3rd Degree the Podcast #294

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Third degree. The third degree NE Podcast. Third degree. The third degree Net Podcast. Third degree. The Third degree. Third degree. [00:00:23] Speaker B: The curious one. I know. [00:00:27] Speaker A: Well, hello there, FC Dallas Curious fan. Welcome to another episode. This one two hundred and ninety four. Yeah, two hundred and ninety four. Third degree the podcast. Unfortunately, during warmups today, Dan Crook pulled up with a small niggly injury in his abdominal wall that's been bugging him for the better part of 18 months and he won't have surgery on it. So filling in his position today is none other than Arman. Hello, Armand. How are you, sir? [00:00:58] Speaker B: I am good. I'm great. I got. I got pulled up to the starting lineup and not warmed up or anything, so I get my warm ups in right now. [00:01:06] Speaker A: If you were to be called into a game, would you wear full size shin guards? You do you use like little sanitary pad napkin type shin guards? [00:01:14] Speaker B: I use a full size because I don't want to get kicked in the shin. [00:01:17] Speaker A: All right. [00:01:18] Speaker B: Like, I'm not a big fan of that at all. So I know a lot of people were like, they wear like the cardboard on there and stuff like that. But I'm more of like, I'm like, I wear the full kit, you know, I'll wear like the shin guards and everything. I even did it when we would play like indoor all the time so I wouldn't wake up with like a sore shin going to work. Like, how embarrassing is that? [00:01:35] Speaker A: It made me think about. I was thinking about shin guards today because the athletic wrote a literally 1500 word article on shin guards today. And I thought it was the most athletic article of all time. And there he is, your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder of third degree.net and the original soccer influencer himself, Buzz Carrot. Come in, Buzz. [00:01:59] Speaker C: I feel like we're the Texas Rangers and we made a quick call down to AAA and grabbed a guy. Get here by 8. So we're. You're in. [00:02:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Zoom on a tollway. [00:02:09] Speaker C: Yeah, you gotta. [00:02:09] Speaker A: You gotta pitch. Yeah, you gotta pitch, kid. Bring your sauce. All right, very good. Well, hopefully everything. Oh, oh. Dan had to go pick up his wife at the airport. Seriously, it's no big deal. So here we go. Lots going on. Is. Is. I think we Buzz. I'm pretty certain this time. Four or five weeks ago, we were really, really worried this may end up being the most boring off season of all time. Yet it subsequently has been anything but since we last talked. Paul Areola officially has left and joined Seattle and he's done all the. He did his own goodbye letter and hello Seattle video and all of that. Alan Velasco is essentially done. Neither club has officially announced it, but it's done. He never got on a plane to even come back to Texas. [00:03:02] Speaker C: Yep. [00:03:02] Speaker A: And we could talk more about that. So there's just a lot going on with potential moves and the new Velasco money and camp has opened. I don't know where you want to start with all this. [00:03:15] Speaker C: Well, let's start by saying that you're right. Four or five weeks ago, a couple months ago, at the end of the season, you know, we talked about how, you know, if they had brought back everybody and they. They were talking to, the roster was effectively full. And so we questioned, you know, the previous couple of years they hadn't been super active. But, you know, we, we talked about how they're really going to have to do some things if they want to improve this team. And, and I wrote a thing about how they needed to clear contracts, and lo and behold, they cleared the ones I talked about. So they set themselves up. Now they've got an even further piece with Allen, and the proof in the long term will be in the pudding of what comes next. I mean, how are you? You've set yourself up to make radical changes to this team. Can you finish it off and get good pieces? That's the macro level view of what needs to happen next. [00:04:02] Speaker A: Armin, what's your kind of observations about what's happened so far? What do you think Dallas is up to? [00:04:08] Speaker B: Man, it's so. It's so interesting because it was slow and now it's kind of just completely ramped up to a point to where it's teetering on the edge of either a full blown. I don't know if I'd call it a rebuild, but blow up. I mean, depending what happens with Peter Musa, or it's going to be a retooling of sorts, depending on, again, what happens if they do end up parting with you. See the rumors. I mean, Buzz, I saw you, quote tweet a rumor about Musa and Milan once again. So it's. There's still a lot more to be seen. I mean, we saw the report today that they're. That they're interested in Lucho Acosta. I mean, I think a lot of teams in MLS are interested in Lucho Acosta, so I don't think that's mutually exclusive just to Dallas, but it's. They've cleared the books, they've done the things that I think are actually in the best interest of the club. But again, Buzz, I think you said it perfectly. It matters on what happens next, right? Like, we've kind of expected that these moves happening, and we've been kind of acting as if these moves would happen. [00:05:09] Speaker C: But. [00:05:09] Speaker B: But what's going to happen next? How are they going to fill these spots? That's the next domino that needs to be seen before I can make a judgment call. Anything that happens. [00:05:16] Speaker A: Yeah, that's all fair. And I. The thing that I. The other thing that happened this week is that we got an announcement from the league about some of the roster rule changes. And the one that really stuck out to me because it was the one that really began to solidify the idea that some of this or all of this may or may not be tied to the fact that they're about to have a big revenue cut for the next three years, was the announcement that GAM no longer expires. So Clark Hunt could hoard all of this GAM for as long as he wants to, not all of it, but most of it, and not have to spend it until he's got a shiny new stadium. Now, I know that's really pessimistic and probably not the likely outcome, but that is certainly a new piece to the entire puzzle, is it not, Buzz? [00:06:07] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely. And most of these rules are fascinating and going to alter the landscape. That rule specifically, and we talked about this when Armand joined us a couple weeks ago, Dallas acquired so much gam for 2025 that it would have been very difficult for them to spend it all. So that actually is a beautiful rule for them because now they can carry some of it forward. And it doesn't even carry it forward in the sense of like, oh, we're going to save money for the future. It's. It's. We don't want to. We no longer now will lose it because it'll be impossible for us to sell, to spend it all this year because they only have a limited number of roster mechanics to fill. Now, Vet Laska being gone gives them another one. But that doesn't change the fact that it would have been tough to spend that just immense pile of game they got going. [00:06:56] Speaker A: Well, now, Armand, you also were. You and I were having a conversation about the fact that is that they're seeing. I do think there is a certain subset of the fan base, and trust me, I totally get this because all of these rules are super goofy and stupid. But there's a. There's a particular type of GAM that isn't just fake Monopoly money made out of nothing. It is actually owners having to spend their own cash and they don't have to spend it. Now we don't know how much of that GAM exists for Clark Hunt, but there was always this possibility that Clark may not spend all of the GAM because it's money he has to spend. Am I getting that correct? [00:07:37] Speaker B: Correct. So when Dallas switched to two plus four model, the two designated players and four U22 players, what happens is you get 2 million of discretionary GAM. Now all money that's discretionary in MLS, I think TAM is all discretionary comes from the owner's budget. That doesn't come from the MLS pool. That comes from the owner's budget. And I think also, I mean if you think about in the same vein of like the transfer revenue thing that also comes from the owner's budget technically because it's from that transfer revenue to a degree. So maybe not really, but essentially that 2 million doesn't need to be spent. It could be spent up to $2 million. And we saw with the potential you could change your roster construction midway, etc. They don't need to spend that 2. They don't have to spend that 2 million. But if they were to utilize it, they have to spend it in that year. That's the only gam that doesn't expire. That 2 million you get from switching to the 2/4 model. So all in all, I mean just to kind of talk about the, the non expiring game like it's. It changes the roster dynamic like building for the entire league. Because now I think you can almost have NBA style building where you're building across multiple years if you do it right now. Am I saying FC Dallas going to do that? No. But there's definitely another possibility that they can embrace. Maybe a slower build, maybe play some homegrowns, get some, get some more experience for guys and. And then maybe build for a bigger year some year down the line or something like that. That's a possibility now because it's not use it or lose it anymore. [00:09:16] Speaker A: Now Armand or. Yeah, I think it was Armand a few minutes ago mentioned that Dallas was in on Acosta from Cincinnati who apparently is out on the marketplace is. So is Evander from Portland for various reasons I'm a little foggy on. But tied to that is the other announcement that we got this week that a rumor that's been floating around, I think Bogart started this saying this was going to happen. Did happen is the fact that the league now has pure cash transfer fees and that if, and if in fact Dallas is interested in pursuing Acosta or Evander, it would be under that type of deal where Clark Hunt actually just sends Cincinnati X amount of dollars in cash, right? [00:10:03] Speaker C: So effectively this allows you to buy a player inside the league the way you would buy a player outside the league for money. And now the league calls it a cash trade, but it's effectively the same thing. So this allows you to go to a team in the league and you're looking at two guys who are a little bit different. One of them's sort of 26 and maybe might cost you upwards of 15 million perhaps. The other one's 30 years old. It might be more like a 10 million dollar player. Both those numbers are not usually the kind of numbers we see floating around from the Hunts. So you have to ask yourself, why would they be willing to do that? And the answer is risk reward. Because these are two players that have been in your league and produce at a super high level in your league and MVP style level in your league. So you know that they can do it. You know, as opposed to when you buy a player from another country, you maybe don't know 100% about that league they're in or that team they're in or what really got them to be the way they were. So there's a confidence level when you're going to buy a player from inside the league. Now, whether you think these players are of the caliber or that's worth the cost or not, that's a calculation in the day, it's hard to swallow. And again, this kind of Money I'm not 100% sure is Hunt level of spend. How badly do those teams want to sell those players who have stated that they're leaving, like Acosta wants to leave Cincinnati, Evander wants to go play back in Brazil because he wants to get the Brazilian national team. Can you sell those guys that Dallas is the answer? Will the price be lower than maybe the market? Because those players so definitely want out. At the end of the day though, remember what the Hunt and the FC Dallas DNA is. So I actually have some other ideas that might be really kind of interesting that fall for me more in line with the way the Hunts think. Okay, well, what if you could perhaps buy a player that was more like a U22 player? What if you could go to Real Salt Lake, for example, and buy Diego Luna for like maybe 5 million, who they just signed to a U22 contract and therefore that wouldn't count on your cap. [00:12:08] Speaker A: What are you Saying that they, they can't do that now or that is part of the design of this new rule. Could do that. [00:12:15] Speaker C: You could do that. You can buy anybody. So why do you have to necessarily buy a DP who's 30 or 20 or 27 and costs you 15 million? Why can't you buy like an up and cominging player, a U20. Dallas just shifted to the 4U22 model. Maybe like one of these young, exciting MLS playmakers who might like to get paid a little bit more money perhaps than they just then they're getting paid perhaps. You know, it's hard to say. I'm just saying that like which one feels more like the Hunts and they return to their club DNA going after a young 21, 22 year old playmaker or going after the 30 year old guy for $10 million. [00:12:51] Speaker A: Right. Okay, so this is actually an interesting topic because inside your discord I saw a lot of the curious really celebrating this news that they would be pursuing Acosta. And let's just for the sake of argument say it's a real deal, that they actually have made the call and expressed that they're willing to put in X amount of dollars to buy him and bring him to Dallas. I was. It seems we all need to remember at least my opinion is the only reason why they're even in this discussion is because Clark Hunt has $10 million cash in his pocket from the Velasco sale. This isn't a purchase they would even be. They wouldn't even thought about doing it had they not sold somebody and had cash to spend. And I think that is the difference in ambition to me is, you know, you're essentially replacing a player. You're buying a player to replace a player you lost. That's good. I'm not, I'm not criticizing the fact that they're doing it. I just don't want anybody to confuse it with some sort of new showing of ambition. [00:13:57] Speaker C: Yeah, I think in this particular case you're right. 10 million for Velasco with 2 million in add ons and a 15% sell on, which is a phenomenal amount of money for Velasco. You know, that Dallas is now stuck, you know, by all discussion and points that people that we know the idea with this year was to try and bring Alan inside playing as a 10 because like everyone now, you'll notice in all the media, everyone talks about replaying replacing Velasco. They talk about getting a 10, not a winger. [00:14:25] Speaker A: Right. [00:14:25] Speaker C: So like this is definitely, and it's a real bonus for FC Dallas that this new rule has opened and given them a second avenue to feel a fill a DP spot. And they have all this money they just got. So if you could get a player for less than you just sold Allen for, which is why it's probably not likely that it would be in Vander and more likely that it would be Aosta, then you're doing again, doing good business. Now it's probably easier and faster to use this inside the league version than it is to go out and about and scout and find a player and figure out what his out is on his current team and all those kinds of things. This is much, much simpler to do it this way. But I still can't help but think, you know, is buying a 30 year old DP for 10 million is that, forget the new rule, just think about that in terms of FC Dallas, 30 year old, $10 million for a 10. Have they done that kind of business? Moose is relatively young. Velasco's real young. Right. When was the last time they spent huge on a 30 year old? That doesn't feel like a SE Dallas to me. So I, I wonder if. [00:15:28] Speaker A: Well, his name was Frank O'Hara. [00:15:30] Speaker C: Yeah, well, and they waited for the free on him, didn't they? Remember they waited like an extra six months for his contract to be there. [00:15:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:36] Speaker C: And even like three we joked about Dan Hunt, fell in love with him in the, in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, Champions League. And it's like, oh, we'll get that guy someday. Put on your big boy pants and put it in a bid. Right. That's. That's not how they kind of do things. So I question whether. I know they have an open DP spot, but I question whether going getting Acosta, which sounds cool, is what they do now or ever, really. [00:16:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Before I move, I want to discuss the whole Velasco move a little bit more, but I'm interested in Armand's thoughts about the money part of this and the, and the numbers and whether or not you think Acosta is like a re. Is there any reality to the idea that Acosta is going to come play in Dallas? [00:16:22] Speaker B: Well, there's a couple things that the Cincinnati media mentioned. And again, I think this kind of just depends on what they do with Musa. Because the reason why Acosta wants to leave, I think part of it was to go to Argentina, but part of it, according to what? Lauren, I can't remember what her last name is, but she's a great reporter for Cincinnati. She mentioned how Acosta was upset at the way that the roster build in Cincinnati was going on and that he did, he wasn't able to have a full, a high profile forward in front of him. They just acquired Kevin Denki, but it seems like there's something else involved that made a Costa upset and want to go. They upset about the roster build or anything? If they got any of those two guys, especially Evander. I think Evander is incredible. I think he, he was up there with MLS MVP last year. He'd be an amazing signing. I think it's a little bit above the budget range, but Acosta is also a very good, incredible player. I'm just, I'm just in two minds because again, it, it, it seems like there is some sort of relative interest in Musa from some club out there. If again, you have to stay firm and say, we're not going to sell this guy if we're going to bring in a guy like Lucho Acosta or Evander, because that's the statement of intent to win now, right? If you're going to spend that big of money, like, that's a very big statement of we want to win now. We have the guys. If you sell Musa, I feel like you're kind of back at, like back at, okay, we need one more piece to fill in this gap and go from there. But like, you know what I mean? [00:17:53] Speaker C: Well, I was just going to throw in that Okasa also is under contract 326 with a 27 option, but his base salary is 2.9 million and combined comp is 4.2 million. Does that sound like the Hunts? [00:18:05] Speaker A: No. [00:18:06] Speaker C: You know, there's, there's a lot here that like, while you on surface, you go, oh yeah, no brainer. Dallas needs a 10. Boom. I don't know, man. None of this stuff matches the club DNA and the Hunt profile, right? So I'm not, I'm not, I'm not. Even though we have sources that have said they called about him and some that didn't. I don't buy that they really think this is the answer. They may do it for. To do their due diligence so they can say to everybody, hey, we tried to get them, but it was too expensive. But they, I don't know. This doesn't feel right to me. Luciano Castle doesn't. [00:18:37] Speaker A: Well, I. Part of the cash trade thing that's interesting to me is that it is the first time the league has allowed the clubs to do something that it is tried to avoid for the entirety of his existence, which is having clubs bid against each other. And so you can see an arms race happening for, let's say, two or three clubs that are in for either one of those guys saying, hey, Dallas will give you nine, name another club will give you 11. And then somebody says, I'll give you 15. And you could see how quickly that could accelerate. [00:19:11] Speaker C: Well, big picture, this will open the door for rich clubs to buy. [00:19:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:16] Speaker C: Players from. From poor clubs all the time. And you'll see certain clubs become bottom clubs all the time and allow your LAFCs or your Seattle's or your Atlanta's, your Toronto's, guys with big cash funds to be up top more. [00:19:28] Speaker A: Yeah. I guess part of it is what can clubs then do with the. That they get in hand? I mean, how do they convert? Is that just get converted into salary or transfer fees from outside the league? [00:19:38] Speaker C: You can convert 3 million of it just like you can any other sale in the game. Yeah. [00:19:43] Speaker A: So the thing that's interesting me about all this is this whole discussion that we've been having for the last few weeks about what in the world is the plan? What is going on? You've just. You've. You've traded away Jesus and Paul to Seattle. You've signed three or four guys. Your mileage may vary on whether or not they are. I mean, they may be improvements over the people that they replaced Abubakar for, Omar Gonzalez, for example, or Shaq is better than Tuamasi was, that kind of thing. But none of those guys is necessarily making this team into a competitor. So now they've. You know, we've. We've been told that the Velasco sale ultimately ended up being a surprise to them, that they thought by signing Velasco to this new contract, that would put that whole thing to bed, at least for a season. But lo and behold, Boca comes back and says, no, we'll give you way too much money plus other stuff for you guys to sell this guy. Now they're stuck without a 10. [00:20:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:50] Speaker A: And they've got a season starting in a few weeks. And this is where I think this becomes really an interesting conversation about ambition. GAM can now be hoarded for a period of time. Were they even. Did they have anybody in mind to replace Velasco? How this season starts, I think really is going to be a big tell on whether or not they got their together in terms of roster construction. [00:21:16] Speaker C: Yeah. You remember when we went into the winter, Zenata talked about how they were pretty happy with their offense, how excited he was to see Jesus and Velasco passing to Musa, which may or may not be true, but that he felt that way. But the big thing was we need to prove our defense. Our offense is pretty good. We're happy with our offense. We got to improve our defense. So lo and behold, they end up selling Jesus. And I think that's okay because you have other pieces that are playing just as well. The surprise shocker of Velasco going makes you in a panic mode of okay, I got to replace that to keep my offense up to Paris. But we have yet to really see the improvement on the defense that was the stated goal. Like, I think Shatmur is an upgrade over Juan. I think that Abubakar is a good depth piece to add into your rotation, but I don't think that they've had a real answer yet at center back and you've lost Sam Junka at left back. So you still have some work to do to actually make this defense better, which was your stated goal going into the season. So much so that Nico Sev was talking about the finally agreeing and admitting they needed to send her back back in February and they tried to get one in the summer and it went south on the physical. So there's a whole lot out there that they have done yet. So pay off the improving the defense yet? No, we need to see some more there. And now you got to. You've added a new creation of I got to now replace Velasco, which stinks. But again, we buy the business. We buy that value being that they got being over what he probably was worth to the club. So, you know, they created a problem. But that I can, I can live with for now. And the other problem they have you not solved at all. [00:22:57] Speaker A: Well, I, you know. And the reason why I bring all this up, Buzz, is to kind of answer the question you're asking, which is is an Acosta really the right kind of solution for this problem because of his age, because of the cost, all of those things and because of what is about to transpire in terms of the of kind of a larger rebuild. Would they not be smarter to not spend as much money and maybe try to go get a lesser expensive. [00:23:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:27] Speaker A: Player. Younger player that's more of a, you know, long term potential. [00:23:32] Speaker C: Because why I threw out that U22 idea. [00:23:34] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:35] Speaker C: Like a Diego Luna. [00:23:36] Speaker A: Yeah. That's why. Yeah. You and I are saying we're on the same page. So I, I, but what my point is is that I the, the. The high wire act. I think the club is in is. Is you sold. Jesus. You sold Paul, the face of the club, a fan favorite. Now you've lost Velasco, which was this, you know, great Argentinian messy light that you guys spent all this money on and hyped up to no end. Now, what you got, you got none of those pieces. So the high wire act, I think they've put themselves into guys is they. Is fan expectation. How are you guys going to make this a better team in 2025 than the team that missed the playoffs in 2024? And I'm not convinced they're anywhere close to accomplishing that at this point. And, and. And that's where I think the question of, well, we could get Acosta, but do we really want to spend that kind of money? Is where that really becomes an interesting conversation. [00:24:34] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. And the. The. The thing is, is that the. The. In the end of the day, do you have faith that they're going to deliver the talent? Now, the thing. The problem with Velasco is they probably thought that they were locking Lasko up long term, and so they're. They're probably a tiny bit surprised. Now, you should have done your due diligence all along and had some ideas on paper, at least, about what you're going to do if this happened. So we're gonna have to see how quickly they can reset again. This new rule lets them try some new things inside the league that maybe they wouldn't have had options before, but it's not going to surprise me to see them sit on this Velasco situation until midseason if they can't do a deal inside the league, because it probably will be very difficult to really quickly have something lined up for this next window, you know, and they have yet to deliver on the defense. Now, again, the window doesn't open until January 31st. So this team is really good about keeping things secret unless it comes from outside the league until they get it passing through the league office. And then Bogart hears about it, and then we said all out, but, you know, it may be a while before we begin to hear some names. Armand, what do you feel about this whole go for Acosta versus maybe like a younger kind of player? [00:25:46] Speaker B: Well, if Lucha Acosta is available, and again, the idea is to win. Now, for thinking from a club perspective, we want to win MLS cup, that's the best option to go with. If you want to win MLS cup, that's the best option. When it comes to how I feel about the club, the development, what their idea is, I'm a bit confused now because there was A clear statement from Dan. From Dan and co. To kind of go back to the roots, right? To kind of go back to the things. They've kind of made that a thing. They went back, remember they hired Eric Quill, a guy they have familiarity with. Nico was the first hire they didn't have familiarity with. They went back and hired Eric Quill, which is more of a Hunt line of I would say hiring. Then you go down. They've got a bunch of homegrowns as well too that they signed to deals and stuff. The signing of a Costa goes away from that. If that happens. It more is in line of this kind of what was going on under Nico, which was a lot more veteran heavy to me. I'm a little confused at what the club philosophy is. If the club philosophy is to go back to the roots and go back to younger players development, etc. The cost of signing doesn't line up with that thinking. But if it, if it's more of we want to win, we don't care, etc. Then the cost of the cost line makes sense. And guys, he's an incredible player. If he's available for the right price. I mean, I think any team should go for him. But what's the club philosophy? I'll be honest, I don't. I don't know. I'm very confused. [00:27:17] Speaker A: Well, I think the Velasco thing has caught them all off guard, which is a thing unto itself. Like that's a whole different conversation. Look, I'm an old die. I'm an old guy that's been here since day one and been waiting for 30 years for them to win MLS Cup. If, if Acosta is available and can play 10 for this team, I don't care if he cost you $20 million. Go get him. He's a near MLS winning. You know, he's. He's an MLS MVP type player. I would love to see him on this team, but I think there's an absolute zero chance he's going to end up playing here. One, I don't think he would want to come play in Dallas because I don't roster is up to his snuff. And two, I don't think Clark Hunt's going to throw out that kind of money for him even if he has it in his pocket because of the salary part, not necessarily the transfer fee part. It's that giant salary that I think Buzz, to your point, is what freaks them out about that. [00:28:11] Speaker C: I totally agree 100%. Yep. [00:28:14] Speaker A: Which then begs the question, because this is why this whole conversation so fascinating Buzz, to your point, before the season started they said their big thing was fixing the defense, but now they've got a giant problem in offense. [00:28:26] Speaker C: They do. [00:28:26] Speaker A: The whole thing is really, I mean, in some ways it's okay because you anticipated some of it with the Jesus and Paul thing, but with the areola move now, I think the whole thing's a real question as to how this season's going to play out. They got a lot to fix. [00:28:42] Speaker C: You know, I think I will give them credit. Like, I think that the moves that they have made to this point, I think these moves align with the new coach and the new way he's going to want to play. So they've done some baseline tweaking that, that I think will be beneficial. You, you have to pay off this idea that you need to improve the defense. And then you're right, Peter. The real question is the 10. Like, I think you can go into the season with like a combination of Sebastian, Legette, Patricson, Delgado. A buy that actually really surprised me, you know, and may maybe some of these other young pieces. I think you can go into this season with some tens that can work. Now. None of that makes you feel like I'm going after MLS cup, but when you have a brand new coach, the goal probably isn't MLS cup in year one. The goal is going to be make the playoffs again. You know, and that's the idea. You know, when you, when you buy a player like Velasco, for example, in the first place, you bought him at such a young age, you knew you weren't buying him for the first season, you were buying him for a couple of years down the road in this case to sell. But that's the same sort of way, like if you're a team that's in a rebuild mode, just paying, as you said, Peter, all that money for a, for a 10 who's 30 in three years, when he's 33, is he going to be worth that money? When you, when you're hopefully peeking under your new coach, that's why to me, like, I totally get like a one season, one shot. Acosta would be awesome. But like in the, in the FC Dallas scheme of things and the current state of the team, I think it makes no sense at all. I think it's far more likely to see them double down on this new young DNA and that includes farm players and domestic to go for another young 10 if it's from another foreign country or if it's in the league that's where I think Dallas's head will be, because I. I almost guarantee you they're not thinking this is our year in 2025 when they're just doing a complete rebuild. And right now we haven't even seen the defense part at all. So we don't know if it's going to be good. [00:30:44] Speaker A: Yeah. And nobody blames them for selling Velasco for what they sold him for. [00:30:48] Speaker C: No, that was a steal. [00:30:49] Speaker A: And. And while it would completely exacerbate this exact problem, nobody would blame them for selling Musa for $22 million to whoever wants to spend that amount of money for him and lose him after one season. But, man, you can. You can sell him and make all that money, but, man, now you're really. [00:31:08] Speaker C: Running dry because how much faith you have in Logan Farrington. [00:31:14] Speaker A: Okay, but now you're. You're. You're one hamstring or, you know, injury away from being com. You know, without anything. [00:31:21] Speaker C: Yeah, but if you like, if you're. If you're the committee and you believe Farrington's a 15 to 18 goal scorer in this league as a nine, it's the exact same scenario as when I said that Farrington was a better winger and he makes Jesus surplus. Well, then they go out and they get a chew and they get an Anderson Julio, both of whom are wingers. Okay? Maybe they really do look at Logan Farrington as a nine and really do think he's the answer. And maybe they really will be willing to sell patter Musa for $22 million because they're going to be fine with Logan Farrington. You're going to rebuild anyway, right? You're already in a complete meltdown because you can't no D yet and Velasco's gone. Why not pull the trigger and do it? So, you know, it's a. It's a. It's a bit. Right now, until we get some answers, until we. They show us some of their cards, we're going to do a lot of this kind of speculating and spitballing and coming up with ideas, but, you know, at the end of the day, eventually they're going to have to lay this hand down and show us what they have. And, you know, we'll either. They'll either cash all in or they'll. Or they'll win the pot or whatever. [00:32:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Hey, Arman, do you think I'm just. I'm just flat out. Here's the question. Do you believe that when they start the season in February, they will have signed a clear and Defined Alan Velasco replacement. Whether it be Acosta or somebody else, do you think they'll say, we went out and used the money to go get this dude? [00:32:39] Speaker B: You know, I'm gonna go against the grain and I'm actually gonna. Well, this. He will he play the first games. We're asking if they've signed someone. [00:32:46] Speaker A: Well, if they sign somebody, man, I. [00:32:50] Speaker B: Think they actually might pull a trigger on somebody. I think again, and this is me thinking, best case, like thinking optimistically about the club, as in good for you. As in they had something or you should have a list already signed up, ready to go with this. Like they should. And they should be already going through their contacts, going through their channels. They should have already moved on this and, etc. But I like, again, like, so I'm going, yes, but in my opinion, they should wait. [00:33:18] Speaker A: You think they will, but you think they should wait? [00:33:20] Speaker B: Okay, I think they should wait until the summer window and then, and then. And capitalize on that and, and that and the bigger window, a bigger opportunity to do so and also more time. There's no rush. Like, again, no one's expecting FC Dallas to compete for MLS Cup. Respectfully, like, that's. There's not that many teams competing for MLS cup in general to begin with. But if you wait and make the proper decision instead of, you know, going through a quick decision process, I think that is going to bode a lot better for the long term future of the club, especially guys. And like, I'm just throwing this out there, especially if there's a potential schedule change. Right? No one's going to care about like you, you. If there's a potential schedule change that throws a wrinkle in almost everything. And this 2021 season, okay, whatever. Gear up for the big boom. If it's. If the schedule change happens and there's a 2026, 2027 season that starts after the World Cup. That's just my thought. [00:34:12] Speaker A: Okay, Buzz. [00:34:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm at about 25, 30% that they can pull off something inside the league and then if they can't, I'm with Armand. Like, I think that they probably were caught off guard by this, I would imagine. I believe that the feelers that they have had out were more about down the line. Like I, they probably felt like maybe more likely it was the summer where these bids might come in for people and then. Or they would have the ability to go out and get it this or that or whatever. So I, I kind of agree with Armand that you. That you wait or that they're going to wait unless something perfect, perfect fit, not Luciano Costa, perfect fit. Falls in their lap in terms of inside the league. But I think that's like one in four shot that that happens at best. [00:34:54] Speaker A: Buzz, once they have this $10 million in hand and they could do a cash trade with any willing team in the league. I'm making you now the person getting to make the decision. If you could, if for $10 million, you could go spend that money on a player that you think a club would reasonably be willing to sell for $10 million. Like don't tell me Messi or Busquets. Okay. Who would you go by? [00:35:24] Speaker C: Yeah, well, how much do you think Puig would cost? [00:35:28] Speaker A: Oh, way more than 10 million. [00:35:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't think you're getting him. I don't think you're getting him. [00:35:33] Speaker C: You think it's more than 10 million? I don't know. I, I'd have to think about it. I, I hadn't really anticipated that kind of question. I'm not joking. Like when I thought of the Diego Luna thing, I wasn't joking about that. Like that's a fantastic young player that you could plop right into the middle. You know, he played for El Paso at one point, so he's familiar with Texas. You know the price 10 million, wouldn't it. The price would be less. [00:35:58] Speaker A: Oh, you think? [00:35:59] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, I think so. He's a U22 initiative player. He only gets paid a couple hundred thou. He's not even a full time starter for them. You know, I'm basing my interest in him and what I think he'll grow into. Yeah, you know, those, that, that to me is a better fit. Like a guy where Quill can say, you're my 10 and I'm going to, you're going to play for three seasons in this spot and grow into this spot. And by the time you're 25, 26, we're going to be peaking. You know, that's what to me is interesting. And I didn't look beyond the one example that I wanted to draw up to, to show this, that what I think is more likely the kind of FC Dallas move, this going for a young guy like that, you know, beyond Diego Luna. I didn't come with another example because I don't, I just wanted to talk about it. But you know, the, the club doesn't have, I don't think they don't have a young guy that's close. The closest profile in terms of the young players they've signed is Anthony Ramirez, he's the closest to this profile they're looking for in this position. But Anthony's 18, so he's not, you know, three years from being the guy. He's, you know, he'd only be 21 at that point. Diego Garcia, who's a phenomenal player, also just 18, or he actually may be 19 now, but again, he's an 8 and not a 10. So there's not an, there's not an academy profile guy hanging around that fits the subscription. These are the positions where ordinarily people spend just absolute boatloads of money with some rare examples of an American player that can come through, that can play this spot. You know, the guys that eventually become crazy money. So that, that would be why, if you're willing to pay for a young American in this spot, is because eventually you think they're going to be, you know, in the pulisic conversation, it's not going to be plastic. But, you know, or they wouldn't be in mls. So, you know, the other kind of answer would be to do something like try and go get Giorena, you know, if not him specifically, a player that is undervalued, perhaps because they're not getting, you know, a lot of love with their team. Those are the kinds of players you're looking at, whether it be inside the league or outside the league. [00:38:04] Speaker A: Okay, armand, you got 10 million to spend in the league. Who are you buying? [00:38:08] Speaker B: Well, it's funny, I was on another discord. Sorry I had to cheat in the third degree discord for a little bit, but I was on our discord and they were like, why don't you go out? Why don't the Wise and Dallas go after Pedro de la Vega? Because apparently Seattle fans absolutely just are not a big family. He's a young dp. They spent big money on him. I don't know if he'd be worth $10 million. But he has had some injury issues. But I mean, that's just a fun name. He's a fun, dynamic little player. He played in the wing for a bit. I don't, I'm, I'm. Maybe you could play on the inside. I don't know if Seattle would even do that or anything, but, I mean, we're doing a hypothetical game. That's one name that definitely popped up for me. I mean, Buzz, I really like your Diego Luna shout. I just don't know if RSO would sell him in the league. And for 5bin, I think they might almost certainly in the end, I'm Just. Yeah, because he's like, he is. They, he's, he's, he's incredible. But I mean, it's, man, it's so hard. It's. Because within the league there's only like a couple options. I mean, out of those two, the, the two names are listed. Evander and Lucho. I would rather spend the 15 million on Evander than the 10 million on Lucho. I think Evander is absolutely incredible and puts you in a great situation. [00:39:18] Speaker C: Totally agree. But that's even more unlike the hunts to spend 15 million inside. Although he is 20. [00:39:22] Speaker B: Exactly. Yeah. [00:39:23] Speaker C: You know, which is more in line of what we're talking about. A guy who would, three years from now is Eric Quills peaking with his team would be 26 to 20. Would be, sorry, 29 going on 30. Maybe that, that makes more sense in terms of building. But that price is really high. And you're talking about a guy who wants to leave not because of, well, partially, probably because of the team, but because he wants to be in the Brazilian national team. So he wants a profile team that's going to get him seen and get into the Brazilian national team. I don't know that sc, Dallas, don't get me wrong. And they're in their, their scouting guy, the new scouting guy, Sandro, he has Brazilian connections, too. He used to scout for Brazil. Brazil. So, like, you could try and sell that maybe and get Evander to come here. And so maybe you could get the price down. But again, like, I don't know that. Like, if you're the guy that's like, oh, I want to be playing in that national team, is that a high enough profile to get me seen? And I don't know if it is. That might be part of the problem. [00:40:22] Speaker A: Man, if, if Clark went out and wrote a check for 15 or whatever the amount is to get Evander, that would completely reorient and recalibrate all of my opinions about Clark Hunt and how he operates this business. [00:40:37] Speaker C: Change everything. [00:40:38] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I, and, and I don't mean that in a critical way. I mean, I just feel like I have a really good grasp on how he runs his business. And, and that's not, that doesn't fall in line with that. That would. [00:40:48] Speaker C: He doesn't do it with the Chiefs either. That high price free agent, you know, sign or buy, you know, they draft people. [00:40:54] Speaker A: No, I, I. Look, the, the, the, the manner in which Clark Hunt runs his businesses is not a mystery. It's, it's literally in like, business books and, and, and school. Books and stuff. I mean, it's all pretty straightforward, bottom line, keep the books as balanced as possible thinking. And that's why I, why that it's all very sky in the pie. Pie in the sky kind of stuff. Fascinating. I do have a question for both of you guys. I was thinking about this because I was reading a lot of the reactions from Seattle people to Jesus and Paul and like the amount of love Paul was getting from Seattle fans is an addition. [00:41:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:33] Speaker A: And it was funny to me, you know, we, we got the news today that Jesus got sent home from the national team because of fitness issues. And you know, my. Immediately my radar went up because I'm thinking, all right, there's the abdominal wall injury. But then I'm. Then the. One of the local Seattle blogs was saying, no, it's actually just a fitness thing. And I'm thinking, how is Jesus not fit? Like, it's not like Camp Cupcake is filled with MLS players that have played recently. [00:42:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:42:01] Speaker A: And he's the only one that got home for fitness issues. So I'm. So the reason why I bring all this up is this, this kind of thinking that I had, which is, is to me. Let me ask the question this way, Buzz. If you could have kept Jesus and Paul for the deals Seattle signed both those players for, would you still want them knowing everything you know about their game? [00:42:30] Speaker C: No. [00:42:32] Speaker A: Armon? [00:42:33] Speaker B: Paul, yes. Jesus? No. [00:42:35] Speaker A: Okay, see this is, this is my point. Seattle seems really like they think they've really stolen a couple of top notch players. And in my thinking, I'm like, I'm really shocked Seattle came for these two dudes because frankly, I just don't think they got it anymore. I mean, Paul's a great locker room addition and maybe a good bench player coming off the bench kind of guy, but I don't. Other than that. I just don't. I'm. I'm surprised Seattle is as excited as they are about two guys that we didn't want anymore. [00:43:06] Speaker C: Right. So the thing from the Dallas end is that Dallas was a bad team, you know, and they, and they want to get better. And then the way you do that is you get rid of players that don't live up to their salary. So Paul next season would have been at best like a reserve winger or maybe, maybe not even, maybe a wing back or an outside back, but maybe not even a starting one. He would have been a basically a role player and the money does not match, you know, if you could have brought back Paul on, not the deal that he's getting because remember, he's still getting all his money, you know, not for the cap hit that Seattle's having, which I think is probably going to be roughly around 700k, if I could have had him at 400, then I probably would have said, okay, but it doesn't help you get better. And Jesus is the same thing, like, in terms of getting better again, they have guys that are producing at a similar level. So, yes, you want to move him on, you know, and I think that, that, that was a guy that didn't want to be here. When you have guys that don't want to be here anymore, it's okay to get rid of them because it helps everything. It helps the locker room, it helps everybody else feel like, good, now we all want to be here. So even If Jesus gets 100% of his fitness back and he has lingering hamstring issues that cause, you know, problems from time to time, which might be why he's not fit, because he's always sort of struggling with that, you know, it's just not. It's not how you get. You don't get better by bringing back the exact same guys and hoping that they improve. So as for what Seattle thinks, it's fantastic. A, they're on a discount, but B, those guys probably don't watch FC Dallas. They're probably basing it on, you know, the reputation of those players in terms of what they were in the past. And if you get Areola and Jesus from 2020, that's a steal for them and it's going to be great. But those players are 2022, even that sort of 20 to 2022, then they'll look great. But if, if you get. If they get 24 of those versions, versions of those two players, then they're not going to be looking very good. [00:44:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it is. It will create an interesting story if either one or both of those guys go to Seattle and blossom back were in 2022. And. And the question will be, is that an indicator of the state of Dallas versus just them as players? [00:45:15] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:45:15] Speaker A: You know. [00:45:16] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, we've questioned all along the fitness regime, the health regime, the medical regime here. We don't know squat about it. I'm not a doctor, I'm not a trainer. I don't know. But we see the slate of injuries and we see the guys that struggle. [00:45:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:29] Speaker C: So that one of the things Dallas is changing up a bunch this winter is some of those programs. I'm not privy to the details of those programs. I just hear that they're making some changes. So hopefully for FC Dallas's sake, they can wrap up and clean out some of these problems. If those two guys go to a team that's better at that kind of thing, can get healthy and stay healthy, maybe they will get back to that 2022 form. But Paul's getting, you know, longer in the tooth now, so I don't know that he'll ever get back to where he was before. And Jesus obviously is still very young and very talented. As much as it is physical for him, it's also mental. So he's going to have to mentally recover and be excited to be there on that turf with those guys. And as you pointed out last week, Peter, maybe not being the man might actually help him a little bit. So there's lots of questions surrounding those two moves for that team. [00:46:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I do think watching Seattle this season will be fun because instead of going out and buying a bunch of high priced foreign talent, they're picking up other teams. You know, I don't. Whatever the right word is, not discarded. [00:46:36] Speaker C: Parts but X or fringe. Us name players. [00:46:39] Speaker A: Yeah, that kind of thing. [00:46:40] Speaker C: So which Dallas tried and didn't work very well. [00:46:42] Speaker A: Right. That'll be a lot of fun. All right Armand, before we move on to other things, what was your favorite new MLS roster rule they introduced this week? [00:46:52] Speaker B: The non expiration of GAM for sure. Because now again like I mentioned in the first iteration or the first in the into introduction, excuse me, it allows for just different roster building. Right. Because instead of just use it or lose it, you can now say hey, I want to do a multi year build. It's kind of like you have more NBA roster building storylines versus then an MLS where you kind of said okay well we got to use it, we got to use it. Are we going to even able to use all of it? Etc now it's like hey, do we want to be patient? Hey do we want to go all in? Hey do we want to ride with younger players, see what happens? Oh, our players are blossoming. We're having a, a season where we have Testman, Pepe, etc. Okay, now we can go and purchase bigger players because we held a bunch of GAM and their cap hits are low. You could do a lot more I think fun like it's. And I, I put this on Blue Sky. I don't know if it's going to be as good for competitive reasons, although it seems like every owner in MLS thinks they can win MLS cup or something like that. But I think it's going to be Great for roster building. It's going to be a lot more fun and you're going to see a lot more different roster builds stories like, kind of like you see, you know, I don't think you'll see blatant tanking because you can't tank. There's no pick to tank for. But you'll see, I think people saying, hey, we're gonna try out, play maybe a little bit younger of a lineup, etc, etc, maybe we can sneak into the playoffs if the playoff format stays the same. Get the home playoff game, get the revenue, call it a call a day and then maybe advance for next season, etc and go for it because we have all this money. I think the non expiration is super interesting and it just provides for a different dynamic the league just didn't have, quite frankly, what, like three days ago? [00:48:29] Speaker A: All right. Any of the roster rules that either one of you did not like. [00:48:33] Speaker B: I think they're all good, man. And I think they're pumping so much money into this system now that. I mean, this is the craziest. I mean, I mean you guys have been along longer than me in mls, but this seems like it's the craziest MLS offseason that I've seen. I mean all these moves are going around. We're seeing Neymar linked with Chicago. Like crazy stuff going on there. Chicago signing big name players, Atlanta breaking the transfer fee record with their signing, with their potential signing, then maybe bring back Almiron, the Charlotte, bringing back Zaha or bringing Zaha into the fold, like it's crazy. Like all these names come along, it just seems pretty wild. [00:49:10] Speaker A: Buzz, you got any you didn't like? [00:49:12] Speaker C: No, I like all of them. But can I do my favorite one? [00:49:15] Speaker A: Yeah, of course. [00:49:15] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. So favorite is maybe not the right word, but for a team that probably at best has a 50 hit rate, particularly on the more expensive signings that they make, two buyouts per season is huge for FC Dallas. So like it's not like, it's not like that's a rule I think is fun, but I think that's a rule that'll, that'll benefit this club because it's. [00:49:42] Speaker A: Like putting the, it's like putting the bolsters in the gutters at the, at the bowling alley. [00:49:47] Speaker C: Yeah, it is because now you have. Now it's less pain, less lot. It's going to be painful because for the Hunts because it's still their money, but it's going to be less painful for the roster where you won't be handicapped by these Franco horrors. Or these. Or the. Or the. The Paul deal. Not Paul, the deal. You know, as four years later, you know, so. [00:50:08] Speaker A: Or a Palmer call. [00:50:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Right now is a perfect example where we know, look, we. There's all these vibes that Paxton's doing great and we'll talk about specifically where he is when we get to the depth of training part of the thing. But there's questions there. There's also massive questions about Giovanna J. Zeus. So the ability to have two buyouts. You also have the 900k Sebastian LeGette contract that you might want to get out of potentially depending on what you're doing in terms of rebuilding. So that. That. That flexibility for this club in particular is going to be good. [00:50:40] Speaker A: Okay. Well, camp did open on Monday and there was a whole list of players that were not there. [00:50:48] Speaker C: Yes, the. Basically the people from South America are all still traveling and. Or working on visas because they're new, that kind of thing. So Romero, the new Brazilian guy, was not. Was not here. Paxton, Patricson, Delgado was not here because they just did that deal late Giovanna and Jesus was not in camp. But that's for a different reason entirely. [00:51:06] Speaker A: He's still looking for his leg. [00:51:08] Speaker C: Yeah. Anderson, we have no official ruling yet on that, but we did get that information that he. That's report to us that he's going to be on seasoning IR by the way, that's not locked. They don't have to lock that so much later, but that's probably where he'll end up. Anderson, Julio is not here yet. Shaq Moore, Nolan Norris, of course with in US Camp. Pedrinho against South American is on his way. Palm Call is not in training but is with the team. He's apparently running on the side and is has not added cutting in yet, but is working on changes of pace and acceleration vertically. So that's a positive and we hear really good vibes coming out of that. But still long way to go. Don't get too excited. And then the other two missing were Thomas Pondecka and Carl Sante, who both were loaned out. So those are all the missing pieces. And then there were some fun academy pieces. The academy guys that thus because of those missing bodies, got some chances. Ian Charles, who's a U18 center back, the best center back at that level physically that can handle mls. Josh Torcato, who's a. Or Toquetto, I don't know how to pronounce that. 100 is a left back with the U18s and Landon Hickman, who's a 6 again, a position missing because Remara's not here, is with the first team. The player that's super, super exciting is the one that got added not for positional needs, but because it's like, holy crap, this kid can ball. Is a kid named Sam Sara, who just joined them like six months ago from BVB Dallas, the local BVB team. He's just a phenomenally talented wing nine, Brazilian American, just class player. He's a 09, he's a U16, so he's like 15 years old. He's 2009 and apparently has been looking just phenomenal in the small side of games and stuff. So there's a quick rundown of who's there and who's not there. [00:52:55] Speaker A: Very good. I know Dan went to training this week. Any other particular notes out of training that we got back from him? [00:53:03] Speaker C: Yeah, he sent me a couple of things. All reports that we're hearing from everybody is that all three of the draft picks are doing really well. Enzo Newman, who's the wing, a young wing, has looked really good. Mohamed Cset is the center back who was the third round pick, apparently looks so good, people are like, can't believe it. And then the Sam Sarver who's The senior, the 14 year player apparently is a really active, really high pressing, really defensive, like energetic thing that probably will appeal to Quill. The chances of those guys making the team are more about space than anything else. They're probably going to have to play for North Texas initially. Even if they get signed, they probably will get loaned back down. The other thing is that everyone around the team is raving about Diego Garcia, who's the kid who's come out from North Texas, 18, 19 years old. He's an eight box to box guy. Apparently he's just knocking everybody's socks off and having amazing camp, which is a fantastic because we've been talking about that kid for a couple years now and that they needed to sign him. Dan said Peter Musa looked really happy and was out there smiling and looked happy to be here. So no like moping around or looking like he didn't want to be there. [00:54:12] Speaker A: That's really good because he saw the Acosta rumor. [00:54:14] Speaker C: Yeah, maybe so maybe he's maybe, you know, I would imagine, I cannot imagine that they didn't do this, that they went in and met with him and said, hey, I know we just sold Alan, but here's our plan. Here's the kind of player we're going to get. You don't worry. I'm sure they had to have those kind of conversations with him and his agent. I guarantee it. John Gall is working with the first team as the coach. He's the North Texas coach, but he's with the first team. Quill's assistant, Matt Watson, who's from New Mexico, he's the one that kind of ran training. Most coaches since Oscar have let. Well, probably Shellis did. Didn't shell us ran his own stuff, but. But under Colin and the Oscar for sure, they usually left their first team assistant and everybody since has has to mostly run training. And that's continuing to be the case with this new Quill assistant. And the team takes off on Sunday. They're going to Algrave and they'll be at this Marabella Football center, which is nearby Benfica a little bit. And they're. And they're. They're going to spend some time at Benfica's campus too. And they might even get to scrimmage of and FICA team. [00:55:19] Speaker A: So stay out of the clubs, stay. [00:55:21] Speaker C: Out of the clubs. Hopefully nobody gets in trouble. But there's a couple of scrimmages lined up. Hopefully SC Dallas comes through and lets us watch those on stream. I don't know if they will or not, but hopefully that happens. You know, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. It's just hard to tell. [00:55:35] Speaker A: So somebody called Garrett and just tell him to hold his phone up. [00:55:38] Speaker C: Yeah, hold your phone up. Garrett. Yeah, that. Those are your. Those are Dan. Dan Crook training report right there. [00:55:45] Speaker A: All right, very good. Also, I know you're excited because there's a bunch of number changes. [00:55:50] Speaker C: You're all, yes, numbers matter. Mark one jersey, phenomenal. [00:55:55] Speaker A: Buzz's pants went crazy when he saw some of this stuff. [00:55:59] Speaker C: I'm annoyed that I predicted law school Abubakar would get the 5. I'm annoyed that Leo Chu got 7 and not Bernie. I thought Bernie deserved the 7, but they gave it to Louis. Leo Chu, that's fine. Anderson, Julio. I predicted he would be 11 and he is Shaq Moore. I predicted would be 18 and he is Pedrinho 20. I predicted that because he would. He would want to be 10. So all. [00:56:21] Speaker A: What is Romero? [00:56:23] Speaker C: Ramiro is 22, which is the number I think he wore in South America, so that's not surprising. And Collode, the new third keeper, Michael Collode come up from North Texas. He got the 30, which is the other keeper number? Dallas, the number 30 jersey with destiny. Dallas has never been worn by anything but a keeper. It's always a keeper. Usually the third keeper, but in this case, you know, Martin Paz had it last time because Jimmy did. So they've now moved paws up. So numbers for me are so much fun. I love that stuff. And the 10 is vacant. They were gonna give it to Alan, you know, so that, that would have been fun to see that happen. But now they're. They're going to hold that open for whatever comes, I'm sure in the future, so. Oh, and Delgado kept his six. Now they've signed him back. That was the. That was a given one. [00:57:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:07] Speaker C: And the kids nobody cares about, they just have whatever random sign numbers. [00:57:10] Speaker A: So Alan didn't want to be here. I'm glad they didn't give him the 10. [00:57:14] Speaker C: Yeah, he would have been, you know, that's. That's crazy. [00:57:18] Speaker A: Okay, so that's all good news. Let's see what. Now the other stuff that's just going on within the league, along with all the rules and everything. Arman has alluded to this. Like the list of players that are starting to leak into the league is pretty mind bending, to be honest with you. And while we're all sitting here really concerned about how good Dallas is going to be, everybody else seems to be making, charging their batteries. I mean, just go look at what Nico and Austin is doing. I don't know if this is smart. I don't know if this is good, but they've broken their own transfer record three times in the matter of seven days, it's looks like. [00:57:58] Speaker C: Yeah, they decided to really go for second division Spanish players and pay some money for them. The one they grabbed most recently anyway. [00:58:09] Speaker A: At least that one. [00:58:10] Speaker C: Yeah, the one. I just think it's funny because that's such a Nico signing. Yeah, they're going for it. They're doing some things. I mean, he's like Arman mentioned those other guys. The Neymar one is nuts because some people think Dallas might be in for Neymar. And I'm like, come on. Danielson destroyed the Hunt's faith in ever signing a player like that again. So Zenata does have a connection to Neymar, though. He was the one that was like the biggest factor in selling Neymar from Santos to Barcelona back in 2013 because he was running Santos then. He was sporting director at Santos. [00:58:40] Speaker B: Can you imagine Neymar? [00:58:43] Speaker C: No, I can't. That's why it's ridiculous. People are like, oh, Dallas is athletic. I should know. Neymar's not coming to Frisco. No, stop it. [00:58:51] Speaker A: Could you imagine. Could you imagine the confused looks on people's faces in Brazil if they tuned into an FC Dallas game and like the shot of the half, you know, like the half deconstructed stadium with the. [00:59:06] Speaker B: Lone construction worker watching Neymar play. [00:59:09] Speaker A: Like, what in the world. [00:59:10] Speaker C: That's the thing. Like even if Dallas was a team that did this kind of thing with the revenue problem, you're not going to do it right now, certainly. And there's, there's the value of the, of the overpay you would have to do to get. Neymar does nothing for Dallas. Like if you're enter Miami or one of the LA teams, sell more tickets. Yeah, I buy the New York maybe or Chicago, those major huge international cities. You listen, Dallas has got a whole lot of international flavor to it. A lot of it's from south of here. But the stadium, as you say, Peter, the stadium is going to be limited for the next couple of years. To me, that kind of hyper buy of a massive name like Neymar that makes even less sense than Luciano Ocaso does. There's just, to me, there's no way. I just laugh when I read this. I thought Danielson has ruined them on ever signing this ancient Brazilian, you know, mercurial kind of player who in their prime was exciting. But at this point in their stage, you wonder if he's even doing the business in the league he's in now over there. [01:00:10] Speaker A: And no, he's been hurt. [01:00:12] Speaker C: Yeah, right. [01:00:12] Speaker B: So he's barely played in two years. [01:00:15] Speaker C: So this is like, to me, this is like if you're Chicago and you really need some fire to get not just, sorry. [01:00:21] Speaker B: Wow, that was great. [01:00:22] Speaker C: That was great attention Chicago then I can buy it. [01:00:26] Speaker A: Well, yeah, they've got us. They've got an NFL stadium to fill. [01:00:29] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I don't buy that in Dallas. [01:00:31] Speaker A: No, like totally, totally. [01:00:33] Speaker B: But Peter, the names are just nuts and the money being thrown around is crazy. Like Atlanta, 20 million. What? Austin spent 10 million on Brandon Vasquez, 12 million on this guy. Etc there looks like Atlanta wants to bring in Almiron as well. Looks like Charlotte with, like I said, with Zaha. There's also some other sightings that are like 2,3 million that are popping up left and right. The amount of money and stuff being popped in into this league during this off season, it is, it's insane to me. It's just like, damn, you know what. [01:01:05] Speaker C: We'Re seeing, guys, we talked about this when Messi came to Miami. We talked about how the world, the paradigm in MLS has changed. Are you Going to keep up. Are you going to try and keep up with Miami? I know you can't get messy, but can you at least keep playing or are you. Or not? And so these money we're seeing thrown around are these teams that are trying to keep up, they're trying to get some spice, they're trying to get these. They're now knowing we got to spend, we got to spend, we got to spend. So, you know, that's one of the questions you have to add into the Dallas factor is yes, they want to go back to this DNA. Are they going to try and keep up with the spend? And I don't know, we're going to. They're going to have to show us they are or we're going to assume that they're going to go with their developmental ways that fit their coach they just hired and fit the way they do business. [01:01:54] Speaker A: It will. Look, I'm telling you, everybody just trust me when I tell you their willingness to spend will coincide directly with incoming revenue. There is the model was set when they sold Pepe and then they turned around and started spending that money. And I believe that will be followed here in the Velasco situation. They made $10 million, although really they lost money on Velasco because they paid what, eight for him and then paid several million dollars in salary. So it's, you know, it's a sunk cost kind of thing. But now they got $10 million in cash. They'll figure out a way to spend that money. But that's just how this club is always going to be operated. [01:02:34] Speaker C: Yeah. And if you look at the usual three to four year coach build cycle, right. 25, 26, 27, the stadium will be done. It'll be post World cup, maybe it's aligning with the schedule change. Maybe when all that goes through, maybe the Hunts are going to then change their fiddle. Maybe this is the maybe what's just going to get us through a couple of years with the stadium until they get to that post World cup bounce and they're going to have all this new revenue ways through the new completed stadium and all the things that are going to be around it. So, like there's, there's so many questions around this team right now. It's. It actually is fun for us. There are so many questions. [01:03:11] Speaker A: Armando, is your. Is there a favorite signing or potential signing in the league that has caught your eye that you. That you just can't get enough of? Man, I know it's not Maxi Rudy to New England. [01:03:24] Speaker B: It's No, I, that was. Yeah, that was. No, that was. [01:03:28] Speaker A: That one was funny because they photoshopped a photo and they, they photoshopped his head on the body of a guy that wears his socks all the way up over his knees. And we all know Maxi doesn't do that with his socks. [01:03:40] Speaker B: Exactly. I mean, from like, like, okay, internally, I love the Jaylen Neal thing. I love Jaylen Neil. I, I don't love him, but I like him a lot and I like the way they use them, man. I'm really. If Atlanta brings back Almiron, like, yeah, bring the, the gang back. You have Almarone, you have Saba, you have Moranchuk, the other DP they signed last year. You have Barto Schlish, Gregerson, you have this guy Matthias Klee that is on Atlanta's books for 200, 300k but technically a DP on DC's roster. Like, how is that gonna work? And they signed this guy, his name's like Latte Lith or something. I can't remember his last name from I think Middlesbrough. And like his advanced metrics look pretty crazy for a 20 million dollar transfer. Like, I, I'm really intrigued by the whole Atlanta United and like how, what they've been, what they're building towards, etc, I think it's, I know it's a very answer, but I mean I also see Almiron back, like, how is that gonna be when he's back in Atlanta if, when, if they finish the signing and go through, how is that gonna work? And how is he. How is. Are we gonna see in the Almaro magic that we saw in what, 2017, 2018 when he was on the team. [01:04:48] Speaker A: What about Chicho and Martinez in San Jose? [01:04:54] Speaker B: Yeah, it's that, that one's really. That was interesting. So I'm interested. See how they work together, right? Like Arango. I mean, speaking of that Arango deal, what it was like 700k of gamma across two years. [01:05:04] Speaker A: Yeah, they just wanted to get much. They wanted to get. That was their Jesus. [01:05:08] Speaker B: Yeah, there was like, get out. Like essentially. And I think for, for San Jose, a team, I mean, Buzz, you talk about how Dallas hasn't improved their defense. Yeah, I don't really think San Jose has improved their defense either. And they allowed the most schools in mls. They have had a couple MLS vets here and there, but nothing crazy where I'm like, okay, well whatever. But it's not. They're going to follow the Galaxy model, which is we don't care how many goals we're going to Allow we're going to score a bunch and try to match you with it with their like, crazy, like, front. Like, front line of a. Pellegrino, Espinoza, Hernan Lopez. And now you have Chicho Arongo too. It's like, like. And I mean, Lucci probably would have liked to have all those people there as well, which is. [01:05:51] Speaker A: How much did Coco Houston get for. [01:05:54] Speaker B: Coco, like 3 to 4 million. [01:05:56] Speaker A: Okay. [01:05:57] Speaker B: Is a number. [01:05:57] Speaker C: So Buzz, I would have bought that player. [01:05:59] Speaker A: Yeah. So, like, yeah, yeah. I would love to have that dude in Dallas. [01:06:05] Speaker C: I'd give you. [01:06:07] Speaker B: I don't think. I don't think he wants to stay in mls, but I don't know. [01:06:10] Speaker C: I totally buy that. I told by that. I just think, like, to me, like, I. I've been in love with that guy since he came to the league. I think he was one of the best players, if not the best player in CONCACAF last year. Oh, by the way, you guys are vastly underselling Brian Acosta to Nashville as a move this winter. [01:06:26] Speaker B: Underselling? What, like how high and shots are going to go or something? Is it going to hit somebody in the face again? [01:06:31] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm with you on. I'm with you on Almiron. The other player that I saw move that I was like, oh. Was Randall Leo. [01:06:39] Speaker B: I would have gone for nothing, too. [01:06:41] Speaker C: I know I would. That's a guy I understand he's probably tough to handle, but I would have. I would have taken a role. Especially like, once you had news that are the vibes that you might be going to lose Velasco. I think he'd have been great as a. As a stopgap or, you know, as a guy to put in that spot, you know. But maybe you get him as a Tam. Maybe he's a D.P. you know, it's like you can put him in there and then you could buy them down in a year or two if you need them, you know. [01:07:09] Speaker B: I mean, Buzz, you know how much DC Got him for, right? [01:07:11] Speaker C: Yeah. Like next to nothing. They had to. They just picked up his contract, didn't they? [01:07:15] Speaker B: No, D.C. just is. So when you go on waivers, you're still responsible for like. Like the team. So Nashville still responsible for the part of the contract that the T. So D.C. came in and said, we want to pay him like 100k. We will only take 100k of his budget charge. So he went to DC from what I. I've been reading from Stephen golf for like 100k, like nothing. [01:07:37] Speaker C: So all that hidden stuff aside his salary was only a million bucks. I would have taken him at that number because that's a number that you can right now. You could have him be a TAM player or you could have him be a dp. Like you slot him into Velasquez DP spot right now. He costs you very little. You ride them in that spot until you need that DB spot and then that's an easy TAM buy down or gambit. I use either one. And then remember they have a lot of GAM and make him a player under that limit and make him just a TAMP player. So like a player that I think would have really quickly been the right kind of fit to go inside in the. In terms of that way replacing can play on the wing but also contend both again like Velasco. A really good number. That's easy to digest. Not a bad contract for inside the league. Nashville got rid of them because they were. They were in contract hell. They were in. They were like Dallas. They had just absolutely brutal cap situation and had a gut. So that's why he was waved and out there. So like that's a player I would have grabbed too in addition to Coco, who I like even more. [01:08:36] Speaker A: See, this is where all this discussion is what makes this off season for Dallas so interesting because there's such a huge opportunity for Zenata and and co to become heroes. But there's yet maybe even a bigger possibility. They all look like ding dongs because there's so much available out on the market. They have so many things available to them in terms of money and GAM and blah blah, blah blah blah. And they got so many things to fix. If they fail to do that, it's all on them. And that's what it. We'll all be able to look back and. And give grades on. [01:09:10] Speaker C: Not to spend an analogy, but show me the money, right? Show me the. You can do it. You. You've set up to do the moves now do the moves, do the business. Let's see what you can do in terms of bringing in pieces and make this team better. [01:09:23] Speaker A: Speaking of Dallas players, one that never played for the senior team but is doing very well for himself over in the EFL in England. Charlie Kelman, who used to play for one of Dallas's ECNL. ECNL teams. [01:09:37] Speaker C: Yep. [01:09:38] Speaker A: It's been floating around England for. I think his dad was. I think he. His dad brought his family over here and his dad was a coach or something. [01:09:45] Speaker C: I think he's a scout or a. [01:09:46] Speaker A: Scout and something like that. Yeah. And then they and then Charlie went back to England and has been floating around different teams. Well he is currently for the second time playing for Leighton Orient in the league one which by the way Leighton Oren is actually owned by a DFW resident and friend of the kick around Kent Teague. They won their FA cup game over Darby this week and now have to play Man City. And the reason why I bring this up is that Charlie scored in the game, their one goal in the game and he also scored their fifth PK just before their keeper saved a one in sudden death and they won that game. So good to them and good to see a Dallas tie in the FA cup over there. [01:10:31] Speaker C: Yeah, Charlie's a 2001. He came through the FC Dallas ECNL. He's a little bit on undersized, about a 5, 9 or so but he's a 9. He's a 9 style striker. So that's the class that had Tanner Testman in it. Johan Gomez, who's Jonathan Gomez brother who is a nine and was the nine for the academy. So I couldn't tell you why a player that's playing in the third division and is owned by QPR was not in the academy. I have no idea. But that's just. I wanted to give a little bit of context about the kind of players he came through with the class he was in. And Malik Henry Scott was another nine that was in that team who we just saw as a homegrown last year and they declined his option. So those are some guys that that were in the club at that time that he was competing with. [01:11:14] Speaker A: Yeah, Kelman is having a really good season for Orient who now I think are undefeated in 11. So. And I think Kent is freaked out that they might get promoted at the championship. [01:11:24] Speaker C: So he's about 23 so yeah, very good. [01:11:28] Speaker A: Lots of crew head Botafogo is one of the other teams also coming back to the Dallas cup this year. [01:11:35] Speaker C: Yep, they, they're confirmed. They're like the fifth or sixth team now that's confirmed. So that's a really obviously fantastic Brazilian club that's. That's had a really great year. Just another nice piece for the Dallas. [01:11:45] Speaker A: Cup Supers group and they've announced a exhibition match between North Texas and the new Texoma FC. See who are playing in USL1. [01:11:55] Speaker C: Yeah, Tsoma dropped their schedule. They are in USL1 which is the same level as MLS Next Pro that North Texas SC is in. North Texas SC used to be in USL1 so those are the same level comparatively. [01:12:08] Speaker A: That's the, that's the league Quill won with the. [01:12:12] Speaker C: Quill won the championship in his. In the North Texas inaugural season in that league. So that's the level that team's going to be at. And we don't know of any players yet, but that'll be fun to, you know, see that game of supercon team. They have a supercon team where Texas. [01:12:25] Speaker B: Has, man, that crest that they have at Texoma. I love it. It's fantastic. It's. And it's like an. It's like a perfect. Very random, but like, it's like right off Sherman, right? So, like, you could go there, then go to, like, Oklahoma to a casino if you wanted to, or something like that. Do it like 30 minutes away from there. So it's like, I'm very interested to see how, like another team kind of in the area in the metro, because obviously we know about USO Garland and stuff, but another team that's going to start this year in a metroplex. How. Well, not the metroplex, but a little bit north of us. How they're going to do so. [01:12:57] Speaker C: So the real fast blurb on the logo you just mentioned is the two birds on. There are two birds that live along the Red river, basically right along where they are north and south of that. And that's kind of their area. So that's why that. I love it. [01:13:08] Speaker B: I absolutely love it. I need a jersey when they get it. [01:13:10] Speaker A: Have they revealed their kits for this year? [01:13:12] Speaker C: No, they have not. There's. There's. I think they're doing a similar deal. Well, like, if you get a season ticket, you get a jersey that kind of bit that some of those things of that level do. Apparently there's been a delay till February on the kids getting in, so they've not showed it yet. [01:13:25] Speaker A: Okay. All right. Well, wow. I jammed through a lot of stuff. Armand, you did great as a late substitute call up. [01:13:32] Speaker B: Good Lord, I feel super warmed up right now. Like, I could go play like, 90 right now or something. More like. More like 25. Like what? Like soccer, whatever. Foot City Footsall or something before I pull something and limp off. But no, thank you guys for having me on. I appreciate it. It's always your third. [01:13:52] Speaker A: Your third degrees. John Duran and Dan Crook is Ollie Watkins. He's, like, sitting on the bench staring, concerned over his position on the podcast. Richard, a stellar showing by you. [01:14:06] Speaker C: I literally tapped my right arm before I called you. [01:14:11] Speaker B: Dan. Dan is a goat man. I. Dan taught me everything I know. I can't. I. I love him to death. I'LL never. I'll never replace him. Maybe. [01:14:21] Speaker C: By the way, here's a real question. Who's gonna finish the trifecta of David lynch and Bob Uyerger? [01:14:26] Speaker A: Oh, famous deaths. [01:14:27] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a. That's gonna be a fascinating trifecta. Whoever. The third one it would be. [01:14:32] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. No doubt about it. Yeah. Too bad. All right, well, boys, well done. Thank you very much. Armand, it was great having you on again. [01:14:40] Speaker B: Awesome. Thank you, guys. [01:14:41] Speaker A: Buzzard, well done. [01:14:43] Speaker C: Thanks, man. [01:14:45] Speaker A: And thank you, FC Dallas. Curious fan. Yes. We will be back next week on another episode of third degree, the podcast. [01:14:53] Speaker C: Dan, where'd you go? [01:14:55] Speaker A: Third degree, the third degree nap podcast. Third degree, the third degree nap podcast. Third degree, the third degree n podcast. Third degree, the third degree nap podcast.