3rd Degree the Podcast #357

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Kike kayak. Kay kayak. Yeah. [00:00:15] Speaker B: Third degree. The third degree NEPA. Third degree. The third degree NEPA.$ third degree. The third degree NEP. I guess third degree. [00:00:28] Speaker A: Never again third degree now podcast. [00:00:31] Speaker B: Well, hello there, DFW soccer. Curious. Welcome to another episode of third degree the podcast. Unfortunately, Dan Crook will not be joining us today. He's a very busy man. But that does leave you, myself and your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder of thirddegree.net and the original soccer influencer himself, Buzz Carrick. Howdy, Buzz. [00:00:55] Speaker A: Hey, Peter, if you hear any birds chirping or dogs barking, it's because it's a. It's the perfect tem. 65 degrees and it's a beautiful sunny afternoon here and the windows are open. It couldn't be nicer. [00:01:07] Speaker B: Dude, you are missing out on some absolutely perfect DFW weather. It is. I mean, I know it's probably even nicer where you are, but for Dallas, we are loving life the last couple of days. [00:01:20] Speaker A: Is this the week, the one week of goodness. [00:01:22] Speaker B: And yeah, I'm sure, you know, we'll either get. The gates of hell will open up or the gates of hell for storm will happen later this week or something. [00:01:31] Speaker A: Usually Dallas cup has either horrible rain or crazy hot, you know. [00:01:35] Speaker B: Yeah, Dallas, Dallas cup got away with it. I had a little bit of rain Saturday morning, but that didn't stop them too much. So this was an unusual Dallas cup. And we'll talk more Dallas cup before the end of the episode, but we will start because it is a victory pod with football club Dallas, who went on the road to D.C. united and rocked out a 40 win, which is an unusual ending score for this team. I mean, they've. There's been games where they've scored four goals in the last several years, but I don't remember the last time they scored four goals and got a shutout. And I also want to point out, Buzz, I'm not sure which part of that result I'm more excited about, scoring four goals or getting a shout out? [00:02:23] Speaker A: Both. I mean, yeah, it's. It's a thoroughly quality performance across the board. We. I struggled to come up with a negative for my breakdown. I did, you know, you know, I, I have one sort of. I'm not going to call it negative, but it was a pl. You know, Michael Cody, who was both positive and negative. But like, that was the worst I could come up with for like the whole money, whole negative section was basically like, it wasn't anything like it was really hard to find anything to talk about that wasn't good. Like, every player was good. You could have picked like five or six different dudes from man of the Match. You know, I know which one you're gonna. You looked at me like the dog listening to you turned your heads. I know which one you're gonna bring up, but we'll get to that one, too. That even that one's still just like, you know, half and half, you know, so, yeah, it was a comprehensive, quality performance on both ends of the field. Offensive defense, both working as intended. Really good game. [00:03:18] Speaker B: Yeah, it is a fantastic result all the way around. And I will start with the Beaver, who Buzz, I just want to give you your props again. You predicted at the beginning of the season that Logan would have a breakout year, and, man, you are totally on track. He is, as he scored four goals, now two goals back to back, where he's just sweetly pillowed a ball out of the air and finished it very nicely. And, you know, everybody's talking about how he just kind of takes this ball out of the air. I don't even think that's best part of the goal. I think the best part of the goal is the fact that he has a level of maturity and forethought to take a second touch to freeze Shawn Johnson and get around him to finish a little bit more easily. I thought that was the best part of that goal on Saturday night. [00:04:04] Speaker A: Oh, it's a superb goal. And it just shows that, that quality touch. He's done twice now, so it's not a fluke, you know, and basically, like my. My take on him was back in the last season, he looked like a guy that figured out how comfortable, how to be, really comfortable. It was like, you know what? I'm good enough. I'm better than half the people I'm playing against. I'm better than all these defenders. And once you get that kind of confidence, that comfort level, I was pretty sure he was going to carry it over. Particularly when you're playing next to a guy like Peter Musa, who gets all the eyeballs. Barrington is very free and clear of attention, so that makes it even easier for him. Not that you give Musa credit for Farrington, but it's all part of it, that the pair is what's important and part of why Ferris has such a great year. But mainly it's just the confidence. Confidence is everything, man. When you feel like. When you know you can do it and you know that you're better than the guy that's covered you, you know that's when it all comes together for a kid like that. [00:04:53] Speaker B: So. And just trying to break the game apart and look, we're not being unbiased non fans if we don't at least admit. D.C. united come into this game with a bit of a mixed bag of both results and status of the season, but they also were really better at home and hadn't allowed a lot of goals at home or over the course of the season. And Dallas essentially doubled the amount of goals they had allowed. So. But they also weren't very dangerous going forward and. And Dallas really helped continue that streak for D.C. united. Okay. So anything that I have to say that may come off as negative is me super nitpicking because I do think these are the things that I think are going to separate whether or not this team is actually really good, meaning it's going to make some sort of MLS run or. Or if it's just better than the bad teams in mls. All right. So the thing that really, I'm the. The one player to me that I have been consistently. I don't know if frustrated is the right word, confused by is Kaik. [00:06:02] Speaker A: Yep. [00:06:03] Speaker B: Because Kai arrives within a level of enthusiasm and effort and oh, crap, I turned the ball over. I'm going to go get it back. Kind of energy that I really want in a player for Dallas, but I also want him just to stop turning the ball over as much as he does. Yeah, I mean, if you're. I, I just think that's something I'm a little bit concerned about with him in there versus a Capis. And I, I thought just starting there. And again, I'm nitpicking, but were you surprised that Kaik started over Capus in this game? [00:06:35] Speaker A: I was, I was. But Quill had a quote, I don't know if it was before or after where he talked about, you know, he has more than 11 players he thinks deserve to start. So I'm okay with a little bit of rotation. I'm gonna call it a little bit of mixing pieces up from time to time. You want people to feel like they have to bring it in training during the week if they're going to get into the 11. This is a good thing. You know, it's okay to. I think I, I think there's a. There's a chance Capus has been carrying a knock because there was a game he was questionable and there was a game he got subbed early and then like that. The game before this one, he did not have a great first half and he Got subbed at halftime, you know, so whether it was a little bit of a knock or whether it was like, a little bit of, like, complacency, I don't know. I'm okay with Kite getting in there. However, I'm with you. Kaik is a player that's interesting in terms. In terms of, like, the future, like, where he's going to go. You know, he's not the complete player right now. He's soccer immature. He's emotionally immature. Look, what you'd like to see, what you're talking about is more soccer maturity in terms of not turning those balls over. You love the energy. You love the. The desire to get the ball back. You want him to be more wise about how he goes about his business and. And not be a thousand percent all the time. This is the Pax and Pakov issue, partially where it's like, you got to dial it back occasionally, you know, the crazy example, of course, is they talk about how Messi walks more than anybody because he's waiting for the moment. You know, Kai doesn't need to be messy, but he needs to not be a thousand percent every second, you know, and so that's the wisdom we want to see. Now, you're hoping that. I think, as a collective, like when we talked a lot about the dudes. This is a team full of dudes. They don't have a lot of dps. Well, the dudes as a collective are all trending in positive directions. This is a good coaching you're getting from Eric. [00:08:23] Speaker B: Will, I agree. [00:08:24] Speaker A: I like where Kaik is compared to last year, I'm assuming I'm gonna really like where he is in, like, three more years, you know, so, like, frustration in the moment, but I'm okay with it because I know I could tell it's trending where I want it to trend, so I'm okay with that. I don't want him to start 34 games. You know, I want him in the mix with Romero and Capis. And as a matter of fact, if all three of those guys get to the end of the season on 22 starts each or 25 starts each instead of 34 each, that'll be a good thing. Particularly Romero, who's going to burn out. You're going to want to have to sub him some with those guys. [00:08:56] Speaker B: You know, I'm really glad you brought this aspect of this up because. And I think this applies to Delgado, too, which is a year 22 player. I mean, the money spent on Kaik, we all were like, really? That's a lot of cash for this. Such an inexperienced young guy, you know, obviously has his own pedigree and everything. But I. I do think the interesting kind of the way to look at the Delgado, Kaik kind of inconsistency, moments that are really great lot moments that aren't so great kind of back and forth that we get from both of those players is the fact that in some ways, this is exactly the kind of young player model that we want them to do with kids that come out of the academy, which is, hey, we're growing these kids. We're trying to turn them into professionals. Now, obviously, part of this is the whole component of we're a player factory store kind of thing, and we've got to, you know, turn them. We got to make them more valuable by growing them and progressing their careers. But I also think it is interesting to think that Kaik. I mean, to your point, we've watched him progress over the course of the last season and a half or whatever the time is. He's been with the club. He's a better player today than he was then. And I agree with you, Buzz. I. The more I watch him, the more I begin to go, man, if he could just kind of stay on this trajectory, Dallas will have themselves a really nice midfielder. I just don't think at this moment in time, he's the kind of guy you can depend on to. To throw out a performance that is going to help this team be competitive, at least this season. [00:10:33] Speaker A: Yeah, well, there's a lot in there. Well, sorry. Yeah, no, it's. Let me get. If I can get through all of it. The. You know, we've talked a bit about how these U22 players, in a way, they've sort of replaced a lot. Some of the minutes and some of the bodies that would have been academy guys coming through. You know, some of These buys are 20 years old, 18 years old. You have to think of them like that. They think of them like homegrowns. And so if Kaik was a homegrown, you'd be a static. We'd be ecstatic about. [00:10:56] Speaker B: Right. [00:10:57] Speaker A: His progress. Yeah, for him, I think it's okay if you. Quill's gonna have to. He's not gonna. This is not gonna be a squad where you're gonna have 11 guys with 34 starts. You know, he's got. He has a short bench. We talked about this last week. But of those short benches, he has guys like Delgado and Kaik. And hell, maybe even if you get down to Dietzen And Sarver that eventually he's going to want to try and get in games more or maybe even start. But that's about the bottom of it so far. And you. And you got San Diego Moreno coming in, which we'll talk about more later, is going to take some of those, those spots too. So maybe like, if you feel like a team like DC maybe is not as good as their points, we're telling you, or maybe you can look ahead at St. Louis this weekend, which we'll get to again later, and maybe think, you know, this is a game where I can sit cappas for a game, you know, I don't need capacities, midfield greatness, you know, and playmaking when I'm against dc, who's doesn't create a lot of goals. You know, Delgado, for me in this game is a great example of the immaturity of a player too, because I mean, that goal is stunning. Absolutely stunning goal. But so much of the rest of the game, I thought he was pretty invisible. And even like right before he got subbed, there was a run, I think. I think it was Farrington had the ball, he's going down the right side. And he kept looking, he wanted to play it to the back post. And he kept waiting and he kept waiting. He kept waiting and kept waiting. And Doug Otto was just jogging up that back side and he never, ever got into position. And the play eventually broke down and I was like, man, that was the laziest run. And then sure enough, he got subbed right like that. Quill yanked him. So again, that's the maturity player now. Delgado's 22, so you sure want to see some of that coming out of him soon or it's going to be like, you know, okay, it's not happening. You know, you can be really talented if you don't have the mental focus and will, you know, determination, you're not going to get much higher, especially in a Quill team, which is all about that desire, you know, and battle, which is something Kaik has that Quill obviously loves, is that intensity and then ever quit that dogness, as he likes to call it, you know, and. And he usually doesn't have a lot of truck for guys like they'll got it who don't go all out all the time. So that'll be something to watch as we go forward. And. And I also can't help but think that, like, if Cool's thinking the back of his head like, hey, I gotta have to figure out how to put Santi Moreno in here, maybe I better give Del gotta one last shot at a, at a start here before he loses even more playing time with, with with Moreno coming in. So it'll be interesting to see how it translates to this weekend which will come up later. [00:13:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Credit to go Delgado for obviously a really sweet free kick. [00:13:36] Speaker A: Amazing. [00:13:37] Speaker B: I don't know if DC DC's defenders could have jumped any less in the wall. That was the most half ass wall jump in the history of the sport. But he still finished it very nicely. And I was very happy for the kid because he got to celebrate. He was thoroughly excited about that. It was also unfortunate the outy field grass wouldn't afford him a knee slide. It was too dry. [00:14:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:02] Speaker B: Almost face planted. [00:14:04] Speaker A: Almost hurt himself. Yeah. [00:14:05] Speaker B: And I also want to give Delgado credit because I thought he did a lot. I mean I was, I remember thinking and watching the game on at least three, if not four different occasions going, wow, look at Delgado back in their own box defending or you know, intercepting a ball and clearing it out or doing something defensive that I just don't necessarily equate with Patrick Son. [00:14:28] Speaker A: So yeah, I mean he, he passed an 81 clip, but his heat map is like way over on the sideline all the time. And he's taken up the space where you'd want Bernie releasing from wing back. But Delgado also was 0 for 4 on crosses. He only won 50% of his duels. Zero dribbles, zero touches in the box, no key pass. [00:14:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:49] Speaker A: So like there are moments that you like and he's always had moments and that goal is amazing. But like there's also, we used to say 80% of just walking around and 20% good. Well, this may have been more like 70% walking around, 30% good. But you know, so there is a little progress there, but it still is not what you want. And I, it's not what I doubt Quill would want out of a player. [00:15:12] Speaker B: Yeah. And the Kaik situation is not dissimilar. And he passed it less than an 80% and he didn't really produce any kind of expected assists or goals. And he didn't touch the ball in the opposition. I mean you could go just go through all kinds of stats. I don't want to get make people. [00:15:29] Speaker A: And that's where Cabis comes in because Cabis leads the team and like balls into the final third and Chase is created, you know, so like I don't think unless something's going on with cabinets that we're not aware of, I don't think he'll be out that long. But again, I don't mind against the team who obviously you, when you comprehensively beat a team like this, they weren't as good as people thought they were. So CO was probably right to let Kappa sit out a game and put Kaik in there with Romero, you know, and maybe the next one he'll let Romero have a game off and cut Caps will be in there with Kaik or something perhaps. Yeah, that would be okay too. [00:15:58] Speaker B: I'm gonna go back to really early in the game because there was a moment in the game about the sixth or seventh minute and I think it was the first shot in the game and it came from D.C. it was a header by Baribo. I don't know if you noticed this, but this was maybe the one thing that tends to encapsulate Ibiaga. And what frustrates me. [00:16:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:21] Speaker B: Is I don't know if you remember this particular moment, but the ball comes in and Ibi is just, he's in the right position, but he doesn't seem to have the awareness that Buribo is about to just cut across him and put a header in on frame. And he just like he, he, he got the energy or he spent the energy and made the effort to get in the right position. But for a guy with all that experience in the league, you would think he would have the foresight to understand what was about to happen. And sure enough, Brebo got to the ball and. And Collode had a relatively easy save, but it shouldn't even gotten to that point. And the reason why I bring this up is much later in the game, Nolan Norris was almost in an identical situation and Nolan proactively cut out that opportunity and headed the ball out. And that to me is, you know, when we begin to talk about the issue at center back for this team and I know they love him in the locker room and I'm sure he's a really swell fella. That is maybe the biggest shortcoming I have about Ibiaga is his inability to recognize those moments where he tends to let the team down. [00:17:32] Speaker A: Yeah, he's a very reactive defender, you know, and his athleticism has always allowed him to be reactive. And when you're 34, your athleticism is not going to quite be the same. You know, the fact that he's so plain is because he was such a good athlete. He took such good care of his body. He's always really fit. Rarely is he hurt for long terms. You know, I don't think, I think the quality of what Norris is doing, it's not mistake free, but the quality of his game reading and the quality of his passing, you know, are good enough that I'm, I think it's time to just ride him and let Ibiaga be your guy. That will come in in this kind of scenario where, okay, we need to move Shaq more to wing back. Here's an option with ibi. Okay, that's an option. You can have that in your pocket as a way to play if you need it. But for the most part you don't want that. You're going to want Shaq. Ira getting a Norris, I think from now on, you know, you don't really have a backup right wing back right now. Newman is still building back to health. He's playing with North Texas, but he's not, you know, first team ready. Giovanni, Jesus. I mean, he might as well. I don't even know if he's officially even on the roster technically. You know, like they, they may, they may have had to use some loophole mechanic for all I know to open up his spot. And we just don't even know about it because they don't have, they're very close, closed off about this kind of information. I'd be, I'll be stunned if you ever see that guy play for the team again. So like Shaq Moore is basically your backup right wing back. So you're going to need the ability to use Ibiala as a starter, you know, maybe 10, if I gets 10 starts this year, that I'm okay with that. That's about it. I don't want him to have any more than that. I want Norris to have all the starless starts, you know, and most of the time I want Johansson at right wing back so more can play the other center back spot. [00:19:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I have to say that was one of the things that I was not prepared for is wishing not only Shaq more to go back to center back. [00:19:22] Speaker A: All right. [00:19:23] Speaker B: But also the fact that he was having the most anonymous performance at right wing back. Like I, it was. There was long stretches of games I had forgotten Shaq was even in the game at that position. [00:19:33] Speaker A: Well, I think part of his becoming a center back is that he's had to become more patient and a little more stay at home. And it's hard to turn that switch back on when you have to go play right wing back. And all of a sudden you got to be Bernie, you know, flying up the field. I don't think it'll be happening much because you Know, we've talked about Johansson. While Johansen has some defensive qualms from time to time, what he brings offensively is really nice and you know the, the. The service into the box and, and, and is he's part of why Moose and Franklin having the seasons they are. Is because of his chances created. He's creating tied with Capis. [00:20:06] Speaker B: Right. [00:20:06] Speaker A: We talked about that. So I don't think that more long run is going to be much swing backing anymore. I think the club is desperately trying to get Newman fit again. You know, they're. Matter of fact we'll. We'll talk about what happened with North Texas later with him and you'll see what I mean about. They're almost forcing him to get fit as fast as possible because they know they need somebody over there on the bench to play right wing back from time to time. So, you know, there's not really a left wing back backup either. Tocato's down there. North Texas looking good, but he's not getting making the bench either. So some weirdness at the outside spots so far closest happening is regular old wings in that spot which isn't actually ideal. So you know, there are still some fragility in what, what Dallas is doing, what Quill's doing that could go wrong. And all of a sudden Abubakar is playing 25 games. You know, if, if something goes wrong, wrong, wrong. [00:20:58] Speaker B: Oh God, please. [00:20:58] Speaker A: That would be really bad. That would really derail your season if that. If that happened. [00:21:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. You mentioned Cody earlier and this, this is a weird little trend of. I don't want to call it brain farts. You called it yips. [00:21:14] Speaker A: It's not quite the yips, but everyone knew what I meant. Yeah, yeah. [00:21:17] Speaker B: You know, the obviously the arrogance Houston and then the really weird moment. And this was the thing that. It wasn't the, the, the bad pass that bothered me as much. It was the moment in the game and the, and the commentators really went after him for this where he was like running out into space trying to collect a ball that he had no business doing and then trying to chase a defend an attacker down and almost getting in a bad situation for a penalty, some of that stuff. And I, you know, I'm curious if he's just thinking he needs to do more or is this just a young guy trying to, you know. [00:21:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:54] Speaker B: You know what I mean? [00:21:55] Speaker A: Well, one of DC Strength I think is in the air set pieces, you know, so he probably was really focusing on punching out and not letting crosses come in, especially because he has IB in there, you know, who, while he's tall, is not necessarily a great header of. Of crosses out. He does get some, but he's not, as you mentioned, sometimes he's passive about it and the guy beats him to it, you know. So Cody is just young and inexperienced at the pro level and ever since he had the bad pass against Houston, he's a little nervous. Like the one against Houston. I'm pretty sure he just couldn't see the guy. But, you know, since then he's a little more nervous about with the ball at his feet. He's a little bit. His body language has not been awesome. His confidence has not been awesome since then. And it was on display a little bit in this game too. He's just a little nervous when the ball's coming to him at his feet or looks a little nervous in his decision making. Now, I have great confidence in Drew Keyshawn, the FCL's goalkeeper coach. He's one of the best there is. So I'm sure he'll get Claudia feeling good about himself and get him going and it'll be all well, but that, you know, again, we're talking about a guy who had a clean sheet and a four saves. You know, it's like, it's not. It's a good performance, but, you know, like we're. We're looking for little things to sort of give us talking points to discuss. And one of them is CL is a little bit off his game mentally, I think since he had that gaff against Houston. [00:23:11] Speaker B: I thought, or obviously ure had an amazing game. [00:23:14] Speaker A: Oh, he was huge. [00:23:15] Speaker B: Yeah, he was. His continues to be super solid and credit to the front office for finding him and getting him in here in the first place. Please go find his tour twin. [00:23:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:25] Speaker B: I was also really impressed by Romero's game. I thought Romero had a really solid performance and kind of the thing that you need out of that guy. [00:23:32] Speaker A: Yeah, that might have been one of his best games actually for FC Dallas. I thought you're really good. [00:23:36] Speaker B: I thought he was really solid. You know, Bernie is a mixed bag from game to game and this isn't much difference. But what I will say about Bernie that I have noticed this season is while it's not every time he tries it, Bernie's ability to put in a really sweet ropey cross has really improved of late. Unfortunately for him, more times than not, there's nobody anywhere near where he's putting it. But they're. They're generally in pretty good spaces and they're really well Paced and they're not the floaty kind, they're the kind of ropey one that you want more direct. They're really dangerous and I, I appreciate that out of Bernie. [00:24:17] Speaker A: Well, you know, having a lefty left wing back that's probably his best trade is going to be that whipped in crossroom over there. You know, you're not going to get the drive inside and get the switch foot shot out of him from that spot because he's left footed but right like you would like you do when you're on the right. But I think he's a much better player on the left than the right because of that. His, his ability to get past the defender and get a ball in. There's not a lot of guys that have that pace on that cross combination, you know, so it's a, it's a nice tool to have when you have two relatively big strikers, you know, both well over six feet, you know, and both capable of getting on the end of strike crosses with the head or the foot, you know. Now neither one of them is blistering like maybe dirt. Bernie is to pull back a little bit because neither one of those guys is a track star. But if you give them a chance to get up there and get the box, you're going to have a good chance if you get that ball in. So, yeah, you know, I'll give Bernie credit for that. And you're right about Irigidi, but he has 17 defensive contributions. I mean, that's just a monster game. He was 8 for 11 on duels. I mean, just phenomenal. Yep. [00:25:15] Speaker B: Yeah, he's one of the best they've signed in quite some time. And you know, I know everybody has their eye on Musa in terms of worrying that about getting pinched. I, I just, I also wonder if maybe Ure is one of those guys that the better he performs, the better the odds are that somebody's going to come along from, you know, back in France or wherever and go, hey, we'd like to talk to you about him, especially because of the potential of profit that the team could face because they got him for so little versus what they potentially could sell him for. [00:25:46] Speaker A: And he can get forward and get a goal on a set play too, as you saw in this game, you know, or, or play in the box. And he had more touches in the box than Delgado did. So, like, you know, the, the thing about him, I think that holds him back a little bit in terms of his European, European interest, probably is the aggressiveness that he has when he goes forward. You know, and he sort of will abandon everything and just go bombing like a buccaneer. And sometimes that's a little much. It's like just bring it back a little bit. Just bring it back a little bit. But you know, set plays. I love it. You know, he. He has some of that scrappiness in the box too, that get. Dallas got a bunch of those dudes who will fly in and get a foot on a ball. And they're not always forward. Sometimes they're center backs. You know, it's part of the nature of the players that Quill has been picking out and keeping and playing, you know. [00:26:32] Speaker B: Oh, you know, speaking of midfields. And this is a byproduct of us just being around for a long time and the Dallas Academy being as good as it has been historically is these. Now we're in this point where we. It's not uncommon for Dallas to have to face off against one of its old academy products. And here is Brandon Servania, who hadn't seen in quite some time, but he's pretty much the same. Exactly the same player he was when Dallas. [00:27:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:02] Speaker B: Let him go. [00:27:03] Speaker A: Just kind of feels fill space on the field, you know, doesn't make any catastrophic mistakes, but doesn't really light anybody up either. [00:27:09] Speaker B: He's kind of a dude. [00:27:10] Speaker A: Yeah, he's just a dude. Just a mosque dude. [00:27:12] Speaker B: Well, I was watching him and I was thinking to myself, would I rather have Brandon Cervania than any of these other guys that Dallas has in the midfield right now? [00:27:20] Speaker A: No. I'd take Surreal back though. [00:27:24] Speaker B: Different questions. Oh, yeah. 100 Surya could be the six that this team's needs. [00:27:29] Speaker A: You wouldn't have needed Romero if you'd have kept surreal, right? [00:27:31] Speaker B: 100 I completely agree with you on that. [00:27:34] Speaker A: Locker room. Back to side on Romero. But you know, Evelyn's a quiet kid, but yeah, he's turning what Jordan Stone could have been. [00:27:40] Speaker B: He's the modern day Daniel Hernandez. [00:27:43] Speaker A: No Daniel Raising. [00:27:47] Speaker B: Oh, come on. Edwin. Edwin's got that nasty little bit. [00:27:51] Speaker A: But he's not. [00:27:52] Speaker B: No, he's not. But that's why I'm saying he's the modern day Daniel Hernandez. [00:27:56] Speaker A: Yeah. If you. If you combine Chad Deering with. With surreal, you would get Daniel Hernandez. Not too fast and willing to rip your head off physically and verbally. [00:28:11] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it was weird to see that. I also thought seeing Lucas Bartlett look even older than. Like, I didn't even recognize him. But I, you know, it's like he was old when the team drafted him and now he Looks like he's almost 40. And then I also felt bad for him because he, he lightly grabbed Ramiro's arm and Ramiro went down like he'd been shot in the head. And that led to the Delgado. [00:28:37] Speaker A: Well, that was the thing we said about when bother when he got picked. This is. I don't care how good he is. He's 25 already. You should be 22 coming out of college. It's like half his career is over and he's just now coming out of college. You know, the chances he's going to play much past 30 are slim. So like. [00:28:53] Speaker B: Yeah, well, he's put together a pretty [00:28:54] Speaker A: decent little MLS career though, you know, two years, three. So that's it. He's almost done. Yeah, that'd be 29. [00:29:01] Speaker B: All right, back to the good guys. And then weirdly, at the end of the game with a three goal lead. Not weirdly, but maybe I was pleased to see this. Quill makes a triple substitution, throwing on Benjamin Sam Sarver, who we hadn't seen in a while. And then the debut of Santiago Moreno to the team. I, you were, I thought I saw you tweet something like, oh, this is going to be really interesting or good. I just, I mean, I saw the one little sweet little pass he made in the box. [00:29:33] Speaker A: Dude. [00:29:33] Speaker B: But I'm curious what you saw in five minutes that got your buzz pants going crazy. [00:29:40] Speaker A: Yeah, like every touch he would like, he would take a touch and then he would go take a little move and he would be by a guy, it was like. Or he would open up a shot or like, it was just ridiculous. In 5 minutes he had an XG of.06. In 5 minutes, 5 minutes. [00:30:00] Speaker B: Did he shoot? [00:30:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And he had a point to assist. G X assist. [00:30:06] Speaker B: Man, I must have, I must have, I must have stopped paying attention at that point because I don't remember him shooting. I remember the little, I remember the little cheeky pass from the top of the box to try to get it to Musa where he kind of like cry of past it or something. That's not the right term, but you know what I mean. [00:30:20] Speaker A: Yeah, I know what you mean. [00:30:22] Speaker B: It was a no look pass. Let me put it that way. Yeah, that was nice. [00:30:26] Speaker A: It's just every time the ball came near him, you know, Perhaps, you know, DC's tired, they're not really trying, whatever. Like every time the ball got at his feet, like danger happened and they were falling apart. So like, you know, it's not definitive, it's just five minutes, but it's like five minutes. That made me go, holy crap. You know, like, so how many times have we seen Dallas sign a player and they come into the game and you're like, yeah, all right. I guess this guy came in the game and I went, oh, wow. You know, it's not like I didn't know who he was, but like, you know, it just makes me really excited that like they actually might have signed another player who's going to be really useful, especially because I only think of him as like a wing. I don't think of him as like a 10. And he was super dangerous in there. So in five minutes. [00:31:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think that's the part that I'm most interested in is can they, I mean, for a guy who in his profile and in his playing history hasn't played centrally a lot, is that a guy, can they convert him into that position? Which isn't the easiest thing to do, especially when they're so used to playing out wide and the, and kind of the advantages or, or differences that affords a player versus the pressure of playing in the center. [00:31:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't know. But like, that's the thing is like in there, he only had five passes in that five minutes, but it was 100% passing, right? He had two shots, both on target, he had a key pass and he had that 06XG and the 02XA in just five minutes, you know, so it's like everything in five touches. Basically he was, yeah, I'll have to [00:31:54] Speaker B: go back and re watch the last five minutes because I, I, I didn't, I didn't pick up on that. But I also have to admit I probably had stopped paying attention because the team was up five or three, nothing at that point. [00:32:05] Speaker A: I mean, basically at that point I'm like, you know what, that, that's an amazing looking five minutes. I want to see more of that. How real is that? Right? That's why, that's why it's interesting. It's like, okay, no, no, give me more of that. Let's see, is that as real? Is that going to translate over time? Like again, part of it is you got really good guys in front of you, but like if you compare that five minutes to what you got out of Delgado for the other 80 minutes or the Delgado was in there, you're like, oh, the Delgado's goal again. [00:32:30] Speaker B: But he, but he doesn't have better players in front of him. I mean, he should, he should be playing that position that Delgado has been playing or Valiente's been playing. [00:32:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, on the pitch, in front of him. I don't mean in a lot. [00:32:42] Speaker B: Oh, you mean positionally, like Musa and Farrington. Okay. [00:32:45] Speaker A: Yeah, still in there. I don't think Farrington had. Maybe he went in for Farington. I can't remember exactly. But, like, you know, granted, again, you're up for nothing. You have to take some of it with a grain of salt. But, like, think about, think about how we. How Val, Valiente and Benyamin have looked since they've come in, and their minutes they had. Compare that to the impression that Moreno made. You know, it took Valiente like three games and all of a sudden we go, oh, there's a couple things. That was nice. Ben Yamin, like, other than the energy, we've seen nothing. Granted, he's 20. [00:33:13] Speaker B: I've seen him turn the ball over a lot. [00:33:15] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, so again, like, Again, Ben means 20. You gotta think of him like a homegrown. Think of him like you would when Thomas Roberts first came out of the academy. The same kind of. Well, not the same kind of player. But think of him when Edwin or Cereal came out of the academy, like, what were you waiting. What were we gonna see? You know, so. But rain was coming in 24, 25. Whatever he is, you know, the hype, the hype is there. Like, oh, my gosh, did they just spend four, have $5 million on a DP? That's like, that wasn't even playing. Like, what are we getting? Oh, nice. You know what I mean? So, yeah, that's why it was exciting. Was like, okay, let's see more of this. Is this real? Because we've talked about, like, right now Dallas is in sixth place. And my prediction, the game of the year was going to be four to six. Right. That's what we. That's what I talked about. Okay. Can one player make you challenge lafc, who is yet to lose the game? No. But if you want to climb, if you want to compete with Seattle, Salt Lake, San Jose for that next group of four to five at the top of the Western Conference, Moreno is going to hit, is going to need to hit to do that. So that's why it's exciting. Okay. [00:34:19] Speaker B: Yeah. And I. Okay. And I don't want to. Now, I'm going to do this out of order because I was going to talk about this later, but since you've already started that. [00:34:26] Speaker A: Okay. [00:34:27] Speaker B: How much of that enthusiasm do you have? Is. Do you have the sale of Musa built in to that enthusiasm? [00:34:38] Speaker A: No, I. I don't yeah, yeah. Because we talked about the. I remember I predicted he would be sold at mid season and the reason that was so Musa. I'm sorry, why I said Farrington was going to be at the team MVP because Musa would be gone and Farrington would be the lone striker, you know. So like that. That was. If you remember my prediction, my 4 to 6 prediction was based on them getting a legit 10. And so that's like they're already there without the 10 and now they've got Moreno coming in and they've handed them 10 jersey. So like if, if, if this, if this what. What I saw in this very, very limited amount of time, it's. It all translates to the course the rest of the season, then I think you have a very nice player and even if you lose Musa, you could still sort of hold this position and you can be a team that maybe can get a home advantage in the playoffs. Perhaps. Yeah, you can't nowhere near being able to challenge Vancouver lafc, but you got another really nice piece, you know. Yeah. And that they continue to add these nice pieces. Like the, the pieces that are pissing me off are these U22s that are useless or these bottom of the roster signings that are useless that are taking away all these minutes for these homegrowns. You look at Peter Musa, you look at Capis, you look at Johan Johansson, looks good, you know, ir, we've talked about how great he is. The top of the roster signings are looking pretty good over the last couple years. If this is another one of those that turns out to be legit. Because think about how many people were like, why in the world would you get set? Jack Morano back, he. He already forced his way out of MLS once. That guy's a head case. Nobody wants that guy. And we're probably all snake bit because of Lucho Acosta. So you know, what's Vicente Rhino going to do? Oh, look pretty good for five minutes. It just made me excited. [00:36:12] Speaker B: Okay, it's five minutes. [00:36:14] Speaker A: So I know against this United too, and it was the four. Nothing. I'm just saying like when these rays of positivity come along, you have to sort of embrace them around them. And it's part of it too is like as we said, the whole collective of dudes feels like it's moving in a positive direction. So props for that. If Moreno looks as good, turns out to be anywhere near as he looked good as he looked for five minutes, it's gonna be a really nice signing. [00:36:37] Speaker B: So yeah, I Think that's what's interesting about this season is just kind of sitting back and taking an account of where the team is after I'm trying to figure out how many games they're into this thing. [00:36:49] Speaker A: Now hold on a second, I'm going [00:36:51] Speaker B: to look at the table. What are they six games in? Yeah. So, you know, after six games, the fact that they've only lost one game I think is really impressive and they've gotten some results through a stretch of games that I, if I remember correctly, we're all like, oh man, this is a murderer's road. [00:37:11] Speaker A: Nash View, Nashville, LAFC and San Diego are all elites of this league. [00:37:16] Speaker B: Right. [00:37:16] Speaker A: Right. [00:37:17] Speaker B: So the fact that they made it through that without getting murdered and after six games, being in sixth place and kind of being competitive on a week in and week out basis, I, I, where I'm going with this is just kind of is has this so far tracked as you anticipated, Buzz, or is there something about what you've seen related to the comments you were making a second ago that have your attitude about the team feeling better than you anticipated? [00:37:46] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I think they're Remember Quill talks a lot about how they needed to pile up points before the World Cup. Sure. You know, and I was worried with a relatively tough schedule and the fact that they didn't have the, their second DP yet and it, and from all talk from the club, they were going to go ahead and wait. They were going to sit on that DP until after the World cup and then Moreno sort of fell out of the air and landed in their lap and they're like sweet, you know, so awesome. Because that wasn't, that obviously wasn't in the cards. So like where I, where I am in terms of this season is I was expecting them to be a little worse than they are right now. And I, and I really like that everything's trending in a positive direction and they're getting good results, particularly better results at home. That makes you feel good about the direction of the team and how they are going to get these points before the World Cup. And then they added a 10 that earlier than I expected, which actually may end up helping them even more before the World cup because now you're going to have him for April, May, April, May. Before you have to shut it down. Right. So that's a month, a month and a half, two months almost. You're going to have him where you can like continue to trial, pile up points and put yourself in a good position. So like I feel like Right now, the team is really trending across the board in a really positive direction. There are a couple things that concern me, like the short, short bench, but Moreno will help that. You know, I'm afraid the World cup actually is going to give them a nice rest in the middle of the season. So maybe that short bench is okay a little bit when you're going to have, like, this month and a half off, you know, So I feel really positive about the direction. And then I just get excited about Moreno because I was worried like everybody else was, does this guy even want to be here, really? Or is he just doing this to get paid? And he looked pretty good. So, like, okay, if they can actually take a step forward now instead of wage after the World cup, then maybe they really can pile up the points like we've talked about. You know, the next stretch is not easy. Like, they got St. Louis in the Galaxy, but then you got Red Bull, who looks a lot better under Bradley Rail. Salt Lakes, very good. Vancouver's very good. San Jose is very good. So, like, you got a couple of tough ones again. And then you finish with Portland. Sorry. With Colorado, which is a nice. Which is terrible, you know, right before the World Cup. So, you know, there's. There's some chance to. I mean, I say Colorado's terrible. They're only, like two points behind Dallas. So, like, you have a. You have a little bit of a chance here to get a few more points, and then you get another tough run. And if you could come through all this in a good position, this top third of the Western Conference, and they get to feel really good about the direction your season's going. [00:40:22] Speaker B: Yeah. And just to kind of paint this picture for everybody, there are nine games left before the World cup break. And as Buzz mentioned, Dallas has St. Louis in town this week, and then they have a week off, and then they have to go. And then they host the galaxy on the 18th, and then they host the Minute, the Wild. They. They host Minnesota on Wednesday. So that's a two games in a week. Then they turn around and they got a game again in three days in Seattle. Then they've got to travel all the way across the country and go play in New York on the second, come back seven days later, host Real Salt Lake, then host Vancouver a few days later, which is another one of these two games in a week situations before finishing up three days later playing in San Jose and then finishing up for the break in Colorado. [00:41:17] Speaker A: Thankfully, you know, the. The. The Seattle to New York trip is about seven days Apart so they actually can come a little bit, you know. But yeah, like, so again, it's, it's not an easy stretch and this is where you need to be piling up your points as Quill talked about. Right. Because after the World cup you got a really stretch. You got a really tough stretch of nine road games in league play, plus a couple of road games in, in league cup. So I think that makes 11 straight. I mean they're count one of the league's cup games. They're listing it is home, but it can't be at Toyota Stadium. So like it's not really at home. So you have like 11 road games. Well, this is a pretty good road team, you know, relatively speaking, Quills, dogs and all that stuff. But that doesn't make it easy. That doesn't mean you're going to pile up points, you know. And I actually didn't hear what you [00:42:07] Speaker B: said because I was, I said please don't say dogs. [00:42:09] Speaker A: Yeah, Squills, dogs, you know, dogs, you know, so that, that's, that's the concern is like that you could come out of the World cup and maybe you're selling Musa and all of a sudden I was like, oh, crap. And, and the thing just falls apart. You hope not, you know, and so like that's why when, when, when you add a DP and the first viewing of the DP is positive and not like, well, you know, it makes me really excited about the chance for a run, you know. [00:42:39] Speaker B: Yeah. In, in this setup. The other part of this to consider is that of the two periods of time where they got three day, three games in seven days, the first two games in both those sets are home games. So hosting Galaxy, hosting Minnesota, then traveling to Seattle and then the next one is hosting Salt Lake, hosting Vancouver and then traveling to San Jose. So that's advantage too. [00:43:00] Speaker A: Yeah, that amount of home games is exactly why you got to pilot points. [00:43:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Five of the, five of the nine before the break or remaining are home games. [00:43:08] Speaker A: And then you come out with a nine on the road and that's where like, you know, the nine on the road is going to make or break your season. Right. Like you could get a lot of points before the thing, but if you come out and go, you know, oh, oh, and 11, whatever. [00:43:23] Speaker B: But I would say you can sustain a much more diffuser you a much worse run in those nine road games if you really pile. I mean, that's part of the problem. They've already dropped points at home earlier in the season that we really wish they hadn't, they, they didn't. I mean some of those draws we, a couple of weeks ago, we're like, man, that, that's. You can't afford to be dropping four points over two games and that's what's going to have to happen here. Man, if they're going to play five home games in the next nine, they've got to win the majority of those games so that they can sustain especially a new Petter Musa less team. Assuming that happens because I mean it's already going to be a difficult stretch with him, without him, and it's kind of a new look team because here's the other part of this buzz I'm making. I'm working to the assumption that if Peter Musa gets sold, not only does the team look different because they don't have their goal scorer, their best goal scorer, they're probably going to. Aren't that. Am I correct to saying he's probably going to start playing a different formation or some new variation of what they're doing now? [00:44:23] Speaker A: I would expect you would see more of that 3, 4, 3 with those 2, 2 tens underneath. You know, Farrington is the high and then it would be Moreno and somebody else underneath because he's not going to want to give up the back, back five. That's going to be really important, you know, but we can burn that bridge when we get there with Musa, you know, when you come out of the back of that road trip, I think it's eight home games out of the last and then four road games out of the last, you know, stretch from September on. So like you have a pile of home games at the front, you have a pile of home games at the back, which is why you want to get this great start so that you can then, then feel good about yourself going into that road stretch and hopefully you can, you know, for the good of the fans and the good of winning games. Hopefully they can keep Moussa, but you can't stand in his way. If somebody comes in and throws down 20 million, yeah, he's going to be gone. You know, you can't begrudge the guy that. So I think it's a longer discussion to have if, when it actually happens. But one of the reasons I think, I actually think that they, them moving on Moreno now tells you that they're anticipating that the likelihood of that happening because like, remember like three weeks ago the talk was all like, you know, we're just gonna wait and we'll find a DP after the World cup in the next window. Because the next windows when all these players are available. So when the market's gonna be huge to be after the World cup, everyone's gonna be moving. All that talk, right? The minute somebody from this, they said, hey, you guys want Javier? And I'm sorry, Santiago. I mean, right, Santiago Moreno back. And you can just keep that 4 million. We'll just keep the 4 million that we get. We're going to give you for Lucho Casa and you can have Moreno. And they were like, oh, yeah, let's do that. So, you know, I think that shows you that they probably still are thinking we're going to sell Musa. And so we're still going to have to go get another DP in the next window. Maybe it'll be a slightly different kind of dp. You know, we'll see what happens. But I tell you one thing, it's like there's going to be some chaos to this season because of this weird schedule, because of the World cup, because of the fact that you might need to sell a dp. Like, there's going to be some weirdness this season, and it'll be up to Quill to coach his way through it. You know, there's been some moments here and there that have occasionally had a little bit of stumbles, but for the most part, like we opened the show with, if you're really good about the collective group and the direction that's moving, [00:46:37] Speaker B: you know, it all feels pretty positive, I would say. I was going to ask you this question after six games. Games. Is there any aspect of the season that is the most pleasant, like the pleasant surprise of the season? For me, it's that Quill seems to have successfully created this group, a team that is the sum of its parts kind of model, which I really, really like in a, in a soccer team, they're not just one guy. They. They really are a collective and they seem to be willing to fight and fight back. And I like that about them. So, yeah, and all of those things are directly related to Eric Quill, which, you know, we all had tons of questions about when he took this job and whether or not hiring another super inexperienced guy was the right move. But in credit to Eric, he, as much as I don't like the hat, you know, I'll forgive that if they keep winning, they keep winning games. [00:47:33] Speaker A: I thought it was the right move. Remember, you saw it. I remember telling you that. [00:47:36] Speaker B: Yes. [00:47:37] Speaker A: Yeah. The, the thing I think I like the best is that he's. And this is something I've hearked about for years is play the way you play and make the other team adapt to you. And Quill's team plays the same way. Even if he changes the, the formation slightly or changes the personnel slightly, they still play the same way. They don't change the tactic. They maybe add a little press component, they maybe bring in an extra mid take off a striker. But otherwise like the intensity is there, the style doesn't change. They don't try and out ticky tack somebody, you know, they don't try and seek great possession against teams. That's not what they're about. [00:48:13] Speaker B: Right. [00:48:13] Speaker A: They play the same way all the time and I think that's good. I like that. [00:48:17] Speaker B: Well, St. Louis is up next. Buzz, would you anticipate or foresee any lineup changes after a 4, 0 win? [00:48:28] Speaker A: Yeah, I think you do. St. Louis is not great. They, they, they're 13 and 1, which is in the last five, which is a lot of losses. But they do have four points in the last two, a win in a tie. But they really struggle to score goals. They had, they had a tie on the road like at one point at New York City this last weekend. That was their first road point. So they're not great on the road. [00:48:57] Speaker B: They're the lowest scoring team in the west. [00:48:59] Speaker A: They're very low scoring team. They're pretty stingy. They're like a top 10 defensive team. They don't allow a lot of goals, but they're not one of the best defensive teams. They're just pretty good at defense. So is Dallas for that matter. You know, Eldaman in the field. Midfield looks pretty good. They have Chris Durkin in there. I'm not a fan of Chris Durkin at all. The German Marcel Hartel leads them with two goals. They're not very prolific so like you have to look at them as like, okay, if I know my next stretch coming up is going to be, you know, the Galaxy who can be dangerous and then Minnesota and Seattle and New York, also like Vancouver. That's a tough stretch coming up. I may need like my very first, my first 11, unquestionably first 11 every game in through there or maybe with a little tweak here and there. So maybe you don't want to go necessarily 100% with your top 11 against St. Louis. Maybe you can let Romero have a game off and go back to like a Kappas kaik in the midfield, you know, or bring your handsome back. And I don't know who else you would rest other than maybe you could, you could Consider bringing Moreno in right away. Let him start, let him see how that goes. Because that way you can always bring somebody else in if it's not going really well right out of the gate. You know, has he been in camp enough? How fit is he? That's the questions. We don't know. How fit is he coming up from Fluminesa, you know, is he game sharp, ready to go? More than likely. He probably would only get might get bottom up to like 30 minutes off the bench instead of a start. But when you got a dp, you're paying a lot of money, you better someone's just like, you know what, get him in there. So I, I could anticipate some changes maybe like a maybe instead of you, you could go to the 343 and bring him Valiente in and put Moreno with him underneath a Musa or underneath the Fairington if you wanted to, you know, something like that. Perhaps. Or maybe you could bring Valiant back in and then, and then do what you did this last time and bring Moreno in for one of your forwards and go more of a 10 that way like so there's some options there and I think this would be a good game to do a little bit of that and, and in particular maybe give Ramiro the game off would be probably my suggestion. [00:50:59] Speaker B: You know what else we're going to get Saturday? [00:51:02] Speaker A: The awful gold St. Louis jerseys. [00:51:04] Speaker B: Well, I was going to say the worst versus the best new MLS K kits in the league. Dallas's DNA kit versus the awful Tina Turner tribute kit. [00:51:15] Speaker A: Poor team dog puke. Pick it. [00:51:17] Speaker B: Yeah, that thing is not good. So that'll be a visual feast for everybody on Saturday night up at Toyota Stadium. Yeah, so yeah, that's not a good looking jersey. Good stuff all the way around. All right, very good. Nice review. Let's move on. North Texas had a big win themselves. They've been needing this for a while, Buzz. [00:51:38] Speaker A: Yeah, they clobbered Salt Lake City 2 who's, excuse me, sporting Kansas City 2. The other excuse who's not good. And the funny thing is they get them again on Friday. They got back to back against oh wow, SKC2. So those guys got to come down here and play in Arlington against the same group. Interestingly enough, they still play in a 34 3. Which how you know, which I you know. And part of that is still part of Quill's package that they're playing this 343 and they, they made Enzo Newman who we've talked about, how they're trying to push him quickly to get fit. They made him play right center back. So like he needs to play the whole game as much as possible. Put him in. I don't care where you put him. Put him on the field. He's running around. So that was weird. And they had. How do you do, you know, I mean they won 4 to 1, so he was fine. Ricky Lewis played wing back, you know, Torcado played the other wing back and looked really good. My dude Swan is terrific. You know, if they didn't have these 18 U22 Central Mid Swan would probably be on the bench all the time with SE Dallas and getting minutes. He's doing really well. Their. Their guy. Nice. The guy that's from the Belgium kid out of college scored again. So he's now got five goals as a 10. You know, I don't, I don't know if there's enough there to get to mls, but there's definitely enough that he could. I already think he can go USL championship at some point, which will be interesting to see how that plays out for him. One of the things that we talked about, predicted, we predicted would happen this season is that they're going in North Texas with an older team than in the past. Like pretty much the whole 11 is guys that are either signed as pros and or their homegrowns. Like half of the starting 11 were homegrowns or first team roster players like Lewis coming down, you know, or, or Natty James, the guy that they've sided from. Is it a teen here? Jamaica. I'm. I'm a jerk. I don't remember which one it is, you know, who's 23 or 4, you know, so whatever he is. So like there's just an older team that we've seen before. Not a lot of foreign guys, but just one or two, but older. Not a lot of like no academy kids started. They had, they had three or four off the bench who got in at the very end of the game. Flowers again, who's the 14 year old and my guy Sam today, who's the Brazilian kid who's a 16 that I really like. Christian Wigant got in, who's a 17 year old right back. I think it's quite quality. So. But the bulk of the roster is a bit older. So they should be winning these games. They should be at the top of the standings. Their focus is still on winning in North Texas a lot more than I might like. But at the same time they've signed too many players. You know, they have these. The roster really has like 35 players on it because they have these homegrowns that aren't really on FCL's roster. So those guys all need to be playing and they are. So that's part of the development squad is some of these players that they have that are gas or whatever else are getting a lot of playing time and that's okay. You know, maybe I'd like to see a little more academy than they have, but they're not doing that, so is what it is. [00:54:40] Speaker B: All right, very good. And then Dallas Trinity Pegasus got a big win over the weekend over Spokane. [00:54:47] Speaker A: Yeah, three one over Spokane, who mainly is not great but that, that solidified fourth place. Trinity is now six points ahead of the fifth place team which is pretty good. Pretty solid. Misimo actually looked better, better than she's looked in a while. So that's trending in a positive direction. The Stain break their new AD look really good. You know the. If Trinity has possession, they're really, really talented. They get beat if they get turned over. They're not very good at transition defense. So the way to beat them is to turn them over and get at them fast with pace because they're, they're not really good at one on one marking like on the outside. And you could split their center backs with pegs too. So they, Spokane let them have too much of the ball and they were doing really well and that's why Mismo looked better. Ubagago looked good as she always does. Lancaster looked pretty good. Most importantly, the newest player that they just bought a player. Peter, you might not be aware of this, they just bought a player from other team in the league. Yes, very European. Jasmine Hamid, who's Bill Hamid's sister. They just are like, here's a chunk of money, give us that player. It was the last place team was like, sure, we'll take the money. So don't, don't know how much, but she came in, looked really sharp. It was just about as exciting as Moreno where she came in and was like, oh, what an exciting player. [00:55:58] Speaker B: We'll play. What, what position is she split play. [00:56:01] Speaker A: She's a winger. She's a wingers, but she scores a lot of goals and assists for them. Basically. Like you may not remember, but they had a bolt, the right winger that was on loan and went back to the NWSL and they, they were missing her pace and verticality and ability to get behind people. Lancaster's a nice player over on that side, but doesn't play the same way. Lancaster is really better as an off Striker like a Christ type thing. And so Hamid is this kind of legit like right winger. They can balance out uber gogu on the left and give them a better balance up front. They have the same problem with Dallas Will do. It'll have more players that are quality than they have spots. But that's for the coach to work out, so. But she looked really nice, really quality signing, really good addition. It's not like she came in out of nowhere. I mean she's been playing the whole season for Fort Lauderdale so she's fit and ready to go. So it was good to see her come in and look pretty sharp. So the, the, the three or four or five signings they've made over the last month and a half have all worked out pretty much. So they've rided their ship a little bit. They're moving in a good direction. [00:57:00] Speaker B: Well, good for them. Nice to see them get a win. All right. Nothing Atletico or Rodeo or anybody else to talk about, but we will finish up with a bit of Dallas Cup. So big surprise last night. Philly ended up beating but a fogo on pks. Philly was really good through the tournament. You know, I. They clearly have taken over Dallas and, and, and Dallas has fallen down in terms of the best quality academy in the league. I don't even know if Dallas is second anymore. But Philly clearly is the bell of the ball, huh? [00:57:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And credit to them. And by the way, congratulations to Jet Harrison who's from here, plays for Philadelphia. He was, he was with DKFC up until like two months ago. He just moved to Philadelphia Unions Academy. But he won Dallas cup with DKC last year in the U16 teen group. And now he plays up with Philly and they won the super group with him as a six. Good player. [00:57:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Anytime you beat a Brazilian club in the super group, that's a big achievement. There haven't been a many American teams that have won super three. [00:58:04] Speaker A: Three. [00:58:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:05] Speaker A: So Dallas Texans in 2006 and FC Dallas in 2017. Those two. [00:58:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Good stuff. And then Buzz wanted to discuss an FC Dallas down the age group incident. [00:58:17] Speaker A: Yeah. So the U12 bracket, FC Dallas won their semi final game but they did it by playing a player on a red card. And so they got then forfeited that game and they did not go to the final. They were the semi final. And there's lots and lots of talk floating around about you know, should they or shouldn't they have tried to play this player and maybe there was a problem with the player not being marked out on the roster sheet that gets turned in and asking the referees and the referees not knowing the answer. And then the thing going up to the match commissioner, et cetera, et cetera, and somebody may have said, yes, you can play them or not, or we don't know. It doesn't matter. The thing is, is the kid had two yellow cards in the previous game. Two yellow cards equals a red card. And you and I and everybody else knows when you get a red card, you sit out the next game. Everybody knows that. [00:59:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:59:16] Speaker A: The idea that there's a difference between, oh, two yellow cards doesn't mean you sit is ridiculous. So, like, it's absolutely, to me, absolutely inexcusable that the coach was like, oh, I guess we'll play the player now. He's a great player. I have no idea if he's the best player or not. People tell me he's their best player. It doesn't matter, you know, as a coach, that a player that got a red card can't play the next game. Even if some dumb ref or some dumb match official tells you you can, you know they can't because you. You've now cost yourself. And I don't care who told you you could, you've now cost your team a chance to play for a championship. These kids are 10, 11, 12 years old. And because you got, I don't know, greedy or uber competitive, you're like, no, I'm gonna put that guy in there and see if I get away with it. They would just, no, he had a red card. It's just. It's ridiculous. And so that's my soapbox is that as a coach, you should know better than everybody else that that kid can't play and don't play him. The minute you were. The fact that you were asking meant that you knew that he shouldn't be playing. So that's. That's my soapbox. It just makes me mad that, like, you've taken away an opportunity from these kids to compete for a championship in one of the most prestigious tournaments in the United States because you couldn't handle not having your one player for a game. [01:00:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I got a. A thousand, not a thousand. I got a bunch of questions about how that went down. But fundamentally, at the. At the. The core of it, you're correct, you know, that your player on two yellows is getting suspended. I mean, if a match official came to you and said, oh, by the way, your player is available and can play, you're like, wait a second. That doesn't make any sense. No, no, Coach, I'm telling you, he can play. I'm signing off on this. You know, I would still be. Want to go and talk to somebody else and get, like, a lot of confirmation. And then the question is my. I mean, that is. Now that happened. The coach is, like, asking somebody, and they probably asked the wrong person that didn't know the answer to the rule, because maybe there is a tournament out there somewhere, Buzz, where if you get two. Two yellow cards, it's not a suspension for the next game. You know, I don't know. Maybe that exists somewhere in the. In the universe, but fundamentally, I've never heard of it. Well, I think the point of it is this. If. If he's that good of a player, it's not like you're gonna put him back on the field and nobody's gonna notice. [01:01:39] Speaker A: Right. I mean, I'm quite sure that the other team noticed right away. [01:01:43] Speaker B: Sure. [01:01:43] Speaker A: Chose to play the game. And then when they lost, they were like, hey, by the way, that guy had a red card. [01:01:47] Speaker B: Right? [01:01:47] Speaker A: I mean, they're not dumb. I'm just saying that, like, you know it, and I don't know. [01:01:51] Speaker B: It's up to the coach to know this. [01:01:52] Speaker A: I think I would have wanted. Like. I'm not. The details are all just hearsay of, like, who was this? Was it on that? Or whatever. Right. The factual details are the kid had two yellows, which is a red card. Right. And so short of the match, the. The tournament director, Ray. Short of Rey showing up and telling me I can play that kid who's, you know, the guy running the tournament. I don't care who tells me I can play him. I'm not playing them. Not risking it, because I'm not risking it for all these other kids. It's not like it's the U19 supergroup. It's the U12s. I mean, it's like, come on, man. [01:02:27] Speaker B: Good stuff. All right. Well, very good. Buzz can now step down off his soapbox. Anything else you want to get into this afternoon? [01:02:38] Speaker A: Let's see. I don't think so. [01:02:39] Speaker B: You want to talk about the U.S. men's National Team at all? [01:02:42] Speaker A: Yeah. We could talk about that. I. I don't. [01:02:44] Speaker B: I don't want to. I wanted to give you an opportunity to. If you wanted to. [01:02:47] Speaker A: Boy, there's some. Some. Just feels late to be trying guys out, but, yes. [01:02:53] Speaker B: Andy and I were talking about this on the show Saturday, which is. I can't figure out. Andy and I were both like, is he playing 4D chess and he kind of knows what he wants to do. So he feels like he can afford to try and test the bottom of his roster kind of thing. Or is he completely in panic mode? Like, oh, man, I just don't have. I have no idea what I've got. I have no idea who my best 11 are. I'm just. I'm still throwing stuff on the wall. [01:03:20] Speaker A: I mean, starting Pulisic is a balls nine is weird. You know, I thought. I thought Robinson Jedi looked really good, which is nice because he's been hurt a lot, you know, lately. So that was nice. So, you know, I. They're not going to have dest so, like, they're still trying to figure out what they're doing on the right. He keeps switching between three center backs and two center backs. You know, I think it feels like he doesn't know what he wants to do yet. That he's. That he's panicking. He's like, oh my gosh, I'm in trouble. Yeah. Like, I watched those two games and thought to myself, it won't shock me if the US doesn't get out of the group. [01:03:53] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, they're absolutely going to get out of the group. They can. They can. Third best, third place teams will get out. I mean, they would. They would essentially have to get one point buzz from three games. [01:04:03] Speaker A: I know, and that's what I'm saying. Like watching those two games, it would not shock me if they don't get out. I'm not predicting they're not getting out. I'm just saying it wouldn't shock me because Australia is not colossally horrible. Turkey's pretty good. [01:04:15] Speaker B: Yeah, Turkey makes the group more difficult. I think Turkey being added to the group goes takes this from being a group that the US should win to one that, you know, okay, first or second's great. If they have to go out as the third place team, I think that is even more problematic. But I also feel like there's parts missing that are going to come back to make the team better. And the U.S. also, historically, Buzz, as this generation tend to show up and play better for the bigger games than they do the ones that don't mean much. [01:04:45] Speaker A: Of course. Of course. But that's what I mean by, like, I walked away from those two games thinking, you know, I can. I can see losing to Paraguay and losing to Turkey and then, and then if you draw against Australia, you're not through. Yeah, that's. That's. Now that I'm with you on paper, I'm like, this is a group, Dallas. This is a group that the United States should be capable of winning on paper. But watching those two games, I thought. And that wouldn't shock me if they finished third or fourth and don't go through. [01:05:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:13] Speaker A: So interesting. [01:05:14] Speaker B: Okay. [01:05:14] Speaker A: You know, I'm not saying they will. And when I see the real roster, I'll tell you how I feel about it. But, yes, those two games did not inspire me. [01:05:21] Speaker B: Initial 55 has to be sent in by May 11th, and then the cut down happens on the 25th, I think it is. [01:05:33] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, just without having any qualifying, he didn't have a chance to really bloody his team. Right. So. Oh, no, he's still looking for answers, and that just feels problematic to me. But, you know, the dude I think is a quality coach, so I'm sure he'll. I'm sure he knows what he's doing, but maybe he's just convinced, like, lots of foreign coaches are, that the US roster is just crap. [01:05:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:55] Speaker A: 100%. Yeah. [01:05:56] Speaker B: All right, very good. Well, Buzz, good chat. [01:05:59] Speaker A: Thanks, man, as always. It's good to talk soccer with you. [01:06:02] Speaker B: Yes. My favorite thing in the whole world. All right, well, hopefully Dan will be able to join us next week. Thank you, buddy. It's good talking to you. And thank you, DFW Soccer Curious. Oh, don't forget to go out and get your curious shirts over at Buzz's T Shirt Shop. There's lots of good ones in there. Your favorite teams to be curious about or the general DFW Collective curious. Any of that will look good on your bod for the mere low price of [01:06:30] Speaker A: the prices memorized. He doesn't care. 25 bucks. Whatever. [01:06:33] Speaker B: Something like that. Yeah. All right, very good. So thanks, guys. Thanks for listening. We will speak to you next week. Week on another episode of Third Degree, the podcast. [01:06:41] Speaker A: Go buy a shirt or two. [01:06:43] Speaker B: Third Degree, the Third Degree podcast. Third Degree, the Third Degree N podcast. Third Degree, the Third degree NE podcast. Third Degree, the Thirddegree N podcast. [01:07:04] Speaker A: Sam.