotland]. I think for the players and the teams, nobody wants to miss any of their games so if that means taking [full] breaks then I think it would be beneficial. A lot of the American guys also go away and play so I think it would be beneficial for everyone if we took [full] breaks. We can catch up on the games midweek, that’s not a problem. 

Flo: Is it harder for you to have an international career as a player in MLS than it is in other leagues?

JR: It’s definitely tougher, but ... I always wanted to get back into the Scotland squad and I’ve managed to come out here, enjoy myself and get myself back in there. So obviously it isn’t ideal having to fly halfway across the world to come back, but it’s something that I take great pride in, representing my country. If that’s what I have to do, then I’m more than happy to do that.

Flo: How do you look back on last season, your first at Sporting KC? Success—you scored 10 goals and registered 10 assists—or failure—didn’t make it to MLS Cup?

JR: Personally, I had a good season, but there were still times when I felt I could have got more goals and more assists. That’s frustrating. This team has been so used to winning things, so not to win anything last year and the way it finished, I don’t think anyone can be too happy with that. It was a tough one to take, but it’s up to us to put it right this year. We’re in a lot of competitions, so we know it’s going to be difficult, but we’ve got the aim to win every competition that we’re in. We don’t look back too much.

Flo: Tell me about Peter Vermes’ system—how do you interpret it as an attacking player?

JR: I just think we’re well organized, defensively in our shape. We know what our jobs are, but if you look through our team, our team is very attacking. We all know at times we’re all going to have to put in a shift for the team defensively. We focus on keeping the ball, giving the ball to the attack to exploit teams, and I think if you watched us last year, you will have seen how good we are at doing it. This year has been no different. We’ve got exciting players who can create stuff and it comes from all over the pitch. From an attacking point of view it’s brilliant to be a part of that.

Flo: How important is the CCL to Sporting KC this season? There’s this pressure for an MLS team to win it for the first time in 19 years—do you feel that?

JR: Not really in that sense. Obviously we want to go win it, but for ourselves. It would be great to be the first MLS team in so long to do it. But we don’t feel the pressure of an MLS [team] not winning it in so long, we just want to win it because we want to win trophies.

Flo: Who are the teams in the CCL that you see as dangers?

JR: [The Mexican teams] are the biggest dangers. They’ve dominated it for so long. So they are the dangerous sides, but if you want to win it then you’re going to have to do go through them at some point. It’s exciting. We’ve got a semifinal to look forward to as well, so everyone around the club is buzzing for that.

Flo: You’ve been in MLS for a year now—who are the toughest defenders (teams or individuals) you’ve come up against?

JR: Last year we played Columbus at home and I thought they were really difficult to break down. They were a strong unit. There’s been a few other teams as well, but we have travelled well. We scored a lot of goals last year, but Columbus stuck out the most as the most difficult to break down.

Flo: What are your personal goals for 2019 with Sporting KC?

JR: My individual goal is just to better last year and just to continue to improve on the stats from last year. As a team, we want to win trophies. This team is used to winning and that’s something that I wanted to come and be a part of. I look at last year as a disappointment, not winning anything after coming so close. Losing that game at home [to the Portland Timbers in the West Conference finals] where we were so good all year. So we’re looking to put that right this year and took ourselves a step further and get to that final.

Flo: Have you had Kansas City barbecue yet? Do you have a favorite place?

JR: The first week that I was there I went for dinner with one of the guys, and we went to a barbecue place. They’re known for it. The first place I went to was Jack Stack, but I think my favourite place is a place called Q39. 

Flo: So… Kansas City barbecue or a meal from back home in Scotland?

JR: Back home. That’s one of the things I do miss, the food from back home. When I went home over the winter break I made sure I stocked up.

Flo: What’s your favorite tifo that you’ve seen during your time in MLS?

JR: They did one for me so that was my favourite. They did a ‘Russell-mania’ one for me which I didn’t know they were going to do, but that was amazing.

Flo: You can only go to one—do you go to a Kansas City Chiefs game or a Kansas City Royals game?

JR: I’d go to a Chiefs game. I’ve actually watched and been a big fan of American football for years so I would definitely go to a Chiefs game. Not that I have anything against baseball, I’m just a bigger fan of American football.

Graham Ruthven is a soccer writer based in the U.K. He has written for the New York Times, Guardian, Eurosport, Bleacher Report, and others.