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Breaking Down the Draw vs. RSL
37 Plays3 days ago
Ari, Dia, and Gorts come together to discuss the draw against RSL this past week before discussing some rumors coming out of the club concerning an incident with Kelvin Yeboah.
You can follow the show on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/looncalling.bsky.social
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Transcript
Introduction and Greetings
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to Loon Calling, a podcast dedicated to Minnesota United Football Club. And I am here, as always, with my friends in soccer. Gortz, how are you doing this evening? I'm going to do you first.
00:00:15
Speaker
It's Tuesday. loons for a few months. Everton's done. there anything better? What's World Cup?
00:00:26
Speaker
What's...
00:00:30
Speaker
How did Everton do? I didn't see that. ah How did the Toffees do this season?
00:00:38
Speaker
Moyes out.
00:00:41
Speaker
ah That's all you got. Yep. I have no context. have no context for this. You don't need it. Okay. Okay. I did. i did. with Like, i don't know. Should I say this? I feel like people will judge me, but I ah feel like I've sort of landed on a team that I will fight. I'm I haven't committed. i don't have any emotional investment yet, but actually, no, I'm not going reveal it right now.
00:01:09
Speaker
not gonna reveal it right now not gonna reveal who i am following in the background i'm just like i'm in the corner with my hood up with my sunglasses on and i'm just i'm observing i'm observing this particular premier league team um to see what happens in the summer um but anyways dia how are you doing on this very warm summer day I am doing all right. I couldn't watch the game live. So as of recording on Tuesday, I just watched it like five minutes ago.
00:01:42
Speaker
um i think I'm one of the only people who really makes use of the ability to replay games later.
00:01:51
Speaker
i do. But yeah, I don't think it's a po I don't think it's a popular function. Like, I don't know how many people are going back watching the VODs that aren't like mega nerds or media people or journalists like it's really nice that they're all on demand though like yeah i i get really frustrated even with other leagues i get frustrated when i can't go back and check out games later um just because it feels like a very simple like we have the technology so it's really just a choice the file somewhere the file sitting somewhere make it available yeah
00:02:28
Speaker
So anyway, there's someone you can email someone for the file. Some sicko somewhere records everything so you can find it somewhere. I would guess that if you're like part of a professional club with a scouting department, you've probably got access to some film archives somewhere.
00:02:46
Speaker
um But I don't know absolutely what the common... the common man is supposed to do. yeah What are we supposed to do? What, ah what are we sickos supposed to do? um how we, uh, I guess I'll just do this at the top.
00:03:02
Speaker
Um, how we feeling about the world
Impact of World Cup Break on Fans
00:03:05
Speaker
cup? How are we feeling about the world cup break? Because, uh, we don't have any more loon soccer for literally just under two months.
00:03:13
Speaker
Um, so how are we feeling about the world cup? what' Personally, eye temperatureper i don't follow the national teams. like ah National FIFA breaks have always just been a footy break for me.
00:03:31
Speaker
um And then on top of that, I don't have like the right broadcaster streaming service to get the matches. So I'd have to pay, like I don't know, $50, $60, $100 for a couple months.
00:03:46
Speaker
if I wanted to. So I'm honestly thinking that the world cup break will for me be both a chance to maybe watch more of Madison because USL one is still going to be going. um But also maybe just, it's going to be a soccer break for me for a couple months to finish a degree and catch up on some reading and touch some grass.
00:04:13
Speaker
That's, that's kind of where I'm at right now. I think that's a great plan. Gortz, how about you? how are we How are we feeling about the World Cup?
00:04:24
Speaker
I mean, one point, I'm like, oh, it's the World Cup. You know, it's here in America. and then at the same time, I'm like, I'm just going to sit my ass on the couch. And if I can watch a match, I'll watch a match. I am not paying those God-enormous...
00:04:45
Speaker
prices to go because I can get a better view sitting my ass on my couch than i can anywhere. And then factoring in the flight, hotel.
00:05:03
Speaker
i mean, yeah, i i'll walk you know I'll keep up with it and then and watch it, but the The geopolitics are also kind of turning me off. Like it's like the clear financial greed. say the least.
00:05:19
Speaker
fact that we like just bombed to the shit out of one of the countries to the point where they decided not to send a team like... I genuinely fear for fans who are coming in who might have ice encounters. um Like there's just a beyond the question of just me not personally having much investment, there's just kind of a bad taste in my mouth with this whole lead up and it's making it very hard to even try and develop or generate any personal enthusiasm.
00:05:54
Speaker
this is the This is a very common sentiment, and it's very sad because the World Cup is supposed to be, supposed to be, okay? This is the platonic ideal of the World Cup. It's supposed to be that the the sport of football brings people together across cultures. Now...
00:06:12
Speaker
the FIFA organization has proven time and time again, that that is not their goal, obviously for the world cup. It is showing the money. It's everything. Um, yeah, it's moolah.
00:06:25
Speaker
Um, so, but I, I'm a romantic, like I'm a, I'm a writer. I'm an artist. I like the, the platonic ideal of the world cup.
Criticism of World Cup Issues
00:06:35
Speaker
And the 2022 world cup was kind of like that for me, even though it was in Qatar,
00:06:43
Speaker
utter however you pronounce the country um and was built basically on on surf labor so like you know um Yeah, I'm not feeling too great about the World Cup. I want to catch like I'm going to watch France, Senegal for sure.
00:07:05
Speaker
um i I love i love what a ah fucking colonizer revenge match. That's just one of my favorite things in the world is when the colonized country just fucking beats up on the colonizer.
00:07:19
Speaker
Absolutely fantastic. um Also, I think it will just be a good game. um I am going to follow... like I don't know how many minutes I'm actually going to watch of matches, but I think I'm going to follow... like I want to follow the Loons.
00:07:32
Speaker
um I want to follow Carlos Harvey for Panama. I want to follow Boxy for New Zealand. Obviously, we're going to cheer for New Zealand. um And then Hamas. I'm to see what he's up to, too. See what Colombia is up to. so But...
00:07:48
Speaker
I think I'll try to catch some games at Brits Pub or Blackheart, but I'm not going to make that much of an effort to catch games. Like, I'll catch them when I catch them. um So, yeah. I mean, i think as the tournament goes on and when it reaches out of the group stage, it'll be a lot easier to follow. um But, yeah. That's kind of... i think we're kind of... think we're all...
00:08:17
Speaker
equal in our enthusiasm for the World Cup, which is to say not very much like not locked in for a variety of reasons. It's just so sad that the World Cup is is partially hosted in our country and they have done the most to make it the least accessible, least enjoyable.
00:08:37
Speaker
worst vibes world cup of all time and then i think of how much like carbon dioxide is being released into the the atmosphere for all the fucking flights that people need to take to just get around this fucking region and it's just like it's just the icing on the cake is the is the carbon impact there will be multiple outbreaks of various diseases to various degrees oh yeah like Yeah.
00:09:03
Speaker
And, you know, as we are in a in a resource crisis, at least in in the United States, because of all these data centers that these billionaires are building to try to make AI work. It's just it's just the icing on the cake. It's just a fucking shitstorm out here. That's that's the takeaway from everything. But.
00:09:24
Speaker
Let's move on and talk about our plans for this show for the World Cup break because we have two months! Two months! Until the next match. um next week is a very special episode. We are having Wes Burdine the owner of black heart of St. Paul and the co-founder of Aurora of FC. It's going to be a great it's Minnesota Aurora, Minnesota Aurora. Sorry.
00:09:49
Speaker
Um, so it's going to be a great time. We're going interview Wes. I have met Wes on a number of, uh, of occasions at black heart. Um, but you know,
00:10:01
Speaker
um a really great figure in our, in our soccer community in Minnesota. So that'll be great. Please tune in next week for that, for that interview. And then depending on how much time he has, he might stay on for the rest of the recording where we will go over the best and worst moments of the first half of the season and share our kind of overarching thoughts. And then after that, we are going to do an episode on the summer transfer window,
00:10:30
Speaker
what we think we're going to be targeting, um and also, potentially, um what the players in the current roster can do to hopefully make a better impact in the second half
Podcast Plans During Break
00:10:45
Speaker
of the season. It's basically going to be up another preseason to an entirely different leg of the season. I think...
00:10:53
Speaker
The vibes are going to be very different in the second half of the season, not just because there will be summer transfer window signings, but it's just like a two month break. It's going to be a really good test for how it's going to feel in the and MLS regular season where there will always be a two month break in the middle of the season because we're playing over the winter now.
00:11:16
Speaker
Um, so that's going be fascinating. Also, uh, I haven't plugged the email at all. If you want to send an email for suggestions for topics, or just want to give us your two cents on the show or whatever, our email is loom calling MN at gmail.com. Go ahead and shoot us an email there.
00:11:35
Speaker
Um, and, uh, might get it read on the show to, uh, have a little discussion about your thoughts. Okay, and then there's plenty of other room for other ideas as well. We will continue to um brainstorm those ideas. There are a few people that I want to reach out to, so we'll see what happens. um Let's move on to the news.
00:11:59
Speaker
um We got a couple pieces of news, one bigger than the other, I think. um if you were If anybody was reading around the Reddit... um there was a little rumor that got put on reddit and i'm calling it a rumor because it's a it's one of those situations where somebody knows somebody at the club who knows somebody who said something that kind of situation it's just like take it with a grain of salt apparently there's a rumor that the reason yoboa was not in the lineup was
00:12:32
Speaker
for the ah rsl match is because he took a swing at uh padelford during training causing a disciplinary action that saw yobo and missed the rsl match now the club did issue a statement to the media saying that yobo was out during due to an internal affair um which is very vague and and and professional. It could be any number of things. We don't really have any details and we might not ever know the details
Rumor on Yeboah's Absence
00:13:02
Speaker
of it.
00:13:03
Speaker
um If this was the case, um I mean, I'll throw it to y'all. Gortz, I'll throw it to you. what what What do you think about this? what have Did you hear about the rumor before this recording? And what what do you think about it?
00:13:20
Speaker
Yeah, I... had done a little you know seen that and it happens and i mean i'm they probably, you know, won't go into, you know, we won't know the full story behind it or, but, you know, you, you, you hate to see it happen with, you know, somebody at your club and, you know, you hope, you know, um, Yeboah and Padelford, you know, you know, kind of after that, you know, kind of hugged it out and, um, you know,
00:13:55
Speaker
no animosity towards each other. So, um, you know, stuff, stuff like this can happen. Yeah, I didn't know what to make of it. Like you said, it's, you know, rumors and glimmers of rumors and somebody who knows somebody said something. So I don't want to read too much into it. um It certainly did kind of reveal how ah we really need more depth at the striker position because it just kind of, I think, laid really bare the
00:14:31
Speaker
you know, more than anything. um You know, we've got Yeboah up top and a couple other guys who are developing strikers and a few other guys who are kind of attacking midfielders, but pro predominantly play in other positions. So, a you know, I think without wanting to like speculate too much about why he was off the field, the fact that he was really kind of ah hopefully force the office to maybe confront a little more clearly where we might need to work on our roster over this transfer window.
00:15:10
Speaker
All right. Well, in other news, maybe lighter news, um Boxy and Carlos Harvey have officially been named to their country's World Cup rosters. Yay! Best of luck to them. Really great to see some loons having some impact in this World Cup, even if it is an expanded World Cup. um Of course, Carlos Harvey for Panama and Michael Boxall for New Zealand. As I mentioned previously, I think...
00:15:39
Speaker
I'm going to follow, going to follow New Zealand's journey and Panama's journey through world cup, wishing Panama the best, um, as well as New Zealand. Um, we should, should be great.
00:15:52
Speaker
Um, not much else to say about that. So I think we're gonna, we're going to move on to the RSL match, this, uh, RSL match that happened this previous Saturday and what a match it was. um,
00:16:06
Speaker
As we were we were talking about Yoboa not too long ago, um and whatever happened there, the facts are that he was not in the lineup on Saturday. So in his place, Mamadou Dijian comes in and plays in his place. So that is interesting. It's not his first MLS start, but it is his first start as the lone striker up top.
00:16:34
Speaker
But other than that, the lineup looked pretty much the same. The back line of Diaz, Boxy, and Duggan. Markannik and Duncan were wingbacks. Triantis and Jen in midfield. And Pareda, Dijen playing striker, and then Chancolai are the attackers as per usual.
00:16:49
Speaker
And once again, we saw the majority of the ball, 57%. We are delivering on the promise of playing more with the ball. Are we doing enough with the ball? That remains to be seen.
00:17:00
Speaker
Um, yeah, it's, uh, just to dive right into the match. Um, the beginning of the match goes like all of the matches as of late, the loons concede the first goal early and that changes the whole dynamic of the match where you have to immediately dig out of a hole, um, die, I'll throw it to you this
Early Goals Conceded: Strategy Concerns
00:17:24
Speaker
time. um,
00:17:25
Speaker
what What do you think of our of our trend of conceding the the first goal in these these matches lately? um We do seem to have an issue of starting a bit slow, um and then it's kind of a question of how well we can kind of grow into the game.
00:17:43
Speaker
We did that pretty well here, but it also does kind of set our attack up where they kind of need to fight an uphill battle. not just of getting a tie, but ah scoring enough to get us a win. And, you know, as I was just saying, we just don't seem to have enough depth up at striker. And ah like we do have some attacking talent developing, but we just don't seem to have the...
00:18:13
Speaker
level of talent in our attack at the moment to consistently not just score like one and get an early lead, but to kind of come back from behind. That just requires, i think, more consistency than we are capable of producing right now. So it would be...
00:18:32
Speaker
good if we could kind of figure out why our guys tend to be a little slow to start um and maybe get off on the front foot a little better in the second half of the season.
00:18:44
Speaker
Gortz, what do you what did you think about the beginning of this match and the Loons going down a goal early once again?
00:18:53
Speaker
I mean, it it is, you know, tough to, you know, see us always, you know, conceding the early girl goal. But, it it you know, I really like how, you know, these guys have really, you know, will concede the early goal, but will end up going and at least, you know, trying to, you know, getting getting a light, like, you know,
00:19:22
Speaker
likely to get a come at least a goal and you know kind of start a comeback but you know it's it's it's a minnesota sports team you know we we're all just kind of misery you know i feel like we're supposed to be like miserable at at at some point that was the the one thing i do miss about ramsey ball is that we oftentimes we're not playing from behind um not often but go, you know, it's a very different kind of match to watch. um
00:19:57
Speaker
You know, it, I would rather this team not concede the first goal all the time. It's just not a good habit. You should not be, especially at home playing from behind. um it it makes me bring up the question, like, are we being too aggressive too early? Like, are we opening things up?
00:20:15
Speaker
and giving the other team transition opportunities because all of our goals recently have been conceded off of transition opportunities. And obviously that is a result of wanting to play with the ball more.
00:20:28
Speaker
Like obviously if you have the ball, you're playing with the ball. The other team has to turn the ball over and thus creates a transition opportunity. But think early in matches. It's just, it it is definitely a trend. Like it is it is a pattern that,
00:20:45
Speaker
early in the match in the first 20 minutes. The other team gets a transition opportunity and we either have poor marking in the box or the center back gets cooked or something like that. It's just not ah it's not a habit that I'm a fan of, really.
Defensive Issues: Marking and Spacing
00:21:04
Speaker
um Dai, what do you think of it? Like, is this a product of our is this a product of our game plan or is this just bad luck as of late?
00:21:16
Speaker
I don't know that the issue, at least in the ah RSL goal that they got, was that it was like a fast transition. Because if you go back and watch it, we did have plenty of bodies back.
00:21:29
Speaker
I think it was more the player was not being marked closely enough and was able to kind of find some space and make some room for a really good shot. um so i'm inclined to think it's more like just we don't have the mentality right from the get-go to defend aggressively and really make uh enemy attackers work for any space they're trying to get or any goal they're trying to get um like i think i'm inclined to think it's more a mentality issue than a game plan issue
00:22:01
Speaker
um and that like we kind of do wake up as time goes on but I think we kind of got to figure out how to be awake from first kick.
00:22:13
Speaker
Gortz, do you agree with that sentiment? I do 100%. that a coaching issue?
00:22:26
Speaker
I'm maybe like 50-50 on that one because it it seems like
00:22:33
Speaker
i will You know, you like having, you know, like Mark, I think, you know, we know kind of Mark Hannick, I feel like, is to blame for it because, you know, he wasn wasn't tracking. um Yeah, it's... I feel like, yeah, fifty fifty player and, you know, managing Yeah.
00:22:53
Speaker
you know managing it so
00:22:58
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I mean, i definitely agree. It's a... There's just a... And this is a trend that I've noticed in the last, I don't know, five or so matches too. It's just like, it doesn't seem like the team is playing with a lot of energy or motivation. Not to say that they're playing with lack of like... I don't think the team is playing poorly per se, but it seems like there's a lack of pace. There's a lack of urgency, especially early in matches. And I think that is a...
00:23:30
Speaker
That is a reason why we keep conceding early is that the team is just not injecting pace into the game early and that makes it easier for teams to find opportunities like that. I do think the the goal we conceded is on Mark Anik like watch rewatching the highlights right before.
00:23:50
Speaker
uh ah like i think it's just poor marking and poor spacing like markannic is way too close to duggan um and even if he's like a step or two to his left i think he can make more of a challenge onto the ball and not to not give uh the rsl player so much time and space to just pick out a shot and rocket it up into the goal so It's unfortunate. I mean, obviously, we don't really know what the what the issue is in terms of the trend, but hopefully the team can take this break to reorganize defensively and hopefully start the second leg of the season.
00:24:32
Speaker
having a better idea of how they're going to organize on defense. Um, just because you want to evolve offensively, doesn't mean that your, defensive organization has to take a hit. So.
00:24:45
Speaker
That's all I will say on that. um Let's talk about Mamadou
Mamadou Zhang's Debut Performance
00:24:50
Speaker
Zhang. He gets his ah first start as the sole striker on the field. How do we feel about this performance, Gortz? How do you he looked?
00:25:02
Speaker
He looked. I like him. I mean, other than, you know, he kind of needs to work on his timing because, you know, he did, you know, I think, yeah, ah you know, straight offside.
00:25:15
Speaker
But no, he looks... really, really, you know, good. I feel like, you know, he'll, ah you know, hopeful that he'll, he'll come good. um You know, I, I just love, you know, the ah pathway from like, you know, the you, ah you know, lower leagues kind of, and then, you know, being picked up by, you know, the, the top division. And then um I mean,
00:25:45
Speaker
Kind of almost like a Tani story in a way where, you know, Mamadou was, you know, just he was balling out for Hartford in the championship. um And so...
00:25:59
Speaker
Trying to go with like, and you know, with Tani and had his loan spell in San Antonio and absolutely tore up San, and you know, championship and in San Antonio. And, you know, it's still, you know, you could still see, you know, he's still trying to, you know, adapt to, you know, MLS, as you know.
00:26:24
Speaker
But overall, you know, um i think I think there's a future for him.
00:26:31
Speaker
What about you, Dian? What did you what you think of his... ah I think he got 73 minutes in this match before he was subbed off. So what did you think of ah his 73 minutes?
00:26:42
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with Gortz. I think a lot of people had been kind of wondering if he was ready or able to take the next step up towards um MLS after doing pretty well down in USL.
00:26:55
Speaker
um He's definitely still not there, but Also important to remember that he's still just 22. He's still very much a project for us. But this was, i think, the first time i watched him playing for us where I saw what Khaled El-Ahmad saw when he signed him. Like I saw the vision and the potential and kind of felt like ah given more time, given more development, um you know he could actually grow into if not quite like a tawny level player certainly he's heading in in that direction and could at least at the very least be like a solid addition to an mls roster um you know it wasn't just part of it was that he did put the ball in the back of the net yeah it sucks that he was off sides a couple times but i'm hoping that he at least takes from that like the confidence he needs to start taking shots, to get headers, to try and get those finishes. um If he can just work on his timing and positioning a bit, he'll start to get goals. um His decision-making seemed a little better. There was this beautiful dummy run he made for Bongi at about the 70-minute mark where he pulled a defender off and let Bongi run into space. Bongi unfortunately didn't finish it, but ah it just showed that he's starting to kind of
00:28:20
Speaker
move in a more sophisticated way and kind of understand what particular moments require.
Zhang's Areas for Improvement
00:28:27
Speaker
Still saw a couple moments where he gets a ball and he takes like a really rough first touch. So his ball handling still isn't quite as elegant as it needs to be if he's going to kind of take that next step. But that's something that ah hopefully he can work on. In the meantime, he's still got like really good physicality, good speed. He's a big, strong guy who can fend off defenders and fight in the box. So hopefully as time goes on, we can kind of keep developing them and he can kind of keep taking that next step, whatever it is for him.
00:29:02
Speaker
Yeah, I fully agree. i especially agree with what you said about like, it was the first time where you could kind of see, you know, what the vision is with him, especially the first goal that he was offside on pretty clearly ah offside in that run. And it probably affected, you know, how the defenders were treating that goal. But even so, he showed great,
00:29:26
Speaker
poise in, you know, changing a direction, faking a shot, waiting for an opening, being patient. um And yeah, it, he showed great pace too, and his ability to stay calm and, and hopefully finish off a goal. And then the header, you know,
00:29:43
Speaker
Yeah, he's just he's just offside. But ah I think throughout the match, he looked comfortable, like he looked like he knew exactly what he wanted to do. And he, for the most part, executed it, which is a really, really great sign. um I think this performance earns him more minutes.
00:29:59
Speaker
um I mean, obviously, it depends on how everybody comes back from their mandatory 18-day break from ah training. But, you know, you have to treat the second half of the season as its own preseason. But hopefully, if he continues working hard and and throughout the summer and takes it seriously and comes back really fit and continues working on a bunch of stuff...
00:30:25
Speaker
maybe we do need a battle for that starting striker spot. I mean, we we still don't know what happened with Yeboah, and hopefully it's just like, hopefully it's... resolved like he he seems like a good guy so i really don't think he's pulling diva stuff um but even so we'll we'll see i i like what i saw and i want to see more is my conclusion from that um i touched on this earlier but i think just like the overall pace and partially of this but this is partially because
00:31:01
Speaker
It's like we've had so many games in the past month. um I think players are just tired. I've heard other reporters and pundits talk about this, that like legs just look tired right now. But I think overall the pace, what I noticed, especially like we can see the goal in the 22nd minute. And then after that, the game is just it's not I would not call it pretty soccer to watch. Like it was a lot of.
00:31:29
Speaker
very slow pace. And, you know, i guess you can call it a match where the teams are evenly matched in a way, but just not a lot of pace, not a lot of urgency. um You know what? Daya, you just watched the mass. Like, like would would would you agree with that assessment? Or if am I just sick of watching us play from behind? is.
00:31:52
Speaker
For the first half hour, maybe 35 minutes, I felt like it still looked like a continuation of the last few weeks where we just looked very discombobulated and like we did not know what we were doing.
00:32:05
Speaker
Um, the final two thirds of the match, it didn't look amazing, but it did start to look a little better. We seem to be finding a little more of a rhythm, developing a bit more coordination, kind of heading back in the direction of earlier in the season where we were kind of on a streak of really good run, a really good run and a few good games tied together. um My suspicion is that the last month was kind of trying for our staff and players because we kind of integrated James, who, as we talked to but have talked about, super talented guy, but completely reoriented how we had to play. And I think we had several weeks of our team basically having to develop two separate identities, the one with James on the field and the one without.
00:32:57
Speaker
And I think we were kind of just torn a little bit and that kind of led to some awkward games where we kind of didn't know who we were. Whereas as this game went on I felt like we were kind of starting to remember that, you know, other pre-Hamez identity that I think Cam is more interested in developing.
00:33:18
Speaker
um So I felt like, Even if we hadn't gotten that last-minute equalizer, even if we had lost, I would have still been kind of okay with the game, even if frustrated and disappointed, um because I would have felt like, okay, i I feel like we are rediscovering who we are and what we want to do and kind of ready to start developing it, and hopefully the World Cup break gives us a bit of time to kind of ah take our foot off the gas, everyone can go home for a few weeks, see their family and come back and Cam can kind of start building for a more cohesive identity for our second half of the season. That was kind of my overall takeaway of the arc of the match and the last, I don't know, six weeks or so of admittedly kind of confusing muddled play.
00:34:11
Speaker
Yeah, Gortz, I guess I'll throw it to you this way, just so you have a little bit of a different angle to go about it. Like, I guess, what is your what is your impression oh like what is your impression on how the Loons have been, how the attack has been looking in the in the last five or so matches? Because we've had a little drought of scoring, and we've had a little drought of like looking like we know what we're doing in the attack. like What is your impression of that?
00:34:39
Speaker
Where are we going wrong? um Or, yeah, well just what what are your thoughts on that? Is it me or does it feel like so like our attack feels very predictable where it's like, hey, get you know get the ball to Chancla or Pereira and kind of you know let them do... you know let them do their thing where I think you look at it. I think Chancolai likes to get the ball and then go wide. Whereas Pereira likes, likes when he gets the ball, he you know, he goes more centrally and can kind of, you know, feed the, you know, feed the ball from there. And um yeah, no, I, I think we're becoming, um um my honest opinion, I think we're becoming kind of very predictable as far as,
00:35:29
Speaker
um doing that and then you know kind of you know set i mean set pieces i think you know kind of still still a ah thing for us but that's also kind of you know predictable kind of you know being a little predictable as well so that's that's my honest opinion Yeah, i I think I'd agree. i think I'd agree with that. Like, it it it seems like teams know what we're trying to do in the attack. Like, it's lacking creativity. It's lacking spontaneity. It's lacking pace, too. Like, it's it's quite slow.
00:36:11
Speaker
um So, hopefully that is something that can be addressed. I think, like, to to bring it to the next part, like... I think once Trap and Gonzalez came in, like there seemed to be more pace and there seemed to be more like ideas. And also, it seemed like we were really getting into the groove of chasing that goal, of of chasing, tying the matchup.
Impactful Substitutions
00:36:37
Speaker
So we see Trap and and Markannik in the 77th minute. um I liked how Trap looked.
00:36:48
Speaker
uh, in this match when he came in. Um, it's really nice to have a solid player like trap come in with really flat, fresh legs and be able to make an impact. Gonzalez. Don't worry. We'll mention Gonzalez, but Gonzalez, like he's always, he's always trying to find an impact in the game. And it seems like i like his passing and I like his vision so far. And as we will talk about that, I'm beginning to like his presence in the box. Um, Goritz, I'm going to throw it to you this time.
00:37:19
Speaker
um What did you think about the subs? like I will also say we see Dominic Fitz finally get some minutes in a match, and then we see Marcus Caldera um come in as well in the 83rd minute. What did you think of the subs in this match? Did anything stand out to you?
00:37:36
Speaker
i mean the ah i mean, we can totally talk about Fitz. I think Fitz is very... That's very weird because you know it seems like... you know, especially when we had a home as like fits was nowhere to be seen. And it wonders, you know, I think a lot of fans feel like, you know, is he, my loons move on from him this summer, either a a transfer or a,
00:38:07
Speaker
um you know, a loan, but you know, ah But otherwise, you know, Gonzalez, you know, I've liked what I've seen from him. Caldera, he looks like another even more raw player than ah D'Ang.
00:38:28
Speaker
um But yeah, no, I mean, i like that, you know, we're going to the bench and um you know using using subs kind of ah maybe a little bit.
00:38:44
Speaker
later than I'd, I'd, you know, maybe make them a little bit sooner, but, you know, understand, you know, these are the guys that are, you know, put, put your best players out. And that's, that's kind of my thoughts.
00:38:59
Speaker
Yeah. Dial, what did you think of the, uh, what'd you think of the subs and in this game? I thought they did pretty well. It was also nice to see Bongi get some minutes. um He unfortunately missed that one opportunity. I somehow left Bongi off the rundown. Sorry, Bongi. Yeah, no no worries. I'll bring him back in. um It was nice to see him playing, and he seemed to be doing decently well, at least in terms of helping our possession.
00:39:25
Speaker
would have been great to see him score. Hopefully he gets another opportunity before the season's up. um And yeah, it was nice to see Dominic Fitz, the announcers mentioned that like, I guess he's been dealing with some illness.
00:39:39
Speaker
um So they've been kind of having to work him back into proper fitness. um throughout the beginning of the season. um i would love to see him come back from the World Cup break and start either subbing in early, like around the 60-minute marker, or maybe even getting a few starts.
00:39:58
Speaker
um I don't remember how long his contract is, but if we can get him some minutes throughout the rest of season. think it's like 20-28. Yeah, I would love to see him kind of work up his fitness, get used to the league, and then come back for like a 27, 28, maybe 29. I'd have to look back at that contract. ah I'd love to see us really get some use out of him because I do feel like...
00:40:23
Speaker
Um, Gortz, you were saying like our attack looks a little predictable at times because Chanclai and Pereira both kind of have their preferred styles. I feel like Fitz would give us maybe a little more dynamism. He's not quite James level player, but maybe kind of is able to bring just a little more of a creative flourish, help us break down some lines with, uh, some central passes,
00:40:46
Speaker
um that aren't just like crosses for headers. um I don't know. I feel like we still, he has been here a year and we still don't really know who he is as a player.
00:40:58
Speaker
um so maybe that's just wish casting, but um yeah, hopefully he comes back from the break looking a lot better. um and yeah, I would add trap. I thought did pretty well. Caldera.
00:41:12
Speaker
Looks, again, like kind of a development project, but, you know, was happy to see him get some minutes and Gonzalez getting the goal was obviously great.
00:41:23
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. i' I've been seeing some rumblings of of people, you know, and obviously Gortz mentioned it as well, of like, is the team going to move on from Fitz? I don't, I truly don't think he's actually had a shot. Like, i i if he's dealing with illness, like, it was, I think it was just a weird, like, worst case scenario offseason and then beginning of the season for him. Like, I think now is where the trial starts. Now until the end of the season is where he has to show like, okay, are you going make an impact? Are you going to affect the attack? Because I'm not judging when he first arrives, arrives because he's played his entire professional career in Austria.
00:42:06
Speaker
playing in that domestic league okay and then you go to america and you get thrown into mls you get thrown into north american soccer all of the travel being in an unfamiliar place you have to adjust to that and then apparently you have a pretty poor health in in the off season um and you just don't have a chance to integrate into the team so i I don't think we're going move. i don't going to loan him and I don't think we're going to move on from him. I think like now it's like, okay, get this guy fit and get this guy minutes to see what this guy can do, especially because of our trend in the last five or so matches of like the attack looking pretty stagnant and pretty stale. Um, I,
00:42:50
Speaker
you know i don' i'm so i still consider myself a beginner or like an in intermediate level viewer of this game. but like every time like Watching him, he has a little something extra that other players don't like. He's always trying to find a pass forward or he's always trying to dribble the ball forwards. He's not a player that likes to turn around, which I think we need need more of, especially centrally.
00:43:16
Speaker
And we have like zero penetration up the center of the field. It's all all out wide servicing in, which is great. But you also need options through the center, which is what Hamas brought at his best is just like somebody who sits in the center of the field that can pass the
Gonzalez's Equalizer
00:43:33
Speaker
ball. So we'll see if that works out. um Yeah, but I mean, we kind of buried the lead on the on the Gonzalez goal, but Gonzalez gets the equalizer in the 93rd minute, um showed great physicality in the box to win that header. um
00:43:49
Speaker
You know, ah yeah, I thought it was a great goal. Obviously, super happy for him. First MLS goal. um Yeah, and he looks pretty comfortable as well. Like, if we're yeah we if we're getting these young Project attackers comfortable with the game plan so they can just go in and get impact minutes, I think that is a ah positive thing. But again, really, really small sample size. So it's really going to be, like, I guess that's something to look forward to um once the season starts back up. Like, how how are these young guys going to attack Projects
00:44:24
Speaker
the time off and use the preseason to really, really try to integrate into the team to win some starting positions, because I think we probably need more competition to, uh, to get the motivation up.
00:44:37
Speaker
Um, yeah, we tie it up. We, yeah, scrape a point from this match. Um, good to see it I mean, I guess I will say that the team has come back from deficits a lot this season, which shows fight and, and shows motivation, but like you also got to defend and not concede early goals and play from behind all the time.
00:45:01
Speaker
That is not a good habit to be in. Um, we already talked about the attack really. yeah, yeah so any any closing thoughts from this match quartz you have anything else you want you want to mention from this match nope what about you dia uh nothing to add that we haven't already talked about i don't think
00:45:30
Speaker
cool yeah overall like not to be cynical or anything but like largely a nothing burger until I think, I think until the subs came in, uh, is when I, I started to lock back into the match. I, but I was kind of zoning out there. I was just like, wow, we're I'm, we're really sitting and watching this stagnant attack again.
00:45:54
Speaker
Um, and then things looked good and I was really excited for Gonzalez. So like, I would really love when we come back to see our attack be a little bit fresher. Um, so yeah, that's all our thoughts from the RSL match. We talked about the world, our thoughts about the world cup.
00:46:13
Speaker
Um, you know, what our plans are. um, I'm going to try to catch some some matches at ah Brit's Pub and at Blackheart. I guess what I'll say about this is like because the vibes are so bad about the World world about the world Cup, try to use it as an opportunity to just...
Enjoying World Cup Amid Controversy
00:46:36
Speaker
be with the people you like and care about, like use it ah as an excuse to get together um and support local businesses as well. Like black heart and Brit's pub, like, you know, get together, have a few drinks, have a good time. It's summer.
00:46:50
Speaker
Enjoy the fucking summer. Sit on a patio. If a world cup game is on great, cool. We're watching the world cup game. um I also like, we didn't talk about the U S national team basically, basically at all.
00:47:02
Speaker
I like I have negative motivation to cheer for the U.S. men's national team, especially like the roster comes out. And like, I love Diego Luna. He's probably my favorite player in the pool right now. I don't really have a connection to any of the other players. And then he's not on the roster, which, you know.
00:47:24
Speaker
is is a thing like do you all do you have any y'all have any thoughts on the roster at all like gorts did you see the roster you have any thoughts do you have any connection to any of the players on the on this roster
00:47:39
Speaker
i mean why the fuck is rodan being called up he is
00:47:47
Speaker
I do not like him. Really? i don't I don't think he's as good as people say. Unless he's in called up for he's good in the locker or you know a good locker room guy.
00:48:04
Speaker
i can get that. But sit his ass on the bench. You don't need him.
00:48:15
Speaker
uh berhalter like i also like berhalter i think i think he's i think he's with i think there's a europe europe's calling his name after this yeah i think that's why he hasn't signed a contract is that i think he thinks he's gonna get offers from europe and i think he'd want to go try that out for sure um i've The goalkeeping position will be, I think, one of the most interesting.
US Men's National Team Roster Concerns
00:48:45
Speaker
Because, you know, i I don't trust Turner in that.
00:48:52
Speaker
So I'd like to see was Freeze in that. But was it Turner is getting the number one jersey? So that means that I'm probably assuming that Turner is probably the starter.
00:49:09
Speaker
But, um and then i just hope, you know, Chris Richards is
00:49:18
Speaker
is good for coming, you know, coming for the World Cup after his little... worried about our defensive midfielder depth.
00:49:28
Speaker
Because there's three on the roster, I think. You got them rolled on. McKinney's listed as one. And then, well, Tyler Adams is the other one, right? Yeah, but Tyler Adams is very injury prone. And then I was i think there was somebody asked Pochettino about, oh you know, about the little depth. And he's like, oh, we can have Gio Reyna play as, you know, Gio Reyna can step in. and Yeah, but Gio Reyna, the guy who doesn't play. I'm like, are you for real?
00:50:05
Speaker
Reyna as a defensive midfielder?
00:50:11
Speaker
I mean, it would be a good narrative for him to like do some special stuff in the World Cup and like earn people's goodwill back. But from what I know about him, like. You know, i don't know. Apparently they believe in his talent. Like, I mean, he did score a goal in one of the.
00:50:30
Speaker
When was it? Was that a friendly or was that the, and I don't remember what it, what it was. I mean, I think apparently he's talented. I haven't seen a lot of him because he doesn't play a lot for his club. So there isn't really a lot of opportunity to watch him play currently in his current form. So I guess we'll see. Cause obviously Potch believes in him a lot.
00:50:54
Speaker
Here's, here's a loon related question. Kind of, I know some of us might still be better, but yeah, Do you think Dane St. Clair gets, he gets the call up to the Canadian team, but he and Maxine Crapeau have been kind of neck and neck. Hold on. They've been kind of neck and neck the last few years, but Dane goes from goalkeeper of the year at Minnesota down to Miami, and he is riding the struggle bus there, but also Crapeau is not having a great season either. So I'm curious.
00:51:28
Speaker
Does anyone have like a sense of which of them will get more matches?
00:51:36
Speaker
ah God, that's a great question. If Dane had stayed in Minnesota and kept performing at the level here, I think he has that spot locked down. But going to Miami... Absolutely, I agree with you. Going to Miami, which has a much more poorly organized defense, I think has revealed that...
00:51:59
Speaker
Whatever his strengths and merits, he also has some serious weaknesses that were kind of covered over by Ramsey Ball and our defensive organization. i don't know. That Inter-Miami defense is fucking awful.
00:52:13
Speaker
It is atrociously bad. And they don't give a shit because they just figure like we've got Messi and Suarez and Rodrigo DePaul and Macy. Their whole thing is...
00:52:23
Speaker
me we're gonna we're gonna just score more goals than you i mean take a look at um what is it the uh miami philly game that was nuts i mean it was buts and and when you have messy you can do that but it also sets up a keeper like dane to really take a hit in terms of his stats, in terms of his trajectory, terms of his confidence. But also, signed up for that. Yeah. He's the one who wanted to I'm not even mad, because if he thinks, like, I want to take the next step in my career, team that is always going to be qualifying for, like, CONCACAF and competing for Cups and making deep runs in the playoffs, Miami is probably a better bet.
00:53:11
Speaker
But he also set himself up to... Yeah. He put himself in a much more difficult position for himself personally. And I kind of wonder if maybe if he had just waited a year and got through the World Cup, then he could have kind of figured out where to go next. But maybe he could have.
00:53:32
Speaker
Yeah. So I don't know. That's to the degree that there is like a World Cup narrative that I'm following. That's one I'm kind of curious to see just because. um Not only will it affect how Canada does this year, but I think it will have an effect on Dane's trajectory because I think he was hoping that a World Cup series of performances could be leveraged from Miami into maybe Europe. But if he just has not been able to take that next step, then maybe he kind of putters out and just becomes a really solid and MLS level keeper.
00:54:11
Speaker
Maybe he's here for a while. it really it really depends on how he performs in the World Cup because based on his inter-Miami performances, don't think any European team is looking at that and...
00:54:26
Speaker
but But it's if, like, he might be on the bench and Cray Poe might get the start. Like, I don't know. if I'm Jesse Marsh, I don't know how out to read between these two and make a call.
00:54:40
Speaker
Like, they're both on teams that are really questionable and really shaky, but they're also not covering themselves in glory either. um so
00:54:54
Speaker
Anyway, that was just a question I've been kind of mulling over. yeah we'll see. Yeah.
00:55:02
Speaker
Absolutely. um we'll just We'll just have to see on that one. The World the Cup is going to interesting, that's for sure. um All right. We have reached the the part in the podcast. It's time for one more thing.
00:55:13
Speaker
um Who's got a one more thing to share? Anyone want to share anything?
00:55:20
Speaker
I got nothing, man. hi just got back... I just got back from Colorado. I saw a show at Red Rocks. If you've never been to the Red Rocks venue, um highly recommend it.
00:55:32
Speaker
um It is a wonderful place to see a concert. And the sound was actually excellent. um It was really, really super easy to hear every element of the show. Yeah.
00:55:45
Speaker
it was It was great. I saw the band Flip Turn, if you if you care to know. It's a good band, good indie rock band from South Florida. you just go to Europe a couple weeks ago?
00:55:57
Speaker
Yeah, i've been I've been traveling. This is not the norm for me. And then you were in Atlanta.
00:56:04
Speaker
Yeah, seeing my partner yeah You're just all over, world traveler. I'm on it. Don't worry. The travel's done. Like it's, it's like it's over actually technically it's not true, but the only reason I'm going up North this weekend is because I'm taking care of my parents' dog. So it's basically, I'm basically working.
00:56:21
Speaker
Um, but, um, Yeah, after that, Jesus. that i mean I think, but honestly, poor planning on my part because now like I have no funds to travel this summer, basically. But also, summer's money-making season. So I got to make that money.
00:56:41
Speaker
I got to make that money, and then I can travel in the fall. that's That's what I'm telling myself. at least So yeah, Red Rocks, go for it. Daya, do you have one more thing for us? Nope.
00:56:52
Speaker
No, Jesus. I'm going to cut the segment. Nobody has anything to say. um I'll go. I'll go. I mean, I have to.
00:57:04
Speaker
I know we didn't forget, but, um, I want to shout out Ethan Kohler from the New England Revolution. he knows who he is.
00:57:15
Speaker
I love his grandma. I love his grandparents. Love. um And then let's look one more thing. ah I got to shake Josh's Dunmall's hand because he shops at the grocery store I work at So that's why one more one more thing is for for those of us that have no idea who that is. Can you can you fill us in? He Lennox in the Transformers movies.
00:57:45
Speaker
Oh. So wow. That yeah, he Yeah, he North Dakota. Cause yeah, cause he was, uh, born in Minot and then nothing. He was here cause, uh, his daughter was born like last.
00:58:08
Speaker
No.
00:58:10
Speaker
The 19th, I believe born. So it's one, one, uh, that's probably one more thing. Cool. Well,
00:58:22
Speaker
That is it for our podcast. Another reminder, we're going to have Wes Burdine up ah on the podcast next week. Please listen to that episode. It'll be good. um And yeah, feel free to send your comments or your suggestions to our email. That is once again, looncallingmn at gmail.com. I'm also going to link it in the show notes. You should be able to just click on it and send us an email. You can also send DMs on Blue Sky. Also follow the show on Blue Sky. That's kind of the only channel I care to advertise.
00:58:52
Speaker
Advertises. I'm not advertising shit. um the The only channel that I wish to interact with people on in this current moment. um So, yeah, if you want show updates, if you want, I tend to retweet.
00:59:07
Speaker
you know content from other you know loons content creators and uh pundits i like and reporter uh reporting and just general goings on in the community as well so um if you're interested in that go drop us a follow on blue sky But other than that, thank you so much for listening to our show.
00:59:28
Speaker
um Leave a rating if you like the show. really does help out the exposure. And yeah, thanks so much for listening. We will catch you in the next one next week.
00:59:40
Speaker
Tune in, please. Okay. Bye-bye.