3rd Degree the Podcast #380

[00:00:00] Speaker A: 3, 2, 1. Go ahead, Buzz. [00:00:03] Speaker B: Sorry. [00:00:05] Speaker A: Get it all out. [00:00:06] Speaker B: I was about to blow a big cough right in your ear while you were counting. Sorry, man. [00:00:10] Speaker A: Yummy. [00:00:11] Speaker B: I may have to hit a lozenge here. [00:00:12] Speaker A: Okay, take number. Well, hold on. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Separate audio. Peter, go ahead. [00:00:19] Speaker A: Dennis has to go somewhere. I can't do this while you're. It's distract. Distracting. I can't do my thing while you're digging around like a squirrel in a trash can. Yeah. Third Degree the Third Degree Nep Podcast. Third Degree the Third Degree Nap podcast. Third Degree the Third degree n Podcast. Third Degree the Third degree near podcast. Well, hello there, DFW curious. Welcome back to a big victory pod number three hundred and eighty of Third Degree the Podcast from sunny Orlando in a hotel room with some very curious curtains. To his right, it is Dennis. Howdy, Dennis. [00:01:13] Speaker C: Good evening, Petar. How are you, sir? [00:01:16] Speaker A: That's some interesting art. They've hung over the bed behind you. What is that? Is that a milkweed painting? [00:01:23] Speaker C: I think so. It's some sort of wheat field or something. I don't know. It's whatever the Marriott Fairfield has on special this month. [00:01:32] Speaker A: And your curtains look like they're tie dyed in some fall colors. This is bad podcasting because this isn't a video podcast, but trust me, they've put Dennis up at an art in an art house hotel or something like that. It's very fancy. [00:01:47] Speaker C: This is like my 17th hotel of the month. They all start to blend together. [00:01:51] Speaker A: All right, very good. As long as they have the porn channels and coming all the way from the Northwest wearing his hoodie, where I'm sure it's all comfortable and, well, it is your hero and everybody's hero. And he's the editor of this thing. His name is Buzz. Come in, Buzz. [00:02:05] Speaker B: Hey, Peter. No, it's actually very rainy and cold today. [00:02:08] Speaker A: Oh, good for you. [00:02:09] Speaker B: Pacific Northwest coated. [00:02:11] Speaker A: Oh, the weather's bad and Buzz can't do nothing fun outside. [00:02:15] Speaker B: Yeah, El Nino is going to make it a long, warm, dry winter, though, so that'll be fun. [00:02:19] Speaker A: It's lovely here. It's like low 80s and sunny, so there. Stick that up your apple. [00:02:25] Speaker B: Yeah, you get it for three days and I'll have it the other 360. [00:02:28] Speaker A: All right, whatever. Well, I think this is a time for all of us just to sit back and kind of marvel at our situation, ours being the collective kind of viewership of this thing called FC Dallas. Because somehow, some way, I feel like it wasn't that long ago we were all talking about. Turns out wrongly, the impending doom of this thing. And here we find them beating San Jose in a big six point game, three to nil, and in second place in the West. Guys, what in the world Buzzard is happening? [00:03:03] Speaker B: Well, when we hit the World cup break, you know, we, we had talked a lot about maybe they had dropped a little bit of points at home, but they were pretty consistent in their point production. They weren't at the top of the west. They were kind of in the pack where we kind of thought they would be. And then we pointed out quite rightly that there was this humongous, awful road trip that was going to come and if they got through that at 500, they would put themselves in really, really good spot. They did that. They came out of that road trip feeling good about themselves and they just carried that forward and they sort of have continued to pretty consistently grind points at a pretty good level. And the other thing that happened was the very best team, Vancouver Soldier, they're one of their best players, if not their best player and has faded a little. Other teams that were at the time at the top, Houston has won one in their last 11. At one point they were challenging for first place. They won one of 11. LAFC has imploded. Other teams got hot like St. Louis, broke the or tied the record for unbeaten streak and passed Dallas up and then tripped up the last couple weeks. So like the west does not have a truly elite team. There are three teams in the east that are higher than SC Dallas, but the west doesn't have that and the one team left in front of them is stumbling while Dallas has maintained this consistency. And perhaps I think you might point to Eric Quill's best quality is the isn't just that he has this team performing above itself, it's how consistently it's performing that way. It hasn't ever gone nuclear, but it's been, you know, grinding out wins and ties and piling up the points at a good rate and, and when everyone else kind of trips up or stumbles or, or, or maybe started this season poorly as some other teams have done, you end up in second place. So good on him and what a great season it's been. [00:04:52] Speaker A: Dennis, do you have an alternative explanation? [00:04:54] Speaker C: I don't know if it's an alternative, but I think they just continue to find ways to grind out results. Right. We've seen this at home on the road as the season has gone on. Quill and the squad have just found ways to continue to play in some late goals. They've continued to to. To make some different moves. You know, it's just been really exciting to watch, been really fun to watch. And they continue to show out and they just continue to get it done despite, you know, what starts out as a poor performance. I don't think this game for, you know, good for 30, 40 minutes of this match was all that fun to watch or all that entertaining. But, you know, they, they came on late and they did exactly what needed to be done late and they got it done. Right. They continue to find ways to get it done despite what it looks like. [00:05:34] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll get into the game specifically here in a second, but I was sitting here looking at the table and results table and I didn't even realize this. So we can actually bookend this with San Jose. The last time they played San Jose was when they beat them out in California 2, 3 back in May. May 20. May 16. Since then, Dallas has played 17 more games and they've only lost three in that span of time. Other than that, they are essentially fifth split down the middle between wins and ties in that time. It is a tremendous run. And I think, Buzz, one of the things that we have to. And we'll get to the quill piece of this here in a second that I think is really, truly remarkable is how this, this extended run of point collection over that span of time is. Is both the fact that they. Is all of the difficulties of the schedule that we talked about way back when, which includes getting through that. That brutal roads. Again. Let's all package this with the idea that their. Their problematic schedule this season was a creation of their. A problem of their own creation because of the goofy stadium project. And yet they were still able to manage, admire through that and come out at this point is. I just. I don't have words. It. This is really cool, is the right way I think to say it. [00:07:02] Speaker C: Remarkable. [00:07:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:04] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't have a breakdown from earlier in the season, but the back of my head, they've pretty consistently been at about 1.7 points per game all season long. And then during the road trip because there, there were more ties than wins in that period, we talked about being 500. They sort of dipped down a little bit to like a 16ish kind of ways. And then since that they've kind of kicked back up. Now they're 174. Right. Truly elite teams are at two. That's where Nashville is right now. I look, I'm looking at. Last year three teams in the east were at 1.9. You know, last year, the two Western teams were at 1.85, so Dallas at 1.75. Like to have a chance to be top of the West. That's a tiny bit because the west is slightly down. The teams, all the top are 1.5 to 1.7. It's a little bit down. But you play who you play. The context matters, man. Whoever shows up is how you play, you get results. And that's what I mean about the consistency. Like, they're not. Rarely do you feel like they blew that one. Like, we look at the one Charlotte game recently. [00:08:09] Speaker A: Yes. [00:08:09] Speaker B: Before that, maybe you. You worried about dropping a couple of wins earlier, but you still got ties out of them. The Vancouver one where they rotated super heavily and got smoked, that one was the one that kind of felt like they blew that one. Maybe, but Vancouver's always was a tough place to play at that time. You know, it really is just a remarkably consistent season. You know, not too many crazy injuries. Which reminds me of the Nico Estevez year when he finished second, third, whatever it was, when they were really, really healthy. This kind of feels like that. And there hasn't been anything catastrophic. Excuse me. [00:08:41] Speaker A: I'm gonna knock on some wood here, [00:08:43] Speaker B: for the record, but, like, you know, we. We talk about that, too. Like, to be a good team, you have to have some pretty good luck on that. And just look at San Jose's injury report last game. They had what, like, nine guys that were missing or questionable, and Dallas had two. So again, that's part of it. The context always matters to these things. You can't just look at the pure number and go, look how great they are. You have to think about these things. But, yeah, it's been a remarkable season. Quill's done an amazing job. The. The home form has turned out to be phenomenal with only two losses at home. That's tremendous. The road form well above.500. We talk about that all the time. Right. Teams on the above. 500 on the road is the hallmark of a really, really good team. This is a really, really good team. Is it the best team in the league? No, but enjoy the ride while it lasts. You know, they put themselves in wonderful position because they can beat anybody in the playoffs. Are they the favorite? No. Not going to be the favorite. Somebody in the east can be the favorite, but, man, it's. It's. It's fun to watch. Vancouver slipping. St. Louis is slipping. You're not afraid of anybody in your half of the conference? Not at all. They've. They've. They've gone from Peter. How much did we talk about how boring and awful it was to watch? [00:09:56] Speaker A: Oh, yes, yes. [00:09:57] Speaker B: Now, like since the road trip, since they came off that road trip. Every single game really. Maybe since post Toluca Gang Quill has tried to open it up more and more and more and more. The wing backs are playing higher looking like real wing backs. It's really a back three now, not the back five like he said. A whole bunch of beginning of the year, really about three. And it's fun to watch. The last game, that first half of this game against San Jose was maybe the most entertaining and fun soccer. Other than the fact they couldn't put the ball in the net. Other than that it was some of the best soccer all year. [00:10:27] Speaker A: Yeah. I think one of the things that I've really enjoyed so far is the fact that the team has continued to grind out and get results and have not and. And have grown out of this thing that was not fun to watch while they got results into this thing that now is like before our eyes. We've watched this thing improve as a soccer team. They're not just trying to out. They're actually trying to out soccer you now, which is the thing that we outplay you, which is the thing that we kind of giggled they weren't doing at the beginning of the season. So that kind of improvement along with the results is. Is really pretty great. [00:11:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:02] Speaker A: I mean, they're even beating out a team who went on a league record unbeaten streak. That's how good this has been going for Dallas. I mean, St. Louis set a league record for the number of games they were unbeaten and Dallas is still ahead of them. And now here they sit with just three games remaining. And I feel like this is exactly the thing that we're doing is we're wrecking this or we're jinxing it by talking about it because they're one point behind Vancouver, who seemed impossibly off in the horizon up until this point. Is. And you asked a really interesting question in the group chat the other day, Buzz, you asked the question, when was the last time FC Dallas was in first place in the West? And that was a really fascinating question. And you dug up the date. And then I think I put. Yes, I. Yes. Counting today, it has been eight years and seven days. 96 months and seven days. 418 weeks in three days or 20. Oh, actually 2,930 calendar days as of today since the last time FC Dallas was in first place in the West. [00:12:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I think Dennis Dug that out. The. The answer in the way that is most important I think to us is that that was a month before Oscar Parija left. That's right. That's the answer. [00:12:27] Speaker A: That's how long ago it was. [00:12:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it was in. It was in mid November. Ish. I think Dennis wasn't at mid November. Ish. [00:12:33] Speaker C: And then I think it's last week of October, actually. [00:12:36] Speaker B: Yeah, something like that. And then Oscar left at the end of the season, which was around November. [00:12:40] Speaker A: Like, I think it was October 16th of that year was the date. [00:12:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:45] Speaker A: Of the eight. 2018, I think. [00:12:46] Speaker B: Yeah, mid October. Sorry. And then Oscar left in November when the season ended. So, like, that tells you, like, how long the struggle has been, you know, and that's shortly before Andre Zenota was hired. Shortly before Lucha Gonzalez was hired. [00:13:01] Speaker C: Like, it's been so 100 wins ago, right? [00:13:03] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it's been that long. So, like, you know, it's. And we've talked a lot about. And I think there's two things I think have happened. Like, we've talked a lot. I've talked a lot about how I hate this variety of players and flexibility crab the way they structure of the team. So there's two things I think have changed over the last couple of years that have led to where this seem to be where it is now. One of them obviously is Eric Quill, who is coach enough to be able to say, like, I can't play the way I want to play, but I'm going to maximize production by playing with what I have. So he's done a really good job with that. And I want to give a lot of credit to Sandor Ortelli, the technical director, because I feel like since he has come in, their hit rate on signings has gone up quite a bit. I don't remember the exact date off top of my head that he got here, but it was around the time that we saw Patter Musa come in. Now, maybe that's a byproduct of the Benefica deal. That may be a bigger question, but you can look at Joaquin Valiente and obviously his progression this season is a massive part of them getting better and better and better over the year. Kaik has been shown that he not just the raw ability was there when they paid for him, but also like he actually improves, which doesn't always happen, you know. Johansson's a bit hit or miss, but your guide has looked phenomenal. Daniel has been phenomenal since he's come in job in a couple of games. Looks Pretty phenomenal. So the hit rate's gone way up and so that's part of the credit for where they are over the last couple years that if things have changed, it's not the same, you know. So credit to both the front office for that part, but I still don't like the overall philosophy, but that part's better and the coaching part is really getting it done. And credit to the players who are all on the same page, which is huge. [00:14:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I think there's going to come a point either before the season or shortly after the season ends where we're going to have to have an honest conversation about when is it time to start giving Zenoda some credit because we've, in fairness we've really dogged on him as recently as last week for, you know, self promoting his 100 wins during his term of the club. But we are now starting to see some conversion over to some consistency, as you've pointed out. And part of that I do think he needs to give credit to Eric Quill. To your point, Buzz, he is, remember we used to talk about, I think Steve Davis was the one that penned this originally, which was, you know, Oscar was the king of making lemonade out of lemons. Specifically when it came to the roster that the front office continued to give Oscar, Oscar would always make the most out of it. And I feel like that's really what we're getting out of Eric Quill here is a guy who is willing to put a system that fits his players versus trying to make his players fit a system and that has really paid off. And again, throw in the difficulty of the self induced schedule debacle and all the other things, the silliness of the stadium and the half full and the atmosphere issue and all of that and yet they have persevered through all of it to sit at this point and fingers crossed it continues that way for a bit more. [00:16:19] Speaker B: Well, I think if you want to give some Zenodo some credit, it's the idea that he needed a technical director because Orange Deli has come in and taken over scouting, taken over finding players. Taking over is dictating the kind of play, the kind of profiles who you're going to get like all that. And he came in in February 2024, so know, give him a little time to get his feet underneath him. But you're basically looking at him preceding Quill by a season. So maybe he's really integrating himself by the time Quill gets hired. So these two years under Quill really I'm going to put give the credit to that guy. Right. I still don't like the. All this just player, all these different kinds of players in the pile. I still want a better focused idea about what, how your team's going to play. And I think Eric sort of is pushing them or dragging them to that. Like when they talked about Job, when he said, I've been asking for a player like this for a year and they finally gave it to me. Right. That's what the quote told the broadcast. So, like, Quill is demanding you give me certain profiles. So I think Quill will sculpt this team into a singular way and of playing. And I know that Orange Deli has been talking to people at various levels of the club about, and they've been making decisions about now we have a style now we have a way of play. So there is a focus to it now that didn't exist before. So that's where I'm putting the credit. I'm putting on the credit on the combination of Orange Deli and Quill because I think that's directing the first team and I think that's what's making it work. These last two years, you know, you can see the consistent improvement. And you should see, like we always talk about year three, Quill, next year, Year three. This is the where you're going to peak. [00:17:56] Speaker A: You are referring to published author Sandro Ordinelli, correct? [00:18:01] Speaker B: I am. I have not read his book. Dennis got it. He's going to give us a review after he reads it. Oh, are we going to get a [00:18:06] Speaker A: book report from you, Dennis? [00:18:08] Speaker C: I'm going to try and read the plane on the way home tomorrow evening. [00:18:11] Speaker A: So maybe next week. Maybe next week we have a. We get a book report. Just like. Dennis will stand up in front of the class. [00:18:18] Speaker C: I'll come to the front of the class. Yeah, read it out loud. [00:18:20] Speaker A: Present a book report. Yeah, that'll be great. I'm looking forward to that. [00:18:23] Speaker B: Is it a thick read, Dennis? Is it a Vegas? It. [00:18:25] Speaker C: It doesn't look big. It looked like a very thin book. It looked like it appears to be [00:18:30] Speaker A: more of a pamphlet than a. Than a book. [00:18:33] Speaker C: I feel like I might need some additional reading material. I've got like a three and a half hour flight home. [00:18:37] Speaker A: So, you know, a lot, a lot of times the origins of these things start at the local level with guys like us or girls or whoever that follow these teams religiously. But I have enjoyed seeing the discovery of the idea of something that we have on this podcast talked about. I don't know, a month ago, two months ago. I don't remember the first time we mentioned this was the idea that Eric Quill is a legitimate, you know. Yeah, right on the, you know, right there at the top of the list, a candidate for coach of the year in mls. And now I'm starting to see other people at the quote unquote, national, whatever that means, level of media start to start to say those things themselves and pick up on that same idea. [00:19:24] Speaker B: This goes back to why it's so important to have Alumni Day and bring back your alumni. Because Dax McCarty came back here and then they put him on the broadcast because he was here. And I think that may have been the first time he was watching Oz in person. Because ever since then he's been talking non stop about how great Oz is, how great Moose is. He put both those guys in his best 11. He's been talking about Quill like the last broadcast. These are national guys now on the broadcast. Dax and the play by play guy, I don't remember who it was. They spent the first 45 minutes of the game talking about how great FC Dallas was, how great Quill's doing. And so it's nice to just see this awakening. And granted, of course, bonk, granted, of course, you know, where you are in the standings matters. And so eventually people wake up to the idea that holy crap, SC Dallas is in second place. That team is terrible. How are they in second place? Well, it's not terrible, but it's not, it shouldn't be in second place, right? I mean it's a little, or it's a little ahead of the curve. Like I, I came into the season third to six. Take a step from your ninth, tenth, eighth on a tenth as well as last year, you take a step third to six and then you take one more step. So it's ahead of the curve. And like I said again, context, maybe the west has slipped a little for the various reasons we've talked about. Vancouver did an FC Dallas. They sold their best player mid season and then faded. That's a classic FC Dallas move. Morrow, Diaz. I'm just saying, like, you know, these things do matter. FC Dallas for the first time didn't sell anybody. Maybe not the first time, one of the first few times didn't sell anybody in the summer, didn't sell. Peter Musa kept going and improved and now they're at the top of the standing. That's how it's supposed to work. So that's if you want credit for Zenoda not selling Musa is where you give him credit. Didn't sell Musa. Kept that guy. That's. And hopefully, here's your knock on wood. Hopefully. [00:21:09] Speaker A: We don't care what the reason for not selling him was. [00:21:12] Speaker B: No, I mean, whatever. Gonna give him some credit for that. They kept their best player. Right. When in the past we were all [00:21:19] Speaker A: convinced he was gonna sell him. [00:21:21] Speaker B: Yeah, we thought for sure. Well, you know, granted, he didn't quite have the World cup he wanted or anyone else thought he was going to have. If he had, maybe they would have. But I think at the end of the day, they value him more than they would have gotten for him. Now the trick is, of course, lock him up, sign him for. We talked about the reasons why he might not get sold, and a lot of those proved to be true. But still, credit to them for keeping them and adding a guy that actually added value. Like when they added Job. Usually when they add players mid season, they don't do squat. Right. And this guy's come in in a couple of weeks, said it looks like he's helped the team be better. So that's awesome too. So. [00:21:52] Speaker A: God, that is fast. [00:21:54] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. [00:21:56] Speaker A: Is he the fastest player we've ever, ever, ever seen at this club? I mean, Jerrell Elliott. [00:22:01] Speaker B: No. [00:22:02] Speaker A: Was. [00:22:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:03] Speaker C: Maybe you have data to back that up. [00:22:05] Speaker A: No, Elliott was 1996. He was one of the original draft picks or whatever it was. [00:22:11] Speaker C: Do they even have stats back there? [00:22:13] Speaker B: Quill was up there. Castillo's up there. You may not believe it. Bre's up there. [00:22:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Eddie Johnson. Eddie Johnson was up there. [00:22:20] Speaker A: Yeah. But Job just looks like a whole other level. [00:22:24] Speaker B: Fast. Yeah, he looks super quick. Fast Twitch, as they would call him, you know, in, in other sports. Yeah. Super exciting. You know, has the only hang up I have on him is the fact that he clearly wants to play real wide. Play an actual wing is what he wants to play. Clearly. And there's a problem which, with him and Bernie because they both want to occupy that space. That's a problem. But that's not a problem for today. That's a problem maybe for like a little bit of like chalkboard work. Bernie, Bernie, pay attention to where he is. Look up. You know, if Job's inside, then do that. If he's outside, then you got to go in, you know, so, and, or maybe don't go at all and let Kaiko in there. Like because they wants to go in there for sure all the time too. So it is. [00:23:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I, I, I think we all agree that while he probably won't win Coach of the Year because of whatever reason. [00:23:11] Speaker C: Well, yeah, B.J. callahan's doing incredible things. Nashville locked up the shield, I think, earlier than any club has ever done it. [00:23:17] Speaker A: Yeah. And then we'll probably break the record, too. Quill is a. An absolute shout for that same op. Op. It just. Like, I. I'm not super familiar with how much money and Nashville is invested in their roster, but I'm sure it's more than Dallas has. And I just feel like the. To use Steve Davis's analogy, making lemonade out of lemons is something that Quill is doing at the best rate since Oscar. [00:23:43] Speaker C: I'd say you can call it making chicken salad out of chicken shit. [00:23:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't. I don't know if the roster is that. That I just, you know, we talk about it being a lot of dudes, and Kaik, singularly, his improvement over the course of the season is a big, big component of this. But, you know, but then the front office going out and getting a Valiente and Quill getting him integrated and getting him actually becoming a guy that is helping, you know, drive this thing in the attack is a really real. A real thing. I mean, the funny part about this is, is they went out and made a big deal out of getting Santi Moreno, yet he's not starting games on any kind of regularity, you know. [00:24:21] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's. That's one of the misses, I think, you know, in terms of personnel and what. It's really hard to know, but that's where you start to point questions about the amount of money you're paying for him. Whose call was that? That was inside the league guy, you know, so it's not 100 hit rate, it's just a much better hit rate. Like Patricson Delgado is not a hit for sure, you know. [00:24:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:41] Speaker B: So it's not. [00:24:42] Speaker C: And how much of that Moreno deal was a little bit of a backdoor greasing for. For taking Lucho Acosta off our hands? [00:24:49] Speaker B: Yeah. For all we know, that's like, this was a chance. Like, this could be one of those things where they were like, hey, any chance you would take this player back instead? And I don't hate the idea of kicking the tires on a guy with that kind of MLS record, you know, as a. As a swap, basically, for Lucho Costa on the loan? Because now in December, you can go, no, no, thanks, and kick it back. We'll take the 5 million. You know, that's perfectly fine. It's a pretty Reasonable transaction. It's just, you know, it just didn't work as well. Worked better than Lucho Acosta. It just hasn't been massive hit. It's just only been okay. [00:25:21] Speaker C: But we also know he's been dealing with some sort of nagging injury too. Right. [00:25:25] Speaker A: So. [00:25:25] Speaker C: So, you know, you don't know what his full potential could have been had he come here fully healthy either. [00:25:30] Speaker B: Yeah. And it may just be that that's, you know. You know, you're not gonna spend that kind of money on a thing. We're not. You're not sure. Not that kind of money, you know. [00:25:37] Speaker A: Well, let's dig in a little bit more into the three nothing victory over to San Jose because the score is great. It's a shutout one. They scored three goals. That is fantastic. But the three goals all came after the 80th minute and the team played really, really well. Buzz to you said like the first half was some of the best soccer they've played all season, but they just couldn't convert those opportunities. Valiente had a really good opportunity shortly thereafter. And who was the one that took the follow up shot? Oh, was it Job? Yeah, Joe. [00:26:09] Speaker C: Joe had three shots. [00:26:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Moussa had the, the really good opportunity that was saved and it bounced out to Job and Job blew it into the all you can eat stands. And it was just kind of a frustrating game that way. But the team was playing well. [00:26:24] Speaker C: Yeah, all you can eat stands. That one like landed out on. [00:26:26] Speaker A: On. [00:26:27] Speaker C: On Street. [00:26:29] Speaker B: Yeah. 54% possession. That's not what we started the year watching FC Dallas do 1.5. This is just for SAF. 1.5, four expected goals, eight shots, three on target, 15 touches in the box. You know, like those are numbers that we at the beginning of the year saw in a whole game. And they came in the first half alone. Now, again, we talked about that. They didn't finish, but that's. You know, Oscar used to always say, and this is one of my favorite expressions of his, is sometimes you have to look at the play, not counting the goal, look at the play and how was it? And the play was fantastic. You know, second half flat for maybe 20, 25 minutes and then they sort of woke up. I don't think that the subs directly woke them up. I mean, Ben Yamin brings a little bit energy, but Patterson, Delgado didn't really. Although he did work hard, I give him that. He did chase back, but he didn't contribute much ahead of that. It just. This was a perfect example of a game where Your marquee player maybe wasn't having a great game. Wasn't have a very good game. He's been a little out of sorts for. Since this last Nations League call up when he went to. Went over there and hardly played. You know the. Not the World cup, the more recent one. Been a little about sorts since he got back. It wasn't having a great game but when it really, really mattered at the end he scored and then he got the PK score. He didn't get the pk, scored the PK and he came through clutch in in the net. Not man of the match for me but your big time superstar players that are getting paid. All the money came through when you needed to and won the game. And that's, that's what we always talk about being those difference makers. Oz, your big time guy in the back was huge. One on one with that guy the whole game. Fantastic performance. Just Valiente didn't score but again was pulling the strings. The new signing job, you're all excited. Like you know that's a big part of this year is marquee players performing well and exceeding and doing the things they're supposed to do. Winning the games you need to win. [00:28:26] Speaker A: I was thinking about the back three buzz and I'm wondering if you have settled into a comfort level of more Uruguide and Ibiaga as the starting three. [00:28:37] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. It's perfectly reasonable to have that be the choice here on in. [00:28:43] Speaker A: It's easy to say that in October 2026. If I had told you in January of 2026. [00:28:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:49] Speaker A: That your starting three was going to be Ibiaga, Uregida and Shaq Moore. We all would have had a very different. [00:28:56] Speaker B: Well, Ibiaga's continue to play solid soccer. They reduced his starts by about 10. They reduced his minutes by about a thousand because Norris is playing plenty. That's when you're in, when you're in the part of the season. It's a play for now. If they were in 10th place, I'd be screaming about not playing Norris. I don't care like you're trying to get that eighth, ninth spot. I don't give a crap. Play Norris. But when you're in second, if you have a 34 year old guy who in a lot of ways complements what you're doing better right now, that's fine. It's fine that he starts. There's a mid Wednesday game this week. Maybe we'll see Norris rotate back in this perfect. Norris has gotten plenty of starts for his development, I think it's about 15, but that's great. That's a stride forward for him. There was just some stats that came out from American Soccer Analysis this week about players that. That have the best sort of basically like a line break percentage that make the most plays, that advance the players up the field, and then the ones that can receive that pass in turn. And Norris was in the top 10 in the whole league. And that ability to pass out of the back. He's an amazing passer. He's only 21 now. 22, whatever it is. Right. So, like, plenty of time. Not a big deal. [00:30:07] Speaker A: Newly engaged Nolan Norris, by the way. [00:30:09] Speaker C: Yes. [00:30:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Newly engaged. Congrats to him. So, like, you know, the future for Norris is going to be the future. It's okay that right this minute he's not the number one choice. It's. He's taking a stride forward. It's okay. Right now with that, a relatively fresh Ibiaga is still the guy. You know, maybe that next year the. The split will be even different. You know, we'll see. It's perfectly fine to play all in right now. [00:30:33] Speaker A: You know, I'm going to throw out the name Ramiro and see if either of you have a reaction to that. [00:30:39] Speaker B: Dennis, I see your face. [00:30:42] Speaker C: Look, Romero has some fine moments of play, but, you know, his age is really starting to show through. And I don't really understand why we're not seeing more of Capis. [00:30:52] Speaker B: I think capis. His play the last three or four games. I actually thought Cavus deserved to keep the spot again. There's a Wednesday game this week. You know, the team plays really well with Romero. Quill loves him. Some Romero. If we were talking about a team in 10th place, I'd be screaming, play Capus every game. Screw that Romero guy. But, you know, right now, Ramiro, it's working. Yeah, it's working. So, like, you can no longer complain? I don't. I can't complain about anything Quill's doing. Right. [00:31:20] Speaker C: You guys heard it here. Buzz said he can't complain. [00:31:22] Speaker B: Yeah. About. Not with three games left. When you're in second place. Now, if we're gonna do a. If we're gonna break down an hour on what they should do next season, well, that's. Then we're gonna have a completely different conversation. But when you're in second place. [00:31:34] Speaker C: Save it. We need some offseason content. [00:31:35] Speaker B: I know, right? It's like, forget all that other stuff. Like right now, you play for now. Now you're right. Ramiro's old Dennis, he is showing his legs. They've. They've got a system now where he just sits in there and does nothing. He does a lot of pointing to tell Kaik where to run. Because I'm not gonna run. I'm gonna stand right here like Valderrama and you're gonna run for me. That's fine. It's okay. In the context of what you are right now, like if I'm building a team for a five year run, is he the guy? Hell no. But like right this minute, that's fine. Rotate Capisan on a Wednesday game, help keep Romero fresh. Like, I think if you looked at the minutes, I bet you Capis and Romero are pretty close to 50, 50 in terms of their play. Because Romero had a little bit of an injury and Caps had a little bit of an injury. I bet you they're pretty close without looking in terms of the amount they played. Kaik's the guy that's the lock player. You know, as long as he's around, he's playing 90 minutes, right? So. Or close to it. So. So I'm perfectly okay with Romero now. Like, you're going to look at the stats and you're going to go, this is Romero against, in the last game against San Jose, right? Touches in the box, zero. Right? That's fine. Goals, zero. Expected assists, point one. It's like that's not his role, right? Defensive contributions, three. That's fine. I guess he's just standing in the middle and picking the ball up and directing traffic. It's the directing traffic. That's why he's in there. This team is who they are because of him right now. [00:32:52] Speaker A: Not that anybody listening to this needs me to prove just how wicked smart Buzz is about this thing. Romero 1894 minutes. Chris Cap is 1821 minutes. [00:33:03] Speaker C: Yeah, 1894 was when Romero entered the league, Right. [00:33:10] Speaker B: That's how old he is. Yeah. I mean, like, listen, like, if we were playing for the future, I would say play Cap us all the time. Like, I think the last couple of games I think Cap outplayed Romero. But again, I understand the context of the the team. I understand the context of the coaching. The Romero is the coach on the field, particularly because there are multiple guys that don't speak a lick of English in this team. Kai being one of them. Daniel is another one that doesn't speak any English at all. So, like, I understand all that. So it's okay that you ride Ramiro as it is, right? [00:33:39] Speaker A: What you're saying is he's Our Booquettes. [00:33:42] Speaker B: Yeah, basically. Basically. Except the numbers aren't as good as Busquets, but it's the same big role, you know, and there'll be a conversation about how you make the team better in the future. But he doesn't have anywhere near the tackles or. I don't even know how you track the stat reverses in play. This is the one that kills me that Ira Mondi was the king of, which was like, when they would win the ball and they would come out and he would just be there and he would turn them back the other team. Romero is not as good at that because he's not mobile enough. But, you know, it's what. It's who they have. And this. He's doing that job, and I'm okay with him. And Capis doing some rotation down the stretch. You know, which one you're going to pick in any given playoff game is probably a fun conversation, but, you know, I think the split is fine right now with the way it's going, you [00:34:29] Speaker A: know, so Columbus is up next. Dallas has three games. Two of them are home games. Columbus on Wednesday, Kansas City on Sunday, Saturday, and then a home game against the Rapids, the bogey team of all bogey teams, to finish out the season. I don't know why I would do this to myself or everybody else. But Vancouver, two home games, one against San Diego, one against Seattle, and then a road game to close the season at Montreal. And then if we're just looking in the rearview mirror, St. Louis, home game, Portland, home game, San Diego on the road to Houston, and the same Bruce Arena Quakes home game, Colorado, home game, rsl and away game to Minnesota. So of the four teams vying, of all of this, five. Sorry, Dallas is the only one that ends the season at home, which I think helps a little bit. [00:35:26] Speaker B: Yeah. I think the thing you want to focus on more than can you get to first place is can you maintain top 4? 4. And that's more important to me. Like, first place only gets you home field for one extra game. Like versus two or versus four? [00:35:43] Speaker A: Well, and MLS Cup. [00:35:44] Speaker B: And MLS Cup. Yeah. [00:35:46] Speaker A: Which, by the way, has anybody actually asked the question, if somehow Dallas ends up being the higher seed in MLS cup, would they play MLS cup in Toyota Stadium in its current. [00:35:59] Speaker C: Get that list fired up. [00:36:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:02] Speaker A: Where would they play the game? There's no way they would play it at Toyota Stadium, would they? [00:36:07] Speaker B: If Dallas had home field advantage? Yeah, you have to. [00:36:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't think you have to go. I mean, what are you going to take it down to Mansfield. [00:36:14] Speaker A: No, that's too small. They've got to. They would have to play it someplace else, wouldn't they? [00:36:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:22] Speaker C: I would not be surprised if they did something to maybe open up the stage and put some, some general admission seating or standing room only up the stage or. Or do something really exciting to get some extra gen. But yeah, I can't see them getting more than 12, 13,000 in there. [00:36:38] Speaker B: Keep in mind it's about points, not seating. So like. [00:36:42] Speaker A: Well, yeah, so. Right. [00:36:43] Speaker C: Yeah. But Nashville would have to get eliminated. [00:36:45] Speaker A: Well, yeah, a few teams. Right, exactly. Yeah. They'd have to have a lot of teams eliminated. But there is a scenario where all the top seeds out of the east get eliminated and so does Vancouver and Dallas ends up being. Being the west winner and I don't know, Chicago wins the E. You know, ends up. You know, that is a fascinating question. Where would they play MLS cup if Dallas is the higher seed of the two teams? [00:37:09] Speaker B: I. I don't know whether you would [00:37:10] Speaker A: call like that would be the most FC Dallas thing in the history of ever to host an MLS cup when your stadium is literally half done. [00:37:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:18] Speaker C: Does that become number one with a bullet on the list? [00:37:21] Speaker A: Yeah, it probably. Well, it would depend on how the game turned out. But. [00:37:25] Speaker B: Well, particularly if you lose it to New York Red Bull. Yeah. That would be Home lost to New York Red Bull in the vinyl would be a very. Or New England or the new. [00:37:34] Speaker A: Or New England. Yeah. [00:37:35] Speaker B: Yeah. New England if you know, stumbles almost [00:37:37] Speaker C: to another original 96 Club. [00:37:39] Speaker B: Yeah. Because the Revs, remember the revs up in Toyota State at one time how many points. [00:37:43] Speaker A: But the revs are on. They're on 55. So the Revs could lose and end up behind Dallas. By the time this is all over, Dallas could be on points. A higher seeded team than the Revolution. [00:37:56] Speaker C: Dallas could also be like seventh by the time this is all done. [00:37:59] Speaker A: 100%. [00:38:00] Speaker C: Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. [00:38:01] Speaker A: Yes. [00:38:01] Speaker C: And I realize that I'm back in just a bit. [00:38:04] Speaker A: I'm getting a C here close to drawing out a parade map and the problems of that. But and I'm a little. And I am very aware of the fact this still remains our club that historically always crushes us in the end and that is still probably what is going to happen before the end of all this. [00:38:22] Speaker B: That's what it takes to win. For a club like this to win MLS cup is you have to break your history. Like you have to not have those things happen to you. [00:38:29] Speaker C: And they've done a good job of doing that this season. They've got into places where they've done historically bad and have outperformed themselves at every turn. [00:38:37] Speaker B: Well, look, how many times have we talked about this, like, not having to go to the Pacific Northwest, not having to go to Portland, go to Seattle, go to Vancouver for the west final is like. Or the semifinal or whatever, because that's always been in the way. And they have a chance to not have that happen this time. [00:38:52] Speaker A: Yeah, but, Dennis, here's the problem, dude. We've been here before. We've had these weird seasons where Dallas tends to outperform and pull. What was the year that they went to LA in a playoff game and absolutely pants the Galaxy unexpectedly in a playoff game? We all completely asked ourselves over excitement and thought, we're winning it this year. And then it didn't happen. So everybody just, you know, steal yourselves, follow me in the hope for the best, prepare for the worst. [00:39:25] Speaker B: Yeah, it's better to assume that it won't happen, and then you can be excited when it does, rather than having your heart broken because you assumed it was gonna happen. [00:39:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I can't believe. [00:39:34] Speaker C: Don't be sad because it's over. Yeah, whatever. [00:39:38] Speaker A: Yeah, whatever that saying is. [00:39:40] Speaker C: You know where I was going with that? [00:39:42] Speaker A: It is pretty crazy. Okay, let's see. Anything else about what's gonna happen on Wednesday with the. Yeah, that's what I was going to get to next. I was going to go look at the digital run sheet since you don't do it in crayon anymore. [00:39:56] Speaker B: No. So crayons. [00:39:58] Speaker C: Modern technology, man. [00:39:59] Speaker A: You lost your crayons. You left them back at the house when you moved to Seattle. [00:40:03] Speaker B: Yep. [00:40:03] Speaker A: I mean, or wherever you moved to. [00:40:05] Speaker B: Yeah, Spokane. [00:40:06] Speaker A: But, yeah, same thing. [00:40:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:10] Speaker A: So. Yeah. So how does he. So how. You know, knowing what's happened here and the fact that you are fighting for a top four spot. [00:40:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:18] Speaker A: How do you handle another two games in four days? [00:40:22] Speaker B: Just some very light rotation. You know, I think everybody kind of knows what the first 11 is at this point. You know, whether you might do something different yourself. Personally, it's pretty much clear what it is to Quill. So I. I think you like with the Wednesday game, and we know how Johansson is better when it's cool and when he's fresh. So I think you bring Benyamin in on Wednesday, and then Johansen could come back on the weekend. Capus comes in for Romero on Wednesday, and then Romero can come back on Saturday because, like, you don't Want to run Romero every 90 minutes, three games a week. That's a bad idea for Romero, you know, and for your mojo and your vibes and everything that's going on. But you know, more Ira got arrest just recently. Iaga can go like maybe you bring in Norris for a start. That's a thing to consider for Ibiaga because he's also 34. So like that, that might be a cap is for sure. Benyamin for sure in my book. And then maybe Norris against the Crew. I'd have to look. I didn't look at the Crew's team, so that's my bad. So. But you know, I think Norris is your consideration. Otherwise there's no consideration. Job has earned the right to start every game from here. If he keeps playing like this. Valiente's had plenty of rest. Moose has had plenty of rest. You know, you still bring in like he has been. Bring in Delgado, you bring in Johansson for Benyamin late, you bring in, hopefully Farrington is back and then Farrington can come in for Musa, maybe at the 60 minute, 70 minute mark. You know, you don't want to burn yourself out chasing first place. You know, rotate a little bit midweek, you got Sporting Kansas City, you got Colorado, the Crew. All three of these games are winnable. So don't burn yourself out trying to grab first. Just don't collapse. Just, you know, think about the playoffs, think about keeping everybody fresh. So, you know, sub in for Musa, sub in for Job, sub in for Valiente, you know, sub in Johansen. Kamimo can run all day, that's fine. You don't need to submit for him. You know, it's pretty straightforward at this point. So that's it. Rotate Capis in Benjamin in and consider rotating in Nolan Norris. Those are the three. Otherwise, do we have. [00:42:37] Speaker A: Have we figured out a magic number for them locking in a top four spot? [00:42:42] Speaker C: No. [00:42:44] Speaker A: So they're on 54, obviously with a potential of collecting nine more points. St. Louis could catch him. San Jose, Houston. To Dennis's point, there are a lot of teams that could catch up. But I'm trying to figure out, I think Seattle is the one that can't [00:43:01] Speaker B: catch the Seattle camp. But like San Jose, Houston, lfc, all have enough. If Dallas were to lose out, just hypothetically, San Jose, Houston, llc, all three can catch you one win because the goal differential. [00:43:12] Speaker C: Can we talk about how Peter's actually holding a real deal calculator in his hand while. While we're figuring this out? [00:43:18] Speaker A: Do you not know what this is, young man? This is called. [00:43:22] Speaker C: Do you have an abacus on your desk too? Do you also have an abacus there? [00:43:26] Speaker A: No, I'm a little more modern than the abacus. [00:43:29] Speaker C: You know. You know you have one of those on your phone now, right? [00:43:31] Speaker A: Yes. [00:43:32] Speaker B: Because of the goal differential being 11 for Dallas and then seven and two for San Jose and Houston. So, like it's three points. Unless of course, those teams score like gobs of gobs. [00:43:40] Speaker A: So maybe. So the magic number we should just to be safe is four. [00:43:43] Speaker B: Four, you know, four points. Unless you give up 50 goals or something. [00:43:49] Speaker A: Four points in the next three games gets Dallas a top four spot. I think I'm saying that correct. [00:43:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. Yeah. [00:43:55] Speaker A: I'm sure Garrett will listen to this and send us a note. If we've got that, someone will correct us. [00:44:01] Speaker C: Somebody in the discord will probably do that before. Yeah. [00:44:05] Speaker A: Whoever listens to this, sitting five in the morning, God bless you on Tuesday after Buzz puts it out at midnight on Monday or whenever he does truly remarkable stuff. Just real quick, let's go back to the schedule. Does. Does anybody have. Of all these teams in the west, does somebody. Do we have an agreement or consensus has the best or easiest or hardest schedule out of this between San Jose, St. Louis, Van Dallas and the Canucks? [00:44:35] Speaker C: I mean, I think re and just high level. I don't have all of them right in front of me, but I think Dallas has one of the easiest. You've got Columbus, who's 10th in the east. You've got, you know, Kansas City's been eliminated already. They're in what, 15th? And then you've got the Rapids, who are close to being eliminated too, if they haven't been already. Right. So don't get me wrong. Kansas City and Colorado are historically bogey teams for this squad, but just purely numbers based. [00:45:02] Speaker A: But you could also get to a game against Colorado where they're trying to get either stay in the play in game or get into the top seven. And you've got to deal with that. [00:45:12] Speaker B: It would be. It'd be fun for Dallas to flip that script and be the bogey team for Colorado and knock them out. If they're fighting for that. Eight, nine and knock out Colorado. [00:45:20] Speaker C: That'd be fun. [00:45:21] Speaker B: It would be fun with it. [00:45:23] Speaker A: So St. Louis is Portland, San Diego and then road game to Houston and San Jose. San Jose has Colorado, which obviously is fighting. Rsl, which is fighting. And Minnesota. [00:45:34] Speaker C: Minnesota out of it. [00:45:36] Speaker A: Yeah, essentially. Well, no Minnesota, let's see. Nine points. Yeah. If they were to win out, Minnesota could Put themselves back into this. [00:45:44] Speaker B: Having to finish at Houston is tough because Houston will be trying to fight for home advantage, too, and they've been struggling, so they're trying to get it turned around. So they're going to be playing hard to the end of the season. [00:45:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Or even to get in the top four themselves. [00:45:56] Speaker B: That's what I mean. Like, hold that home field. [00:45:58] Speaker A: Oh, I see what you're saying. [00:45:59] Speaker B: Not be letting the game go, you know, and. And. And ride the ship because they. They're having trouble scoring goals since the back half of the season. [00:46:06] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Dallas probably. I mean, not to again, knock on wood, not to jinx it. I do think Dallas has one of the better or, you know, oh, we're [00:46:15] Speaker B: gonna get yelled at so much. [00:46:16] Speaker A: We are gonna get yelled. That's my fault. I accept the blame. [00:46:20] Speaker B: All right. [00:46:22] Speaker A: Very nervous time. [00:46:23] Speaker C: Yeah, I got a question for. For Buzz here. Last week, you know, a week ago, we recorded this, and you said Moose was going to finish with 22 goals, and he did that. He did that on Saturday night. Do you want to readjust that prediction? [00:46:35] Speaker B: Well, of course. I mean, now that he's on 22 and then with three games to go, because he scores a higher clip than zero for three games. [00:46:44] Speaker A: I got a question for you. Why. Why was Moussa so muted in his celebration? Because that was a great goal, by the way. Credit to Bernie for having the fortitude to give him the ball one. But Moose's finish of that just was like, this is too easy. I'm just gonna tuck it over here on the far side netting. And he didn't celebrate at all, was he? Just. The game was frustrating him and he was like, finally. [00:47:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I think he looked pretty frustrated all game long and. And he was definitely gesturing more than normal at his teammates now. He always does that, you know, and you had to take it with a grain of salt. And he recovers really quickly and hugs all around. But, you know, at one point, he actually had somebody run into him, which was. Made him really. [00:47:25] Speaker C: It was Kai, right? [00:47:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it was Kaik. And so he was really frustrated about it. Yeah, Shocker. That guy ran into someone. Yeah, in the box in the nine channel. What are you doing, dude? Get. [00:47:35] Speaker C: Hey, that's Peter's favorite player. Stop. [00:47:36] Speaker A: The Brazilian retriever. [00:47:38] Speaker B: That's very TEDx coded to run the strike. Where's the ball? [00:47:41] Speaker A: Where's the ball? Where's the ball? [00:47:43] Speaker B: Yeah, he does reminds me of the terrier that has the little. The machine that shoots the ball and so they just go all day long chasing them. Yeah. So I think it was just that it was just his own personal frustration. Knew that it wasn't. He was having a rough day. It's like, you know what? Thank you. Yes. You know, kind of. [00:48:01] Speaker C: And look, I know it's still an outside chance because of the guy that's in front of him, but you know, he's three goals off the golden boot still. There's, there's, he's closing this distance pretty quickly. [00:48:09] Speaker B: You know, I think his chances are going to be hurt by that because no offense to him, you have to think about the big picture now. And so like Quill's not going to leave him on for 90 minutes a game. Like he's going to pull him every game just to keep him as fresh as he can. You know, it just means he needs [00:48:25] Speaker C: to seal the hat trick early. Right? [00:48:27] Speaker B: Yeah. So like, you know, if, if you're losing the game or you're not winning the game, then you're leaving him out there because you're best score. But like, you know, if you get ahead of some of these teams in these games, then he's gonna. Especially because Farrington is now going to be, we think, knock on wood, we're told should be, we're expect expectation is he'll be healthy. Like last game you didn't have Farrington, so you didn't have anybody to come in for Musa. Well, this game you will or we think you will. So like if you're up, you bring, you bring in fair. Nothing wrong with that, you know, and so you're going to want to, you're now you're playing for the playoffs, you're not playing for first place. That's dumb. You play for the playoffs. [00:49:03] Speaker C: Yeah. On Farrington, we've, we've got reports that he was out of the boot now, right? [00:49:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And the people that we've been talking to are telling us that they're optimistic he's going to be available this, you know, this week. Now, whether that means Wednesday or Saturday, whatever it means that pretty much soon you're going to have him to be able to come in for spell Musa and not have Musa go 90 minutes because you want to keep that guy firing on all cylinders too, you know, he doesn't need to go 90 minutes to restart games. [00:49:28] Speaker C: And we'll also be missing one Logan, one Sam Sarver this week serving the second game of his two game suspension. [00:49:34] Speaker A: How in the world did he get off with only one extra game? [00:49:37] Speaker C: Let's not talk about it. Let's not even, let's not even raise too much attention to that. [00:49:41] Speaker B: They even cited, like a specific policy. So it must be set out that that's the policy, you know, that it's just one game, but I can't believe it was just one game. I think that's if he had hit [00:49:51] Speaker A: somebody with that, maybe that's because nobody got hurt. [00:49:54] Speaker B: I just, maybe, I don't know. I don't know. [00:49:57] Speaker A: Well, happy Modelo to him. [00:50:00] Speaker B: I, I, I, I want to say one thing about that a lot. When I put up the pro the story about him getting suspended, a whole lot of people were. What about their fan? Well, it doesn't matter. It's like it doesn't matter what their fans were doing. All that matters to the league is what Sam Sarver did. Like, fans are dealt with by the team. That's the fan. The Houston franchise and their stadium people deal with that. That's not. The league doesn't care. [00:50:23] Speaker C: The league, the league can issue suspensions to fans, and there have been cases where fans have been suspended from a particular stadium. And the league has also enforced a ban greater or equal to that as well. [00:50:37] Speaker B: I know, but the league's not going to do that in the Tuesday disciplinary report. Right. That's going to come with an investigation through the team. And I'm talking about, like, it doesn't matter what they do relative to Sam. Like, all that matters to Sam's situation is what Sam did. It doesn't matter what, why he did it. [00:50:54] Speaker A: Right. [00:50:54] Speaker B: Like, it's, yeah, it's, that's the thing about policy. That's why you have policies. [00:50:57] Speaker A: And I'm not, I'm not advocating that he should have gotten more games. I'm just surprised the league only gave him one extra game. That's the, like, I saw that happen and I, I think I said it last week. I thought he was done for the regular season and maybe even for the playoffs, that typically, you know, when you endanger the safety of fans by throwing something back in the stands, like a can of beer. Wasn't that what it was, was a can of beer? [00:51:20] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a tall boy. [00:51:21] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, you, I, I, I just, that surprised me. [00:51:26] Speaker B: Keep in mind, keep in mind, just for comparison, Dario Salah got six games when he punched Hunter Freeman, and throwing a bottle of somebody isn't a quote, unquote, salt, right? So, like, I'm, I was surprised it wasn't six games, you know, so, yeah, [00:51:40] Speaker A: Hunter deserved it, though, didn't he? Or did he not. [00:51:42] Speaker B: I don't remember how I thought you were. I thought Hunter was your guy. What do you mean? Probably did. [00:51:47] Speaker A: Yeah, probably. Hey Buzz, every once in a while I'll go dig around league stats and try to figure out see where Dallas hits and some of these things. And Dallas never sits top three or five in any of these things except for one category. And I'm curious if you think this says something about the team that is either good or bad. Dallas appears in the top three in no category except for one where it is number one. Do you know what it is without looking? [00:52:14] Speaker B: No. Nope. [00:52:15] Speaker A: Would you like to guess you were Dennis? [00:52:18] Speaker B: I got no idea. [00:52:19] Speaker A: Dennis, what would be Dallas be number one in? In all the different categories. [00:52:23] Speaker B: There's nothing in the notes that they've been number one in at all. [00:52:26] Speaker C: So is it yellow cards? [00:52:28] Speaker A: No, it is clearances per match at 28.4. [00:52:33] Speaker C: Interesting. [00:52:35] Speaker B: Well, that's related to the fact that they for most of the year they played a low block and they sat in and just booted stuff out. So you know, and they pro and they still relatively like once they press, if they get broken, they don't try and defend the middle of the field. They get back. They still defend that way. So that's not surprising. You know, the stat wise, the thing that's different about this team than we haven't seen in a long time is the fact that they have 58 goals, they broke their goals number on a season and they're in the top couple on teams in the league on the goals. And that's because of the combination of having a striker like Musa and a playmaker like Valiante, like the. The key guys, the big money guys coming through. That's all. That's what it is. That's why this season's different. [00:53:18] Speaker A: Yeah, it is Great. Hey, winning is fun. Being towards the top of the table is great. But doing it playing attractive, fun to watch ball is just icing on top of all of it. So kudos to Eric Quill and the team and even you, Andre, as hyped [00:53:36] Speaker B: as you are, just remember that Miami is plus 20 goal differential, Vancouver minus bear halter is still plus 31 and Nashville is plus 43. So yes, great SC now season, don't confuse that with being one of the top two or three teams in the whole league. But enjoy it. Enjoy it. [00:53:53] Speaker A: What are you doing? What are you doing? [00:53:55] Speaker B: Real bro. [00:53:56] Speaker A: Buzz, what are you doing? [00:53:57] Speaker B: I'm keeping it real. I want people to not get carried away so that they don't. [00:54:01] Speaker A: I'M like, making a concerted effort to have a positive vibe, something I find difficult to do. [00:54:07] Speaker B: We don't do that here. [00:54:09] Speaker A: Okay. I just want to make sure everybody takes note that it's you, Buzz, that's being the pooper. [00:54:16] Speaker B: I am the keep it real guy. You know? [00:54:18] Speaker C: Welcome back, Positive Pete there is Buzz kill. [00:54:22] Speaker B: I'm not. I'm not Negative Welton. I'm just saying, I'm not the hitman. I. I'm the keep it real guy. Keep it real. Don't get too excited. Don't get too down. It's. It's like, you know, not a roller coaster. Keep it even. [00:54:33] Speaker C: Listen, I am going to keep it real. The next time we talk FC Dallas, we could be talking first. Could be talking first place lighting this [00:54:42] Speaker B: on fire, or fifth place. [00:54:46] Speaker C: First, fifth, some, or somewhere in between. We've got two matches ahead, so Bill's [00:54:51] Speaker B: not gonna get fired. That's exciting. [00:54:53] Speaker A: Dennis, have you not been paying attention to the history of this team deflation? [00:54:57] Speaker C: I'm going to burn it all down. [00:54:58] Speaker A: I'm going to burn it down. It's a very, very thin balloon that we've blown up here. Okay. It's very, very fragile. [00:55:04] Speaker B: How many years did you say it was for first place? Is it nine years? [00:55:07] Speaker A: Eight? It was eight years. [00:55:09] Speaker B: Eight years something. [00:55:10] Speaker A: So let me go back and find it. I have it written down here. Where did I put it? I put it down here somewhere. You're going to have to edit this out. Hold on. [00:55:19] Speaker C: He's. He's busting out the calculator again. [00:55:23] Speaker A: Eight years, five days or eight days now. It's essentially been 2, 930 days since [00:55:31] Speaker B: the last time before this podcast existed. This podcast is less old than first place. [00:55:39] Speaker A: I'm gonna tweet that out, by the way. [00:55:41] Speaker B: Just saying. [00:55:41] Speaker A: Yeah, y. [00:55:42] Speaker B: This is. This is our eighth season of this, and the eighth season is not over. So it's like. I'm pretty sure we started this after Oscar. [00:55:51] Speaker A: Oh, we did left. Because trust me, if we had done this podcast when Oscar left, I would have done nothing. I would have. Nobody would listen to this, would have ever continued to listen, because I would have done nothing but. And moan. [00:56:02] Speaker B: And I'm gonna look that up. [00:56:03] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, so we'll set FC Dallas Burn aside and all their success and feel good vibes and move over to Dallas Trinity. Mr. Dennis, why don't you update us on what happened with the Golden Girls this last weekend? [00:56:21] Speaker C: They went to DC and not. Didn't really show up. They kind of left Everything at home. And D.C. went ahead in the 10th minute and never looked back. Lee win got completely out coached here. They settled into their traditional kick the ball around the back and, you know, try and get forward, and they're. They're ticky Tacka Trinity, Barcelona way of playing football, and it completely did not work. DC Came in, pressed them high, pushed it really hard up the field and just beat them at every. Every facet of the game. It was just really. Just when they just really got beat really hard here. Some lineup changes that I don't think were the right moves. There's a lot of talk about this going on, but as you brought it up, Chris Beckman sat. [00:57:09] Speaker B: It's ridiculous. [00:57:10] Speaker C: Yeah. I don't know how you take your toughest player, arguably one of the best leaders on field. She's not wearing the arm band, but that's fine. [00:57:18] Speaker B: Maybe you're mvp actually. Most important, if not most valuable. [00:57:22] Speaker C: Yeah. And when I look in Carissa Beckman, I look at her and the way she plays and the style she plays and the toughness in heart and the physicality she plays with. She is the. For me, she is the spiritual successor to Amber Wisner and the way she plays and leads the game from the midfield or even from the back line, just that defensive stalwart that is out there. And she was obviously missed here. We've got a couple other changes that we brought in Ari Nagai to play in that sort of 8, 10 role, which we've seen a few different players roll into as the season has gone on here. She didn't have a great performance here. We missed, you know, we missed Cam Lancaster again. I do not understand why Cam Lancaster is not starting. She's one of the best players on this team. Every time she's out there, she changes the game. She's. She's racking up assists. [00:58:12] Speaker B: She. [00:58:13] Speaker C: She's racked up a few goals last season, and she just hasn't been out there. Obviously, you know, they moved her out of her natural wing position on the right side, but she's been playing in the. In the 10 role off the bench and when she has started this year, but we just haven't seen her get enough minutes as far as I'm concerned. [00:58:28] Speaker B: Yeah. I think the lack of, you know, Beckman either in the middle or as the right back with that overload, Dennis, which is the hallmark of this team tactically, like missing her presence in the midfield to me, was probably why Sedeno had her worst game of the year. She was awful. You know, Lacking any of that possession in the heart of the team really hurt them and they really, really struggled to play out of the back. Trinity did. They could not get a build going because DC was high pressing. And to show you how important this is for me, where I thought was the clearest thing, example of lead when getting out coached. DC started at number nine at the ninth position. The number 18 player on their team. Her name is Emma Jaskinek. Well, if you follow this league at all, you might know her because she's been the starting six for Spokane Zephyr for the last two years. She's a six. Yeah. And they started her at nine to press Trinity and make it impossible for Trinity to get out and that worked and they did not respond. The players didn't recognize it and lead and recognize it and they didn't fix it, they didn't solve it. And Cummings, the center back for DC also had a phenomenal game and completely isolated seven. Castane who did nothing and the guy did nothing coming out of midfield as that second striker did nothing. So it's like this was a game where not only did they just comprehensively outplayed on the field, they got comprehensively out coached from the first whistle. They lined up in a shape designed to stifle Trinity and for 90 minutes Trinity did not recognize it and solve it and didn't no zero response to it. Even the players they subbed in were just direct one on ones of oh, I need, I'm going to try a different playmaker and oh, I'm going to bring Beckman in now on the right back and see if that. It's like no tactical adjustment. So this was not a good performance by the coach or the team either. [01:00:21] Speaker C: 1 52nd minute. Giuliana Giannino, who's one of the, one of the newer signings she started to write back, which she, she started right back before. Yeah, she's okay. She's not, you know, she's, she's not a standout but she's serviceable. She comes off after she gets a ball to the face in 52nd minute and that's when Carissa Beckman comes on. Beckman goes on to have 64 touches in 38 minutes, two key passes and then Dallas's 10 of Dallas, nine of Dallas's 10 second half shots come after Beckman comes on. [01:00:53] Speaker B: Yeah and achievement come in. If, if Giannino doesn't get smashed in the face with the ball, get a concussion. [01:00:59] Speaker C: Dallas once again goes on to, to win the possession battle. Second half possession, they had 67% possession. They were 10 to 1 on shots but only four of those were on target and they got beat again. Right. This is, this has been the story of this club. When they lose, they. They possess the ball, they dominate possession and they, they hold the ball in their own half. They don't get forward and they just, they aren't able to deliver into the box and really get creative inside. [01:01:24] Speaker B: This is not a fair comparison but well, you compare it to Quill who has managed to try multiple ways and can shift his team in and out of tactics and formations in a given game. Louisa win can't do that. They play the exact same way the whole game. They never make any tactical adjustments. They're never making tactical changes now he's a rookie coach, I get it. But like at some point you need to be able to adjust what you're doing. And too many of the choices for me, like I'm watching the play and too many times it's just like, well, that player has been signed by somebody in the nwsl. That means they're good. That means they play. Man, just watch your team play. You've got three or four players that are by far more important to you in terms of your winning and losing that are are not NWSL players. The core of your team is not. And you're benching better players for younger players because they're not your players. They're on loan. You're developing them for somebody else. Now maybe if they get caught, you get to. You can sign one or a couple of them, that's fine, maybe that's possible. But you know, the heart of your team is being neglected. Your best players are being neglected in favor of playing these NWA solo knees that are all 20, 21, 22 years old and not these veterans in the prime of their career that are better players. Now if they were your players and you're developing for the future, I could buy it. But they're not your players. So I'm not sure in a sprint season what you're doing. So it's confusing me quite a bit. These selections are. Dennis, as you pointed out, this one was terrible in a six point fourth versus fifth and getting the playoffs. Not get the playoffs with like four games left now five games left. Whatever it is. This is poor, poor, poor, poor stuff. [01:02:48] Speaker C: Now Buzz, you got your hands on and we you published earlier. I think it was earlier this week or end of last week we got the contract stats and we know how long each of these contracts and it seems to me that the Players that are getting regular starts are much lower on that list, have much shorter term contracts. Every, almost every one of these loanees are getting significant minutes over players that are here essentially for the long term. And it appears, and some of this is conjecture, some of this is based on what we know and what we've seen, but it appears that a lot of these players that are getting starts are players that were brought in by this new administration. And these players that were either here or signed and brought in by Petro and Thackeray and the old guard are not seeing as much time. And Lancaster is one of those. And that, that for me is, is just unforgivable when you've got a player like Cam Lancaster sitting on your bench [01:03:39] Speaker B: who can perform and, and, and back minute. You know, I just, I just hate, I hate watching the team like, and decisions be made that or that are contrary to your ability to produce like, and to do it for reasons like, oh, I, that's not my player, I didn't bring him in here, I'm not gonna play him. Like, I really hope that's not it. I mean, I don't know what's worse, whether that would be, whether some pettiness would be worse or whether like an inability to recognize talent and in terms of game impact, talent like it's not always Lena win picks players that are like Lena win, that are these little nifty ball manipulator passer kind of guys, you know, and sometimes it takes Beckman breaking your leg in half. Not metaphorically, not literally. Literally. She doesn't literally hurt anybody, but she might, literally. [01:04:24] Speaker C: She is that kind of physical player. [01:04:26] Speaker A: She might. [01:04:26] Speaker B: But we don't want that. I'm not saying that, but I'm saying like sometimes some steel and some grit and some drive and some run forever kaik, you know, matters. You can't have 11 nifty little ball handlers and expect to win games. Sometimes you got to have different kinds of styles and profiles and, and we've talked way too much about this team has 18 million creative ball passing dribbling mids and no defenders and no grinders that are getting even if the gardeners they have aren't getting picked. You know, it's just, it's frustrating to watch a team not perform up to its level. [01:05:00] Speaker C: And speaking of defenders, there's a name that, that I, for, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out didn't make the, the even, you know, didn't, didn't make it off the bench is Lauren Flynn. Lauren Flynn has been working her ass off. I mean honestly one of the hardest working players I have ever seen. Just working her tail off every single week to come back, get healthy. She, you know she, she starts the, the Classico. Plays a good chunk of time in the Classico in the friendly last week and then she's just not used here again. You know, this is another. She was a defender that contributed all up and down the line all last year. She played center back, she played outside back. She had I think two or three goals. She had an assist last year. Why is Lauren Flynn not in there? She's one of the best defenders on the squad. [01:05:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a good question. [01:05:44] Speaker C: It's. It's been tough to watch. Lots of questions and not a lot. Not much more time to figure it out. We're coming down on the final stretch here. [01:05:50] Speaker A: Well, Saturday is a busy day of Dallas area football is the MLS team have the crew. I'm sorry, they're on the road Saturday in the middle of the day. Trinity has their game against. Oh is on Sunday. Oh okay. I thought it was on Saturday. That's at end the Cotton bowl at 4pm and the other big game that is happening this weekend on Halloween at 4 o'. Clock. Buzz, we do have a US Open cup qualifier game. Big local support soccer opportunity. [01:06:21] Speaker B: Yeah, this is a 40 at Denton. Pretty cool situation. Mean Green Stadium up in Denton. Support local soccer. The games, you know, in the middle of the afternoon. Unfortunately at the same time as some of these other games, this is the one time we like show play at night. It's like that's the Dallas. [01:06:37] Speaker A: It's also Halloween though that nobody wants to play Halloween night. [01:06:40] Speaker B: Oh, that's fair. That's a good point. Yeah, good point. For families. So you know, at least it's later than the LC Dallas game. Good chance to get out and watch some of the very, very best teams in the metroplex that are not professional teams play soccer. I think think the winner of this game advances to the 27 Open Oak Cup. So that's pretty cool. [01:06:58] Speaker A: Awesome. That is great. Well, very good. Hey Dennis, you were fascinated by the fact that I actually have an actual calculator. Just to show you some of the ancient office artifacts. I have some pens. These are called pens that you write. You actually write with these. [01:07:18] Speaker C: You write. [01:07:18] Speaker B: Yeah. You write with those letters. [01:07:19] Speaker C: I think I've seen those before. [01:07:21] Speaker A: These are called post it notes. [01:07:25] Speaker C: You're lucky I'm not home at my desk. I would be throwing all sorts of office supplies. Do you Have a stapler. I believe you have my stapler. [01:07:30] Speaker A: This is oxy cotton. [01:07:31] Speaker C: I'm sorry. [01:07:32] Speaker B: Oh, God. [01:07:34] Speaker A: That's supposed to show that. [01:07:35] Speaker C: There's your cold open. [01:07:37] Speaker B: By the way, Peter, just to reinforce that it is indeed our fault, the first episode of Third Degree, the podcast, hit YouTube on October 18, 2018. So literally days after they were last ever in first place. [01:07:50] Speaker C: So FC Dallas has never been in first place in the existence of this podcast. [01:07:54] Speaker A: Have we been doing this podcast since then? [01:07:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. That was shortly after that Oscar left, so we definitely got into all the. [01:08:02] Speaker A: I guess we did. I don't remember early days. I probably blocked it all out. [01:08:06] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll have to go back. [01:08:09] Speaker A: We need. We need one of the listeners to go back and listen to some of those early episodes post Oscar leaving the club and just see what kind of outrage and mind loss we all collectively were going into at that moment. [01:08:22] Speaker B: I actually know a Third Degree fan who's in the discord. I won't say his name, but when he. He was a newer fan to FC Dallas into soccer in general, and he wanted to. [01:08:31] Speaker A: I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Breaking news, breaking news. Your Bolon Dior winner for 2026, England's Harry Kane. [01:08:41] Speaker C: Come on. [01:08:41] Speaker A: Harry Kane won the award. I can't believe it. It's online right here as we're recording a. [01:08:47] Speaker C: Sir, come on. [01:08:49] Speaker B: So anyway, this particular fan, because he was new to soccer, he listened to every single episode of the podcast I and every single burn I'd ever done. Really sort of catch up on the team. [01:08:59] Speaker A: Did you give him some money? [01:09:00] Speaker B: No, he gives me money. [01:09:01] Speaker A: Oh, he's a supporter. [01:09:04] Speaker B: I gave him props, applauded. I was like, man, you're amazing. I would. [01:09:08] Speaker C: I believe he is the higher Patreon level too. So if you want to get one of those, you should absolutely hit up Buzz's Patreon. [01:09:14] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a plug. [01:09:16] Speaker C: That's how you do it in radio. Peter. [01:09:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm having a moment. My faith is restored in humanity that Harry Kane can win the. Win that award because I thought for sure it was going to be a popularity contest with Mbappe or. You mean Lamar. Well, you know. There you go. [01:09:35] Speaker C: All right. Hey, one quick shout. [01:09:36] Speaker A: Yes. [01:09:37] Speaker C: Mila Brewer. Dallas. Dallas. Trinity's Mila Brewer is playing with the U17s in the World Cup. She started and played full 90 in two of the three round robin games and she scored a goal where they. One of the 17 goals that the U.S. scored against, uh, Samoa in the first round, and they play, uh, against Spain in around the 16 on Thursday. So if you want to see the Golden Girls go international. [01:10:01] Speaker A: Excellent stuff. All right, well, Dennis, travel safely, enjoy Harry Potter World tonight, and make sure you get yourself a third degree wand while you're there. And thank you so much for carving out time to do this tonight. [01:10:14] Speaker C: Good to be here, Buzzard. [01:10:16] Speaker A: As always, my good old friend. Look at us. Our team's in second place. Place. [01:10:21] Speaker B: I'm about to try and figure out how to get down to Texas if posting this thing like you think they're gonna. [01:10:27] Speaker A: I didn't say I thought they were going to. I'm just asking for, like, the hypothetical. How is this gonna work? [01:10:33] Speaker B: Yeah, well, we'll both be sitting in Toyota Stadium, half torn down, watching. That's right, with our construction ads. [01:10:39] Speaker A: We'll sit next to the pile of burning tires. [01:10:41] Speaker B: We'll have to sneak in. [01:10:42] Speaker C: You and I probably sneak in the night before, set up shop. Shop in the construction site, have a. Have a vest on. You're fine. [01:10:49] Speaker A: Yeah, we can pretend to be the new construction worker. [01:10:53] Speaker B: Guys. [01:10:55] Speaker A: Very good. Excellent stuff, boys. Well, thank you to you both. And thank you, Dallas soccer area. Curious. We will speak to you next week. We'll see what everything's standing at that point. On Third Degree, the podcast, you're a wizard. [01:11:09] Speaker C: Harry Kane [01:11:12] Speaker A: Green Podcast, Third Degree, the Third Degree podcast. Third Degree, the Third Degree N podcast. Third Degree, the Third Degree n podcast. [01:11:37] Speaker B: Sam.