3rd Degree the Podcast #237

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Well, hello there, F C. Oh, shit. Hold on. Yeah. FCO shit. [00:00:06] Speaker B: FCO shit. That sounds pretty apt. [00:00:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Ooh. Third degree. The third degree. Nap pocket. Third degree. The third degree. Never guess third degree. Never guess third degree. Never guess third degree. [00:00:35] Speaker C: The podcast is brought to you by Soccer 90. Com. You can shop all the latest arrivals over there. They got cleats, shinguards, gloves, jerseys, sweatshirts, hoodies. I mean, you name it, they got it. All the stuff. US FC Dallas Domestic, International Soccer 90 Dot third degree. Listeners use code third degree at checkout, get 20% off. Some exclusions do apply. [00:00:58] Speaker A: Well, hello there, FC Dallas. Curious fan. Welcome to the now annual, at least for the last 27 years. There's always next year episode of Third Degree, the podcast. Hi, I'm Peter, and yes, the trio is together once again to just. In fact, we're all awake and ready to do this because it is the end of a season. Seattle Sounders won FC Dallas Nil. Seattle wins the series two games to one. Dallas's season is over once again, as we've all come know, pretty much expect here in our little fiefdom of fun, or whatever you want to call it. I don't know. I don't know where I'm going with this. I'm just trying to mentally prepare for the next hour of discussing an end of another season, and I'm not doing a very good job with it. First, he is awake and alive and ready to go, with a brand new microphone, no less. It's Dan Crook. Howdy, Dan. [00:02:01] Speaker B: I am awake. Hello. [00:02:03] Speaker A: Listen to how clear you sound, sir. I love. [00:02:08] Speaker B: Are you kind of over the anxiety from the weekend? From the morning's game, that is. [00:02:15] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. Since we last talked, your club has played. My club, although you're a native and I'm adopted, so you probably deserve something out of that game, if I'm being honest with you, sir. [00:02:28] Speaker C: Jesus. [00:02:29] Speaker A: Yeah, sorry about that. That's all right. You'll probably best us at home when you get us later. And of course, your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. And recent birthday boy, it is the original editor, founder of Third Degree Net, Buzz Carrick. Come in, Buzz. [00:02:53] Speaker C: So, Peter, you're telling me that game three of the playoffs has happened? I must have missed that game. I don't remember that at all. [00:03:00] Speaker A: You've just blanked it out of your mind. [00:03:04] Speaker C: There's a black spot this weekend. [00:03:11] Speaker A: All right, I want to pause before we get into the game itself, because I want to talk about breaking news that happened today that I think is of high significance, which is the club announced today the departure of Marco Feruzi. And in my head this is significant because it definitely means that Marco is not the soon to be announced interim manager again for the eleventeenth time. That's a dude that's been around this club for a really long time, Buzz, and he's leaving to go take another gig and I think that's something that makes good sense to start the pod off with. [00:03:48] Speaker C: Yeah. He was hired in 2004 by Colin Clark to be his assistant. And then he basically was an assistant for everybody that came after him through up till Lucci. And he was interim manager twice. And the second time was. [00:04:03] Speaker A: Was it only twice? I thought it was more than that. [00:04:06] Speaker B: Three times, wasn't it? [00:04:07] Speaker C: Well, I can't find any record of games from the article that the team put out said 2013, but if you look at 2013, that's all Shellis. I think Shellis left after the season. So unless they named Marco Interim for like a month or two while they were still training or something, I don't remember. [00:04:25] Speaker B: Yeah, they probably had the. When the CBA used to dictate that you had to train to a certain date after the. [00:04:35] Speaker C: Ah, yes, that would make sense. But he only coached twice as an interim coach. One when Steve Mara was fired and the other was when Lucci was fired. But when Lucci was coach, he became director of soccer operations. And then when he took over for Lucius, interim coach after that, they made him director of methodology, which is all kind of. Those are various versions of front office Mumba Jumbo where you're in charge of evaluating coaches and making sure that the system all up and down the club is played the same way and you can give it whatever titles you want to. But Marco was a great asset for this club for a long, long time. He was in charge of college scouting since about 2011, I think. So a lot of the picks that have really panned out, you have to give him a whole lot of credit for your Ryan Hollingsheads, your Nicosi Tafares, for example, of recent, you know, he's from San Antonio and I think after he went all in on the coaching job after that, it probably didn't get it for the second time. The variety was probably on the wall. He would eventually leave his son Diego left the academy this last May, and then obviously Marco was staying around or not. Obviously, I assume he was probably staying around with some for that, but he's been a great piece of the program here for a long, long time. And if this club has been successful, he certainly, in a lot of ways they haven't won as many titles as you like, but a lot of overall relative know he's been a big part of that. And San Antonio's getting a good hire. [00:06:13] Speaker A: It will be interesting to see what kind of success he has down in San Antonio. That's a good organization, and since that's his hometown, that'll be fun to pay attention to. All right, well, I thought that was. Unless Dan or you have anything else you want to include about that. I just thought that was like Buzz. [00:06:32] Speaker B: Said, the writing was kind of on the wall when he was interim coach, one of his last, I think his last press conference after the win over Austin, he said, look, this is the job I want. There's not really any going back to a front office role after that. And good friend. He's a huge part of the club for a very long time, great guy, and hopefully this just job with San Antonio is one he's excited for. And it may not be on the bench, but like you said, part of a really good organization and going home. [00:07:13] Speaker A: Thank you, Marco, for your service to our fine club. All right here, let's get into it. The season, another season has come to an end without an MLS cup as Seattle beat Dallas one nothing up at their giant NFL stadium. And it pretty much played out exactly as we all thought it would, especially considering the news when we found out that Jesus wasn't going to play due to injury. And obviously Velasco was done for the season. It just never, ever felt over the course of 90 minutes that Dallas had any chance they were going to get something out of this. Did it, Buzz? [00:07:51] Speaker C: No. I had known that Jesus was going to. I had reported that Jesus was a game time decision. The people that I had talked to were not super optimistic he was going to get cleared, and that turned out to be the case. The tactical change the club made, Nico made was to put Obrion in straight up, put him in for Jesus Ferreira. That left Kamungo on the right and Paul on the left, which had been working fairly well. The one sort of tactical shift they made was they rotated the midfield just a little bit, and that meant that there was a little more of a clear double pivot. And Paxton was definitely playing anywhere, depending on the moment. Certainly when they were in the offensive third, he was playing about 510 yards higher, so he could press mostly so he could press next to Urban and try and turn Seattle over and take advantage of them. The problem is that by doing that, by putting Paxton up there in more of this more chen like role, even if you're more of a pressing situation, is that you left Yaramindi and Frazier basically outman three to two behind you most of the game. Not that Paxton is not willing to put in a shift and get back, but it's still not the same thing. And when you're talking about Fraser being a less possession oriented player passer than the person he effectively is replacing Alan Velasco, that's not 100% accurate, but that's basically what happened. They just ended up having to try to bypass the midfield and none of it really worked. And it's odd that when you have two guys up there with a lot of vertical component and Camuno and Obrion, Seattle ran a really high line and they were just not able to get behind them at all. Everything Dallas tried was ineffective, demonstrated by the fact they had one shot on the day and that shot came from Nakosi Tafari when he went up and played forward in the last ten minutes of the game or whatever it was. So they just got dominated across the field pretty much. And it was not a good day for FC Dallas. And now they are still one win there in their entire history. And that's the fifth time in a decade that Seattle's eliminated them from the. [00:09:51] Speaker A: Mean as it was, we all anticipated and expected it to come out this way, but it was nonetheless very disappointing, especially because the team just, again, maybe it's playing in Seattle, maybe it's the surface, maybe it's the knowing going into the game that you're missing these two critical components, but to put the game together where you essentially go the entire game without even putting a shot, not just a shot on goal, but a shot at all, it just feels like a really weak way to end a season. [00:10:22] Speaker C: Yeah, you knew it was going to be tough sledding, but compared to the game one, when you had a couple of opportunities early, that, especially Jesus Ferreira, that if you felt like you could have gotten them, the series would have been completely different. [00:10:35] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:10:36] Speaker C: And you really lent that going forward. You're going to be like, man, if we'd have just gotten one or two of those, we might have taken that game and then we would have won it at home. You're really going to be upset about that. And maybe that everyone recognizes that Jesus is such a talisman that once he was out out, everything was flat because I really felt like watching the game and I picked Nikosi Tafari as my man of the match because I really felt like he was the only one that showed like a warrior. Like, even when they put out the know, social media stuff, you could see him walking around, that he was sort of up for it. And even by his play, I thought, man, this guy is here today and he's dialed in. And he was aggressive and strong and powerful and intimidating. And the fact that he had the one shot was amazing. And really it was a testament both to how good he was and the fact how flat everybody else was. I mean, there were guys know, put up some decent stat numbers. Paul Ariola had a couple of good stats, er, Mendy had a couple of good stats, but in the context of what was actually happening, it was just complete domination by Seattle across the board. And I was really struck by in this series how bigger and physical Seattle is compared to Dallas across the board. When we joke about FC short, but over those three games, it was such a massive disparity that it really took a toll, I think, on Dallas and it really takes a toll on the turf. And Seattle's aggressive, like particularly at home, they really fly around whenever they lose the ball. They try and counterpress really quickly and they get stuck in hard, as you would say. And when they're at home, the crowd's on the referee, the crowds in their support, they don't get called for that very much. And they just stifled this game and shut it down and just bullied FC Dallas all over the field. [00:12:11] Speaker A: Dan, you got any general overview, thoughts, reactions, feedback about the game you want to. [00:12:21] Speaker B: Yeah, it went out of a whimper. It's frustrating when you look back at the first game, can certainly understand why Paxton was in that more advanced role, given the pressing that created Dallas'two best opportunities in that first game. But you didn't have Jesus Ferreira there to get on the end of. [00:12:49] Speaker C: A. [00:12:50] Speaker B: Bit of a disappointing one, especially watching certain Mr. Jimenez pull out of a 50 50 a goal behind in stoppage time. [00:13:02] Speaker A: That's an Edwin Giossi level faux paw. [00:13:06] Speaker B: As a fan, at least. Edwin Giasi just sat down and got off the field so someone else could get on know? [00:13:15] Speaker A: Yeah, fair point. My real frustration with this game buzz, and this has been a bit of a frustration for long parts of the season and we've talked about the need for a better center back and as good as Tafari was in aspects of the game, one of my concerns about Nikosi long term in terms of national team call ups and his long term potential is his inconsistency in his ability to pass the ball more than ten yards and he and Sebastian were really poor at getting the ball out of the back. It's weird to me because Sebastian Ibiaga can neither pass the ball out of the back in a long distance and he can't carry the ball out of the back. Tafarai is pretty spotty about long passes out of the back. He can do it every once in a while, but what he's very clearly good at that. I don't think we see enough. That I really hope we get to see more of is him carrying the ball out of the back. That's a skill set. I've only seen him do it a few times. He did it two or three times in this particular game and I think the kids got something there. [00:14:30] Speaker C: Yeah, he definitely added that to his bag in the back half of the season. You're right, he is consistent with the line out of the back, but when he hits it right on the money, it really is decisive. You can think of the games at home where he's really broken teams open with that kind of play. I wonder if the turf difference in the way the ball releases could be a little bit of a problem there. I did notice when I was looking at the stats that Ibiaga had, for some reason significantly more touches than. And they almost like they played out through Ibiaga for some reason, which is really weird because you're. No, you don't do that. So without having gone and analyzed tape, I do wonder if Morris was basically tracking Tafari and making it very difficult for them to build out through him. Which is a pretty smart thing to do because as we clearly demonstrated, Ibihaga with the goal is not a particularly great passer out of the back. And that giveaway is one of the worst. Playing out of the back goes the wrong moments you can imagine. Particularly because he was way out of position when he did it, and then also stood know incredulous that no one was helping him play know and then let them just run like a track meet right up through the gut to Rusnak, who ran past Yaramindi, who admittedly is not super fast, and again right through Pause's wickets. And I couldn't help but thank God if Martin would gut and just another little half of an inch on that ball, we might not have gone in. But such a meltdown moment. And really that's one of the overall problem that Dallas was having on the day, is like they were not able to go to their defense and then play up with outside backs and then through the midfield. That was gone. Seattle took that away. Running this mid block and the play up over to the top, straight to the fours, wasn't working. So it was just a complete disarm of everything Dallas was trying the whole day. Seattle really, defensively was masterful. [00:16:20] Speaker A: Yeah, it just felt like 90 minutes of recycling the ball back to Seattle just to give them another opportunity. Now, Seattle didn't make a lot out of all the. I mean, for a team that literally had all the opportunity in the game, they didn't make as much danger and opportunity out of it than you would probably expect out of a game like. I mean, they obviously dominated the game, but to only have four shots on goal the entire game, considering how much of the ball they had in Dallas's end of the field, wasn't that great. I don't know how that pretends for Seattle the rest of the playoffs, but I want to get back to the Tafari thing, which is the guy has got more skill on the ball and in carrying the ball forward than I was aware of. And I've seen it in little bits and starts, and I don't know if Nico is the kind of coach that would accept having a center back that carries the ball out and progresses it himself. I know that's not a typical tactical style, but there are people that have made careers out of that and done very well with it. And I just wonder if there's more to that. If he's allowed to do it. Could really be a weapon for this team moving forward. [00:17:36] Speaker C: Yeah, anytime you can line break, it's a positive, whether you do it with a progressive dribble or progressive pass. I haven't specifically asked Coach Nico about that component. I will say that, generally speaking, he's not a big proponent of people leaving their defensive position. [00:17:51] Speaker A: That's what I was worried about. [00:17:52] Speaker C: He's a big structure guy, a big shape guy, but at least in terms of the middle. I mean, Junko was three for four on take ons, and Tuamasa usually has three or four take ons, too, so they're okay with guys on the outside attempting that kind of stuff. Straight up carries is a different question in this game. Interestingly, they don't have Tafari written down as having more than just one progressive carry. [00:18:24] Speaker A: Really? [00:18:25] Speaker C: Yeah, progressive. He had 33 carries, but so did Ibiaga. The idea of dribbling past somebody is unusual now. It's very. Am I wrong? [00:18:35] Speaker A: Did he not do that two or three times? [00:18:37] Speaker C: Oh, no. I thought he did, too, but maybe the defender is not close enough. Then to score it that way. Because after you said it, I was looking it up to think, oh, you're right, he really did do that. I wonder how many had. And it's just one officially from FB ref. That doesn't mean that you're not right. He also had multiple occasions where, and again, this is part, I think, in this game because they were not able to get the ball to Frazier and Era Mendy, maybe because they were outman three to two. As I mentioned, he was probably dribbling up through that line more than you might ordinarily where he would ordinarily try and pass it. And that's probably why Ibiaga ends up trying to make that pass. He's trying to find guys that they're unable to find. So I imagine that those things are responses to the game situation. I agree with you. I did like it when Ibiaca did that. I would like him to do it more because there's been. [00:19:21] Speaker A: You mean Tafari? [00:19:22] Speaker C: I'm sorry. Yes, Tafari. I would like him to do it more because you remember he did that against LA Galaxy. There were like three plays that he cut off with intercepts where he then took the ball and dribbled up and one of them was that great through ball to Bernie where he dribbled up closer to midfield. So a lot of that is just confidence from him when he feels like. [00:19:41] Speaker A: He'S good on the ball. He has now repeatedly beaten defenders or midfielders and moved the ball forward with the ball at his feet and you just don't see a lot of that in this league. [00:19:54] Speaker C: Yeah, well, he's approaching, but is not yet to the peak of his career. He still has a couple of seasons, I think, to where he can progress and coach and other people have talked about how there is still room there and hopefully that'll be one of the next phases of his game, is improving the passing out of the back in terms of consistency and also distributing a dribble out, that'd be nice. [00:20:15] Speaker A: Well, when we're spending five minutes talking about a center back, carrying the ball forward and progressing the ball and taking the only shot of the game for the team, that pretty much encapsulates just what a crappy game overall it was for everybody else. And I don't know how much time or detail we want to get into it, Dan or Buzz, but we've seen this every season in some way, shape or form. It just feels like another Matt way to end an FC Dallas season, unfortunately. [00:20:49] Speaker C: Yeah. The thing that annoys me the most about this game is that the line of subs, the. Okay, we're going to have to go for it. Who we got? And it's JJ. Jesus Cimenez. And it's Dante Seeley. Now listen. [00:21:03] Speaker A: And the answer, Ansa, who, by the way, between the three of them have a combined one goal on the season. Do you know who the one out of the three scored the goal? [00:21:12] Speaker C: I'm going to guess it's Dante. [00:21:14] Speaker A: Dan, take a guess. [00:21:17] Speaker B: It was Anza. [00:21:18] Speaker A: It was it. [00:21:20] Speaker B: He had a goal and assist, I think, in back to back games and then kind of just fell off the. [00:21:24] Speaker C: Face of the know in the. In terms of when they came in the first group was JJ. Sorry, let me start that over. Onta was earlier for Camungo, but that wasn't a get a goal sub. That was because Bernie got his ankle rolled up by Gio Palo on a tackle and then struggled for, like the next 30 minutes before they subbed him out. But the two that came together at 70 minutes marks, which is this coach, 65, 70 minutes. The roll the dice. Let's go see if we can get. This, was Dante Sealy and Jimenez. I'm actually okay with ANsA. The fact that it was Jimenez was all you had left. Or Dante Sealy, who, despite the fact we think there's some potential, there is nowhere near being actually able to impact a game. Those two guys who you had is just awful. [00:22:13] Speaker A: Well, yes, and I'm glad you've kind of headed off in this direction because I think this is where the meat of this particular episode is going to get into. Because, Dan, my question to you is, do you feel like me, that the real bummer about this game isn't necessarily the performance itself, it's that there's just no sense in what this thing is today. Feels like there's a ton of potential in 2024 unless they make significant changes. [00:22:43] Speaker B: Yeah, I think just watching towards the end of the game, bringing on him and as bringing on Anzo, you turn into Siki at the last second and they've got Rui Diaz Ladero. It's, you know, FCD is a very thin roster. We know Nico likes to have a thinner roster anyway. But last year things worked out injury wise. This year they didn't. There's got to be quite a bit of change in the bottom end of the roster, and the bottom end of the roster is kind of where they've cut the spending onto allow for the Alan Velascos and allow for Jesus and Paxton's current salaries and what do you kind of take away to allow you to have a more well rounded roster in the long run? [00:23:48] Speaker C: I think my big takeaway from this season before we move on is that how brutal home field advantage it is and how important it is. It's 75% in MLS as it's been documented by people during the regular season. When you get to the playoffs, it's even worse. And so if you want to give yourself an actual chance to advance in the playoffs, you really need to get some home field advantage. And this season, as Dan just mentioned, the decimation of the injuries cost you significantly. They didn't happen last year, they did this year. And that's the difference really in the end between these two seasons because the club is basically the same. Right. We talked about coming into the season, they didn't really advance the team very much, only a little bit. So at some point, if you're not going to spend huge and be one of the biggest teams in the league, you got to give yourself an advantage of home field, at least in some of these early games, if you're going to give yourself a chance at all. And that's what it comes down to. [00:24:36] Speaker B: To that point, Seattle, that is the biggest home field advantage there is in the league. There's nothing that comes close to a 40,000 seat stadium and that particular turf because it's that little bit different from what Atlanta has. We talk about things like the ball holding up differently on turf compared to grass. And then you watch the kind of cuts away at halftime before the game and the field guys are watering one end and not the other. So the ball zips when FC Dallas kicks it field and it just holds up nicely when Seattle does. I remember in a year that they trained on the field and it was basically bereft of those rubber crumbs. And then when they came to actually play on game day, the field was black with rubber crumbs. Just to completely change the behavior of the surface. Getting paired up with Seattle pretty much every time is such an issue when you do have to go up there. So, yeah, if you play them twice at home, potentially a different story. [00:25:51] Speaker A: Well, certainly Dallas look completely different in Dallas or in Frisco than they did in either of the two Seattle games. And again, I think that just comes down to the surface and the atmosphere and just kind of a mental attitude about all of it. [00:26:05] Speaker C: Yeah. Everything that affects the regular season, home versus away, gets ramped up even more under the pressure playoffs. Yeah. [00:26:11] Speaker A: And the other thing to think about and the differences between the roster construction differences between Dallas and Seattle is just consider that Seattle's two big stars, their version of Jesus and Velasco, in many ways it feels weird to say it, are guys that are sitting on the bench in Ladero and Rui Diaz. Those guys aren't starting anymore. And so I think, at least on paper, their backups have been starting for this team for a while and performing and turning out results. And so when they need to go to the bench, they can throw those two big names on and really help them move a game along. And I think that, to me, that's the difference there. And I think the biggest, most alarming thing out of this season is that when Jesus Ferreira went down, you couldn't even call on your literal number nine to take his place to start the game. [00:27:10] Speaker C: Yeah, well, it's clear that that was a failed move. By the way, credit to Brian Schmetzer, who has both the authority and the skins on the wall in the playoffs. He's now like the second or third most winning coach in the history of MLS playoffs. To pull that off and have the backing to be able to bench guys that are like these superstar players when they know that it's better. I mean, obviously Jesus is really young, so that's not a thing. But if Jesus was 32, you might be having that conversation. The Seattle roster, the fact that they have superstars and giant salaries that are on the bench because their team is so good and so deep that they can do that. I had somebody this week tell me that there was a quote from the owner. I think it was the owner, maybe it was the technical director of Seattle. Sorry, I don't know exactly who it was. The quote was something like, our academy is set up to find players to help us win, not pick up players to help us sell and make money. And he was talking about at Dallas, obviously, and I thought it was a really interesting comment because it's very know, Dallas is not a. We think everyone we talked to that Dallas was not a particularly profitable franchise prior to their ability to sell players for money from their academy. Seattle has that luxury. Seattle packs that place out. They're one of the highest revenue teams. As far as my understanding of how things work in this league and the whole. [00:28:29] Speaker A: They make money. [00:28:30] Speaker C: Yeah, they make a lot of money. Seattle does. They can afford to hire these big time players. The only thing they do with their academy is that once every three or four or maybe a decade player comes through, that's a superstar, then they sign them and they bring them in and the rest of them, they don't give a crap. Dallas can't afford that. Dallas is a completely different situation, a completely different club and a completely different money situation. And so if you look at the rosters, you can look at Dallas'roster has know all over the bottom end of the roster, usually maybe not quite as much. This year, has these homegrowns everywhere filling up big chunks of the roster, and so allowed Dallas to be competitive in this league without spending money like some of the big spending clubs do. Seattle doesn't have that problem. So their roster is filled up with dudes who can all play and all compete at that higher level because they can afford it and they're willing to spend. And Dallas is not even in the Cap league. There's difference in budgets and there's a difference in how you pay players and the kind of players you go get. And the rosters, in the end, I think, are the difference between these two teams. [00:29:24] Speaker A: I know we're going to play dump or keep here in just a second, but the one theory that I have, Buzz, and I'm interested in both your opinions, if you feel I'm right, I feel like the genesis to the failure of the 2024 season is the reality that the bet that they made in 2023 that we applauded them for, which was going out and getting Areola and legit, was successful last season and we thought it was a great thing. But it also came with this great risk, which is you have so much invested in those two guys that are pushing towards the end of their careers that if either one or both of them fall flat or get injured, you really put yourself in a corner. And unfortunately for the Hunts, both of those guys flattened out. And I do believe that's the beginning of the end for 2024. [00:30:21] Speaker C: You mean 2023? 2024 is next year. [00:30:23] Speaker A: I'm sorry. [00:30:24] Speaker C: Yeah, sorry. I got you. Yeah, I know what you meant. [00:30:28] Speaker A: Just take everything I said and reduce it by one year. You know What I meant? [00:30:34] Speaker C: I was like, wait, what? No, I got it. Yeah, in a sense. No, not in a sense. Very clearly. Look, Paul and Legit, Paul Earl and Smash Legit are combined $2 million, right? That's a massive chunk of your budget. If you're talking about the hunts, they're both Tam gam type players that can be a DP or not be a DP, and one of them comes down by natural way, the other one has to be bought down. They both require a significant amount of cap, and you cannot afford to have that kind of cap sitting there doing nothing. They have a combined three assists. I think it is. Compare that to Obrion who's on 300K by himself who had like six and four or something. Clearly when you have these giant chunks of money that are doing nothing, they have to be able to produce. And Dallas didn't have the luxury of having dudes that could come in and replace them and be great and hold the job down. When they lost legit for big chunks of time, it basically know they had to move Alan in the middle to solve it. When they lost Paul for big chunks of time, they're playing like a Bernie or Dante Thieley kind of players, or an ANSA who's not coming through yet, or an Obion who makes these knuckleheaded decisions. When Seattle has a Rui Diaz or a Lidero get hurt and miss time, their guys come in and it's Jordan Morris or it's roll Dan or it's know. They have these guys that are playing a significantly higher level when they come off the bench so good that those big money players, when they come back, don't get those spots back. Instead they become valuable pieces off the know. Again, those are very fundamental differences between the two rosters that we're looking at. [00:32:15] Speaker A: Well, it just feels like the bet of 22 was what killed 23 because it starts with those two guys. If those two guys are performing, a lot of the other things that went down this season probably wouldn't have had the impact it did. It was just kind of the accumulation of all these. What I get frustrated by in kind of the recap and debriefing of the season, especially at the national level, is all of this discussion about all of the injuries that Dallas dealt with this year. And to me it just feels like that's letting the front office off the hook a little bit because there was things they could have done or prepared for that would have lessened the injury situation if they had made different choices or done some things differently. [00:33:02] Speaker C: Well, the biggest thing I think is the Nicos desire to play a shorter roster, which backfired on. You know, you can look at they lost right back. They lost for a bit, then they lost Giovanni for the year. Paxton was hurt a chunk in the middle of the season. Legit missed most of the season, right? Martinez was supposed to share a lot of time at center back and he did that for a lot of the season. Then he got hurt and it all fell apart in terms of him being able to give guys time right when Bernie was coming through and doing really great things got hurt. Jesus goes to the goal cup and is gone for a long time. He comes back and he's playing the whole back end of the season with what we think is a Hernia sports hernia problem. I definitely think that a massive contribution to the federal season is the overall load of injuries relative to the thinness of the bench. I think that's true. However, you're right. The thinness of the roster that we've just been talking about for ten minutes, and particularly the fall off of Areola and Legit, are the biggest contributions to the problems and why this team ended up in 8th place instead of in fourth place like last year. [00:34:09] Speaker A: Yeah, but I could also make the case that if you had done a better job of finding a backup for Jesus, when Jesus has his injury, you're not left. Oh crap, it's Jimenez. You've got somebody that maybe actually can do something and bang in goals for them when Velasco gets hurt. You didn't go out and sign a guy from the Israeli league. You went out and got somebody that can actually do something. You didn't sell Brandon Sylvania because he could be your backup in the midfield. Although to give them cRedit, the good thing they did. There are good things they did. They signed Elara, who turned out to be fantastic. I thought the Junkwa acquisition was wonderful. He was a great player all season. Hey, Giovanni. Jesus, I don't, you know, I feel like Emma and, well, we can get into this in the dumper keep, but that's probably more appropriate for that. My point is that when you say they had all of these injuries, you're correct. I just feel like if they had just made better choices in their roster construction, a lot of those things may have been mitigated with better roster. [00:35:21] Speaker C: I mean, that's literally what we're talking about is the fact that Seattle's roster can handle this kind of thing. And, you know, now I will push back a tiny bit on the Sylvania thing. At the time they trade him, he wasn't playing at all. Like, he couldn't even get on the field because they had all these players in the midfield. They had too many people in the center of the. They like. That's one reason why they were willing to trade him. And they knew at the time. They knew at the time they needed a striker, and so they were fishing around trying to find anybody that could give them a nine that might be worth anything. And when you combine that with the fact that Toronto ate his cap this year, that basically is a free player. And you rolled the dice and it didn't work. Now, granted, yes. Let's be critical in hindsight. That was an awful choice to do that deal. It was horrible, but I understood why it happened. But they just missed. They miss at night a lot around here. It's not a new thing for sure. [00:36:17] Speaker A: Okay, well, is it time to play dumper keep? [00:36:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. You damn in the mix. Yeah. [00:36:23] Speaker A: Dan, you ready to play dumper keep? Or do you have anything you want to add to that? [00:36:27] Speaker B: No. No. Let's dump some fools. [00:36:29] Speaker A: Okay, we'll go by position. Buzz, how about. [00:36:32] Speaker C: Okay, yeah, whatever. What do you want? [00:36:34] Speaker A: We'll go by position and we'll kind of jam through this. I don't want know get too stuck on. We'll go through goalkeepers. Carrera, obviously keep. Right. We all agree that he may end up being the backup player next year, because the one that you do wonder about is Mr. Mauer and his. [00:36:54] Speaker C: The question here, is Antonio Carrera ready to be number two? I'm going to say, in my opinion, I think he is. I think he's ready. So I'm going to say that if I'm running the team, I offer Jimmy a job coaching in the academy and I move Antonio up to number two, and then I go look around for a third string guy that's a little more of a veteran, maybe pluck somebody from wherever like you did Jimmy a couple of years ago, and you can use an emergency if you have to, but I'm going to say let Jimmy retire and go into coaching. Dan. [00:37:27] Speaker B: I'm going to kind of actually steal a line from you from when we spoke last Wednesday and you said the only thing that kind of prevents that is the idea of would it benefit Antonio Carrera to go out on loan and get regular first team football rather than just sit on a bench? [00:37:51] Speaker C: Yeah, that is a know if you can find him a place to start in the Championship, would. I would agree that that might be better. So, yeah, fair. [00:38:00] Speaker B: You know, there's only so many starting goalkeeper roles in that division. It could be difficult to find him that. But, yeah, I kind of was thinking back to when Richard Sanchez was caught up to the bench and then when Jesse Gonzalez was caught up for his first start, they did the short term loan to the championship, get the early stuff out of him. So even if it was like a short term thing, it'd be good to see. Obviously, he was talking about coming back from the World cup and kind of having that experience of playing against higher quality players. Maybe than he does with North Texas or than he would have got in the academy. So I don't know. It's a tough one. Jimmy's obviously been a great servant to the team. A lot of the players have identified that he would make a great coach. Whether or not that's in his future is kind of on him, but, yeah, certainly the performances we did see this season weren't amazing. He may be a player that if he's not getting that regular start, you're not getting that kind of starter quality from him. [00:39:20] Speaker A: So that takes us to a question that I've had for a while, Buzz, which pertains to Martin Paws and actually, what are all three goalkeepers? Contract situation. [00:39:33] Speaker C: Oh, let me see if I can whip that up real quick. Well, Antonio's got another. Let's see. Where did he go? He was just in front of me a second ago. He's through 2024, and he has options for 25 and 26. I'm pretty sure that Jimmy Mauer is on an option for 24. Yes. And pause is through 25 with 26 and 27 options. So two more years. So Jimmy is an option. You can just decline him? [00:40:07] Speaker A: The one thing that I want to. I don't mean to create concern or worry, but is there any reason to think that after the season Martin had here in Dallas and with his girlfriend living back overseas again, is there any chance, you think that he asks for a sale or a move back to Europe while he's under contract? Because maybe his value is pretty high and they could make some nice coin off of him. [00:40:34] Speaker C: I mean, that would be. It was like, how much money is going to get paid, or how much would the hunts want for him, and how much would an offer be? That's what it would come down. I. I think he's probably not really. This is just one. So, like, I don't think after one season, you're like, I'm out of here. I think it seems unlikely. I think he was pretty all in on Texas culture, so I don't think it'd be this winter. Could be. I mean, if someone comes in with, I don't know, four, five, six mil, dude, he's gone. It's just a question of how somebody values him. [00:41:08] Speaker A: All right, we move on to the defenders. Corsa is. It shows on Buzz's chart here on two option years. Anybody think they're keeping him? Dan? [00:41:18] Speaker B: No. [00:41:19] Speaker C: Yeah, he's a pass for me, too. [00:41:21] Speaker A: I don't even think I can remember seeing him play in a game. I know I did, but I just don't recall anything about at this point. [00:41:26] Speaker C: He's a body. He played right back and a little center back, but it's like he's not a spring chicken. So he's 23 ish, and it's like I didn't see a lot of improvement. So you can always dump him, and then if you get desperate, you call him back up and see what he's doing. [00:41:41] Speaker A: Giovane, Jesus, is. Let's see. He's on injury, obviously, and is probably out for a while, but he's under contract until 2026. Buzz. [00:41:53] Speaker C: He's a keep for me because I thought as he started in the middle of the season, he had finally locked down the right back job. And when you go with a young 22 initiative, the idea is that you're investing in him to try and build him up so you can sell him. It's a player for that's using this as a stepping stone. He should have a lot of upside. So I think there's definitely a keep there for me. [00:42:16] Speaker A: Dan. [00:42:16] Speaker B: Yeah, 100% keep. [00:42:18] Speaker A: Yeah. I always felt all season that if you could take the good, the things that Giovane is good at and the things that Emma are good at, and mush it into one player, you'd have one really hellacious right back at an level, so. Okay. Isaiah Parker. Buzz, I got to tell you, man, this has been a great disappointment. You really lauded this dude when he got drafted two seasons ago, and I've yet to see him play a single game. [00:42:46] Speaker C: Yeah, he is one of the most skilled players, freshmen I've seen coming out of college. Remember, he's a GA player. He's an absolute baller in terms of pure soccer ability. But remember, he was a wing. He was a Dante Seeley, if you will. And they're trying to make him into a left back. So the reason you've not seen him is because this is a defensive first coach. It's all about defensive responsibility and defensive shape and defensive cohesion, and that kid has none of that stuff. He was a three year project, and he's just not played. So I'm going to say at this point, you might as well sign and trade him because there's a mismatch here between him. So that's a dump. It's a version of dump is to trade him, get rid of him, because there's a mismatch here between him and the kind of coach you have here, have players that fit your system, like Sam Junka is. So that's a dump. Be a trade for me. [00:43:35] Speaker A: Okay. [00:43:36] Speaker C: Colin Smith, you can give Dan a take on that. [00:43:39] Speaker A: Oh, sorRy, Dan. [00:43:41] Speaker B: No, you're good. No, we're Buzz on that one. Did they ever abandon the whole converting him to a fullback thing or did they go back to it? [00:43:51] Speaker C: No, as far as I know, he played left back the whole time he was in San Antonio. Played as a loose term. He played at the beginning of the year and then he got hurt. And then while he was out, they switched to a back three, and then when he came back, he never got back into the lineup. So we only played sparingly after that. [00:44:06] Speaker B: I'm thinking North Texas last year when they kind of pushed him and Colin Smith further up just to get more bodies in the team. I think they had too many fallbacks. [00:44:17] Speaker C: Well, that's Palmaduka, wasn't it? [00:44:19] Speaker B: Yeah, true. [00:44:21] Speaker A: All right, so you mentioned him. Colin Smith, Buzz, keep for me, he. [00:44:27] Speaker C: Had a really good season at Birmingham Legion, and because Giovanni Jesus is out till July, August, you're going to need a body. So keep. He can be your backup to Imito Amasi for most of the season and then figure that out when Giovanni comes back. [00:44:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I think he's also got two option years. This is the final year of his original term. So you're kind of looking at extending him, too. [00:45:01] Speaker C: Yeah, he is a homegrown, so he'll be relatively cheap still. It won't be really a lot of money and it'll be protected and off the cap and all that stuff. So easy to keep him on the. [00:45:10] Speaker B: Roster and just if you are, even if he doesn't necessarily project to the first team in the long run, just giving him that little extra contract, you're going to get more from someone than you would just on option years. [00:45:27] Speaker A: All right, he is on two option years. Jose Martinez. Buzz, please tell me they're going to stick him on a slow boat back to Spain and we never see him again. [00:45:39] Speaker C: Well, you want Dan go first on this one? [00:45:41] Speaker B: Arios. [00:45:42] Speaker C: Yeah. Audios. Yeah, there's no way that they're picking him up. He's already in his 30s. He has this physical problem that he can't go 90 minutes. It's a combination of his back or hip or whatever it is, and the Heat that he doesn't do really well in the heat. Strangely, here in Texas, the money is really high for a guy that basically was supposed to be this three man rotation and by the last three months of this season was hardly getting any reps and by the end was not playing at all. I think he played six minutes over the last six games or something like that. So, yeah, he's out. [00:46:15] Speaker A: All right. Sam Junka is on two option years. Buzz, man, they got to pick that kid up and sign him to a deal. [00:46:23] Speaker C: Yeah, keep. Unless the option is insane. And I would even, as you say, offer him like, a contract, like a longer term, like three and plus two maybe, and not go year to year on him and give him a little bit of a reward for having a good season. Not starter money, but I would definitely 100% keep. [00:46:40] Speaker A: He's the only guy on the team that can play both right and left back. [00:46:43] Speaker C: Well, Ema can a little bit. Ema's played some left. [00:46:47] Speaker A: Can he? [00:46:48] Speaker C: Sure. [00:46:48] Speaker B: He's the closest thing you've got to that kind of gluing Ryan Hollingshead type player that can kind of bail you out in a bit of an injury crisis. [00:46:59] Speaker A: I just feel like Emma may be a better right back than Sam is a left back. But if you needed somebody to play both of them, Sam's skill sets probably are more equitable across those two positions than Emma's is. [00:47:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, Sam likes right back better, but Ema played a lot of left wing in college, and he can. [00:47:17] Speaker B: Play forward or not forward forward, but he can play further up the field. He can tuck inside as a center back. I mean, guys just coaches dream. [00:47:26] Speaker C: Junko, you mean? Yeah. [00:47:28] Speaker B: All right. [00:47:28] Speaker A: And speaking of Tua mase, he has one year left on his deal, and then two years after that, his options, Dan. [00:47:39] Speaker B: Yeah, stick with them. I mean, he's had a decent enough season, the first leg of the playoffs. I think he was one of the only decent performers on the team by the end of the game. [00:47:56] Speaker C: Yeah, keep for me, too, especially with, you know, he and Colin Smith, for me, are going to be the right backs going into the season. And then again, you solve that problem, that log jam, when you get to that part of the year where Giovanni Jesus can actually come back and contributE, because remember, just getting in training is not the same as actually being game ready. That takes a long time to come off a knee. So definitely keep him. [00:48:18] Speaker A: Maybe him and Giovanni can have a baby. And we have that kid in the academy here. Oh, my gosh. Baby face. Nolan Norris is next on the list. [00:48:29] Speaker C: I mean, come on, that's a keep. The weird thing about Nolan Norris is that this is a player who is so good that they sign him as a homegrown, having no idea where he's going to play. Like, they don't know yet what position he's going to be he just went and played in F and M games and he started every game and played 90 minutes in every game. At left back with Dallas they tried him at a center back for a while. He's gone out of North Texas and played center back and been great. They tried him as a six a bunch, they've tried him as an eight a bunch. They don't know what he's going to end up being, but they know he's really, really good. So they signed him and they're going to keep him. [00:49:02] Speaker A: At this point in a kid's career. Is that a bad thing though Buzz, that you don't have a sense of what his primary skill sets or his best position is? [00:49:14] Speaker C: No, because in Nolan's case they felt like his physical maturity is not there yet. I know he's, I don't know what he is. 1718 he's around that ballpark maybe he. [00:49:26] Speaker A: Might be 19, Buzz, that's all that matters. [00:49:29] Speaker C: So between now and 22, you don't really know how he's going to fill out, how strong he's going to be, how tall he's actually going to end up. He's probably pretty close, as tall as he's going to be, but you're just kind of waiting to see how he develops, how his game develops, how it alters over the. You play in the midfield or not because he's a really exceptional passer. I mean you remember Dan and I talking about at the beginning of the season, he was the best passing center back on the know, he's a good enough passer that he's good player in midfield. So you just kind of see where it goes. Nothing wrong with riding it and use him in various spots. Maybe he's Ryan Hong said for you that can play like eight different spots over his career. We'll see no reason not to keep him. He's a really great player. [00:50:06] Speaker A: No objections there? No, I'm talking to Dan. No objections. [00:50:10] Speaker B: None whatsoever. And one of the benefits of having a Spanish coach, right, that's kind of the Spanish development path is not knowing where a player is going to actually play until they pass into their 20s almost. [00:50:24] Speaker C: Yeah, I should mad that no one's concerned about it. No one's over there gnashing their teeth inside the club like oh my God, we don't know what to do with, it's like, no, no, they're playing them all over the place to see what. [00:50:33] Speaker A: Know next Mr. Far fan who has two more years on his current deal. [00:50:38] Speaker C: Well that's a keep, obviously, although there was some rumors lately that some people are interested in Belgium or something. But whatever. The thing is though is that back to back seasons, they played him again this massive minute load and again at the end of the season we start to see cracks. This season it happened in the playoffs instead of having with five games left. [00:50:59] Speaker A: But they have what was his injury that kept him out of the, you. [00:51:04] Speaker C: Know, he hurt his ego because Roldan baited him and tricked him. I don't know. They said he was hurt. I have no idea. I can't refute that he was hurt. But the problem was that the performance lags a little bit at the very end of the season and it's not his fault, it's the coach's fault for playing him too many damn minutes. So once again they have to reduce this. And it's ridiculous when you have Sam Junka, who's very serviceable, very solid player, just start him more and give far fans some breaks. It doesn't have to be 30 games difference, just a little bit. [00:51:38] Speaker B: Nico also said, sorry I glitched little brother. Guy Roll done had that early success against Farfan and just kind of figured him out and he struggled against Junker. So it was kind of all right, we'll stick with Junker then. [00:52:00] Speaker A: As well as the fitness, Sebastian Ibiaga has one year left on his deal with two options after that. Buzz. [00:52:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm going to KeEP with a. [00:52:12] Speaker A: Caveat that he's your backup next year, right? [00:52:15] Speaker C: Well, you got to keep him anyway because you can't assume you're going to find another guy. I mean, you could fail that. You're getting another center back and you might have to start him next year, as bad as that sounds. But even if you do find another center back, you definitely keep Ibiaga because you want three centerbacks that can compete like this year. You want Ibiaga to start twelve games and play in 24. You want him to eat up minutes and you want him to eat up some starts. He is a pretty solid guy. He was by every measure, he was better this year than I expected by a long shot, and for his career by a long shot, too. He had a great season. But again, 32, right? He does take care of himself. But you've got to have another center back come in. Even if you do don't have one come in, then you for sure keep him, Seba. And if you are even then you still want to keep him because we've already gotten rid of Corsa. Nolan probably doesn't play center back anymore. You're down to two center know, so you're definitely keeping Ibiaga for sure, which Dan. [00:53:18] Speaker A: I'm sorry. [00:53:19] Speaker B: Yeah, keep him. Like I said, he had a solid year, formed a good partnership. It'd be great if you can get a better center back in to play alongside Tafari, but you want to have a starter quality on your bench, right? [00:53:35] Speaker A: Yeah. And I hope he learns to pass. Nikosi Tafari, they just got to just man up and give this kid a big old fat contract, Buzz. [00:53:44] Speaker C: I mean, think they just gave him a new contract like a year or two ago. But if you look at the numbers on the salary, it's ridiculously out of whack how little he gets paid compared to the guys. And he's by far the best defender on the team. Now, look, you don't want to give away money, but he deserves a much better contract than you have. Than he has. And you want to keep the guy happy. It's one thing to say we have a dude under contract, therefore, you're going to play well. If he's upset, he may not play that well. You got to keep him happy. So he deserves A little more money than he has. With this being his last year coming up under normal contract, he does have two options. It would be a good time, in my opinion, some far in this next season to extend that out, lock him up longer term and give him a much better offer. [00:54:26] Speaker A: Well, the other part about Tafari that I think is, I don't think the club has done a very good job of tapping on it yet, is I think his off the field value is insanely high. There's so much promise in his ability to be a face of the club, voice of the club. He's a stereotypical Gen Z athlete in the way that he presents. I mean, he's all into fashion. He's got all of the elements, right? Yeah, he's very charismatic in a very modern. I just. Man, I hope they don't blow this and ruin it. I hope they figure out a way to make that kid happy and keep him here and progress his talent both on and off the field. [00:55:09] Speaker B: Dan, I think you move him a little bit closer to the captain's armband as well. [00:55:16] Speaker C: That's a hot take. I love it. [00:55:17] Speaker A: All right, well, that wraps up the defenders in the game. Let's move over to the midfield segment of the team, which there's such a few. I mean, for all those defenders, there's like half as many midfielders. It's crazy. And I think the most interesting one to talk. Well, let's actually. We'll start in a different order. Liam Frazier, let's just go there. Probably more value than we thought when we first saw him, but I have no idea where you land on keeping him or letting him go because he's on two option years. Buzz. [00:55:49] Speaker C: I would keep him for sure. I really think he's mentally tough. I don't think there's much upside. I think he is what he is. Coach seems to think he has upside, but I disagree. I think he, at 26, this is it. But there's something to be said for a good value domestic player. Now, he's Canadian because he was a homegrown. He counts as domestic. That's really important. You need a dude who you can start and not be worried about it. I'm not saying he's going to be a starter. I'm saying that you just need dudes that could eat up minUtes, bring in a defensive intensity, maybe hit some dudes, start when you need them to. That's a good, solid roster piece. Keep them all day. [00:56:25] Speaker B: Yep. Exercise the option. [00:56:27] Speaker A: All right. Kenyon is up next, and I find this one to be fascinating because he disappeared. I'm still convinced there's way more to this story than, oh, well, the government said he had to come get his green card. That just doesn't make anywhere near enough sense to me. And maybe I'm just a conspiracy theorist, but I'm convinced there's more to this than we're being told that he goes off and disappears at the most important part of the season and he's only on an option year. He's not even on a contract year and I don't know, where do you land on him at this point? [00:57:02] Speaker C: Well, I would decline the option and then think about perhaps, and I need to dive into a deep roster construction, but I would think about offering him a pittance. Hey, backup number 200 and 5300, something like that. I don't think that he provides enough as a starter. I think his inability to progressively pass the ball and dribble out of midfield is a problem. That's part of the reason why Dallas's midfield is not as good as it should be. I think that his number is way too high. He's up near 900,000. That's Tam Gambanny. That's a dominant player. That's jealo, he ain't. So I think you had to decline the option if you can't pick it up. He got the green card. That gives him added value in terms of being a roster piece, but at this point at 30, he needs to just be a roster piece if he wants to be a roster piece. Okay, let's talk about it. But it's definitely dump for now and maybe even dump no matter what and just, you know what, have fun, go home and enjoy your family in Argentina or whatever. But I would consider a bottom roster filler feeder kind of role for him if he would willing to take it, but he may not be willing to. [00:58:16] Speaker B: Yeah, declining option and I mean, I probably wouldn't say a pittance, but below quarter of a million dollar deal or around that area, he doesn't qualify for free Agency. So you have his MLS rights, even if it's like a trade bait for someone that's just looking for an experienced midfielder, the green card obviously does make resigning him far more attractive. But at the same time, Liam Fraser's just come off the back of a few really good games and that suddenly can make him a little bit more expendable than when he was keeping Edwin out of the team. [00:59:02] Speaker A: I feel like if he went to the hassle of getting his green card, his intent is to stay in the United States and there may be some trade value and he could probably get a better deal with another club that feel like they could utilize him. So it won't surprise me to see them decline his option and then ship him off somewhere else. [00:59:22] Speaker C: Yeah, you can't pick it up, the money is too high. But when you get into the end of season, his dancer is not a free agent, so you got reentry, drafts, things like that. If he clears that stuff, you own his rights, blah, blah, blah. The green card makes him more attractive. So you're right. As much as anything, he does that to make himself attractive, to stay here in the United States and play for other people, whether it's MLS or something else. [00:59:43] Speaker A: Mr. Ensebling is up next and he's on two option years. [00:59:48] Speaker C: Yeah. Thank you for your time. You were fun. But good luck to you. When you're the bottom player on the roster and you only made the bench because they ran out of other people. When the coach loses faith in you, when you're 25 going on 26 years old and you're still an international, that's a bad place to be no matter how cheap you are. So that's it for me. He's done. Dump. [01:00:07] Speaker A: Yeah. It's weird because I feel like last season he was a guy that we all were led to believe Nico really thought had something and then it just never blossomed. [01:00:19] Speaker C: Yeah, there was a little run there where coach had some confidence in him and he does do some good things. He gets more assists than a lot of guys in the same role. But then he had that catastrophic game where he was directly responsible for two goals in the first 20 minutes or whatever it was, and he basically never played after that. It's like when you do stuff with the coach loses faith in you, particularly when you're in the bottom of the roster, player who's really on there because the coach had faith in you, you're in trouble. And when you're not a kid anymore and you're 25, 26, that's it. You go play, have fun in the USL Championship, start there, enjoy your career. Still a great life. It's just not going to be here in Dallas. [01:00:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Right. I with you and like I say, turns 26 before the season starts. If we talk about Coach speak and how they always talk about mental development is kind of around 24. Even though he's only a couple of years into his career, technically he's one of the older players and there are just better options at centre mid, younger options at centre mid and. Yeah, sorry. Thanks for your time. Good times were good, but this is a business. [01:01:29] Speaker A: This would be much more entertaining if we disagreed on any of these, but. [01:01:32] Speaker B: I have a feeling we had a mild disagreement about the importance of Fakundo Quinon. Ever so slightly mild. [01:01:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:01:43] Speaker A: Okay, splitting hairs. Sebastian legit is next up. He's got two years left in a deal and a third option year in 26. And I think he'll be 47 by then. [01:02:00] Speaker C: I would entertain calls. [01:02:03] Speaker A: My gosh, yes. [01:02:05] Speaker C: Yeah. It would be very difficult to move him because, and this is the thing, a lot of times people are like, just trade that guy. It's like, well, if you think a player sucks, so does everybody else. By the way, in the second round, let's be very clear, the second round of the contracts information that came out, that number went down quite nicely. It went down to where it should have been. 2022 Sebastian Jet. Great. 2023 Sebastian Jet. Horrible. So I would entertain calls. I'm not going to say dump him, but I would definitely be willing to listen. [01:02:39] Speaker A: Okay, Dan, you've also got a way. [01:02:42] Speaker B: Up a guy that's in his thirty s and coming off a season that had a few injuries. Yeah, absolutely. If he's available to be trade bait and someone wants to take the gamble and have a guy, he is a leader, he is a very skilled passer, very skilled player, fairly versatile. There is absolutely space for him in MLS rosters. It's just whether there is whether FC Dallas is one of those, you look. [01:03:17] Speaker A: At his contract and realize he's in here for two more years and you think, man, if we had had 2022 legit and 23, you'd feel really good about it. But since you got 23 legit, those two years look awfully painful. [01:03:31] Speaker C: If 22 form comes back, he would start more than Paxton. Paxton would see the bench. [01:03:37] Speaker A: Which takes us to Paxton, who has a contract through the year 3000 because he is a homegrown. We're not moving Paxton, are we, Buzz? [01:03:47] Speaker C: No, we're not moving Paxton. Paxton is still pretty youngish, but he's getting close to being what he's being. The injuries are for sure a thing. He's got old man walk know I love the they. I think you cannot start him every like you need legit to come back and be decent because you cannot start packs in 30 games. He can only play two out of three or something like that and avoid turf and stuff like that. When he's on, he's still a good player. He's still a really good player, but he's never going anywhere overseas for sure. At this point, the only way he's going to move is if somebody gets a fire under him about him being like the answer, but who's going to be that? Think he's that for them in MLS? I just don't see that happening. So, yeah, it's a keep for me, for sure. For him, even more than legit. He's a keep for me. [01:04:38] Speaker B: Keep. Great leader. This was supposed to be the bounce back year after the two years after surgery and yeah, absolutely. Towards the end of the year, put in some phenomenal performances. But yeah, on Wednesday we kind of stood there and watched them kind of hobble over to a kid who wanted an autograph and it was walking with the knees never quite straight and the backs hunched over and it's like, oh yeah, you're going to hate your 30s. [01:05:10] Speaker A: Well, I love Paxton because he gets stuck in and he has the balls to wear that mustache out in public. [01:05:17] Speaker B: And he wins his 50s. [01:05:18] Speaker A: Boy, does he. And that takes us to the big question of the next season because I think this is really critical to having any hope for 2024. It starts with them getting Lara Mendy to stick around for another full, for a full season. And it's funny because I think it was today or yesterday. He kind of posted on social media his thanking for the fans. [01:05:44] Speaker C: It was today. Yeah. [01:05:45] Speaker A: And it kind of left a bit of vaguery as to what his intentions are. [01:05:51] Speaker C: Yeah, if you read it. We're hoping, of course, that there's, like a loss in translation kind of bit here or whatever, because what he literally says in the tweet is, we didn't get that best result. But I'm happy to have met this group of players and these fans. Thank you all for your support this season. That sounds a little vague. A little like, oh, it's nice to have met you all. See you later. Right. So, like, all of us in the discord, of course, are panicking now that maybe he's thinking, nah, too hot, too much work, too much flight, travel, I'm out. So obviously, of course, 100% pick up the option. I don't even care if it's a million, you pick it up. He's one of the classiest players we've ever seen here. Now, 34 games isn't going to happen. You got to manage the workload again, Paxton. Legit. These are all going to be important bodies in the midfield, Fraser. It's all going to be part of man management. But when he's on, he's as good as we've ever seen. Please, please pick him up. [01:06:52] Speaker A: So the question is, is the option both his and the clubs? Could he say, I just don't want to do this anymore. [01:06:59] Speaker C: He can retire? Okay, yeah. A contract option for a player is incredibly rare these days. I can't remember the last time I saw one. Basically, if the team picks up your option, you're under contract, so you can just retire and walk away. And if you sit down and don't play for, like, six months and the contract is terminated, I think after a certain amount of time, you can unretire if you really want to be that kind of person. [01:07:21] Speaker A: But we could also see a scenario where to talk him into doing this. They said, look, we're going to give you an option year, next year, and you also have an option. [01:07:30] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I suppose they could. They didn't report it that way. It was reported as a team option, like they always all are. So I assume it's a team option. It's basically a choice of whether he walks away or know, and obviously we hope that he plays well. [01:07:44] Speaker A: This is really important in my mind, Buzz, because if he doesn't return next year, they do not have an option as a replacement. And this becomes the Tiago Santos story all over again, where we go into a season, maybe this time it would be happening earlier than it did to poor Lucci, whatever year that was. But 2024 in my mind, starts with whether or not you're successful in getting him to return. Everything else comes after that in my mind. [01:08:17] Speaker C: Yeah. If he bails, you need to replace this player. This six eight combo, ability to control pace, pass, break lines. That player is missing. If he's not here, it has to become the number one priority in terms of your T building. If he goes away, even though he won't play 34 games, it's still going to be a massive, massive pinnacle of your team, and the whole thing is going to revolve around him being in the midfield. If he's not, you're in trouble. [01:08:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:08:43] Speaker C: Dan, were you on Ermine? [01:08:45] Speaker B: Oh, he's the key to everything. You 100% do everything you can to make him stay, and you evaluate things halfway through next season and see if maybe there's a little bit more to it. I will say, as far as that message, for whatever reason, I've always found that people from Spain talking past tense constantly, so I wouldn't necessarily read too much into that. He doesn't really speak English, so there's also a little bit of Google Translate, or he's potentially even ran it through somebody and said something in Basque to somebody that speaks Castilian or speaks kind of like any Latin American Spanish. And the words are different. [01:09:40] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm with you. I think it's a nothing, but it still made me think, oh, my God, if he were to say no and. [01:09:46] Speaker B: Walk with, it would be no, 100%. That would be an absolute disaster. That would be. Don't think about the playoffs next year at all. [01:09:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:09:55] Speaker A: All right. This is going longer than I anticipated, but we only have forwards left now, so Tariq Scott is the first forward. Buzz. [01:10:04] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a know, we haven't even seen him at all at this level. I've talked to him a couple of times about how he feels, and he's been training for a bit now. He feels great. So he's been the best scoring player in the academy for the last three years across the whole top three levels since Pepe moved out of the academy, basically. So I'm excited for what might come from him. [01:10:23] Speaker A: So keep okay, Dan? Yep, keep okay. Dante Seeley is one more year and then two option years. [01:10:32] Speaker C: Dan, why don't you go first? [01:10:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Since you've got him locked up for that year, I think you try and see if you can kind of. [01:10:44] Speaker A: Pull. [01:10:44] Speaker B: Him around psychologically, mentally, and then if an offer comes along, that's nice, too, but I don't think you're in any rush to extend that contract, knowing that you have two option years. [01:10:58] Speaker A: I just want them to keep him and let him play just enough to see if he ever successfully splits two defenders because he keeps trying that and failing at it. But we'll see if that plays out next season. [01:11:10] Speaker C: I'm going to say try and trade him. I'm going to be a little more aggressive. I'm not going to say buy him out or cut him or anything, but I'm going to definitely have confidence, aggressively try and trade him. Mainly because there are other players I want to see come through from the Academy, or whether it be Tarek Scott who's already assigned as a homegrown, or whether it be some of the nice players that I think are coming up in the next year or two. I don't want Dante see Lee in the way for three years. I'd rather move that asset and try and get something for it now because he's already behind Kamungo know he's already going to be behind Paul. He's already going to be about Alan when he comes back, although Alan may be in the know. So I definitely would try to aggressively move hiM. [01:11:49] Speaker A: And I'm going to combo Endele and Mulatto as a pair unless there's a reason to break them out separately. [01:11:56] Speaker C: For me, Mulatto is a keep, even though I don't think he's ever going to be successful in Major League Soccer. I would try and eventually sell him, but not yet. And then for me, Endele is a dump. Just let that guy's option expired. He can go play in the championship. [01:12:12] Speaker A: Okay, Dan, anything? [01:12:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Wishing them both well in their future endeavors and trying to figure out a way to sell Mulatto. [01:12:21] Speaker A: Kamungo. Bernie, the story of the season. [01:12:24] Speaker B: Contract for life. [01:12:26] Speaker C: Yeah, contract. I just read the other day that he was a refugee, apparently. Oh, so that's very exciting story. Hopefully people will cover that and go do diligence, obviously is a keep forever. Yeah, I mean, it won't be forever. He'll be going to Europe eventually, but I love him. [01:12:44] Speaker A: The only additional element to his story that I learned this week that I found great of high entertainment was Boheim's story on Bernie, where he included that the made up ball also included materials like condoms. Not just plastic bags and paper, but condoms. Yeah. I'm thinking that's actually genius. [01:13:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Bohem interviews some great people for that story. Quality local sources. [01:13:12] Speaker A: Good stuff. [01:13:13] Speaker B: All right. [01:13:13] Speaker A: We all agree on me, by the way, Mr. Kamu. Yes, of course we notice buzz. Okay, we all noticed. Now, I think this takes us to one of the more interesting conversations. We don't have to spend a ton of time on this, but it is the obrion versus Ansa conversation, Buzz, because they're kind of the same player and there's really probably only one spot. [01:13:37] Speaker C: Yeah. Think about it in pure roster terms. Okay. I'm going to describe a player to you and I want you to tell me who it is. 28 years old, forward or wing, relatively vertical, uses an international spot. Occasionally gets the ball stuck under his feet, but also is a good dude in the locker room. Everybody likes him. And does Michael Barrios, who did I just describe? [01:13:57] Speaker A: TEDx. [01:13:58] Speaker C: Yeah. Barrios isn't 28 now on the team right now. Which player is that? Oh, also get paid $400,000. Which player is that? [01:14:07] Speaker A: Well, I'm sure you're going to tell me it's ANsA. [01:14:09] Speaker C: No, it's both. Oh, that's both those guys. So they're the same player in every one of those ways. One of them is under contract and one of them is an option. Both of them block the way of people like Bernie or Scott or Seeley. There's no reason to keep both of those players. One of them is slightly smarter soccer player than the other. The other one might be slightly faster. [01:14:32] Speaker A: Than the other, but one actually produced this season and the other one did squat. [01:14:36] Speaker C: It doesn't matter. Neither one of them should be starting. They're only going to be a backup. They're only going to be a roster piece. They're the same player and they're in the way. And international spots are mega valuable, so there's no reason to keep both of them. You only need one of them. One is under contract and one is not. It's not like I think one is better than the other. It's simply this thing that they're the same player. So AnSa's here and Obran's not. It's easy. [01:15:02] Speaker A: Yeah, but I'd rather keep Cowbell versus traffic cone. [01:15:07] Speaker C: I'd rather keep Ansa just because he just now got here and there is that delay that happens. And Coach keeps raving about him and O'Brien. We know what O'Brien is. Obrion is. He's been here forever. I'm a likable guy. But does keeping Obrion make you any better next year? [01:15:28] Speaker A: Well, I don't think keeping Ansa makes you any better next year. [01:15:31] Speaker C: But you don't have a choice on AnsA. He's under contract. [01:15:32] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I get it. Maybe you could trade them both and actually do a job and find somebody else to help bolster depth on this team, especially at wing. [01:15:41] Speaker C: If you think a player sucks, who's going to give you anything for them? I know everyone wants to trade a bunch of spares for the greatest player in the world. [01:15:50] Speaker A: Well, they can't use their buyout because they're going to have to save that for the next player up on the list, which is mortal enemy number one right now. [01:16:00] Speaker C: Well, let's hear Dan on Dan. [01:16:05] Speaker B: You know, if the contract situation was equal, I would rather keep obrion, but like you say, it's an option versus a tied down contract and a player that probably no one's coming in to trade for. [01:16:18] Speaker C: Yep. [01:16:19] Speaker A: Okay, well, everybody's got the stink eye out for this next one, which is Jesus, cementes. And I'm just assuming at this point, because of his contract situation, Buzz, they're going to be forced to buy it out because he's got a year left and an option year, and just give him a stack of cash and say, go back to where you came from. [01:16:40] Speaker B: You don't even miss it. [01:16:41] Speaker C: Yeah, you have to buy it out. Yeah. Well, let me add one tiny little caveat to this. The only place I've ever found his. No, this is actually not bad. The only place I've ever found his contact information is by Googling it and finding old reports from like, a couple of years ago. So I'm not 1000% sure he's under contract. I'm only 99.9% sure he's under contract. So I'm giving you a chance. Say there's a chance, yes, but yes. The trick is that it's not just that he was not anywhere near worth the money. Zero goals on 1.2 million or whatever it is. The problem is that Toronto paid his cap hit this year and next year they're not. So his whole salary will come onto your cap and handcuff you a DP number because you'd have to make him a DP or buy him. So it's doubly cost prohibitive that he hits your cap. So there's just no way. It's like you cannot keep him. You have to buy him out or you're coming back with exactly the same roster you have now. You won't be able to afford to add anybody if you keep him. [01:17:47] Speaker A: Well, I hope they find him a million dollars for pulling out of that tackle. [01:17:51] Speaker C: They can't do that. Dan, anything to add on to submit it? [01:17:55] Speaker B: No, nothing positive. [01:17:58] Speaker A: Just think about this in the long line of absolute failures of number nines in this club in the last ten years. You think about Colman, you think about Cobra, you think about Hara, and you think about who is the Brazilian with the. Oh, Jeterson. [01:18:14] Speaker C: Jeterson. [01:18:15] Speaker A: Jimenez arguably may be the worst of the lot of them. [01:18:20] Speaker B: Mean, here's the thing. Hara did a lot right, wasn't scorIng. Colman did a lot right, wasn't scoring. Cobra did a good bit right, had a knack for scoring. David Asera, fantastic player. Just for whatever reason, it didn't work for him. What was Jimenez done? Jettison? The joke was that he never one. I think he had that one assist. [01:18:50] Speaker A: Did Jetersen even cost half of what Jimenez did? [01:18:53] Speaker B: I don't think he cost anything. [01:18:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't think Jimenez ever did anything all season. I'm not even sure I remember him making a good pass buzz. [01:19:02] Speaker C: Well, when he first, early in the season, there were a couple of games where they played him and Jesus Ferreira together in a two striker system. And his movement was good enough and his positioning was good enough that he created enough attention, that Jesus got space and was able to do a couple of good things. It was like a two game run where that happened, but then he got hurt and then we haven't seen it since then, and he's provided no value anywhere. There's even some games recently where he had to play. In the average model, it looks like he's playing Carlos Valderama and standing in the center circle and he's a six because the whole shape is moving around him and he's not running up and down the field. [01:19:44] Speaker A: He's stealing money. All right. [01:19:46] Speaker C: Yeah, it's good. At this point it's obvious what has to happen. And the only problem is, are the hunts going to buy out another contractor or not? Because remember, they did it last year with the dude they got from. [01:19:57] Speaker B: Can they take that 1.2 million and build a trebuchet big enough to send him all the way back to Spain? [01:20:08] Speaker C: No, that's a long throw. [01:20:10] Speaker B: He would only miss the target anyway. [01:20:12] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:20:12] Speaker A: All right. Paul Ariola is on the same deal. Legit is on. [01:20:16] Speaker C: Keep his captain, maybe check with the galaxy again, see what they wanted to do. But I'd keep him. He's only 28, so he's plenty of time for him to be good for a few more years. He just needs to figure out what happened this year. And I think it's all the off field stuff, to be honest, with a couple of injuries. But mainly it's all the off field stuff. He had all that chaos in his life. I think he'll get it dialed in. I think he'll be fine. [01:20:39] Speaker A: Okay, Dan. [01:20:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Got married. Kid on the way. It's kind of the nightmare season, right? I mean, the thing I liked about it is he had a bounce back. He came back from the injury. He had a great performance against Seattle in the home game. Yes, the first game. Absolute dog shit. I don't think anyone's going to doubt that. But just the fact that he had the response and led that response on the field, I think that's massive. That's what this younger team needs. [01:21:19] Speaker C: Let's talk about how trash that Seattle game was. Areola in that game, game three, he still had three for five on take ons, six progressive passes, one key pass, four passes into the penalty box, and three carries into the final third. So despite the fact the game was utter trash for Dallas, he still was out there by himself, basically trying to do stuff and make things happen. So the guy works and he's a great captain, a great leader. I think he'll find it again. I'm not super worried about him. Staying healthy is the key. You got to stay healthy and be right next year and you'll be fine. [01:21:49] Speaker B: You're really holding on to those stats. [01:21:51] Speaker C: I know it was in the breakdown and we didn't get to talk about it earlier. I just wanted to prove a point that even in a terrible game, some guys keep playing and they're out there, even if they're by themselves, they keep trying and keep know. And so I wanted to give him a little credit for that. [01:22:05] Speaker A: We have two left, obviously, assuming he comes back from Argentina, because that's where he went to go get the. Unfortunately referred to as a snip snip by somebody on this podcast, Alan Velasco. He didn't get a vasectomy for. Good Lord. Okay. He could have said that. You didn't have to say the snip snip. [01:22:27] Speaker C: I was trying to be funny. [01:22:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, he's in fine. They're not going to see him until probably September. [01:22:35] Speaker C: But Dan, go first on that. Go first. [01:22:38] Speaker B: You know, hopefully he recovers from his boob job really quickly and it's going to be like Paxton, right? It's going to be a little bit less like Paxton. You discount that second season as kind of finding, you know, he is a high quality player. You want him to recover, you want him to bounce back well and then get back on track with that plan of selling him for more than double what you paid for him. [01:23:06] Speaker C: Okay, you want to hear mine? [01:23:08] Speaker A: Yeah, please. [01:23:09] Speaker C: Dump. [01:23:10] Speaker A: Sell him now. [01:23:12] Speaker C: Well, let me explain. He's going to be out until at least August. Yeah, and if he comes back, it'll be at like 80% in maybe September. Okay, here's the thing. You can have one injured reserve out for the season, per season in MLS. So dump him to the injured reserve, put him out for the season, even though he could come back in August, put him out for the season, clear the DP spot for a season. Worry about solving that problem next year. Open up the DP spot, open up an international spot, open up the salary cap, and open up the budget. So dump for one season to the injured reserve. It means he can't come back. Like, he'll be out for the year no matter what if you do it. But do it, because if you don't do it, you're playing with a handicap next year. [01:23:59] Speaker B: You loan him to like a team in Argentina for his comeback. [01:24:02] Speaker C: Well, yeah, you could let him play for North Texas a couple of times to get the speed underneath him. You can loan him back home, let him go for independentier for ten games back in the season. Whatever you need to do. Don't sacrifice 2024 just because you're keeping Allen on your books long term. See what I'm saying? [01:24:23] Speaker A: Along with the Alara Mende story, this Velocico thing is a huge problem for this club because he's chewing up a ton of contract money. He won't be 100% when he comes back. [01:24:39] Speaker C: The problem is that the owner has to then say, okay, I'm going to pay a guy who gets paid a lot of money to not play for a whole year. And you have to make him understand that it doesn't mean we don't love you, that we're putting you in unable to play for an entire. That that's a young kid. He may struggle with that emotionally, but it's important to not sacrifice next season. DPS are way, way Too important in this league. You already had Paul Ariola being a DP. Well, maybe he shouldn't for in terms of impact. So you can't have two DPs not being impactful. [01:25:13] Speaker B: Maybe you need to have a chat with Andre about that one. [01:25:18] Speaker C: Well, hopefully they thought of that. Okay, moving on. [01:25:23] Speaker A: All right, well, that takes us to the final one, and he's on two more years and coming. I'm going to assume he's going to have some sort of surgery in the offseason for abdominal hernia or whatever it is and I'm sure that'll be fine. But Jesus, I don't know where everybody sits on this. Anybody got a hot sports opinion on whether he stays or goes or gets sold? [01:25:46] Speaker C: Well, I would keep him, obviously, but there's always the potential that he could get sold. But I think that the back half of this season will have reduced what anyone would offer him. And so even though what someone might offer him is a lot of money, it's not going to be anywhere near what the hunts value him at in terms of their willingness to sell him. So he's going to be here next year and they should keep him. Over the years, as his contract starts to wind down, the amount that you'll have to pay to get him will become less because of that time frame unless he continues to play amazing soccer, particularly if he does it for the United States, and then the price will go up. So he'll be here next year? [01:26:26] Speaker B: Yeah, he's got to get fit first. No one's buying a player off the back of a surgery before they've even come back. They wouldn't get through a medical. So, yeah, he'll be here, and they've got to recoup some of the potential lost value on that kind of cold second half of the season. [01:26:47] Speaker A: All right, well, that's the entirety of the roster, and I'm sure in an upcoming episode we'll get into kind of like roster construction for 2024. [01:26:57] Speaker C: Thomas Roberts. [01:26:58] Speaker A: But here's the thing. There's one more thing dangling out there that we haven't discussed yet, and I'm regretting the fact that this is coming at the end of the pod because I'm worried that a lot of people stop listening at this point. No, we hAven't done Kit talk because I think this is an equally interesting question. This comes from Mr. Bogart, and maybe we want to save this for next episode since we've already gone well over an hour, is the fact that we are learning that both Nico and his staff, much like Oscar Perea and his staff that we've been talking about for a while, are out of contract for the 2024 season. And I think that poses all kinds of crazy ass questions, Buzz. [01:27:42] Speaker C: I don't think it does. I've talked a lot about how even like a month or two ago, Dan Hunt was raving about both of these guys to me and they talk about how we got our guys, we're good, this, that and other, and their minimum standards make the playoffs, which he did. They'll be able to look at the injuries and know that was the problem and all that kind of stuff. I think they'll make some adjustments to how they do things, but I think both these players will be here, both these coaches will be here and TD will be know I've had. [01:28:08] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. Zanata, by the way, is also out of contract. That's the other one I didn't mention. According to. [01:28:14] Speaker C: Well, you know, given that Zanata is out of contract, it's not surprised that the coach has a contract that matches that. And if you look at the roster, you can see that there's a group of players that matches that same window. But I've had multiple conversations with both these guys and they're moving forward with plans as if they're going to be here. They're making decisions, they're making plans, they're making moves, they're out there doing things as if they're going to be here. Neither one of these guys has done something. Fans may not like what they do, but the point I always try to make is put yourself in Dan Hunt's shoes or Clark Hunt's shoes. Right. They brought Zanata in to make money. His reputation for buying, selling players. Bogart talked about this today, too. He's doing what they want him to do. Right. Nico was brought here to make the playoffs and fix the defense. He's on both of those know, I think those guys have met the standards for which their job was outlined for them. So I think they'll both be here next year. That's my fast answer. [01:29:09] Speaker A: Can I be the grand conspiracy theorist? [01:29:12] Speaker C: Yeah, knock it out. [01:29:13] Speaker A: Is there any way we live in a world where they don't get resigned because they're going to announce the return of Oscar Perea and crew? [01:29:24] Speaker C: No, because you can't talk to Oscar yet because Orlando's still in the. Even. Even if Clark wants to bring Oscar back, he can't even call him until after the liner is eliminated. So they wouldn't have that in their pocket. Okay. You'd have to sit around and wait. I'm not saying that they won't do this because the contracts don't run out until the end of the year. So you have know, you certainly could do that. [01:29:49] Speaker A: Okay. [01:29:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:29:50] Speaker A: You just don't think it's likely. [01:29:52] Speaker C: I just don't think it's likely. I think it's possible. I just don't think it's likely. [01:29:54] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't think Oscar wants to come back here. I think if Oscar's going to leave Orlando, it's because the lifted skirt of an owner that really is going to spend money or the San Diego opportunity is just too know. [01:30:07] Speaker C: I know Oscar loves this place and I think he wants to come back here someday. When he left, he and I had conversations about when he would come back. Told me that I think, I think when he's ready to not be a coach, when he's ready to be like a head of a know, then, yeah, then he'll be like, I'd love to come back to Dallas and spend the rest of my career there. I think that'll probably be very likely. I just don't think it's there yet. I'm with you. If he's going to leave Orlando, then he'll leave there for a place in MLS where they have money instead of Orlando. Because Orlando is fine if you just want something like Orlando. But if LA calls or San Diego calls or somebody like that, or New York City, either one of the New York City teams for that matter, somebody that has some Atlanta, if that job's open for some reason, there's some clubs that he would leave for and then most of them he would not. So I think he'll either stay there or he'll jump to One of the big money clubs. He'll come back to Dallas someday and be the technical director or the head of soccer or something. When he's another ten years from now or something. [01:31:07] Speaker A: Okay, well, I think we've done it. I think we've run through the whole Gambit of potential. And I said we'll do roster construction soon, right? [01:31:18] Speaker C: Yeah, there was some minor news, but we can just hold it for the next one. It was nothing. It was earth shattering. Once we get this week, we'll actually get the because they're doing exit interviews this week. So end of this week, early next week, we'll probably get a press release announcing the contract moves, and then we can very specifically say, here's exactly what we have. Here's what we don't have. Here's where the holes are. I'm doing my rebuild plan probably tomorrow being Thursday, like later in the day, because this podcast will drop in the morning. Thursday for everybody. We'll start to get into all that talk over the next week or two as we see exactly what we have to work with. December 1 is the deadline for the actual contract executions in terms of being announced. So worst case scenario, it might be two weeks before we hear that stuff, but I'm pretty sure we'll hear next week since they're doing their exit interviews now, and they're not training, so, like, guys are going to be leaving. They'll. They'll want everybody to know before they leave, and so there's no reason not to announce it. [01:32:16] Speaker A: Yes. And you did mention the news, obviously, we talked about Alan having surgery down in Argentina. But, Dan, go ahead, because I do think the thing about the national championships is important. We need to get to that. [01:32:29] Speaker B: Brookhaven and Richland College winning the NJCAA Division three national championships again for the 50 bid. [01:32:39] Speaker A: Brookhaven is a women's team and Richland is the men's team, correct? [01:32:43] Speaker C: Yes. [01:32:43] Speaker A: Okay. [01:32:44] Speaker C: Yeah. Richland, it's six in a row and twelve overall, and Brookhaven is three in a row and five overall. And they're all within the last decade and a half for both of those groups. Both have really nice coaching staffs. [01:32:57] Speaker A: It's also reflective of just the talent pool in the North Texas area. [01:33:00] Speaker C: Yeah. Richland's coach, Ralph Herrera, is FC Dallas's academy coach. I think he's the top FCD Dallas Academy coach. Lots of guys are double dipping out there in the world these days, but he's obviously putting together a great program. Anytime you look over there, there's a couple of guys from FC Dallas on his team, and dudes from that program will go on to, like, Syracuse's national championship winning team. Their captain played at. Know the guys go from all levels from that school. That's a great program. [01:33:26] Speaker A: And I will officially announce here on the podcast that, no, there's always next year. Since 1996, FC Dallas T shirts are not for sale because I do not need a Clark Hunt cease and desist letter at my doorstep. I don't need a hunt goon at my doorstep cracking bad on me. As much as I would love to make and sell those shirts, I don't think that's a good idea. [01:33:53] Speaker C: But you could misspell the FC Dallas like you did and put, there's always next year. [01:33:58] Speaker A: Maybe. Yeah. Or maybe flip the badge up a little bit. Maybe put the burned horse instead of the Longhorn cow in there. Something like that. Maybe that'll do it. And spell it. Spell it with the two A's and one L. All right. Well, boys, as they say, or as we always say here, there's always next year. [01:34:22] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:34:22] Speaker A: Thank you, Dan. [01:34:23] Speaker B: Thank you. And one thing you forgot us. Open cup action a Saturday. Four OSC at Prince of Peace High School in Carrollton on Saturday, 07:00 p.m. They're playing Alamo City, SC. If they win that, they're in the first round for 2024. [01:34:44] Speaker A: All right, good luck to those fellas. And I love your new microphone, sir. Thank you. It is nice. [01:34:51] Speaker C: Oh, it's nice. [01:34:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:34:52] Speaker C: Third degree, the podcast has been brought to you by Soccer 90. Com. Shop all the latest rivals, cleats, shengards, gloves, jerseys, jackets, hoodies. They got stuff for the fall. They got stuff for your next soccer season. Third degree listeners, of course, get 20% off with the code. Third degree at checkout Soccer 90. Com. [01:35:10] Speaker B: Some exclusions do apply. [01:35:12] Speaker A: And thank you, Buzz, for another successful season of covering this club, however many billions of years you've been doing it now, sir. [01:35:19] Speaker C: Yeah, this is the start of season 27 and season six of the podcast, which is amazing. And thank you, Peter, for being here and hosting it all. [01:35:26] Speaker A: I love doing it, man. It's a good time. And I love talking to the curious each and every week. Thank you, FC Dallas Curious, for sticking with us all season. We'll do our best to entertain you and keep you informed over the course of the off months. And we will be back next week, right, Buzz? [01:35:42] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [01:35:43] Speaker A: Okay. Next week on another episode of Third Degree, the podcast Acminous 2024 MVP. Good Lord, no. [01:35:55] Speaker C: I almost hurt myself. [01:35:57] Speaker A: Third degree. The third degree nap, I guess. Third degree. The third degree, never pocket. Third degree, never guess. Third degree, Never podcast. Two. I'm.