3rd Degree the Podcast #256

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Are you gonna tell me you've got bad news about Musa? Yeah. Ooh. Ooh. Third degree the third degree napa third. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Degree the third degree. [00:00:19] Speaker A: Net podcast third degree the third degree nap, I guess. Third degree. [00:00:29] Speaker B: Third degree of the podcast is sponsored by Soccer 90 Dot. Explore Soccer 90 Dot quote s Dallas Burn collection featuring the latest burn gear from Mitchell and Ness. Vintage tees, jackets, and hoodies. This stuff is fantastic. Limited socks available. Don't forget, you can get as a third degree listener, you get 20% off using the code third degree in store and online code third degree. Some exclusions may apply. [00:00:52] Speaker A: Third degree. [00:00:52] Speaker B: The podcast is also brought to you by the Lindstrom law firm for wills, trust, probates and business law. Call 46951. That's 469-515-2559 or visit lindstromlawfirm.com for a free consultation. [00:01:08] Speaker A: Well, hello there, FC Dallas. Curious fan. Welcome to episode 256 of Third Degree, the podcast. Hello once again. It is me, Peter, and out there somewhere, but not here, unfortunately. We are Dan Crooklisk today as Dan is out making money for him and his family. But that does still mean that we still have your hero. My hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder of Thirddegree.net, and the original soccer influencer himself, Buzz Kerik. Come in, Buzz. [00:01:45] Speaker B: Hi, Peter. Yeah, sorry Dan's not here, but, you know, he's got 18 different jobs. We fall way down the pecking order. [00:01:51] Speaker A: Just growing his beard. Is that considered one of his many jobs? [00:01:55] Speaker B: That's five. That's fifth on the list. [00:01:56] Speaker A: It's fifth on the list. Yeah, Buzz, I do. I just don't want to do this episode. [00:02:05] Speaker B: I know you don't, buddy. [00:02:06] Speaker A: I don't want to do this episode. I'm so. I can't even tell you how crushed I am, how heartbroken I am. And this is really weird, because I think other than the one very brief appearance on the kick around, I thought about this the other day. Somehow I'm still the non family president of. I'm still the president of the non family member Paxton Paumacol fan club. [00:02:39] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. [00:02:41] Speaker A: And other than the brief appearance on the kick around many, many years ago, I don't even know if I've ever spoken to Paxton in person. And my fandom of him dates back. I mean, I literally remember the day Andy Swift came in to do the show one day and just started spinning this tale about this player that he had taken to Germany as part of a Dallas cup all star team to participate in a youth tournament that he ended up being MVP of and ultimately then got to play in a all star game with some of the biggest names in the sports history. [00:03:24] Speaker B: Right. [00:03:25] Speaker A: And he got to be coached by Andy's hero, Zeko. And he was the mvp of that game, too. Yeah, that's, that was my entry point to Paxton. Paumecol is like a 14 or 15 year old kid. [00:03:40] Speaker B: I think I first met him shortly after that. I think he was playing for the u 17s when I first met him. And he was, even back then, he was a kid that could talk to an adult in a very normal way. And so he would, being the kind of kid he is, he talks to everybody. He's very jovial. And of course, I, over the years, I've talked to him quite a few times because basically, like almost any time that the team would play that I would watch from then all the way through the academy and then training or whatever, he always was the one that was want to talk to you and say hello. I'm sure, however, that he's sick of the fact that every time I have to talk to him, I have to ask him how he's doing because he's hurt. [00:04:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:22] Speaker B: And I know for sure that even like this spring when he was out there, he was running around, hey, man, you looking good. How you feeling? And he kind of grimaced because he was tired of that, talking about that. [00:04:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:33] Speaker B: You know, and he was, listen, this spring when I saw him, he was moving great. You know, he was coming through that, out of that surgery in the winter, the start of spring, he was really cooking, and I thought, he looks fantastic. And then there was a sort of that shutdown that happened in the spring. And then we got back to the season. He finally got into a game and he played six minutes. And I just thought, oh, man, you. [00:04:56] Speaker A: Know, I don't want to make it sound like, I mean, I realize now in kind of thinking about this exchange, it makes it sound like Paxton has passed away. [00:05:04] Speaker B: He's fair. Yeah. [00:05:06] Speaker A: But I think, you know, for those who are not aware, this was the, I guess it was what? Monday. The news came down Tuesday. Whatever day. [00:05:15] Speaker B: I don't remember what. Yeah. [00:05:15] Speaker A: This week. [00:05:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:17] Speaker A: Earlier this week, the club officially announced exactly what you and me and many other people have been anticipating for some time. We've been hearing this kind of circulating around in the wind for a while is that Paxton is now done for the season. He is having knee surgery in a few weeks in April, and it's not an ACL. And this is the reason why I think all of us are very worried about this in terms of what this means long term. Buzz. [00:05:46] Speaker B: Yeah. So Paxton is going to be having surgery to repair cartilage damage. Now, I'm not privy to what specifically kind of cartilage damage it is. What I can tell you is that it is for sure shutting him down for the season. He's going out to LA to get some work done by some doctors who have done this kind of thing before. And I will tell you that, you know, from talking to coach, I haven't talked to Paxton since he was shut down, but I've talked to Coach about him a couple of times. And at first, I think they were really concerned. The team was really concerned. Paxton was really concerned. Coach said he was in a dark place, you know, because he was, as you have mentioned, that there were decisions possibly being made in terms of his future. But then in the last couple of weeks, the prognosis has gotten better. And now Coach tells me Paxton's in a great place mentally and feels really good about the care he's getting and the prognosis he's getting, and we can get us on that here in a second. But, you know, I. From, from. Just from looking at coach and talking to coach and the way coach is now reacting, I feel much better now than I did two weeks ago. You know, all the signs were still there that it was going to be the season ender, but I now feel a little bit better about what the long term prognosis is going to be. [00:07:01] Speaker A: As somebody who is a bit advanced in age and has my own cart, knee cartilage issues that I've had diagnosed and kind of investigated and looked at, what I'm concerned about, Buzz, is that the fact that they're shutting him down for a full season from the beginning of the season to the end for a cartilage issue, which is, you know, like a meniscus. Like, you can get a meniscus cleanup, which is what they. We were told he had at the end of last season, which, by the way, if I remember correctly, was kind of a surprise unto itself. Like, I don't think we knew he was having that. I think we. We found out. How did we even find out he had the surgery after last season? I don't even remember. [00:07:42] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, when spring training started, the first session I went to, he was jogging on the side, and that's when I said he was moving great and looking great. [00:07:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:48] Speaker B: And coach said at the time, the meniscus cleanup is a very standard thing. It happens lots of times, no big deal. He was moving so good that I thought, great, it'd be a couple of weeks, we'll be back. And then that got delayed, and it got delayed, and then all of a sudden, he was missing games. It's like, uh oh, you know? [00:08:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So if you have a meniscus cleanup, even if it's one of the more severe ones, the max you're out for that is a few months. The fact that they're shutting them down for the season indicates to me that they are doing a more extensive repair. And what I wonder if that means, and again, I'm totally speculating, based on my limited understanding of all the different knee surgeries and cartilage stuff, is that they are attempting to do some sort of replacement. Um, which means that they're, you know, cutting out cartilage. Like in my example, I've got this weird spot on the bottom of my femur where the cartilage is worn off so much that they say to really alleviate the pain, they can cut that spot all the way out to the bone and put in replacement cartilage. And the return on that is, you'll probably have less pain as just a regular individual, but the ability for it to allow you to play again or do activities is very much TBD. So if. If that's the level of work that they're trying to do, which would tell me that's what it is, based on the fact they're shutting him down for the season, that's where I'm worried about what the long term meaning of this is. But again, it sounds like he's going to the best knee surgeon in the country, or one of the best, and maybe there's some new procedures and. And surgeries that he's having to go through, or maybe he's not having replacement, and it is just an extensive repair, and they think he needs an entire year off to really recover from all of that. [00:09:37] Speaker B: Well, let me allay your fears a little bit. Okay. You're right. This guy is basically the best that around is what his coach was telling me. Coach has said that there are multiple guys from the US national team when he was there and also in the league that are still playing that have had this procedure. And the one great of the, he said there's three or four guys that have done this and they're still going. And the name I remember specifically was Alan Polito had this, and he's been great for years. Right? So coach is very optimistic, and this is why Paxton is now very optimistic, too, that he'll be able to come through this on the other side like these other players have, and been able to play the rest of their career adequately with this, with this problem and been able to be very good players. You know, and he mentioned Paxson is only 24. He's got a long career ahead of him. If it comes through like other guys have come through now, of course, everybody's different. You know, you got to take it. Let's see what happens with just him specifically, because there's no guarantee. But, you know, after that conversation and the fact that other dudes have done this and then finished out four or five, six seasons in MLS and fine is, sounds great to me. So that's as optimistic as I think we can be. [00:10:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think part of the reason why this is such a conversation is something that you said earlier, which is this is just another in a long list of kind of almost annual injury issues poor packs has had. If you look up Paxton on transfer market and you dig into the details and you've, and you pick out of the menu the injury history list, it's a frightening look. And I forgotten this is not his first knee injury he's had. This is his fifth time out due to a knee. Like I was thinking earlier when they first said this, well, it's always been a groin issue or his hip or a muscle thing. It's. I had forgotten all the way back to, like, his first year. He had a period of time he was out for like almost a full month with a knee injury. [00:11:40] Speaker B: Yeah. So the word around the campfire, and this is not an official diagnosis. It's just people around the organization have been mentioning that Paxton has that deal where one of your legs is slightly, a different length than the other. Do you ever know anybody that's had this thing? [00:11:55] Speaker A: No. Off the top of my head. [00:11:57] Speaker B: I mean, I knew I played with a kid in high school that had it, and it did the same things to him that is happening to Paxton. It causes this chain reaction, basically, of hips and knees and leg muscles. And, you know, and if this is accurate, it totally explains what's going on with Paxton his entire career. So I don't doubt it, because there's people in the organization that have mentioned it to me. You know, it's not an official diagnosis because it's not. These people are cleared HIPAA, and none of them are doctors or anything like that. But it's, it would explain a lot of the underlying problems that Paxton has had. But I think the takeaway here is that if this, this doctor, I assume, and I'm taking their word for it, as good as everybody says he is, that he's the guy that everyone's going to, including national team players, and then the prognosis and the possibilities coming out of the backside of this are really, really good, and everyone's really excited, including Paxton. So, yeah, I'm told I didn't talk about himself, but, you know, so I feel as good as I can be given like that. Since we saw him in the start of the spring, I've been, uh oh, why is he down again? Knee thing again? It's like, good lord, you know? [00:12:55] Speaker A: Well, I hope everybody listening when it comes to bedtime prayers include Paxton in those for the time being, until we get through this and see where it all plays out, because I think the most painful aspect of this for him just has to be that he's a 24 year old young adult who's having to face what is. I can't even begin to imagine what is running through this guy's head. And what I have found annoying over the last few days is this weird reaction from people about things that really aren't important at this point. I think people are talking about, well, now he's never going to go to Europe or failed promise or overhyped or whatever. And I'm thinking Paxton, probably in this moment, Buzz, is only worried about just playing soccer again on the existing deal that he has at home in his hometown club, in front of his family and friends. He's not worried about other, anything other than that at this point. And I hope everybody remembers he's a 24 year old young adult having to face all this stuff, and he's, it's not something you, as a fan, lost out an opportunity to see or whatever, uh, in some imaginary world. [00:14:17] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, there's always people out there that all react negatively to almost anything. I think one thing it'll be positive for Dallas fans will be that, um, the social media guys tell me Paxton's going to get involved with them, that he's going to do a bunch of stuff with them on the, you know, on the, on the sideline, and maybe he's set himself up for the next career. Maybe he's going to follow Bobby Ryan's shoes, you know, more than he has already. And, and, uh, it'll be fun to see Pat, who's such a gregarious kid and so well spoken. It'll be awesome to see him doing some stuff in that capacity, and maybe it'll keep him involved and feeling positive. I'm really excited about it because it's vaguely in the vein of what I do for a living. So, um, it'll be fun to see that process happen. Um, you know, and I just. I'm with you. I had to kind of ignore, like, the. The people that are talking smack about, you know, he was supposed to be this, that, and the other thing. It's like, man, just let the kid be alone. You know, he's such a positive young man. You know, he's always a joy to talk to, so hopefully he'll keep that going, and hopefully we'll get him back and go next year. [00:15:21] Speaker A: Yeah. There's a few people out there that I wish. Nothing but a lifelong struggle with chronic hemorrhoids the rest of their life. [00:15:29] Speaker B: I wouldn't wish that on anybody. [00:15:31] Speaker A: Oh, boy. There's you out there. That I would. [00:15:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:35] Speaker A: All right, well, there's your Paxton news, and we have any. I mean, everybody should focus all of their concerns and attention and concerns strictly on him as an individual, but that would also be me not admitting that there is a component of the club and the team and this season that now suddenly takes a very different turn because now Niko and Zenada and the Hunts have a much different situation to deal with in the middle of the field. [00:16:08] Speaker B: Yeah, they definitely have to do something, you know, in the very short term. You know, having added Carlosante, that can give you a little bit of depth there. Although I don't like him as much at that level in the middle, other than maybe like a short stint late when you need a bunch of physicality and determination. But, um, Nolan Norris is on his way back from his call up, and he, of course, factors in there, too. And Patrickson Delgado has looked decent, but none of those people can play the connective tissue yet or, or do play the connective tissue. And when you are amenities missing, too, you know, not having passed and makes it very difficult, as we are currently watching, to connect the back line to the front line, and we're not seeing enough balls into the front guys. And then Jesus, of course, is reacting to that and coming back and playing in the midfield, which we don't want either. So none of that is good. So the trick is, is that they are for sure going to have to replace Paxton for this season. So Paxton will be going on the season ending. Injured reserve coach admitted that, and that was probably obvious to everybody that was going to be happening. That means that you get both his roster spot and his full salary because you're doing it before. This is the key part, before the secondary window. We're well before that. That means that you can clear him off for the season and he can 100% not come back no matter what. But that's fine. That was already locked in for sure anyway. He was no way he was coming back this season. So roughly, Dallas will have $900,000 given back to them and a senior roster spot given back to them that they can now use on a player. And that's in addition to whatever Tam or gam they had saving around and whatever Capram they had left to do anything else they wanted to do so they can replace Paxton without impacting this season, anything else they wanted to try and do. So there's a zero sum there in terms of getting a replacement for him. So when, when might we see something? Well, the current window runs till April 23, so there is plenty of time in the current window to do something. The next window is from July 18 to August 14. Now, this window will be harder to move than next window. If you're talking about international moves like foreign clubs involvement, whether it's an american player or not, whether it's a foreign player or not, it's the club that matters. And that's because all those teams are playing. So, like, if you wanted a player from a club outside of MLS, you would have to have a club where they felt like they had enough players that a guy was surplus the requirements and they could let him on. Or maybe a team that was going to let him out this summer anyway didn't care anymore. You know that those kind of moves at this juncture are tough. So if you're talking about a quick move, you have to think. You have to probably think about inside the league. Like a trade maybe, or like somebody who's out of contract. Those are not as exciting if you wait for the next window, and they'll probably be really careful about adding because you're talking about a player that costs just short of a million dollars. A player like that probably won't want a one term deal, one year deal, or a half of your deal, or whatever it might end up being. So you get into a case of like, diminishing return, first window versus second window. How long can we wait? How bad is it going in the terms of the team? How badly do we miss him? Maybe that'll depend on how fast Yarmindy comes back. So there are questions to be asked there. Coach also told me that they are definitely in the market for a center back as we've been saying for three years that they should be. So that doesn't mean like another corcho or colasante. That means frontline center back. So that means ibiyaga or better. So that also is in the cards and something that they're trying to do in the same time period. Now that player can't come from Paxton's money because pack his money can only go to Paxon's replacement. Does that make sense? Because you, you're, you can only take Paxton's money back enough to get it and put it into a new player. [00:20:22] Speaker A: But do they have, does it have to specifically be a center midfielder or. [00:20:27] Speaker B: No, no. [00:20:27] Speaker A: It match dollars. [00:20:28] Speaker B: Dollars? Yeah. You have up to packs in salary basically to spend on a player to replace him on the roster. It could be a center back if you wanted it to be, but I think they would. They need both. They need a center back and a midfielder both. So you know which one you use it on. Doesn't matter. You'll either have packs money or you'll have whatever Tim Gam and salary cap left over that you save for yourself to make that move. Those are your, those are your two abilities to make a move here. So one of them will be passed in and one of them hopefully is going to be a center back. And we'll see which way they go and how fast they go. And I'm going to assume. I'm going to assume that you probably won't see either till the next window. [00:21:06] Speaker A: Okay, so this opens, this enters a question about this, which is, is the difference between doing it now in this current window and the next window? Is that because to get somebody to sell you in this window, a player of value is going to require maybe a more significant and a more significant transfer fee incentive to sell now versus it would be when they're not in season in the summer? [00:21:42] Speaker B: That's part of it. You know, if you wait to the summer, the player might be out of contract or the teams will be done with their season and they'll be willing to, they'll be in the phase of making moves and they'll be looking to make deals. If you're going for a guy now, a team is not going to want to sell a guy that's part of their current rotation or plan or what's helping them do this or that. And the other thing, they're only going to want to sell guys that aren't in their plans. They don't care about. It just limits the amount of players available and it limits the willingness to clubs the deal. Therefore, you might have to pay a lot more money. But it's more about the limited pool, I think, than it is the limited availability of what's left in this window versus the next window when there's a boatloads of players. Like we've talked before about, like if you're leaving here or coming in, there's way more players available in the summer and it's way easier to move than is in summer because the rest of the world is making all their moves. [00:22:34] Speaker A: Yeah, but, but just. I'm gonna play hardcore fan here. [00:22:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:42] Speaker A: If this was enter Miami, they, and they had their eye on a player who a wanted to come play in Miami and leave their league mid season and, and be a club willing to do that if the right amount of dollars were on the table, that ultimately, I mean, I think that's a scenario that we can understand is likely to happen for some clubs in MLS and, and while simultaneously not be an option for Dallas. [00:23:11] Speaker B: Yeah, you, you had to money whip people at this point in their season, right. I mean, you're looking at, you know as well as anybody where the teams are in the european leagues, right, winding down towards crunch time of relegation or promotion or competing for those spots in Europe and all that kind of stuff. The same is true for most of the south american leagues, etcetera, too. They're all in the crunch time. So, like, if you're in Miami and you got that wallet and you're just whipping people with that wallet and they're just going here whatever you want, man. And people will take discounts because they want to play with Messi. That's part of it, too. No one's taking a discount to come to FC Dallas and no club's going to do a discount because they want to deal with SC Dallas. [00:23:47] Speaker A: Right. [00:23:48] Speaker B: And Clark's not an owner, so money with people, and don't kid yourself with this club, you can talk about Dan Hunt all you want to when it comes to things like money whipping people. That's Clark Hunt. Where you're paying millions of dollars. It's Clark. [00:23:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:24:00] Speaker B: So, you know, it's definitely a case of not all clubs are created equal and not all ownership is created equal. So you cannot expect Dallas to behave like enter Miami. It's like, it's Clark's the one that's been holding the brakes back on this league from forever and it's the reason why it survived. Well, Clark and his dad, so, you know, he gets a little benefit of the doubt there. They're much more likely to do something in the summer than they are now? Is the, is the what I'm trying to say. Unless somebody says, hey, we really want Player X from you or whatever, we'll give you somebody that fits. [00:24:32] Speaker A: So, yeah, yeah, it's a, it's interesting. And I guess the question is, is this team in its current state good enough to tread water until they get to the July window? And then the second part of that and the, see, the, to me, buzz, the value of getting somebody now is that you avoid that whole thing of somebody trying to get used to playing in this league from another country and it being so late in the season. Can they really have an impact? We've had this discussion so many times, which is if you just run through the history of this league of players that have come in July, the percentage and likelihood of anybody having a significantly positive impact is really, really low. Like I think you could probably count that number of players on two hands, maybe one hand of significant improvement in a, in a team over the course of almost 30 years of this league. [00:25:26] Speaker B: Yeah, coach joked that they're going to be the new Seattle and they're going to start poorly in rebound and come gangbusters in the summer. [00:25:32] Speaker A: He really made that joke. [00:25:33] Speaker B: Yeah, he really did. [00:25:34] Speaker A: One, I'm impressed he had the balls to do that. And two, I'm impressed he actually has an understanding of the league well enough to know that history about Seattle. [00:25:43] Speaker B: He's been around the league a long time between the national team and then, you know, it's. Yeah, he made that joke. Yeah, no, this totally. The important question is, you know, and some of that's going to depend on some things we're going to talk about here later, you know, and some key players. This is league of parity, right? The difference between the second place team and 12th place team is the performance of your DP's and your highest paid players and your special players because everyone's got a squad full of solid MLS players, including Scouse. So, you know, the, there is a diminishing return on an impact. Like how far gone is the season? How desperate do you get? How early do you get that desperate? You know, are you willing to overpay? Are you willing to take something that's not as good because you really need it versus if I wait to the summer, I get SRC 2.0, you know, I mean, Dallas has lately had a couple of mid season signings that have been pretty good. So I think that they'll feel comfortable right this minute waiting. And coach, coach says they don't want to. They want to be patient. They don't want to, you know, get it wrong and overreach, and they'd rather wait. But then, you know, how bad does this thing keep going? [00:26:54] Speaker A: Right. Well, you know, the one of the thing, an element of this planning for them and fairness to the club that we have to consider is whoever they buy, they probably also whether we are. I mean, this is tough to talk about, but they have to think of somebody as a Paxton replacement, not just for this season, but potentially long term. Like, I think you almost have to think about this as, look, we just flat out have to replace Paxton. And if, and if the best case scenario ends up being Paxton comes back, Paxton becomes the additional good player on the club. I mean, you almost have to think of it that way moving forward, don't you? [00:27:33] Speaker B: Yeah, but you also have to look at your contract situations for other people, you know, and think about, like, Yara Mindy is on a last year, Delgado's on a one year, Fraser's on a last year. You know, they all, most of them all have options. And I imagine Yar Mindy, we don't know, but he might, but probably doesn't. I think this is his option that he did a one on one. So, like, legit's got two years left, though, right? Ariel's got two years left and then an option. So, like, you had to velasco two years left and then an option. So you have to balance a lot of that stuff. And I think how comfortable Nico, Steve and Zenada are in their jobs is also going to be a factor. If they're feeling heat, they might panic and be like, we got to get somebody now or we're in trouble, you know, in terms of the standings, and we're going to lose our jobs. But if they feel comfortable, they're going to be like, no, we're cool. We're going to wait. We're going to. We're going to get the right guy because it's not just about this season now. You remember, like a week ago, we were talking about how coach was sort of half joking that it feels like it's year one again, you know, and I'm like, if they have that mentality that it almost is a year one again, um, they. They're going to be more content to wait. Cause they're going to feel like it's not a make or break season if they're comfortable in their jobs. So the signs are right now, I think, that they're going to wait. [00:28:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I find it all confusing because I swear, it wasn't that long ago where you were telling us you were having a conversation with Zenada and he was like, yeah, we're not, we're not hiring. We're not buying any more center backs. We're done. [00:29:02] Speaker B: Yeah, that was, that was at the end of their right as we went into camp, and then coach rolled a three four three. So I don't know whether it was the play of people or whether that was the change in formation or whatever it was, but about a week ago, I started hearing rumblings that they were in the market for an international center back. And the coach flat out said that to me yesterday. So along with Paxton, a midfielder and a center back. So clearly that has changed, whether. Whether it's on performance or whether it's on, you know, they probably felt like they was like, okay, we think we're good. Let's see how it goes. Okay. No, it's not good. Let's get somebody. [00:29:37] Speaker A: Can we get a wing back? [00:29:39] Speaker B: Can we get a wing? I think that they have bigger fish to fry, honestly. You know. Well, you know, if, if there are some scenarios that, where Paul Areola will be playing a whole lot of center right wing back or left wing back, probably more likely right, you know, and they seem to have a whole lot of faith in Dante Seeley. He's. They're all in on playing that kid. So, you know, I don't know that Giovanni Jesus will be back. So it's like that in terms of bigger picture. [00:30:08] Speaker A: See, I don't know. I don't know if you got a. If you got a broken plumbing, bad electrical and a leaky roof in your house, I don't know how you prioritize those needed repairs. [00:30:19] Speaker B: Well, you prioritize the spine. Yeah, the spine is everything, you know. [00:30:22] Speaker A: Okay, fair. [00:30:23] Speaker B: I mean, who cares about a wing back when it's way out there on the touchline when you're bleeding goals right up the gut? So, you know, you gotta, you gotta fix your center back situation and you gotta fix your center midfield situation. Cause right now you can't link back to front and right now you can't stop the bleeding on balls into the box. So, you know, you got, you gotta get those two things right at first. And then you can worry about improving your wing back play by using somebody like Areola or, you know, whatever else you're going to do and getting back Giovanni and getting back Velasco and all those other things. And by the way, I still think you should have in season ending done Allen Vlasco rather than palm of. [00:30:59] Speaker A: But could they have done more than one? [00:31:01] Speaker B: Not, not. And get money back? You can have more than one for roster relief, but you can only have one for money. [00:31:09] Speaker A: So all things being the same, knowing what you know now, why would you have still done allen versus Paxton? [00:31:15] Speaker B: Because that was a DP. [00:31:16] Speaker A: Ah. And so, yeah, you get the DP. [00:31:20] Speaker B: Back, get the DP slot back and you get basically the same amount of money, you know, but he's a DP, so that's basically infinite money. Right. So you could have gotten a superstar rather than just a $900,000. Not that $900,000 is a bad player. 9000 is a great player. But that's also what Jose Martinez was, you know, or Fakundo Kenyan was, you know. [00:31:42] Speaker A: Okay, well, that's a weird response based on the thing that I was about to ask you to do because I was hoping that as we got into the item on the infamously red crayon, the famous red crayon run sheet was other injuries. You were going to just be filled with good news. [00:31:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Let's be super awesome about this. [00:32:01] Speaker A: But I'm, but I'm going to guess maybe it isn't all sunshine and lollipops. [00:32:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Daffodils are not falling from the sky. Um, so Logan Farrington, if you forgot about him, he is back in training, so he's fine. It looks like obviously he needs to come through the week of training without having. [00:32:19] Speaker A: What was his injury? [00:32:20] Speaker B: He banged his knee in training or kind of rolled it sideways. He didn't damage it, just kind of swelled up on him a little bit, apparently, or something. So contact and training. So he's back and he looks fine. If he doesn't swell up this week, he's fine. I see your Yara Mindy, however not back. They're hoping he'll be. Yeah, I know. They're hoping he'll be outside running, you know, today, tomorrow. This is Thursday. We're recording, by the way. And then if he comes through that, then he'll be available next week. But that's what they said last week, too, so don't hold your breath. Just, you know, he's 34 when one of the things about being old is you don't recover as fast. [00:32:54] Speaker A: I'm officially labeling, I'm officially marking that as red flag. [00:32:58] Speaker B: Yeah, you're putting that into the warning zone. Oh, yeah. I don't blame you. [00:33:01] Speaker A: I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm about, I'm going to take this from severe injury player. A severe player injury. Watch this. Since that was issued on Laramie a while ago. Yeah, we're very close to upgrading that to a full on severe injury warning. [00:33:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Panic mode, especially because with passing. So, uh, let me make it better for you, by which I mean, hold on to your hats. Jesus Ferreira has a. Has some tightness in his hamstring. So yesterday he was. He had some. Some of that ducto, you know, stretch tape on his hamstring, and they had him on a minute restriction or a load restriction in training. You know, he's not out, but he definitely. They had him on a minute restriction, and he definitely walked off, like, you know, kind of touching it a little bit. So I would call him questionable, something like that. Maybe going towards probable in terms of this Austin game, they might, you know, if. If he's. If he's okay, maybe they'll put a big minute restriction on him or just be very careful. Possibly. But there is a for sure, a possibility that he won't be playing this weekend. [00:34:09] Speaker A: Yeah. I just gotta say, and I'm gonna. I'm gonna admit up front, this is a question slash comment based on total speculation from a non medical professional, which is how much of the rest of this season and his ability to stay healthy is going to be tied to the decision not to have his abdominal issue actually repaired. Like the choice to have a surgery to do some effective repair to that injury that's been dogging him forever. You know all this stuff is interconnected, right? [00:34:40] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:34:41] Speaker A: You know, we talk about Paxton's wonky leg situation. I. You know, if he's trying. If part of his body's trying to manage avoiding hurting his abdomen injury, is that now causing other stress points in the rest of his body? And I man, that. Yeah. All right, we may have to consider, since he's already on severe injury watch, we may have to upgrade him to a severe injury warning, too. [00:35:04] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. You are right that things are connected entirely. Speculation. Yes, it's possible they're interconnected. I. You know, he was still training and looked fine, but he definitely wasn't happy, you know, about the whole thing. Thank goodness Logan Frankenstein's back. [00:35:22] Speaker A: Yeah. You know what? The way that we are talking about this team feels like the run into the playoffs in September, in August or September, not literally five games into the season. [00:35:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I know. I asked coach about that, like, if the carryover of all these problems, like, was making him worried about some larger problem, and he kind of pooh poohed that a little bit because he's like, you know, they're all. They're not all sort of related. They're all different things, and a lot of them are fluky, and some of them are the same issue carrying over, but they're not all the. It's like there's no systemic problem where everyone's having the same thing. It's all these little fluky stuff, you know, far fam, for example, with that little crack in his back, was just from taking a knee in the back, you know, so it's not like everyone has a hamstring problem, which would make you really worried. But you're right, there are a lot of carryovers, and Paxons is a carryover. Jesus is a carryover. Yeah. Minty is. Just because he's 34, you know, it's. It's. It's not optimal, and this is why it's a problem. Now, it's weird that we're saying this because both Paxton and Jesus are young, but it's a problem when you carry too many key positions, being really older guys, you know? Look, thankfully, right now, legit is healthy, Areola's healthy, and Ibi Aga is healthy. You know, are all 30 ish. And the guys you'll worry about in terms of recovery, you know, it's going to be problematic if they continue to break down like they are, you know, obviously. Yeah. I mean, he's the one we worry about the most because the team is currently built around him. It'll be a problem if he can't come back. [00:36:59] Speaker A: Are you going to tell me you've got bad news about Moussa? [00:37:03] Speaker B: No, no, he's fine. He's fine. [00:37:05] Speaker A: Okay. All right. [00:37:06] Speaker B: And he's looking more integrated, more on the same page. You know, everyone's getting to know him, you know? Yeah, it takes a little time to get. I specifically asked coach about Jesus and Musa, and coach actually kind of lit up and got excited by, like, how they're getting it together and doing well, you know? And when they did a shooting section and a goal scoring section, at first I was a little concerned because there was, like, there was, like, a little rut when they started the drill, but then Paul bang went in, and after that, it, like, went crazy, and guys were just tearing it up. So that was kind of a fun moment to see, you know, Musa and Jesus and other people really banging some goals in. So, um, you know, fingers crossed that we'll see that translate, um, to the game action. If. If, of course, Asus can play. So we'll see. I mean, ordinarily, like, if Dallas was the Dallas we expected them to be, I would be like, not just city Seuss for Austin, but I don't think they can afford to now. [00:38:02] Speaker A: All right, any other fun filled training updates you want to give us, Buzz? Well, Santa Claus. [00:38:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, Korch is still in recovery mode. I mean, he's available, but he's in recovery. But not that that matters to anybody. The training nuggets are related to shape and formation, a tactic. He's still using multiple shapes in practice, the back four versus the back three. Even inside of one drill, shifting in and out of one of the formations that it kind of bothers me because I don't think that MLS players, you know, this isn't man city like that. That flex formation stuff in the middle of play is like, that's a little much for this level, I think. I still have a believer that just being really good at the one thing, do what you do and be really good at it and then make everybody else deal with that, you know, but this coach wants to play with these modern tactics. So you're going to see these, you know, in the course of a game shifting in and out of shapes and even in the course of play shifting out of it. So they continue to work on that. Um, you know, you would think with the injury problems, you might try and dial it down and get it fully focused, but that does not appear to be the case. So he's just convinced that's the way to play. Um, I think that there's a nervousness around the team in general. It's, it's hard to put your finger on it, but, you know, there's definitely concern by everybody that, um, it's not going great there. I'm not seeing yet any signs of not listening and not buying in and coach seems to think everybody's really positive and on the same page and really focus on working together and all that kind of stuff, so. But you can feel the nervousness, I think, around the team because they know that it ain't good right now. [00:39:42] Speaker A: Well, I mean, it's easy just to kind of take an accounting of everything and come up with a, a sum that doesn't feel very good. I feel like I want to be more positive minded about the whole thing, but it. There are a lot of very, very loose elements to this roster that just make it hard to see how this thing comes, gets back together and turns into a Seattle season unless there's some significant additions and changes yeah, you know. [00:40:12] Speaker B: You have to get healthy. And I know lots of people, even in the team, they know that those kind of things are a problem, you know, until they get everybody back healthy. Not to mention the fact that you're now short a couple of people because of the fact that people are out long term. You know, you have a lot of money in Velasco and now Paxton and Giovanni who are out long term. So, you know, people know that there's, there's not a lot of, you know, a lot of the talent is missing and a lot of talent's banged up and they're trying to just fight all through it. But now they know that they have to kind of sort of wait and see what else can come in, too. You know, of course, the young players, the guys that were like, man, it's my turn to play. That ain't how it works. You know, I was thinking about that the other day with, like Nolan or Seiki or any of these guys that are in the, that are within the range at which coach was willing to play them. Like he's not going to play a 16 year old. But, you know, if you're 1920 and up at that point, it's just down to your ability. You just have to outplay people if you want to get into the team, you know? And so, like you, you say to yourself, well, your money's in out. So let's go with Delgado. Let's go with Frazier. Let's go with Nolan. Well, unless Nolan outplays those other two guys, it ain't going to be Nolan. So the roster is fairly limited and there's nobody that can break a game like Yara Mindy. Like, his level is so far beyond everybody else, it really just cuts the heart out of the team when he's not in there. It's a shame that it's built that way. And in fact. So it wasn't hurt. You might feel differently about it, but, you know, two of the best players you have and one of them is way better than the other, but those are the truly best guys have at connecting the thing together. Legit's in there trying to do his best, but that's not his natural position. You know, he's played pretty well the last two games, but he's a wing or like an attacking mid, not a sit deep, link it playmate from back there kind of guy, but he's trying. So it's not optimal. And I think they all know it's not optimal. [00:41:58] Speaker A: Well, and what's really not optimal is the timing of having to go down to Austin and play Austin, who are in their own map, massive pile of trouble, and, and they need a win just as bad as Dallas does. And what an awful time this would be for Dallas to go down to Austin and just drop a turd. [00:42:20] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh, dude. Austin has one win since July 15 of 2023. [00:42:26] Speaker A: Really? I didn't realize it was that bad. [00:42:28] Speaker B: One win since mid July last year. [00:42:29] Speaker A: Even including home games. [00:42:31] Speaker B: Really? That's. Yeah, I got that off of MLS net this morning when I was reading their power rankings. [00:42:36] Speaker A: Gee whiz. [00:42:37] Speaker B: So you talk about an absolute mess. So if you lose this game, dude, I'm not saying, you know, life on the road is hard. That's a tough rival. I get it. They're going to be up for it because they're going to say, here's a team we can beat. This is our arch rival to come into our town. You know, they're banged up, but that team is terrible. And so if you. I'm not saying you, you should win there, but if you lose this game to a team that bad when you're already in your own funk, that's going to be real bad. You know, you need to go down there and get a point at least I think, or you're going to be spiraling hard at that point because they are so trash. I mean, that's incredible. One win since July 15 of last year. [00:43:17] Speaker A: Oh, wow. Okay. Anything else from training or what would you, anything else about the Austin game you want to preview or anything like that? [00:43:26] Speaker B: Yeah, we can try and talk about the Austin game. You know, obviously, moose is fine, Paul's fine. Donde Seelie's fine. The question, of course, is Jesus Ferrero. Like, what do you do if he's available or not? [00:43:36] Speaker A: You gotta sit him. [00:43:38] Speaker B: I mean, don't you put if, if Harrington's. [00:43:41] Speaker A: If, if Logan's healthy? [00:43:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:44] Speaker A: And Jesus is grabbing at his hamstrings. Start Farrington and let Jesus come off the bench if you need to. [00:43:50] Speaker B: Yeah. I think that if they decide that the three four three is the right tactic, then I, you know, then you could easily put Logan if he comes through without any swelling this week. Of course. Then you can put Logan in there with Musa and, and Areola as your high three ema chill mosses continue to drop weight and get thinner. So, like, I think he'll probably get that wing back spot, you know, with Dante on the other side, if that's the direction they go. I saw both. I saw Farfan work more as the third center back than Sam did this week. So. But that could be a coin flip either way. If you go three at the back, if you go forward at the back, then it could be, I probably would be far fan over Sam at left back in that right, at which point Dante becomes a winger. And so you'd be looking at Dante, Musa and Paul as your front three wingers. And then you just have to figure out who would fill in that ten hybrid role that Jesus is playing underneath, like, because then it looks more like a 4231 right. Does that make sense? So Dante's left and then that would be where Jesus would be under Musa. Could that be Farrington there, too? Could that be Bernie? You know, there's a couple of options in that spot if you want to try that. It's certainly not going to be allen, obviously. You know, it could be legit. Like you could put Frazier and Patrickson under legit. That's possible. So that's a way that you get a pretty nice lineup because if you go for the back there, then you have Dante, Musa and Areola across the front with legit under and then a pretty solid Frasier Delgado underneath him. And then your normal back four with far fan. That's your defensive minded like set from last year. That coach we really comfortable with. So if they do sit Jesus, that's very viable in my book. If Jesus is playing, and I think that you're right, it probably would be smart to sit in and they're only going to play him if they're very, very comfortable, I would imagine. But if he's in there, he's. He is your best player. So if he can go, you got to go with him. And then he has to go back to the ideas of what makes more sense, the back three or the back four, you know, which way are they going to go? And I, and I couldn't. I haven't looked at Austin the way Austin plays, so I don't know which way it'll be. But, you know, when your team is not going well, it's very. There's a whole lot of options available. When your team is really good, usually you get pretty dialed in. It's pretty. It becomes pretty obvious who's going to play and what the tactics gonna be. When you're a mess like this, it kind of all goes out the window. It could be all kinds of stuff and you hope that they don't overthink it and do something crazy. But obviously, Jesus, available or not, is the big linchpin that will change that. Could change everything based on his availability, obviously. [00:46:27] Speaker A: Boy, it feels like a. Hmm. [00:46:29] Speaker B: Yeah, it feels like a mess because it is a mess. It's not good, you know, right now. And it's. You're dealing with, you're missing. So such key pieces are missing. It's not like you're missing Ima to Amasi, who is a solid outside back, but not a game breaker and is not the linchpin of your team. You're missing the linchpin of your team. You're missing your amenity. You're missing pomical, you're missing Alan Velasco. These are massive, massive pieces that are out, and it changes everything. And if you're missing Jesus, that'll be. Is that three DP's out? No, it's only two. Two DP's out. But then two or three players that are right under that DP threshold in terms of money. So, like, you know, the difference between first place and last place in this league is whether your DP's and your high end players function work. Because, you know, I was watching training and I go, man, there's a whole bunch of good, solid, and most players out here, but there ain't nobody special right this minute. If Musa and Jesus don't click, there ain't nobody special. So. [00:47:18] Speaker A: All right, so Dallas and Austin this weekend, Buzz has found out that Dallas will once again be wearing the burn kit. They're not wearing the red jersey. Yeah, I guess because of the colorblind issues. So they're going to go all white is what you found out. [00:47:33] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. I believe it's all white. It's for sure the white top. And because Austin wears black pants, I'm sure it's a. You know, that's why it'll be white shorts. Yeah, I'm looking at it now. It's all white for Dallas. [00:47:45] Speaker A: Okay. [00:47:46] Speaker B: Which is weird because Austin, of course, is the green, black, black and so all white, obviously. That makes sense. You know, there are ways you could do the red jersey, but you'd have to wear white shorts and socks, which is. [00:47:57] Speaker A: Oh, no, that would have looked great. [00:47:59] Speaker B: Looks great. Both keepers are in blue, sort of. Austin is in the. The lighter blue, and Dallas is in the darker blue, which it's technically, they call it purple. I mean, is it actually really purple? It's kind of purplish. I guess. It's kind of bluish. But anyway, refs are in yellow, if you care about that kind of thing. [00:48:17] Speaker A: Boy, do I. Yeah. Oh, we get the new now. Okay, this is something we should talk about real quick because the refs are back. They've signed the deal. They've come to an agreement, begrudgingly or otherwise. But the thing everybody should be paying attention to is that this means the introduction of the new rules will start happening this weekend, I believe. [00:48:35] Speaker B: I don't think so. I think they. Oh no, no, because they. Dan, Dan was saying that our Dan was saying that the time that they were going to use to train the refs for those new rules went to training the replacement reps. So apparently they're going to work on it over time and bring those rules in and they have not yet going to dying. [00:48:56] Speaker A: So if for anybody that doesn't, you know, hasn't been clued in, they announced before the season that MLS is going to institute. I think it was three or four new rules. Some of them are just procedural like letting the clock run in the stadium past 90 minutes, which they've already started. [00:49:15] Speaker B: They did that one tv. [00:49:15] Speaker A: Yeah, they did that. The referees verbally announcing the reasons and, and the details of vard decisions in stadium. Kind of like how NFL referees do on penalties. [00:49:29] Speaker B: Yep. [00:49:29] Speaker A: But the two that I'm fascinated by are rule changes related to substitutions and injuries and kind of trying to mitigate time wasting. Uh, we'll talk more about it when they officially decide to institute that. But those are the two, those two specifically are the ones I'm most fascinated by to see how effective they are. [00:49:48] Speaker B: Right. The ten second sub rule you had to get off in 10 seconds, that's kind of a huge one. [00:49:53] Speaker A: That's the one that makes, that's the one that feels like keepers can only hold on to the ball for 7 seconds that never, ever, ever, ever gets called, you know. [00:50:01] Speaker B: Well, they did it in ML, in Mls next pro. They did it last year. [00:50:05] Speaker A: What? Ten second? [00:50:06] Speaker B: Yeah. And they, and the numbers were astronomical. It was like 98% of players got off in 10 seconds. So like it actually worked. So that was nice. [00:50:15] Speaker A: And the other one is related to if you go down and require somebody to come out and attend to you for an injury, you have to go off the field for a minimum of two minutes I think is what it is. [00:50:26] Speaker B: I don't remember what the timeframe is. I apologize, but it is something like that. [00:50:29] Speaker A: Yeah. So that if you feel like, like, so that's the encouragement to get back up if you're not hurt and time waste. [00:50:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Before they, they wave somebody on. And the ten second thing is if you don't get off in 10 seconds, it's a minute. You have to. The other guys to. Wait a minute. Come on. [00:50:44] Speaker A: Yeah. So your team plays down a full minute before. Yeah, yeah. Interesting. [00:50:47] Speaker B: Okay, so we might see the VAR one, because you remember that they. They played one of the preseason games in the stadium, I think an academy game in the stadium, just so they could test that and, like, the refs practiced it. I mean, how hard is that to turn around and announce that to the stadium? So I don't think that that one you might see first, because they did do the clock thing already, for sure. You know? So it just depend. [00:51:09] Speaker A: All right, before. Are we done with all this? [00:51:12] Speaker B: Because. [00:51:12] Speaker A: And we. You want to move on to Dallas cup real quick? [00:51:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:51:15] Speaker A: Before we do that, can I drop a bomb on you? [00:51:18] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Yeah, go ahead. Is it Huntsman dump mom? [00:51:22] Speaker A: No, this is one that just hit Twitter. [00:51:24] Speaker B: Okay. [00:51:25] Speaker A: Miami has signed a new player. [00:51:28] Speaker B: Of course they have. [00:51:29] Speaker A: They went out and signed a right back from Boca Juniors. [00:51:33] Speaker B: They probably got him for, like, $5. [00:51:35] Speaker A: Well, he's on loan. [00:51:36] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. There you go. [00:51:37] Speaker A: And he's a player with extensive argentinian youth national team experience, and we'll be playing right back for. [00:51:46] Speaker B: So the thing about, you know, they got rid of y'all Yedland's contract. The thing about loans is, is that that's. You can so game the system. [00:51:53] Speaker A: Yes. [00:51:53] Speaker B: Because you can get the loan for, like, we didn't pay anything to get the player, and his salary for us is, like 50 grand. It's like, meanwhile, back home, he's getting paid 1.5 million. And you did some backdoor handshake. We're like, hey, we'll buy, you know, from your other company. We'll buy $1,500 in phones or something. You know, it's like, oh, this is. [00:52:12] Speaker A: This is. I mean, look, this is all the messy thing. There's no chance Marcelo wagon comes to MLS unless Messi gets a chance to play with Messi. But in the press release, they state that the loan is for 2024, and they, quote, hold an option to extend the loan through 2025. [00:52:32] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. Yeah, they're probably getting it for. For nothing, you know? And meanwhile, that club gets to say, hey, our guys are playing with Messi, you know? And, yeah, that dude's, like, probably took a pay cut in order to do it. You know, it's just. [00:52:43] Speaker A: And if you haven't had a chance to read the athletics poll of GM's that. The second part that came out today, there's a whole section in there. About. How about cheating on rosters and rules and MLS and they're all like, doesn't happen like it used to, but it's pretty easy to bend the Rules in MLS. And this feels like the perfect example of that. [00:53:04] Speaker B: Well, that's the thing. It's the messy power. Like, people are so willing to do anything it takes to play with Messi because everyone knows he's got a year or two left, you know, maybe three at the most. And it's like if you look your whole life you've been a huge fan of that guy. You're like, I will do anything to play for him, play with him for a couple of seasons. You know, it's just. It's not surprising that all this magic stuff happens with their roster, you know, same with, if Dallas had a guy like that and there's only one, so you can forget about it. The same thing. It would happen no matter where he was. You know, look at the way, like, LAFC is getting the french guy Giroud, right? [00:53:43] Speaker A: Well, he just turned. [00:53:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And then like the same day that came out, they went and signed a guy that had been with NYCFC that was a big time player. It's just like, you know, it's. If you have the cachet and the. The je ne sais quoi of whatever it is, you can do these moves. You can pull this stuff off because guys will work with you and they'll jump through hoops to make it happen. FC Dallas is not one of those teams. They have to pay full price. They have to do everything correctly. No one's going to give them a break to play here. You know, when they wanted a striker from some, that was somebody else's third striker, they had to pay $10 million for him. They didn't get him for $50 like Miami does. [00:54:27] Speaker A: Yep. Oh, well, let's move on to Dallas cup. The greatest two weeks every year in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Another addition is happening as we speak. And you've been attending it at quite amount, has spent a lot of your time this week attending these games, moving around. [00:54:48] Speaker B: Yeah, it's been fun. The 19th, the FCL 19s got through to the semifinals, which is awesome. They got through as the second, as. As the 1 second place team that got through. So that was. They had a big win yesterday against the team from Costa Rica who had beaten Tigress. So they weren't pushovers, but that was a nice win. That team's pretty gutted. You know, in my first thing about them from like day one, I wrote about all the players that were missing that had been signed and moved on. And there's still some, one or two players there that are interesting, though. And one of them had been in the poll post national team and came back, so, sorry, U 18 national team and came back. And so he was a nice addition. He had a brace that really helped them. You know, the, the 16s are not. Did not do so well. They had a loss, so they're probably pretty out of it. But the 14s are rolling. A bunch of the ECN El teams for Dallas are doing really well and getting through. It's been a fun tournament. The GA Cups right on the corner, too, which is where the U are. But Dallas Cups have been fabulous. The, the knockout, the semifinals for the girls are tonight. Like, all of them are at 06:00. And there's like eight Dallas girls teams have advanced through all age groups, including the, the U 17 team, which is the back to back Dallas cup champions. They're through three games. Their goal differential is plus 29. They're ridiculous. There's like three or four national team players on that team. So if you get a chance to go see that team, the girl 17s. [00:56:16] Speaker A: Is that the team that has a store on it? Her last name store? [00:56:22] Speaker B: I think so. [00:56:23] Speaker A: She scored about. Yeah, that's a friend of mine's daughter as she committed to a and m Buzz just. [00:56:28] Speaker B: Yeah, they have, they, they have. I think they have one player that plays for Mexico and they have three. Three, I think, for the plays for the US. Anyway, that team's loaded and they've won back to back. And, and there's a bunch of other girls teams play all at 06:00 they're all at the same time. That app at Toyota, if you're in the neighborhood, go out and cheer for some of those teams. The boys super group semifinal is Friday at. In the big stadium. And that's. Goodness, I can't say that one. Sao Paulo, Fulham and FC Dallas. So that's a fun Dallas place. [00:57:01] Speaker A: Who in the semifinal. Okay. [00:57:03] Speaker B: Yep. Sao Paulo plays Fulham. I understand that Fulham's nine. He doesn't wear the number nine, but he plays the nine. He actually wears number ten, but he plays nine is phenomenal. Coach Nico was raving about him, so I have not seen him, but I heard he's phenomenal. And then, you know, we're just moving into the knockout stages soon. There's one more round of games today, and there's a bunch of Dallas teams that are, that are like, tied for first and that's what they need, a good result in their third game to get through. But there's, you know, there's only one or two Dallas teams that have been eliminated outright. Everybody's so alive, so big games today and then through the weekend and I encourage everybody once they get into the knockout stages of, in the stadium in the finals over the last two days in the stadium, just go out there and enjoy that stuff because it is phenomenal. [00:57:46] Speaker A: Yeah, it's interesting. The Fulham making it this far in the supergroup is really impressive because they were a very, very late addition to the tournament. And I don't know if you've heard Andy talk about this on the kick around, but the reason why Fulham is actually playing in the tournament is directly related to all of the injuries that Liverpool at their senior Premier League team was having. Liverpool was having so many injuries because they had signed up to come to the tournament that the players that they would have brought from Dallas were having to go trickle up the system to cover up the spots at the Premier League level. And they said, look, we just don't have enough players. We're going to have to back out. Fulham filled the spot. So that's actually pretty funny how, how all of that is interconnected and tied together and, and kudos to Fulham for playing as well as they have considering they, I mean, it wasn't that long ago they committed to coming to the damn thing. [00:58:37] Speaker B: So yeah, that'll be a fun game. The Fulham Sao Paulo games at five and the FC Dallas Botofiba game is afterwards. Um, and that's Friday evening in this Toyota stadium. So that one does require a ticket. But I'm telling you that, like, that's the best soccer you'll see in this town short of FC Dallas playing. And it is seriously competitive uniting. Those are grown men. [00:58:58] Speaker A: Better. [00:58:59] Speaker B: It's. Don't be stupid. It's not better than Scott, don't be ridiculous. But there are guys out there that are full blown professionals that are worth millions of dollars, you know, including some guys that are, if Jeffrey Dallas guys that are signed to North Texas or guys that are on homegrown contracts, not a lot. But there's a couple of them that play for that group too. So they're playing down with a group for that tournament. Not a lot. I miss the days when they used to stack that group and try and win it, you know, but these days they have. North Texas SC is changing the landscape. [00:59:26] Speaker A: By the way, current situation included buzz, it may be more entertaining. How about that? [00:59:32] Speaker B: Oh, it'll certainly be entertaining, because those dudes take that stuff very seriously. And there's also almost always fights in red cards. I mean, it's. And goals galore. You know, like last year, Diego Pepe just absolutely steamrolled the Real Madrid center back. That's Zidane's kid. I was like, I thought his kid would be better than that. But anyway, it's a ton of fun. [00:59:56] Speaker A: Could you imagine your dad being Zenidden Zidane? That would suck. [01:00:02] Speaker B: Yeah, that would be tough. [01:00:03] Speaker A: I mean, it'd be great. And obviously in 99% of the way, but if you decided you wanted to be a professional footballer and your dad was Zenidine Zidane. [01:00:10] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, he is a center back for Real Madrid's 19, so he's not. [01:00:14] Speaker A: Terrible, but, oh, talk about weight on your shoulders. [01:00:18] Speaker B: Gig as a warrior. And that was a fun. That one was out at moneyground. That was even a free one. That was a fun one. [01:00:23] Speaker A: Very good. [01:00:24] Speaker B: Okay, so, by the way, there's a rumor floating around, and I've. If you're in this landscape, and the rumors are the point of, like, people are like, oh, so and so clubs has notified all their parents, apparently, and this is not announced, but apparently they're shifting the academy to system down. They're going to go with U, get rid of U 19, and then have U 16 and U 18 be, which is what it was in the DA, like a decade ago. So the landscape is always evolving in the youth level, and it's gonna be fascinating to see how. [01:00:57] Speaker A: Wait, wait, wait. I'm confused. They're gonna do what? [01:01:00] Speaker B: All right, right now, the main groups for the. In the academy are U 19 and then U 17, and then there. There is a U 16 group that Dallas plays in, but nobody else does. And then it's U 15. So they go 15, 1719, basically. And the GA cup, which is what everybody cares about, are 15 and 17, because by the time you get to 19, everybody's with their MLS next pro team. So there's. Most MLS clubs have gotten rid of their U 19 team, right? So in order to address that sort of gap or whatever, apparently they're shifting the top level to be U 18, and the two main years of emphasis will be 18 and 16. So that's, that moves up everybody. From the main emphasis being 17 and 15, it'll move up to 1816, and that for, therefore, the unite teen level will basically be gone. More than likely, probably, essentially, because those guys, most everybody is moving the kids they care about up to next pro by that point, with me? Yeah, no, this is the way it was literally in the DA. Like, right before, like, pacs and those guys hit unite team. Like, I remember, like Brian Padilla. Do you remember that guy? [01:02:08] Speaker A: I do. [01:02:08] Speaker B: We talked about the other day playing for 40. He was like, you, 16 player of the year. Because at that point it was 1618, and then right after that it changed to 1719. So it's like, the more things change, the more they go back to what they were. It's a constantly evolving landscape. It is not official, but, like, parents at the game I was at the other day, we're talking about, oh, Nashville has already notified all their parents that this is happening. So it's like, okay, so it'll be fun and fun for me to watch and see, like, how that changes next year because it could cause a ripple that changes the entire academy system for FC Dallas, how many teams they have, you know, and in a way, MLS next pro, North Texas SC has changed the way Dallas handles the Dallas cup. Like the night they used to, like when Paxton was already a homegrown. Paxton and Sylvania and Chris Richards and Chris Cappas, those guys all played for the 19s for FC Dallas, even though they were already, like, signing contracts and talking to teams and are already under contract for a couple of years. Reynolds played 19s for like three years after he had signed because he was so young. Dallas doesn't really do that anymore, you know, because of the MLS next pro, they just leave him in next pro. So there's only like a couple of guys that are down with the 19s are ones that are struggling to get minutes with next pro. So thus the landscape has altered, and again, it's going to alter again. So it's like it just never stops changing, you know, the youth landscape. [01:03:27] Speaker A: My head's spinning. [01:03:28] Speaker B: I know it's ridiculous, but, you know, it's important. So somewhere in there is some important information that it looks like it's all going to change again. [01:03:35] Speaker A: All right. [01:03:36] Speaker B: It was crazy. [01:03:37] Speaker A: Well, I think we did it. Buzz, I don't know how you feel about this particular episode. [01:03:42] Speaker B: We hit an hour. [01:03:43] Speaker A: We did do an hour without an actual game to talk about. [01:03:46] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, Paxton's a big deal. [01:03:49] Speaker A: He's the biggest deal. [01:03:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:52] Speaker A: Okay. Anything else? [01:03:57] Speaker B: I mean, I'm probably is something that I'm forgetting to talk about that. [01:04:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:04:04] Speaker B: A kid that's a U 14 for FC Dallas made his Mexico U 15 debut in scores named Xavier Gomez. So that's. That happened yesterday. [01:04:12] Speaker A: That's very cool. [01:04:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Ga cup is this week, starting in the next day or two, the. Some of the Dallas, like, one of the Dallas games is going to be on for sure, and if they advance, there'll be more of them on. [01:04:24] Speaker A: I know what I wanted to mention real quick. I got to watch, like, many people, the U 23 game against France. And I got to tell you, not that this really comes as a surprise, but the growth of the quality of Tanner Tessman. Dude, that guy stands out like a star. His first touch has improved so much. You can tell that kid has been playing at a very, very high level. I mean, he always. He still has all of those Tanner testament elements that we've always been attracted to, but then he's added this, like, new next level first touch and willingness to turn and move with the ball. That is. [01:05:10] Speaker B: I mean, what would he do for Dallas right now? [01:05:12] Speaker A: Oh, my God. Yeah. I got. I got such big hopes for that guy playing at another level. I mean, I wouldn't. I wouldn't blame him if he just chose to play the rest of his career in Venice, but he clearly, especially if he helps get that team promoted, that guy's trajectory is off the charts. [01:05:32] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. There was talk a year ago that there were, you know, multiple big italian teams that were lining him up. We're just, like, leaving. We're gonna leave him there for a year and see what happens, you know, but we're gonna be watching him thoroughly. You know, that was the talk. So, I mean, like. But can you imagine, like, him understudying Yara Mindy? Because that's the kind of player he could be. Oh, yeah. [01:05:51] Speaker A: And. And he still possesses that one trait that he was doing back when he was, like, a U 16 in the academy, which is those incredibly accurate long balls switching play from one side of the field to the other, from one half to the other half. I mean, he hits those things in his sleep. [01:06:09] Speaker B: Yeah. He'd be an $80 million center back. [01:06:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:13] Speaker B: He was a center back. [01:06:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:14] Speaker B: With that passing. [01:06:15] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. He could be one of those new, modern center backs that brings the ball out of the back. Kind of a John Stones type. [01:06:22] Speaker B: Yeah. That people pay obscene money for because it's so rare. Yeah. [01:06:25] Speaker A: Yeah. He. I was. I hadn't. I hadn't seen Tanner play in a very long time because, obviously, he's been playing in a league that we don't get a lot of access to. So when I saw him play against France the other day, it just. It was like this giant spotlight on my screen. It was so impressive. [01:06:41] Speaker B: Yeah. The good he had on that goal was phenomenal. [01:06:44] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. That fighting back to tie against France and turning Tarrion Reese smile into a frown was so awesome. I loved every. Damn, I just. Kicking Frank at french ass is awesome. Which also, then just to kind of put, you know, make a giant circle always takes me back to the thing that first got me so excited about Paxton was the U 19 World cup. In that performance of his against France, when he was just winning balls, kicking french ass and just lit the world on fire that day. And we all thought, this is the guy that. That just. I love thinking about that day. [01:07:21] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it was a long time ago. I know. It all went off the rails since then. By the way, did you see that? Juventus lowballed Weston McKinney. You turned him down. [01:07:29] Speaker A: I did. [01:07:29] Speaker B: I was like, weston, it's time, baby, come home. [01:07:31] Speaker A: He ain't coming back to MLS anytime soon. [01:07:34] Speaker B: Dude, I looked up what his salary is. FC Dallas can afford his salary. I know what you're saying. I know he's coming back. [01:07:40] Speaker A: So I. Okay, so I got a question for you. [01:07:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:43] Speaker A: If Weston and his agent called the hunts and said, for the right number in salary, there's an interest in Weston coming home, and Juventus said, okay, here's what we want for him. And that number was whatever. I don't even know what Weston's current value on them, on any of the websites is at this particular. Let's make up a number. I'm assuming it's probably, what, 20,000,025. [01:08:11] Speaker B: That's. Yep. [01:08:12] Speaker A: Okay. Would the hunts pay it? [01:08:15] Speaker B: No, but if. If they're negotiating, that means this. Contracts coming up this summer, right? [01:08:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:08:22] Speaker B: Well, according to. I take that back. According to transfer market, his contract runs through middle of next year. But if they're offering him a new contract, he's turning it down. Would the punts pay 25 million? No. No, they wouldn't. But if he was free, they can afford his salary. Those two things are different. That's all I'm saying. So, you know. Okay, they probably. These are going to be available. [01:08:48] Speaker A: Here's question b. Yeah. If that same offer was made to LAFC, La, one of the New York teams, would they pay the money to bring Weston to MLS or Seattle? [01:09:01] Speaker B: Um, no, because I think that while the domestically we. We all love Westin, I don't think that he has the move ticket star power. That'd be worth 25 million to an MLS team. [01:09:15] Speaker A: Yeah. You'd rather spend the 25 on a name that you just guarantee is gonna sell you tickets. [01:09:20] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is why you get 30 year olds that everybody has heard of. [01:09:23] Speaker A: Right. [01:09:23] Speaker B: You know, if you're gonna sit in that kind of money, you know, there's no one spending 25 million on a 24 year old, 25 year old, 20 year old. Not this league yet. Right. We're spending 1015 million on it. We're not there yet for that. You know, but again, if. If he was free, I think that's an entirely different question. No, I agree with you. Of course, this is all silly. There's no way he's coming back to NLS. But I'm just saying, like, if he was free, he does love Texas. He always comes to FC Dallas all the time. He comes back here all the time. He talks about the food all time. You know, we could tell he loves the food just looking at him. I'm just saying that, like, there's a dream scenario where, like, his salary is affordable by MLS and FC Dallas in the new era, in the messy era, his salary, how cool would it be. [01:10:08] Speaker A: To have Weston play? [01:10:10] Speaker B: Freaking amazing. [01:10:11] Speaker A: Now, see, I think Westin is a player that would sell tickets in Dallas. [01:10:15] Speaker B: In Dallas, he would. He would cause a splash. It wouldn't be messy level, but he would cause a splash. [01:10:19] Speaker A: No, but how many people are messy? [01:10:21] Speaker B: It would be more important than it would be, like, there would be a legitimacy value, because Dallas is starting to sell out almost every game. They're a string of salts this year. But the legitimacy value of having a guy that good come to you would be high. Of course, there's a certain part of Twitter that would immediately start telling him he sucks, but we all know that. [01:10:39] Speaker A: He does f those guys. [01:10:41] Speaker B: Yeah. It would be gals. It would be huge. [01:10:42] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, well, that was the fantasy portion. [01:10:46] Speaker B: Fantasy portion. Yeah. [01:10:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:10:49] Speaker B: More likely to get Tanner than you are western, but nonetheless. [01:10:53] Speaker A: Wow, Tanner. Good Lord. So impressive. If nobody. If you. If anybody missed that game, go back and find it online somewhere. Just go watch Tanner for 90 minutes plus or whatever. It was so damn good. [01:11:06] Speaker B: I take Busio to that kick and play. I've always felt that, though. [01:11:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Busio is a weird hit and miss for me. And it. It's interesting that, you know, when those two guys went over to Italy, Busio was the big highlighter player, and Tanner has outplayed him and is now considered to be the better of the two. [01:11:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Busio's too inconsistent, but I would take him in a heartbeat. I mean, sure. Yeah. [01:11:25] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. Third, agree. [01:11:26] Speaker B: The podcast has been brought to you by soccer 90 dot, featuring the all new Michelin Ness Dallas Burn collected some sweet vintage tease. Jackets and hoodies and stuff is amazing. Limited qualities are available, so make sure and get yours quick if you want it. And don't forget, as a third degree listener, you get 20% off at soccer 90 dot or in store with code. Third degree. That's code. Third degree. Soccer 90 dot. Some exclusions to apply third degree. The podcast has also been brought to you by the Lindstrom law firm. For Wills Trust, probates and business law. Call 469-515-2559 that's 469-515-2559 or visit lindstromlaw firm.com for a free consultation. [01:12:06] Speaker A: All right, man. Well, good job. [01:12:08] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks, man. [01:12:09] Speaker A: Well, hopefully, hopefully Dan is back next week. [01:12:13] Speaker B: Yeah, hopefully. Hopefully so. [01:12:14] Speaker A: Hopefully his beard and all of his jobs pay out for him. So thanks, Buzz. I appreciate it. Thanks for all your efforts on this stuff. Thanks for talking about the Paxton and the Dallas cup updates as well. [01:12:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. Thanks for being here to help me through, get through it. Even without a game, it was plenty going on with this team. There is gonna be plenty going on this team the next, you know, the season is not gonna be decided in the next three or four games, but man alive, you could dig yourself a huge hole if you don't get some results here soon. And they have some, they have some big holes in their team, and they need two players for sure, you know, and the roster is already full, so it's gonna be huge. Hey, let's go watch some more Texas play. [01:12:54] Speaker A: And thank you, FC Dallas. Curious fan, for listening. We will be back next week with another episode of third Degree, the podcast. Get well, Paxton. 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