Transcript
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: everybody and welcome to loon calling a podcast dedicated to minnesota united football club and i am here with My friend. in soccer.
Speaker: Andrew, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty good. Had a Plukot today. Had a couple of them. you You got a what? a Plucot. It's a hybrid of a plum and an apricot.
Speaker: Oh, so it's like a smaller, little nice bite size. and the the the Whereas inside is very small. Very good fruit. I highly recommend it. I have not eaten enough stone fruit. this year like uh like stone fruit is in season right now as far as i can tell like peaches nectarines what you your plukot is probably in season right now i've not taken part i've not gotten involved i need to um Man, I would love for some more Georgia peaches. Not going to lie. Yes.
Speaker: Yes. absolutely absolutely i'm doing pretty well as well i'm very excited for today's episode because we finally have some winning soccer to talk about I am very, very excited. But before we dive into... the match that everybody wants to talk about everybody wants to discuss We have some other things to discuss, including Wednesday's match against Atlanta.
Speaker: We will get into that. But first. We need to get into some transfer news. Things have... happened I mean, by things I mean... Three. things uh one of them pretty big And the other two are... are are I mean you'll see.
Speaker: You'll see. well We'll dive into that right now. so Incoming transfer. We have acquired. Maurice Malone from Stormgrass. uh, in, um, That's in Austria, I believe, right? Yeah, that's another Austria at the end.
Speaker: Um... Yeah. Um... Andrew. You did a deep dive on this guy. um why don't Why don't you share with us the information that you found out? uh if you look at if you just look at the surface this is a pretty bad transfer He had a bad year last year.
Speaker: No doubt about it. uh But if you dig dig a little bit deeper into the numbers, he didn't have a lot of full games which Might seem to be one thing or another. He only had about 1 ,500.
Speaker: like minutes in the league itself. That's pretty low. Yeah, granted that comes up a bit because he was in... ah Europa and stuff like that. He's in the Champions Qualifier.
Speaker: but The year before that. He has had a really good year in the Bundesliga. the Austrian Bundesliga, he had 11 goals, 4 assists. over 32 appearances.
Speaker: which sounds good on its own. But in the same year in the USCL qualifying, he had three goals and an assist on four games. Really good.
Speaker: uh, Definitely a value death pick. Uh, And from the Austrian league that's always been known for heavy pressing, heavy workload. I mentioned this is probably just another signing there. They want that European finish.
Speaker: on an American style player. And that's what you get from these Austrian academies. Right now Very nice. anything any Anything else you got?
Speaker: Well, he shares a namesake with, uh, he is an American himself. He has yeah a dual international. Yeah, so he's not going to have... uh international slot taken up He did play with the German youth program All the way up to the u -21s Didn't pan out, but...
Speaker: That happens a lot. He shares a namesake with an American denim designer. So if you google him right now, it's gonna be kind of a weird Google. Really? Yeah, denim designer.
Speaker: Yeah, back in... the 1984. Maurice Malone. uh registered his first company in michigan And he made denim jeans for her.
Speaker: like Well, he was the first Black. denim designer. There's this whole fashion line that's still going today. That's amazing yeah he had a national ad in 87.
Speaker: It's a great story. That's great history. so yeah Maurice Malone shares shares a name with... a With the... Pretty cool. figure in american history i guess yeah very Very stylish. um Yeah, this this seems like a pretty like.
Speaker: A very... Call it L -O -MOD. type of signing like definitely like within within the wheelhouse of what the club is willing to spend on a player.
Speaker: the kind of profile that we spend it's like i would not call this an impact signing But who knows? Like, it's like. it's ah You have to wait and see how he adjusts and how he plays and if he finds any success.
Speaker: So... Obviously, we're wishing or we're wishing him the best. And we hope that it pans out, but it's really not. um And one little topper on top of all that.
Speaker: He's going to be listed as a striker most of the time. That's what you're going to read out there. But he has spent time out on the wings. and in the wide midfield, and he's had a lot of success over there.
Speaker: um Okay. Good to know. Good to know that he's ah he's got some versatility in positions. um Yeah. i i hope this one pans out um speaking of other transfers we have acquired uh aziel jackson who was a part of the Academy.
Speaker: I believe 2024 was the last year he was with us, right? um Something like that, yeah. And we transferred him to St. Louis, I think. Yeah, he had a time going around.
Speaker: Yep, and I believe he did a stint in Europe, and now he is back. um I'm glad that we signed him back. I think he's got ah he had some minutes in the Atlanta match and looked like he had a lot of energy, so hopefully he can provide some extra energy in that attack. I think this is a solid pickup. I'm not i'm not mad at this. We do need attacking depth.
Speaker: And we need a little bit more pace and energy, I think. and um Azriel Jackson can definitely provide that. um Andrew, do you know anything more about Aziel Jackson. ah He spent a lot of time in Poland.
Speaker: He didn't get a lot of minutes about there. and when it came on you could see that he had Been practicing really hard. while he was in europe and going around he pulled off some pretty crazy moves out there broke a couple ankles His dribbling looks really good.
Speaker: Yeah. um which I don't know if he's going to be in an attacking midfielder, but I can definitely see him. Providing a pretty nice like different flavor on the field for a sub. Like maybe a more traditional out -and -out winger.
Speaker: Roll. ah I'd say more of like a half winger. Okay. A lot more. european styles like to employ a half winger starting the midfield and then hitting the channel Because a lot of traditional shapes don't really like that sort of thing.
Speaker: Yeah. It's like if he approaches the channel uh, You create a triangle with the winger and the fullback. but bombing forward.
Speaker: Well, let's hope that he can make an impact. Let's hope that he can do something. I don't mind the signing, and I don't think we signed him for very much money, so... um I think it's ah it's a solid pickup. And then the the big one, like this is the like big piece of news. We probably should have kind of buried the lead a little bit. We probably should have started with this one.
Speaker: But ah yeah. was announced, or at least it was reported. ah last week, at the end of last week, that Khaled El -Ammad, the chief soccer officer...
Speaker: and sporting director for the club has departed. for Austin FC. Um, And yeah, we are going to do some quick reactions to this now because we're going to do a deeper dive into his tenure at the end of the transfer window.
Speaker: um Because... But we don't really know what Like... how far ah along he was in transfers and which like maurice malone i think obviously is Khaled El -Ammad, but...
Speaker: So, yeah, we're just going to wait to do our our full thoughts, but I'm going to share. Actually, Andrew, ah what was your... uh initial reaction to hearing this news and it was actually just officially confirmed today by the club Um. very surprised but also I understand it.
Speaker: Uh. we can talk I think there our summary is going to be about his transfer history. but I'm not gonna say anything bad about this guy leaving. Yet he told a story about back in January.
Speaker: where he left a note. it and is He sent his kids to school every day. and he had a note in their backpacks. That. was supposed to be opened. in case that he didn't come home.
Speaker: And he got picked up. By ice? And. that That just breaks your heart. yeah You can't... and Honestly, there's some trauma there, probably.
Speaker: He wants a fresh start. I don't know why you'd go to Texas exactly for that, but... Yeah, I'm sure he's going to be loved in Austin. They certainly need their their whole house being put back in order.
Speaker: And I think the worst thing you can say about... KAs, I didn't have any. Well... He's competent. I mean, he had hits. you can't see and have some I would agree with that. I think he's very competent. like He's responsible for signing...
Speaker: Uh, potato. which is just like an absolutely great. like wonderful signing. Triantis is a great signing. Um. Dugan Caldera.
Speaker: He had hits. And I think Austin is great signing. Austin definitely needs some hits. They've been sliding pretty hard on that. Yeah, I think they also just need... I think they just need smart signings too. And I think Khalid.
Speaker: The criticism I would... put Which is probably not, he's probably not even responsible for not making splash signings because that's more ownership forking over cash. for splash impact signings.
Speaker: um I would say over the past couple windows, it has been more... lackluster but obviously that's just like i think that's the nature of some are hits and some are misses There are some really, really good ones in there. So I think he's going to do a good job in Austin. And I think Austin's ownership will spend more money than we do.
Speaker: um so hopefully you'll get an opportunity to put some like more exciting deals together Also, Jim Curtin is about to be the coach and he is a very good coach. So I think that combo could be pretty good. um i don't know how much he talked with curtain or how like i don't know what their philosophy is going to be in terms of roster construction. Obviously, Jim Curtin came from Philadelphia, which is...
Speaker: the absolute end of the spectrum where the majority of your impact is coming from your academy and then you are being pretty frugal with your transfers, but ultimately putting together really competitive, well -coached teams.
Speaker: so Austin could participate in that. That sounds a lot like what KAA was doing here. He's not going to want to do big shots. is it wants to focus on the academy getting people up and then frugal transfers fill in the gap.
Speaker: Uh... One thing I wanted to know was about spending. it We don't have confirmation on this. on exactly what the divisions are. But... Every projection I've seen has the texan teams being hooked up with the California teams.
Speaker: And it's gonna be hard to say that they're gonna be spending As much as the Californian dooms. Probably not. So I don't know how well this is at. Yes.
Speaker: exactly is going to do. texas has a special relationship like it's right next to the border You could definitely move and make. settle Mexican players very easily.
Speaker: Mm -hmm So i I would definitely think that he's gonna hire some Mexican talent We all know there's a ton down there. that's undervalued. Um...
Speaker: Very much so. but It's going to be interesting. FC Dallas has taken advantage of. of that kind of talent pool. Bum. And they're in the North, and they've got North Texas FC.
Speaker: as they're talent. breeder Mhm. So yeah, I think I'll do good work good for Austin I think that's a good pickup for them and now we are kind of just swimming in open water and Um,
Speaker: We'll see what direction the team goes. I won't be surprised if the number two, I can't, I should have included his name. I forgot to. Don't worry. that He was young as a lawyer. He's a lawyer guy.
Speaker: Yeah. I'm not saying lawyers aren't important in transfers, but he was the guy who. did the paperwork and made sure the transfers went through rather than really picking them i think yeah um i would like to see them higher proper sporting director.
Speaker: Um... Somebody with good connections, hopefully. But yeah, that's what we have to say about that. Wish him the best. um I think overall a good tenure here. um and i was a little blindsided but He leaves for...
Speaker: Hopefully greener pastures for him. And then we have to find out. what direction this club is going and Speaking of being lost in open water, let's talk about Wednesday's match.
Speaker: versus atlanta because watching that match For me, was kind of like... Um... watching a boat floating in the middle of the ocean, kind of aimless, kind of... Not.
Speaker: Really knowing what direction we're going. But let's dive into it. The match versus Atlanta. It was the 10th anniversary celebration. Oh my gosh. Andrew, were you there? Do you want to speak to how this celebration was? Because none of it was on the broadcast. so um Yeah, I was there. Let us know.
Speaker: They had... ah signings right before the game on the pre -party. I'm just gonna call it the lawn layover. I love that name. On the lawn layover before the game, they had signings, a bunch of the... players and Heath.
Speaker: ETH was there. ah Lon Laird was the best. I've seen this year so far. We've got to talk about the construction. outside the stadium one of these days.
Speaker: For sure. But... There wasn't anything that big. out front and then Once we got inside the pregame they accepted a whole bunch of the people that they can get from all the past teams And then they brought out. a team of the decade players.
Speaker: with their new Jackets. They played a video footage from all the players that couldn't show up. like Dane. Debasi, all that.
Speaker: Mhm. Uh...
Speaker: And then that was about it. The halftime they had. Opara and... Mets and Air come back out.
Speaker: And then on our way out, we got a poster that... was of the drone footage, the drone show from a couple months back. Hmm.
Speaker: and so Sounds like okay time. yeah it's pretty understated I can understand that it's not the weekend They didn't want to put too much into it. Maybe some sponsors fell out.
Speaker: Who knows? Yeah, it doesn't seem like a huge operation does it No, I didn't
Speaker: Well... let's ah Let's dive into how the the... how it was on the field shall we so let's go through some quick facts from this match Our lineup.
Speaker: We had calendar and net. We had our typical backline of Diaz, Boxy, and Duggan. We had Bongi was the big change here, starting at wingback, and Markanik as the other wingback on the left, and then Trapp and Jen in our midfield in a front line of Pineda.
Speaker: caldera And Chancalay, the other notable change here is Caldera gets his first start. um which is something we were calling for in the last episode, something that Andrew predicted, and I...
Speaker: denied I did not think it was going to happen, but it did. And why don't we just dive into that? How... How do you think Caldera did in this match?
Speaker: um What did you think about his first start? I think he did great. in the kind of way that you don't actually score. which sounds bad, but like If you're just getting the starting job, you're not going to be intimately familiar with your wingers and all that.
Speaker: And despite that, I felt that he was in better positions than... our other strikers have been. There was ah this one from One motion. to where Chonk got down to the...
Speaker: byline and had A perfect cross, open space. straight chuck Straight to Calderas. two steps behind him so they won't be off sides he's got all the white space in front of him and then chonk just can't get the cross off which was heartbreaking. He had another sitter.
Speaker: that he missed on his own, which isn't great. Um. But other than that, it was a lot of, there there were chances. Everybody could see that the chances were there.
Speaker: It just. They never connected. They didn't even get close to connecting really. Not really. i mean that was our that was my perspective from this match is that it really we did not look Nope. really close like the mechanic goal comes off of a of a set piece um And...
Speaker: That's kind of the only way we could have scored in this game because the attack... We were not stringing a lot of stuff together. It looked it did not look great. um We had about even possession in this match. and We finished with over two expected goals, 2 .11 expected goals, um which is actually pretty... respectable.
Speaker: um so I'm not really sure where that XG comes from primarily. a lot of missed chances i don't know There's a couple sitters here and there. We had 13 shots, but only four of those were on target. But yeah, overall...
Speaker: was not really impressed with how we looked. It was kind of disappointing. I mean, maybe it was me kind of overblowing. the fact that it was the 10th anniversary celebration but like It's also a trend this year that this team just...
Speaker: doesn't. play inspired soccer at home, which is kind of insane to me. It's pretty insane that you can play that significantly more poorly. at home. um it's This is supposed to be your your place to...
Speaker: play with energy and have that sort of inspiration behind you defending your home. And Allianz has not been that this season, that's for sure. Which is disappointing.
Speaker: um Yeah, I didn't think Chunkalai had a crate. game, to be honest. um His... Decision -making on field is hit or miss. um And in this game, it was a miss. um I don't think... and anybody particularly looked great um i think one positive from this game is is Aziel Jackson got.
Speaker: his first minutes with the team and. Like we mentioned earlier, his dribbling looked quite good. um So hopefully he can make an impact. um But yeah, otherwise on the other side of the ball, Atlanta, I thought. Almiron had A fantastic game. I thought he was an absolute menace.
Speaker: um And he should have scored on his breakaway. towards goal. um Like, I think we played poor enough to where we should have been down by more goals, I think. And Atlanta is Atlanta this year.
Speaker: um But they're straining together some performances as of late. I think they're finally slotting things together. um And yeah. I was not in a good mood when this match was over. I like the vibes were very, very bad, like losing. at home.
Speaker: um is never good but also with the just string of performances we were putting together before this it was uh The vibes were not good. I was very much not pleased and not looking forward to...
Speaker: the San Jose match. Andrew, do you have any... Other thoughts on this Atlanta match? The fives were bad. Leaving the stadium now is pretty bad. ah The construction looks very ugly at times. Oh yeah.
Speaker: You can't see the that your walking is very constricted now. There's fences everywhere. It's a work site. There's a giant crane that dominates your eye view. Do we know the timeline for when that's going to be finished? Probably next year. Yeah, I would think for the sprint season.
Speaker: Who knows? I think... they've got they've got to be able to open up the the office i definitely think will be open by next year because that's almost done completely.
Speaker: The two restaurants are going to be done. Uh... The... Event space is done. They just got to open it. I'm very curious about what the vibe is going to be. And I'm very curious about how busy that restaurant is going to be on match day.
Speaker: Because... If I recall, I think one of... one of them is more like casual right like a casual serve like not not a cafeteria but like a counter serve like more grab like a cafe style type thing and then the other ones that sit down Restaurant. If I...
Speaker: remember correctly. So I'm very curious to see how busy it's going to be. I mean, probably busy as hell. This is right next to the stadium. But, uh... They're going to be selling wine.
Speaker: specifically wine and cups. that can be used as candle holders. What? You didn't hear this? Okay. The owner was once interviewed about this development.
Speaker: And he ran into he spun off into this segue about one of the things he specifically needed in this development. is that one of the restaurants needs to sell cups of chicante wine,
Speaker: Forgive my mispronunciation. cups of Chikante wine, that could be reuse as candle holders. And he recalled he went back into a memory he had. of this in Italy and said that that's what he wants here at all the odds.
Speaker: Okay. i mean I'm all for things that can be used multiple times, like reduce, reuse, recycle, and all that. And I think it's a great amount of wine. It's very specific. That is very specific.
Speaker: I mean, he's a billionaire. he's got taste and he's very insistent on those small taste things One of them is going to be a bakery and the other one is going to be a pizza place. okay i don't know exactly the vibes are so bakery like ca cafe vibes yeah yeah if they could go down to and then just get a whole bunch of baguettes. For game day. Oh.
Speaker: If they don't have bun me on the menu, I'm gonna... gonna flip my shit. It's going to lose my mind. some Oh. yeah I hope it's good And I hope the vibe is good as well. Okay.
Speaker: um let's move on to the match that we all want to talk about like a match like Let's just set the stage here. The vibes... after Wednesday are very, very low. And then...
Speaker: The news about... Khalid El -Omad. comes out. on, I think, Friday is when it when it breaks. um The vibes were so low.
Speaker: With the team's bad and now everyone's talking about how chaotic the situation in the club might be at the moment. Yeah. Like, I was not looking forward to watching this match, but I went anyway. I left my house and I went to my local bar.
Speaker: And... I asked them, can you get the game on? And they're just like, no, it's on Apple TV, so we can't get it anymore. And I'm like, hmm. Apple deal was really good. Um...
Speaker: But... But also in previous years, they were able to buy a package that. They could show the games and apparently that's not a thing anymore. So I don't know what MLS is doing.
Speaker: But. Regardless, I - I brought it up on my phone because, you know, that's the positive of a streamer service is that you can watch it anywhere. And I was not. I was not.
Speaker: uh looking forward to it and then we concede a penalty in the third minute and i was like oh god Here we go again. But yeah, let's go over some quick facts from this match. We only have 42 % of the ball, but it really didn't matter. We...
Speaker: Apparently play our best ball. Um... Counterattacking? Um... And we only had two expected goals and we scored five. um which is kind of a crazy over performance um 11 total shots with seven on target is a pretty good ratio. I think.
Speaker: and i think that passed the eye test too i think we really capitalized on every single chance that was handed to us which is not something this team really does Um. But yeah, we concede the penalty in the third minute.
Speaker: Um... I was just like, it might as well go but go like this. um like it It was about on par with what the vibes were going into the match. It was just like everything is in shambles.
Speaker: It's chaotic. Everything is in play. um Andrew, what was your reaction to... the the penalty that we concede. When I cracked the correct penalty, I cracked open a bottle of wine and started...
Speaker: started going at it. Guzzling. Straight from the bottle. Uh, did you turn it into a candle holder after? No. I broke my wine. Here's the thing. i started I tried to crack into it.
Speaker: ah And I failed. for the first half And then the goal came. Oh yeah. I remember you putting that in the discord where you're just like, I've been trying to open this bottle of wine for the entire first half.
Speaker: And I'm like, we only started scoring once I started to try this to to get this ah thing open. You gotta keep going. Oh my god. I break i break my first opener.
Speaker: I have to go get another one. God. Did you have to go to the store? to get another one. no i had to go get one of the other like you know how how the cork thing has a screw on it Yeah.
Speaker: I broke my first one. Dang. And so I got the other one that's... one is just a hand holder one and the other one is like that thing you screw in and then you plunger it down. Yeah.
Speaker: yeah That one works a whole lot better. yeah that that one is that one works a little bit better i have the the other one where it's like it's got two sides on it it's got the screw in the middle and then you have to like You pull it, and then you...
Speaker: put it up another notch then you pull it i when i worked as a server that's the kind that you needed to have so um that's what i learned to use but it's really annoying when the when the cork crumbles Uh...
Speaker: Very annoying. But uh... Yeah. the penalty was The penalty was rough, but it's just unlucky. like verner shoots it and and jeff has got his arm up and He like immediate, like you can tell by his body language, he's just like. Fuck. man like there's no way this is not a handball and he like half -heartedly he's just like what but everybody in the goddamn stadium is just like that's a hambo like even the players are just like Bro. It like went off his hand and his hand was at his.
Speaker: Like, out. to the side. But anyway. San Jose, for the first 10 minutes of the match, looked... Pretty good. And then. They put away the penalty, and the vibes are really on their side, and then... um Joaquin Pereira decides that he's...
Speaker: gonna go sicko mode and Just pulls out the Rabona. and puts it in the back of the net it's not like the most spectacular Like...
Speaker: Don't get me wrong, it's a Rabona. It takes an incredible amount of skill. and finesse to do that during a match, but... It goes pretty slow and the keeper reacts so late to it.
Speaker: why don't you tell our audience who doesn't know what her abono what her bona is so a rabona is when... Your, how do I explain it? It's basically you...
Speaker: Do you know how to explain it? yeah like Okay, I'll do it. yeah you do So imagine you're walking forward. And you take your left and your...
Speaker: The ball is on your... right leg right in front of your right leg. You put your right leg to the left of the ball and then you swing your back leg Right behind your calf and you kick the ball with your left leg behind your right leg
Speaker: I think that made sense. I'm really bad at visualizing things verbally. Yeah. If that sounds difficult, it's even more difficult to hit not just hit the ball, but to hit the ball with power and accuracy to put it in the net.
Speaker: During a match. but this was a real ma This wasn't in practice. It was just during a match. He was just like, oh, I'm just going to do it. By the way, he gets the ball in the penalty area and he's got defenders around him and he still pulls it out. Like it's just even the balls to even attempt something like that is like pretty impressive. And it goes in the back of the net.
Speaker: And I didn't even realize at first because the like TV, the broadcast angle isn't ideal for what he does. And like, it's kind of the camera's kind of far away but then the replay happens and i'm like the cameraman completely loses the play of like where'd the ball go Whoa!
Speaker: whoa i had no idea that but like y 'all were putting rabona in in chat and i was just like what what What do you mean? Are you, like, ahead of me in the match? And no...
Speaker: Nope. Joaquin just... ah He really did that. And then from there, the match just kind of goes crazy. um I mean, there's like about a half hour between.
Speaker: his Rabona and um Yeboah's goal. But... Amen. The vibes are good. When we tie it up. I think San Jose is like pretty frustrated that.
Speaker: The game is tied in that way, but I don't think so frustrated that they were kind of losing their momentum. And then. Let's get into Yeboah. Yeboah's redemption in this match which is kind of the main talking point of the match is that The vibes around him have been pretty low as of late.
Speaker: um The dude seemed cursed, like every time he was on the field and every time he would try to do something in the attacking third, it would just die at his feet. and Me included like everybody me included was criticizing him very very heavily for his play and i think fairly so
Speaker: um Even though he had a fair amount of goals on the season, the goals that he got earlier in the season were more of a product of him just putting away a chance that it was created rather than.
Speaker: him creating the chants himself. Or. doing what he did last night and just putting like a great shot on goal. and getting a great goal and also his second goal the chip the like poise to be able to do that like That was the vintage Yeboah performance from when he first got here.
Speaker: ah In 2024?
Speaker: Um... the back half of the season that. stretch he looked really amazing and was scoring goals for fun. um Yeah.
Speaker: um andrew what did you think about yoboa in this game like what like what what happened Why why is he why is he back? strikers are just that kind of weird Weird player. Strikers and goalies.
Speaker: They're on different sides of the field, but they're almost exactly the same they're They're creatures of confidence. When they believe in themselves, they they believe so hard.
Speaker: They lean so hard on that belief and they can do insane things. Same thing for strikers. He hears Laten talk about anything at all. You hear this insanely egotistical.
Speaker: like things that he says. Bye. He gets away with it because it makes sense because he's a striker. I think once Yeboah got that one goal, he was like, I can just score another goal now.
Speaker: but I think there are. There's a lot of speculation there might be something else. That caused him to break his curse.
Speaker: Something new with the team. Yeah. What do you think? A certain goalkeeping coach named Cristiano Costa. Yeah. Cristiano Costa.
Speaker: Incredible story. He's a goalkeeper. He plays a while. And he comes back and he's a goalkeeper coach. And then suddenly all the strikers love him.
Speaker: Caldera goes over to hug him. ah Your beau comes over to hug him. Maybe it just takes a goalkeeper to tell a striker how to score. Perhaps it does. like ah That's actually really insightful. I kind of like that because.
Speaker: I think it's really, really interesting that Yeboah runs over to the coaching staff. Like... And... Immediately to Cristiano Costa. like He's the guy that he's running to. He's the guy that he's taught he's like he's yelling stuff. He's beating his chest. like Fucking finally.
Speaker: I am back where I need to be in the scoring column and like back in confidence. and When Caldera gets his goal later in the match, he...
Speaker: in brit like runs and jumps and embraces in his arms so obviously this dude is really important in the locker room at least to the strikers as you said So... i think that's really interesting and i think the locker room does need those vibes because The attacking vibes were just awful. for a while.
Speaker: um We just weren't scoring goals. So... Whatever he's doing, he's like earning the respect and earning the trust and and energy of these strikers. And hopefully that means good vibes going forward.
Speaker: Um, Yaboa looked like him, his old self throughout. This entire match. um Just to. great performance from him i'm i'm very happy for him is what i'm trying to say like I don't like critic criticizing a player.
Speaker: but Like... Especially as a fan from home. who doesn't have to step on a field and run for 90 minutes And that would make it pretty hard.
Speaker: like choice shot. It's... Yeah. ah I'm just really glad that he got. he got a brace in this game and hopefully it means he's got his confidence back because We really need it. And he really needed it. And I had high hopes for him coming into the season. and To be fair, the first half of the season, he was putting goals away and seeing things seemed pretty...
Speaker: Fine. And then... the team kind of slid, and then the big World Cup break kind of didn't do anyone any... favors And now it seems like the vibes are back. Um... and all he needed was a canadian who was who played college soccer And got drafted.
Speaker: And then had a ah loan in the USL championship. This actually... ties into a point that Dia had in...
Speaker: the notes here. um Is Yeboah at his best in a two -striker system? Like... I think he is. I think he did his best work.
Speaker: When he first arrived, when Pookie was still on the on the squad, and then did his best best work when Tani... Was right alongside him and then slumped after that. And I think he's just the kind of striker where he's not going to do it all by himself. He does the he does the dirty work. He does the running.
Speaker: He does the defending. He does the backtracking, like all that stuff. And which... it's hard to get anybody motivated to do that but i think he's also just not A true...
Speaker: Like, he's not like Caldera, obviously. Caldera is like... doing all the traditional number nine stuff occupying those areas centrally and occupying the the back line and your bow is more of a guy that wants to drift out wide and and find the ball a little bit deeper Um, but he also scored a traditional striker's goal For his second one. So.
Speaker: Yeah. Vibes are back. Fives are back. And speaking of vibes, my vibes on ah Owen Zhen. are very very high i thought this was probably his best game uh in a loon's uniform i thought he did everything right he joined the attack He...
Speaker: is... the one that sends the pass over to Um... Duncan, who sends the pass over to Yeboah. And Yeboah makes that goal happen himself. like Great first touch. And then slots that into the side netting. of the the left side of the goal but then owen jen is the one that lays off a perfectly weighted pass to Yeboah for that second goal just a few minutes later.
Speaker: And Owen. occupied the space he was given. There's also something to be said that San Jose just kind of fell apart after when we went up 2 -1. Like, their structure just absolutely collapsed.
Speaker: um but owen recognized that and joined the rush and uh was the one that made that goal happen. Andrew, what... what What did you think of Owen in this game? And what what do you think of of Owen overall?
Speaker: Like, uh, yeah, that's my guy. Like Jen's my guy. Yeah, he's your guy now. I love that kid. I do too. He's young. He's got such a bright future now.
Speaker: And I definitely think he just... it I said that he would be in Liga 1. if Ligue 1 had the money. But he somehow split through the cracks came over to MLS He's gonna have a big time He's going to go to the championship for... four or five mil in a couple years. I guarantee that.
Speaker: I hope so. I loved you mentioning his secondary assist. Those are always huge. The things that start the attack. are often just as important as the ones that finish the attack.
Speaker: like that and we just need guys that can distribute the ball in the final third he really was like acting like i don't know basketball not even in the final third but like the wrong term but the mid third Like if he, you need a guy. Cause.
Speaker: JP wants to be up right at the front. Everybody wants to be attacking. We need some guy to sit. and the center circle and then just spit a pass. to a winger in space. and then let something happen out of that.
Speaker: And I think Gene's is now coming into that. I really hope so. We're going to talk about him later. but like Triantus gene? That's the future here. yes It's a very bright future. I'm very excited for Triantis to get.
Speaker: back into the starting lineup because he's just so... like he's just so good i mean he's just so good at soccer um so such good in different ways you could definitely see the french influence of eugene Uh.
Speaker: If you don't know, France started a whole bunch of academies. ah near Paris, and they crank out these players. That are. So refined. Look at the French national team. That's proof.
Speaker: Yeah, look at the, look at Afcon. that Yeah. That too. How many players in the World Cup came from Paris? it's It's ridiculous. Like half the Senegal. the Senegal national team is, is from Paris.
Speaker: But they have such like the old days of Brazil. when they used to crank out players and some off to the world the The French model of a player is very physical, very drilled. Fast, tough, strong.
Speaker: They cover space. They understand the tactics of the game. And they have the the physicality and the speed to keep up with it. I also think he's... I also think Shin...
Speaker: I also think Zhen is just... Really smart. like i can just tell by the way he plays that he just more often than not is making the correct decision and i think he's just very aware of everything that's happening on the field all the time.
Speaker: I think he just needed confidence. And the more he plays, the more confidence he gets. I mean, there's a reason. He hasn't dropped out of the starting lineup like at all. um except for a couple of times and i think that's just to rotate his minutes Like, I think he's just a really smart player. What were you saying about Triantis?
Speaker: But Triantis is very like English style ah which is also very physical, but they're a lot more about...
Speaker: passing the ball. Well... I see a lot of French people want to take the ball. it's It's very hard to explain I think. But.
Speaker: My perspective on Triantis is that he... He covers so much ground and does so much running. and is just so strong physically like his my perception of him is he's just a freight train when he's on the field,
Speaker: Like... I think he could do with a bit more finesse, but obviously he has plenty of it when he strikes the ball. Like. And - Hit. can pass the ball but like my perspective of trantis is that he's just an absolute destroyer in the midfield like he covers so much ground and he's so strong that nobody can get the ball off of him. yeah unless he's running directly at the at the at the back line. Like, if he doesn't want you to get the ball.
Speaker: People are not getting the ball off of him. Um. And it's it's a great way to compare and contrast the two of them, because essentially you just describe the same player. But... if you look at them for any amount of time you'll notice the differences constantly.
Speaker: Jen, to me, is more of like a heady... player like he just seems like slower more methodical whereas triantis is just like i'm running in this direction And I'm pressing this player. or I am running directly at the back line, or I am like...
Speaker: Where Zhen is just more, seems like more methodical. yeah he'll sit back more they'll drop back more and get a better view of this field. utreonists Well, will... impose the field onto his.
Speaker: and pose what happens on the field to his wishes. mm -hmm Absolutely. Very excited for Triantis to get back into the starting lineup. um Caldera? gets his first goal.
Speaker: in his MLS career. Um, I thought it was a great goal too. Like I thought his move. And he's just like... it's clear this kid just has goal scoring instinct. It's clear he's just a baller. I'm just going to say it right now. I think he's just a fucking baller like Tanny was. Like.
Speaker: The dude just knows how to score. like And it doesn't even look like he's trying very hard. Like. Maybe that is why I didn't think he did so well in Atlanta, because it didn't look like he was trying that hard.
Speaker: But in this game... He's just like... all over everywhere and is like He's also collecting the ball and like... holding up play really well and it doesn't even look like he's trying like it looks he's very cool Like he's like.
Speaker: and in that goal he just makes a correct move and just it's just it's a striker's goal it's just a goal scorer's goal i'm just very excited that he's on our squad Like...
Speaker: And that he's developed in a pretty short amount of time. Like he joined the squad. What? in the middle of summer. like when he was As soon as he was eligible to join. he joined and then just trained and slowly worked his just balling with the second team Just...
Speaker: scoring goals for fun basically with the second team and then gets promoted to the first team immediately makes an impact substituting into matches. assists Joaquin Pineda a handful of times.
Speaker: Like. And now he's starting and he's still contributing. And is looking better and better every game. like There's a lot of optimism out of this match. like Probably too much.
Speaker: But... maybe the more exciting part isn't what we can do this season but maybe what we can do more in the future. Like maybe the sprint season will be. a bit more special for us. but There's still more games to play this season. We still have a chance to creep into the playoffs and see what the team can do, but...
Speaker: Yeah. Um... What else do we want to talk about? we should probably get Yeah. Gonzales. um what do you think about gonzalez it's so fun Yeah.
Speaker: It seems like a bizarre thing to say, but wouldn't he be great on a loan to USLC team? That's what you said last time. I think i i think he might get loaned. Yeah, you make it. I think he should.
Speaker: It starts with Maurice coming in. Yeah. But like he's great. He's good depth But, man, you can definitely see this. He's also making impact. He scores goals. like It's not like he doesn't deserve to be on the squad. It's just now.
Speaker: our attackers are We actually... are getting some depth. Yeah. Yeah. But like Tani, when we loaned him down to to the USLC, he scored like...
Speaker: insane amounts for that it's more like 23 goals or something yeah something crazy And you definitely could see that he would absolutely burn. the uslc for half a season and then he'll come back up and be like This is my team now.
Speaker: And. I'm just going to make it my team. And it can't stop me. I would not be, I would actually be thrilled if he got. a a loan to uslc or maybe like a a a tier two.
Speaker: european squad because like the transfer window is still happening for another week. So... A lot can happen in a week. um I'm very happy for him. like ah Obviously, this is kind of the perfect ideal example of like... what the attack can be because basically everybody scored in this game.
Speaker: Panetta scored, Yeboah, Braze, Caldera, and Gonzalez all scored, but... it it It seems like there's a lot of different directions that the attack can go. And Caldera has quickly risen into being my favorite prospect on the team.
Speaker: Um. Like, besides Jen. Because Jen's my boy. um But... Yeah. I'm i'm pretty pretty happy. um I think it's just good delivery by Pereira, too. And Gonzalez has proven that he...
Speaker: knows where the net is. And Ken. has a good header So he just kind of deflects it into the net. Um... And it's just kind of how the match goes for San Jose. um Moving on, I did not...
Speaker: seek out the footage of this happening, but apparently Bruce Arena got pelted with a Modelo. Um... And... Trouble, waste of beer. It is. That is a waste of beer. It's also kind of like poor, like... Do we really need to do that? It's like 16 bucks. Your team was kind of shit, and then Bruce Arena came in, and now you're not shit anymore. And just because you're in a slu in a slump doesn't mean you...
Speaker: throw shit at the coach like not just like shit kind of embarrassing but like they've always been shit. I remember they had a time where they had a Mexican coach. And they were like,
Speaker: San Jose is your second team because they play this really entertaining type of soccer, except they just lose. almost every game, and they're terrible. And it's like, oh.
Speaker: i mean Imagine how good they would be if they still had Christian Espinosa. yeah i'm never not gonna bring that up by the way i just think that's hilarious I think it's hilarious. It's so MLS.
Speaker: that would That would happen in MLS. It was the most um MLS thing to ever happen that a front office just forgets to file the paperwork. Like somebody had it in the Google calendar wrong or something like the deadline for paperwork. And then nobody took the initiative to actually fucking get it done.
Speaker: Um. Yeah, wow. Um... Yeah. so I can see it. This is kind of a game that can collapse. the morale of a team.
Speaker: Because it wasn't just one player getting really hot. It was like the entire other team just started crushing you. Oh yeah, we absolutely steam. I mean, they also just really... like i said after we went up 2 -1 their like structure just kind of fell apart um And then I think that's mostly just due to their. their vibes, their morale. like they just kind of got broken and then we pounced On it. And the fans are very mad at the moment.
Speaker: because of not to get too far into the weeds, but Gavin. Wilkinson just got hired there. I forgot about that. Everybody has a rant in the pocket about this guy. uh but it is single -handedly.
Speaker: A dumb decision. It's super. stupid and also doesn't slot very closely with bruce arena's past in terms of like yeah Probably not the most...
Speaker: PC guy to have in your room and then you hire another person that has the reputation for be being kind of an asshole Yeah, it's just... it It makes no sense.
Speaker: it's he got hired right the tail spiral of like And that's KC. And that really soured the fans. And now they're hiring him in San Jose, and that's sour to fans.
Speaker: Yeah, it's like... Making Deshaun Watson your starting quarterback. Why? You don't need to do that. There's mistakes you make in life where it's very clearly you chose to make this decision.
Speaker: after thinking about it. after going through the option when everything was screaming at you that this is not a good idea and they just go out and do it Yeah, I bet. I have no idea what's happening in San Jose right now. um They did just sign Edward Leuven, though. from St. Louis, which is actually a really great. Pick up. because he's a really great player.
Speaker: Um, St. Louis is actually in a really interesting position right now because they've been playing pretty good ball, but then they just sold. One of their best players. yeah Okay, so know Edward Lowen, if if the fans are unaware of this, this is the guy who the club went through.
Speaker: ah His wife had cancer. Yeah. And He wanted to be there to support her, and the club was supportive of him. And his wife's about with cancer, and then she passed away. Very sad. Brought the whole fandom together.
Speaker: ah And now they've decided. yeah we weren't still got we weren't thinking of signing you long term so Midway through the season, yeah, I can just go now. According to Tom Bogert,
Speaker: Um... they are Lovins. uh camp approached the club and the club was kind of wishy -washy on it and that's bad.
Speaker: Um... especially like what you just said what he went through what his family went through. um earlier this year is like pretty awful but really good business from san jose and apparently minnesota was in that mix which I was like...
Speaker: We seem to have our fingers in a lot of pies, but never are never the team to sign a proven player in MLS, really. at all. Um... Chonkai... wasn't really proven when we signed him. We just got a really good deal on him, and then we signed Julian Grussell because...
Speaker: We were pretty desperate for, I think, locker room leadership. and Keep... has one you know And let's go. MLS Cup. i'm a less cup so We signed Drake Callender. Out of nowhere. That's true. We needed to though. Like, we needed a fucking keeper. And honestly, we didn't even talk about Calendar. We knew there was just this great keeper sitting on like on the bench. Calendar had couch out there maybe his best performance. like You can't fault him for not saving a penalty.
Speaker: Um... yeah he might He probably would have gotten a shutout if we hadn't conceded the penalty because he looks really strong. yeah he had five big saves All five of his recorded saves were pretty big.
Speaker: Yeah. um Looks really good and really confident. So Brett like The team was firing on all cylinders, which Hasn't really happened all season. like Even our wins earlier in the season, the team had to claw back after... like conceding early goals.
Speaker: uh earlier than the season like we have not had a decisive win like this for a very long time so we were just due Really, really just way overdue for something like this. um Yeah. Back to San Jose, they just had Edward Levin, and hopefully that means they have more chance creation for midfield, and Timo Werner can be...
Speaker: further up the pitch and be the one putting those chances away. And also they have Preston Judd. Preston Judd. is a really good player. as well. Um. I think they'll be fine.
Speaker: Um... This is a good pickup for them. They just need to settle. Like things just need to settle down. Um... Yeah. but that's it we i think we covered every single angle of that san jose match um Yeah, our next match is home.
Speaker: We could have talked about the stadium for like another 10 minutes. but Oh yeah. We didn't even talk about the baby. There's a baby on the field. Yeah. just It's not the first time a baby has been on the field. No, apparently it's happened before, which I thought was hilarious.
Speaker: just like You keep the family off the field so they don't get hysterical. You have a staff member just come up and scoop them and then hand them off. And not just hair them off. But the person on the field scoops the baby up.
Speaker: hands it to so to a staff member on the side, and then that person will hand it to the parents. And that baby looked like they were having the time of their life. they were They were having so much fun on that pitch.
Speaker: I'm glad the action was at the other end because... that could turn into a dangerous situation with a little baby and a bunch of men sprinting around. Um. But ah yeah, that was funny.
Speaker: um Anything else you want to say about this match before we preview? Orlando? No I'm good. The stadium's weird. Oh shit, we have... We have a report. We have live... Reporting from, uh...
Speaker: from gortz because gortz was on site for this match i'm sure he will talk about it next week as well <unk> We'll let him talk about it next week. but like yeah Spoiler. Stadium of weird.
Speaker: Yeah, he says his name was weird and the supporter sections were weird because there was two of them. and they were split and they did not have chance that were in sync which is kind of wild Um.
Speaker: Yeah, we'll let Gortz talk about that next week. um Our next match is... next are This coming Saturday against Orlando. It'll be very interesting because Orlando has looked...
Speaker: Really, really good since Antoine Griezmann. has joint. They look like a really good team. And... Maxime Crapeau. has been writing. His World Cup performance, he's looked...
Speaker: Leagues better. than he did in the first half of the season he was one of the worst goalkeepers in the league in the first half and now i haven't checked up on the stats but the eye test and also i think You play a little bit better when you have Antoine Griezmann on your roster. um So...
Speaker: He's been taking advantage of that. Um... Andrew. What do you think about this match? what Do you have any predictions? do you How do you think it's going to go? I think we got out a win.
Speaker: They've got Antoine Griezmann but... And Miami had Messi.
Speaker: I think Messi is better than Griezmann. true Orlando could have had Yadim.
Speaker: yeah we'll talk I'll we' definitely say his name next week. But they had you don't know how to play that's not going to play for Real Madrid. On the squad. like two years ago. uh, That would make them insane. It's definitely just one of those teams that... They have plans.
Speaker: And they set it up. but they never execute fully very well. I think Griezmann's... covering over a lot of paper. He's papering over a lot of cracks and holes in the wall.
Speaker: And I think. If we perform. Anywhere near as we did against San Jose will win. pretty nicely. If we play as defensively as we know this team can.
Speaker: We'll stifle him for a... Fairly hard. they won't. We won't get a clean sheet this game, I don't think. But I do think we have a good chance of winning. Um, we really need to be better defensively i think just in general our defensive structure has suffered as of late obviously if we decide that we can score goals again it's a little different like if we're it's like basically
Speaker: If you have Ramsey ball on one side of the spectrum and you have the 2024. la galaxy on the other end like if we decide we score goals we're gonna be more towards the la galaxy end of the spectrum.
Speaker: But if we are looking as... Like if the status quo of the team is our attack looks very uninspired and can't really do a whole lot. I would rather us look... more defensively structured and to not get caught in transition moments.
Speaker: Easier said than done. Also... We continue to like concede goals early in matches. like This is the trend of the season. The 5 -1 performance at San Jose is probably going to be an outlier. So I really would like us to focus.
Speaker: on not conceding goals and just be in the match through the first half. And then... Just like we need a good home performance. And that starts with good defense. I would really like us to beef that up. a little bit.
Speaker: um I think we will see Caldera and Uboa up top. I think that's obviously. a pretty great combo, especially if you're Boa. confidence is back but even so just having caldera in there Potato seems to have good Um. chemistry with him.
Speaker: um And Owen Jen has looked great. um over the past few matches in the attack so We'll just kind of see what team shows up. um because our home performances have not been great.
Speaker: Um... Maybe more minutes from Triantis. Maybe we see him come in a little bit earlier. Um... Who knows? Would love to see more minutes from him. And we're just going to have to see.
Speaker: I don't think I'm going to be able to make it out to the match just because money is very tight right now. but We'll see if anybody has an extra ticket floating around that I can cop last minute Um...
Speaker: And then maybe I'll be there. And we'll see. Andrew, you gonna be there? Oh yeah. I've got Caesar tickets. That's right. Yeah. You do.
Speaker: Well, I hope you enjoy it And I hope we see a good Lunas performance. And... With that... I think we're done. We have reached the hour point. Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. Do you have anything?
Speaker: Anything more you want to say? Andrew. Oh, no, I'm pretty happy everything going on. Very nice. Very nice. Well, I'm glad we had a win to discuss today And I hope our listeners also liked that we have positive things to say about the team.
Speaker: um Yeah. Please leave us a review on your podcast app of choice. If you would like, it really does help people find the podcast. A lot of nice people have left reviews on.
Speaker: Apple Podcasts. Thank you so much. If more of of you could do that, that would be great. On Spotify, too. Leave some reviews if you enjoy the show. And, yeah.
Speaker: We will see you next week where we will talk about the Orlando match and perhaps other topics. Alrighty. alrighty We will see you then. bye-bye Bye Bye.
