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Recapping the Loons Home Opener vs. Cincinnati!
60 Plays5 days ago
Ari, Diakena, and Gorts discuss the Loons home opener! Gorts shares his experience at Allianz. Diakena eats an apple, and Ari talks for way too long about Joaquim Pereyra! Just buy the dang kit already, Ari!
You can keep up with the podcast on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/looncalling.bsky.social
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to Loon Calling, a podcast dedicated to Minnesota United Football Club and I am joined with my friends in Minnesota United fandom. We have, first of all and as always, Diakena. How are you doing this evening?
00:00:18
Speaker
Pretty good. That's all I got. are you updating? I'm eating an apple. Go to Gortz. Okay, Gortz, how are you? Are you doing are doing well this evening?
00:00:31
Speaker
It's a wonderful Tuesday night after a win and yeah and after better than that. Yeah, absolutely. I'm doing pretty well myself. It was a gorgeous day outside for us Minnesotans. When it gets above 50 degrees, I was really contemplating just wearing shorts to work today. But I did not because I'm not, you know, I'm i'm not, you know, that kind of person.
00:00:57
Speaker
It's not that warm yet, but it was a gorgeous day. i really enjoyed being outside in the warm weather. And yeah, I agree. It's nice.
Weather and Minnesota Life
00:01:09
Speaker
after a win to just kind of exist and let the dust settle and, you know, observe all the other fans of the other fan bases that didn't get a great result, um you know, not have as good of a time as we are having right now. So why don't we dive in and and and start to actually, no, we're not going to dive in. Why don't we get right into the news? We don't have a lot of news this week, but um ah kind of big news. One of our signings from the winter transfer window finally, after almost two months, gets his work visa. Mauricio Gonzalez finally gets cleared to train with the team. He is officially a U22 initiative signing. We got that information when the...
00:01:54
Speaker
um club rosters were released. Um, and you could see like where, you could see where the official designations were, which is very, very cool and interesting that the league is providing that stuff.
Mauricio Gonzalez Joins the Team
00:02:09
Speaker
Um, yeah, I guess my question for you guys, I think, I guess I'll just throw it to Gortz first. Um, how quickly do you think we're going to see him in a match scenario? Do you think he's going to need a couple of weeks to slot in or and I guess, what are your initial reactions to that?
00:02:26
Speaker
I mean, i I could see it whenever, but it would be more like, you know, how has has he been keeping, you know, up match fitness? Just like, you know, could you give James? I mean, James hadn't played a competitive game since November.
00:02:46
Speaker
and you know, he just had his first week and everybody was complaining about, oh, why didn't, you know, Hamas come in? But, you know, hopeful hopefully Gonzalez can, you know, integrate very quickly and and become an important piece of the attack.
00:03:08
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Diakena, do you have any any thoughts on how long it's going to take?
Gonzalez's Match Readiness Debate
00:03:15
Speaker
um Yeah, his last recorded match um was December 16. He played 90 minutes. On December 12, he played 90.
00:03:23
Speaker
December 3, played 72 minutes. So like i'm he might need a week or two, but I think at least as kind of a late-game sub, he's probably going to have the fitness ready to go.
00:03:35
Speaker
i could also see him maybe playing a few games on our development team just so we can kind of get eyes on him. without immediately kind of putting him in the spotlight like that. That seems to be kind of a path we like to take, just give guys a chance to ease their way in.
00:03:51
Speaker
um And he's really not that old. I think he's 21 or 22. um So he's we're very much taking him on as a development project. So I wouldn't be surprised to see him play at least a couple games on the development team before coming up to the first team.
00:04:07
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. i think it's going to it's going to take a couple weeks for him to get actually match fit. um i think this I think our club takes fitness pretty seriously, um and you know you never want to put guys in ah in a high-intensity situation in a new league if they're not absolutely 100% prepared to do it. I don't think we would sign him to matchup a slot if we didn't think that he was going to be ready for first team minutes.
00:04:39
Speaker
But that being said, um you do have to take it slow and steady. And that's the same thing with Hamas. I saw a lot of comments on the YouTube highlights and on Reddit and on TikTok and stuff like that of people wondering why Hamas didn't play in the game. And I think it's a very similar thing. i think the team just takes that sort of fitness seriously. So It might be a couple weeks. It might not be until maybe the LA Galaxy match or, you know, until around then when we actually see him get some first team minutes. But I think that's a good shout that he could see some second team minutes because it seems like the fitness level and the and the physicality and the intensity isn't like...
Match Preview: Minnesota vs. Cincinnati
00:05:21
Speaker
nothing um and they are competitive matches so i think that would a good way be a good way to uh to ease him into things all right that's kind of the only news that we have for this week so let's just dive in to this match the home opener versus cincinnati um And what a day it was. It was, ah I guess I'll just start with the weather. It was 21 degrees at kickoff. um The coldest match the Loons have played at Allianz Field. Not the coldest match ever played at Allianz Field.
00:05:56
Speaker
That, of course, was the USA versus Honduras match, ah which I believe had a negative wind chill and it was single digits. I don't know the exact temperature, but some players got literal frostbite in that game. Yeah, I think, like, two, they had a sub 200 players off at halftime because they were had early stages of hypothermia.
00:06:21
Speaker
that's ridiculous they should have just canceled the match uh but luckily um only 21 game baby yeah the beautiful game that's for sure um 21 degrees at kickoff it was playable it was warm enough that as long as you know as long as you kept moving i think the players were doing okay um Yeah, and it wasn't the coldest match that the Loons have ever played, period. That belongs to the inaugural home match in 2017 at TCF Bank Stadium.
00:06:55
Speaker
I believe it was in the teens, something like that, at kickoff. All righty, but let's get into this Cincinnati match. As always, we will start with the starting lineup.
00:07:09
Speaker
From left to right, we presented a 3-4-3 formation to at least at least our eye. The back line consisted of Duggan, Boxall, and Diaz with a Markanic trap, Triantis, Bongi midfield, and Chancolai, Yeboah, and Perea was our attacking trio.
00:07:33
Speaker
We had 45% of the ball and created 2.02 expected goals to Cincinnati's 0.83 expected goals. That definitely held up to the eye test, in my opinion. It seemed like we had the bulk of the more dangerous chances in this match.
00:07:52
Speaker
um So that expected goals metric, at least according to FOTMOP, that's where I got these stats from, seemed to... hold up and we won the shot battle. We had 16 shots to their 13 shots. So those are just some quick hits across this match.
00:08:10
Speaker
Let's ah go into the match timeline. So for the first two minutes of the match, there was a moment of silence in remembrance of the lives affected by the federal occupation of
Match Atmosphere and Support
00:08:21
Speaker
the Twin Cities. I thought this was a nice gesture um by the Wonderwall and coordinating with the club and the staff at Allianz Field. um gords you attended this home opener but would you care to share your experience just like overall of what it was like to be in the stadium your your feelings you know what the vibes were like you know it's like you know any other but especially you could feel there's a lot more tension when you know it you know but what will what's been happening and
00:08:58
Speaker
Just and incredible to see what the you know club and the Wonderwall have said about just what they did and the are our response to everything going on.
00:09:21
Speaker
Yeah. would you Would you say you felt... a how how How did it feel to be in the
First Half Analysis
00:09:28
Speaker
supporter section? Would you say it was would you say it was ah more energetic than usual, more vocal than usual? Yeah, was very... How would you say it compares to... Yeah, yeah. Compared to any normal game, it was a lot more...
00:09:44
Speaker
you know vocal really more you know and energetic uh but you know we still still got the message to cross you know so supporting the loons and um yeah i know it was it was it was it was it was a blast like always awesome did you stay warm for i I mean, like I had to go and buy some gloves because I forgot gloves and might have, you know, lost, you know, couldn't feel my feet for, you know, majority of the game. But, you know, it's, you know, it's all part of, ah you know, all part of the experience.
00:10:28
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And we better get used to it. We might have a little bit more cold weather games than usual once the schedule flips. But hey, we live in Minnesota. We got to... If you want to go to the match, sometimes it can be cold.
00:10:45
Speaker
And that's just how it is. Alrighty, so Continuing on in our match timeline here, um to my eye, the first few minutes looked a little bit shaky. um It was cold out there, and you could kind of tell that the players were, you know, didn't look that sharp at the beginning of the match, but also I think that's just home opener and and all of the all of the context of this home opener and and what it melts and or what it meant. and
00:11:20
Speaker
The TIFO and and all that and the moment of silence, i I think it's understandable that things were a little bit shaky. We concede a lot of set-piece chances through the first 10 minutes of the match, um but the team is looking organized in defense like usual. um Things are they're looking shaky, but they're not looking dire.
00:11:40
Speaker
um And all in all, through the first 20 minutes, it's ah it's looking a lot like last year. It's ah it's very compact in defense um and a lot of ah trying to be very direct on the counter. Cincinnati did a great job of...
00:12:00
Speaker
you know, pinning us back a little bit, but we also did a good job of staying compact and trying to keep our line of confrontation as far up the pitch as possible. So we weren't getting pinned back into that, you know,
00:12:16
Speaker
very deep back five. um That was a characteristic of Ramsey's ten tenure. Diakena, what did you think about things going through the first 20 minutes of the match? um What were your observations?
00:12:33
Speaker
It was definitely kind of some deja from last year because we defended a lot of set pieces. um But also there was kind of a deja vu feeling of feeling somewhat calm with it happening. Like we're just kind of used to having this defensive solidity, taking on set pieces, taking in crosses.
00:12:56
Speaker
And we've got big guys like Boxall and Dugan in the middle who are generally, they're going to win a lot of vertical battles. um Calendar kept us in the game pretty well. He is looking really solid so far. So it wasn't an ideal first 20 minutes, but ah you could see like all that defensive solidity we developed last year coming into play.
00:13:19
Speaker
um It also looked, like you said, really weak in terms of our offensive capability. We were not really building anything. we were kind of resorting to just booting it up.
00:13:30
Speaker
and seeing if Calvin could chase the ball and you know win a breakaway. There wasn't really anything super sophisticated to it. So I was kind of concerned that we were maybe kind of falling back on bad habits, or I shouldn't say bad, but old habits reverting to kind of a form we were comfortable with.
00:13:52
Speaker
But fortunately, you know after 20 minutes, I think we kind of found our rhythm and started building a little more in the way I think we're trying to this year. Yeah, absolutely. Gortz, what did you think of the first 20 minutes of the match?
00:14:05
Speaker
ah Yeah, no, I think I said, you know, we definitely looked shaky. But, you know, ah kind of I feel like that kind of happens every single with every everybody trying to,
00:14:18
Speaker
um you know, feel feel feel it out. um But yeah, no, I think, you know, we grew into the game certainly after, you know, 20 and kind of, i mean, I feel like, you know, Cincinnati, you know, had it had ah ah some really good chances in the first, you know, 20, 25 minutes and calendar did really well to, and then the and the defense did well to,
00:14:48
Speaker
you know, keep keep those chances out. Yeah, absolutely. To my eye, i' i don't know. Maybe I'm just like realizing that... you know, Pereira is like my favorite person to watch on the field, but I just feel like he was covering a lot of ground and putting a lot of defensive work in, especially through the first 20 minutes. That's the thing I noticed. Also Triantis, definite improvement from the first match. Not that he was bad. It's just like the standard from last season was so high that he didn't really make much of an impact in the in the first match, but in this match, he made more of an impact. I thought he looked sharp,
00:15:25
Speaker
um And he made a lot of great plays to win the ball back. And the ball was not going up the middle of the pitch very often. And I think Triantis and Trapp, of course, but Triantis is a big reason why it doesn't. He is very, very good at winning the ball back.
00:15:44
Speaker
Those were the things that I kind of noticed through the first 20 minutes. And then, Gortz, like you said, we kind of grow into the game and we kind of start building out, which I think is a great sign. We start gaining momentum through 25th minute. um And I just wanted to highlight...
00:16:01
Speaker
a great moment. This is probably me just looking way far into it, but i mean, I've watched every minute of, of this team over the past three seasons. And I feel like this kind of play from Triantis is not something we're used to seeing in the midfield. Um,
00:16:20
Speaker
since he clears out a ball from, i think it was right, uh, right in front of their penalty area and Triantis, uh, intercepts the clearance and he just has the perfect touch to just settle it down right at his feet. And then,
00:16:36
Speaker
a Cincinnati player comes to try to tackle the ball off of him and he just spins off of the ball and immediately sees Diaz and lays it off to him. And that's just kind of the midfield play that is just going to be game changing from Triantis.
00:16:52
Speaker
Trap has also been doing looking sharp and doing a lot of it too, but Triantis just offers that much more quality. And then from there, after he lays it off to Diaz,
00:17:03
Speaker
There was very good combination play between Bongi and Pereira and Yoboa up that right wing and right channel. um Yeah. um the eventual The eventual shot is blocked, but it's very, very promising play. um And honestly, that was just kind of the theme of that first half as we just kept growing into it. We kept...
00:17:28
Speaker
progressing the ball up the field and definitely got a lot more possession in the latter half. We dominate the possession for the rest of the half, actually, and we are really doing a great job of creating the bulk of the chances, but just still don't have that final piece of quality. um Just need somebody to get an open shot off or hit the net or do something. Triantis showed his ah his shot ability in that first half. I know he had one that sailed over the goal, but he never misses by that much. And his pace on the ball is very, very, very good. um
00:18:10
Speaker
ah Gortz, what's what was your ah reaction as we started growing into this half? What was your feeling as you were standing in the supporter section like Was it getting more excited? Was the Wonderwall starting to pick up on the fact that this attack might have more layers to it?
00:18:25
Speaker
Yeah, I think as always, and, you know, going back, you Triantis, mean, he looks like he's just a complete game changer in the midfield. and i mean, i would not, I mean, I'd hate it, but at the same time, you know, you want to see a player, you know, I could see him going back to Europe.
00:18:48
Speaker
don't know where in Europe, but definitely going back. But yeah, no, I, we, we felt, and, you know, we, were as we always do, you know, in the Wonderwall, you know, the attack was really starting to piece together and, you know, bri breaking, you know, Cincinnati down little by little and, you know, just, just a fantastic showing. in
00:19:15
Speaker
What'd you think, Diakena? Yeah, Triantis is a baller. um And I think like his size and physical fitness, I think, shouldn't overshadow that he just looks really competent on the ball.
00:19:30
Speaker
um He's not like an overly graceful, dainty type of player, but he also... like just very competent in his touches, in his control, in the way he kind of brings it up and ah kind of maneuvers between the wings. I think if we can really a kind of increase his...
00:19:51
Speaker
I don't know if maturity is the right word, but just his game sense, his sense that like Robin Ludd had um this sense of like how the game state is kind of developing.
00:20:02
Speaker
um If we can kind of really develop that sense of his, i think he'll get much better, not just for helping us kind of control the midfield, but connecting our defense to our offense and the right and the left wing.
00:20:17
Speaker
If he could be kind of that connector, I think he'd be like kind of, as complete a player as you could really get out of someone in his position. So that's something I hope to see him kind of develop a little more.
00:20:31
Speaker
Absolutely. That's definitely what we are going to be looking for him to progress into. i also want to shout out Pereira. I guess I'm just a Pereira fan. Maybe he should be the jersey that I get for this, ah the new kit that we have, because I'm just, I'm so impressed at the ground he covers and just how much, how much of his fingerprints are just like all over the game. Like he's collecting the ball On the right, on the left, he's dropping deep to cover defensively. Like, it's just so... It just seems like this season he's really taking it upon himself to be to like affect the game no matter where he's at. Yeah.
00:21:13
Speaker
And great set piece delivery as always. He looked very strong on the corner kick delivery, especially in the and in the ah first half. um Obviously, none of them went into the back of the net in the the first half. um But yeah, I thought Triantis and Podeda were our standout players. ah But I don't think anybody played poorly.
Second Half Developments
00:21:41
Speaker
I think the team as a group through the first half looked very, very strong. And definitely like Diaz ah at right back, better player.
00:21:53
Speaker
Well, in this formation at right center back, but I like him being able to rotate and, ah you know, cover that right side defensively more than DJ Taylor. I think he also just offers just way more physicality and height obviously really helps with ah defending set pieces.
00:22:10
Speaker
DJ Taylor cannot really defend set pieces just by the virtue of he's five foot seven. um You know, it's just not a great but matchup. No. that back line so diaz also likes dribbling it forward and distributing the ball not nearly as much as dugan holy crap dugan is we could talk about dugan later but um holy shit he looks good um like really like really really good but let's progress past the first half um and uh get into the second half um and immediately
00:22:44
Speaker
There just seems to be more space to run into The game seems a lot more open to kick off the second half. um It's kind of back and forth, to be honest. There's a couple of chances for both of the teams. And Triantis attempts another half field shot. It seems like if the ball comes to him, he's going to send a message to the keeper every single time. If you are off your line, I'm sending the ball in the net, um which was very funny to me. He thought it was funny, too, but I don't think his teammates thought it was that funny.
00:23:15
Speaker
I don't think they were very pleased um that he ah kind of wasted in possession. um But hey, the guy scored the goal last season. I think he has a right to try. um So yeah, I thought that was pretty funny. um And yeah, we just seemed way more committed to pressing high up the field. I thought we did a great job of if Cincy tried to play out of the back,
00:23:39
Speaker
Even Diaz was pressing like it seemed to be man to man coverage almost when they were in their own half. um Like Diaz was just like, oh, you know, I'm going to track you all the way up the field. I don't care if I'm playing right center back. So I thought we did a great job of just not letting like there was constantly pressure on them, which I think really weighed down throughout the half. I really liked seeing that from us and it.
00:24:08
Speaker
aligns with what ah Cameron Knowles has been talking about of pressing higher up the field. So I saw that in this game, which is great to see. um And we just seem to be more patient in the buildup. It seems like we are not trying to force passes and instead just being patient and waiting for one to open up. And I think just the fact that we just have more options in attack is also making the buildup easier. Um, but yeah, um, I can, I'll just throw it to you first. What, what were your thoughts on the beginning of the, of, of the second half and how it differed from the first half?
00:24:48
Speaker
um It didn't start out as shaky, which was kind of nice. um the other We've talked about a couple of players. a couple of others I kind of want to highlight, and I want to highlight what I'm kind of seeing in terms of how we build. So like you mentioned Sean Kalai, who is kind of like to me what Joaquin is to you. Like I think he is balling out. He had a kind of a rough stint at New England and kind of struggled to settle there and get minutes. Some of that was to injury. um But he seems determined to make up for lost time because he's been making a lot of runs up and down that left side, but he also will come over to the right.
00:25:27
Speaker
He kind of chases the game, kind of similar to Joaquin. He and Joaquin did apparently like kind of know who each other were before they came over here. They grew up kind of close. um in Argentina, and they're only a couple years apart. So they're developing a really good chemistry. And as Joaquin kind of follows Chancolay over to the left, another player who I think deserves a shout out, including really in both halves, but is Bongi.
00:25:56
Speaker
who is running up and making runs to the back right post. So as Joaquin and Shankalai are kind of pulling players and defenders away, i think Bongi, he didn't get as many touches, but you can see him kind of making runs that either split and stretch defensive lines or that kind of are sneaking around back to these back corners.
00:26:17
Speaker
um So I think there's kind of that's kind of the dynamic I see developing in our attack a lot of the time. And I'm kind of curious to see, like, are we going to find a way to get Bongi more involved? Or are we going to kind of keep him in reserve as a back post poacher going forward?
00:26:34
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Gortz, did you have any thoughts about how the second half started? Yeah, no, I think, you know, we definitely started, you know, not shaky, you know, kind of right where he left off at the end of the first half, you know, still still trying to, you know,
00:26:55
Speaker
have moments to to to break down and you know cincinnati because i mean give i mean got to give credit to to to so to cincinnati you know they're they're a great team and by you know uh have to admit they did not have evander this game who was kind of their you know playmaker that's just incredible um they're also in conca calf i think so their schedule right now is kind of Yeah. yeah theyre in the client They look tired and uninspired overall. Yeah, because I mean, this was like their fourth the game in 10 days.
00:27:38
Speaker
That's what I heard. jumping Something like that, I think. So, you know, it was, they, they, they look, they look tired and, you know, ah you know, kind of like, uh, Diakena said, you know, the, the, the chemistry that, you know, Joaquin and Chancolai have already, you know, it's like, oh, you, you know, if you, you know, put a man or two on, on Joaquin, you have, you know, Chancolai, you can,
00:28:10
Speaker
you know, also create. And then i also kind of noticed sometimes that um like Mark, Mark, Mark Hanick would kind of go up and almost play as like a left winger and Shankalai would kind of move into that,
00:28:29
Speaker
you know, left wing back, left back, sort of, and kind of push Mark Hanek up, you know, because, you know, of how, you know, good he is, you know, as a, as as
Physicality and Injuries
00:28:41
Speaker
a finisher. So it was it was definitely a good start to the second half.
00:28:46
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um i also noticed that Chancolai really like made his... pride he He was good through the first half, but was you couldn't miss him in the second half. Just making those great runs and excellent excellent chances that he's creating. Yeah.
00:29:06
Speaker
Yeah, he he gets a header in the 56th minute from a clipped ball from Triantis, which if he got that ball down, it would have been... We could have been up 1-0 earlier in this match, then we end up taking the lead later.
00:29:24
Speaker
um It was a very, very good chance, so... Guys are finding space, they're making runs, and we are creating chances. It's just about putting them in the back of the net. And speaking about putting chances in the back of the net, our persistent chance creation through this half finally ah pays off. And speaking of Panetta...
00:29:44
Speaker
He makes a very important play as he is want to do. He draws a foul. He is a slippery player and he draws one just outside of the penalty area for a second. I thought it might've been a penalty, but it's clear from the replay that it happened just outside the penalty area.
00:30:02
Speaker
And since he formed a very large wall, one of the widest walls I've ever seen formed in a soccer game, I think there was like six or seven players linked together to cover like the vast majority of the net, which was a little bizarre. But then I also saw Boxel was just like, well, I'm going to stand right next to y'all.
00:30:23
Speaker
um You know, I'm just going to chill out here. Don't mind me. And then... um Yeah, there there was so much focus on on blocking the service from Pereira, which I'm going to give the credit to Pereira there of being like such a set piece like service threat, especially that free kick that he scored in the playoff series with Seattle. I think teams respect his ability to put the ball in the back of the net so much so that
00:30:55
Speaker
They didn't really put a lot of emphasis on what was going to happen after the ball gets blocked or after the ball gets shot. And also, it's not even Padilla that ends up taking the surface. It's Chunkalai that hits the ball in and then it deflects off of Boxy and then off the post.
00:31:12
Speaker
And then Yeboah gets his forehead on it puts puts it in the back of the net. That is two goals and two matches for Yeboah. Love to see it. Gortz, what what was your reaction to this goal? This was when they were playing toward the Wonderwall, right? Yep, yep, yeah. no i um I remember. And when Pereira won the foul, I think a majority of ah people in the Wanderbump, including myself and people around me, you know wanted that to go to VAR and and you know go to a penalty. But was weird you know seeing it because you're like, oh, are they, you know, to to put this in, you're really going to have to, you know,
00:32:01
Speaker
you're going to have to get it over the wall, but, you know, over the wall, easy. You have to get the ball to, you know, drop slightly, you know, to, to beat the keeper. And I, um yeah, I think, you know, it was just a a fabulous and a good, um you know, good instinct by, you know, Yeboah kind of follow through. And I know um some Cincinnati fans were a little bit,
00:32:30
Speaker
ah I think there's like one or two, you know, I think a screenshot that Cincinnati fans were saying, you know, that your ball was offside. But, you know, if if you take a look at at at that, um you know, kind of picture, you know, the ball was already in play.
00:32:51
Speaker
And, you know, they didn't realize, you know, it's when Shankalai initially hit the ball, Yoboa was onside.
Defensive Highlights
00:33:02
Speaker
But yeah, no, I think, you know, a a goal is a goal, even if it's, you know, ah a scrappy goal, kind of like that. And, you know, Salentano doesn't, you know,
00:33:14
Speaker
I think he kind of makes a little bit of a save and, you know, deflect deflects it on the post. And then, you know, your bow is there to to clean up and get his head on. And, you know, it's one-nil loons.
00:33:28
Speaker
Absolutely. Doug, can you have any thoughts on the goal? um yeah I have seen some screenshots that indicate it might have bounced off boxy.
00:33:39
Speaker
um I don't know if it goes straight in without that or if their keeper gets to it without that deflection, but i definitely a lucky way it worked out for us. I liked Yeboah's cowboy celebration too.
00:33:57
Speaker
i don't know where that came from, but... I don't know. Has he been ah watching the World Cup promotional videos or something like that? That was a weird... That was definitely a weird celebration to see. I thought it was fun. And then he did Bongi's... Yeah. Oh, yeah. i read who who died that Who doesn't love the Bongi dance? I ah i love that one. that that's a great That's a great silly. I'm glad Yubo is having... It seems like...
00:34:28
Speaker
It seems like the vibes, Yeboah's vibes are just very good so far. It seems like he's very, very calm and ready to play and isn't getting overly... ah i I also just think it's better for him and any number nine to get more touches on the ball, and he's getting way more touches on the ball so far this season. um Gortzie, do you have any thoughts about how Yeboah's looking so far?
00:34:54
Speaker
I mean, I think, i think you know, you I mean, I don't want to say it's not like, you know, when he came, you know, when he first, you know, came and, you know, had a great, you know, goal scorer, you know. oh You know, i'm I'm, you know, hopeful that, you know, this is the year where, you know, he fully, you know, kind of.
00:35:14
Speaker
you know, continues continues that and and builds on that after, you know, kind of a ah not so great end to to last season. But yeah, no, I think he's looking, you know, phenomenal and, ah you know, two goals in two games. It's, you know, what what you want from your striker is, you know, to kind of score, you know, score goals. And ah he he's done he's done that twice in our first two regular season games.
00:35:43
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Diakena, have you noticed any anything about Yeboah this season? Besides, I mean, um um'm I'm loving his braids, and the headband look was a great look. But besides that, you know what are you noticing that's different about Yeboah this year?
00:36:00
Speaker
Yeah, I think we're i think we're goingnna get more out of him this year with are the way we're building. And I think... He's got Pereira and Chancolay on either side of them. Soon he's going to have James Rodriguez behind him.
00:36:15
Speaker
I think he's just going to be getting more scoring opportunities that he's better able to take um and make something out of. And also I think i think that As we kind of get him more involved in the way we're building up, as he gets more touches on the ball, it's just going to have this psychological effect of making him feel more involved in the game. Whereas last year, he maybe felt like he's just sitting around up top waiting for a long ball to come for him.
00:36:47
Speaker
Um, so I think that will also have kind of an indirect effect and kind of build his confidence and just make him feel more comfortable on the ball. But I think we've just got a good group of guys up front. He and Joaquin are coming up on two years playing together. you know, they,
00:37:05
Speaker
came in the summer a couple years ago. um So between like him, Joaquin, Bongi, Triantis has been here for like six months.
Upcoming Matches and Team Changes
00:37:16
Speaker
I think there's just been enough time that they're all starting to figure each other out and kind of build some chemistry. Chancolai, I think, via Joaquin is slotting right in real comfortably.
00:37:26
Speaker
real quickly. um so yeah, I think like all this is going to kind of accumulate and hopefully give Yeboah kind of something that resembles when he got here in 2024, as opposed to 2025, where he seemed to kind of be struggling to build streaks, build confidence and know what he was doing up top.
00:37:47
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And from the 66 minute onward, the game gets like pretty slow and very physical. There's a lot of fouls and there is some injuries. People roaming around on the grass, including Boxy. um Boxy, while doing his thing, defending, being physical, a Cincinnati player um takes like a two hand touch off of his face.
00:38:17
Speaker
um which I guess isn't a foul, according to, you know, VAR didn't see anything in that. I mean, and I don't know. I'm not going to advocate for for anything retroactively, but ah yeah, and something something happens with his eye. It looks like I mean, you could see like just from watching, he's blinking his eye. It looks red. It looks irritated. And it's enough that he has to be subbed off. And ah but Alfred
00:38:49
Speaker
comes in for him um you know and uh since the match it's been reported by any greeter that he was not in training uh on uh on tuesday today as we're recording this um so it's obviously enough of a of an injury to keep him off the field i think he also reported something about an abductor problem so maybe you know, a little bit of both, maybe not so much the eye, maybe more the abductor and just, you know, being careful. Obviously he's older.
00:39:22
Speaker
um You know, you gotta make sure that he's fit. He's also got the world cup in the, in the summer. So there's a good chance we could see Nicholas Romero ah in the next game, or maybe Pat Alfred's won that spot.
00:39:35
Speaker
I don't really know. We'll just have to see in the next, ah in the next match, who's going to come in. But in terms of the match we're talking about, so padelford subs in for him and uh honestly i was very impressed at how he looked just right off of the gate especially considering just how cold the match is like it cannot be easy to come into a match when it's that's that cold it's not easy to sub into a match in the first place but especially not when it when it's that cold but uh
00:40:07
Speaker
He looked very sharp. Once again, he had no trouble keeping up with the pace of the game, um, making good defensive plays basically immediately. And he just, but Alfred just looks comfortable.
00:40:19
Speaker
Um, I, I don't know what it was about the loan. Maybe it it was just getting him on the field every single match and getting him really, really important minutes. Um, that just got him locked in. um I, uh,
00:40:34
Speaker
I really liked him when he got a bunch of minutes in 2024 and maybe it was just a situation where Ramsey didn't necessarily rate him. Um, and that's why he wasn't getting minutes, but the club could still see that they wanted to keep him as an asset. So they worked out the loan option, um, which I'm glad he's back with us. He really, really, he showed up to preseason fit and he is, uh, he's looking very, very good. Uh, as well as calendar, um, calendar looked extremely solid in, in this game. He really honestly didn't have that many tests, more tests in the second half, especially the surge after the goal and the 66th minute, he had a little bit more to do, but he looks up to the task. Um, looked very sharp. knew exactly, ah looked much more comfortable ah comfortable organizing the back line as well.
00:41:26
Speaker
um Just seemed more comfortable overall. And i think ah I think I heard that he got a pretty warm welcome from the Wonderwall when he came on ah the pitch during warm-ups. Gortz, were you in the supporter section for warm-ups?
00:41:43
Speaker
Yep. Yep. No, yeah, no, he got, you notice that yeah, he got a, he got a big, uh, he got a big reaction coming out to warm up for the first time met at Allianz field. Yeah, he did.
00:41:56
Speaker
ah Do you think, but I mean, the wonder wall is, has always been like super engaged with, with warmups. I mean, there's a reason why they like warming up toward the wonder wall. Um, it's always been a pretty interactive thing, but,
00:42:12
Speaker
You know, i got the sense that the reaction was a little bit different and maybe it it was because of of the Dane St. Clair kind of saga. um How did do you think it was sort of a of ah any any more excitement than usual? Or was it just the Wonderwall being the Wonderwall?
00:42:31
Speaker
i mean I think it was kind of just the Wonderwall being the Wonderwall with that one, honestly. Just ah wanted to give him a warm welcome. the The Minnesota nice coming out.
00:42:43
Speaker
yep Minnesota nice. Alrighty. Well, maybe ah it it gave him confidence to give us a good performance because ah he's a big part of why we keep the clean sheet in the end. And then through the end of this match, we see some subs come in. Owen Jen and DJ Taylor for Bongi and Triantis and then Dijing and Gressel for Yeboah and Chankalai late into injury time.
00:43:10
Speaker
All in all, It's a very solid performance um against a Cincinnati side that, like we covered before, really four matches in 10 days. Is that really what they had?
00:43:23
Speaker
um That's a lot. It's a lot of matches. um So, yeah, CONCACAF Champions Cup, they definitely looks tired and uninspired and definitely missing a Vander.
00:43:36
Speaker
Um, but I think the lens were also just extremely, extremely solid. They were not going to let them get any easy chances in this game. I was very impressed at our defensive coordination and, uh, impressed at calendar impressed at Pareda impressed. It just, it was a strong performance. Um,
00:43:57
Speaker
Yeah. What any ah general thoughts about the match? Diakana, I'll throw it to you first. Any general takeaways that you saw from this match? Yeah, we look good. I can confirm it was four matches in 10 days. And the first of those matches was in the Dominican Republic.
00:44:16
Speaker
So they had to go out of the country into the tropics and they ended this streak like in the frozen tundra. So they. Yeah, that's a little rough. I really feel for them. well It's CONCACAF for you. um And I feel for them missing Evander. Like I haven't heard any updates, but hopefully he's back soon because he is like an absolute game changer.
00:44:37
Speaker
um But yeah, I thought we did great. I think we look good. i can see us developing this new identity, this kind of post Ramsey, post, you know,
00:44:48
Speaker
curl up into a turtle shell approach, which I'm really liking. And I'm loving some of these new guys. I'm loving Chonkali lot. I'm loving seeing him and Joaquin link up. I'm loving seeing Yeboah get more involved. a Calendar, he's had kind of a rough year because he was in Miami, but kind of got forced out. And I don't think it was entirely performance-based. I think that's just a...
00:45:16
Speaker
a dramatic club that kind of revolves around certain personalities and then they get shipped off to Charlotte and they don't really make anything of them. And then he gets brought here and he was one of the people they interviewed after the match. And he doesn't sound bitter or resentful at all. He just wants to compete and participate and fight for the team. And you saw that, um,
00:45:42
Speaker
super down to earth, super really articulate. um I'd love to talk to him. He just seems like he's really kind of thought through. He seems very sweet to me. Yeah, he just seems like a hero. And especially like given the last 12 months that he was kind of put through, like He just is ready to put that behind him and get back in the box and start doing his job. So that was great to see.
00:46:10
Speaker
um And I hope that it sounds like the Wonderwall gave him a warm welcome. I hope he feels good here and and like he's found a place to stay and thrive for a few years.
00:46:23
Speaker
Gortz, any ah general takeaways from this match? Yeah, know. I think it was, you know, ah a really good performance, I think, i think all around, you know, yeah from, you know, our our defense to to to the, you know, midfield kind of, you know, running the show, you know, I think, you know, especially Triantis, you know, it seems like everything he does is just, he mean he made he makes it look so easy at times, you know, to the attack, you know,
00:46:54
Speaker
um Yeah, no, I think, you know, I'm i'm very pleased. and if And if that's, you know, where we are, I can't, you know, wait to see, you know, how, how ah you know, how we how, you know, more, ah unlock more of our our game plan and, you know, kind of take it take it step by step, you know, further unlocking certain, you know, trying to unlock, you know, the best out of, you know,
00:47:24
Speaker
You know, certain players, you know, playing, you know, with, you know, with Alino still in a structure, but, you know, with with the freedom to create. Yeah, absolutely. i agree with all all of that. It seems like.
00:47:41
Speaker
A group that is really, really hungry to evolve and to and to inter inter play soccer, really like a group that is really, really. It's like it's like they went through Ramsey ball boot camp of like learning that, yes, being structured and doing the defensive work is absolutely worth it because look at the floor of the team that barely played soccer last year, getting 58 points.
00:48:05
Speaker
Obviously, that's exaggerated. That's, you know, it's an exaggeration. We played good soccer last year as well that people don't remember. But ah yeah, I mean, that that seems to be the general sentiment amongst the group is that they're very happy to have more of the ball and to create more. And I agree that Chunkla is just like I'm extremely impressed that he looks this good now.
00:48:28
Speaker
um new team, new environment. I mean, he is an MLS. He's very seasoned in MLS. So maybe I shouldn't be surprised. It's really probably not that much different for him. And he's got something to prove as well because he was a DP um in New England. And I think he's got the ego of somebody that...
00:48:50
Speaker
was a DP signing and wants to prove that he, you know, is, is going to, is an elite player. My cat is staring at me. um Yeah.
00:49:03
Speaker
Just great match and, and a bunch of stuff to be excited about. I
Youth Development and Roster Strategy
00:49:08
Speaker
think. um Yeah. So I wanted to bring something up.
00:49:14
Speaker
um, based off of this match, we're only two matches in, this is kind of an overreaction on my part, but i think it's also kind of a good thing to think about.
00:49:26
Speaker
um are we going to see more significant minutes from our bench options this year? We have quite a bit more depth this year than we did last year with the new signings. We talked about Mauricio Gonzalez, um,
00:49:41
Speaker
But there's also players we saw a lot of last year that we haven't seen much of yet. Again, this is through two matches, but i just want to see what y'all's thoughts on this are. Do we see more minutes from Owen Jen this year or Nicholas Romero? Do we see more rotation of the roster, especially against maybe opponents that are lower in the table later in the season? Gortz, what?
00:50:10
Speaker
what do you think? Ramsey liked his starting lineup and did not deviate it from it a lot. Do we think Cameron is going to want to get the younger guys more involved? I mean, for me, it's kind of fifty fifty as far as, you know, you want you know, get them minutes and help them, you know, kind of develop more. But at the same time, it's like, you know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
00:50:40
Speaker
So, I mean, it's... I'd like to see... uh you know at least a little bit but not like too dramatic i think i think i think that's kind of at least at least my opinion on uh uh depth like can you have any thoughts um i mean it's hard to say because i mean We've mentioned James Rodriguez is going to come in at some point. We've also haven't talked about Dominic Fitz. I think he's been sidelined with an injury, but like eventually he's going to come in and he was kind of considered also one of the bigger signings. Julian Gressel is getting over a million a year. i think Cam eventually is going to want to integrate him a little more, maybe 10%.
00:51:28
Speaker
depending on the tactics and what we're trying to do for a particular match. But like, we don't even have to talk about like bench depth and development guys to talk about guys who aren't getting in. It's like, we just have a lot.
00:51:42
Speaker
It's kind of a crowded roster, which when you compare to like when Ramsey first came in and had to like, hold on for his dear life for that summer where like the roster was just gutted.
00:51:54
Speaker
um it's kind of weird to be in a situation where it's like we're looking at serious players and wondering how they're even going to get minutes, you know let alone the kind of lower paid development projects, you know the Mamadou Diangs and the Owen Jens.
00:52:11
Speaker
um i'm I'm certainly excited to see them develop, but I think we also always want to be careful and make sure that we're giving them an environment where they're not having to take three or four steps in their game at a time and instead are getting to develop one step at a time. So putting them in situations where they can learn to deal with adversity, but also where they kind of can,
00:52:39
Speaker
maybe have you know some sense of what it means to succeed as well. um you know You don't want to like throw them overboard and say, hey, good luck swimming in the ocean. you kind of want to integrate them a little more carefully and put them in situations surrounded by more developed players and kind of help develop them either so you can use them down the road or so you can sell them on somewhere else.
00:53:07
Speaker
So I'm not... feeling like an urgent rush to throw development projects in We've got a perfectly good development team if we feel that's the place for them.
00:53:19
Speaker
um Otherwise, i I think I could see them like maybe later in the season when we're a little more comfortable with where we are either in the table or in a particular match, maybe diving into that.
00:53:33
Speaker
um But yeah, I don't think we're going to do that anytime soon would be my guess. Yeah, probably more of a ah a substitution situation for players like Owen Jen. um I got to admit, I completely forgot about Dominic Fitz when I was writing this rundown um because we literally have not seen him at all. We didn't see him in preseason, and I haven't seen him. He was not on the bench, I don't think. He was not on the the roster, so...
00:54:04
Speaker
I hope he took like a minor knock is what I heard. like He's just dealing nursing a minor injury. Nothing's listed on Fatma, but that's what I remember hearing somewhere. We hope to see more of him soon. i mean i mean it's This roster truly has not been deeper, i don't think, which is definitely a good problem to have in terms of just like...
00:54:28
Speaker
If you know we get an injury to a starting level player, obviously it's going to be next man up in that situation. So you want to have depth in your roster. So yeah, I just think I'm always going to be a ah play the kids kind
Home Games and Team Dynamics
00:54:44
Speaker
of person. And I think you were also...
00:54:48
Speaker
you also need to get them competitive minutes now is that going to be the club decides that u.s open cup is going to be for you know players that are further down the roster rather than starters maybe maybe leagues cup is going to be that like i just want to make sure that the club is getting especially guys that are in the substitution roles like starting minutes to make sure that they're getting a lot of competitive experience so they can be as comfortable as possible if they find themselves in a starting role. Especially with Owen, like, Trapp is in his contract here, and it does seem like they want Owen to be Trapp, to replace Trapp in that spot.
00:55:36
Speaker
Maybe long-term. I think Triantis is maybe more the immediate replacement team. Jen, I think we see as a longer term prospect, and at least that's kind of my eye test. Like Triantis seems pretty close to ready.
00:55:51
Speaker
Jen maybe needs a little more time. Yeah, I mean, we do need the pairing in the in the midfield, though, and end unless we're going to change that midfield structure for James Rodriguez and also for Fitz. Like, we have a lot of attacking midfielders. So, yeah, I guess it also depends on just, like, the formation and how you want to play. But we do have to think about who is going to fill Trapp's position on the field because...
00:56:20
Speaker
um I guess it's possible that he signs with us, but I think knowing Khalid, I think, I don't think Trapp is going be on the roster next year unless he really, really wants to be. he is from Ohio, so it yeah wouldn't surprise me if maybe for his last, what will probably be his last contract, he's 33, like he might want to go home back to like Columbus or Cincinnati. Yeah.
00:56:47
Speaker
but maybe we'll see. He seems to like it here, but yeah, definitely. I'm surprised we don't even have an option here on him. Yeah. I know.
00:56:58
Speaker
He had... Him and Boxee both had options for this season, but they were automatically picked up because they were performance-based incentives that automatically, because i they played a certain number of minutes, that their option for this current season picked up.
00:57:21
Speaker
But I could... Because then, okay, you assume Boxey's also in his contract year. you're your You youd maybe assume Boxey might retire after this season.
00:57:37
Speaker
um And then, because it's kind of him and Traff feel like they're the locker room leaders. Yes. And... you know Would you lose both Boxy and Trap, or would you want to keep you know one of them around and to still have that veteran leadership in the locker room is kind of thinking.
00:58:03
Speaker
It's true. um And to be clear, if they wanted to sign another contract with us, maybe like a one plus one or something, I would be perfectly happy to have another year of those two, especially considering they have been aging like fine wine. um They like their performances have been very, very good, especially Boxy. I i love him in the back line, but.
00:58:25
Speaker
to To bring it back to just, you know, our youth signings or U22s, like I just want to make sure the club is getting them minutes because if your goal is to sell them, cool.
00:58:38
Speaker
Potential clubs need to be able to see what they're like and in in matches, and it can't be subbing them in in in you know an injury time. I just want to make sure that the club is going to be playing the younger guys. But you're right. There's a lot of depth on the roster, and we'll see if they there's room on the field for them in the future. okay Um, just a quick little overview of the next five matches. We play a lot of away matches for out of our next five are away, which is a little ridiculous, but Hey, it means going have a lot more home matches when the weather gets warmer. So I guess that is the, uh, the positive. Our next match is a away at Nashville. That is this Saturday, I believe.
00:59:25
Speaker
Um, Yeah. Yeah. Um, that should, that's going a tough match. Um, I don't think we need to spend time previewing it, but, uh, Nashville is a great team. Um, so yeah, tough match. And then we're away at Vancouver playing on that ugly ass turf. Um, and then home versus Seattle. That's going to a fun game that I need to be at.
00:59:48
Speaker
And then away at LA galaxy courts. Are you, are you attending that game? I already do you have my ticket. Yes. Yes. I will be there.
01:00:01
Speaker
i don't think I'll be there for the recap because I'll be getting ready for Bruce Springsteen, unfortunately. That is okay.
01:00:11
Speaker
ah You enjoy Bruce Springsteen. You don't need to be on our little podcast. No. Enjoy your life. And then after the LA galaxy game, we are away at San Diego. Those are our next five matches.
01:00:25
Speaker
lot of away matches in there. it's Just in general, the team on to like, none of those teams are easy to be honest. Even the galaxy have been looking a lot better.
01:00:37
Speaker
Joe Claus is balling out in LA right now. So this is a bit of a grind. It's a test. It's a test. ah How much do we think we're going to see Hamas?
01:00:51
Speaker
Over these five matches, like and and I, I think we're going to see him in Nashville, probably toward the end of 15 minutes. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, like 15 minutes at the end of the match. But I can't.
01:01:05
Speaker
i Like, how are we going use him? Is he going to start some matches or is he just going to super sub? Is he just going to have 30 minutes at the end of the match max?
01:01:16
Speaker
I feel like wine he chose us because he wants to stay fit. So I would not be surprised if he starts and then goes like, don't know. 60 minutes or something. Yeah, like 60, 65, 70 minutes.
01:01:36
Speaker
think he should be starting. He's got talent. i think he he she she should be regardless. Yeah. um I would love to see him getting like 60, 70 minutes. um That would be fantastic. I do think we're going to see him against Nashville and then probably every game after that, as long as he's healthy. Hopefully growing into a starting role, getting 60 minutes, that would be very, very cool. Okay. We've moved on to one more thing just share
01:02:10
Speaker
Just one more thing that's going on in your life, whether it's something you're playing, something you're reading, something you're thinking about, what have you. i can go first. I just got a tv so I just set it up. I do still need to buy the wall mount.
01:02:27
Speaker
um because I'm going to mount it on the wall of my apartment. I live in a studio apartment. There's just not a lot of space.
Host Updates and Closing Remarks
01:02:32
Speaker
um I'm excited that that kind of last piece is ah coming together and I can start catching up on the TV shows I wanted to watch. Currently catching up on the latest season of Drive to Survive to get myself caught up because now that F1's on Apple TV, i might watch some races. So kind of getting caught up with that stuff.
01:02:54
Speaker
And then I really need to watch the Fallout show. I've been putting that off for a long time. And I'm wearing, you won't be, listeners, you can't see this, but I am wearing a Vault Boy shirt right now. I'm a huge fan of Fallout New Vegas in particular. um So yeah, that's my one more thing. Gortz, you got a one more thing for us?
01:03:18
Speaker
um
01:03:22
Speaker
I don't even know where to, um um, I'm in my current second straight playthrough of Red Dad Redemption 2. ha ha I'm like usually like I finish it then I'm like oh let me move on I'm like no I need to play it again and this time I'm taking my sweet time instead of trying to rush through it's um some of the memories of the first time of playing it through and now I'm getting another but I'm just what just what a game
01:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, it is. it's ah it's an amazing It's an amazing game. My partner actually just played through it for the first time a couple months ago and now is immediately going back and playing playing through it again, trying to 100% the game this time around.
01:04:18
Speaker
So, yeah, that's that's ah that's a great video game. I'm glad you're glad and you're having fun with that. Diakena, do you have one more thing for us? um I've been reading a novel called Tom's Crossing, and it'll probably be my one more thing for a couple months because it's like 1,200 pages, but it's really good so far.
01:04:40
Speaker
ah People should read it. Very nice. Very nice. Well, that'll have to do for us here at Loon Calling. I hope you enjoyed our recap of the match, the home opener against Cincinnati. Again, our next match is a away at Nashville this coming Saturday.
01:05:02
Speaker
i will be not at Blackheart. I will be out of town, unfortunately. i will probably find a way to watch the game. The last time i was in Omaha visiting...
01:05:13
Speaker
um I made everybody i was staying with watch the Seattle match and that was the iconic ah game three of that series and I was screaming in their house because i it was like the most exciting game I've ever seen and I think I got the other two people kind of hooked they were just like that was legitimately one of the most exciting things I've ever watched I'm just like yeah now you get it now I got you you're locked in to be fair that game was like if you wanted to get someone sucked into MLS that would have been one of the
01:05:52
Speaker
matches to do it was kind of the perfect match for that to be honest and i also told him just like go to a union omaha game go to usl game you live right like you live five minutes from the union omaha stadium go do it what'd you say gortz I was at work for that one. So I was like no on my phone, like every like five minutes of like last, just like following the, even following the penalty kicks. I'm like, God, going to get in trouble if I get caught looking at my phone. But I'm like,
01:06:29
Speaker
I need to do this. ah Can't look away. can't look away. Alrighty. That'll do it for us. Thank you so much for listening. Hope to see you in the next one. Bye-bye.