[00:00:00] Speaker A: Peter Luxin.
Peter Luxin.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:08] Speaker A: Ooh.
Ooh.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: The third degree napkin, third degree. The third degree napkin, third degree. The third degree napa.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: Third degree. The third degree nap, I guess. Third degree. The podcast is brought to you by soccer 90 dot. Soccer 90 dot is your source for all the international club gear, domestic gear, pro team gear. They got Copa America, they got the euro gear, they got everything, man. 20% off. If you use code third degree at
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[00:01:02] Speaker B: Well, hello there, FC Dallas. Curious fan. Welcome to episode 268. And it's great because it starts with a two, because there's a double victory pod of third degree. The podcast hi, it's me, Peter. First off, Dan Crook. Howdy, Dan.
[00:01:19] Speaker C: Hello. Hello. You missed the six in that six points and eight for eight goals yesterday.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Wow. Are you a numerologist?
[00:01:29] Speaker C: No, no, no. That would be buzz. He loves his shirt.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: He does shirt? Never. He does.
And there's the lovely voice of your hero. My hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder of Thirddegree.net, and the original soccer influencer, the good buzz kerrick. Come in, Buzz.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: How are you fells doing on this fine summer solstice? Longest sunlight day of the year.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: I am up to my nose in soccer watching buzz. So much soccer to watch.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: Too much?
[00:01:59] Speaker B: No, never too much.
Never. Never.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: I mean, you can always temper your expectations and watch England and just be like, man, this spot sucks.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: Dan, I was trading WhatsApp messages with somebody earlier today, and I feel like I've been saying this since I started watching international soccer back in the eighties or nineties. I just don't understand England. I just don't get it.
[00:02:24] Speaker C: No, nobody does. It's that weird thing, right? You get, like, a really good generation of players. You bring a coach and it plays negatively.
All the media are like, it's our year. We have no idea how, but it's our year. And then it just inevitably doesn't happen.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: I actually picked England to win this one because I did, too.
And I thought, this is it. And then I watched the first game and I was like, why is Trent Arnold in midfield? And I thought, nevermind on my pick.
[00:02:54] Speaker C: Because that's England's equivalent to Jurgen Klinsmann. Putting everybody at left back.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: Fair.
Fair.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: I just don't understand why they, like, in both those games, they score, they played really, really well and scored a goal, took a lead, and then they just absolutely went into this weird, frightened shell and I don't get it. And I don't know if the BBC.
[00:03:16] Speaker C: Actually, after the game put out a two average positional charts. One was before and after the goal and before the goal looks good. So attack him after the goal. Harry Kane is. His average position was on the halfway line. The deepest defender was level with the d before that. 2020 yards further upfield.
I mean, it should be kind of relatable to the start of this season with FC Dallas. How frustrating that is to watch.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: Yeah, it's crazy. And to think most the average american soccer fan of the us men's national team thinks this is some sort of greatest talent ever pool that we're dealing with here in the United States. And they're frustrated with how nothing ever comes of it. I'm like, why don't you go talk to one of my english friends for a while? That's ridiculous. Well, anyway, let's move on to business because we got good stuff to talk about. Because since the last time we spoke, Petter looks in. By the way, we have to just officially establish from the beginning that for the last, I don't know, ten years, we've all been calling him Peter Lucene. And I swear, I, at one point when I talked to him, that's how he introduced himself to me. No, apparently now, according to Owen Newkirk, his name is pronounced Petter look sin. So Petter looks in, is now the manager, and in his debut is undefeated after two wins, beating St. Louis to nothing. And then last night, in a runabout thriller against Minnesota, five to three. Buzz, why don't you just tell everybody how he fixed it all and we're winning MLS cup?
[00:05:03] Speaker A: Well, first they even introduced him at his press conferences. Peter Lucene.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: I know.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: And then. And then the one. The one writing I saw was, was Luke sane? Was what I saw. So we still don't have a clinical version of how to pronounce it, but let's go on with the real. Sorry, Dan, when you get in there on the name.
[00:05:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I was gonna say it was funny because there was that one video of him introducing himself. He's like, you know, Peter Luxan? And it was like, wait, what? What? That's not right. So that first press conference after he finished, I just was like, hey, I'm sorry. We've all said your name wrong for the last eleven years. He just laughed it off.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: I still don't think players care if people get their names pronounced incorrectly. But that's just me trying to get out of.
[00:05:45] Speaker C: It's like Edwin surreal. Right? You know, he pulled out the chart like, you are Hispanic. I am Cerrillo. You're. You're white. I'm sorrillo.
[00:05:56] Speaker A: Yeah. He would. Depending whether he was answering in Spanish or English.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Yes. Okay, so yes, back on point. We're winning MLS cup.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: Yeah. No, let's not be ridiculous. No, but they scored five goals and.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: We got trick out of the dude.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Well, you know, coach bounce is real. They had a game against a team that is struggling just above them in the standings, which is at home. They had a game at home against the team missing like eleven players still. They got some guys back, but they were miss. Still missing a lot of guys. Still coach bounce. You know, there are some nice things happening that are moving the club in a positive direction, but I don't think it's fair to expect a team overnight to become MLS champions. Now, of course, if they go win every game the rest of the season, shut my mouth. But, you know, we're going to run into no road games here, specifically this weekend against at Seattle, and we're going to learn a lot more about where this team really might be, so. But what is happening is positive. Well, the first thing that happened is he gave the players a lot more freedom to go forward and try things.
I was disappointed that he rolled out the same formation in the first game, you know, under the auspices, there really wasn't enough time to change was the narrative we got from the club. But then, well, if that's true, you only had a rest day and a walkthrough day before the next game, so why did it change for the next game? So not sure where that time narrative came from because in the next game against Minnesota, we saw three different formations, including a 4141, which we haven't seen since maybe shells Hyman days. And then we saw 4231 when they subbed in some people for the second half, you know, so the main thing is he has in the last week and a half, and you've seen some social media from players, not through the team accounts, but through their own accounts. You've seen them talk about how he's given them some self belief. So obviously he's done some cheerleading, he's done some pumping up, which is where you get your coach bounce from.
And he's allowed them to be more expressive he's allowed them to attempt to try things. He allowed them to go forward. He's allowed them to, in effect, make mistakes. And they're. So far they're delivering. Notably between the first game and the second game under Lucene, we really saw a return to the pouncing on mistakes and the quick transition play that was Dallas even on Eco was when they were out there best in the first year that he was here, that expressed itself again. There's still a team that really needs that clinical finish in, though the second game is insane with eight shots on target out of eight shots. That is ridiculous that that kind of finishing rate has only happened like four times in the history of the league, and they got five goals out of it. You cannot sustain that kind of clinical finishing and shooting. So, you know, the, the first, maybe the first game is what more, what it's actually going to look like when the team starts to collapse. It starts to collapse. So, yes, lots of joy and there's great things we can talk about going forward and how you carry this forward, but don't overreact to two wins on a new coach bounce.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: I do wonder if there's some sort of giant flashing red light, warning light going off behind the fact that buried underneath the glory of two wins is the fact in those two games, Dallas gave up 22 and 19 shots between the Minnesota and St. Louis games.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: I mean, that's the thing, right? Is the defense still isn't good enough, you know? And Paz was magnificent again in the St. Louis game, as he's been for, you know, month and a half. Now, what was it like his 7th or 8th game with five plus saves? And I think he had eight again, which is, you know, right near that career high again. But then in the Minnesota game, he came back to earth a little bit, you know, like the second goal, he definitely got his hands on it, you know, and then let it in. And on the first goal, he misread the dot, the guy coming in on a header and looked foolish. Now that's a tough read, I'll grant you that, but we expect more out of pause than those two goals. I mean, that was a game where Minnesota scored right about there. Hated by me, XG, you know, so Paz didn't save them when he normally has saved them in those moments. So, you know, you're right, the defense is nowhere near good enough. I noticed this week, in fact, I've been going and reading all the midseason grades and report cards by, like, a lot of the national media, and we've talked about for a long time now that this team, this style seems a pretty good defensive team and that their problem is they can't score goals. And yet without fail, every single one of those national guys was like center backs, they need one or two center backs. Everybody knows the defense is not good enough and it's pause that's propping it up. Defensively speaking.
[00:10:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
Dan, I was going to ask you, my impression overall is I think the kind of rank and file FC Dallas curious fan is just overall overjoyed with the fact that whatever Luxon has done, he's, he's got them at least trying to go forward for. I guess my point in thinking about this is the last game against Minnesota when you were playing an even more damaged and worn out Minnesota.
You could barely pull a one one draw. Here he gives them a little room to try to do something and they. And you get the result you probably should have gotten a week ago.
[00:11:09] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. Like Buzz said, both Minnesota sides were heavily depleted. Twelve players missing the first game, seven on the second game.
But, you know, the buzzword between Peter and the players afterwards was verticality bringing that back. And it kind of felt like an Oscar parea type performance. Right. Happy to sit back, let the midfielders drop in and then just grab him on the attack. Tirita goals came off of Paul Areola just nipping a ball over the top for one, for Musa to run onto another one, which ended up being offside. Leggette on the one that got Musa the hat trick same. Logan Farrington set up the goal that actually it was his goal came off of him intercepting a ball in midfield. They're just, they're not controlling the middle of the park, but they're being aggressive with that, with their pressing trigger points and just making things happen in a way that we haven't seen in a while because, you know, they've been too busy. Okay, let's get back, let's sit back, let's, let's not venture too far forward.
And, you know, let's be honest, the average soccer fan is going to prefer to see a, I mean, this is five three, but they're going to prefer to see a five four over a 10 any day of the week.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: Yes. Well, as long as it ends up being a five four win.
[00:12:35] Speaker C: Well, I mean, just, just fun, adventurous soccer is just entertaining.
[00:12:40] Speaker B: It is. Now, Buzz has Luxon figured out the, as he solved the riddle of Musso, which is just put the ball over the top and let him run on, get, let him get in behind the lat, the back line and let him do his thing.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: He certainly got a step in the right direction. I don't know if it's 100% solved. One of the things I particularly liked about the formation against Minnesota, this 4141, is it effectively made four playmakers behind him right across the midfield and with Yara as a deeper fifth guy. And in a lot of ways, that formation allowed Essie Dallas to control the middle. That they haven't done. The middle of the midfield has been a disaster basically all season. Cause we've seen the. The requirement of wing backs to become possessional sort of players. Otherwise they were outman in that regard.
And so that that shape allowed them to take turns attacking forward, take turns playing balls into his feet.
Perhaps there was some actual width happening from the wing back since it was two sort of attacking players that opened up the middle a little bit and allowed Musa to have that little bit more room and just a little bit more time to bring a ball down, for example. So, yes, a little more over the top because they were playing sort of a mid block look and they were trying to, again, aggressively attack back off of these transition moments. So, you know, all those things have gone to. To help unlock Musa. But again, I don't think. Let's not overreact to the fact that Minnesota was again a depleted team. And I think that once, including their starting keeper, you know, once the floodgates are starting to open, then they're kind of going to be open, you know, and once you've demonstrated that they're. They're in trouble in transition because Jesus was roasting them in transition. So, you know, a lot of those things in this game, particular game, just worked out to make Dallas look really, really good in that moment. And I don't know that it's going to carry over against different teams the way it has in this game.
[00:14:31] Speaker C: I think, you know, if you look at going into Seattle, you know, you're attacking players. It's all confidence. So having two games that have been pretty effective in the attack, that's. That's what you really need, going to a tough place like Seattle.
[00:14:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's fair. Keep in mind that Yara Mindy's out on yellow card accumulations, which will hurt.
Yeah, that makes it really hard to play that 4141.
And we'll come, we'll circle back, I think, too, but I think they'll play up there in a minute when we get to start talking about Seattle. But certainly, like, that's what you're hoping for. That's what Lucina's hoping for, is that the confidence he's building in these players, the confidence to attack, um, will carry over, and then they'll be able to do these things more commonly. And certainly the fans are enjoying it more, and the players are enjoying it more.
[00:15:19] Speaker C: I.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: You know, I think in the end, it's possible that Niko was right, that he might win more games or tie more games playing for these 10 ties. But, man, they're boring. These four three blowouts, these two, two, three goal games are much more entertaining, much more fun. I don't know that if it means in the long run, you might not lose a lot of games, four three, but it certainly is a heck of a lot more fun to watch, you know, and so far in the two home games, which, again, remember, 75% home field advantage in this league. So the road games are gonna be the real test, and also so is playing somebody who legitimately is a top five team. Minnesota is normally, but they were still missing too many people.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I. You know, my observation from the two games, and I really felt this way after the first game against St. Louis was, you know, Dallas won that game, and you'll take wins however you get them, especially when the season has gone as poorly as it has. But if you're being honest about that game in particular, if Pete, if pause doesn't stand on his head again, and if St. Louis could finish a sandwich, that game is very, very different. And I think a lot of people immediately turn and go, why are you starting with three in the back? I thought the whole. I thought we all agreed that that wasn't a good thing to do. And then, you know, there were long stretches in that game against Minnesota last night where not only did Minnesota was able to come back and tie the game twice, but they had plenty of opportunities to take the lead after going down if they could. If they themselves could have finished better or if pause hadn't made a bunch of saves. So I think it's great that they've won these two games, but I still think there's a lot of things to be worried about in terms of things for Luxon to work on, and a lot of it's the midfield, in my opinion.
[00:17:10] Speaker A: Yeah, look, you're completely right about the St. Louis game. That was the typical pause performance that they've had for a while now. And I think in many ways, St. Louis outperformed him in that game, but they still managed to get a result, you know, and it's the positives of the way they played, it's the positives of having legit be in midfield and help contribute to a build. It was the positive of having safari play as a more aggressive sort of position instead of in the center. But, you know, I was annoyed as you were, and I'm sure we all were like, why in the world is still playing the three four three? You had the bulk of the week, you know, he was named earlier in the week, but that was plenty of time, in my opinion, to have changed formations. And the fact that the next game after that, with basically no training time at all, they went through, they rolled through three different formations. So clearly that wasn't the problem. So I don't. I don't know why the hesitation happened. And I have not gotten alone with Peter to ask him yet why he, you know, stuck with that formation for that game. But then we saw in the next game a complete reversal where they had two different formations and finally went back to the three late, which is perfectly fine in tactical situation, but you're right, but both, neither one of these games is a flawless performance. They both are extreme circumstances. They end up getting you the win. And that's the thing is that, like, this is all part of the coach bounce. You know, it's all part of this quick reaction. It's all part of the players feeling good right at the moment. Can you sustain it, is the thing, right. This is going to be a tough road in the next. You know, they're. They're one of the worst teams in the Western Conference. They're going to have to play everybody above them. So you're going to have to win your way in. There's not. There's no one's going to hand them to this to them. They're going to have to do it. And I'm not sure even getting in will solve anything. And we have a whole window to add a player or two here and maybe some things can be changed and for the real positive and, you know, we'll see. But don't. I agree with you. You cannot. You cannot take these two wins as definitive signs that this team is also one of the best teams in the league. That's ridiculous.
[00:18:54] Speaker C: We'll say one thing about the back three in that first game. And, you know, and Luxan said afterwards, the passion was there, the energy was there, the quality, wasn't it? You know, nobody could accuse that team of having a quality game or even in yesterday's win, but the way he played that back career with Omar Gonzalez in the middle. Stay at home defender Ibiaga and Tafare kind of getting a little bit more aggressive attacking. You had the two midfielders dropping back, so it was almost like an old school sweeper with a four in front of him. It was just kind of like, again, against a kind of rough and ready St. Louis team, but still a team that has Xiaox and I can't remember the other fellow's name, the german fella or austrian, whatever he is. You know, there's still some quality in that team that can do damage at times.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Yeah. One thing I think is definitely true, and coach mentioned this after the first game, is that the idea that they definitely had all this energy, and they were up and they attacked, and. But we saw them start to wither over the time and again, they had this energy in the Minnesota game. The problem is you can't out effort and energy every single team you play. It's. It's unsustainable. You cannot do it. You'll burn out your team, and eventually you'll find teams that are just really good. The way to win games long term is to be better and just get better.
Out efforting people is not a sustainable method of play.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: No, but I do think the new guy, however we pronounce his name, has. Has figured out the one thing that all of us, whether we be us here on this podcast, people that listen to this podcast, or people that are in the stadium, have figured out the one thing that. That for whatever reason, Niko just refused to do, which is just put the ball behind the last line of defense of whoever you're playing, because there's tons of space back there. I mean, if I remember correctly, Jesus Ferreira is one of the five fastest guys in this league. Am I not right about that?
[00:21:01] Speaker A: I don't. That's hard to say. You know?
[00:21:03] Speaker B: No, there was literally. There was, like, some sort of metric that was put out last year, and he was one of the fastest guys in the league.
[00:21:10] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:21:11] Speaker B: You understand what I'm saying? If. There's one thing that I think I just noticed in these two games is that he's just letting guys put the ball over the top and let other people run into it, that's the one thing that this team appears to be good at doing, and. And therefore, they've gotten a couple wins out of it, too.
[00:21:27] Speaker A: Well, it's not. I actually think this team is relatively slow.
You know, there's. There's. There's a couple of guys that are quick. Jesus can be in transition.
[00:21:38] Speaker B: Bernie.
[00:21:39] Speaker A: Bernie. You know, Bernie played in the second game and he's relative, but he was not impactful in those moments. You know, the. The quality moments came from when Paul overlapped, you know, and Musa held it up. Um, you know, I do think that the playing a little bit over the top helps unlock, uh, the defense. It makes them sit back a little bit. It makes them hesitant to be aggressive and close down midfield a little bit. Those things are all good. But I would not have said that, um, that dramatically. So that this. That the team played over the top against Minnesota, there were a couple, but there were times when they used that strategy under Niko, too, you know, when. When the other team wanted to run a high line, they would try and do that.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: So, yeah, maybe I shouldn't say over the top. What I. What I mean is just getting behind the. The last line of defense, playing through defenders over the top, whatever it is. And I think the. I can think of three goals last night that the result of that passes, you know, splitting passes, the great pass to legit who played it off to Musa for his third goal, was a great example of exactly what I'm talking about. We just never saw that under Estevez and. And Luxon appears to have figured out how to, you know, unlock that in these guys to try it. I, you know, and that's the one really. I think that's the part of it that makes the team entertaining to watch, at least more than it has been.
[00:23:05] Speaker A: Well, the biggest contributor for me into that happening is the fact that the. The wingbacks now are actually getting forward into offensive positions. And by playing wide there, there, whether it was the wing backs in the. In the first game against St. Louis or the actual sort of outside mids and this 4141 in the second game, they got forward and created width and that opens the back line because this, the fo, then the full backs or whatever have to stay wide. Or if it's back three, they have to stay wide. It creates larger gaps and then you can play those balls through the middle. So it's not a question of pace as it. As much as it is space between and gaps. So that's. I think we're agreeing on what that. What we're seeing. I think I just have a different reason to believe it's happening.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: Dan, do you, like me, feel like the person that is not getting enough praise or not enough talking about in terms of improving his game is Mister legit.
[00:24:02] Speaker C: I mean, improving from where he probably has been recently? Yeah, 100%.
I was really impressed with. With the assist for the third goal, keeping it up, holding off the 27, taking the contact and making that pass blind. But he had a couple of moments playing out midfield. I think the Farrington goal was, was off him as well.
[00:24:26] Speaker B: I think so, yeah.
[00:24:28] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, that's the kind of link up. You know, Oscar Pere used to talk about the glue, the link in player that was missing for that type of pass. And then Paxton came of age and then Paxton's knees and joints broke down. So it's good to kind of have that, that player that can play those passes. Looking at the, the charts on who scored earlier, there weren't necessarily the zone 14 passes we all looked for, but, you know, right behind it, that's, that's where you had had legit. You had Ariella cutting inside to make those sort of linking plays up to, up front.
[00:25:08] Speaker B: Well, Buzz, I guess the question off the top of my head moving into the Seattle game is, do you feel like Luxon will stick with the four man backline?
[00:25:20] Speaker A: Man, I sure hope so.
Yara. Mindy being out is complicating because now you have to try and compensate in your midfield. You know, that's a player that you can put in there and reliably ask him to do all kinds of things and now you're not going to have it. You know, you're already short packs in a midfield, so that means you're going in there with like, you know, at best case scenario, frasier and legit in your double pivot likely, you know, whichever shape you choose to use, that's what you're looking at, because we've determined that Delgado is not really a six now, you know, it never really was, um, you know, so we probably won't see him back in that position. You see, key is more of a winger attacking mid now under this coach than he is like a deep player, you know, based on where Lexington's been using them. So, you know, you don't have a lot of options. You know, you're getting to the point where you have to try and solve that riddle. You have to solve that situation. So to me, I think the obvious solution is the 4231 they used in the second half because you got, you got far fans. Some rest by. He got half a game off where he came in. You know, Omar didn't really play much in this game, so you could bring him back into central center back if you really felt you needed to. You know, you can. Tuamosi is almost back. If you felt Paul has played too much, for example, at right back, you know, by putting Frazier and Leggette in the middle together.
I think legit can handle some of that linking role and, you know, then you can. You can still have in front of you relatively free. You can have Jesus and Musa and you can have guys in there like Delgado. You could have. You could even play Bernie in that 4231 because that's a shape he knows really well. If you like Bernie better, you know, and. But if you really. If you. If you looked at your analysis and you felt like, you know, oh, in Seattle, because of the way they play, a back three will be better because that way I've got, you know, a center back that can handle each of their good wings, and I'll have a wing back checking back, and now I've got five to try and deal with their front three, which are really good. You know, so many questions. Dan, go ahead.
[00:27:34] Speaker C: Yeah, so funny you should say that, because when I asked the Peter about the formation yesterday, he said the reason they started with that 4141 was because they knew Minnesota would come at them in a five, two, three, which is, you know, a very similar shape to Seattle's 343. So, yeah, you know, you've obviously got a discount iar amendi also. Really smart move. If you're about to get a suspension, take it on the away game on turf. That's brilliant.
But, yeah, I mean, if you can make Frazier and another player work as a double pivot, you know, you might have that bit of control.
They don't have this kind of centre midfield that they've had in previous years. Morris is more central. He's not absolutely ripping the piss out of people on the wings as much this year. So it kind of seems like, you know, go for it again.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: Yeah, the question would be, do you have someone that can do the one in front of the back four like Irramundi could? That becomes the big question between those two shapes. I mean, I like both. I really like that 4141 with Musa in the way. You have so many decent wings that could play any of those spots, you know? You know, and so that's what it'll come down to, is what. What works better, the. Like that Frazier legit double pivot of the two? Or could Frazier be that deep, stay at home, sit in there, playmaker? Or could somebody else do it? Could legit do it? Could. I don't even know who else other could seek. You do it. I mean, who knows, right? So we have a coach we've only seen for two games, so it'll be interesting to see what he's thinking he's mixed it up so much now.
[00:29:21] Speaker C: It's Nolan Norris's moment.
[00:29:23] Speaker A: Yeah, maybe it's Nolan Norris's moment. Honestly, you know, he's more similar to Yara Mindy than any of those other guys are in terms of his passing vision. You know, that's. We've said all along, Dan, you know, this, that Nolan's best quality is his passing. We joke that when he was a center back, we joked he was the best passing center back they had. So maybe he could sit in there before Yara Mendy.
[00:29:41] Speaker C: We said he was the best. He was the best passer on the team, period.
[00:29:44] Speaker A: Yeah. So, I mean, maybe that's viable. He's just coming out of some really nice U 20 games where he played left back and said of in the middle. But he was their captain, you know, so there's, there's a very viable choices. You know, watching the way the front group unlocked with those four guys supporting underneath Musa was super, super exciting to me. I really liked how that worked and I would love to see that formation again. If he goes with some other choices, I'll be. I'll be dialed in and watching and see if it's possible. But, you know, the question will be that fulcrum, who can handle. Do you have a player without Iar Mindy that can play by themselves in that spot, you know, on a single pivot, basically, that is in that shape and that's the whole thing. I don't know that you do. And Dan might be right that Norris might be the closest. How much does look seen like Norris? I mean, he used to. Norris was on his academy team, you know, that's not the same as believing now, ten years later that he's. He can be that pistol pivot, but it'll be fun to watch.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: It will be interesting to see how much we've seen in the last seven days of this team is down to, as you say, buzz the coach bump.
[00:30:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:56] Speaker B: The state of the opponent, the fact that they were. They were both home games, which are always, you know, notoriously difficult for road teams to win and get results and just a mix of all that and how much of it is that this team maybe actually has some ability and skill and something else to show everybody. I can't quite put my finger on it. I have a suspicion of what it is, but I won't say it publicly because it'll just bum everybody on.
[00:31:24] Speaker A: Yeah, I think we're still looking at a team of dudes.
I think that there's an interesting subtext that I would. That I feel like we've seen in these first two games was that, um. In the first game that he had a choice. He played Omar Gonzalez as the middle player in that three. And he gave, um, uh, Nikosi the ability to attack and be more aggressive, and maybe two, for that matter. So if you're going to a four mid week, he rested Omar, who's not a spring chicken. And then if you come back on the weekend, granted it's on turf, does he feel comfortable enough to bring Omar back? Is Omar the player he would rather have? Because Omar gives you that sit and read the game quality that you can then let Nikosi be free and attacking. And maybe Ibiyaka now sits because Ibiyaka's played two straight games, possibly. So. You know, one thing I've become convinced of is that in their search for center, a center back, particularly if they are going to play four, is that you want one that fits this game reading, sitting kind of mode, because you have two guys who are capable of playing a more aggressive physical mode, which is Nicosia Biaga, you know, and you want. You want your.
What's the name of the swiss guy?
[00:32:42] Speaker C: Ziegler.
[00:32:43] Speaker A: Ziegler, yes. You want a 28 year old Ziegler who can read and lead and sit in there, and then you can play him, pair him with either more than likely, more often Nikosi or occasionally Ibi Aga in the more aggressive sort of role. And you get a nice balance there. And so if you think that, which I do, then maybe you think Omar, when you can, is the better pairing with one of those other guys. And so if, with Omar having the week off, what will that look like? And so these are the things early that I think. Even if, you know, if you don't think the team is that great, you can still look for these combos as we go into games like the Seattle game, when you have players missing and see what happens and see what. See what the coach is thinking about stuff.
[00:33:22] Speaker B: Well, Seattle is an interesting situation because historically, they're one of the league's best, but, man, they are having one of the worst seasons they've had in a long time. In fact, they are only two points ahead of Dallas in the standings, down below the Mendoza line. And interestingly enough, they've actually played a game more than Dallas. So Dallas actually is only two points behind them with a game in hand. And here's the real shocker. I. I did not know this buzz. Do you buzz or Dan, without looking? Do you know what Seattle's home record is this season.
[00:33:57] Speaker A: Well, I was looking while you were talking, so I'm going to let Dan guess.
[00:34:01] Speaker C: Not pretty.
[00:34:03] Speaker B: They've only won twice this season.
They've only lost once. They have drawn five times. They two, one and five on the season at home, which seems ridiculous for a Seattle Sounders team, especially ruining these amazing new home kits that I love so much.
Maybe. Maybe that's the curse of the new kits. There's. That's the payback is that they have these beautiful new kits and they suck this season. So it does feel like an opportunity for Dallas to continue this trend and go out and. And try to get something at a place that has really been a house of horrors for over the years.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: That's the thing is, don't remember. Don't forget that Dallas has one win there forever, ever. I mean, it's. That's ridiculous. It's like that place is there impossible for them to perform. Maybe it's how far away it is. Maybe it's the turf, maybe it's both of those things. But you're right, they are having a bad home.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: Maybe Seattle is generally better than them.
[00:35:01] Speaker A: Seattle generally better than that. That's all, you know, they, they. That's all part of it. You know, this season, of course, the they. Dallas has actually scored one more goal than Seattle. So the, you know, the Dallas over the last. However, this is a status and percolating in the notes for a while over the last, you know, certain about month or so, basically, Dallas has actually been scoring in a much greater clip than they have been before. But now the defense has gotten kind of leaky because they've. Their Dallas defense is worse than Seattle's. So it's like as much as Niko was trying to flip the script, it wasn't necessarily working. It was actually going the opposite way that you wanted to in terms of offensive defense. But you're right that those two wins are at home. Make you go, oh, wow. But then Dallas has zero wins on the road, so.
And then only one all time at Seattle. Yes, granted, this is as good a chance as you've ever had because you're in the middle of your coach bounce. Let's just understand how difficult a task this really is, even though you feel better about the normal.
[00:35:56] Speaker B: Dan, what is the average length of said mythical coach bounce? Is it. Is it more than two games?
Is it time based or number of games based?
[00:36:07] Speaker C: I'm not sure I believe in the coach bounce.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: I know I do.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: I'm not saying you have to believe in it. But, you know, it's. It's a theory that exists out into the fan base out there. What, how, Buzz? How long does a coach bounce last.
[00:36:21] Speaker A: Two or three games? Yeah, you might be about to run out.
[00:36:23] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:36:24] Speaker C: I mean. I mean, to me it's more like, you know, the tweaks a coach makes, people have to get tapered up. They have to figure it out. And, yeah, two games in, you've got three formations to look at, you've got two road, you've got a rotation to look at. Holy possible. Haven't seen them play on the road here under Luke sun. So, I mean, maybe there's that small element of surprise if we're scratching, but.
[00:36:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm just laughing at the three of us all. We're trying over, trying to pronounce the name of a guy that we've known for eleven years, that we've all called it the same thing, and now suddenly we all feel an urgent obligation to try to correctly pronounce. And I'm sure we're. But I'm sure none of us have gotten it right once. I don't.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: Well, it doesn't help that the team's got changed. Pronounced it a couple of different ways and talents. Pronounced a different way, like follow. Well, yesterday did it differently.
[00:37:18] Speaker B: How did Falawell pronounce it, more like?
[00:37:21] Speaker A: You are, Peter, with luck. Thank you, Luke. Dan and I are doing.
[00:37:26] Speaker B: Yeah, am I saying. I thought I was saying Luxon. Am I saying Luxon?
[00:37:30] Speaker C: You're saying, like, Luxembourg.
[00:37:32] Speaker B: Oh, well, yeah.
[00:37:34] Speaker C: All right, so the. So obviously the cold open. Yeah, I'm not spoiling this for anyone. It has to be that video where Peter actually introduces himself.
[00:37:44] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:37:46] Speaker C: Well, because we can all go, well, we fucked up.
[00:37:48] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:37:49] Speaker B: And here's the thing. I swear, in that press conference, uh, everybody from the front office, including the owner of the club, pronounced it Peter Lucent or Peter Lucene.
[00:38:02] Speaker C: It only came out because they did that video with him a couple of days later. He's like, hi, I'm Peter Luxaine. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: Hmm. All right. So silly. So very well. I don't care how you pronounce his name. If he can take this team to Seattle, get a third win in a row and have it be in Seattle, he's the wizard of all soccer wizards.
[00:38:22] Speaker A: And, yeah, I admit that if he wins this one, I'm really going to start believing it'll be difficult to do. And if they do, I'm going to be. Especially without iron Mindy. I'm really going to start to pay attention to, like. Exactly. I mean, not that we're not a. Pay attention, but you know what I mean? Like, he's going to really have my attention if he pulls this one off.
[00:38:40] Speaker B: Yes.
Yeah.
[00:38:43] Speaker C: By the way, on the subject of pronunciations, I made a point of looking up bongo hoo Clay cluong Hui's name and so I had to say it at least once because we didn't mention him playing for Minnesota.
[00:39:00] Speaker B: Well, congratulations. You did a good job pronouncing it. That's. I wouldn't even try to do that. So good on you.
[00:39:08] Speaker A: My one I can nail is tui Asa sopo, the quarterback in college and the NFL.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: All right.
[00:39:15] Speaker C: Yeah, Steve.
[00:39:16] Speaker B: Anybody else got a name they want to throw out there and show off?
[00:39:20] Speaker C: That's, that's Steve Davis. Used to play for Luton Town and Burnley. Not our Steve Davis.
[00:39:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:25] Speaker C: Very different.
[00:39:28] Speaker B: Let's see, what else did I want to talk about or what else did anybody else want to talk about the two games, the two big wins that have put this team back on track and into 11th place on the, in the table in the west.
[00:39:39] Speaker A: Well, there's a shocking stat that Farrington's goal was the first goal by a substitute this year.
[00:39:45] Speaker B: That is an interesting.
Yeah, there were two or three really interesting stats out of this game. There was that one, isn't there? Moosa stat.
[00:39:54] Speaker A: Musa is the first european born player with a hat trick. Frustrateous. There's that one.
[00:39:59] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:39:59] Speaker C: That was also his first career hat trick, not just MLS.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: Really?
[00:40:04] Speaker C: Yeah. I asked him after the game, I was trying to find it on transfer marked and Olaka Farmers six games where he scored two.
[00:40:10] Speaker B: So I was like, well, I know you guys were at the stadium and didn't watch it. I don't know if it was apparent in the stadium, but on that first goal he clearly was. He, he was prepared for them to have called him offside. I thought he was off and I did too. And it is the beauty of how MLS calls offside versus the rest of the world that allowed him to remain, allowed the goal to stand because I'm 99% sure in England or pretty much anywhere else or with the semi automated offside, he would have been called offside.
[00:40:41] Speaker A: Yeah. He knew he was going to get. You could see from his body language once he clears the line that he knows it's coming.
[00:40:47] Speaker B: Well, he didn't even celebrate.
[00:40:48] Speaker A: Right. That's part of what I mean. And it was expecting it, so.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: Yeah, and only until the guy pointed to the center circle and allowed for the restart, that he finally do his little point to God and give himself the blessing or something like that. So interesting stuff. Let's see. Yeah, there was one other weird stat. I thought, buzz, what was it? I wish I had written it down. There was the moose's status. There was the Farrington stat, and I want to talk about that goal here in a second. And there was one other one, but.
[00:41:19] Speaker A: I can't, I don't remember a weird stat. The only thing we should probably. I want to talk about seek at some point.
[00:41:24] Speaker B: Well, okay. What do you want to talk about? Seeking?
[00:41:26] Speaker A: I just, I kind of want to see what you guys thought about it. You know, coach, after the first game, raved about him. He talked about him like eight times in the press conference, and I don't think, I hardly noticed.
[00:41:35] Speaker C: I get that. Yeah.
[00:41:37] Speaker A: Yeah. And then I watched the second game, and I thought he was, um. Maybe because he started from the beginning of the game, he was sort of trying to pace himself a little bit. He didn't look super dialed in. I. A couple other players were yelling at him for making wrong runs and stuff, and. And so I didn't really think he was very good, but this, I often don't think that, and other people often, they're really crazy about him. So I was just wondering, maybe I'm missing something that I don't think he's.
[00:41:57] Speaker C: Very good, but I think a lot of people find he's just a really high energy player, like, you know, chasing a game. I think the substitution, the first game was spot on because you've got players flagging. He's the guy you want to bring in to just run at tired legs.
[00:42:10] Speaker A: Yeah, fair.
[00:42:12] Speaker B: I just don't think he's an MLS level player.
He's a dude that may be a bench filler for me. I know he works hard, and I do appreciate that, but I stopped counting after, like, three or four times last night. He just made bad, short, easy passes that he just missed hit that, you know, didn't necessarily create turnovers, but they were a little bit behind the person he was supposed to be passing it to, so it kind of slowed it down or now, to his credit, I think on the second goal or the first, I can't remember which goal it was. The second goal, you know, he had the nice forward advancing pass to Kamungo before Bernie crossed it in. So that was good for him there. But overall, I just, I don't get, I don't, I don't understand why everybody's all high on ensembling. I just don't get it. I don't see it.
[00:42:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I think maybe it may be the energy that maybe it. And I agree with Dan. I think he's. I like him in late games from time to time. But I also agree with you, Peter, that he's. He's not quite for this level. He has too many turnovers and bad moments. And reason about.
[00:43:11] Speaker C: You spoke on about him yesterday. He was kind of like. It was. It was weird because he was, like, pacing himself, but at the same time, he wasn't getting involved in playing. Maybe that's because I. Aramendi was just covering so much ground in the midfield, side to side, but, you know, he'd pop up on the left and then next thing you know, he's on the right wing entirely.
Ariella tries to play a pass to him and he just doesn't. He just watches it go to another player. He doesn't actually try to go find the ball. And just a lot of little frustrating moments. And when Peter's talking about things like quality in the first game, that's. That's quality that Bernie's. When he's ran through and had Jesus in acres of space on the right and just ran into a defender, those are the quality moments where, you know, Minnesota shoot. Shoot correctly and suddenly you've lost the game that you really easily could have won by a greater margin.
[00:44:05] Speaker B: Well, I will say now that I've looked at it, he passed at a 91% last night, and it is reflected more in the St. Louis game where he passed it a 72%. So he bettered himself from one game to the other, although he started one game and came in as a sub in the. In the earlier one.
[00:44:23] Speaker A: So, yeah, I thought he was, you know, the Minnesota game wasn't terrible. I just thought he wasn't. It was such a jarring difference from his usual active self, you know, and it was. And I could. I had to put it down to the idea that he was trying to be, you know, pace himself, I assume. But then I did watch, you know, other guys yell at him for, you know, the passing was. Was smooth, you know, again, he had a formation that had much better control of the midfield for Dallas than they've had all year, which I applauded across the board, you know, so, like, I don't. I don't dismiss him as a piece that can be used. I just think that I definitely don't like him as a starter, even though he passed at a higher percentage you know, okay.
[00:45:03] Speaker B: I feel like this is a good opportunity to talk about the beaver.
I. You know, we've all wondered, we all heard the hype before, you know, when he was drafted and everybody that was aware of him at Oregon State talked about what a great finisher he was and how he was going to be a really good player, and we really haven't. Estebus clearly wasn't giving him a lot of opportunity, and we've only seen a very little of him in the last two games. But I gotta say, that was a top notch finish for a whole host of reasons that I really, really liked, and I hope we get to see more of that buzzard.
[00:45:41] Speaker A: Yeah, he's really coming on. You know, I. Most rookies have an adaptation problem, you know, in terms of getting up to the speed with the league. And from my conversations with Niko, that was what he would say about him. You know, he struggles a little bit with the. With the pace of the game, but you know, that I think there's a lot of similarities to. In his game, to the way Dallas already plays. You know, this. This desire to rapidly transition, you know, when you get the ball, not to lolly gag around with it, but to move it pretty quickly, either with a shot or pass to the next guy, you know, he shows some decent understanding. Really good at Matt. I'm going to. You know what? I'm going to backtrack on decent. I'm going to go with really good understanding of positional play. And how to play is in a system like if you remember back in camp, spring camp, that was what I said about it. He was the most ready striker I've ever seen coming out of college here at FC Dallas. You know, that doesn't mean that he hasn't struggled a little bit with the pace. He hasn't. I don't mean. And I don't mean speed of foot. I mean speed of the game and speed of the mental side.
[00:46:40] Speaker C: Can I be totally honest about something?
[00:46:42] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. Go ahead.
[00:46:43] Speaker C: The timing for his assist to Ferreira was better than his goal. Yeah, that was so mature.
[00:46:51] Speaker B: I agree. That was really good. The thing about his finish that I really liked is, and maybe he didn't do this on purpose, but it appeared to me he disguised the finish by slotting it in at the near post when he had a lot more. I thought the more obvious shot was playing it to the far post, but I, you know, the step over created the space for himself and then to finish it at the near post. I'm assuming he did that on purpose, I thought was just the nice little icing on the cake for that one.
[00:47:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I think where I was trying to get with him was that, you know, we're now basically six months into his time here in the MLS level, and we talk about that six month number a lot of times with players who come here and, like the time it takes to adjust, like when we speak of foreign players, that adjustment's also true for rookies. So, you know, he's reaching a moment where he's now seen enough games and done enough things that he's losing that rookie mentality and he, and he is getting forward on the front foot. He's being progressive. You know, he does want to play as a high forward. So the trick is going to be how you use that with Moussa. Can, is there a way to start both those guys? And I don't know if right now, if that's possible, possible or ideal because then what do you do with Jesus? But, you know, in these late game moments, certainly spelling, very sorry, spelling Musa or coming on is almost like a wing, or coming on for Jesus even, and playing as an off striker, which he clearly has something he has in his bag. He has a versatile player, so I think there's a lot to be excited about with. You know what's funny? Here's a funny story one of the patrons told me when Farrington scored. He happens to be sitting near me in the stands and he leans over, he's like, how about that draft pick? Now make it fun at me for when I said I hated that draft pick. I do want to be clear that I very quickly after this said, I like Musa. I like, sorry, I'm getting confused. I like Farrington as a player. I will stand by my stance that they should have drafted a center back third overall. And I think you can look at the center back situation and understand why I still feel that way. But that doesn't change the fact that I really like Ferrington as a player. As soon as I saw him in training and progress he's making this season makes me even more believer that he's a great player and I'm glad that he's on this team. Doesn't change the fact that they need a center back and probably should have drafted one, depending on who they could have got. Of course, maybe there wasn't one, to be fair.
[00:49:07] Speaker B: The other thing I, you guys were both at the stadium last night, and getting the new guy to get them to play in an entertaining style probably comes at exactly the right time because I know they announced yet another sellout, but it is way far away from butts and seats out because that place looked very frighteningly circa 2017 or 2018 half full.
[00:49:34] Speaker C: Yeah, it filled out quite a bit during the first half.
[00:49:38] Speaker B: Did it?
[00:49:39] Speaker A: I would have said 15,000 for a Wednesday night. That's not horrible. But we have been watching a slow decline in the butts and seats factor. Despite the fact they are selling out, the butts and seats has been dropping slowly over the course of the season. So I'm with you, Peter. I agree. I think it's fantastic that they were playing entertaining game and this is what I talked about the very beginning, which is like I would rather be scoring goals at a higher rate even if I might actually lose more games because a five three or four three or whatever is way more fun than one nothing or zero zero.
[00:50:08] Speaker B: Oh, no. Sure.
[00:50:09] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, unless you're going to be the MLS champion, then do whatever it takes and we're in. But if you're just going to be a mediocre team and halfway up the standings, damn. Might as well play fun, play exciting, play entertaining, try and score some goals, you know, and make the fans have a good time even if you don't win as many, much as you might if you played for zero zero draws.
[00:50:29] Speaker B: Now help me understand this because I saw that they were pulling off the dollar hot dog night and they call them grizzies, I think. Is that correct?
[00:50:38] Speaker A: The kids call them glizzies.
[00:50:39] Speaker B: Yeah, glizzies. Oh, sorry. Well, I'm not a kid, obviously.
[00:50:43] Speaker A: I call them hot dogs.
[00:50:46] Speaker B: Yep. They were only a dollar, but then everybody, the first, however many people got a free hot dog. Like, somebody explain this promotion to me, please. I'm confused. It's like they, it's like two different people wrote up a hot dog promotion and didn't talk to the other person.
[00:51:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm not sure how that happened. It was dollar hot dog night, yet it also was Baylor medical Center night or something. And then Baylor's the one that gave out the free hot dog to the first 5000 people, which I got and didn't, didn't use. But it was also dollar three beer night, which they didn't make a big deal about. But it was.
[00:51:20] Speaker B: Huh. Interesting.
[00:51:22] Speaker A: So, you know, it's Wednesday night. They're trying to get all these things going to get some people there.
[00:51:25] Speaker B: So how many hot dogs did you eat, Dan?
[00:51:28] Speaker C: I didn't. The ones that we had in the press box were all gone by the time I got there, I did see a very sad sight walking out of the winner's club to go down to the press conference. And I guess one of the vendors, while putting all the carts away, had spilled a shit ton of chili and hot dogs everywhere. For a minute, I thought someone had thrown up an absolute shit ton and may have died. And I was like, no, those are. Those are whole hot dogs. That, that. That's not cherry chestnut here.
[00:51:57] Speaker B: Did you guys see what happened with Farrington at the end of the game with the hot dogs?
[00:52:01] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:52:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, that was fun.
[00:52:03] Speaker B: So if you haven't seen it, that somebody from, I don't know, marketing or whatever walked up to him while he's, you know, kind of celebrating the win. And was that a tub of hot dogs? I don't even know. Was it a treasure chest?
[00:52:14] Speaker C: That's the box for the man in a match hat.
[00:52:17] Speaker B: Ah, okay. So did he get man of the match?
[00:52:20] Speaker C: He didn't. He just got that full of box.
[00:52:24] Speaker B: And so they gave him a box full of tinfoil wrapped hot dogs. He tried to throw the first one into the stands, and it came unwrapped and the hot dog was flying, so he ended up handing him out. And I thought that was a pretty good bit. I like the player get to hand out free hot dogs.
[00:52:42] Speaker A: Yeah. The biggest rookie mistake of the night was trying to throw the hot. First hot dog. That's a rookie move. You don't make the mistake twice.
[00:52:48] Speaker B: No.
Oh, an observation. I noticed this last week, and I saw it again this week when I was watching the game on Apple TV and they run through the commentators and maybe I completely forgot this. You guys have confirmed with me that under the spanish commentator, when it says Carlos Reese, it is the Carlos Ruiz.
[00:53:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:13] Speaker B: Does anybody know if he's any good at play by play or analysis?
[00:53:18] Speaker A: Well, I don't speak Spanish, so I have no idea. But he's been in there since the beginning, since last thing. Yeah.
[00:53:24] Speaker B: Oh, I hope a p. I hope somebody listening to the pod that speaks Spanish, if you ever listen to the spanish Apple TV commentary can report back if Carlos Ruiz is any good at that. I'm dying to know if he's any good at that job.
And I wouldn't know because I don't speak Spanish either.
[00:53:42] Speaker A: Yeah, well, what I would say about him is that when he was a player with other players, you know, he is a vibrant, gregarious, you know, enjoyable fellow. Everyone liked being his teammate, you know, and he was a royal pain in the ass when you played against him. You know, all that flopping and gangsmanship and stuff. But it doesn't surprise me at all that his personality would translate really well to being a color commentator on games. He certainly played a lot at a really high level and has played for his country quite a bit. So I would imagine he's pretty ideal, frankly. And again, I say that never having listened to the man and not speaking Spanish, but, you know, just watching him conduct himself around the team, you know, there are guys that are quiet and keep to themselves and just go about their workman like business, and then there are guys that are like fun and over the top and laughing. They're always the center of attention. That was Ruiz. He was always the center of. Center of attention.
[00:54:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I'd love to know. I hope he's really good at it. I think he'd probably tell really awesome stories and stuff like that.
[00:54:42] Speaker A: Oh, I bet. Yeah.
[00:54:43] Speaker B: I just somehow I either forgot or missed that he was doing commentary, because that's not somebody from MLS past that I would have predicted would end up doing television.
[00:54:52] Speaker A: So I would not have predicted at all either, because he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would put in the work that I know that Tate, that it takes, believe me, this is what I do. I know what it takes to do that job. Right.
Just if you ever get a chance, you can ask somebody like Steve Davis who had to learn how to do it, you know, and Mark follow, obviously has done it for a long, long time, and they can tell you about the amount of work it takes in. Takes to do it. So Ruiz would not have struck me as that guy, but on the other hand, now that he is that guy, I can totally believe that his personality is one that would make him fun to watch.
[00:55:27] Speaker B: Well, Dallas is on the trot. Two wins in a row. They go to Seattle house of horrors. We'll see what happens. But so far so good for Petter Luxon.
[00:55:39] Speaker A: I don't think Peter is pet. It's not Petter, is it? Petter's the striker.
[00:55:43] Speaker B: Oh, I thought they pronounced his first name different. Like Petter as well.
[00:55:47] Speaker A: All right, next podcast, we're totally going to get the clip and we're going to play it and we're going to get it right.
We're awful.
[00:55:53] Speaker B: You think he's pronouncing it Peter?
[00:55:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:55:59] Speaker B: I thought Owens pronunciation guide had it spelled Petter or.
[00:56:03] Speaker C: But yeah, I'm French is Peter. It's just got.
[00:56:07] Speaker B: I thought it was Pierre that.
[00:56:10] Speaker C: No, that's a different name.
[00:56:12] Speaker B: No, Pierre is french for Peter. It's my name, I'm telling you. I grew up being told that if I lived in France, people would call me Pierre.
[00:56:22] Speaker A: Well, he's not Pierre, so that's.
[00:56:24] Speaker B: Is that not correct?
[00:56:25] Speaker A: I don't. Man, I have no idea.
[00:56:27] Speaker B: Have I been lied to all these years? I don't know.
I want to tell a quick story in a few minutes about somebody I met on my trip to LA. It's a really endearing story. But before we do that, just real quick notes about other things that have been going on in the Dallas soccer scene. Finally, somehow, it took them forever. I don't know how they've managed to pull this off. With less than two months before they kick off, Dallas Trinity announced their new head coach today. Pauline McDonald's. She is very scottish. She last was the head coach of the U 17 scottish women's team.
[00:57:05] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:57:05] Speaker B: I know nothing about her other than that, and I just hope I get to hear her talk in her scottish lilt sometime soon.
[00:57:12] Speaker A: My favorite line was that she's one of three women with a UEFA pro license in Scotland. So shout out to her. That sounds cool. I know nothing about her as well. We're going to find out. They have four players announced, so can.
[00:57:26] Speaker B: I ask you a business question about this?
Are they. Are they putting up press releases from this team? Because I've. I have not received a single email press release. Nobody's contacted me. Not that they should, but I. I'm just curious because all I ever see are, like, social media postings.
[00:57:47] Speaker A: Yeah. So at the announcement, and I think even before that, I said, hey, you know, where's the. Do you have a press release list? Put me on there. And then I never got anything. And so after the first player, I say, I was like, whoa, did I. Did I miss the list? Was there a press release? Oh, yeah, no, we'll put you on the list. I was like, okay. Are they scheduled? Are they coming out on announcements? No, they'll just be every once in a while. And then the next player came out. No press release. I'm like, did I miss it? They're like, oh, we don't do press releases for players. Okay. Okay, okay.
[00:58:15] Speaker B: What?
[00:58:16] Speaker A: And then the GM was announced, and then the coach was announced. No press releases. So as near as I can tell.
[00:58:21] Speaker B: They don't have a media relations team.
[00:58:24] Speaker A: Well, I have a contact. That's the person I'm supposed to reach out to for media relations. And that person works for the marketing firm that they hired to do the launch and the rollout and the buzz stuff and the graphics and the website.
[00:58:38] Speaker B: That's Tony face company, right?
[00:58:40] Speaker A: Yes. That person works for him and, or her and not the team. So as near as I can tell, the team doesn't have a PR person. So there's not, they're not having pressure. Like whenever they announce these players, we have to go do all the research ourselves, which is, you know, perfectly fine, but it's a lot better if they just help us out and give us information as a starting point on who these players are and they're not. So. Okay, that's fine. So we're covering them with best we can and so far we're not getting any help from PR or whatever, but so far we're keeping up. So we'll, we're going to do our best and we'll. And we'll try and tell everybody about them as they get ready to play and see what we see. But you're right, it's two months out and they don't have a full roster and they at least have a coach now. So. So progress is happening. I don't really know that they have much of a staff. I mean, they have the firm they hired, they have a GM and they have a coach that I know of, one coach that I know of. They have the young. The kids of the family seem to be the ones that are going to be involved with running the team. I don't know which ones are going to do what's jobs, but so far I've yet to meet a person or know about or have a kind of information for a person other than that one person. For the marketing firm they hired, the owner's kid, Charlie is the lead one. As near as I could tell, the youngest one played for the US def team is a good player. Apparently he was their captain and then maybe the fair park ticket office. I'm not even sure who's doing tickets for him.
[00:59:58] Speaker C: So what you're trying to say is it's chat, Gptfc.
[01:00:04] Speaker A: I mean, we'll see, but I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. I mean, they got a whole lot of stuff to do to get this thing off the ground and a very.
[01:00:10] Speaker B: Short period of time.
[01:00:11] Speaker A: Yeah, so, so I'm trying to be patient with them, you know, and I'm, you know, I'm not trying to bug them about where are the press releases when they put. They really don't have a pr person.
[01:00:19] Speaker C: So yeah, it's hard because, you know, the kick around would be an ideal place to give information to.
[01:00:30] Speaker B: Nobody cares. Stupid soccer show.
[01:00:33] Speaker A: Oh, come on.
[01:00:35] Speaker C: I've been to enough of your live shows tonight at p one.
[01:00:37] Speaker B: No, the p one s. The listeners care about it, but none of the teams around here care about it, so I can't get anybody for many teams to pay attention to us, so.
[01:00:46] Speaker C: But do you want soccer fans to go watch soccer? There's your audience. It's also the people that read the degree and listen to this podcast. It's the people that read the other.
The other blogs in the area, you know, that. That media relations is important in spreading the word and saying, hey, you think that. Here's the selling points on the players and the coaches, and here's the info on the jerseys, and here's all the stuff that the fair park website's kind of, you know, not the easiest to get through.
[01:01:20] Speaker B: Well, I know tickets went on sale or season tickets went on sale this week. I have no idea how well they've sold. I could tell that there's several people that are patreons of buzz that have reported that they've bought them. So, you know, I look forward to seeing what it turns out to be, and especially because they've signed so many local ladies, like, just the women. And I think the majority of the players they've signed are all girls from the area, so I think that's cool, too.
[01:01:49] Speaker A: All but one, it seems. Yeah. And like I said, they've got to be in the weeds. So, you know, I'm trying to be patient and not be demanding, you know? But I do want to cover them, and we want to put things out, you know? And it would help us help them if they would, you know, create this dialogue with a real pr person that will be the pr person for real, not this person that works for the marketing firm, which may have other jobs. I mean, I assume that they have other clients, that they're not just responsible for this one team only.
[01:02:14] Speaker C: You know, the World cup bid for Dallas. Yeah. Is a big.
[01:02:18] Speaker A: Yeah. All right. Fair.
But, yeah.
[01:02:21] Speaker C: You know what? Their team was announced.
I mean, not like as Dallas Trinity, but they announced the DFW franchise for the Super League last year. So, I mean, there's been that kind of lead time to start getting things ready.
[01:02:39] Speaker B: Okay. Are either one of you going to the US Bolivia game Sunday?
[01:02:44] Speaker A: No, I have a ticket. I might. My wife and I are going to the game tomorrow night. The Peru.
[01:02:51] Speaker B: Yeah, the Peru one. Okay.
I'm eager to see how that. I was watching the Argentina Canada game because that field installation, apparently is identical to whatever they did at, at and t stadium. And it looked like it played pretty well. Well. So eager to see how that'll play out. They put a lot of money and a lot of effort into putting that grass in there. So it's not the. It's not sawed on concrete this time, kids.
[01:03:15] Speaker C: It's like, as long as it plays better than that pitch that England played on earlier that nearly killed Kyle Walker.
[01:03:21] Speaker B: Boy, that was.
[01:03:23] Speaker A: Well, that feels rough.
[01:03:24] Speaker B: Was that because it had stormed a lot or. But that place is covered, so I don't know. I'm very curious to find out if anybody ever tells us why that field was so bad today in the Germany game or the England game. So I don't know anything else going on before I tell my. So what? What?
[01:03:40] Speaker A: Let's talk about the outlaws.
[01:03:42] Speaker B: Do we really have to?
[01:03:44] Speaker A: Yeah, we do. Okay, so the outlaws have problems.
They have run into a situation.
[01:03:53] Speaker B: You may want to tell everybody who that is because I'm not sure.
[01:03:56] Speaker A: Okay. There. There are two professional indoor soccer teams in the area that play the MASL, the Dallas Psychics, who don't play in Dallas, and the Texas Outlaws, who play in Mesquite, and the Texas Outlaws just got in trouble with the league.
So what happened was, in general terms, I have details, but I don't want to get into them. In general terms, they are in trouble with the league for not coming through on some contractual obligations to a group of the players. Some of it is involved with housing and some with compensation along those two general lines. So, as a consequence, some things started happening in terms of contracts between players and the team, and the league froze all the contracts to the players. And then after a few days deliberation, they have. They have made every player a free agent, a restricted free agent, which means that every player on their team is now open to be poached by another team in the league. So I know for a fact that their best players are fielding calls from virtually the entire league, because I've talked to some of them. So the bottom line is the outlaws, I'm told, will be playing in 24, 25, which is the next season, but after that, we'll see. I don't know how many players they're going to have because of this free agent. Restricted free agency. They're going to lose probably all their best players.
[01:05:20] Speaker B: Tattoo there.
[01:05:22] Speaker A: He's the coach there at that team. Yes. Yep.
[01:05:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:05:25] Speaker A: And so is Stavro. They have a good coaching staff. That. That's not the problem. This is on the, you know, owner money side of things that these problems are arising. And I feel bad for the players because they have, I think they have four players that are on the us futsal team that they were and have been one of the better teams in the league and they're probably going to lose all those guys and lose both of their players. I'm sure the psychics will poach some and I'm sure all the other teams will push some. You know, quite rightly, if they're not going to compensate their players and they're not going to pay them then they're going to lose them. So needless to say the outlets are on the nice and so if you're a fan of indoor soccer and a fan of that team then you're probably going to be worried about that team. And I certainly would be worried about their future existence past this next season. So given the situation. So that's it. I felt like it was necessary to talk about that. You know, we don't cover that team deeply but it is important when something big like this comes along then we at least touch on it. So.
[01:06:16] Speaker B: Okay. Dan, you got anything?
[01:06:18] Speaker C: No, no. That seemed to sum up right.
[01:06:22] Speaker B: All right, well, so when I was in LA and I haven't, I was wanting to tell this story a podcast or so ago, but I needed to get permission from this person who happens to be, by the way, a patreon of buzzes. His name is Corey. And Corey and his family also traveled out to LA for both the Galaxy game and the LAFC game.
And I gotta tell you, Corey's got a young son. His name is Doc. And Doc really warmed my heart because he is a true burn fan. You know, I go to a lot of these games these days and I don't know how old Doc is. I'm gonna guess he's 1110 years old. But younger preteen kids tend to not pay attention to soccer games. They tend to run around and do crazy stuff. I know I did that when I, you know my parents took me out to of places I, because of the, where they were sitting and what, uh, and, and noticing him, Doc really is into this team and he's a really good fan. And the, and the thing that I noticed about him that I really caught on is that at the end of the second game, the LAFC game, as I told you before, I was sitting down on the seats at the field level and he introduced himself to me by coming down to the bottom of the uh, uh, the stands and, and, and calling me over and I met him and we talked for a little bit. At the end of the LAFC game I looked up and I saw Doc sitting there with his head in his hands leaning over the railing looking really bummed. And that kid was really bummed out that Dallas was paying poorly and that just. I don't know man. I just thought that was really cool that a kid that age was that into the burn FC Dallas. And he is a true fan of this team and I can't imagine what it must be like being his age and growing up with this and having access to this at his age. It's kind of like our version of the Tornado or whatever it would have been for you, Dan, over in England. And I just think that's really cool and I wanted to share that with everybody. So hats off to Corey and his son and his family for traveling to go see the teams but to Doc especially for being a really good fan.
[01:08:29] Speaker A: Yeah, he has a FcKO's shirt, one of our shirts. Doc does.
[01:08:34] Speaker B: Does he really?
[01:08:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:08:36] Speaker B: I thought that was cool man.
[01:08:38] Speaker A: Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. And I, and I know what you mean about what it must be like to grow up with a team. Cause you and I, Peter grew up without one. You know, we didn't have a team. You know we had the tornado for a couple of years maybe but that was then it folded and then we had the sidekicks but that's not the same thing. So like one of the reasons why I am about this team the way I am is because I remember what it was like to not have a division one team to support you know? And this is weird.
[01:09:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm, I'm old enough where we had a division one team in the tornado but that was during the. I mean I, I think the tornado folded by the time I was ten or eleven.
[01:09:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:09:13] Speaker B: Through the meat of my teenage years and into my young adulthood we didn't have anything. So um, you know when I really would have super cared about it and gotten into it and we didn't have it so. Yeah, that's why I just, just an observation, a story I wanted to share. Hope everybody else enjoyed that too. So um. All right. Anything else? Let's end on a good week of results on, on that nice note, I'm.
[01:09:38] Speaker A: Just looking forward to the test this weekend. I mean I think Seattle is a tough one. Always is a tough one going up there. So it'll be fascinating without our Yarmini to see how they adapt for that.
You know, this is real soccer nerd. And we're in with a new coach who keeps changing formations. He's making us work really hard trying to figure out what the hell's going.
[01:09:55] Speaker B: On, not just between games, but how many times in a game.
[01:09:59] Speaker A: Three in the last game, which is crazy. And that's really high. And that, and the adaptability level, you know, that's team should be able to do that. Yes, they should, but most of them can't. And so for them to do that was impressive. And, and I, and I really liked the first one, the 4141. I want to see that again.
[01:10:16] Speaker B: Man, when I used to play pro evolution soccer or the older versions of FIFA, I always wanted to change formations, but it was such a pain in the ass in those old days, you had to pause the game and go into the menu and scroll down to formation and then, ah, such a beating. It just gotta be so much easier for a coach to do. You can just yell at people and make it happen.
It's late, I'm tired, whatever.
[01:10:38] Speaker A: Third degree. The podcast is brought to you by soccer 90 dot. Our partners over there have all the good stuff. Pro soccer, club soccer, european soccer, they got it all. Euro 2024, Copa America, they got the goods. Get what you want over there. And as a listener to this podcast, you get 20% off with the code. Third degree at checkout soccer 90 dot. Or in person, just tell them third degree centigrade. Some exclusions do apply. The degree of the podcast is also brought to you by the Lindstrom law firm for wills, trust, probates and business law, called 469-515-2559 that's 469-515-2559 or visit lindstromlawfirm.com for a free consultation.
[01:11:15] Speaker B: All right, Dan, thank you very much. It's good to talk to you again, my friend.
[01:11:18] Speaker C: Likewise.
[01:11:20] Speaker B: How's that beard of yours, by the way?
[01:11:22] Speaker C: I mean, it's still there.
[01:11:24] Speaker B: Okay. Is it bigger?
[01:11:26] Speaker C: It probably needs a little bit of a tidy up.
[01:11:28] Speaker B: Yeah, a little bit of a tidy up. All right, well, I hope you get the result you need in game three for England so you can make it to the next round, since I predicted you to win the whole damn thing.
And Buzz, thank you very much for your coverage, sir.
[01:11:41] Speaker A: Oh, thanks, man. You're welcome. I'm glad you guys are here to do this with me.
[01:11:44] Speaker B: Yes. Hope tomorrow goes well for you, my friend. And thank you, FC Dallas. Curious fan. We will see speak to you next week, rain or shine, win or lose or draw, on another episode of Third Degree, the podcast.
[01:11:57] Speaker C: The Honeymoon period is on third degree.
[01:12:02] Speaker B: The third degree net podcast, third degree, the third degree nap podcast, third degree, the third degree nap podcast, third degree, third degree nap.
[01:12:16] Speaker A: I cast there.
