3rd Degree the Podcast #260

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:00:04] Speaker B: Ooh. Ooh. Third degree. The third degree. Napa third degree. The third degree. Napa third degree. The third degree. Napoleon third degree. The third degree. Napodcast third degree of the podcast is brought to you by socceranodia.com. Your source for all FC Dallas national team international club gear, and that includes the absolute Alice true brand military appreciation hat. It's now available at Soccer 90 here and grab yours while supplies last. As a third degree listener, you get 20% off of discount code third degree at checkout, both online and in person. That's code. Third degree, 20% off. Some exclusions may apply. Third degree of the podcast is also brought to you by the Lindstrom law firm. For Wills Trust, probate, and business law. Call 469-515-2559 that's 469-515-2559 or visit Lester law firm.com for a free consultation. [00:01:06] Speaker A: Well, hello there, FC Dallas. Curious fan. Welcome to episode 260 of third degree, the podcast. Hello, once again. My name is Peter, joined first by Dan Crook. Howdy, Dan. [00:01:22] Speaker C: Hello. Hello. [00:01:24] Speaker A: How are you? Everything good? [00:01:28] Speaker C: You know, just enjoying life, right? Forgetting that there's a team in Dallas that plays on Saturday nights. [00:01:37] Speaker A: And your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder of Thirddegree.net, this podcast, and the original soccer influencer himself. Live from Orlando, Florida, it is Buzz Kerik. Come in, buzz. [00:01:52] Speaker B: Greetings, fellas. Sorry about the quality of the audio, but you can only do so much when you're in a hotel room. The country. [00:02:00] Speaker A: The quality of the what? [00:02:02] Speaker B: The audio. The audio on the phone. [00:02:03] Speaker A: Oh, you said it funny. I didn't understand what, that you were talking about something else. All right. [00:02:08] Speaker B: The OTO. Peter? [00:02:12] Speaker C: Yeah. I thought he said he was in Idaho. [00:02:14] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's. [00:02:16] Speaker B: That's in the summer. That's different. [00:02:18] Speaker A: That's a different vacation. [00:02:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:02:19] Speaker A: Are you gonna go to Disney World or Disney? Yeah, Disney World. [00:02:23] Speaker B: I'm gonna go to Key west, the adult Disney world. [00:02:28] Speaker A: Okay. [00:02:30] Speaker B: Mainly I'm here for work. [00:02:31] Speaker A: Interesting. Ah, okay. So you're not gonna. You're not gonna go to the. Any attractions, like universal or anything like that? [00:02:38] Speaker B: I'm gonna be 1012 hours days for the next four days, and then I'm gonna scoot us for three or four days, and then I'm gonna come back and do the same thing again. [00:02:46] Speaker A: Are you gonna. Are you gonna do some scuba diving? [00:02:50] Speaker B: No, I don't. I don't scoop it up. No. [00:02:52] Speaker A: Deep sea fishing. [00:02:53] Speaker B: No. [00:02:54] Speaker C: No anything. [00:02:57] Speaker B: I'm gonna go to fancy midnight rave and sell the beach and drink, you know, Margaritaville's and. All right, you know, enjoy the drive down to the keys. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Well, that would be much more fun than watching FC Dallas. [00:03:11] Speaker B: Yeah, it will be. I'll tell you that. Buzz. [00:03:15] Speaker A: We have an auspicious start to the 2024 season, and I think we should start the podcast with something you posted on the interwebs. I think it was Monday where you began to track just where this season falls in line with the worst seasons in club history. [00:03:36] Speaker B: Yeah, right now it's the worst start ever is 2009, but that season starts to get better, much better, really quickly after game eight. So within the next week or two, that season is going to no longer be really bad. And then the second worst season of all time, in terms of starting, is the season we're currently in. And then the third worst is 2003, which is this athlete season, which is, of course, the worst season of all time and is a horrific season. And the fact that this season has started worse than that is inauspicious. The difference, of course, is that 2003 was caused by the hunts with their South Lake Shenanigans, whereas this one is, you know, has many contributing factors, but the most of the biggest, one of which, of course, is that they've been missing, you know, upwards of $5 million in salary and very quality players. But it doesn't excuse the fact that it's an abysmal start to the season. And there definitely are more than just the injuries contributing to what this team is, why it is about, why it's as bad as it is. [00:04:38] Speaker A: Well, stacking on top of all of this, Colorado, who was a really bad team last year and had a lot of change in the off season, have started strong and really turned the screws to Dallas last weekend, winning two to one. And I suffice to say that the excitement level or entertainment level or any kind of glimmer of hope that there's something good to look forward to with the addition of Alarmy back into the roster, didn't. Didn't turn into a product that was any more exciting than the goalless draw the weekend before against Seattle. [00:05:13] Speaker B: Yeah, I think we had all hoped that Yara Mindy would provide enough connective play that they would be able to get forward and do better things, and they did eventually. But in the first half, and maybe even, you know, as long as. Yeah, I mean, he was in the game, he was lifted for a minute restriction, by the way. That was I coach confirmed that for me. You know, it was one of the worst first half we've ever seen. It was a really poor start, mainly sort of out of a lacking of. I don't know, I hate to use the words like words like bravery, but there was a whole lot of, like, attempts to build out of the back, you know, passes that would come out of, from the goalie to the center backs to, and they would try and get to midfield and maybe they couldn't, and they would just back up more, or they would get up to the midfield and those guys would try and turn to find somebody else and there's nothing there, and they would just back up again. So Dallas really struggled, even really make a lot of quality build forward and quality play at all, and it really turned into, like, a massive, you know, sitting on low block and try and just boot it out as much as they could, you know. And really, only Ansa right now, in terms of a high player, has much of the get behind kind of game. You would hope that you could get some of that from Dante, see Lee? But you're not when he's playing as deep as he was. So, you know, for. For 55, 60 minutes, it was absolutely abysmal. And I'm sure coach said that he talked to them politely at halftime about what he thought was bad, but I'm sure he ripped them, I imagine, and called them into question and called their guts into question because the second half was a little bit better. Although, admittedly, they made another huge, massive mistake right away. And then once they actually went to the bench, one of the earliest benchmarks we've ever seen. That's how mad coach probably was. But we actually saw some reaction after that, and it did get better. [00:07:06] Speaker A: Buzz, we. We all are great admirers of the great Steve Dallas. Steve Dallas. Steve from Bloom county. Sorry. Steve Davis, the soccer journalist, godfather of the Dallas market. You know, he started doing this substack, and today he wrote an article, and I. You know, I'm not speaking for Steve. I mean, I'm totally speculating, but I think Steve is. This is about as critical as Steve gets. He's so fair and balanced in how he writes this stuff, and even he is like, maybe now's the time to try. Start trying other people on the bench and in the roster and just trying to see if that has any impact. But my big takeaway from that is, is exactly what we've been talking about on this podcast for quite a while, which is there's just not a lot to turn to, uh, if you want to make changes on the. On field product. And. And I. And I think for the fan base. That's the most disconcerting part of this is, is that it there it, when you begin to look at this thing from a, at a, at a high level, you. It's really, really hard to see how this season is going to get any better. [00:08:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I think there's. Without some significant changes to the roster, it is going to be what it is. Obviously, you can wait for some of the injuries to get better and that will help. Certainly, you know, you can. A coach is not likely to change his fundamental beliefs, though, and this coach seems to really be believing in this three, four three for a time. You know, trying to convert the team to play a different way at this point in the season would be tough. You have to start over in many ways, unless you go to a formation they're already very familiar with. But I think Steve is probably, you know, leading us in a way to something we probably all could take away from this last game, which, you know, even based on coach's comments in the post game press conference where he was talking about how great the people that came in the game did and how much energy they brought. Well, there's, there's some alternatives right there. You know, people that have been on the bench that maybe brought more fire, brought more energy and brought more bravery. And in the latter half of that game, maybe that's the first step in trying some other things. Maybe there's some people that have not had a good start to the year that maybe are now maybe figuring it out and later we'll talk about who those might be. Probably. And, but, you know, within a context of the owner of the TD and the coach, there's only so many things you can change. You know, there really is not a lot of options for change. Even I think, you know, Doyle and Bogart have written about this team, too, and said, you know, where is the way forward? And the bottom line is that I don't think the players have given up on the coach yet. So what makes you say that attitude? Well, for a fact, like, when the players that he brought in reacted the way they did, you know, when they have their good moment and they kind of thump their chest a little bit, they don't glare at coach or yell at the coach back or, um, the fact that they are, there are segments of the team that are in some games showing fight and bat and want to battle and want to put out effort. The fact that when you go to training, you watch guys. When I go to training, I watch guys still trying to compete and still getting you know, mad with things the way they are. You know, as a season like this, where's on if the season's going the wrong way, you'll find people stop being mad at each other to a certain extent in training. You know, they, they stop really competing aggressively and they stop being demonstrative when they come into games and they stop being physical in response to the other team and things like that. So we're not, we're not seeing those signs yet? I don't. I don't think we're seeing those signs yet. [00:11:02] Speaker A: Dan, I'm going to turn to you in this time of need because, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way. I suspect you have a lot of experience in your life as a Lewton fan of really bad seasons, and, and you've been through the good and the bad with a club like Lewton in your lifetime. And I wonder if, as you see how this season is rolling out and what we all think kind of pretends as to how this thing's going to play itself out through the fall. If you have a mindset about it or some sort of advice or insight that you would share with somebody who may not be used to this, that's difficult, right? [00:11:43] Speaker C: So you can have a terrible team, but entertaining games? This is just so bland. It's. Yeah, you know, there's, there's a, there's a definite point where apathy is going to kick in and all the marketing efforts, at least for the people that are there for soccer, really aren't going to matter anymore. That's gonna be the difficult point. I mean, you know, watching a crappy team, you know, everyone at any level, right? They've had crappy seasons. They've had crappy runs in seasons. It happens. There's nothing really to deal with there, but at least there's some entertainment value, because ultimately, that's all this is for everyone. It's entertain, it's an entertainment, it's an outlet. And if you take that part out of it and it's just game after game is dragging and boring, then that's where it's going to get rough for fans to stick around. And historically, those are the times where people are like, ah, screw that. I don't want to make this hour drive from Fort Worth to Frisco or I don't want to, you know, deal with the tollway and the traffic or kind of whatever it may be, and that's where people walk away. [00:13:05] Speaker A: You know, it was funny, I thought about this the other day, guys, which was. I was somewhat surprised the turnout for the Seattle game was as good as it was. Considering how bad this season has started and the fact that the club has been successful in selling out all the games this year. What would it mean if, in fact, the club continued to have success in attendance and ticket sales, even if the club and the team is performing as, continues to perform this poorly? Does it? Is there anything else to read into that? [00:13:39] Speaker B: Well, just that Austin was right in the sense that if you can do a fair amount of marketing and it can make your game presentation better, make it more enticing to people and have entertainment value beyond just the fact that there's a soccer game on the field, matters that you can. You can spend money and get people into your building. There. There is a segment of the audience that is not particularly cultured in their soccer watching. You know, they. Right, they can watch a soccer game and enjoy it, but they may not see the high level of nuance that other people might see. And the amount of people that I think would watch an FC Dallas game and say that it's bad soccer is not 80% of the audience. It's more like 20% of the audience. There are people that will stop coming. But for the most people, you know, I think this is a reason why the hunts have never been really crazy about the hardcore fans. What they, you know, supporter type culture, what they care about is the family culture, and they want to sell season tickets to people that are going to come no matter what, because they're bringing their, you know, family and their kids, or they're bringing their other three buddies, and they're going to be there every game, no matter what. Hmm. [00:14:51] Speaker A: You got any thoughts on that, Dan? [00:14:54] Speaker C: No, I just think the challenge is a little bit different because it's not. I mean, at least. [00:15:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:00] Speaker C: Like blabber says, you know, for the people that are watching for the soccer, it's. It's not good, it's not bad. It's just so lackluster. Yeah. They're 100% marketing at families and people that aren't really going to be, you know, people that aren't going to be listening to this, that aren't going to be reading the blog, they're not going to read breakdowns, game stories, news stories. They're just kind of showing up for, you know, a fun time, a cheap beer, and whatever else. [00:15:33] Speaker B: Remember to, of course, that there's a segment of the audience that's old enough to remember when we never had professional soccer at this level at all, and they just like to go watch it no matter what. And there's a segment of the population, when we see other new teams come to the league, that their markets go crazy without having any idea of how good the team's going to be. Look at Austin and their sensational first season when the team was good and then their team got bad. Over the last two years, they've still had pretty dang good numbers. I mean, it's not quite as rapid as it was, but it's 80% there. You know, I just think that there's a segment of the population that just loves the idea that there's a high level professional game to go watch. And even if Essie Dallas isn't terrible, maybe Messi comes to town, or maybe somebody else's favorite team comes to town or somebody else's favorite player comes to town. [00:16:20] Speaker C: I think with the new markets, it's always interesting because, like, New New York City lost something, some absurd number, like 15,000 fans in their third or fourth year when they, when FC Dallas played down at Austin. That, that end behind the goal at Austin. That's normally crazy for. There are an awful lot of green seats visible. You know, you kind of, in those new markets, they have to like, you know, strike really hard from the off and then kind of maintain, well, maintain something. I know a lot with Austin, a lot of people are unhappy about Josh Wolf being kept on New York City. It was. Well, I don't remember exactly what it was with them, but, you know, there's that kind of similarity. FC Dallas has raised the attendances that much and it was all in this new era and, and more exciting soccer, more attacking soccer. And suddenly it's, yeah, we're just gonna be that Simpsons sketch from, you know, 20 some years ago. [00:17:26] Speaker B: It will be fascinating to watch and see if and when the poor play, you know, tail tails off in the stands and changes the sands. You know, that's. I mean, that's part of what we do, too, is try and watch a bigger picture. And so that part will be, I mean, I'll be curious to see if it continues. You know, I'm not going to enjoy it, but it'll be something to pay attention to. [00:17:47] Speaker A: Well, going back to the game and the team, more specifically, I, Nicosi Tafari, update. Anybody? What, what's going on with him now? [00:17:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I talked to coach specifically, that was like the second or third question I asked him this week in training, and I said, okay, did Nicosi respond the way you wanted? Is that what he did in this game? Is that what you want? And he said, yes, absolutely. He said this kind of demonstrative, aggressive, chest thumping Nkosi is what he wants out of Nicosi. He's had conversations with him about, you have to walk a line, of course, between recklessness and aggressiveness. You don't want to be getting too many cards or red cards or anything, but you need to be physical and you need to be attacking and you need to be proactive. And he said that the way he played in this game is what he wants out of the guy. So, you know, by whatever measure you want to use in terms of metrics of his play, coach, you know, from what coach responded to me, you know, he got what he wanted out of benching Nikozi. So is that benching experiment over? I think it probably is going to be based on the, his, his comments post came about the subs he made and then me specifically when I asked about Nicosi. And so I think, you know, that's kind of what I mean about guys have not given up. Guys are still fighting to be in the team and on the field. Guys are still fighting in the games. You know, even if the play, the beginning was bad, you can look at like, the way Bernie came in and even Logan Farrington came in and they brought energy, they brought, that was infectious and they lifted the whole team just by moving and competing and fighting and Bernie getting balls into the box that we hadn't seen a lot of before. And even Paul had like five crosses or something, which is not what he usually has been doing. So again, some positives from the back end of this game that you can take away. I think Nicosi being for sure one of them. [00:19:46] Speaker A: Buzz, I was thinking as you were talking, if, if you were told you get to pick the starting eleven for the Houston game, I'm not, I'm not asking you to predict who it would be. What I'm asking you is who would you put out there to start the game on Saturday? [00:20:05] Speaker B: Well, Nicosi, Rohan, you know, it's a tough question to answer because a lot of the things I would do would not involve a three four three. [00:20:14] Speaker A: No, you can change the formation, whatever you want to do. I'm just asking. Everybody loves Buzz. Everybody thinks Buzz is smart about this. I'm interested. And what Buzz's starting eleven for Houston. [00:20:24] Speaker B: Is, well, you know, pending the health of some players, I would bring Marco. I would go back to a four three three, and I would bring a Marco back at left back and I would use EMa at right back. And I would play with Nicosi and Ibi, that's your best back four. And then in midfield, I Mindy, of course, and then I would try and have bring back on the wing play, which was so good the last couple years, other than I think Legit's got a knock, so I won't pick him. But I would definitely try and have Bernie on there. I definitely would try and have Musa on there. If Jesus is healthy. Absolutely. You picking Jesus if you're not? I'd be. I'd be tempted to pick Logan Farrington. I know Logan Farrington has got over on, so I know Logan struggles at times with the pace of the game still, and I know that he and Musa are kind of similar players, but if you're talking about the. That other wing at this point, I don't know that Paul's given you enough that I wouldn't try Logan. And out there. And then the problem right now is still your midfield with no Paxton, even with the arm indie, I don't really know who else you would put on the field with Yara Mindy, since you don't have, since you don't have legit, probably this weekend, maybe, and you'd have. You're basically stuck fielding, you know, a Patricon Delgado or Liam Frazier or somebody like that. And it's really not, it doesn't. Changing formations doesn't solve what is your major problem right now, which is your ability to link from your defense to your offense. And until you can figure out how to solve that, and I'm not sure that you have the bodies to be able to solve that, because you can put, you can put seeking in there who has some of that connective tissue, but he tends to make these defensive errors and make three or four passes that just absolutely kill you at some point during the game. So you could put Norris out there, but, you know, he's, he's still in the same sort of boat where he's still too reactive at this, this level he plays, he's playing really well for North Texas. So honestly, right now, it's like, I don't know that I have a better idea about how to fix it than coach does because of what your problems are, because of what you're missing, you know, until you can replace Paxton, you know, I don't. I don't know that there's a good way out of your biggest midfield problem. [00:22:56] Speaker A: All right, well, that is a perfect segue into the other kind of touchy subject of the week, which is, it appears, knowing that this team is riddled with holes and gaping open source. Other teams are out making moves and changes in their roster and signing players and attempting to get better. As the window closed, I guess it was today or yesterday. I can't remember when it was. And I think there was even at one point we, there was rumor running around that Dallas was in the hunt for a center back. No, not and the window. What do you mean? [00:23:41] Speaker B: Well, for like four straight podcasts now, I've told you, the coach flat out said they're after a center back and they're after us. [00:23:48] Speaker A: No, no. I thought somebody reported there was a specific center back that had been like, been named or targeted or identified? [00:23:56] Speaker B: Not that I can think of. [00:23:58] Speaker A: Oh, okay. I thought Bogart tweeted something about Dallas had their eye on a center by center back or something. [00:24:05] Speaker B: That was it. Just that Dallas was after a center back. That's all he said. He didn't say who. [00:24:08] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. My point is, is that the window closed and nothing has happened. Yeah. Dallas is no better today than it was a week ago and won't be making any changes, apparently, until the summer transfer window when it be way too late to have any effect on this particular season. [00:24:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Look, I don't want to sound, I'm going to have to explain why this happened, but I don't want people to think that I'm defending them because we've been saying for like two years, and for sure all this winter, we were saying your shortest center back. Not, and not just a center back, because they added a center back. They had a cross onto the shortest starting center back. So we've been saying for a long, long time. But here's the buts, and here's how it got to where it did. And this is also true of a misfit or replaced Paxton. The reason they didn't, I think they didn't find a mifflin replaced Paxton is because of the timeframe. They've only just recently, within the last couple of weeks, realized that Paxton was going to be out for the year. They know they can put him on season ending ir. They know they need to replace them. But there was such a short time frame that would have been very difficult to do. And that's, in a way, wrongly, but in a way that's true of the center back, because they didn't decide that they needed a center back until three or four weeks into the season, you know, probably when they tried to go back to the four four two for a game or two, and that didn't work either. And then they realized that they really needed to go get a center back. So, you know, I think it's undefensible. And we even said that, like the fact that they didn't recognize that made me think that they don't understand the league well enough. But once they finally decided to go get one, they have the ability to add one. In terms of money and roster moves, you'll have to cut a senior roster player or buy them out to get, to get somebody in. You can get one person in with Paxton going on season in the IR, but then the second one, you'll have to cut somebody so they can do that. And they could do that even now with the window closed, you can trade inside the league and you can sign a free agent that is already a free agent. As long as they were free during the window, you could get them now. But that's the real problem. You don't want to add a player, just add a player. You only want to add a player that will make your team better. So you have to find somebody that's going to outplay, right, walking in the door and be high enough quality that they're going to be better than what everything else you have. And that's harder to do because MLS is a better league now and it's particularly hard to do in the primary MLS window because that's the window when everybody else is in their crunch time. If you'd have done it back in December or early January when other teams are in their mid season around the world or in their mid season windows, and they're more likely to be able to move and do pieces and things like that. But by the time Dallas realizes they needed somebody, it was their windows were all closed. Which means that they're only going to give up somebody that they find surplus to requirements. They know they're not going to have them past the end of the season and they're not part of the mix now. Well, who's got a player laying around better than what Dallas has that some they're willing to part with that they don't need? That isn't crazy expensive. Now listen, I agree with you. They fucked this up big time that they didn't recognize this in advance, but I understand why they didn't get it done in this window and why it'll be next window. [00:27:33] Speaker A: I see. This is the part that I find really hard to believe, and I do. And this is where, and again, I'm not, I'm not challenging you, Buzz. I'm just asking the obvious question, which is we. There is an entire globe of soccer players to choose from. Musa was an extra player Benfica had laying around that they knew wasn't going to be a starting player and were happy to sell. Now, I'm not suggesting the hunts go out and spend another $10 million, and I. By the way, I do think a big part of this calculation is the fact the hunt spent all the money they were ever going to spend. And I think part of the reason why they aren't adding anybody right now is because they probably internally don't want to spend any more money. They blew it all on Moussa. [00:28:24] Speaker B: Yeah. You can't. You can't add a DP because those are all filled, um, with you. [00:28:29] Speaker A: But what I. But, but what I. Let me, let me finish my point here. [00:28:32] Speaker B: Yep. [00:28:33] Speaker A: I find it hard to believe in this transfer window. A club like Dallas, if they wanted and were willing to spend the money, can't find somebody that could help this team right now that wouldn't be better than Frazier or Delgado or Endelay or any of these other guys that are on the team, that by and large in this league are spare players. I think. I think the question is maybe Dallas just isn't very good at this part of the job. [00:29:08] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. That's entirely possible. Yeah. Listen, I want to make very clear, I'm not defending them, I'm just. [00:29:14] Speaker A: Oh, I know you're not. [00:29:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, the thing about, like, is there a player good enough that you could, if you had the money, you could get them? You could. Could. But the problem is, is that the other team that can no longer replace them, like, they went out and got Musa and spent $10 million on their third, Benfica's third striker because Benfica was in the window when they could replace Musa. Right. Well, if you, now, if you bought Musa today, Benfica couldn't replace them because their windows closed. Right? So that's different. [00:29:41] Speaker A: Yeah. I still believe there is plenty of really top quality players running around the EFL just as a starting point or in the brazilian leagues or somewhere in South America or Central America that could make this team better. And I refuse to believe that the well is dry and Dallas just can't. Or like, oh, you know, there's just nobody good enough right now. We're just going to wait till the next window. That makes zero. I don't buy that shit. [00:30:05] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. I don't disagree necessarily. I'm just trying to provide some context. I mean, you know. [00:30:11] Speaker A: Oh, no, I know. I know you are, and I don't want anybody to think that I'm trying to argue with you. I'm just trying to. I'm trying to stand up for everybody. Listening to this podcast going, there's no way they can't find somebody to help this team. [00:30:22] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a, it's kind of a mystery. I really do think it was too late on Paxton by the time they knew. But at the same time, you know, you should have been looking for a center back for months and months and months. I mean, I think it's unforgivable, this one, that you didn't have a center back lined up, because I could have. We've been saying all winter that they were missing one. You know, we all like Sam Juncker. Sam junka shouldn't be starting 34 games at center back. He should be a wingback, and we're a film starter. Right. You know, I, so I agree with you in principle that, like, I don't know how you couldn't find somebody now it is harder to find a lefty, I give you that. But, you know, I think if they have to keep in mind that you have to get rid of somebody, too. So it's not as simple as just grab a player. Who am I going to cut? I'm just saying I can think of. [00:31:14] Speaker A: Ten guys I'd cut on this team. [00:31:17] Speaker B: Yeah, well, haunts and money. You know how it is. [00:31:20] Speaker A: Would you like to run through the roster and play a game with me, Buzz? [00:31:24] Speaker B: Sure. Well, we've done that before, but remember, too, that there's a rules changes coming in the next window. Remember, they're adding these expansion of the amount of high end players you can have and the amount of buyouts you can have is going to come into play in the next window. It's not coming at the end of the season. So there's a whole lot more tools available to them and a whole lot more capability available to them in the next window. So, you know, I really just think it came down to a calculation on their part that, like, what they were, what they had offered to them and what they had found. And granted, you're, you're allowed to criticize them for their inability to find it, but they just didn't feel like it was right. [00:32:02] Speaker A: So do you guys, if you were able to get Nico or Dan Hunt or Zenada or anybody else kind of high up in the staff and take them out for drinks and get them a little boozy, do you think in their most honest moment, they've essentially written this season off already? [00:32:25] Speaker B: Ooh, no, I certainly don't think the coach has, because he won't make it through the season if he does. [00:32:37] Speaker C: Man, I would hope he's also in a contract. [00:32:38] Speaker B: Yes. [00:32:39] Speaker C: So he needs to. [00:32:42] Speaker B: Zana just got a bigger, you know, raise and, like, an extended contract, I suppose he might have, but Dan Hunt is so emotional, you know, and there's all this talk that they're not really very happy. So I don't think so. [00:32:56] Speaker A: When you say there's all this talk that they're not very happy, what is? Can you expand on that? [00:33:00] Speaker B: Just the things that make Nikos seat hot. Just the chatter we hear, you know, behind the scenes, that it's a results game, you know, and that, yes, there are things like the injuries that are mitigating, but at the same time, it's been a problem for a while. You know, I think, like, look, we've talked before about historically, the hunts are very, very patient. I think that they've passed that. I think because this is going back to the middle of last year, I think Nico side, he see this very, very hot, you know, I think he's in trouble with the ownership if he doesn't get something right in here, you know? And so I'm sure that's why he's celebrating these smaller victories in terms of, like, seeing things that he can be positive about and move forward with. But this is a huge game this weekend against Houston here for him, I think. [00:33:42] Speaker A: Does he get sacked if they lose this game? [00:33:45] Speaker B: It depends if it's bad enough. I mean, if they get stomped, you know, and stomp doesn't mean scoreline. Stomp just means comprehensively outplayed. You know, if you continue to see the same problems without any solutions, if he continues to just roll out the same thing over and over, I think he'll be in trouble. I mean, it could be as early as this weekend, or maybe it'll be, but I just think he's definitely on one of the hottest seats in the league right now. I don't. I really do. [00:34:09] Speaker A: Do you think they got a plan if they do sack him? [00:34:12] Speaker B: No, that's part of the problem. It's like, who can you get? That's it. You know, the. This is the first time the hunts have gone outside the hunt way, and it hasn't worked. So I don't know that they wouldn't just go back to the hunt way, so, you know. [00:34:29] Speaker A: Well, I'm not sure. I mean, I think this. I think Niko was kind of out of the hunt way, but at the end of the day, he was just another lightly experienced manager. [00:34:43] Speaker B: Well, yeah, but he wasn't somebody they had a connection to. He wasn't somebody. Somebody from that shot in their own system or they had already. They already knew. Well, you know, usually only hire guys they know well, and, you know, how much this job gets paid. So, you know, relatively speaking, we don't know exactly, but. [00:35:00] Speaker A: Well, yeah, you know, earlier this week, I tweeted out kind of a graph, a chart of all the people, the guys, the managers that the hunts have hired. And it's very clear, like, there's a clear profile of who the hunts hire for this job. And. And it does beg the question that. And to be fair to the hunts, because in the last couple of years, and we've talked about this and, and given them credit for this, that they've changed their ways in terms of spending, in terms of salaries. Uh, you know, they're middle of the pack and wage bill. They've increased the amount of money they were willing to spend in transfer fees, which is a big problem historically for these guys. And they've spent money in marketing and changed that and had a lot of success. Is, do you think Buzz and or Dan, do you think there's any way that the next frontier that they cross is these significant money bags for a manager? Well, no. You don't think they do that? [00:35:58] Speaker B: No. [00:35:58] Speaker A: Why? [00:36:00] Speaker B: Because they're the hunts. [00:36:02] Speaker A: Yeah, but they changed on these other things. [00:36:04] Speaker B: Yeah, but Zanata is really entrenched here. You know, he's the one that made the franchise profitable. And from the hunts, that's everything, you know, and Dan. [00:36:13] Speaker A: So is. Is not of the problem. [00:36:17] Speaker B: Well, that's a totally different conversation, but, yeah, price plays part of the problem, you know, and Dan hunt likes to play around with this big toy. So, you know, it's. Those guys are wanting to be involved. Like, you know, think about this way, like, who are big name coaches? Could you get that would want money. Jesse Marsh. I don't know. Bruce Arena. [00:36:35] Speaker A: Bruce arena, sure. [00:36:37] Speaker B: Are those orders gonna come here and work for Zanata and Dan hunt for lower money than they would get everywhere else? [00:36:45] Speaker A: No, no, not lower money available. [00:36:47] Speaker B: Porter's got a job. [00:36:49] Speaker A: Well, he does right now. [00:36:50] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, it's just not. No, I don't think it's gonna change. I think it's what it is. You know, the job is what it is. It's not gonna change dramatically. I don't think. Not without getting rid of Zanata, because none of those guys are gonna kind of come work for a TD that's got more juice than them. Not. Not this one, anyway. It's different. If you're gonna go to Atlanta and work for lager way, who's got a proven track record or winning championships and be one of the best tvs right league. All Zanata does is sell players to make the franchise money. [00:37:24] Speaker C: You know, I can think of one exception. [00:37:27] Speaker B: Go ahead. [00:37:27] Speaker A: Whoa. [00:37:28] Speaker C: If Papi wants to come home because the hunts have known him for donkey's years, you know, he's probably the one exception to the rule where it's like, hey, if he wants money, we'll. We'll give him money. If he wants control, we'll give him some control. [00:37:41] Speaker B: 100%. I would agree with that. Yeah. But there's. [00:37:44] Speaker A: There's probably zero chance or Poppy's interested in coming back based on what he got, you know, the Orlando situation. [00:37:52] Speaker B: Well, yeah, if he got fired, he might, but he's not about to get fired. He's getting that team turn back around. He's got three wins in a row, whatever it is. [00:37:59] Speaker A: Somebody asked me the other day about Jason Christ. [00:38:01] Speaker B: Yep. What about him? [00:38:04] Speaker A: It. Well, would he. Would he be in line? Would he be. They'd consider hiring for this gig and would Jason want it? And would he be. And the next obvious question is, do we want Jason Christ as a manager at this team? [00:38:16] Speaker B: I mean, he's at least won a cup. I would say that the Hunts probably would entertain it, but I don't. I don't want to speak for Jason, but my instincts and my gut says that while that they've repaired a lot of the relationships that right now, I don't think Jason would accept yet. I don't think they've done a good enough job. [00:38:37] Speaker C: He's also in a director role in that really nicely performing RSL team. So why would he want to bail on that? [00:38:45] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. You know, there are some guys that are intriguing, you know, that are out there that would fit the bill. But, you know, I think we can save most of that conversation for what happens when they actually make a change. Because work, we may not have. We may have another. We may have months of this or the whole season before they make a change. But, you know, usually they wait to the later part of the year when. When they do actually give up on the season, they are looking towards the next season. I just think that because it's been bad for, like, since the middle of last year that I think he's on a really hot seat. So that's you know, but he could. He could pull it out, you know, if. Listen, if Jesus gets healthy and starts banging in goals, it's over. This conversation is null and void. He'll be fine. [00:39:32] Speaker A: I'm trying to go back and think about the. Was it the 2009 season that currently is the worst? [00:39:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's when arrived. [00:39:44] Speaker A: So what was it that turned the season around? Because they went on that terrible start and then that was. Wasn't it like a four or five game winning streak? [00:39:51] Speaker B: David Ferreira is what happened. [00:39:53] Speaker A: Oh, is it specifically he got introduced into the team? [00:39:57] Speaker B: I think so. Damn. [00:39:58] Speaker A: The season. [00:39:59] Speaker B: Maybe you're not familiar enough, but I'm pretty sure that's 2009. [00:40:04] Speaker A: Yeah, well, no, I just didn't know if it was specific, David. That was the. The spark that caused the improvement in the team. Whoever was the manager at the time, who off my head, I don't even remember now. Yeah, Shellis did something else other than one player. I don't remember. I just. For. In my mind, thinking back, I don't. I remember David Ferreira being a transformative player. But there was something else about that season that happened in the back of my head that caused the change suddenly in the improvement of play. And I can't remember if it was a formation change or multi. Multiple players just kind of found form, but maybe it was just Ferreira. I don't remember. [00:40:46] Speaker B: Well, Andre Rosha came in from Athletico Pirate nights, from cap. [00:40:52] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that's a name I haven't thought of in a while. [00:40:55] Speaker B: You know, he had some trouble. Jared Bernitez was on the team. He had some troubles with Pablo Rochetti. You know, Shells did. I think that's before Daniel Hernandez came in. Dana's didn't come until the next year. So you can just look at that. You can just look at that season. And after game eight, which is where we are now, they proceeded to tie the next two and then win one and then tie the one after that. And then they had a loss, but then it's like they. They won four, the next six. So it's, you know, right about this season, mid May, they just went on this tear and they only lost like six games the whole rest of the year, you know, and then 2010, of course, is that. Then they got really defensive, you know, even more defensive, like Hugo. It's at some point in the same window as when they traded you more for Hugo Yamalu. So that gelled and George John gelled, you know, and Dax McCarty was a rookie in 2009, so he progressed into the team. You know, Dario Sala came in, started, you know, playing some goal. You know, there's a whole lot of things that season. Brexit had a pretty. Was playing pretty well back then. So other than. [00:42:08] Speaker A: That was before he and Shellis fell out. [00:42:11] Speaker B: Yeah, other than. Other than David. For David Ferreira showing up that season, that was the big. That's the big thing. Let me see if I can figure out exactly when he showed up. Yeah, it was. It was in. It was somewhere in the middle of 2009. Yeah, he came in in February. So basically, like, you know, for the first part of that season, the first three or four games, and then it's just. It just went, you know what I mean? So. [00:42:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, Buzz, you mentioned you went to training, got updates on all the stuff, so let's catch up. [00:42:44] Speaker B: And currently our Mindy's looking good still, so no problems there. So his minute should go up. I would imagine he'll be close to 90 for this game if he's not, you know, completely cleared. Marco Farfan is back in training full time again, cleared of his concussion. I specifically asked coach how. Where. How Marco fits into the team, and he said wing back. So Sebastian Leggett appears to have picked up a knock. I don't know what it was, but he wasn't training. They didn't give me a lot of info on him, so I think it was kind of. It felt like it was a. We'll see later in the week. So everyone will just have to check the injury report to see if he's available or not. I saw Alan Blasco outside running, and I do not think he will be ready anytime soon based on what I was watching. So there's that breaking news. Yeah, breaking news. Jesus Ferreira on Tuesday was working on the side, and coach said that he was going to return to training Wednesday. So just like the week before, he'll come back to training, and if he comes to the week unscathed, cross your fingers. He might be available off the bench this weekend, but I'm not going to again check the injury report when it comes out the official one, but I'm not super optimistic based on the fact that it was on Tuesday and he wasn't back in training yet. So basically, coach said, like, at the end of last week, there was a little bit of just something, again with the hamstring. So they were just super paranoid about it because of the cold, you know, like, if it had been a playoff game, maybe he would have gone, but so really, that's it in terms of injury, the one thing I thought I saw was fascinating is that I watched some of the rotations and I noticed that it seemed like he was looking at some people other than Dante Seeley at wingback. And then he proceeded to have like a 20 minutes conversation with Dante at the end of training. So I think there's a legitimate chance that Dante might not play, not, might not start this weekend, which is amazing considering how locked in coach has been, you know, using that guy. So I think if I look ahead to Houston, I'd have to say that I think he'll stick with the three four three. And then based on what he said about Nikosi specifically, both when I talk to him and then, you know, the reaction of people, I think Nikosi will be back in at that center back over Omar, but otherwise it'll be the same. It be in Sam Jungkook. And then if I'm gonna take a stab at the wingback situation, I'm gonna say Paul on the left because, you know, last game they did that switch foot wing back thing. I think he'll leave Paul on the left and bring EMA in on the right over Dante just based on watching him have that long, long conversation with Dante. Like, Dante's like, what the hell? You know, at the end of training and then Musa, I think, is a given. You know what? Now that I think about it, I was talking to somebody else about the way Houston plays and how narrow they are, and I think because legit's hurt, I think you might actually see Bernie play left wing back instead of Dante because you do want some offensive punch wide to make Houston have to stretch the field a little bit sideways. So maybe I'll do that. Because with legit out, you might need Paul up underneath again like you started the beginning of season. So I'll think it'll be Musa up top with Paul and then Yara Mindy, and then you can just pick whatever people you want. You know, I think it's likely that they'll try and do the three four three like they want to traditionally, you know, which is with Musa, Paul, and then somebody else up there, whether it be Ansa again, who's played fairly well in that spot, you know, or somebody like that. Or you could see them do like they did the last game, which is where they had legit underneath, and you could put Paul and Moussa up high as a combo and that way you have five players at midfield almost, you know, try and overload. Houston's really good central midfield. So those are kind of the way I look at the team this weekend. The midfield trio is tough because you really like Ermine, of course, but then, then you come back to this idea of like, okay, probably Frazier because he plays the best when era is next to him because who else do you have other than Patrickson? Maybe, but I think that, like, Hector Herrera might have a field day with Patrickson. [00:47:25] Speaker A: Is Herrera back? [00:47:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. Okay. I don't know 100%, but I believe he's back. I think the expectation is he's going to be back. You know, whether he can go in 90 minutes or not, it's a different question. So, you know, other than that, with a change, I'm kind of making a guess at based on that conversation. Maybe they should have gone inside, not done in front of me, but I'm going to say Bernie, left wing back and then EMa on the right and that way Paul plays up top with Musa and then other than Yara and Fraser, you pick who that person is. Do you like ancest the front three? Do you like. I don't know, Siki. I mean, really, where are you going to go with the midfield problem? So I'm not super optimistic all about all that. If you, if you have. If they play the way they play the last 30 minutes, last 40 minutes against Colorado, I think they have a good shot, but if they play the way they played in the first half, they're going to get wrecked. So that's what it is. Houston. Houston's very defensive. It's going to be like a 001101 game. It's like one or two goals are going to. In the whole thing. You know, it's not going to be three or four because Houston's forwards are not very good either, but they hold it together better as a group. [00:48:40] Speaker A: Houston's only given up eight goals this season, scored nine, but they've only given up eight, which I think is the best in the league. Yeah. [00:48:48] Speaker B: Stylistically, they play kind of like Dallas does. It's not exciting necessarily, but it gets better results than it does for now. [00:48:56] Speaker A: Well, they have almost three times as many points. [00:49:00] Speaker B: Well, yes, results matter. Yeah. [00:49:03] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. Okay, let's see what else is on the list. Anything else from Niko? You got it training that you'd like to share with the. With the class? [00:49:13] Speaker B: Just like, you know, we, we were talking about this idea of like, you know, where are you going to get goals from? And because we were talking about, like he talks about, you know, we had these moments that we didn't convert. But this guy did this, this guy did that. And this is the way this team's always played under him. It's right, right. It's a low volume of shots. It's always been about efficiency, of chances. You make a good chance and get a shot, shot on goal. If they get a high ratio of shots on goals versus shots, then they'll do well. Which is why you need Jesus, because he's the most clinical finisher you have. I talked to him about Musa, about how, you know, he's frustrated and demonstrative. And he said that he's talked to the guy a bunch of times, like, especially when he first got here, that Musa told coach that, like, look, I'm a demonstrative person. You're gonna see me gesturing and yelling and stuff, but he's. But I never quit. I never stop. And that was obvious to me. It was really one of my biggest takeaways from the game was that Musa doesn't stop. It doesn't quit. He keeps going. So that's really nice. So, you know, if you can figure out ways to get the ball into his feet, you're gonna have a chance, you know, which is why it's so important that Jesus comes back, because Jesus will attract a lot of attention. You know, the fact that no one else is playing good up front, like, the Bernie hasn't been producing or the Dante hasn't producing, means that everyone can focus on Musa. That makes it really difficult for him. So you need to open it up a little bit, get good things happening. So that's gonna be the biggest thing, you know, and that's the end, is like, when you talk to coach, he still believes, still he's still fighting. He's still trying to get everybody else fighting. The players are still fighting for him. You know, it seems to me I haven't seen him quit yet, so it's not all of them. Maybe one or two of them have, but, you know, certainly some of them seem to have a lot of investment in this product producing and playing. You know, no one yet has given up, I don't think. [00:51:04] Speaker A: Well, guys, I thought a lot about this in the last couple of days and thinking about recording this particular episode. I do feel like it is our collective responsibility to the curious to try not to be total debbie downers about all of this and try to figure out ways of being positive and have fun with this over the course of the season. So, Dan, I'm going to ask, is it possible that you could come to every episode with a joke? [00:51:35] Speaker C: No, absolutely not. [00:51:36] Speaker A: Or a small setup, a small stand up set, like a. Like, could you do two minutes of Dan comedy or something like that? [00:51:44] Speaker B: That's a totally different podcast. [00:51:47] Speaker A: Is it? You could do football humor. [00:51:54] Speaker C: Uh, no. Nottingham Forest doing a good enough job with that this week. [00:52:00] Speaker A: See, he does have it, Buzz. Yeah, he's got in him. He can do it. He threw out a Forrest joke. [00:52:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:11] Speaker A: Okay. This isn't going as well as I wanted it to. [00:52:13] Speaker C: I just keep the silence in there. Just keep the silence. [00:52:18] Speaker A: All right, very good. Well, anything else, boys? I think we've done enough doom and gloom for an hour of somebody's podcasting week. [00:52:30] Speaker B: Well, you know, you asked me, Peter, who I would put in there. I mean, like, of the team that. What do you think that they should be doing in terms of personnel differences? Is there somebody that you think you'd put in? [00:52:41] Speaker A: No, I think that's the reason why I'm. That's why I think I'm. I'm. I find all of this so frustrating is. Is that the players that I'd like to see play are injured and the players that are out there aren't very good. And I. But I also respect and understand that, you know, Niko, I assume, knows his roster infinitely better than I do, and I think he's probably putting out the players he thinks can serve him best. And. And maybe he's also doing a bit of maintenance work with Nikosi's attitude and trying to get him, his head right with ball, and maybe that's happened, so maybe that helps a little bit. But I don't see any. I don't see anything sitting on the bench that I think is transformative, this team. And I think that's the real frustration I think most of the fan base has. I don't know anything more about this team than the. Than I think anybody else does in terms of the secret player sitting on the bench that's suddenly going to make this thing even 20% better. [00:53:44] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, I do think that Marco Farfan being healthy will help a bit, you know, give you some different options out wide. [00:53:53] Speaker A: Yes. And I do think if there's a topic for conversation, is what it. What is the better pairing? Is it far fan in the back three and junka as a wing back or vice versa if you stick with that formation? [00:54:06] Speaker B: Yeah, that's fair. [00:54:08] Speaker A: Neither one of them are very good left center backs. [00:54:11] Speaker B: No. [00:54:12] Speaker A: Agree with that. [00:54:13] Speaker B: Yeah, well, that's the thing. I mean, but one of them's. [00:54:16] Speaker A: But one of them's probably a little better going forward than the other. [00:54:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, there's a conversation you can have about Nicosia Safaree playing left center back and having Omar or Carl Sante or somebody in the middle. You know, that's. That's a possibility that you can be discussed. Except that we haven't really seen. Seen that idea. We've seen a little in training. We haven't seen it on the field. You know, it's either Omar or Nicosi. Not Omar. No, Cosi together, which is kind of interesting. Yet July 18 is the next window open. So you got to get through, you know, May, June. So three months basically. So that's. That's a haul till you get to that next window. [00:55:00] Speaker A: Well, yeah, it's a. It's a frightening run if they're not. Since they're not making any moves now. To think that you're going to have to go through July and I'm, I was just trying to think of how many games that compri is comprised of. There's 123-4567 in between now and the end of May. 123456. There's. So there's 13 games between now and when the window opens. Approximately. [00:55:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:29] Speaker A: The season will be 13 games. That's a possible 39 points. How many points out of that 39 do you think Dallas captures? [00:55:40] Speaker B: I mean, I have no idea. Not to look at them, but that's the thing is like, if you can. If you can be within like ten points at the bottom of the playoff line when that window rolls around and you still have half the season left. [00:55:53] Speaker A: You know, I take it back. It's twelve games. That Memphis open Cup game is in that same list. So it's only twelve games. [00:56:01] Speaker B: Right. So, you know, it's just, it's just a question of, you know, you know, coach has made that joke that they're going to be the Seattle that they're going to, you know, they're going to get people healthy and they're going to get a body or two when they get to the next window and they're going to make a second half. Sure. All you got to do is make the top nine. Right. So it's like, it's not. Yeah, it's not. It's not inconceivable. If they can keep it within a shout, you know, if it gets to be south Lake debacle, horrific and everybody quits, that's different, you know, but in the meantime, you know, there. Are there seven points back at Seattle? Is it already that many? Good lord. [00:56:39] Speaker A: Hmm. [00:56:40] Speaker B: Yeah, seven points back at St. Louis. Holy Sholey. [00:56:47] Speaker C: At least there's an open cut game to look forward to in a couple weeks. [00:56:51] Speaker B: Yeah, right. [00:56:53] Speaker C: Maybe two. Who knows? [00:56:56] Speaker A: Memphis is licking their lips looking forward to that feverishly. [00:57:00] Speaker B: I'm sure night Pickering is gonna have a hatch. [00:57:02] Speaker C: That sounds creepy. [00:57:06] Speaker A: What? Night pickering? [00:57:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it's gonna have hat trick that came. No, Memphis. [00:57:11] Speaker A: I thought maybe that's what Dan. Nevermind. [00:57:13] Speaker B: Oh no. [00:57:15] Speaker A: I think we've all lost each other. Okay, buzz, anything else? [00:57:22] Speaker B: North Texas hasn't lost the game. That's fun. [00:57:27] Speaker A: They hit tree fall in the forest. [00:57:29] Speaker B: Yeah. No, they do some for them. They do decent numbers, you know, 500, a couple thousand depending on the game. They play the same three, four three. They play it differently though. Like it's funny to watch because they play a three four three and they play a midsole block too, just like the first team. Except that because they're playing a low block, they put on real wingers and they play vertical. They counter attack basically. With real wingers. They don't, they don't try and build out. [00:57:55] Speaker C: It's a novel idea. [00:57:56] Speaker B: Yeah. We talked through till we were blue in the face about how if you're gonna play this formation and you, you can't have real wingers, you have to have these tens underneath. That's. That's. If you're trying to build out, if you're trying to be play through the midfield where you get outnumbered, the other alternative is just to boot it and go and like, just play with real three vertical guys up top and just go for it like a track meet. And so that's what they do. I mean, John Gall is all about picking the power and the size and that's what they do. And it works. They don't try and they try and build out a little, but as soon as they run out of ideas, they just turn bit it on and go like it's track meet. So they don't, it's, they. It's the same, but it's not exactly the same. So it's kind of fascinating to watch that difference. [00:58:37] Speaker C: Yeah, that's kind of the thing, right. When you think about like, the difference in the formation is tucking the two attacking mids inside is what necessitates having the wing backs, you know, go the full length. [00:58:52] Speaker B: Right. [00:58:52] Speaker C: If you pull them out wide and you play them as wingers, you can have just wide midfielders, you can have wide, you know, just slightly aggressive fullback, something that would actually play into the way that Marco and Emma actually played a position. [00:59:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, the problem is, is that with Dallas is like, is what we just talked about is that they, they wanted them to build out and they want to try to go through the middle with Yarm Indy and all of a sudden yarm Indy and, well, before it was Paxton, but now it'll be frazier, for example, are now two against three or even four players because you're doing that, you're trying to build through there. If you just would turn it into a track meet, you know, I mean, obviously, I'm not talking about like a route one english football, but like this very vertical. Like once you get it, just go in a hurry and don't try and build. You know, you get to watch no Texas play. [00:59:40] Speaker C: You can also kind of play it like how, how Lucci liked it. Where it was. The six was just, you know, a pivot, was an actual pivot. It was one, one, two, touch pass out at the back to the two to six six spreads it wide. You know, you just, you just have Yarra Mendy there, just distributing wide. You've got, you know, you've got that width going forward. [01:00:03] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm just afraid the way that they would. The Dallas wants to play that, it wouldn't. That wouldn't work. Can you remember last year when we would see the three four three? They would just get annihilated in the middle of the field when we saw it three or four times, you know, so they had to make that adaptation, you know, it's just funny to watch it, North Texas play it the other way, you know, which is more like. Well, not only some people play that way, basically, Niko, this dev, is just trying to play it the way, like, Zavi plays it, you know, or with these really high level players, and he didn't have that. So kind of. [01:00:40] Speaker A: How is an East Sully kid doing in North Texas? [01:00:45] Speaker B: Good ish. You know, he has his moments. He's kind of raw. [01:00:49] Speaker A: Is he a regular starter? [01:00:52] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. Of course. Yeah, yeah. When they send down those first team guys, especially the ones that are fringe, which he is like, he comes back to first team training. There's a difference between a kid that's down there is a homegrown, is down there all the time and never comes to first in training. And somebody like Sally who comes back and forth or courtyard who comes back and forth, you know, when those guys like courtyard, Sally or go down, they, they start. Nor Nolan Norris, like, he trains with the first team, but he goes and plays with North Texas. He starts automatically. So, you know, Tarek Scott is their leading scorer. He's getting his edge back, which is exciting, but he doesn't go back and forth, you know, Courtyard, Nolan Norris and a Sally. So Ennis starts all time in, basically. So he has. He's really bursty. So he has moments that are dangerous, and then he has moments where he switches off. You know, he's just need more time. Don't be in a rush with him. But honestly, he's done well enough that, like, I'm okay. If you want to bring him, put him on the bench and bring him in late, I wouldn't mind seeing it, but, you know, over some of the things they've been doing. [01:01:52] Speaker A: All right, well, thank you for the north Texas. Is there a nickname for that team, by the way? [01:01:59] Speaker B: Los Toritos baby bowls. [01:02:02] Speaker A: Did you just make that up? [01:02:03] Speaker B: No, that's. I've been calling that for, like, four years. I know you don't read it or heard you. [01:02:09] Speaker A: I've never heard you use that nickname once ever before. [01:02:13] Speaker B: You obviously don't read my stuff about North Texas. I guess I don't use it well. It's like, you know, because I'll reference FC Dallas is Los Tauros. So there are Los Toritos. Yeah, the little bulls. [01:02:25] Speaker A: I wish you just. I wish you just called Dallas the burn. [01:02:28] Speaker B: The burn. Well, I do some. I mix it up. I don't. I don't use the mascot name for the team very much. I usually say FC Dallas or FCD. [01:02:37] Speaker A: Okay. Anything else, boys? We've beaten this dead horse. Even dead. [01:02:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think we're still trying to be analytical enough, you know, try to offer options for what you might see, you know, how the coach might try and make it better. So. [01:02:55] Speaker A: Yeah, it's been a very low energy pod buzz. [01:02:58] Speaker B: Well, I know. [01:02:58] Speaker A: I think that's my one. [01:02:59] Speaker B: I'm also. I'm sitting in a hotel room with, you know, hotel room walls. I'm trying not to. Yeah, I apologize. I haven't. I know that I have not brought the same in there as usual, but I'm trying not to be like, I am my house. [01:03:13] Speaker A: We don't want to get swatted. Yeah, I hear you. All right, well, very good. [01:03:19] Speaker B: Third degree. The podcast has been brought to you by soccer 90 Dot. Your source for FC Dallas. Us national theme and international club here. And the FC Dallas true man military appreciation hat is still available. Limited supply of that, of course. Hurry and grab yours. While supplies last 30, real estate get 20% off in store or online using the code 30 grade just mentioned. The counter. Use it online. 20% off code third degree soccer $90. Some exclusives may apply. This podcast has also been brought to you by the Lindstrom law firm for Wills Trust, probate and business law. Call 469-515-2559 that's 469-515-2559 or visit lindstrmlawfirm.com for a free consultation. [01:04:02] Speaker A: Let's wrap it up for the evening and Dan, thank you for your time tonight. Thank you as always and buzz, I hope you have a good, successful trip down in Florida and a good time in Key west. [01:04:17] Speaker B: Thanks man. We might actually have to do the podcast from Key west next week. That'll be fun. [01:04:22] Speaker A: Now that sounds like a kick ass time. Most certainly, and thank you to the patient and supportive and ever enduring FC Dallas curious fan. We will speak next week hopefully with better news and better attitudes on another episode of third degree the podcast. [01:04:41] Speaker B: Have you ever been more excited for a Derby Nap podcast.