3rd Degree the Podcast #288

[00:00:09] Speaker A: Third Degree the Third Degree NE Pocket Third Degree the Third Degree Napa Guys Third Degree the Third Degree Napa Guy Third Degree the Third Degree Never care. Well, hello there, FC Dallas. Curious fan. Welcome to yet another episode. Even in the off season, we're still doing this of third degree, the podcast. This one is number 288, Dan Crook. Not with us tonight. His lovely Mrs. Dan Crook made dinner plans. So they're off having fun doing that. And you know, I get it. And so there he is, your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder of thirddegree.net and the original soccer influencer himself, but Buzz Kerrick. Come in, Buzz. [00:01:00] Speaker B: Peter, thanks for being here, man. I'm glad you didn't stand me up. I would have been lonely by myself. [00:01:04] Speaker A: I'm not going anywhere. Mr. All right, so we're recording this just minutes after the completion of USA1, Jamaica nil. It was one of those games, Buzz. You know what I mean by that? One of those U.S. performances. [00:01:20] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, it looked like, you know, a CONCACAF road qualifier where they've, you know, they've let the grass growth thick and slowed the game way down and the field was terrible and which, by the way, is weird to me since Jamaica's generally speaking, a very fast vertical team, historically speaking. So why they would want a slow field, I don't really know. [00:01:39] Speaker A: Andy. Andy Swift, my co host, who has been to that stadium more times than he can count, reports back to me that it is because of the rain, rain and more rain. And apparently it rained its ass off in Jamaica today. And so they. And because of how the weather is there, they ha. They can't cut it as short as you think they would. And that's why it plays like a damp sponge. Because it. Is it just me or does it look like nobody's even able to break into a full sprint? [00:02:09] Speaker B: No, I. Everybody looks slow. The ball doesn't release. Everyone looks like they're plotting like running an ankle deak deep muck, you know, which is essentially what they're doing. So it really plays havoc with the game. It's just, you know, without knowing anything about their. The context that you provided with Andy in the rain, you know, it's like, how does that not a team that at some point is put in like a turf surface and try to take advantage of the fact that like the thing they have over everybody is this verticality that they usually are so good at. [00:02:36] Speaker A: They should get the old NASL flat carpet turf. Yeah, they used to put in like soccer stadium, like arenas and stuff, and just track. Track. Meet turf. Old Astro turf. That would be awesome. But how about it? How about the good old Dallas kid? Okay, El Paso kid. The Texan Ricardo Pepe hitting a banger to open the game. [00:03:01] Speaker B: Yeah, that's classic Pepe goal, by the way. That game had Dallas FC Dallas all over it. I mean, between Testman and McKinney and the lineup and then Riches on the bench and Zendayas coming off the bench and, you know, Tanner in the line. Yeah. I mean, just so much Dallas on the field, that was. That's always so much fun. But, yeah, I mean, Ricardo Pepe does. He does, which is score goals, you know, and he doesn't do a whole lot of anything else, but he scores goals. [00:03:26] Speaker A: Man, I don't know how that ball went in the net, because I. I would have bet a thousand dollars when it was halfway there, it was going wide, and then the way it came off the post, didn't look like it was going to go back in the net either. [00:03:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, just. It must have had a little bit of shirt on it or something, you know, or just enough steam out of it. I don't know. [00:03:44] Speaker A: You know, it had a little peppy on it. [00:03:47] Speaker B: A little. Little spice. Little peppy, yeah. [00:03:50] Speaker A: Tanner had a first half nightmare. [00:03:53] Speaker B: He got better, though. He did, yeah, he got better. He was. He got more comfortable. I mean, first ever start for the national team, so you have to. I'm sure he was quaking in his boots on some level, but he got better as the game went on and started to assert himself a little bit. And so overall, I think at the end of the day, he was fine. You know, at that point, you're just wanting him to fill in for the usual person and do a decent enough job to keep himself in the mix, which I think he did. [00:04:17] Speaker A: I'm convinced coaching Jamaica is going to kill Steve McLaren. [00:04:22] Speaker B: It might. Man, he was throwing water bottles and all kinds of. [00:04:28] Speaker A: I think that's going to be the end of Steve McLaren. I'm pretty sure of it. All right. [00:04:33] Speaker B: Well, I enjoyed, by the way, that when Pepe scored, like, all the accounts lit up with trains, you know, Mos and. [00:04:39] Speaker A: God, that has got to be such a cool feeling, knowing that you started that. [00:04:43] Speaker B: I mean, it is, but it also is slightly a bummer that my greatest contribution to soccer culture is one guy's nickname. That's all I got. But at least I got that because. [00:04:53] Speaker A: I got the one thing you're. No, you're selling yourself short, Buzz. But I. I understand where you're coming from. Well, all right. So they play again. I get. Was it Monday or Tuesday? One of those. Yeah. Up in St. Louis. [00:05:04] Speaker B: So my brain's saying Monday, but I don't quote me on that. [00:05:07] Speaker A: We'll see where that, where that goes. All right, let's do some other stuff. And because FC Dallas isn't the number one running story right now, I'm gonn that to a little bit later. I want to talk about some of these other things. [00:05:18] Speaker B: Yep. [00:05:19] Speaker A: First off, congratulations to North Texas SC as they won the MLS next pro championship and did so in style up in Frisco in front of what, what did they end up saying? 7,200 people? [00:05:32] Speaker B: Yeah, 7,000 something. I don't remember the exact number, but it was the record for MLS next pro final record. So that's very cool. [00:05:40] Speaker A: How many MLS Next Pro finals have they had? Three. Has already been three seasons of MLS Next Pro. [00:05:46] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean Dallas was in USL 1 for two years I think. Right? 19 and 20 and then 21 and then. Yeah, three. Three I think. Okay. Again, I didn't look that up so. [00:05:58] Speaker A: Well, anyway, congratulations and that's great. It's. It's. I don't know if it's funny or cool that the only trophies this team has ever, this club has ever won is from their second tier. [00:06:09] Speaker B: Well, league titles. Yeah, league titles. [00:06:10] Speaker A: Yeah, league title. Yeah. [00:06:12] Speaker B: They got a cop and a shield and. [00:06:13] Speaker A: Yeah. You know what I mean? [00:06:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Well, the, the takeaway. Well, first let's talk about the game a little bit. Dallas was. Dallas Texas was a little flat and they gave up an early goal and another one in the first half and then rebounded big time in the second half. Some great credit to Michelle for his great coaching that they rebounded and found a way and they ended up winning three to two, you know, with some terrific goals. And Our photographer Daniel McCullough has a crystal shot of the behind the heel flick for the game winner. It's just a fun game, A great night up there with not too hot weather. The sun had already gotten down and we're not used to being able to be actually chilly in the stadium and all the people all rushed the field. That spurred on mostly by the academy kids who were all there that led the way. But then they had to clear the field for the celebration afterwards. And a little bit weird watching Dan and Clark down there lift that trophy. But you know the big takeaway is going to be the how ecstatic they were and how much they wanted to celebrate that thing you know, renewing probably for them, they're doubling down idea on let's, let's swing back towards the academy a little bit that we got away from. So I think it's going to reinforce that idea. [00:07:21] Speaker A: You know, I know you got asked this a lot in the aftermath of the game. How many of those kids or young men that were in that game do you think are likely to end up making appearances for the senior team next year? [00:07:35] Speaker B: Well, that depends a little bit on whether you count guys that are already under contract. You know, one of the reasons why that team is really good is because of the fact that Nico Stevez had signed, wanted sign these older players. They kicked down a fair number of FC Dallas contractor players down there. So like an played the whole season down there. Carl Sante played the bulk of it down there. Those guys are both signed to the first team. Nolan Norris when he was in town played down there. You know, Endolay played after they got, you know, some players healthy. In his case, nobody to Amasi, he played down there. Thomas Pundeca is the first team player. He played the whole season down there. So if you, they brought down Logan Farrington for the playoffs. So like if you count all those guys that's already being part of the first team, they don't really fall into the answer to this question. The real answer is Diego Garcia, who some people think might be the most talented player to ever come through this that club. I think that may be a little bit of a stretch because Ricardo Pepe is really amazing, but that just tells you where some people in the organization think his talent level is. And then after that it gets to be kind of a crapshoot. Michael Collodi was the league's keeper of the year, but we all know that he's not. Six foot is a generous measurement on him and that's his hurdle to get over. You have a couple of center backs that are all interesting out of college, but all have one weakness or another. You have Pedrinho, who was their leading scorer and assister all year, but then had an atrocious west final and an atrocious cup final, except that he got the game winner. And that's kind of the story with him is that he can be really inconsistent and drift in and out and yet have these magical moments where he's a really talented player. So and the short answer I think is probably just one Diego Garcia, but there's a couple other guys that are interesting and sometimes this club makes decisions I don't 100% always see coming or agree with these days. So you know, you could probably. I think I listed on my end of season predictions five guys that were possible in terms of signing, but the one I think is most by far most likely is Diego Garcia, who's the 18 year old Central midfielder and their best player. [00:09:41] Speaker A: Yeah, and I think it's important that people if for those who don't watch North Texas or much MLS next pro, there is a significant gap between it and the MLS level. It's not like the difference. I mean there's a gap between the championship and the Premier League and there is. It is just really important to recognize that it's not an easy transition from none of the others. So a kid that dominates an MLS next pro isn't necessarily going to end up being a good player even in mls. It's just that's how big of a gap it is. [00:10:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Matter of fact, like if you're not the best player at that team and dominating the whole season, you could probably forget about getting a contract because you can even look at a guy like Tar Scott, who was their co leading scorer all year, who is a homegrown and has been with FC Dallas a fair bit. He can't get a sniff of a game at SE Dallas. You know, it's just, it is a big leap. It's why we see guys that get these homegrown deals over the last five or six years. We see them get loans to USL Championship sides and it doesn't matter how good you are, FC Dallas likes to do those. I mean Jesus Ferreira did one of those loans. Brandon Sarvania did one of those loans. You know, lots of guys that have come through the club have taken an intermediate step to a USL Championship side. And so these guys that are homegrowns that are or guys that might be signed at 18 that are dominating that level, or even guys under contract like Nsali played the whole season down there and he's really hit or miss. Like what are you going to bring him up and just have him sit at FC Dallas next year and do zero games because he can't get off the bench? Maybe, maybe there's something intermediate for him. Because you're correct, Peter, it is a huge step. You just don't see guys leap across and go from 100% for North Texas to 100% playing every game for FC Dallas. It just doesn't happen. [00:11:33] Speaker A: Right. Yeah. And. And I just think a lot of people sometimes don't necessarily understand how big of a leap it is between the two. I Mean, the leap between USL Championship and MLS is pretty sizable, but this is a whole next level thing. [00:11:49] Speaker B: So yeah, think about how rare it is that we see a USL Championship guy jump up and become a big time player for any MLS team. It's not impossible, right? Certainly Sebastian Ibiaga is a guy that was a lock starter for USL Championship teams and then was mostly a backup when he came to MLS until he came to FC Dallas. So it is a huge leap. And there's another league at that level, USL 1 that North Texas used to play and that was a smaller gap because it has players that are playing up into their 30s, whereas pretty much blanket MLS Next Pro. Every team in MLS treats that as a U23 team or worse or U20 team or almost even half academy. So the leap can be huge and maybe there's more benefit to be had if they actually, you know, could play. Like I think it was a better benefit for North Texas to play in the old league because of that. Right. I think they don't get enough development and one of the reasons why they steamrolled the league this year was because they brought down all these first team players and played them there full time. And so they had a bunch of experience and a bunch of older guys and they just wrecked that league. [00:12:52] Speaker A: Well, congratulations. It's a cool deal to always. It's fun to win, isn't it Buzz? [00:12:57] Speaker B: Oh yeah. [00:12:58] Speaker A: How was the crowd? [00:13:00] Speaker B: Great. You know, I mean when you put 7,000 people in there and you limit it to one side of the stadium, I don't even mean like half, I mean like one quarter of the stadium basically. You know, that side was about 75 full and they were, everyone was into it, they were cheering, they were having. And when you get a comeback that it really enlivens the crowd. And it was a lot of fun. Yeah, I mean it was a legit 7,000. I don't have any complaints about that number. That really was pretty much what it was. So it's exciting. [00:13:27] Speaker A: Well, very good. Congratulations to the club on winning a trophy. Good stuff. Related. We talked about uslc, the championship, which is second tier. And there is. This is good timing to talk about this because I think it's Tuesday next week, the official press conference of the announcement that a USLC team will be launched in Garland in 2027 is coming. And I, you know, I think this is really interesting because I, when I heard this and you were, you and I have been talking about it and we've been hearing this noise for a while. I Stopped and I started making a list of all the professional soccer teams now in the North Texas area. And it's like there's like seven act or. Well, there's seven official, either active or soon to be active clubs and at least two other, you know, in theory, projects that may be out there. Yeah, and it's crazy to me how we've gone. It feels like we've gone from one to a hundred in the span of just a couple of years. [00:14:36] Speaker B: Yeah, since, I mean, you could say since MLS started, but it's not even that, it's less than that. It's like inside the last six or seven years, you know, Van around a little longer than that. And Denton maybe is getting close to that, if not a little bit longer. But there's another team coming at that level and we've seen other clubs come and go at that level already. There's two indoor teams that seem to be chugging along at a fairly consistent rate of fielding a team. A lot of the same players can cross over between those two groups. But then we saw Dallas Trinity come in and now we're seeing a USL1 team which is the same tier as North Texas, that's going to come to Texoma. Not, not super close, but I count that as part of the DFW area. And now we're going to have this USL championship team in Garland. And you and I both know of at least two other USL pipe dreams or projects, however you want to call them, one of which is Donnie Nelson's holding of the Austin bold rights that are still out there in some level of oblivion or not. You know, I mean, we are. I already was beginning to wonder if there was not enough soccer talent to fill all these teams just in the broader United States, let alone like in Dallas, where there's now going to be, you know, a second tier team like smack in the backyard of SC Dallas. It's crazy. [00:15:54] Speaker A: It is. It is really nuts to think how this has all played out. And it does beg the question is, you know, it's a pressure test of how much this region is interested in soccer and whether or not non major league, and I don't mean MLS specifically, but lower division soccer is something this marketplace can support. And as they all begin to collide into each other for the entertainment dollar, is there really an appetite? And I, I gotta be honest, I don't know if there, if, if there. [00:16:26] Speaker B: Is, yeah, it's a lot. You know, those, those small NPSL teams are really going to have to try and, and even you can Include the indoor teams in the same sort of broad category of where they are in terms of, in my perspective, financially speaking, you know, those clubs are really gonna have to focus on sort of a local, you know, minor league, semi pro kind of vibe and really get in bed with their small communities if they're gonna make waves. That's something that those teams that are done successfully do. And Hitch has got a few of those around the country, Michael Hitchcock does, and he's involved in most of these. But it'll be a really interesting question. It might actually benefit them in a way if MLS does flip the counter because then they'll be playing in the summer when no one else is playing, which will be somewhat more interesting. But that's a big long term question. You know, if we end up with, you know, above those local teams, if you end up with an MLS team, a USL team, a women's technically first division team, and then another third division team all sort of in the area vying for your soccer attention, you might wear the audience out really quick. I mean, it's going to be a harsh climate of survival for all these teams with this much competition, to be honest. [00:17:39] Speaker A: What do you think about the location? [00:17:42] Speaker B: You know, I'm not, I'm not particularly all that familiar with that specific sort of area of town that it seems the team's going to be. [00:17:50] Speaker A: It's fire wheel, essentially is where, where it appears to be. [00:17:53] Speaker B: Right. [00:17:54] Speaker A: And, and, and, and because I know this question is getting asked a lot. If they're not going to play in a high school stadium, they're building a stadium with the city of Garland. [00:18:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't, I don't know that that's been officially confirmed, but that's the rumor that they're doing something with Garland. And certainly like at the press conference, in addition to the owners of the team, you're going to have the mayor and you're going to have a bunch of city council people. And we all know that this, these things don't work without revenue control. And so the proper stadium situation, and more than likely your own SIM situation is absolutely crucial to this working at all. If you can't, if you can't control those flows, you're not going to survive. And you can look at the other MLS teams, sorry, not MLS teams, excuse me, USL teams that are folding or moving, and it's almost always because of their stadium situation, like Memphis, just transfer their franchise to. Is it Santa Barbara? Is that who it is? Because they couldn't get revenue control of a venue in Memphis North Northern Colorado hailstorm is going under because they are playing in a minor league park and I think didn't have. Weren't the primary tenants of as well. So it's like, you know, that's. And that's what happened in with Donnie Nelson's thing. You know, he was involved with that. That thing that was going down in Keller that fell apart when that guy that was trumpeting that thing lost politically. And so he's adrift attempting to find anything. And you can look at the way the Vaqueros have drifted from stadium to stadium to stadium over there in Fort Worth, trying to find the proper, you know, revenue set up for them. You have to wonder with the. I'm not deeply cognizant of Fort Worth politics, but I believe something is finally happening with the old Cats baseball stadium. And so maybe west side of town that's an opportunity. You can look at the way North Texas is and FC Dallas are apparently getting involved with that thing down in Mansfield to get themselves better revenue control for North Texas. So you know what matters. And so you look at Dallas, Trinity now in the Cotton bowl already apparently, you know, searching around for options. They've got to, they've got to. Except that they really want to be Dallas and I don't know if they'll think Garland will swing for them, but it's gonna be fascinating. [00:20:06] Speaker A: Yeah. There are two observations. One from the list that I put out on Twitter yesterday, all the local professional teams, the one thing that stuck out to me as I finished writing it was all of these teams and there isn't a single one of them that is a men's side playing in Dallas proper, which is 100% a stadium issue. That's really all that is. The second observation and doing some research is that people are like, really? Garland? Why would you put it there? Who. Who lives in Garland? I just want to break this down for everybody. The area in which we believe, I believe, based on what I'm hearing in the wind of where they're going to build this stadium, it has the same population in a 10 mile radius of Portland where Kansas City Stadium is and Salt Lake. Yeah, it has the same crazy. This is going to blow people away. It actually has the same population rate. It has a greater population radius within 20 miles than Frisco. [00:21:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:15] Speaker A: Toyota Stadium. [00:21:16] Speaker B: Yes. [00:21:16] Speaker A: Toyota Stadium's total population within 20 miles of the stadium is 2.4. Within where? I believe somewhere approximately. They're going to put the stadium in Garland. It's 3.2 million people. [00:21:27] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:21:29] Speaker A: So, you know, again, it's not. The location is are people going to care about a lower second division soccer league? And that's the part I can't. I can't. And I that. And I guess it's all going to be about connecting to the culture and the. And being very specific and marketing to that specific 10, 10, 20 mile radius from around that stadium and just focusing on Garland, Saxy Murphy, that lower part of Plano and very, very kind of northeast Dallas. [00:21:58] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And listen, we know there's no. The reason there's no stadium in Dallas is because Dallas hasn't wanted to pony anthropy Defc. Dallas is where it is because first they were trying to deal with McKinney and that fell through and then, then Frisco wanted to pony up the money. Same with now Garland pony up the money. Mansfield pony up the money down there. It's all about that. If you can't get a city that's a partner, it's not going to work. Which is why there's not a team in Dallas. You know, it'll be interesting to see with this whole new. The current vibe in Dallas of them trying to be like the sports thing and trying to bring teams back to Dallas if eventually they don't try and get one of these teams and maybe the Dallas Trinity is their best play at this point. [00:22:37] Speaker A: But where would you put a stadium, though? That's the problem is I can't. I mean. Well, you know, the places open for stadiums are the things that I think is going to be the most controversial. Which is south of downtown. [00:22:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:48] Speaker A: Or out in Oak Cliff somewhere. You know, they're just. There isn't a feasible area north of 30 that makes sense. That would be considered Dallas proper. And I just. And I think that's something everybody just is going to have to, you know, deal. [00:23:06] Speaker B: Well, I could think of like. Like right across the river where like Trinity Groves. Trinity Groves is. There's a little gentrification happening there. That's where the Rangers put their. Their development club ballpark thing that they got going on there. So, you know, there's certainly probably some availability or they're in there and maybe even some money from whoever. Government entities that are into revitalization perhaps. I mean, what do I know? I mean, I'm not a Dallas civics guy, but that's the only place I could think of that fits the description at all. Now that like most of the areas around downtown Dallas even are all built out, you know, places where there used to be a Little space here or there are now all full of stuff, you know. [00:23:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, if they can't figure out what to ever do with the old Valley View Mall location, maybe that'd be a kick ass place for a little. Little, Little soccer specific facility. So we'll know more about that. I think the. What is it on the 19th? The. Yeah, so we'll know more about it. We'll talk about it more on the next episode of this well, well thought of podcast. Trinity won on the road last week, so they're doing their thing. [00:24:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Good win for them. They played Lexington SC 132 on the road, you know, with a. [00:24:26] Speaker A: Didn't they come back? [00:24:27] Speaker B: They did. They came back to win. They came down. Came back down. Two goals and they scored three goals in 10 minutes. That's right. [00:24:32] Speaker A: It was the same night as the North Texas comeback to win the championships. It was a good night for Dallas at Fort Worth. [00:24:38] Speaker B: Happy birthday for me? [00:24:39] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. It was your birthday. Buzz, I'm so sorry I didn't say anything about your birthday. [00:24:44] Speaker B: I know what kind of sad, what. [00:24:46] Speaker A: A kind of crummy podcast host am I that I didn't mention your birthday. Buzz, how old are you now? [00:24:52] Speaker B: 54. [00:24:53] Speaker A: All right. Yeah, that's a good age. [00:24:55] Speaker B: I'm old. [00:24:57] Speaker A: All right. [00:24:57] Speaker B: I'm a downhill slope. But anyway, they came back three goals in 10 minutes. They're the most dangerous team in the league in terms of goal scoring. If they can get their defense shut up a little bit, they're going to be one of the favorites, I think. [00:25:06] Speaker A: Did you get your colonoscopy yet? [00:25:10] Speaker B: Not this year, no. [00:25:11] Speaker A: Okay, well, you should hurry up. Don't wait on that. Yeah, it was a fun night and I didn't see the game, but it's good to know that they're. What are they in third place now? [00:25:23] Speaker B: Oh, goodness. Put me on the spot. Let's see. They are in third place. Look at you knowing your stuff. [00:25:31] Speaker A: I am. Hey, man on 16 points. I host an internationally famous soccer radio show. You know, I should know these things. [00:25:38] Speaker B: That's. You do. [00:25:40] Speaker A: I guessed. All right, very good. Well, congratulations to Trinity and hopefully I'll make it out to a game here in the next. [00:25:48] Speaker B: Oh, you should for sure. [00:25:50] Speaker A: I want to. It just hasn't happened yet. You know what I want to do? I want. Because there's a dart train stop. [00:25:56] Speaker B: Not. [00:25:56] Speaker A: I mean, not literally almost walking distance from my house. I think that's if I'm. When I go to a game, I think I'm going To try to do the dart thing and just see how that works. [00:26:06] Speaker B: You should. I think Dan's near that line too. He'd probably do it with you. [00:26:09] Speaker A: He'd meet me there at my stop. [00:26:11] Speaker B: There you go. [00:26:12] Speaker A: All right, well, let's get into all things football club, Dallas. By the time people are listening to this, It'll be Friday, November 15th. And I guess the big question is. Buzz. Yeah, Buzz. When are they going to announce this coaching thing? [00:26:33] Speaker B: Man, that is a good question. The last game was back on October 19th. [00:26:40] Speaker A: It feels like forever ago. [00:26:43] Speaker B: Yeah, October 19th. And yeah, that's. You know, we're almost a month from that. So that leads me to two conclusions. [00:26:53] Speaker A: Nobody wants the job. [00:26:54] Speaker B: Yeah. That it's, It's. You would have thought that if it was Peter Lakson that it would have happened by now. So either it's not him or it was him. And something has complicated things potentially. The other candidate that we think we know of is Eric Quill, but we don't have that 100%. We just think he is. He's been. His team's been eliminated from the playoffs as of this last weekend, so maybe he's now free to get it over the line. And that is a timeframe that fits. But also, Jim Kirin was let go by Philly, and you have to wonder if they didn't maybe pause the process for 10 minutes, just at least call and ask. I mean, they can. I don't think they can get him because I think that Atlanta or St. Louis is going to get him. But if they actually did at least call him, then full credit for at least trying. Even though if I think they can't get him. But I think it's. [00:27:50] Speaker A: Have we gotten any insight into who this mysterious third candidate they mentioned in the press conference is? [00:27:56] Speaker B: No. I mean, you and I heard of one or two names of people that were sort of outside the organization a little bit. [00:28:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I have. Yeah. The follow up on that. And I. I can't say who the candidate was other than that it is a person of multiple MLS club head coaching experience. That is, he's no longer in. He's no longer in the running or may. Had never actually been in the running. It was. Yeah. So there you go. [00:28:23] Speaker B: Yeah. We've talked to death what the kind of candidates that come to this job. And so I would assume that the third person is, you know, going to fit some of those criteria. But, you know, having, again, having it taken this long, you know, the third reason it might have taken this long is that that person is still busy, you know, is it an assistant for a team that's still playing? [00:28:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:47] Speaker B: You know, whether it be or a head coach for a team is still playing, you're probably not going to get an MLS guy to make that leap, but you might get a USL guy to make that leap. [00:28:56] Speaker A: Can I, can I speculate? [00:28:57] Speaker B: Yeah, please do. Is what we do in podcasts, my. [00:29:00] Speaker A: Speculation is, is that it's between Quill and Luxain and they were waiting for Quill to get eliminated and available enough to like actually have a conversation about that, you know, and so that's what's happening now is that they've just begun the official Eric Quill interviews and once they feel like they've completed that, then they'll make their decision between him and Peter. [00:29:24] Speaker B: When you, when you include the fact that in the season, any press conference which was a couple of days after they lost a month ago, they said quite clearly then we have three candidates. You know, they had talked to people enough via whatever process, whether it be resumes or emails or zoom calls, that they were down to three and they were going to put those three in front of Dan or Clark. And now it's a month later. Surely you would have picked your one. Well, even if it was Quill, surely you would have known that and either have gotten permission from their team to talk to him or had that plane ticket ready to go the minute he got eliminated, one or the other. So, you know, I can't help but think because of the timeframe delay, I can't help but think that it's. That the candidate that they're going with is going to be not Laksan because he would, they would have just done it. That it's going to be somebody Quill or someone else that was working, you know, or maybe even Curtain coming in at the last minute that they might have said, oh crap, stop down. Let's double check. Let's at least see if we can get an interview. You know, I mean, I, I have to think they tried, man. I mean, if they just blew that off completely and didn't even try, what would that say about them? You know, they're realist. Maybe so maybe, maybe they just were jaded and. No, there's no way. [00:30:40] Speaker A: They don't want to pay the, they don't want to pay the long distance phone charge to make the call. [00:30:46] Speaker B: They're not that cheap. They're not that cheap. But surely they would see the same things we did about how y Curtain would be ideal here, you know, just Like Eric would be. You know, they have qualities that make a good fit for this organization. The only thing he would be missing would be the connection to them. [00:31:01] Speaker A: Okay. [00:31:02] Speaker B: You know, Kurt doesn't have. [00:31:03] Speaker A: All right, so Buzz, you have. It's a magical world. And you have been awarded the opportunity to announce and name and decide who the next manager of Dallas is. But it has to be between these three people. Peter Luxane, Eric, you're not giving me. [00:31:21] Speaker B: The answer to that. [00:31:22] Speaker A: And Jim Curtin. [00:31:23] Speaker B: I'm not doing that. [00:31:24] Speaker A: Why? [00:31:26] Speaker B: Because there's there all people that I'm going to have to work with and have conversations with. [00:31:34] Speaker A: Okay, so you're. You're afraid if you say one over the other, somebody may get offended by that? [00:31:40] Speaker B: Yeah, possibly. [00:31:41] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:31:43] Speaker B: You think that's a cop out? [00:31:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I get where you're coming from. It is a cop out because I think you can argue. I. Look, if you run an MLS team and Jim Curtin is available and interested in managing your club, even if. And I. And Eric Quill is a qualified candidate, I don't think in any real world you pick Eric Quill over Jim Curtin. And I think Eric Quill is a big enough boy to understand why you would say that. [00:32:11] Speaker B: I'm really tempted to pick Eric, actually. [00:32:15] Speaker A: Really? [00:32:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Because Jim Curtin hasn't won anything. [00:32:20] Speaker A: Okay. [00:32:21] Speaker B: And Quill has won every time, basically up until this New Mexico job when he got them from nothing to first place in like a season and a half. You shouldn't want it yet. [00:32:31] Speaker A: Well, that is a hot sports opinion. [00:32:33] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know. It's close, Eric. It's close. [00:32:35] Speaker A: Jim Curtin's resume is pretty damn impressive considering the. The budgetary constraints he. He's been making. Oscar Perea is impressed with the level of lemonade Jim Curtin's made out of that Lemon roster. [00:32:49] Speaker B: Yeah. I think they're ridiculous for firing him. I think they're crazy. Yeah, listen, I mean it's. It's razor thin. And if we were to talk about it for the next four hours, I probably would go back and forth like eight times. [00:33:00] Speaker A: Okay. [00:33:00] Speaker B: You know which one I would pick? I think they're both would be out. Both Eric and. And curtain would both be outstanding. I like both of them better than lan just because of the first team coaching experience and the only. You know, like, I like a lot of the things about Peter Luan, but the. Some of the decisions he made when he had the interim gig, I didn't quite like. A couple of them made me kind of go. [00:33:26] Speaker A: Well, they felt like decisions of a guy who hadn't been doing this very much. [00:33:30] Speaker B: Yeah. No, I think if they pick him, I think he'll be fine. I. He's definitely. That's fine. It's not like a. Oh, crap, that's a terrible idea. And so that's fine. It's. He's. He's much more qualified than Lucci. When Lucha got the job, for example. So, you know, like, my first two would be Quill and curtain. And I would be ecstatic by either one of those guys, because you're right. I think I'm. Listen, I had Jim Curtin on my short list to be a U.S. men's National Team coach. That's how highly I think of Jim Curtin. You know, I just think really, really highly. Quill, too. So it's a tough call. [00:34:01] Speaker A: All right, well, we'll all sit around here twiddling our thumbs. [00:34:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:06] Speaker A: And I mean, if. [00:34:07] Speaker B: If you're going to be FC Dallas and you're going to be cutthroat, do you announce your coach on the 19th, Tuesday? [00:34:12] Speaker A: No, because I don't think they know. I honestly don't think they know yet. I think they're. I think they're still trying to make sure they feel like they've done their due diligence with Eric. And Eric just got booted, what, four days, three days ago. [00:34:25] Speaker B: Yeah. You think he'll be able to get it mi. Thanksgiving? [00:34:28] Speaker A: I think they'll announce it before Thanksgiving, yes. Especially because Thanksgiving so late this month. [00:34:33] Speaker B: Monday or Tuesday, 25th, 26th, something like that. [00:34:38] Speaker A: Yeah. I would be shocked if they let it get into Thanksgiving week. But if it does, that tells me that. I would say this. If it goes past Thanksgiving into December, which seems improbable, that tells me that they're actually working on a real list of people. Like, maybe it went from three to more people or somebody else that they are having to like, how are we going to pay for this kind of thing? [00:35:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Or all three said no. [00:35:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Or all three said, no way, Jose. [00:35:07] Speaker B: You might. You might offer somebody a job, and then they change their mind because they got more money to stay, or they just realized that it wasn't right at the end. [00:35:15] Speaker A: Or they were like, wait a second. What do you mean the stadium's half under construction for the next two years? [00:35:19] Speaker B: I mean, I'm sure we all either have ourselves or know people that have applied for a job. Not 100% sure they wanted the job and said, I'll worry about it if I get It, Yeah. Okay, now let me. Give me a week to go talk to my wife and see if this is actually right. [00:35:32] Speaker A: You know, it's kind of, it's funny. And I think I was the one that said this back at the time after they fired Estevez, I said, watch. Dallas is going to fart around and take too long and somebody else is going to go nab Eric Quill. [00:35:47] Speaker B: Look how fast Austin moved. Yeah, I mean, picking Nico, I mean, like, there's no reason why, like, if they didn't have their coach ready to go, it would have been done. Like, the fact that it doesn't is like, as you say, points at Eric or frankly, Curtin, you know, coming available the last second. [00:36:04] Speaker A: Buzz, right? Buzz. [00:36:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:06] Speaker A: There is zero chance Jim Curtin is coming to Dallas. [00:36:09] Speaker B: You say zero, I say more than zero. [00:36:15] Speaker A: All right. Also this week we did finally get the list of options denied or declined and picked up. And loan endings. In terms of the roster, I don't think there were any real big surprises. Here are the ones that were declined. Eugene Ansa. Don't let the door kick hit you on the ass on the way out. Liam Frazier, Omar Gonzalez, Malik Henry Scott, Courtia, Isaiah Parker, Dante Seeley, and Emma Tuamase. [00:36:46] Speaker B: Yeah, none of those are surprise. I would have given Malik Henry Scott one more year because he only had one year as a homegrown before they dumped him. He's a college aged kid, so that's, you know, tough life in usl, next mls, next pro, if you don't make some strides right away. But. And my guy Parker, of course I feel bad about that. [00:37:06] Speaker A: But the other part of that list of declined options that sticks out to me is that for a team that is really, really light on center backs, two of the people they let go. [00:37:16] Speaker B: Are center packs, which I tell you something. [00:37:18] Speaker A: Yes, it does tell me something. So option, go ahead. [00:37:21] Speaker B: Keep in mind just for a second that that's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 players we just talked about them declining. I'm going to bring that back up in a second. Go ahead. [00:37:29] Speaker A: Okay. Put a pin in that. [00:37:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:31] Speaker A: Dear curious listener picked up options are Antonio Carrera, Herbie and delay, Logan Farrington, Sebastian Ibiaga, Sam Junkwa, Zeke and Sibling and Nicosi Tafari. [00:37:48] Speaker B: Yeah, those are all. We're all obvious. You know, I, I'd like to see it be brought back on a, on a lower number, but I understand why you don't want to risk letting him bolt. Because, like, to them, not me to them, he's their number. One center back. So you know, pick up the option and now maybe try from my perspective maybe try and renegotiate it and do something like okay, you're going to have this one season at I think it's like 700 something he's going to be on. If his escalation follows the order it has in the past. You say like okay we'll give you two seasons at like 450 for your one at seven something. So you're going to make more over two years. Like that's the kind of way you can negotiate and bring it down. [00:38:28] Speaker A: Well, I was curious about IB's place in terms of how much he gets paid in comparable center back performances in the league and I couldn't figure out what the best stat to pull a top 10 list was for so I just picked clearances. [00:38:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:45] Speaker A: And in the top 10 IBI is seventh in clearances. And if you look at the players that are from 1 to 10 around him he is essentially smack dab just below halfway in terms of compensation. Last year he was 683. Romney for New England was just above him on 721 and Andre for Seattle was just below him at 8 32. Did you know that Colorado's Maxo is getting paid $1.3 million? [00:39:17] Speaker B: I did not. [00:39:18] Speaker A: Isn't that nuts? And then that the Michael guy down in Houston, he's only getting 150. He's a young dude so. [00:39:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:27] Speaker A: But my point being is is that no matter how you feel about Ibiaga, good or bad, the amount of money he's getting paid is pretty much commiserate with other, other players of his. [00:39:37] Speaker B: No, no, he, he clearly makes the number that is in a line with how the club views him as their number one center back. His number is not allowed out of line for that. My only thing is that he's now he's 32 and he's going to be you know, getting longer in the tooth now. He does take care of himself and he is pretty fit. He hasn't had a lot of injury problems. You know for me sometimes the decision making some, not like particularly passing out of the back a lot of clearances means a lot of just booting it and not like actually good passing out of the back. For a team that wants to pass out of the back they're not, they have a terrible players for passing out of the back. So that's, that's obviously a problem very clearly. The club believes despite they picked up Ibiaga and Junka and Nkosi they said flat out they want to get better in the back. So short of also going out and getting a center back, which we 100% believe they're going to because they tried to the last window, you know, something else may give here in terms of these players. You know, just bringing in one center back isn't going to make the whole defense better automatically. So we may not be seeing the end of things to happen, perhaps defensively. [00:40:46] Speaker A: Speaking, and players whose deals were ending, but Dallas is still negotiating with them. Delgado, Jimmy Mauer and Ruan NER Mindy as well. Oh, nmr. Yeah, alarm. Sorry. [00:41:00] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a slight difference in the sense that like they have to negotiate with Delgado's other club, you know, either a new loan or the buy. I'm assuming the buy is probably too high and they don't want to do that is my guess why they wouldn't just pull the trigger. And then of course Mauer, Ruan and Mindy are easy in terms of straight negotiation. Except that Amour and Ruan are free agents, whereas they. Because, yeah, I mean he's only been here for a year and a half, the club retains his MLS rights, but he would be free worldwide. He could go somewhere in the league. The real surprise in all of that is Ruan that they're negotiating with Ruan because they picked up Endele, who's a right back and they have Giovanni Jesus, who's a right back. So the fact that they're negotiating with Ron is curious because we talked about like he's on his last big deal if here, right? [00:41:54] Speaker A: Yeah, but isn't there something in the win that Giovanni Jesus isn't doing very well? [00:42:00] Speaker B: That's the thing. Like they've admitted that he had some sort of, I don't know what the word not relapse or setback is. The term setback, setbacks, the term. They have not clarified what that is. Now we had heard through the grapevine that there was something involving scar tissue, but maybe that's not correct. Maybe, maybe there was something more serious and we don't know this definitively. This club will not talk about injuries at all. Part of that tip up, part of it is that I also don't want to put it out there, but the fact that like for a dude that probably wants like center back kind of money, who's looking at the last big contract of his career, probably for them to be talking to him when they have a U22 initiative guide right back and a dev piece at right back makes me, oh, worried about GM Zeus, to be frank, I'm now in full blown panic mode actually about that position and that player because I don't know why you would probably bring Ron back if that wasn't the case. Right. If you didn't think, oh, you know, because that's a, that's a, Otherwise you don't need him. [00:43:07] Speaker A: Yeah. The only thing about one that freaks me out is I, I, is he notable, is he noted as somebody that can play as a full on fullback? Isn't he more of a wing back player? [00:43:20] Speaker B: Yeah, he's more of a wing back. I mean you can use him as a right back. He's a very, you know, Herbert Indel is the same way. They both qualify as very offensive right backs now under Nico Estevas. Of course, nobody wanted that, but if we don't know what the new coach is going to want, he might want a really offensive outside back. You know, they both fall into like a, well, I'm not going to say Reggie Cannon because he's a better defender than that, but they're both more fit, like your Brian Reynolds style vertical running, you know, get into the other team's box kind of thing, which was what makes them good wingbacks. So, you know, we don't even, we can't even talk about what system the team's going to play because the front office passes the buck on that completely. And so we won't have any idea about system. And they're signing players without having an idea about system. [00:44:06] Speaker A: Right? [00:44:07] Speaker B: Without. Until the coach is hired. Yeah, I know, I know. [00:44:12] Speaker A: All right, well, the reason why Buzz asked you to put a pin in that list of players who were all declined was because it was, there was a lot of names in that list. And then today, I suspect the reason why you wanted everybody to keep that in the back of your mind is because of the article you posted today [email protected] yeah, yeah. [00:44:31] Speaker B: I have this roster model which by. [00:44:33] Speaker A: The way, I just want to say it's incredibly a bummer of an article if you really stop and read it. [00:44:39] Speaker B: Yeah, it could be. Yeah. So I have this model that I've used for quite a few years now that breaks the roster down into positional components. You know, goob in the current front office's desire for flexibility. It's not as hard coded as it used to be, but this, this model has worked every single year in terms of like positional needs and the kind of players they go and get. And right now if you, if you plug in every player under contract and then the four they're negotiating with, which is ir, Mendy, Ruan, Mauer and Delgado that they all said they're talking to. Right. You plug in all those guys, you plug in a new center back that they've talked about, then the only thing you have left is a depth center back, maybe Diego Garcia, who will be your 31st player, and then any extra homegrown you sign. So effectively their roster is done for the year. Like the 2025 roster is effectively fixed. Other than this. We're going to go get a center back. We need a deaf piece center back and then maybe Diego Garcia is an extra player and that's it. [00:45:49] Speaker A: Yeah, it, it is bummer. It is a massive bummer to realize that the 2025 roster, in a best case scenario, unless they just start shipping people out a whole, you know, in crates, there is essentially three spots for them to fill. [00:46:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And that's, you know, there, there are some looming questions. Paxton's health. Right. Can you actually deliver a center back like you've talked about, you know, and let alone like, how does your first round draft pick fit into this? I wasn't even. Unless that guy's a center back, it doesn't fit into my, my, the model because I'm already at 32 players for next year. [00:46:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:46:30] Speaker B: So like, the point is, is like you're basically getting the, the team that ended last season is the team you're getting in 2025, is what I'm saying. Unless they start to ship out players that are currently under contract, they're gonna have to start trading people or selling people or you're getting effectively the exact same team minus a center back. So the change, if they're, if the change is coming, unless they somehow get super aggressive and ruthless, you're looking at a very slow change. You're looking at a very small change from last year. [00:47:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And you can, and you can totally see how the front office, since they talked themselves into thinking this was a totally doable roster to begin at 24, they go, well, we're not going to be that unlucky this upcoming season. There's no way that happens to us two seasons in a row. And they just stick with it and run with it with a. Yeah. With some addition. Because what they'll say to themselves is, oh, we've fixed the defense, we've got it, we've signed a couple of center backs and you know, Pax is back and he looks healthy and we resigned Alara Mendy and he's the best. And yeah, you know, I, I could see them doing that. I, I mean, I think this roster needs a significant overhaul no matter who the new manager is, but there's just no way that's going to happen. [00:47:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, if you bring back Ruan again, you're. You're carrying an extra too many right backs again. You know, you're going to have Jimmy Mao as your third keeper. That's fine. You know, you bring back Delgado at a position, you already have like eight players on your team that are super versatile, that can play, all play in there, plus Diego Garcia, who we all think is a fantastic player coming up from North Texas, potentially. Delgado might take all his opportunities away. You know, you've already got a couple of homegrowns that are extra, you know, and you might have one or two more for all we know coming. So it's just, it's like they're not leaving themselves any flexibility unless they go create it. And, like, we're not seeing any signs that that's happening. [00:48:22] Speaker A: Yeah, and I think that's, I think you brought up a really good point. That is frustrating because if you think about die Garcia and Buzz, I'm just going to run with your belief that he does have the. He has a shot at being a really legitimate MLS player. [00:48:37] Speaker B: I do. [00:48:37] Speaker A: The problem is just what you said. He. He is impeded by Patrick and Delgado. [00:48:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:44] Speaker A: And. [00:48:45] Speaker B: And Thomas Pondeka and maybe I see Yarmindi and maybe Paxton and maybe Legit. [00:48:50] Speaker A: Yeah, but. Okay, but legit. Alara, Mendy, Paxton, all those pieces fit in there. But the pandemic and the, and specifically the Delgado, a kid they went to South America and got right and brought up here because it was more of a business decision, because they felt like they can convert him into, I'm assuming into a sale and make some money off of him, versus realizing they've got a homegrown talent that costs them next to nothing, that they could, you know, push into the next level and grow him and convert him into a sale at some point and actually probably make more money from him because you didn't spend any money on him, you know. [00:49:27] Speaker B: Exactly, Exactly. Yeah. It's. You're, you're. If you're bringing, if you're bringing back these mid eight. I mean, Delgado is pretty young. He is only 20, 21, I'll give him that. But, you know, you're eating up these big chunks of your depth with these older players and you're preventing the thing that has made you money. Like, look at the national team game. We just Watched full of all these players that came through here and they sold for profit, which is their biggest thing. Right. There's a big operating model. You have to, you have to clear that system. You have to let that system work. And if you're going to block it with all these players you've got, you know, you're not going to give yourself the youth opportunity, let alone like actual like improving of other positions. You know, like if you, like, if you bring back Yarny, you then limit yourself the ability to maybe go out and get a big time central midfielder, you know, because he's going to take that spot. Yeah. It's just the flexibility. The thing that they like this flexibility in this roster and having these old guys that are all theoretically probably in the prime or the late stages of their career is just, they're locked into all these guys for another season. You know, it's not until a year later from now that again, they'll have a whole bunch of contracts coming up and then they'll have more chances to be flexible. So like if you're doing like a three year cycle and you're a coach coming in here, you know, it maybe this is part of what's holding the process up is they come into an interview and they go, here's the 32 players we have for you already lined up, ready to go. And any coaches coming in like, wait a minute, I don't get the first season. I don't get a chance to change the team at all. You guys are handing me 32 players already and I have to win with this and I can't build a team like the way I want to play. Maybe somebody was like, forget that. [00:51:05] Speaker A: Yeah, you said alarm Mendy and that made me think of something because I've always been under the impression that alarm end. His arrival in Dallas was largely tied not to Zenata, but to Estevez. [00:51:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:51:18] Speaker A: And because he's out of contract yet, Dallas holds his MLS rights. Do you think there's any chance that there are conversations between Dallas and Austin for him? [00:51:27] Speaker B: Oh, sure, I would. [00:51:29] Speaker A: Well, let me finish the question. If in fact there are, what do you think Dallas should get in return from Austin, if in fact Austin wants to trade for him or buy him or acquire his rights? [00:51:41] Speaker B: I, I would imagine that it's going to have to be like Tam and Gam like this because like getting a draft pick really doesn't do anything for you when you've already got academy kids coming through, getting, getting like their, their roster is a bit depleted. I don't know that they have a piece that you're going to get for Yardmini's rights. This because it's not his whole contract, it's just his rights. [00:52:01] Speaker A: Right. [00:52:01] Speaker B: So it's like you're probably looking at, well, a draft pick goes for like 50k gam for a lower one. So it'll probably be more like a 2,250k GAM. That's probably about all you're going to get. But I would also say that like, you can look at all the guys that Nico Estevez liked and wanted to bring here and consider that some of them might be guys that he might call about him. He might be interested in Areola or legit or Farrington was one of his big finds out of college. I'm not saying you do these guys. I'm just saying that like some of them have different values prices than others. Like your mind, these rights would be a very low one. But maybe some of these other guys might be one that they would like. Remember, he in the front office paid 2 million in game to get Paul in the first place. So I mean, if he really still loves Paul, maybe there's a way that they actually might give you something for him. Just as one hypothetical example. And so it's really weird that, you know, your former coach who was instrumental in building this roster as it is now, is now at a rival team and might want some of those same pieces. Perhaps. [00:53:02] Speaker A: Interesting. Well, Buzz, I don't know, man. It's a weird time. [00:53:07] Speaker B: It is. [00:53:07] Speaker A: There's nothing and everything going. Going on at the same time. It feels like. [00:53:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I will say the weirdest thing about this. This roster that I just did today is usually when I do this, there's like 10 holes in it of like, here's a. Here's a hole and here's the kind of player that can fill that hole. And it might be like, might be a draft pick or might be a young DP or a young U22 initiative or maybe go get a TAM signing this time. There's like one no 2 and I center back two. That's it. [00:53:37] Speaker A: And I think that is the most damning implication of how Zenata has been doing this roster building. Because when I look at this roster, it looks like to me a purposeful construction of a group of players that they thought were like a winning combination. Oh, absolutely. Because exactly for the reason that you said the way the roster is constructed now, there aren't a lot of holes. [00:54:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, this thing is almost completely complete. Other than like we've talked about a draft pick and then two. A starting level center back and one deep, deep depth piece which almost doesn't even matter, you know, other than that this roster is complete. [00:54:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:17] Speaker B: So it's like there's no, there's no moves to be done here. You know, if you're a coach coming in, the only way you can go get a. You're only going to be able. Way you're going to be able to impact this roster is you're going to have to go to the front office and say you got to get rid of these five or six guys and they're all already under contract so you can only trade them or sell them to somebody else in the league. Really? You know, I, Yeah. [00:54:41] Speaker A: And I mean the other hard reality is is they don't have the option unless they get rid of somebody that it's not like there's a big name or a significant DP signing coming. They made that last year with, with Musa. [00:54:56] Speaker B: Yeah, unless you were. Unless you sell Jesus, then you can. But it's like, yeah, you're looking at a team that the money is basically already spent. Right. So it's like the only way to create gaps to add players is to move out money, you know, and it's just, you can imagine any coach that they're talking to is. Might be sitting there going, boy, how am I going to make this team any better? You know, and you do have things like you could put a player on injured reserve for the season, you know, if for example, Paxton turns out to not be good. But if he's good, you want to, obviously he's a very good player. So if he's healthy, that's not. You don't know that, you know, you have maybe, maybe there's some. Maybe Giovanna Jesus is bad enough. But then Giovanni Jesus says that you 22 Initiative is a very small cap number. So unless something happens, we don't know about the season ending, IR probably can't help you. Your next option is the buyout. So you still have the capability of, you know, in addition to selling a dp, you could buy out any one of these high priced players. But it's going to be hard for them to swallow buying out a player that's still useful. Like we, we've seen cases where they've bought out a Frank O'Hara who wasn't particularly useful. Like if they'd have been stuck with Eugene Ansa, I could have seen them buying that guy out. But if you're going to try and Buy out a Paul Areola or a Sebastian Leggette. Man, those guys are still pretty useful players. It's going to be really hard for them to convince Clark Hunt to eat one or two million dollars on a player that's still pretty dang good. Maybe just isn't $2 million good. So they really have completely handcuffed themselves in the ability to do anything unless they just go out and get super aggressive about trying to move pieces and trying to make some holes. And that's where we are. They, they have, you know, they have December and January basically, and camp opens middle of January probably. Right. So you, you really have two months. You have in the back half of this month has got Thanksgiving holidays in it. And then December has Christmas holidays. I shouldn't say Christmas, you know, the end of the year, whatever you celebrate, Hanukkah, Christmas, whatever it is they have that holiday that's going to eat up those two holidays. Get up two weeks out of your two months that you have. So you have six weeks. [00:57:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:21] Speaker B: To do all this, basically. So, you know, it's just, it's tough sitting there looking at that roster and thinking to yourself, man, this is pretty much the same team and add a center back and that's it. And then we're going. Because anybody else like this Diego Garcia is this deep, deaf piece. None of that's playing right. Those guys aren't playing. The dudes at the top of the roster are not changing and that's what matters. Unless, of course, they just reject Irmini and Ruan and then Delgado and then, then you have some room, but he can do some things. But they're trying to get those guys. [00:57:51] Speaker A: Like I said, it was a bummer of an article. [00:57:54] Speaker B: Yeah. All right. It was painful to write. [00:57:57] Speaker A: So here is the bet. Here's the question as we wrap this up. By the time we record the next episode next week, will they have made an announcement on a, on a coach and will we have heard anything? How about not even name a coach? Will we have gotten an update of any sort? [00:58:15] Speaker B: Oh, there'll be something that'll happen. The 27th is when all the moves start happening. I believe that's when the one day trade deadline is. So you won't have anything by then, but I bet, I bet you'll have a coach something by the end of next week. Somebody else will report something or we'll have a, you know, press conference announced for Friday or something like that. I think, I think you will have something. [00:58:43] Speaker A: All right. Very. [00:58:44] Speaker B: I hope you will, because if they go into Thanksgiving without it. Man, you didn't hear me shaking my head there, because I was. It's a visual medium. [00:58:55] Speaker A: I think we all are shaking. We're all collectively shaking our heads. [00:58:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Boy, I really hope it's next week because. Because honestly, like the week after that is when all the moves start happening, you know, minus Thanksgiving. It's like all the. All the one day. This is in the. And the. And the reentry. That's. And the expansion. This is. That all comes within like a two or three week run of your six weeks you have before you open camp. Mid January story. [00:59:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, if there's nothing happens, we'll spend the next episode talking about the new USLC team in Garland. [00:59:29] Speaker B: Yeah, we would definitely have that. Talk about when is the European window open, by the way, speaking of players being sold or something? [00:59:34] Speaker A: Oh, that isn't until the holidays. Like January 1st, I think, or something. [00:59:37] Speaker B: Oh, so not until January. Oh, man. So we might. [00:59:39] Speaker A: Late December, early January. Yeah. [00:59:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And so if you're talking about like needing to sell somebody to make room, you might be heading into like two weeks from camp before you can even sell somebody. [00:59:50] Speaker A: Yeah. You'd like to think. You'd like to think that if they are going to sell Jesus, that is an ongoing negotiation and conversation and bargaining deal that's been going on for a while now. So that when the window does. I mean, they could announce it before then. He just can't actually leave until the window. [01:00:07] Speaker B: Oh, can they? Okay. Yeah. January 1st. [01:00:09] Speaker A: I mean, you could. You could, you know, pre. Do it, you know, and then. And then solidify it and sign all the paperwork the minute the window opens. But you're not. I don't. I don't believe. Unless there's some. I'm not aware of, there's nothing keeping anybody from at least having conversations at this point. [01:00:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Especially because Jesus would. Or anybody else on this team is this. The season's over. [01:00:28] Speaker A: Right. [01:00:28] Speaker B: You know, and their contracts all expire. If they do expire December 31, you know, at midnight or whatever. [01:00:33] Speaker A: So, yeah, for sure. There is a weird scenario where the 2025 season kicks off and neither Jesus Ferreira or Paxton Palma Call is on this team. And it takes me a minute to kind of get over that idea. [01:00:45] Speaker B: But it's also a weird scenario where it's the exact same team that finished 2024. I mean, literally, like, if they don't get a center back, they could. It can literally be the exact same team as the end of the season minus a couple of dead weights. [01:01:01] Speaker A: Happy birthday. [01:01:01] Speaker B: Some more kids. Yeah. Thanks, man. Appreciate that. [01:01:05] Speaker A: Very good. Well, we missed you tonight, Dan. Hope you come back next week. [01:01:09] Speaker B: I hope he does too. I'm sure this is a jovial chuckles, laughing all the Americans. [01:01:15] Speaker A: Very good. Anything else, Buzzard? [01:01:17] Speaker B: No, that's it. I think that's all I had on my list. I'm sure there's something I forgot, but. [01:01:21] Speaker A: We'Ll do it next week. [01:01:22] Speaker B: Yeah, we got a long winner. [01:01:23] Speaker A: We need filler. Very good. All right, buddy. Thank you, man. [01:01:27] Speaker B: Yeah, thank you. [01:01:28] Speaker A: All right. And thank you, FC Dallas. Curious fan. We will, I promise, Prom. Prom. Talk to you next week on another episode of Third Degree, the podcast Sell somebody Third Degree. The Third degree. NE podcast. Third Degree. The Third Degree NE. Third Degree. The Third Degree Never.