Speaker 1: Time to hit the pitch on the drive. The RSL
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Speaker 2: Til for RSL this week.
Speaker 3: It potentially is the busiest stretch of the entire season.
Speaker 2: After a little bit of a kind of.
Speaker 3: Light June into July, we've gone and the lads, as
Speaker 3: we say here for the lads have really turned the page,
Speaker 3: unbeaten in eight of their last nine. It's League's Cup
Speaker 3: action coming up on Wednesday before they return. MLS play
Speaker 3: in New York on Saturday, and the head coach, Pablo
Speaker 3: Master Money on a Monday afternoon, Happy Monday, Pops.
Speaker 2: How we doing.
Speaker 4: Great? Bud?
Speaker 3: Appreciate the time as always, so when it comes to
Speaker 3: the League's Cup, I know you guys prioritize everything.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 2: I know you want to win trophies.
Speaker 3: What sort of dynamic or challenge that is a little
Speaker 3: bit different does this tournament kind of face you as
Speaker 3: the manager? And then intertwined in the question when it
Speaker 3: simply comes down to how busy the schedule is, how
Speaker 3: are you guys balancing this out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I think the way they format a determined
Speaker 4: this year has been actually pretty good where they the
Speaker 4: first leg of it, the first three games are you know,
Speaker 4: within ten days and so you know what you're up against,
Speaker 4: so you can really just focus on the first stage
Speaker 4: of the League's Cup. So I think that's a big
Speaker 4: improvement from from last year, which was pretty which was
Speaker 4: intertwined with league games. So here we've just taken ten
Speaker 4: games to focus in on our three opponents, and so
Speaker 4: I think that part was good. So I think the
Speaker 4: biggest balance is again, you know, we run a pay
Speaker 4: best for forward in these tournaments and we won. We
Speaker 4: run the risk of really putting our players in precarious
Speaker 4: situations from the just fatigue perspective, which then increases the
Speaker 4: odds of injuries and performances. And so I think that's
Speaker 4: been the toughest thing because these games are coming and
Speaker 4: fast and we want to keep running. You know, a
Speaker 4: group that's been doing really well the last you know,
Speaker 4: seven eight weeks and building that chemistry and and that connection,
Speaker 4: but you but you just run into you know, it's
Speaker 4: it's you know, it's really difficult from that perspective. But
Speaker 4: but the guys have been you know, I think we've
Speaker 4: been having it. We've found a good balance with the
Speaker 4: groups that we've been playing. The guys have been doing
Speaker 4: really well. But you know, I think for this game
Speaker 4: we're gonna have to give a couple of guys breathers
Speaker 4: and give other guys an opportunity. And I think that
Speaker 4: rotation has worked pretty well. But uh, you know, we
Speaker 4: got one game left, and uh, you know, we want
Speaker 4: to make sure we ended on the right now.
Speaker 3: Is it lega MX or lega MkIS you got to
Speaker 3: help me?
Speaker 2: I hear it right, you're both.
Speaker 4: Uh, it just depends on you know. I think for
Speaker 4: us it's lega MX. For them it's legams.
Speaker 2: What did you just throw a third option at me? Cheez?
Speaker 4: Yeah, because the thing is M in Spanish is M right,
Speaker 4: but they say it really fast, so it sounds like
Speaker 4: m eks. Okay, so it's it's m makis.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, all right, fair enough.
Speaker 4: However, your tongue fels on the day. If you want
Speaker 4: to roll it, you know, if you want to just
Speaker 4: let it go, it's league amakis.
Speaker 2: I'm going league at Max Pops.
Speaker 3: I'm just That's That's how I've always rolled that's how
Speaker 3: I'm that's so I'm gonna continue role. So let's let's
Speaker 3: talk about the first two matches. The Club America, who
Speaker 3: massive club. I think they finished second in this tournament
Speaker 3: before and obviously very famous. It almost felt like a
Speaker 3: road game, so many Club America fans and I'll tell
Speaker 3: you what man I mean, we'll.
Speaker 2: Get to you know, the unfortunate ending with the San
Speaker 2: Luis game.
Speaker 3: The Ratha Cabral performance was a little romando ish when
Speaker 3: it came to the you know, him stepping up and
Speaker 3: saving those pks must have been a great moment. Would
Speaker 3: you like most about your team's win against Club America, Well,
Speaker 3: you know, I.
Speaker 4: Think the biggest thing was the way the guys competed
Speaker 4: against the big team. You know. I think we've you know,
Speaker 4: we've we've done them and and league in the last
Speaker 4: recent weeks. But going up against the Juggernaut to start
Speaker 4: this competition, I thought the guys put their best foot
Speaker 4: forward and play the heck of a game on both
Speaker 4: sides of the ball, and you know, to concede with
Speaker 4: whatever it was like fifteen seconds left of injury time.
Speaker 4: I think it was a gut punch for the top
Speaker 4: of performance we had. And then then penalty kicks, Rosa
Speaker 4: stepped up and and you know, carried the team and
Speaker 4: and and did what he's capable of doing, and that
Speaker 4: was fantastic. So that was that. That was a really
Speaker 4: good performance where I felt like, man, it was just
Speaker 4: it was the last play of the game, and I
Speaker 4: knew we just had to make sure that we were
Speaker 4: you know, on point. But to be fair to them,
Speaker 4: you know, rots and the tape back, I mean, there
Speaker 4: wasn't much where they could go with that ball, and
Speaker 4: in the little space the guy had to shoot, I
Speaker 4: mean he crushed it. So you know, tipped your cap
Speaker 4: off to them, but felt gut it for the guys.
Speaker 3: And then moving over to the second game you played
Speaker 3: in League's Cup, it was another really good game. The
Speaker 3: San Luis game they got you in PK's what stood
Speaker 3: out most.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think again, I think this is where we
Speaker 4: ran into a bit of fatigue. There's a few guys
Speaker 4: out there that have been going you know, Saturday Wednesday
Speaker 4: for a month now, and I think there's a bit
Speaker 4: of tired legs. Early on, I think the first goal
Speaker 4: we conceded was uncharacteristic, a bit of sloppy play with
Speaker 4: the ball that transitioned into you know, sloppy playing about
Speaker 4: the ball. And you know, they they you know, they
Speaker 4: they tied up the game and then went on to
Speaker 4: take the lead, you know. And I think, but the
Speaker 4: interesting thing, Spence is, you know, we had an opportunity
Speaker 4: to go to one and we didn't capitalize on a
Speaker 4: PK and and then the momentum swung their way. They
Speaker 4: scored a goal and minute. You know, but but in
Speaker 4: both games, the way the guys have responded from really
Speaker 4: tough moments, you know, being able to keep their heads
Speaker 4: in the in the game after conceding in the last
Speaker 4: player game against America and winning the PKS, and here
Speaker 4: conceding a goal late but still staying in the game
Speaker 4: and tying it up late, I think are really good
Speaker 4: examples of the mentality of the group and and and
Speaker 4: how we've come a long way from the start of
Speaker 4: the year. And then obviously the PK was the PKS
Speaker 4: were unfortunate. You know, PK's are a lot like a game.
Speaker 4: You know, if you start with big momentum, whether it's
Speaker 4: a goal or a save, it just makes you know,
Speaker 4: it just makes it a lot easier for the next
Speaker 4: next guy's going If you miss on the first one,
Speaker 4: that goal shrinks a little bit and the goalkeeper gets
Speaker 4: a lot bigger. So but I think we took a
Speaker 4: lot of important moments in that game. We digested that
Speaker 4: as a group today spent probably a good half hour
Speaker 4: and change on, you know, managing moments to bring the
Speaker 4: game under our control a little bit more. And the
Speaker 4: guys are really receptive. And so now we have correctro
Speaker 4: in this next game, which will be again another tough
Speaker 4: game and one that hopefully we can take experiences from
Speaker 4: the seven least game and applying to this next game.
Speaker 2: Okay, what are you up against on Wednesday?
Speaker 3: And you know, I started reading through the tiebreaker scenarios
Speaker 3: and then I decided to go on and live my
Speaker 3: life instead of continuing. So I can't sit here and
Speaker 3: tell you that I'm extremely well versed on exactly what
Speaker 3: you need to do to get through? Can you get
Speaker 3: through if you go get all three on Wednesday and
Speaker 3: and tell me about this side that you're playing against.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so there's still a slim possibility that we can
Speaker 4: get through. We need to take all three. P k's
Speaker 4: are even the two points in PK's is not an option,
Speaker 4: and then we're gonna need quite a bit of help, right,
Speaker 4: I think we're gonna need the help from four or
Speaker 4: five different teams, and in this competition, it can definitely happen.
Speaker 4: So instead of worrying about all that stuff, just you know,
Speaker 4: put a put a great group up there that's ready
Speaker 4: to win the game and then let the chips fall
Speaker 4: what they may. And as far as correctro there. They're
Speaker 4: a team that, uh, you know, they haven't done well
Speaker 4: in this tournament, but the decent and the last turn
Speaker 4: in the last league play, and again, I think when
Speaker 4: you come to this third game, it's it's really a
Speaker 4: battle of attrition. I mean, because you know, I'm talking
Speaker 4: to the coaches from the Mexican teams and Aaron saying like,
Speaker 4: this is impossible. We don't even have a day to prepare,
Speaker 4: and I'm saying, well, yeah, it's not like we haven't
Speaker 4: actually day either. We're under the same thing. So so
Speaker 4: I think, you know, I think players will be running
Speaker 4: on fumes and it's really about this is a mentality
Speaker 4: game for me. Obviously we're going to freshen it up,
Speaker 4: but the expectation is is a team that wants it more,
Speaker 4: that digs more, that believes more will be the team
Speaker 4: that wins the game.
Speaker 3: How, if at all, do those dynamics shape the eleven selection,
Speaker 3: because it sounds like slim chance to advance. Uh, you
Speaker 3: have put yourself back in the middle of the MLS
Speaker 3: playoff chase and we'll get there. But also you want
Speaker 3: to win and you hope that everything kind of falls
Speaker 3: your way. So when it comes to all those dynamics,
Speaker 3: it feels like pops that could go either way. You
Speaker 3: want to rest your guys for the playoff chase or
Speaker 3: you want to go all in and get three.
Speaker 2: How do you balance that out?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think there's
Speaker 4: one way, and it's it's it's it's it's a bit
Speaker 4: of a gamble, and I think we're you know that
Speaker 4: that I'm willing to take it is have a few
Speaker 4: prescribed subs that have time so that you can get
Speaker 4: your best players on the field, but you can also
Speaker 4: manage their load. Right, we got it. We got a
Speaker 4: bunch of guys that are running in the red. But
Speaker 4: if this were going to be a league game, a
Speaker 4: midweek league game, which we're taken in as a MIDWEK
Speaker 4: League game. You know, our our our toughest day of
Speaker 4: the week of training would be would be Wednesday, and
Speaker 4: that equates forty five minutes. Equates to our training session load,
Speaker 4: not the emotional impact, not all the other stuff which
Speaker 4: is which is also a load for this promote just
Speaker 4: a physical output perspective, you know, having some prescribed changes
Speaker 4: at halftime to keep the group fresh, but also have
Speaker 4: your your your best players available to compete in this game.
Speaker 4: I think as a as a good middle road and
Speaker 4: where where it might where you might get caught with
Speaker 4: that is obviously if you need to make some if
Speaker 4: someone gets injured latent games, you might be under it.
Speaker 4: But but I think you know, the guys that the
Speaker 4: guys that we're playing the majority of the minutes are
Speaker 4: have have been rested, are robust, and feel like it's
Speaker 4: a it's a calculated risk that we're willing to take
Speaker 4: to put ourselves in position to both get our best
Speaker 4: players on the field, but also not put them through
Speaker 4: the grinder as MLS league play continues thereafter.
Speaker 2: I know it's a little bit of yesterday's news.
Speaker 3: However, I was out of town last week and so
Speaker 3: I haven't had a chance to talk to you on
Speaker 3: air about the return of chi Cho and what that
Speaker 3: was like, and also getting a win over a really
Speaker 3: good San Jos, a team which is more important than anything.
Speaker 3: But what was it like to have Chia Chho back
Speaker 3: in the building and give me your thoughts on that win.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was strange. It was almost surreal, you know.
Speaker 4: You know, I think Chie Scho having been in that
Speaker 4: stadium all of last year and in the sea, you know,
Speaker 4: his connection with with the fans, it was really peculiar.
Speaker 4: And I think for me seeing him across the field
Speaker 4: and knowing that he's cabled, you know, scoring goals from
Speaker 4: nowhere was was obviously yeah, you know, it gave me
Speaker 4: a bit of nerves, but the guys just really handled
Speaker 4: themselves well. That played a great game. They knew what
Speaker 4: the what they're up against him. He's got a lot
Speaker 4: of friends in the locker room still, and so for me,
Speaker 4: it was always interesting to see the dynamic when a
Speaker 4: player of his magnitude comes back to the club, how
Speaker 4: those players are going to respond, because obviously he was
Speaker 4: the man when he was here, and those players looked
Speaker 4: at him like the leader and the captain, and so
Speaker 4: sometimes there's just almost subservient feel when when that player
Speaker 4: comes back in a different team. But you wouldn't have
Speaker 4: noticed that Chicha was with our group last year because
Speaker 4: these guys, these guys played fantastic and and they didn't
Speaker 4: take their foot off the gas from minute, you know,
Speaker 4: from the first minute to the last. So really proud
Speaker 4: of that performance. And then from from as far as
Speaker 4: the collective, you know, obviously gave us a big three
Speaker 4: points because they're they're they're right around where we are
Speaker 4: on the table. And so again another big psychological hurdle
Speaker 4: for us, you know, starting and second to last and
Speaker 4: in the west and then kind of marching up and
Speaker 4: so we got really good momentum going and it was
Speaker 4: really good to get that result against you know, a
Speaker 4: dynamic a team like San Jose and against our old
Speaker 4: teammate in Chicha.
Speaker 3: Did you have an opportunity to catch up with them
Speaker 3: at all, and if so, what were those conversations like, Yeah, No, he.
Speaker 4: Was really gracious, you know, he says, you know, obviously
Speaker 4: he misses he misses not being here with the group.
Speaker 4: You know, with the fans, the stadium, like it brought
Speaker 4: back a lot of old feelings, but he was really
Speaker 4: grateful for the time that he spent here with you know,
Speaker 4: with with his teammates and the staff, and it was
Speaker 4: kind of a welcome back, and you know, it was
Speaker 4: it was a really strange It was really strange, but
Speaker 4: you know, I think Chicho he's he's a real gracious
Speaker 4: human being and and shared that with not only myself
Speaker 4: and the staff, but also with all his teammates. So
Speaker 4: it was it was good to see Chicho back, and
Speaker 4: I'm grateful that we were able to give the three points.
Speaker 3: Tell me what you've seen both in training and then
Speaker 3: during matches from Diego since he came back. I mean,
Speaker 3: he got the goal the other night. It was the
Speaker 3: first goal for you guys since May. It was a
Speaker 3: little bit of a poacher's goal, do you respect? I mean,
Speaker 3: I'm not calling him that. We know how good he is.
Speaker 3: Is Is there a little fatigue? Is there a little
Speaker 3: like adjustment? Tell me where you're seeing from Diego right now?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I think you hear the nail on the head, you know,
Speaker 4: I think you know, going into this last game Diego,
Speaker 4: Luna has played fifteen matches in the last seven weeks, right,
Speaker 4: and that is obviously what I'm talking about when you
Speaker 4: when when the players are playing in the red from
Speaker 4: a physical load perspective, like and then you've taken all
Speaker 4: the travel. You know, they played some friendly games before
Speaker 4: the Gold Cup, played all the Gold Cup games here,
Speaker 4: and then obviously he went to the MS All Star Game.
Speaker 4: All those little things add up and it doesn't let
Speaker 4: the body reset in the way that it needs to.
Speaker 4: And and I think the other part too is, you know,
Speaker 4: I think he feels, and we've been talking with a
Speaker 4: lot about this that you know, he's sometimes he's got
Speaker 4: to do more than what he needs to with our group.
Speaker 4: And I mean, and you know, in my message to
Speaker 4: him as this group was coming when you were gone,
Speaker 4: and all we need you to do is just recover
Speaker 4: the right way, get your feedback, and then just play
Speaker 4: play as you have. Then you don't need to do
Speaker 4: anything more than just do your job as the best
Speaker 4: of your ability. And if you can do that, you're
Speaker 4: you're going to get back into not only you know,
Speaker 4: helping the team win, but continue on this trajectory of
Speaker 4: development and growth that has been incredible from the start
Speaker 4: of the year.
Speaker 3: So ultimately we and we'll get to the new additions,
Speaker 3: but before you get there, you know, I didn't know
Speaker 3: much about Lachlan when he was acquired, felt like he
Speaker 3: had some moments early on. Why ultimately do you think
Speaker 3: it didn't work out with Lachlan as he's he's now
Speaker 3: moved on.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I think every you know, it's that's
Speaker 4: a great question, and I think Lochlan would probably have
Speaker 4: the best answer to that. I think for me, you know,
Speaker 4: it's not an easy league to assimilate to. It's and
Speaker 4: if you're not getting the plane, it's really hard to
Speaker 4: get those wheels turning, and and and and and to
Speaker 4: commit to your craft away from home is very difficult
Speaker 4: as well. So I think there's a lot of there's
Speaker 4: a couple of things going on away from the field
Speaker 4: that were that were difficult for him, and then he
Speaker 4: wasn't getting the type of reps and and so you know,
Speaker 4: one of the things I always talk to young players
Speaker 4: about is everyone wants to know what they need to
Speaker 4: do to play on Saturdays the big games. And I'm
Speaker 4: saying the most important days are Tuesday through Friday, and
Speaker 4: until you're the best player on Tuesday through Friday, it's
Speaker 4: going to be very difficult to get a crack on Saturday.
Speaker 4: And so that's why it has to be a real
Speaker 4: commitment to to your profession, right It's it's it's the
Speaker 4: days that nobody cares about. No one's going to write
Speaker 4: about your training session on Wednesday on social media, you know,
Speaker 4: ever getting likes, no one cares. But however they're the
Speaker 4: most important. And I feel like it establishes a great
Speaker 4: foundation for young players to understand that this, this commitment,
Speaker 4: this training session, sharpening the tools is the only way
Speaker 4: forward forever. And then once you do start playing on
Speaker 4: Saturdays regularly, you got to double down on the Tuesday
Speaker 4: through Friday. And I just don't think he ever got
Speaker 4: up to speed and performed at a level throughout the
Speaker 4: week that would give him more opportunities at the weekend.
Speaker 4: And so unfortunately it just didn't work out for him.
Speaker 4: But hopefully, and and and I've heard this quite a
Speaker 4: few times spent over the course of my you know,
Speaker 4: my my years coaching is uh, you know, four or
Speaker 4: five years later running the players and they're like, now
Speaker 4: I know what you mean. I didn't you know. And
Speaker 4: and I think Einstein has a quote where it's like
Speaker 4: you can't fix the problem in the same place that
Speaker 4: it occurs. Sometimes you need separation from the experience or
Speaker 4: from you know, the words that your parents give you
Speaker 4: or you know, mentors give you, and you need to
Speaker 4: go out and live that experience and then and then
Speaker 4: it'll make sense to you. So you know, hopefully you
Speaker 4: know sooner than rather than later. He you know, understand
Speaker 4: that it's it's really about being a master of your craft,
Speaker 4: and that only happens Tuesday through Friday, and then we
Speaker 4: can talk about the games and all that other stuff.
Speaker 3: And also, and look, I want to be clear, I
Speaker 3: have zero inside information about what happened with Lachlan, but
Speaker 3: I find it. I've always found this fascinating, Pablo any sport,
Speaker 3: whatever it is, the art of analyzing talent combined with
Speaker 3: the necessary knowledge of whether or not the talent is
Speaker 3: also a professional. And that's an intangible thing. It's really
Speaker 3: really hard to identify because ultimately, and I say this
Speaker 3: all the time, just get me the talent, then we'll
Speaker 3: figure it out. You know, I don't care if there's
Speaker 3: redundancy between Diogo and Diego. They're both awesome figured out.
Speaker 3: Give me the talent's figured out. How do you go
Speaker 3: about and I know it's a collaboration. I know it's
Speaker 3: Kurt his staff, Jason, Tony and then you and your staff,
Speaker 3: how do you go about the best way possible to
Speaker 3: understand whether or not Okay, we like the talent, but
Speaker 3: is he a pro?
Speaker 2: Does he know what to do to be professional every day?
Speaker 2: How do you do that?
Speaker 4: Then?
Speaker 2: How quickly do you notice whether or not that's going
Speaker 2: to be an issue?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I think that's the toughest thing, Spence. And and
Speaker 4: to be fair, you know, we can extrapolate a lot
Speaker 4: of information from like has this player traveled a lot?
Speaker 4: You know? Has he has he been to Europe before?
Speaker 4: Has he left his country before? Because that's a big
Speaker 4: that's a big thing for us because if he's done that,
Speaker 4: that means he's got the capability of living away from
Speaker 4: family and still excelling. Right, So I think that's that's
Speaker 4: a big thing, you know. And then and then it's
Speaker 4: really zoom zoom calls and conversation and our leadership coach
Speaker 4: Grant Barge is on these calls of us and it
Speaker 4: has a bunch of great questions that hopefully will disseminate
Speaker 4: some some personality things, right, Like is he is he
Speaker 4: a does he have a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset?
Speaker 4: Like some of these questions can give you this way,
Speaker 4: but at the end of the day, it's all it's
Speaker 4: all the roll of the dice. And I say that
Speaker 4: because the human being is so complex. In other words,
Speaker 4: the problems that you'll face here won't be like the
Speaker 4: issue that you face elsewhere, or if you're going through
Speaker 4: some kind of personal stuff now, well, the interview we
Speaker 4: did six weeks ago has nothing to do with what
Speaker 4: you're going through now. And we're all feeling beings, and
Speaker 4: so if we're not in a good way off the field,
Speaker 4: it's going to be very difficult to have the player
Speaker 4: that we thought we had because you're going through some
Speaker 4: stuff off the field, and so there's so many factors
Speaker 4: that go into the person being able to be the
Speaker 4: best professional. But I think we do a wonderful job
Speaker 4: of asking the right questions of getting to know, you know,
Speaker 4: looking out body language on the zoom right, is he
Speaker 4: slumped over? Does he look engaged or you know, is
Speaker 4: he upright? Is he motivated? You know? But I also
Speaker 4: had a player when I was in Colorado, and it
Speaker 4: was almost like someone gave him the cheat sheet to me,
Speaker 4: and he says, listen because this guy he scored a
Speaker 4: ton of goals in his league. And I'm like, how
Speaker 4: are we get this guy? Like, this guy's a big
Speaker 4: time player. And he gets on the zoom and he says,
Speaker 4: I work every day, coach, I will, I'll like do
Speaker 4: a study the soccer and I work every day and
Speaker 4: I work every day, and I'm like, oh man, this
Speaker 4: is my guy. And he gets there and it was
Speaker 4: like the complete opposite of what you said. And then
Speaker 4: I went back to the coaches and they're like, yeah,
Speaker 4: he works hard. Yeah, but he works hard for that
Speaker 4: league over there, right, And so then there's a subjectivity
Speaker 4: as to what, you know, a professional and a hard
Speaker 4: worker looks like. So there's so many there's so many
Speaker 4: variables that go into it, and and really what we
Speaker 4: want to see is like, Okay, now you're here, who
Speaker 4: are you? You know? And unfortunately sometimes that means it
Speaker 4: doesn't always work. And you know, I think lafc is
Speaker 4: we've seen this in two players this year. One they
Speaker 4: grabbed a you know, a Turkish international and they bought
Speaker 4: him in January and they just let him go in
Speaker 4: the summer, and this is a guy with a long resume,
Speaker 4: right scoring goals and all kinds of different leagues, but
Speaker 4: it just didn't work right. And then you have Jeru,
Speaker 4: who every you know, one of the best strikers of
Speaker 4: our time, was here for a year and it didn't
Speaker 4: work right. So even if you know everything, if if
Speaker 4: you've seen him play on TV and Champions League and
Speaker 4: World Cups and all these different things, sometimes it's just
Speaker 4: not the right thing. And it could be the place,
Speaker 4: it could be the way they play, but it could
Speaker 4: also be there's a there's there's there's a life outside
Speaker 4: of the game that has a huge impact on how
Speaker 4: these players behave once they're on the ground.
Speaker 2: What's gotten in Ojeita? What's going on here?
Speaker 3: I mean one goal in like eighty games and now
Speaker 3: three in the past three like what and what sort
Speaker 3: of look?
Speaker 2: Everybody likes to score goals.
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter what position you play, what what sort
Speaker 3: of jewice can that give them?
Speaker 4: Well, it's it's I think ironically, it brings him a
Speaker 4: lot of confidence and all the other little things that
Speaker 4: we're asking him to do from from a pivot position, right,
Speaker 4: I answer your question, I mean he's watching a lot
Speaker 4: of Ronaldo MESSI highlight. It's it's yeah, it's out of
Speaker 4: his you know, he doesn't score a lot in training.
Speaker 4: He just does his job and does a really good
Speaker 4: job at that and facilitating the ball from the back
Speaker 4: to the front and keep you know, and pressing. But
Speaker 4: you know he's he's got a hot hand. And you know,
Speaker 4: the crazy thing is is once once you believe your
Speaker 4: goal scorer, uh, you're you're going to be scoring goals,
Speaker 4: whether it's on set pieces like he did at the weekend,
Speaker 4: or if that second goal he scored, he whipped it
Speaker 4: in and found the back post. You know, So like
Speaker 4: these things start happening, and the same thing with the
Speaker 4: strikers or players that feel like they can't score it,
Speaker 4: they just won't, you know. So we're gonna we're going
Speaker 4: to keep riding them and keep asking him to do
Speaker 4: what he's been doing because he's been a huge catalyst
Speaker 4: and I think, you know, for our group that's been
Speaker 4: struggling to score goals this year. You know, we talked
Speaker 4: with the pivots quite a bit and said, hey, guys, listen,
Speaker 4: a Mecca got forlored in the last game and combined
Speaker 4: nicely at the top of the box, and I think
Speaker 4: Johnny got the foul for a PK, So like they're
Speaker 4: getting more involved in the attack and I think that's
Speaker 4: what we need in order to be a more dynamic team.
Speaker 3: Well, and as we say here today with back and
Speaker 3: by the way, would you characterize a Mecca as one
Speaker 3: hundred percent yet?
Speaker 4: No, No, I think he's still about sixty minutes fit.
Speaker 4: And it's so tough in the middle of the season
Speaker 4: to go from out six weeks the ramping them back up.
Speaker 4: But I'll tell you spent. You know, the performances that
Speaker 4: he's had have been really really sharp, really sharp coming
Speaker 4: into games and really changing, you know, the games that
Speaker 4: he started. I thought he's played really well. So he's close,
Speaker 4: He's just not. He's not all the way there. He
Speaker 4: will continue to build up his minutes in lieu of
Speaker 4: a strong push towards the end.
Speaker 3: Well, it's interesting as you kind of look at this
Speaker 3: a little bit because I thought Ruiz against Club America
Speaker 3: was dynamic, and you've got a Mecha coming back healthy
Speaker 3: and suddenly Ojita's on fire. Like that positional group you
Speaker 3: have with that central holding mid is so strong and
Speaker 3: certainly a lynchmin Are all three of them good enough
Speaker 3: where maybe you look at some sort of way to
Speaker 3: get all three of them on the field, even if
Speaker 3: one of them has to play in a different spot.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I think we built such as it's
Speaker 4: taken so long to get the attacking group going, and
Speaker 4: I feel like they're they're doing a great job, you know, Diego,
Speaker 4: Diogo and that Gozo and then obviously we have some
Speaker 4: new players in camp now that you know. For as
Speaker 4: much as I'd like to do that, we also have
Speaker 4: to remember that in order to have a good run,
Speaker 4: you're gonna need death. Anything happens to these guys, we'd
Speaker 4: have no replacement for what they're capable of doing. And
Speaker 4: so you know, the rotations would be really important to
Speaker 4: keep them all engaged in all sharp so it won't
Speaker 4: be like just two guys playing. It'll be a good rotation.
Speaker 4: And what it allows us to do is look at
Speaker 4: our opponents. Right, So if opponent's playing a really high
Speaker 4: line and want to play us really tight, Pablo Ruis
Speaker 4: has to be in that game. If you know, if
Speaker 4: there's gonna be space between their their front line and
Speaker 4: their back line, we can use a mecca and o
Speaker 4: Haeta because they're both really good with driving with the
Speaker 4: ball and making lines on the dribble, and then any
Speaker 4: other combination will work as well. So you know, I
Speaker 4: think it lends itself to having a really good combination
Speaker 4: of those three, which will be critical, and we can
Speaker 4: now keep them fresh. For last year, you know, a
Speaker 4: Mecca and no Haita played every almost every minute of
Speaker 4: every game, and towards the end they're running, They're running
Speaker 4: on fumes. And so I think the three of these
Speaker 4: guys playing at the levels of the playoff playing at
Speaker 4: give us not only great options in the short term,
Speaker 4: but will allow us to keep them fresh as we
Speaker 4: progress with the season.
Speaker 3: All right, with a few remaining minutes, let's talk about
Speaker 3: the new toys you have to play with.
Speaker 2: We've been waiting.
Speaker 3: Anxiously for some reinforcements and they're on the way. So
Speaker 3: Rawan Cruise has been on the ground for a week.
Speaker 3: I'm told twenty four year old Brazilian Pablo. As I
Speaker 3: always say, I'm not going to lie to you, I
Speaker 3: have not been grinding on Botafogo tape, so I don't
Speaker 3: know much about this young man. But in your limited experience,
Speaker 3: what sort of player. Is he What sort of person
Speaker 3: is he? And when you think we'll see.
Speaker 4: Him, Yeah, he's a fantastic individual. He's got a really
Speaker 4: he's he's got a big heart and and just always
Speaker 4: a smile in the space a little bit like Anderson
Speaker 4: Julio as far as the energy gives off, is really
Speaker 4: really positive. As far as his play, he's kind of
Speaker 4: like a nine and a half type player where he's
Speaker 4: got the he's he's got the defensity to stretch, but
Speaker 4: he's got really really soft feet to combine as well,
Speaker 4: And so a player that can play on the highest
Speaker 4: line but also dropping into that the space between the lines,
Speaker 4: being able to combine with teammates running off of them
Speaker 4: and or turning and going with the ball. So fantastic technically,
Speaker 4: and he and he's good in front of goal and
Speaker 4: he's can hit the ball with both feet. So a
Speaker 4: really dynamic player. And I think it's going to help
Speaker 4: some of our younger players because what I've seen in
Speaker 4: you know, the four training sessions that we've had with
Speaker 4: him is the way he brings and makes makes the
Speaker 4: teammates around him better as well. So he's been a
Speaker 4: he's been a great uh you know, great player to
Speaker 4: have him with camp, and obviously we'll seem more. We
Speaker 4: haven't been able to see him over big spaces yet,
Speaker 4: but obviously we have a lot of tape and looked
Speaker 4: at it and he does a lot of things that
Speaker 4: we need for our team. So I think he'll be
Speaker 4: a great pick for our for our group.
Speaker 3: Finally, before I say you lose, I also have not
Speaker 3: been dialed into the Czech First League lately. However, Victor
Speaker 3: Olatunji I believe is on the ground and we'll await
Speaker 3: his visa, medical, all those things to get done. But
Speaker 3: he is the other reinforcement addition on the way. Same question,
Speaker 3: what kind of player, what kind of person? When do
Speaker 3: you think we'll see him?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Another he's a Voracius reader, is what we learned
Speaker 4: when we did the zoom. He's really well spoken, it
Speaker 4: speaks perfect English, has traveled to many different places in Europe.
Speaker 4: And from a physical perspective, you know, he's a big body, right,
Speaker 4: you know, you know Hamas and a Lave, you know,
Speaker 4: and he's probably one of the biggest guys I know.
Speaker 4: And I would say he's like Hamas and Lave on skilts, right,
Speaker 4: he's six foot four, a towering figure who does a
Speaker 4: great job stretching the back line and getting into good
Speaker 4: goal scoring positions in the box. And so I you know,
Speaker 4: I think it does a couple of things. I think,
Speaker 4: you know, our team is relatively a small team, a
Speaker 4: short team, so his size and his ability to hold
Speaker 4: hold up the ball and run behind defences along with
Speaker 4: getting in the box for for guys like Diogo and
Speaker 4: Diego combining at the top and or crossing balls. Now
Speaker 4: I think we have a real a real option with
Speaker 4: a Latunji with Victor to be a real threat. So
Speaker 4: both these, both these players who want and Victor, I
Speaker 4: think will make us a much deeper, a much more
Speaker 4: dynamic team in the attack.
Speaker 2: I think any other additions before that window closes, you know.
Speaker 4: I talked to Kurt today. He says, there's there's there's
Speaker 4: a couple there that may or may not come through.
Speaker 4: So I you know, I think these were these were
Speaker 4: our primary targets and uh and we were able to
Speaker 4: secure them. So that's that's awesome. And then you know,
Speaker 4: if we get one on one or two more, it
Speaker 4: would be it'd be as I am. So I'll keep
Speaker 4: my fingers crossed. But More importantly, I think these guys
Speaker 4: are well, we'll take up a lot of attention to
Speaker 4: really focusing on and and acclimating them into the group.
Speaker 4: So really excited, and I think a couple, you know,
Speaker 4: I think both of them may be available for the
Speaker 4: Red Bulls game, with maybe Crews being available for the
Speaker 4: game on Wednesday. So I really excited in this next
Speaker 4: week to get these guys into the group and start
Speaker 4: cracking on.
Speaker 2: There we go.
Speaker 3: Well, it's been fun to see the forum turn around
Speaker 3: and be excited to see what you do with these
Speaker 3: new pieces. Thanks for the time, buddy, have a good week.
Speaker 4: Okay, thanks, Bans, appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Buch Thick, Pablo Master running as with a midweek tilt
Speaker 3: in League's Cup Action, they need a miracle. They need
Speaker 3: to win without going to PKS and then they need
Speaker 3: six different results to go their way.
Speaker 2: So you know, we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 3: Back to league play coming up on Saturday against New
Speaker 3: York and then Charlotte is the week after that. They're
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