3rd Degree the Podcast #265

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Do you. Do you feel involved and wanted? [00:00:02] Speaker B: Feel uncomfortable now? You said that. [00:00:04] Speaker C: Jesus. [00:00:05] Speaker A: You always gotta make things weird. Dan, that. [00:00:08] Speaker B: That was you. [00:00:09] Speaker C: I think you made it weird, Peter. [00:00:11] Speaker A: Oh, me? All right, here we go. Making it weird in three, two, one. Yeah. [00:00:21] Speaker C: Ooh. [00:00:22] Speaker A: Mm hmm. Oh. Third degree, the third degree. Net podcast third degree the third degree. Net podcast third degree the third degree nap, I guess. [00:00:39] Speaker C: Third degree. Third Degree nap podcast third degree. The podcast is brought to you by soccer 90 Dot. Listen, man, what can you say about those guys? They got everything you can want over there at soccer 90. All the international stuff, all the domestic stuff, they've got it all, honestly. Soccer 90 dot. If you use the code third degree online or in store at checkout, which I can't believe, 20% off. Go third degree. You can pick it up. You can have it delivered, whatever you want. Soccernoid.com. they got the goods. Third Degree podcast is also brought to you by the Lindstrom law firm for wills, trusts, probates, and business law. Call 469-515-2559 or visit lindstromlawfirm.com for a free consultation. [00:01:20] Speaker A: Well, hello there, FC Dallas. Curious fan. Welcome to episode 265 of Third Degree Gree, the podcast. Hello. It is me, Peter, alongside first off, Dan Crook. Howdy, Dan. [00:01:35] Speaker B: Hello, hello. [00:01:36] Speaker A: Hello to you and your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder of Thirddegree.net, and the original soccer influencer himself, Buzz Kerik. Come in, Buzz. [00:01:49] Speaker C: Hi, fellas. How are y'all doing on this lovely evening? [00:01:54] Speaker A: I'm doing better because I've not looked forward to doing this podcast episode, Buzz. [00:02:00] Speaker C: Yeah? Why is that? [00:02:01] Speaker A: Well, I want to make sure I do this right. I feel like we have a responsibility to be level headed and fair, and I think we. My personal feeling is I feel like we do that when things are bad, we admit it and we call people the teams out or players out or Dan Hunt or whatever it is. Right, right. I feel like we do that. [00:02:29] Speaker C: I think so. [00:02:30] Speaker A: But I gotta tell you, I was really. And maybe I'm just being an old sissy pants old man. I was really alarmed and shocked over the reaction to the game on Saturday when I read all of these stories about people in the supporters group flipping off and cussing at the players and the coach. I mean, I know people are mad, and I certainly have booed the team, but I've never stood in the stands and cussed at my club. I found that shocking. [00:03:05] Speaker B: That's never a game occurrence for me, even in the press box. [00:03:09] Speaker A: Really? [00:03:10] Speaker B: Well, you know, for fuck's sake, do that better. You know, nothing. Nothing crazy. No, not like abusing somebody. [00:03:16] Speaker A: But. But my sense is, is that people. I mean, I'm not. I am not a sensitive flower about this stuff. You. It's hard to offend me, but my senses, based on what I read on the social media and some of the back and forth that I saw online after the game, was that it literally turned abusive to the point where I'm told the captain of the team was sending direct messages to fans and supporter group leaders, asking them, you know, or telling them not to do that or something really weird. Like, if it got to that point, something's gone haywire. Right? Am I wrong? Am I overreacting to all that? [00:03:59] Speaker C: A little bit? I think, you know, people were really upset. I mean, El Jefe, who, if people don't know, is the very first fan of this club, way back two years, before it even existed, he said he was the most upset and emotional and mad that he's ever been and, you know, 29 seasons of support in this club. So, you know, it's the first blown three goal lead in club history. So I understand people are mad. You know, you know, giving the finger to a coach or cussing at players is not something I would do, but, you know, not everybody cheers the same. So some people are really mad and, you know, really take it seriously, and, you know, as the paying customer, I think people can express themselves however they want. You know, I hear what you're saying, and I understand why Paul's upset. He doesn't think that it's the coach's fault, you know, and people shouldn't be giving it the finger to the coach, but, you know, people are mad. [00:04:52] Speaker A: Yeah, look, I don't. I agree with you, Buzz. Everybody's free to do whatever they want to, but I think if you're truly, at your. At your core, a fan of a club, at some point you realize that what the team really needs is your support and not your. Not to the. Not your anger, and. And you're angry to the point where you are literally doing something to the team that you would do to somebody that cut you off in traffic. [00:05:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:05:21] Speaker A: And I don't. And I. And I just found that really weird. And maybe it's a very limited number of people. I also am shocked at the number of people that are acting this way that are really relatively new fans of the club and they haven't lived the experience that maybe the rest of us have. So maybe a lot of us are just worn down. [00:05:39] Speaker C: Nubs yeah, we're old and jaded. [00:05:41] Speaker A: Right. [00:05:42] Speaker B: I think that might be part of it, though, you know? You know how like with the Reggie thing, right? The boo in the kneeling, you know, people blew it out and said, oh, you know, it was, it was the FC Dallas fan base. It was what, five people who probably never came again and probably never came before that. You know, the newer people who maybe haven't been through and really necessarily understood the, the history and the grounding of the club who see like an inter Miami and an Atlanta United and that, and they're like, oh, that's the normal. That's not the normal for FC Dallas. You know, boo all you want, that's great. You pay your money. That's, that's your, that's your right. That's your prerogative. I don't know, abuse is a little bit much, but it seems like unfortunately, with, with these times, when you mentioned supporters group leaders and people associated with supporters groups getting direct messages, that's who everyone just assumes it all comes from. [00:06:47] Speaker A: You mean the players assume it comes from those, those leaders of the supporters groups? [00:06:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you know, like years ago when George John got hit by that bottle. Right. [00:06:57] Speaker C: Yeah, I remember that. [00:06:58] Speaker B: You know, that the club, the players assumed that was, that was from a supporters group member for whatever reason. It wasn't. It was some guy that had come once, never came again. [00:07:08] Speaker A: Right. [00:07:09] Speaker B: But you know, you. That sort of behavior just gets roped in with it regardless. And particularly in that area at the stadium where the supporters groups don't have control over who goes into that section because it's the cheap seats, it's the easiest accessible beer. So it's a lot of people who really have no interest in contributing to, to the atmosphere, to the support of the team that just happened to be there and, ah, these guys shit the bed and lost the three goal lead. Yeah, I'm going to give them some shit as they come off the pitch. [00:07:39] Speaker A: Well, that's probably all well and good. Maybe I just, my impression was is that it got a little bit more dramatic and a little bit more confrontational directly with the players. And, and part of me thinks, well, you know what, at least somebody or people are brave enough to do it to people's face because so many people just do it on social media. And when they get the opportunity to confront somebody, they've been critical, openly just clam up and what's out. [00:08:02] Speaker B: So it's easy to do when you're ten foot above them behind a wall of physical wall and security, right? [00:08:09] Speaker A: Yeah, I suppose the whole thing is just really sad because we all can agree that this team sucks and it sucks about as bad as it's ever sucked. And it may be not. Maybe it's close to historically sucking the worst ever. And so I get that everybody's angry and I, and I get that everybody really lost their minds after blowing the three goal lead because that's inexcusable and it's embarrassing. I don't know, man. I just, sometimes I just. I hope everybody keeps their head about them and remembers that at the end of the day, we're all supposed to be supporting a club and they're. And getting abusive about it is probably not the way to do it. [00:08:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I think in the end there are a lot of people that don't think of the clubs the way you and I do, or Dan probably does either, for that matter. Being more of a european sort of community club kind of background, probably. And you and I have been around for a long, long time and so we have probably a different feeling than maybe younger people do. At the end of the day, that's the thing for me. Like, is like, I never would be one to tell anybody else how to support the club because, like, I, for example, don't want to stand in the end zone. I want to stand and be a midfield. I don't want to stand, I want to sit, I don't want to. I don't want to be talking to people. I want to be. Or listening to yahoos. I want to. I want to be watching the game analytically, you know, so everyone's enjoyment of the game is differently. And some people like to yell so people will get very upset and if they want to, you know, there's a, there's a line of etiquette you can't cross. You know, at some point you're going to get, you get, you are going to break rules if you're throwing things or such like that. And, and while you. And I wouldn't give somebody the finger like that, it's like, you know, whatever, I guess. But, you know, also good on Paul to push back on that a little bit. I'm not saying that getting into DM's and stuff is the right way to go about it, but, you know, certainly he came out on social media and said, hey, you know, let's be, we're frustrated just as much as you guys are, you know, and if he'd have pushed back publicly on, you know, that's beyond the pale. I would have been all in favor of that? You know, it's, you're going to make some of those people are going to react even more negatively, of course, if you do that. But, you know, I don't, I don't mind the captain standing up for himself and his team and his coach. You know, I think that shows a lot of heart on Paul's part. Speaker zero. [00:10:28] Speaker A: So, Buzz, based on what happened Saturday night, where do you think, like, is that a turning point? Does it get worse from here? Does it get better? I mean. I mean, look, the schedule does not favor this team in the coming 1014 days. [00:10:45] Speaker C: Well, the, the moment like this can go either way. You know, it can destroy a team and have it fall apart or it can galvanize a team together, you know, as us against the world mentality. You know, that that can be the reaction, too. A lot of it's going to depend on the people in that locker room and the coach. And some of it may be dictated by what happens next. You know, unfortunately, as you mentioned, the schedule is brutal. You know, there's like the LAFC and La Gasse have not lost a game at home all year. Minnesota, who's almost in first place, has only lost one. So the next three on the road are absolutely brutal. Then you get a little bit of a break with St. Louis at home, but then Minnesota comes down here and Minnesota again, they're almost in first place. So they're pretty good, you know, and then Seattle, you gotta go Seattle. And we know that Dallas has never won there. I think it's never won. Or maybe it's one in, however, 19 years or whatever it is, you know, it's almost impossible place to get points. So, like, and then Cincinnati comes to town, who's right there at the top of the Eastern Conference. It's just like the schedule is not doing any favors in a time when, like, you need a break, you know? And again, what's going to come down to is the people in that group in that locker room and the coaching staff, are they all together? Are they all buying in? Are they all going to use this to galvanize themselves or is this going to drive a stake into whatever cracks there were? And it really can go both ways and the proof will be and what happens next. [00:12:10] Speaker A: So I, Dan or Buzz, is the story of this game losing the lead or is it holding? I don't know. What's the best way of saying it? Putting enough of a game together to get a three goal lead to begin with, no matter how you earned it? [00:12:27] Speaker C: Well, I think there's two takeaways. Go ahead, Dan. Go first. Yep. [00:12:32] Speaker B: No, no, just. You said it. I don't know how much earning, earning gets into it. They were gifted two goals by Zach McMath. [00:12:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I think there's two macro takeaways, Peter, and the first one is from the beginning lineup and the way the team played for the first part of the game. There's a takeaway there and then there's a takeaway from the claps. And I think it's two different things that you can. We can. Macro level discussions need to have happening, you know, and there's a lot of minutiae we can talk about, too. But the. The lineup thing is fascinating to me because for me, this was like the final nail in the coffin for my belief that the number one thing this coach cares about is defensive capabilities of the players in the game. He effectively started eight defensive players, or if you want to say 7.5, because one of them is Yara Mindy, you know, who does have offensive qualities, then you could say that. But really, only two attacking players are in the game. And those two attacking players, in fact, are both ones that defend pretty well. You know, Paul Ariel is a smart player and he cuts out passes and gets in the way of the lanes and makes it difficult for teams to build out and move suppressors. And the idea pressures pretty well and does and bangs on people. And then Delgado starting as the other ten, which is ridiculous. You're putting us holding mid up there. And that ended up working out, in a sense, in the sense that he was defending high and pressing them and making very difficult for them for them to bail out. And like, yes, you got lucky with some goals, but this is effectively the club's Mo and this is like the ultimate version of it in the sense that they're going to try and take what they're playing against. The team is the second best offense in the league behind Miami, and they're going to say, okay, how do we prevent them from being able to play? How do we stop them being able to score? And they didn't know, go into like a full, complete low block. Instead, they played a little bit of a midfield sort of area and they made it very, very difficult for RSL to build and get forward and get their offense going. And yes, two lucky goals aside. But the bottom line is, you know, that plan through a certain amount of the game was working, was effective and that's what the goal was. Now, it's not sexy, it's awful, it's boring. It's really hard to watch. But at the same time, I received comments afterwards that that was the best they've played in months, you know, so it just depends on your perspective, you know, how you. Whether you think that's a good way to play or not. Like stifling the other team and trying to make it as impossible as you can for the other team to score. And then you, of course, yes, you've got to have some luck, break your way, you know, Martin pause saves goals usually that keep them in games. And they got a couple of posts and that's fine. To me, if hitting a post is a missed shot, you know, that's what you want, is RSL to shoot from wide and outside and deep. And that's what this team strives for. And the shot ratio for Dallas was eleven on target out of 16. That is phenomenal. That is absolutely clinical shooting on Dallas's part. That's what this club does. And all their goals were pouncing on mistakes that the other team makes. That's quintessentially what this team does. So for 65, 70 minutes, this was as pure an FC Dallas performance as you can get. Unfortunately, the back 20 to 30 minutes is about as brutal of a defensive collapse as we've seen in a long time. And the real culprit, by the way, is Nicosia Tafari for changing the color of his hair back to some other weird color. And they immediately let in three goals instead of leaving it black like it was when he was. I just. I'm teasing, of course. [00:15:51] Speaker A: Right. Okay, so just. So let's just stop for a second. Let's break down. Let's talk about what caused the collapse. Because if you want to get angry, right, this is the thing to get mad about and get frustrated about is let's discuss what it is that took it from 30 to 313233. [00:16:12] Speaker C: Well, the trigger for me was the 65th minute sub. 66 minutes. Excuse me, sub. It probably happened around 65, really. By the time it ticked over the double sub, the Dante Sealy came in and Bernard Camigo came in for far fan and Areola. Now, to me that screams scripted sub that's planned. And I want to talk about subs later again, too. But in this moment, I was really, when this sub happened, I thought to myself, what are you doing? Because your plan of playing defense all over the field was working. And Dante Seeley is. What's the word I'm looking for? Terrible at defending. That's the word, right? And Bernard Kumunko is not much of a presser. You know, he. He will pounce on a moment, but he's not going to create turnovers. He's not a defensive high player like Pauly Ariel. I guess so. I'm sure there was some idea about, you're going to be. They're thinking they're going to be playing with sort of a bunkery, deep defense and you can try and get behind them. The thing is, is that like you're all over the field, defense was working. You were making it very difficult for them. Stick with that by putting in two players that are terrible at defense and taking out two players that are good at defense. To me, that changed the entire complexion of the game. And you could have. You could have still make that scripted sub which was intended, I think, to take off Farfan and Ariel over minute management. You could have, for example, instead of bringing in Dante Seeley, you bring in Omar Gonzalez and you have him and put him at center back and shift Nakofi to left center back and shift Sam to left wing back. Now, I have still got Barker Farfett out of the game, and yet I brought in a defensive player and I've maintained my defensive posture. Instead of Bernard Kamungo, you bring in seeking, assembling, who had, we have seen recently, play that high ten position. He is very active, very energetic, very tenacious. He annoys the crap out of people. Yes, he'll make a couple of defensive miscues, but that high up the field, you can live with it. He'll make a turnover too. That height of the field, you can live with it. At that moment. Like bringing in two guys that don't carry the same defensive mentality. To me, major team, perhaps even subconsciously think, shit. Now we got to sit and protect and they sat and they stopped being progressive and active and people started getting tired and, you know, maybe there were some other guys that maybe should have been subbed out. Instead, look and see who looks really tired, you know, I don't think that happened until it was too late. You know, I just. That moment for me, turned the game and that's. That one's on coach. [00:18:48] Speaker B: I think you could even bring it back a couple minutes before that. You know, Diego Luna gets the goal. It's kind of whatever. Master only makes four changes immediately. Niko tries to react to that with the two, the two time subs. It's not really a good fit. The changes master only makes a. I mean, here's how effective the subs were. Of the five players that he brought on, four of them either had a goal or a goal creating action. [00:19:17] Speaker C: Yep. [00:19:19] Speaker B: I mean, you know, you know, and it just kind of. It kicked off that moment. Right. Because you had 1st 30 minutes, FC Dallas gets absolutely battered. Ciccio Arango alone has six shots before FC Dallas has one. They get their way back in, they play some really, really effective soccer. Yes. McMath gifts them a couple of goals, but that's because they're in really good positions. Press them high up the field. Those subs happen. And again, it's. It's another 2025 m. Well, I guess really 30 minutes where it's FC Dallas trying to defend the lead without the ability to defend the lead. [00:19:58] Speaker A: It was interesting, I was speaking with a season ticket holder. He's been a season ticket holder for a really long time, has seats right at midfield. Um, and his comment to me being at the game Saturday night was, it was so obvious this was going to happen. When they scored the third goal, he said, not after the second goal. After the third goal, he said the level of elation and celebration from the team was so over the top and so clearly they were so convinced they had it in the bag. He and everybody sitting around went, oh, no, this is not good. And they said they could just. They all. He said he and everybody around him were like prepared for this collapse to happen. And I thought that was an interesting observation. [00:20:44] Speaker B: Once that happened, I don't think anyone in the stadium was surprised by the time rail assault, like, scored the equalizer with the last kick of the game. [00:20:52] Speaker C: Yeah, I felt the same way when the minute the first one went in, the first r cell one went in, I thought, oh, here we go, this is going to be tied game. [00:21:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's just a reflection of this season in general, though, right? [00:21:04] Speaker C: Well, it is. And also watching the play in front of me, watching what this team, how this team performs when once RSL got one, then they're like, oh, we can do this. We got confidence. We can beat this, guys. Yeah. [00:21:13] Speaker B: And how many times have we talked about FC Dallas inability to hold out a lead? [00:21:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:20] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm just saying that's a reflection of maybe not just this season, maybe it's the way Niko's teams play or whatever it is, but, you know, it's a reflection of not just this particular game or the club or historically, it's just this particular form or style that the team plays in that you. Nobody trusts them to do anything right. Over the course of 90 minutes, I. [00:21:41] Speaker C: Was actually really surprised even that I felt like the coach maybe feels the same way because he started a couple of guys coming off of injury that he didn't. He didn't have them come in and get those minute buildup that he usually does, you know, like Iron man, you got a few, but Liam Frazier didn't get any, you know, and so it was. There's a risk factor there, or maybe the lack of. Complete lack of belief in the other guys he's got that. He's like, I have to run these guys, even though they just come back. And then Liam Frazier, about 60 minutes, looked. Started looking terrible. I was actually surprised he didn't get subbed off at that 65 minutes sub. And he was, you know, not when they yanked him off later, after he failed to close down on the second goal. You know, I thought, well, you did that about 15 minutes too late. But, you know, it's just weird to have seen. Any time a coach breaks his mo, it makes me nervous. And so I. When that lineup card came out, I thought, boy, this is just so weird. [00:22:35] Speaker A: So the Delgado thing, because I saw that he made player of the week bench or something like that, and I know he scored a goal. I'm interested in your thoughts, buzz, as to. Has Niko found some sort. Uncovered some sort of form in him? Is he playing better in your mind, or is he still kind of a dude? [00:22:54] Speaker C: No, he's always a dude, but, you know, he's a. He's a dude that I think is fine. You know, he's. He's a reasonable player. He can be at that level, I think, you know, if. If Liam Frazier's 100% fit, I think Frazier's probably more reliable as a straight six next to Yar Mendy. But Delgado is very adaptable, and he puts in the work effort. And so, like, what's weird about that whole situation is the way they used him. Not that Delgado had his moments. He's. He's done those kind of moments in training, too, and they've used him at that spot in training, and I always figured it was just a body filling in. I didn't think it was actually a thing. Well, sure enough, it is a thing. So that's what's remarkable about it, is the fact that you would take a position that is clearly supposed to be a playmaker and providing some attacking, something in the box, which none of the people that have been playing that spot really do. So maybe you might as well put in a guy up there that defends well, you know, it was so weird to watch, but he did a great job. I mean, he did exactly what he was supposed to do. He was really good at it, you know. Now, is that the way forward, Ben? I don't know. You're going to have a bunch, three really hard road games in a row. So maybe it is the way forward. You know, it's. It's so hard when you have a team like this. It's so impossible to say because the answer can't be like, oh, just play really good soccer. Well, this team's not capable of that. You know, it's like, okay, you got to game plan it and figure out how to do it and figure out how to grind it out. So maybe this we're going to find out. Maybe this is the way forward. He did really well. [00:24:20] Speaker A: Maybe that is the answer to all, all our problems, but just play really good systems. Come on, guys, let's go. Yeah, I was thinking, I was also thinking about this the other day, is if you got a really attacking minded coach in here, does he? It does. Would they even have, like, what would an attacking look, attacking minded lineup look like out of this roster? [00:24:51] Speaker C: Well, with the injuries you have, it won't look all that much different. You know, the tactic might be different. You know, I don't know if other coaches would look at this roster and say, oh, yeah, three at the back. You know, that's probably the biggest variation. But, you know, you. If you wanted to go more offensive, you can make more offensive choices. You know, you can put in, you can play and delay. You know, you can, you can place Celia as a wing, you can play, you know, Areola as a wing back, as a more attacking kind of player. You can put, you know, two forwards on the field, as in a four four two. You could, you know, some of the choices of what would be a more attacking offense are just not available. You know, it's Velasco, it's Asus, it's Giovanni. It's like, those are the guys that are missing. [00:25:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:39] Speaker C: So there really isn't like, you know, you'd think like, oh, just play more offensive players, man. Who is that? There really aren't any more. You maybe put. [00:25:46] Speaker A: That was kind of, that was kind of my realization as I was pondering this, is that maybe the reason why he keeps throwing all these defensive players out there is because that's really all he's got. [00:25:54] Speaker C: I mean, you can do some weird stuff like play without a six. You can play like a legit year. I mindy double pivot and try and get more offense in there. That way, you know, you could play, you know, actual wingers at wing back, but not Dante, and just run at people, like, play ones that can pass, you know, like put Paul on one side and put, I don't even know, like Ansa on the other side. You know, just try and bring more players that have more offensive capabilities on the field. But I don't know that you wouldn't lose by, like four to three or something, and that's just as bad. You know, the coach is clearly making calculation that my best chance is to win one nothing, you know, and just. And like. And that's why they think, oh, great, I got two, three goals. This is gonna be a cakewalk now. But, you know, players get tired and they don't close down and they get, you know, I'll talk. Let's talk about EMA Tomas, for example. I thought he had his best game of the year. He was really good, combining, getting forward. He had more like, penetrating passes than almost everybody on the team. Yeah, one of the goals, he got caught up because the ball was lost in transition. He was upfield, and Liam Frazier went out to cover for him and didn't close down. And that was the second goal that Palacio hit, that just gorgeous shot in the corner because he had, like, eight yards of space to shoot with, you know, and it's like, it's not Ema's fault that he was upfield doing this one offensive run that he's supposed to do, you know, when it got turned over by somebody else. So, you know, that's the thing about this coach is like, he's. He's always going to go defense first, always make the defensive choice. Always make the defensive choice. And then, you know, the back end of this game shows you why he's that way. [00:27:26] Speaker A: Now, we're recording this very early, earlier than usual Tuesday night, and we'll explain why we're doing that here a little bit later on. I'm assuming you didn't, you haven't talked to anybody since the game or been out to practice or anything like that? [00:27:39] Speaker C: No. The team left, you know, Monday afternoon, I guess they trained. Today's Tuesday. They trained this morning in LA, so they're already out there, you know, and so there was no opportunity to, you know, other than the post game conference, press conference was, I think Dan went to. So maybe Dan can offer more. And then there's no media availabilities via Zoom that's been scheduled as of yet for, like, after this game. Perhaps we'll find out more. So we're really kind of shooting blind in terms of what's coming next. But Dan was there for the post game press conference, which was always fun. [00:28:09] Speaker A: Yeah. How was that? Was it the typical fair with, like, two people in there, or was it a tense scene? [00:28:18] Speaker B: You know, it was just a few people in there. It wasn't actually tense. It was. Nikki got a little bit of word vomit on a question I asked about pushing Marco Farfan up higher and the adjustments made at the water break. I kind of went on a little bit about that. Then somehow he kind of. He went into something where he dropped in his customary mention of young players making mistakes. Which is. Which I assume was about Dante seely turning the ball away for a corner right at the end. But, yeah, I mean, it was, you know, just those pretty average. A lot of it was in Spanish, obviously. I have no idea what. What the conversation was like there, though. [00:29:06] Speaker A: What was his mood? [00:29:10] Speaker B: Um, you know, for. For all the saying, this is unacceptable and that's not good enough, he didn't seem as bad as he's been. [00:29:23] Speaker A: Okay, interesting. [00:29:24] Speaker C: You know, I asked him one time, you know, like, when. When Jesus comes back, you know, and the team gets so much better and how come Jesus can get the ball, you know, on frame and get these. Score these goals and other guys can't? And, like, none of his other forwards can do that. And I said, what's the difference? And he was like, quality, you know, it's like. So, like, you asked, like, does he know? Yeah, he knows. The dude's not dumb. You know, this was the same coach that had this team in third place once, you know, injuries aside. So, like, you know, he's aware of the roster that he has, you know, and, you know, granted, he's a defensive first mentality anyway, but I think that's why he's leaning into it even harder. [00:30:04] Speaker B: It's hard as well with those press conferences because Nico Estevez in a press conference is not Nico Estevez talking one on one. [00:30:12] Speaker C: Yeah, very much so. [00:30:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I saw that Dennis the menace got another yellow card. [00:30:18] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Nolan. Yeah. [00:30:21] Speaker B: With 28 seconds after coming on, was it? [00:30:24] Speaker C: Yeah. So here's the thing about Nolan. He definitely has a yellow card problem. He now has seven yellow cards in eight games this season. If you include North Texas, it clearly is a problem. The thing about Nolan is that he's a very intelligent player. He's a very smart player. And by the way, I found out what offer club he had an offer from, which I'll get to in a minute before he signed with SV Dallas, he. The flaw in his game, the reason why I was not 100% sure he was going to make it to this level was that he is not what we would call fast. He's a touch slower, but so is Iyar Mindy. So like, you can be a great player. He just needs to make the mental adjustment yet, and that's true at North Texas and it's true at the FC Dallas. He's not yet accustomed to players being able to close him down as fast as he can. The yellow card he got in this particular game, you know, he was. The ball was out in front of him and he thinks he's going to get to it and here comes a really fast guy flying in and he doesn't adjust and he steps on the guy's foot and it's kind of a crap yellow card. But the greater point, the macro point is he's getting these cars at this prolific rate. And the bottom line is that for Nolan to make it, he's going to have to learn to adjust his mental side of his game, his game reading. He has to adjust that to understand that where he fits into the game in terms of pace. You know, honestly, understudying R Mindy for him will be really good. Like when we saw him play the other day, he was the more eight type player. He was the one passing, getting forward more like Yara Mindy. So it's just a macro level thing that will come with time. If he's going to make it, it'll come. If it doesn't ever come, he's not going to make it. So I just wanted to bring it up that it's like, it's not like he's a foul happy player or an overlooking physical player. It's just that like these guys are beating him to the ball by, you know, one 10th of a second, and so he kicks them instead of the ball and he gets a yellow card. So it's, it's not, it's just a small thing, but it's been the thing right now that's going to keep him from being really great at this stage. And even though he dom, like when he's missing from North Texas, you can clearly see it, he holds the middle together so well when he's down there. He's a really good quality player, you know, but we want him to make this next step and a big part of it's going to be that slight mental adjustment. So I just wanted to talk about. [00:32:36] Speaker A: That a little bit before we move on. Anybody other than obviously, Martin, pause who I continue to feel like we don't deserve, but anybody else playing well or you feel like you want to call out as having a good game. [00:32:54] Speaker C: Well, I mentioned Imito Masi. I thought that was his best game of the year, which, you know, again, everything's in context. That doesn't mean he's Pele. It just means he had a really good game. Sometimes people are like, that dude sucks. And I'm like, okay, whatever, dude. It was his best game of the year. You know, he played pretty well. The other one was, I know we've said this a million times, but a Siri Aramedy is just so friggin good. You know, he was so quiet in this game. You hardly noticed he was there. But he played a full 90 minutes, and he was 87% passing, but he had five shot creating actions, two goal creating actions. He was four for run tackles, four progressive passes, three progressive carries, which is crazy for him. And seven recoveries. The dude is just phenomenal. Even in a game like this, where you're like, was even out there. Yeah, he was dominating the game. And the so much so that there was about a ten to 15 minutes stretch. It was driving me bonkers, where he kept having to gesture to his own teammates to make the run. Why are you not making that run? Please make that run. And then they would run and he would go and they would pass it to. To him. And he had a gesture for like four, four people in a space about ten or 15 minutes. And it was right before Dallas started playing really well. And after the last one, he was over there standing in front of coach, the coach, and he turned around a coach and either yelled at coach or gesture to coach or something. Like, clearly, like, this stuff sucks, like pointing back towards the field. And then shortly after that, they really elevated their game and started playing a lot better. But I thought it was such a microcosm of the season. He's got to be so frustrated sometimes with the guys that are around him that can't read the game like he does. But, you know, you have to adapt to the guys around you. You have to either help them understand or you have to adapt to the fact that they don't understand. And that's part of the process with him. You know, obviously, if you had another player like him in the middle, this thing would be so different. [00:34:33] Speaker B: But that even happened with Pars in the first half, where Pars expected him to come back for. For a short pass. For whatever reason, Marty Martin Parrs made, tried to make the pass with Iara absolutely nowhere near him. I think it was. Ojeda easily gets the ball first. Pars does well to push him wide, but then that, you know, just leads to a cross into Arango. I mean, you know, that was very nearly disaster in the first. Was it 20 minutes? [00:35:07] Speaker A: You ever think Galar Mendy woke up this morning after all the storms and destruction and thought about those moments in the game, Buzz, and thought to himself, what have I done? Why did I just not retire? [00:35:20] Speaker C: Well, he did say a couple weeks ago that he wants to play a couple more years, but, you know, his contracts up after this year, so we'll find out if he's like, you know what? I'm not doing this, I'm out. Like, he could easily walk away if you wanted to. They don't have him. I don't. According to the contractor, at least when he was signed, they only had this year and that's it. This was the option that they picked up. So cross your fingers. He wants to stay because you go. [00:35:42] Speaker A: To Saudi Arabia and triple his salary in about ten minutes, probably. [00:35:46] Speaker C: Yeah, maybe. [00:35:47] Speaker B: But then you got his live in Saudi Arabia. [00:35:49] Speaker C: Yeah. My wife might not go for that. [00:35:53] Speaker A: Well, goodness gracious. All right, well, that is, and by the way, Buzz mentioned, it is the first time Dallas has blown a three gold lead. And I also believe in the reverse, in the inverse. That's the first time RSL has ever come back after being down three nothing in a game. So lots of, lots of glory poured all over the team this weekend. [00:36:15] Speaker C: But funny enough, Dallas has done that twice to other teams. They've come back. I think it's Colorado once and Montreal was the other one. They came back 30 one. [00:36:23] Speaker B: But if you want to put one silver line on the game, the league's top scorer did not score. [00:36:31] Speaker C: That's true. They did, in fact, high. Dallas, dude, there's, they lost only one game in the month of May, which is incredible. [00:36:38] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. This is the. There's all sorts of weird juxtaposition about all of this that is very confusing. First off, I looked at the standings and I was looking at the team's record. I was shocked that they've only had four draws this year. I would have sworn it feels like they've had 14. [00:36:58] Speaker C: That's you're thinking of last year. [00:36:59] Speaker A: I guess maybe that's what it is. Maybe it's just a. Maybe. I'm conflating both last in this season, but the fact that they're now three, six and four caught me off guard. I mean, I'm not surprised. They have more losses and draws than wins. I was just surprised. I thought they had more ties than losses, but alas, no, they don't. [00:37:19] Speaker C: I mean, the thing about, the thing is, Peter, is that like as bad as this is there two wins behind 7th place? You know, like this league is sometimes stupid where it's like, yeah, this league is always stupid. [00:37:33] Speaker A: Not sometimes, always. [00:37:36] Speaker C: You know, like the fact that it's like you can just win two or three games and you're going to be in like 6th. You know, it's just ridiculous. But, you know, everybody, there are actually teams that are worse than Dallas in the Western Conference, which is amazing. You know, as bad as we think this team is, there are teams. Two teams playing worse. [00:37:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:54] Speaker C: Which is incredible. It's just the west, let alone the east. [00:37:57] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. It is. Yeah. How much longer is Lucy going to keep his job? [00:38:03] Speaker C: I don't know. But, like, Dallas has three wins, right? So Western Conference, San Jose has three, Kansas City has two, St. Louis has three wins. So those are all the same or worse. Eastern Conference. Nashville, Atlanta, Montreal have three wins, Chicago has two and New England has two. So there's like eight teams that are as bad or worse than FC Dallas in this league. So it's like, we talk about how horrible this is. Like, is it going to be the worst season of all time, man? There are teams that are way worse. Not way worse. They're having an even harder time than Dallas is. [00:38:34] Speaker B: So what you're trying to say is it's not a league of parity, it's a league of dudes. [00:38:39] Speaker C: It's a league of dudes, like we said before. [00:38:41] Speaker A: Yeah, it is a league of dudes. Without a doubt. [00:38:44] Speaker C: And I think that's why Lucci hasn't been fired is because they took their best player and sold him right before the season. Poor Lucci. They sold cape cow right before the season started. [00:38:54] Speaker A: Right. [00:38:54] Speaker C: And they went and got him a playmake in ten. [00:38:56] Speaker A: Poor Lucci. That's twice now that's happened to him. [00:38:59] Speaker C: At least they got him in play making ten. But like, that team was a shambles already. And it's not like they fixed the defense, which is their biggest problem. And they've given up 34 goals. [00:39:09] Speaker A: Yeah. That is. [00:39:11] Speaker C: That's 14 more goals allowed than Dallas. It's incredible. [00:39:15] Speaker A: Yeah, well, okay, we, we mentioned it. It's nothing to get any easier from here. And so the galaxy on Wednesday, LFC on Saturday night, back to back. This is the first time I think this has happened where? Dallas has traveled out to LA and played both teams. And so, you know, I guess it's time to talk roster health update and figure out who, you know, Niko is going to have at his disposal to call up. [00:39:41] Speaker C: Well, on paper, everyone is healthy except for the guys that are out long, long term. Technically, Jesus is just questionable and we know he traveled. So they, if they weren't confident he was going to play sometime in the next two games. And the word on the street, the rumor I heard was that he was close to being chosen to be able to go, like on Friday, Saturday, going into the game, but they decided to be careful or he didn't cross whatever threshold that was close. So I. From the fact that he traveled, I imagine that either this, this game or the next one, he will make an appearance, maybe off the bench against the galaxy. So he has everybody at his disposal that he can, you know, in the context of this season, the only people he's missing are now Paxton, Velasco and Giovanni, who are all out, of course, long term. So the question is, do you feel like you have a better shot against one of those teams than the other? Well, they're, they're both on 24 and 25 points. Surprisingly, the Galaxy have more, but LA has more points per game and they've just played one less game, so they have one more win. So, like IfC does, neither of them have lost a game at home. The next, the third games against Minnesota, who's lost one game at home but hasn't been a road record, they actually have 25 points also and have two less games than everybody else. They like Dallas. They have two games at hand. So those three games are brutal, honestly. You know, if you can get any, if you can steal ties at any of those venues, given the state of this team, I would consider that a moral victory because all three of those teams are significantly better than SC Dallas at this point of the season. You know, do you want to try and load up for one game and not the other? Do you try and mitigate? I think this coach will try and mitigate. He'll try and play as tight as he can, you know, rotating guys in and out, managing guys. You know, it's just, it's not, I'm not super optimistic. There's no suspensions for Dallas. There's no pending suspensions for Dallas. They're basically in as good a health as they've been in a good a roster shape as they've been all year. One small oddity. For some reason, Antonio Carrera is with them and traveling, which means that, to me, that means that Jimmy Maurer is not. So I'm going to try and find out why, but at this stage, it's probably. I only found out that when they put up some photos of the travel squad like a couple hours ago. So, you know, maybe something going on with Jimmy Maurer perhaps unknown, but, you know, neither Antonio nor Jimmy were going to play anyway. It's going to be Martin Paws the whole way, so it's a moot point, but it's just kind of interesting. So, you know, you. You can make a good a guess. His mind. And the number one question, Peter, will be what you brought up earlier is the. Is the, you know, is Delgado as this ten, this super defensive role? Is that the way to go? You know, both of these teams score a fair amount of goals. LA and LAFC both are at 25 and 27. Those are pretty offensive teams. Ten more goals each than Dallas has, you know, so you're gonna have to try and keep it tight, I think, you know, so expect some dire, depressing, boring soccer and then you can make a guess as well as I can. [00:42:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I. For those of us that are traveling out there, I'm so excited. I've made this decision months ago to do this. I'm anticipating a stereotypical grind it out, try to, you know, the niko thing that we've all come to hate and find incredibly boring and. But I, you know, I. My anticipation is Dallas is about to go on a pretty brutal losing streak between these three games because it's such a. It's such bad timing to have three road games in a row. I guess the only silver lining of it is you don't really have to travel for two of. I mean, you traveled LA and you're hanging out there for a week. Right. The weather out there right now, by the way, is remarkable. I think the high is like 75, so that probably helps a little bit. But it is a weird league, man. And you could. I mean, it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see Dallas do something and get maybe four points out of the two games just because it's MLS. [00:43:51] Speaker C: And maybe you get a California homecoming bounce out of Paul and legit, you know, maybe. Maybe those teams take you for granted, you know, the galaxy give up a fair amount of goals in 22, which is not super high, but it's not super low either. The LAFC is actually better. It's going to be tough, man. It's going to be tough. I don't. I don't have any profound thoughts about how they tend to play other than I feel like for LA Galaxy, Puig is the really dangerous guy. Whereas, you know, so that may be about like maybe you're looking for a double, you know, six. Look there. But you certainly don't want to take Ermine out of the game, you know, but you might be tempted to put Delgado back there for one game and then Fraser in there for the other game just to try and mitigate some stuff, you know. I don't, I don't know. I'm honestly at this point, like the last game confused me so much with the defensive six is a ten thing that, you know, honestly nothing would surprise me at this point. [00:44:55] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:44:56] Speaker C: Except if he goes away from the three four three, that would surprise me because he's so invested in it now. [00:45:02] Speaker B: Hey, zara, wing backing coming. [00:45:05] Speaker C: Yeah, well, you know, but Bernie wingback wouldn't surprise me and if I was going to bet, I'd bet Jesus comes off the bench against the galaxy and then starts versus LAFC would my guess. [00:45:16] Speaker A: Boy. Well, I'm glad I'll get to watch it all play out for you guys. I'll report back from. I'll come back with a full Burke book report of the trip for you. [00:45:26] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I want to hear about LAFc. I've been to the stubhub or whatever the galaxy is called now so I. [00:45:32] Speaker A: Can'T believe I'm saying this, but I've never been to either one of the stadiums so I'm getting to check them both off. So I'm kind of excited about that. I'm just not excited that Dallas is in this current iteration of the club, unfortunately. But it is what it is. [00:45:45] Speaker C: Well, think back to that time they went out into LA and won that playoff game. I think back to that time that Shells went out there and he rotated the entire squad save up for the cup game and then the rotated team won. So like there have been some shock Dallas in West LA results before. Maybe we'll cross your fingers. Maybe we'll see one of those. [00:46:03] Speaker A: Yes, Siri Bob and the buzz. By the way, I forgot to do this for you. You said that you wanted to talk about Musa and the open cup. [00:46:13] Speaker C: Yeah, just real quick. You know what I care about. And I got some pushback, of course, about my stance about him and what I care about his mentality. And I have since learned that with the baby came on Monday and then on Tuesday morning he was out there and trained and he was ready to go. The plan was that he was going to travel and play. And then something changed. What changed doesn't matter. What I cared about was the player's mentality, and the player was ready to go, and he didn't go because of something else, not because of him. So that's all I cared about, that he, he was on page, on board with me. He was ready to go, ready to play. So I love it. And the kids, the guy's a warrior. I really like this player. Like, the more I watch him play, like, he's demonstrative, you know, and he kind of, he kind of will get, like, expressive is his disappointment. But I'm okay with that. I don't mind a little bit of, like, jerkiness. And my professional athlete, you know, when you can produce, and he's been producing pretty good clip lately. You know, granted, he should have had one against in this game and could have put the game away perhaps, and he didn't. But, you know, he had what, like five and seven or something now, something like that. So that's all. I just wanted to bring that up, that he was ready to play and ready to go and was out there training Tuesday, anticipation of that. So I applaud him for that. [00:47:27] Speaker A: And also on the world famous red crayon run sheet, the words Marco topic. [00:47:34] Speaker C: That says macro topic. For those of you that can read English. [00:47:37] Speaker A: Oh, I don't have my glasses on. It does say macro topic. [00:47:42] Speaker C: Well, it's funny you call it a Marco topic because this is when me think of it as I watched in far fans up and it's like, this is a, this is a macro topic that I don't know the answer to this. I just wanted to raise this as a question because coach Estevez clearly, and I think he's not the only one, mind you, clearly he's been using five subs to manage workload minutes on people, on players. But I think by consistently subbing guys out, you know, not every game the same guy, but by consistently subbing out guys here and there at the 60 minutes mark, that you're developing a habit of not always playing 90 minutes, that you're developing a rhythm of playing 60 minutes. And so I can't help but wonder over time if this isn't a bad way to man manage load minutes. Because what's happening is rather than rotating a player and giving the whole player the game off, he's just giving him, playing 60 minutes to give him his 30 minutes to rest over a couple of games, as you see what I'm saying. So I think lots of coaches are doing this. I just worry about when I see guys fading after 60 minutes. I keep thinking to myself, why aren't you 90 minutes fit? You know, if you're coming back from injury, I understand why you're not. But if you're not coming back for injury, is it if you've been subbed out at 60 minutes too often? It's something I wonder about. And so I wanted to bring it up, see what you guys thought about that idea, and just sort of see what people out there thought, because I. It bothers me a little bit to. I don't. I don't. I don't think that I like it. I mean, I get it. I know why it's happening. I'm just not sure that I like it because of this idea, this 60 minutes idea. [00:49:23] Speaker A: Hmm. [00:49:24] Speaker B: Dan, I think the important parts, like you say players should be 90 minutes fit. [00:49:29] Speaker C: Peter, what do you think? You think? Do you agree? [00:49:31] Speaker A: Well, I. I mean, I just think it's a different time and day. Buzz, you and I are old school, and I, and I think that our expectations of players has just changed. And I think coaches try to manage players in different ways than they used to. And I get. I do get frustrated by it. But I also think players today are brought up and told to pay attention to their bodies in ways that they weren't previously. You know, Ronnie Lott had his little finger cut off because he didn't want to have to have surgery and miss the beginning of his 49 ers season at one point, that back in, you know, in another era, so that would never happen today. I mean, I think a lot of players don't play through pain. I think a lot of players are told not to and let the trainers know when they feel anything because they don't want to afford. They'd rather have them out two or three weeks than two or three months. And that probably, I guess, is the smarter way of doing it. But. But in terms of how many minutes you play, I do think that everybody's. I do think everybody's too careful, but I'm also not a professional soccer player, and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. [00:50:41] Speaker C: You know, I've been talking for two seasons, not to use your Marco joke again, but for two seasons we've been talking about how Marco Farfan played too many minutes. And so he's an example of a guy that said that at the 60 minutes mark of this game for man management, we pierced it and it cost them a game. But, you know, why? Why? Instead, if you didn't have five subs, you would have done something like rotate him for the cup game, and then he would have had a game off and not be playing it every single game. And then maybe he. [00:51:07] Speaker A: Part of me wondering is, I mean, is it some sort of weird passive aggressive thing that Niko's doing just to kind of prove to everybody that he doesn't have the right kind of roster construction, that things that aren't in his control and it's somebody else's responsibility that's getting effed up to royal hell and you know what I'm saying? Like, I mean, that sounds very conspiratorial and ridiculous, but there are points in time where I watch coaches, not just in, not just Niko. I mean, I thought. I've thought this commonly about multiple managers in multiple leagues around the world, where I just think managers are doing things so obviously ridiculous that they're trying to get fired or they're trying to make a point. [00:51:48] Speaker C: Hmm. Well, if you. Trying to get fired is interesting, because that's the thing, is, like, you'd have to be so confident in your job security, like a Popovich guy to do something like play a really weird guy to show your GM that he's got you the wrong person. Popovich would do that. Pep Guardiola could do that. Could Nico Estevez do that in a results business where he could get fired any minute? I don't know, but. But then you say maybe he wants to fire. Oh, wow, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe he does. Who knows? You know, I just. That it's a little bit conspiratory, but I just. Over the time, having watched him use this 60 minutes sub to man management, it's over and over and over again. I was just. I'm not sure. And I. And I know, of course, too, people think I'm a fuddy duddy about the five subs, and that's definitely true. But in the world of five subs, I don't know that I like this subbing guys out at 60 minutes all the time, because you create games, have rhythm, and being able to. And, like, think about how this coach brings guys back from injury with the 15 minutes sub, then the 35 minutes sub, then the 45 minutes. Like, he builds this rhythm up towards 90, and yet we're going to yank guys out at 60 all the time. And literally with five subs, it's like half the team all the time. So I don't know, I'm just concerns me. [00:53:07] Speaker B: I mean, I think the last game's perfect example of effective use of subs. You know, RSL makes the quadruple change. They follow up 110 minutes later. All but one of those players involved in one of the two goals. You know, it feels like with Niko, it's exactly, you know, bringing on, bringing on. I mean, Bernie was, was okay, but bringing on Dante City in place of Marco Farfan, it was just kind of like, ah, you're a body. You're here. Go be a body. There's no, like, you know, that it's not using substitutes for this, you know, to actually make a difference in the game, which is the coaches. You know, one thing you often say is that, you know, soccer is in game one of the least coach affected sports. Well, that's. That's his. That's his effect. And he. He had a really good effect at the water break in the first half, pushing the team up around what RSL were doing to kind of get themselves back into the game. But then the second half, it's just like, all right, well, I've already planned my subs. It doesn't matter what the situation in the game's like. Here we are. [00:54:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't. It's. This funny thing about Niko Estevez is as angry or frustrated as I get and how he manages. There's a part of me that is reserved enough to think, man, the guy is just in a terrible situation, and I think he's doing what he thinks he needs to do to, frankly, you know, keep his job as long as he can and put out some sort of result, whether they be one points or whatever. And, and, and I guess I understand it from that perspective, but it. It makes it an incredibly unentertaining game or team to watch. And. And it's been that way now for the entirety of last season and for a lot of this particular season, and that's a real bummer. And that's part of the reason why I was so surprised and shocked and kind of weirded out by the fan reaction on Saturday night is because it kind of breaks my heart that all of this is happening after this club has so worked so hard to get over the attendance hump, because I do believe we are now on the precipice of. Of this thing where I know they report sellouts, but, man, every time I turn on the tv and look at the stands, it's clearly not. It's not a butts in seats out, if you know what I'm saying. [00:55:43] Speaker C: And, yeah, no percentage of butts and seats is dropping fast. Yeah. [00:55:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And. And I. And I. I'm pretty sure that the quality of what is on the field is going to start, really reflect, is. Is going to become a consistent reflection in the stands here before too long, especially if these next three road games go south. [00:56:07] Speaker C: Yeah, this. This feels like one of those really dangerous road trips. You know, it'll be. It'll be fascinating to see what happens as they come through it. Like, does the owner go in with an expectation that, look, you're not getting these three games, and if you get something, is that a huge win or is this, like, you better get something here or you're in trouble? I mean, it's hard to tell with this ownership group where this coach is and how long they take to make decisions, you know? [00:56:32] Speaker A: Well, yeah. My other kind of observation that I am frustrated by, and this is, we've. I feel like we have this. We have this. One of us makes this comment about this point in a bad season every time, which is, where's Dan Hunt? [00:56:52] Speaker B: I haven't seen him this year. [00:56:55] Speaker C: He's there every day. [00:56:56] Speaker A: No, I mean, literally. Like, why? I mean, I know we all goof on Mark Cuban and Jerry Jones for inserting themselves way too often as the face of those teams, and I do appreciate that Dan makes at least a. Somewhat of an attempt to live in the shadows, but as the leader of the club, there are clear moments in time in a season where the person running this thing needs to step out of the shadows and into the forefront and speak up and say something to the supporters and the fans and the staff or whatever and just make a statement. I don't know what that is, but he's got to say something. And if it's, you know, him, Zenada, like, where are these guys? Part of me also feels bad for Niko because he's just hung out to dry, and nobody in the front office is doing anything to help that dude in terms of. Of PR and public relations or media relations or any of that stuff. He's. It's just. It's really weird how they've just kind of hung him out to dry, which, by the way, is exactly what they did to Lucci. [00:58:03] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree with that. [00:58:05] Speaker B: You know, I wonder if part of Paul Ariola's thing is. Is recognizing that as well and just being like, well, I'm the captain. Might as well be me, then. [00:58:16] Speaker A: Yeah, maybe. Yeah. [00:58:19] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, I know. I know Dan Hunt is involved because I've talked to coaches that say, or TD's or PR people that say, you know, there's nobody else has the owner down the hall who's meeting with everybody in the organization a couple times a week, meeting the coach twice a week, meeting with the TD a couple times a week. Whatever it is, I'm saying twice a week. I don't know what it is. I know that it's multiple times. I know it's every single week that he is intimately involved with everything they're doing now. Is he making decisions? Is he pulling the trigger? Is he doing it? That I can't tell you. It may just be that he's just watching it all happening. There certainly isn't any visible evidence that he's doing anything active. You know, he's leaving player personnel decisions. But we can tell to Zenada and his new assistant TD or whatever that guy's title is. You know, I think Clark, honestly is pretty distracted by the, the Chiefs again. He's there. I think every home game he's there. Unless there's a Chiefs conflict directly, like he was there this week. [00:59:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:17] Speaker C: Somebody knows on. So. [00:59:21] Speaker A: Why aren't they out front fans? Why aren't they saying something publicly after a game, you know, or to the media or putting something on social media or making some sort of comment? It just. I don't know, man. It just, I just, it's one of those things that they. It's a, it's a trait that they have as a ownership group that I find really annoying and disappointing. [00:59:47] Speaker B: There's probably a bit of a risk assessment in that whatever Dan would say is probably not going to help just because the way he says things. [00:59:58] Speaker A: Yeah, maybe that's it. Maybe they've told him. He kind of comes off as a knucklehead when he, when he does that kind of stuff, but I just. The effort that I just. You're right, Dan. It's, it's probably a risk assessment thing. They're like, yeah, what, what good is going to come out of that? Why even bother? And part of me just wants to see the effort and the attempt to engage in a, in a, in a good way with the fan base that, that we recognize. This is a really poor time, a bad time for the club, and we're doing everything we can to fix it, blah, blah, blah. But whatever. I. Even if it's almost cliche crap, I don't know. I just, I don't like the fact that the players and the coach are having to do this by themselves because they're not the only ones culpable for this. [01:00:46] Speaker B: I'm a little bit surprised this year, actually. And I guess it goes into the end of last year too. Normally you would see Dan and or Clark, you know, at the press conference. You would see him after, after the coaches media availability going and having a chat and, you know, whatever they chat about. Probably a debrief of the game and whatnot. I haven't seen that in a long time and, you know, I'm sure they do that on, you know, in the week. It's just weird not having that after many years of seeing that immediately after the game. [01:01:23] Speaker C: Yeah, they used to make a beeline for the coach's office and go talk to him after every game, you know, for like five or ten minutes before they would come out and do pr or whatever. Maybe that, that's how I don't go to press conferences anymore and I'm not the locker room either. So maybe that's happening somewhere off out of vision and we just don't know it. But, you know, these days we're only getting, we only gear from Sonata, you know, at beginning of season, the end of the season or that, that luncheon they organized. Or if he happens to be out at practice and I go chase him down, maybe once in a while I can get him, but it's very rarely, you know, he kind of goes and hides on the other side away from where I am most of the time. [01:01:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, well, the other thing that I saw this week that just made me laugh and gave me a great level of satisfaction. Have you guys seen the latest episode of welcome to Wrexham? [01:02:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:02:12] Speaker A: Do you know what I'm getting ready to talk about? [01:02:14] Speaker C: I do not. But the last one I watched was the 100 year old fan. [01:02:17] Speaker A: Okay, so what did they accomplish at the race course ground that made you immediately think of Toyota Stadium, the temporary bleachers? Did you not, did you not spend the entire episode listening to them talk about and debating about spending the money to build a temporary 2000 temporary seats? [01:02:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:02:38] Speaker A: For just like the few games left in the season at a cost of about a million dollars. And immediately think, wait a second, why haven't we done that in the north part of the stadium already? [01:02:50] Speaker C: I immediately discounted it because they showed that chart that had the cost of the seats versus the revenue it was going to generate. And I thought, immediately thought, oh, no way in hell. The hunts are doing that. So I was like, I just forgot about it in terms of the hunts because they would never do that well. [01:03:06] Speaker A: But the charts for the Wrexham thing was only for a few amount of get. See the chart what I don't think they did a very good job of explaining is because they built those stands for a very limited number of games left before they have to take them apart so they can start constructing the full time replacement. [01:03:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:03:25] Speaker A: My point is they could have spent the million dollars a few years ago and added 2000 seats of temporary seating and left it there and made a lot of money from those seats. [01:03:36] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, they probably still want to use the stage for crap. You know, the hall of Fame. [01:03:42] Speaker A: How many? How many times have they used the stage? [01:03:45] Speaker C: They use it for the hall of Fame concert that's in maybe one other concert. That's about it. I mean. [01:03:50] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I also know they can take those things apart and put them back together. That's the whole point of those. [01:03:55] Speaker C: Peter, you may have forgotten that the hunts are terrible at this. [01:04:00] Speaker A: I know, but that's why I laughed when I saw that in the episode because I just. It just proved to me that it could be done. [01:04:07] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [01:04:08] Speaker A: Like many things related to this and maybe I should go out there and start cussing at Dan and Clark Hunt. [01:04:14] Speaker C: They literally had. They had temporary bleachers there. They literally took them out. They, like. They deemed them, quote, unquote, a safety hazard and eliminated them. They had them. [01:04:24] Speaker A: Well, I'm. Yeah, I was talking about something a little more grand than that ridiculous setup they had for a while there. Although even now I miss that. But, yeah, I just, you know, my point being is, and by the way, those were really nice seated seats. It wasn't even just metal, metal benches. It was actual seats. [01:04:41] Speaker C: Well, they look real nice. Yeah. [01:04:43] Speaker A: Yeah. They look comfy and the whole bit. And there was a, you know. And it's a disabled assisted whatever that is called section for wheelchairs. And the whole thing, it was fantastic. And I really thought the commentary from the radio guy about how nice it was to have all four sides closed in again. [01:05:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:05:05] Speaker A: Really changed the atmosphere in the stadium. And I thought, well, crazy how that works like that. [01:05:10] Speaker C: Well, it's closed in. It just doesn't have seats. [01:05:13] Speaker A: There's nobody over there. [01:05:14] Speaker C: It's got a wall. [01:05:15] Speaker A: We can't even. We can't even get them to honk. And the horns and flashlights when they score a goal. [01:05:21] Speaker C: You know, it has a lovely graffiti painting, Peter. It looks lovely. [01:05:24] Speaker A: And the crazy ass sign and some. [01:05:26] Speaker B: Big banners and that Rav four has. [01:05:28] Speaker C: Rav four and really tundra. I was like, oh, my. We had to label the truck. [01:05:34] Speaker A: Hey, is there any. I mean, buzz, you talked about this. What feels like uh, forever ago. Is there any new word on when they're going to announce whatever ridiculous thing they're going to do to the stadium? [01:05:45] Speaker C: Okay, sure. Yeah. Um, what I've heard was that, um, for some reason, there was a delay in the process where they put. They just stopped everything for, like, a bit. And I think I mentioned before, like, you had the rumor that someone was telling you something about Dallas, and I joked that that'd be really funny if the city of Dallas was somehow involved. I don't think it was that, because what I, what I understand is that they changed the order in which they're going to do stuff, and now. So they're. Now they're starting with this winter, with the first phase. And so, you know, when you're going to hear something is. It's hard to say because my understanding is that they're now. Because I had originally the plan was they were going to start something mid season, but that's what changed. Now it's the end of this season. So, um, you know, they are spending, you know, if people are worried, like, oh, it's going to get pushed and it's going to push, maybe that's possible, but they're spending a boatload of money going through the preparation phases of this. You know, they're way past, like, concepts. They're now into architectural design, engineering, planning, build planning. You know, how you put all the stuff and start bringing it in and doing this and that. You know, the timeline. They're spending a lot of money on the pre phases of this construction. So everything I know from people that are involved is that it's happening, and it's going to start happening this winter. So your guess is as good as mine when they'll announce something. You know, the real question will be, how's it going to affect seating over the next two or three seasons? So cross your fingers. Maybe that's why they don't want to bring it up, because they don't want to bring it up. Now we're going to wait till after everybody renews their seats or whatever. [01:07:26] Speaker A: Well, I mean, you know, boy, it's. It feels like a really good opportunity to inject some enthusiasm and excitement into the fan base over some really kick ass drawings and mock ups the stadium's going to look like. Right. You know? [01:07:41] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. It's exciting. [01:07:42] Speaker A: That could go a long way in getting people to stop paying attention to the, the giant shit in the middle of the room and start looking at the art on the wall instead. [01:07:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, this stuff the limited stuff I've seen looks really good. So, you know, I'm. [01:07:57] Speaker A: Oh, you see? You've seen mock ups? [01:08:00] Speaker C: I've seen some drawings, yeah. But, um. [01:08:02] Speaker A: Oh, do tell. [01:08:04] Speaker C: No, that's it. That's all I can tell you. You know, it looks really exciting because, you know, the thing is, is that all it changes. That's the thing. It's like you get into the design phase of the engineering phase, and then it's like, oh, well, that can't be that angle or that high or that wide or whatever. So it all gets changed. So, like, anything I've seen is just some artist screwing around. It means nothing, you know? So we'll, we'll see what happens when they actually announce something and they actually put out real renderings. I think people will be impressed. It looks amazing. [01:08:32] Speaker B: One thing to keep in mind is, remember they got burned pretty badly with the hall of Fame. They had to take an entire level off of that thing because of the rising cost of concrete and everything at the time. [01:08:42] Speaker C: Yeah. Some of the mantras I've heard is like, they want the other three sections to be as, you know, other three sides to be as nice and as equivalent to the hall of Fame sides, you know? And so they want it to be very modern, very cool stadium. There's this involvement of this idea of this hotel and mixed use and all this other stuff over there on the east side. You know, it's. It's like, it's a massive. I mean, there's a point at which, like, when some of you I've talked to, I'm like, why don't they just knock the whole thing down, start over? But, but, you know, you got to keep playing in the meantime. And that's why not. So this thing is a massive, massive undertaking. You know, that's, like, right now, the number I heard was 150 million. I bet it's way over that by the time they're done. So it's. It's going to be crazy. [01:09:25] Speaker A: Well, all right, boys. I guess we'll see how it goes. Hey, I look at it this way, I'm going to Disneyland in between the games, so it won't be. There will be a lot of joy and happiness in my life to balance it out. So there. [01:09:41] Speaker C: Well, just go watch North Texas soccer club play. They are in first place. They've lost one game all year. Tar Scott's tearing up. [01:09:48] Speaker A: God, the idea of driving all the fart and way to Arlington, it's so. [01:09:53] Speaker C: Far I do twice a week. The other way I do love one of those games. It's like ten, me, 10ft over there. [01:10:01] Speaker A: Yeah, you probably walk over there. [01:10:03] Speaker C: I could. I don't, but I could. [01:10:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:10:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:10:07] Speaker A: All right, boys. Well, I got nothing else to say. I think I've spoken a piece. [01:10:13] Speaker C: Yeah. There's a couple of youth kids that are in some of these national team id camps going on. The FC Dallas academy season is ending in all four of the top age groups, 15, 1617 and 19. They all qualify for the playoffs. They all finish in first or second place in their division, and they all, almost all did pretty well in the next cup. Either way, they're all in. So, you know, I've been hearing some weird things about some structural stuff that might change down there, so that'll be fascinating. But, you know, go academy. [01:10:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. Well, I hope everybody continues to fight through what is an awful, awful season and try their hardest to support the boys and the club as best they can and just hope and know that it'll get better. Right? It won't. They won't be a wooden spoon contender every season because that's just not what this club is at. It's. [01:11:10] Speaker C: Well, yeah, that's the thing is, like, we've only had a season that's this comparatively bad once before and it's 20 years ago. It was 20 years ago. So, you know, either something's going to change eventually. They're not going to the hunts, won't sit around forever with it this bad. You know, they consistently have produced a team that's either in the playoffs or like, what's the total? Is it either seven or eight times they've missed the playoffs in the 29 years of existence? Right. So this is not a level they're going to accept long term. You know, when they. When Lucci miss, they can him. So, you know, they are slow to react, but they won't leave with this way forever. Something will change. And the bigger question becomes how many failed coach cycles before they start to look beyond just the coach for a problem? Like, given the amount of medical problems we're seeing right now, they ought to be looking like top to bottom of their medical program. Given the fact that the academy has stopped flowing, they need to look at that angle. Given the fact that the players are signing or not. They're selling players. Did I tell you my Warren Buffett story? Like my analogy? [01:12:09] Speaker A: No. [01:12:10] Speaker C: I was talking to my brother about stocks and Warren Buffett. I was like, because I have. I have a stock that has done well. And I was like, oh, should I sell off a little bit of that. So to pay off my initial investment and then I'm playing with house money, I was talking to my brother and he said, warren Buffett says no, because if you only, if you only sell your good socks, all you're left with is your shit stocks. And that's what FC Dallas is. They sold all the good stocks and they're all left with is the crap. [01:12:35] Speaker A: Yeah. So great. [01:12:37] Speaker C: You know, at some point you got to look with the person who's deciding which stocks to sell and which ones to buy and which ones to keep. So, you know, we'll see how it goes. Clark Hunt is not dumb. You know, eventually he will do something, you know. [01:12:52] Speaker A: Well, I should say that's a good analogy. Although I would suggest that Jesus Ferreira and Paxton Palm McCall would disagree with you on that. [01:13:02] Speaker C: No, it's just a, it's just a macro level analogy. But some of those guys, some of those good stocks they have are hurt, you know, and. [01:13:08] Speaker A: Right. [01:13:09] Speaker C: You know, and Jesus, they could have, they had a chance to, to sell and they said no, you know, packs is never going anywhere now because of industry problems. But, you know, there's still some quality here. There's just not enough quality here. [01:13:20] Speaker A: We got the guy, the co founder of the soccer tournament, the million dollar tournament on the show last weekend. And that guy was great. That thing starts on the 6th. That. So did you guys know that the entry fee for that thing went up this year from $15,000 to $40,000 a team? [01:13:37] Speaker C: Wow. [01:13:39] Speaker B: That's really going to affect me not watching it again. [01:13:42] Speaker A: Did you not? Did you, why don't you watch it, Dan? Do you just have no interest in it? [01:13:46] Speaker B: I watched the game because I was bored while working and it was just shit. It was bad. Five aside, I could watch at any indoor place. [01:13:56] Speaker A: Okay. I thought it was more interesting than that with Dan. I thought it was Mario Belatelli and Nani are on a team this time. [01:14:05] Speaker B: But ultimately it's just a bunch of. It's a bunch of dudes, right. You know, they're just getting together to play for some money. It's not actual teams. [01:14:13] Speaker A: It's just. It is. And that's kind of what I like about it. But I also do like this bit at the end that they do with the target score bit where just because the game is over, the game is not over, and now there's like sudden death. And I find that kind of fascinating where they start taking players off the field. It's a weird janky bit. And I'm typically not into that, but I found it interesting last year. [01:14:34] Speaker C: I used to say that was a, what I thought would be a fascinating way to do overtime in soccer would be that every three minutes you have to take off a player, you know, until. So it opens the field up and eventually you get, you know, six on six, five on five until somebody's gone. [01:14:48] Speaker A: Well, in this tournament, once they get to what they call the target score, every, I think every two minutes they have to take a player off and it'll get down to as little as two v two. And they had that happen last year before. And as soon as it goes to two v two, as soon as somebody turns the ball over the games, you know, somebody scores and wins it. But it's fascinating stuff, and it's a million bucks on the line. I mean, it's literally a million bucks for one team. You either win it or you're out. [01:15:16] Speaker C: No, I get it. I just. It's not. I would. Not much, you know, I don't really watch indoor that much, you know, for that matter. [01:15:24] Speaker A: Well, I don't. I'm not an. I play indoor, but I don't like watching it very much. But I. For some reason, I find this interesting and whatever. Okay. All right, boys, well, have a great week. And we got a lot of soccer to talk about when we come back next week, don't we? [01:15:40] Speaker C: Yeah. And I want to hear all about lAfc. Since I've not been to that one. [01:15:44] Speaker A: I will. I'll let you know. I think I'm getting set. I'm getting hooked up with. They've got those ground level suites. [01:15:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:15:54] Speaker A: That are like a field level. I think I'm sitting in one of those, so. [01:15:58] Speaker C: Wow. [01:15:58] Speaker A: We'll let you know how that goes. Well, hell yeah. What she expect? [01:16:05] Speaker C: Not that you were that big time. [01:16:06] Speaker A: Ain't sitting up in the top tier in the nosebleeds or something, bro. [01:16:09] Speaker C: I mean, I knew you were big time, but I know you're that big time. [01:16:11] Speaker A: I'm going Hollywood, brother. [01:16:13] Speaker C: Nice. [01:16:13] Speaker A: And I know you do. You are the people. Nobody wants to sit with me. [01:16:20] Speaker C: Third degree. The podcast is brought to you by soccer 90. Our partners over there got everything you want. They got all the domestic, FC Dallas, MLS, international gear, club gear. You name it, they've got it. Use the code. Third degree at checkout, you get 20% off soccer night.com or in store as well. They'll honor that code in person. Just tell them 33 sent you soccer 90 dot. They've got all the goods over there third year podcast was also brought to you by the Lindstrom law firm for Wills Trust, probates and business law. Call 469-515-2559 or visit for a free consultation. [01:16:54] Speaker A: All right. Well, Dan, thank you very much. I hope. Hope the hole in your roof gets patched quickly, sir. [01:16:59] Speaker B: Me too. And I hope you have safe travels. [01:17:03] Speaker A: Thank you. I appreciate that. And Buzz, I hope all is well with you. And the new puppy dog, Martin paws. [01:17:09] Speaker C: He's doing great. And I should mention that, like, six or seven different people said hello to me last game, so it was nice to meet everybody. Man. [01:17:16] Speaker A: That's one. One of my favorite things to do is go to the game with Buzz and watch all the people come up and introduce themselves to Buzz. I love that so much. It makes, just warms my heart every time somebody comes and does that. [01:17:28] Speaker C: One of the people said hello was a guy in my section who's like, he's sitting over there all year. I never said anything, but I finally wanted to say something. I was like, yeah. So I figured you were tweeting or whatever. I was like, yeah. [01:17:39] Speaker B: And if you do pluck up the courage, Buzz is definitely a hugger. [01:17:44] Speaker A: No, Buzz loves to be touched. [01:17:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:17:49] Speaker B: Bundled. [01:17:50] Speaker C: I'm a chick. [01:17:51] Speaker A: He's a snuggler. [01:17:52] Speaker C: No, stop it. [01:17:55] Speaker B: Maybe. [01:17:58] Speaker C: No, let's not do that. [01:18:02] Speaker A: I just. This army of people walking up and giving, but just tackling buzz and hugs. [01:18:08] Speaker B: Giving him butt pats. [01:18:10] Speaker A: Yeah, he loves that, too. Go over there and tussle his hair. He loves that. He thinks that's the best. [01:18:18] Speaker C: Oh, Jesus. [01:18:19] Speaker A: All right, boys. Thank you very much, everybody. We will speak to you next week. FC Dallas. Curious fan. On another episode of Third Degree, the podcast. [01:18:31] Speaker B: Go and touch Buzz. [01:18:37] Speaker A: Third degree. The third degree nepot. Third degree the third degree nepot. [01:18:46] Speaker C: Third degree. Third degree nap. [01:18:48] Speaker A: I can.