Speaker 1: Uh so, uh we're gonna We're gonna double clutch it
Speaker 1: instead of talking about everything else going on News of
Speaker 1: the AM. Part of the news of the AM is
Speaker 1: actually north of the Border. And I and I have
Speaker 1: a massively important question for our guest, who is fighting
Speaker 1: the Wi Fi?
Speaker 2: How you doing, partner? I think it's okay, wife, I
Speaker 2: will be okay. Trying to download things, trying to get
Speaker 2: things done. It's a very busy morning here in Montreal.
Speaker 1: Yes, so it was a very busy evening in Montreal
Speaker 1: last night, and not really well, I was gonna say
Speaker 1: it was a very busy evening in Montreal last night
Speaker 1: because you got to go to you got to sample
Speaker 1: the poutine. Well, of course, I mean you come to Montreal,
Speaker 1: you have to get the poutine.
Speaker 2: You go to you have some steak freets and you
Speaker 2: get some poutine and it's it's all good. It's a
Speaker 2: good day.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So, uh so, how was it? I'm somewhat jealous of it,
Speaker 1: so how well we should be? It was really good.
Speaker 1: Uh So, what has study hall been like for you?
Speaker 1: Getting ready for this one?
Speaker 2: I've said it to people and maybe gotten some like
Speaker 2: tilts of the head sideway, I think this is the
Speaker 2: toughest possible matchup that Atlanta United could have gotten. I
Speaker 2: have a ton of respect for what Laurent Courtois and
Speaker 2: Montreal are doing. I think they're going to be a
Speaker 2: team to really watch next year, especially if they can
Speaker 2: upgrade their talent a little bit more. But he's a
Speaker 2: really top young manager and I like the way that
Speaker 2: they try to play.
Speaker 4: They're still a work in progress. They were pretty good.
Speaker 2: In the first half of the season, but probably not
Speaker 2: going to be at this stage. It would have been
Speaker 2: a nice first step. But then when you go out
Speaker 2: and you add Jaquille marshall Ready and you add Caden Clark,
Speaker 2: and look, they lost Matthew Schwanier, who was one of
Speaker 2: their top players previous to that. They moved who on
Speaker 2: away and they got marshall Ready as the upgrade. Caden
Speaker 2: Clark has been revitalized in the system. He's a perfect
Speaker 2: fit for what Courtois wants to do. Four goals for
Speaker 2: assists since coming over, and this is a team that
Speaker 2: is five to one and one since September. This is
Speaker 2: a team that is one of the best in Major
Speaker 2: League Soccer at this stage. Now, look, the flip side
Speaker 2: is something that I asked Brad Gazan and asked Rob
Speaker 2: Valentino about yesterday. I had to double check it because
Speaker 2: you know, you do hear the conversations at times. This
Speaker 2: team's gotten four straight results on the road, and for
Speaker 2: all of the old narrative of Atlanta United can't go
Speaker 2: do anything on the road, Well, you went to Charlotte,
Speaker 2: who is a playoff team. Last time I checked, beat them,
Speaker 2: Orlando playoff team, beat them. You got draws against Philadelphia
Speaker 2: and Red Bulls that could have gone your way. Red
Speaker 2: Bulls should have gone your way.
Speaker 4: And that's four straight results on the road.
Speaker 2: And if you do that tonight, you're either celebrating on
Speaker 2: the plane back to Atlanta or you're going into a
Speaker 2: penalty kickshootout. So this team has found something on the
Speaker 2: road that is a little different. I don't know if
Speaker 2: it's just the ability to tap into the US against
Speaker 2: the World vibe. I don't know if it's you know,
Speaker 2: the FBA kind of vibe. I don't know if it's
Speaker 2: it just makes it easier to lean into that when
Speaker 2: you know, look, there's gonna be a handful of Atlanta
Speaker 2: United fans in the building tonight and I say handful,
Speaker 2: almost literally. I do know of two who decided to
Speaker 2: make the trip on last last minute and are going
Speaker 2: to be at Stad Suputa to night. I'm sure there's
Speaker 2: a few more as well. So exciting times. Playoff games
Speaker 2: are special. Yeah, I'm sure we'll get into all of
Speaker 2: the aspects of this one. But this is a big
Speaker 2: deal tonight and I'm really looking forward to it, no
Speaker 2: doubt about it.
Speaker 1: So Madison Cruz is as crashing the party for the
Speaker 1: first time in a while as we're getting ready for
Speaker 1: it as well, so it'll be Yeah, it's not like
Speaker 1: I've seen Mattie in a while, I know, really, so
Speaker 1: it's three way dance here. So Maddie, now that you've
Speaker 1: seen Jason for the first time in forever here on
Speaker 1: the morning show, what lingering questions do you have for
Speaker 1: him with him up there and that's down here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I mean it's been so long. I mean
Speaker 3: it's just God, it's you know, it's nice actually see you,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, we got a little bit of Wi fi
Speaker 2: going on here in Montreal, so I love it.
Speaker 3: I mean, I know one of the biggest things that
Speaker 3: I know, me and you have talked about especially with
Speaker 3: how quick the turnaround is. Talked a little bit about
Speaker 3: it on Scars and Spikes last night as well, like
Speaker 3: how quick the turnaround is. And I honestly feel like
Speaker 3: Atlanta might have the advantage here, especially because of how
Speaker 3: many times they've had to do it this season and
Speaker 3: being able to have that quick turnaround where Montreal. I
Speaker 3: was looking at some of the games that they had.
Speaker 3: Every time there was a double match week for Montreal
Speaker 3: and they won, the next game for that double match
Speaker 3: week was either a tie or a loss.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's a good stat I'm going to use that tonight.
Speaker 2: I'm going to steal your research.
Speaker 3: I like, I will send you which ones I'm looking at.
Speaker 3: But I found last night and I was like, this
Speaker 3: is crazy. But yeah, so I guess looking at that
Speaker 3: aspect of it, like, how do you think the best
Speaker 3: turnaround is going to affect both teams?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a good question.
Speaker 2: It's funny going back to the conversations that we had
Speaker 2: yesterday about Atlanta United going on the road and getting
Speaker 2: things done, there is an extra extra let me, there's
Speaker 2: a different kind of pressure playing at home, and I
Speaker 2: think knockout games maybe accentuate that. It's a different test mentally,
Speaker 2: you know, going on the road is harder. Obviously going
Speaker 2: on the road is more difficult. There are so many
Speaker 2: things that are disruptive to a routine. You know, travel
Speaker 2: can be a pain, travel jet lag can be a
Speaker 2: pain adjusting to different climates. Luckily, here in Montreal the
Speaker 2: weather is about the same, little bit cooler though good
Speaker 2: bit cooler.
Speaker 4: Than it wasn't Atlanta yesterday.
Speaker 2: But I'm not going to be too cold, so you're
Speaker 2: not gonna have any issues with that. It's a pretty
Speaker 2: comfortable place to play. The atmosphere should be pretty good tonight.
Speaker 2: But at times when you have that atmosphere at home
Speaker 2: and you're a younger team, and I think Montreal falls
Speaker 2: into this, I think Atlanta's fallen into this as well
Speaker 2: this season.
Speaker 4: If things don't.
Speaker 2: Go your way very quickly at home, and the crowd
Speaker 2: gets roaring and they get behind you, and you feel
Speaker 2: that momentum wave, if what you're feeling is murmuring, if
Speaker 2: you're feeling just a buzz of either fear, frustration, it's
Speaker 2: mattering a booze. That kind of stuff that can can
Speaker 2: like double down on you with pressure. And look, maybe
Speaker 2: Atlanta's dealt with that at home, where they haven't been
Speaker 2: as strong consistently as they've been on the road since
Speaker 2: League's Cup.
Speaker 4: Maybe Montreal has to deal with that tonight.
Speaker 2: You know, like if Atlanta comes in and defends in
Speaker 2: the way that they did in Orlando and frustrates Montreal
Speaker 2: early on, or goes and gets a goal like they
Speaker 2: did in Orlando early, how does this Montreal side that
Speaker 2: hasn't really been in the situation before as a unit,
Speaker 2: how do they handle that?
Speaker 4: Can they?
Speaker 2: You'd love to put that pressure on them. I mean,
Speaker 2: I feel like for Atlanta in this game, like it's
Speaker 2: one of two scripts, and I don't know which one
Speaker 2: we're gonna see. It's either very similar to Orlando, you
Speaker 2: get an early goal or two and you're gonna.
Speaker 4: Be under siege for a while.
Speaker 2: You're gonna have to suffer and find a way to
Speaker 2: see that out, or you're not going to get that
Speaker 2: early goal and you're gonna suffer for a lot longer
Speaker 2: and you're gonna have to fight and scratch and claw
Speaker 2: and do everything possible to take this thing as deep
Speaker 2: as you can. I do feel like though, the longer
Speaker 2: that you are either leading or level, if it's scoreless.
Speaker 2: The longer that rolls, the harder it gets for Montreal.
Speaker 2: I think the pressure goes to them. You know, we
Speaker 2: talk about in the penalty shootout all the time, how
Speaker 2: it's it's momentum and the pressure goes back and forth.
Speaker 2: You know, I want to go first in a shootout
Speaker 2: because it gives me the opportunity to put the pressure
Speaker 2: on the opponent.
Speaker 4: But if you.
Speaker 2: Miss, that pressure doubles back to you. That's kind of
Speaker 2: how this game can go tonight. You know, I don't
Speaker 2: think Atlanta has anything to lose. Montreal will feel some
Speaker 2: pressure early, and if Atlanta can frustrate them and keep
Speaker 2: them off the board and find ways to build momentum,
Speaker 2: that pressure is going to double back on Montreal and
Speaker 2: make it difficult for them.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about it Lanta United's defense, specifically
Speaker 1: what we're seeing from from Brad Zane here in this stretch.
Speaker 1: Jonathan Siirua is nothing to sneeze at either. Eight clean
Speaker 1: sheets this season, if memory serves, and Brad is Brad
Speaker 1: has been a stalwart at the back of this season,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned things get tight and get tight and
Speaker 1: get tight. We've seen Brad come through in a lot
Speaker 1: of these moments and you could face the possibility after
Speaker 1: ninety minutes of going into a shootout situation. And Brad
Speaker 1: has been stopping PK situations recently too, so I would
Speaker 1: think that that kind of momentum confidence could help there
Speaker 1: as well. Knowing, hey, Brad's at the back, I don't
Speaker 1: want to try, you don't want to just trust him
Speaker 1: by himself, but he's back there. He's that experience for us,
Speaker 1: and we have that extra added bit of him helping
Speaker 1: out and saving pks as well.
Speaker 5: If you have to go past the ninety minutes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you'll have that side, and you'll have total belief
Speaker 2: in Brad Gazanne. The season that he's had has been outstanding.
Speaker 2: And as we say at times, I hope the apologies
Speaker 2: are as loud as the disrespect, because there's been a
Speaker 2: lot of disrespect to Brad Gazanne in recent years, which
Speaker 2: is just absolutely mind blowing for me, and that this
Speaker 2: is a guy who's a club legend, this is a
Speaker 2: guy who has defended that badge more than anyone, more
Speaker 2: times than anyone. This is a guy that's been here forever.
Speaker 2: Dax McCarty told me, you know, you have a wall
Speaker 2: of honor, ring of honor, anything like that. He should
Speaker 2: be the first name up on it. I have no
Speaker 2: idea why we do this in this world. I mean
Speaker 2: we do it in every entertainment industry. But somebody does
Speaker 2: well and then people just wait for the opportunity to
Speaker 2: knock him down. And Brad Gazanne hasn't deserved any of it.
Speaker 2: And Brad Gazan has answered every single critic with a
Speaker 2: big glove to the face.
Speaker 4: This season.
Speaker 2: He's been outstanding and that's going to give you a
Speaker 2: ton of confidence in the run of play. You know,
Speaker 2: he's incredibly vocal. You'll be able to hear him all
Speaker 2: over Quidek tonight. He's a leader, and he leads by example,
Speaker 2: and he's a leader with his words, with his actions.
Speaker 2: He's everything to this group. So when you have somebody
Speaker 2: like that, that is a huge help. Now, penalties, I
Speaker 2: do think there's two sides to this. If you go
Speaker 2: there and you're not playing for it, you don't want
Speaker 2: to live this life.
Speaker 4: But Brad in penalties has been really good this year.
Speaker 2: Who takes the penalties is up for a lot of debate.
Speaker 2: One you never know who's going to be on the
Speaker 2: field at that point because it will be straight to
Speaker 2: penalties after ninety Keep that in mind. No extra time tonight,
Speaker 2: so who's on the field at the end is going
Speaker 2: to be part of it. Alexi Miranchuk has been good
Speaker 2: in penalties except for missing last time. Brooks Lennon has
Speaker 2: struggled in penalties in his shootout attempts. You know, this
Speaker 2: is a team that hasn't had a ton of shootout
Speaker 2: success one player. We've talked about it, and it's kind
Speaker 2: of an interesting subplot to tonight when you start thinking
Speaker 2: about substitution patterns. Nick Formino probably has more experience in
Speaker 2: penalties than anybody in this group, coming from MLS and
Speaker 2: ex pro. Does that factor in to how you have
Speaker 2: to think about substitutions in the last twenty minutes fifteen
Speaker 2: minutes You need to save us up for that kind
Speaker 2: of a possibility For me, No was clutch in penalty
Speaker 2: shootout in the US Open Cup this year, So you know, look,
Speaker 2: you have a lot of things to decide on that
Speaker 2: side of it. I don't think there's a lot of
Speaker 2: clear answers. I think Daniel Rios is one you can
Speaker 2: trust in penalties. We've seen him convert, we've seen him
Speaker 2: be pretty consistent. I think he's got the kind of
Speaker 2: personality to handle it. With recent success in penalties, I
Speaker 2: think Maranchuk will take one, no question. You know, you
Speaker 2: shrug off the miss that Galles saved on Saturday, but
Speaker 2: you have some other questions in guys that will probably
Speaker 2: be on the field to take penalties, and it's not
Speaker 2: an easy list of five, so you don't want to
Speaker 2: be there. If you're there, you're going to trust in
Speaker 2: your goalkeeper, but you're going to have to find some
Speaker 2: players to step up and convert in those moments too.
Speaker 1: Maddy Cruz is a part of a three way dance
Speaker 1: with Jason Live from Montreal as we get ready for
Speaker 1: CF Montreal and Atlanta United the eight to nine in.
Speaker 5: The Eastern Conference. Maddie, what else is on your mind
Speaker 5: this morning?
Speaker 3: I think I want to look at the serious history
Speaker 3: between both of them. Obviously this season Montreal got the
Speaker 3: one nil win when Atlanta came to them earlier this year,
Speaker 3: and then obviously they came to Mercedes Benz won two
Speaker 3: to one. We also did see them in preseason as well,
Speaker 3: like so three different times we've seen this team. Do
Speaker 3: you think that it helps that we've seen Montreal so early,
Speaker 3: like especially being that two to one loss. Do you
Speaker 3: think it helps that Atlanta has already had that experience.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it helps that you've seen them, I think often.
Speaker 2: This is a team that it also helps that you've
Speaker 2: seen Columbus a lot lately as well, with last year
Speaker 2: and the playoff push and all the games against them.
Speaker 2: Because it's somewhat similar, it's not the same. I think
Speaker 2: a lot of people have tried to take Laurent Courtois
Speaker 2: and put him as a Wilfred Nanci disciple, and no,
Speaker 2: they're they're different. They have similarities in how they see
Speaker 2: the game, but it's not the exact same system because
Speaker 2: it's not really a rigid system. It's a structure that
Speaker 2: both teams play three center backs. Both teams have no
Speaker 2: problem with their outside center back stepping up higher if
Speaker 2: they need to. Now, in Montreal's case, you don't have
Speaker 2: the thing that we've seen with Wilfred Nanci where you
Speaker 2: know he'll play Morera as a right sided center back
Speaker 2: and he's really a full back. So for Marera it's
Speaker 2: comfortable to get forward and no real problems there. You know,
Speaker 2: it's George Campbell in that role here and George Campbell's
Speaker 2: comfortable getting forward, but he's not a full back getting
Speaker 2: forward from a center back position. He's a center back
Speaker 2: who can dribble. It's a different kind of skill set,
Speaker 2: you know. On the left side, you're looking at Fernando Alvarez.
Speaker 2: We've seen Gabrielli Corbo as well. Corbo's very comfortable going forward.
Speaker 2: He's played some as a full back. Alvarez can. He's
Speaker 2: another He's another one like Campbell. He can get forward,
Speaker 2: but it's a center back who is comfortable getting forward
Speaker 2: versus a player who is very used to doing that
Speaker 2: and kind of lives in those spaces like Morera or Amensen.
Speaker 2: And we'd see him as a left sided center back
Speaker 2: with Columbus or Zawadski when he would play as an
Speaker 2: outside center back and get forward. So it's not that
Speaker 2: unorthodox in terms of what Kurtois does with the back.
Speaker 2: The wingbacks are going to go up and down. Nothing
Speaker 2: crazy there. In terms of Marshall Ruddy on the right,
Speaker 2: when you're looking over at the left, it's Rahim Edwards,
Speaker 2: very experienced. Two guys that get up and down the
Speaker 2: wing can defend in a line of five, but can
Speaker 2: get forward and contribute into the attack. Now, one thing
Speaker 2: in the game here in Atlanta last time around, or
Speaker 2: the one in Atlanta actually was very typical for this
Speaker 2: kind of a shape. The one at Stad Suputo earlier
Speaker 2: in the year. Edwards tucked inside a lot in the
Speaker 2: build up which haven't really seen before or since. It
Speaker 2: was very interesting as it was going on. I was
Speaker 2: talking about it throughout the broadcast, and I know Corbo
Speaker 2: at times was on the outside as the center back
Speaker 2: and he would then drive forward as a winger. This
Speaker 2: was also before Caden Clark, and I think at that
Speaker 2: point Courtois had to find different ways to maybe throw
Speaker 2: some curveballs at you and throw some unexpected moves and
Speaker 2: getting guys forward. This group, I mean, it's three center
Speaker 2: backs you got. All three of them are good on
Speaker 2: the ball, All three of them can step forward into
Speaker 2: the midfield if they need to. You're talking about probably
Speaker 2: Nathan Saliba coming back into the team after missing Decision
Speaker 2: Day due to a yellow card accumulation. He'll be paired
Speaker 2: with Samuel Piet, who has taken that job back as
Speaker 2: Victor Juan Yama's days are winding down. Piet and Saliba.
Speaker 2: Piet will stay home a little bit more. Saliba can
Speaker 2: push higher. Saliba is one of the best box to
Speaker 2: box midfielders you're going to find in the league. Doesn't
Speaker 2: get talked about enough because he plays in Montreal, but
Speaker 2: he's outstanding. Duke and Clark are two tens that can float.
Speaker 2: They can go wide, they can go deep, they can
Speaker 2: move side to side, they can switch sides, they can
Speaker 2: be up as a second forward. They're very free to
Speaker 2: go do what they need to do. So going back
Speaker 2: to seeing Montreal this season, it helps that you've seen
Speaker 2: a couple of different iterations of them. It helps that
Speaker 2: you've got a pretty good feel for what Courtois believes in.
Speaker 2: But this Montreal group, the unpredictability doesn't come as much
Speaker 2: from a tactic. It comes from Bryce Duke and Caden
Speaker 2: Clark being very good players and very good fits for
Speaker 2: this team. Joseph Martinez as a nine, if it's Cocuro
Speaker 2: as a nine at times tonight, pretty traditional nines like
Speaker 2: they can both drop a little bit and they're gonna
Speaker 2: pretty much stay central and look for service. Duke and
Speaker 2: Clark are the keys to the game in my opinion.
Speaker 2: Saliba as well, when he can be that third one
Speaker 2: and get forward. If you deal with Duke and Clark
Speaker 2: and you neutralize them, it's Saliba steps in and does it.
Speaker 2: But there's not there's not as much unknown here in
Speaker 2: this group now, and the fact that you just saw
Speaker 2: this team. They'll play in this shape, they'll play in
Speaker 2: this manner I would expect, and they haven't had time
Speaker 2: to work up anything that would be a complete curveball
Speaker 2: change for you. You just don't have the time. With
Speaker 2: the quick turn, I think you know what you're gonna see.
Speaker 2: You just have to deal with it. And to me,
Speaker 2: it's dealing with Caden Clark and Bryce Duke, and if
Speaker 2: Saliba steps forward to try to beat you, okay, one
Speaker 2: of your guys has got to follow him and not
Speaker 2: let him do that. And that might be Miranchuk who
Speaker 2: has to follow him. And you've got to win the outsides.
Speaker 2: You can't let Marshall Ready and Edwards beat you out wide.
Speaker 2: So it's a matchup that I think this team can handle.
Speaker 2: It's a matchup that is not easy, but it's a
Speaker 2: matchup that I think is one that Atlanta United can
Speaker 2: find ways to neutralize what Montreal does well and also
Speaker 2: find ways to hurt them when they go forward.
Speaker 1: So then I know that you know physio's coming to
Speaker 1: play at this time of year also as well, and
Speaker 1: all the monitoring and everything. What are you looking at
Speaker 1: for the starting eleven? A lot of folks on the
Speaker 1: twitch pitchure asking about what you're seeing on the left
Speaker 1: hand side on the wing. How do you anticipate it
Speaker 1: looking tonight?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know, that's that's a question, because you know,
Speaker 2: Tyler Wolf has kind of won the job as of late.
Speaker 2: Shonda Silva is back into the team, but I just
Speaker 2: can't imagine that he's going to be ready to start
Speaker 2: at this point. He has been training, which is good.
Speaker 2: He might need him in a late game situation. You know,
Speaker 2: is it Wolf? Is it Luke Brennan? You know, Brennan
Speaker 2: playing in Orlando was a huge challenge because he had
Speaker 2: just come back from the U twenty national team, so
Speaker 2: he hadn't had that time with the group. I think
Speaker 2: Wolf did enough to earn the start there. He was
Speaker 2: all right in Orlando. I don't think there was anything
Speaker 2: that blew you away. The one thing that he does
Speaker 2: really well is he defends from a high position. So
Speaker 2: if you're worried about out. You know their right side
Speaker 2: Jaquill Marshall, Ruddy going high. If Wolf has to track him,
Speaker 2: you feel pretty comfortable with that. Remember, Saba can move
Speaker 2: side to side, so you can put you know, Brennan
Speaker 2: on the right if you wanted to do that, I
Speaker 2: don't know. I'll be very intrigued to see it now.
Speaker 2: One thing I do want to remind people that we
Speaker 2: saw in Orlando was I think it was the first
Speaker 2: set of substitutions. When Wolf came out, Ronald Hernandez came in,
Speaker 2: played in the back, Brooks Lennon pushed higher up as
Speaker 2: the right wing that moved Saba over to the left.
Speaker 2: That would not surprise me at all in a game
Speaker 2: like this if you see that from the start. Ronald
Speaker 2: Ornandez has been as good as he can possibly be
Speaker 2: since Caleb Wiley was transferred battled back from an injury
Speaker 2: in that process as well. He's one of those grit
Speaker 2: guys that you need in a playoff game. You know
Speaker 2: he can do a job for you. And if Lenin
Speaker 2: is the right wing with Saba on the left, you
Speaker 2: know that if you're under it one. If Lennon's the
Speaker 2: right wing, you know he's going to track Raheem Edwards
Speaker 2: because Lennon has the defensive tendencies haven't been a fullback,
Speaker 2: so you're gonna be able to handle that side pretty well.
Speaker 2: You can kind of not exactly man mark but kind
Speaker 2: of sort of man mark Edwards, make sure he doesn't
Speaker 2: hurt you. And Hernandez is a solid right back, and
Speaker 2: you know you can always go to a line of five.
Speaker 2: He can slide inside and you can have him as
Speaker 2: a right sided center back, and Lennon can drop as
Speaker 2: a wing back and Amador can be the little wing
Speaker 2: back on the left, so you've got that possibility as well.
Speaker 2: I think those are your two variants. My guess would
Speaker 2: be its Wolf or Ernandez starting and then you make
Speaker 2: the corresponding moves.
Speaker 1: Maddie, last round with Jason before Jason goes off, and
Speaker 1: you grab breakfast.
Speaker 2: Yet I did, what'd you at? A muffin and iced coffee?
Speaker 5: Ah?
Speaker 2: Okay, So I didn't know if it was going to
Speaker 2: be not a breakfast either. I don't I don't eat
Speaker 2: big breakfast. I didn't go for a Montreal bagel or
Speaker 2: anything like that.
Speaker 1: I was going to say, I know how exotic it
Speaker 1: was going to be Maddie, last round with Jason here
Speaker 1: before he gets to head to lunch and just study
Speaker 1: Hall well.
Speaker 3: Shameless plug for both me and Jason. If you want
Speaker 3: to hear.
Speaker 5: More about Ronald, there you go.
Speaker 3: You can read the feature that me and him co
Speaker 3: wrote together earlier, this a couple months ago. Really good
Speaker 3: feature just about him and his and his love for
Speaker 3: the club. If you want a player that literally bleeds
Speaker 3: Atlanta United, it's him for sure, no doubt. But I
Speaker 3: think my question is, and we had the conversation, I
Speaker 3: think a little bit on scarves and spikes.
Speaker 4: Excuse the beeping.
Speaker 2: I don't know what's happening over there, if fire alarms
Speaker 2: going on going off.
Speaker 3: It's actually hilarious. Our toaster over here, like it makes
Speaker 3: that sound whenever it's almost done, which is weird. It's
Speaker 3: it scares me. I'll be like asleep in my roommate
Speaker 3: will be putting something in there. It'll happen. I'm like,
Speaker 3: what's going on? But we had a conversation on scarfon's
Speaker 3: and I'm curious to get at least both of you
Speaker 3: guys thoughts on it with how quick the turnaround is,
Speaker 3: especially for the Eastern matchup. Both Atlanta and Montreal to
Speaker 3: have to do this. You played, you played on Saturday,
Speaker 3: You're going in today, You're playing today, You maybe have
Speaker 3: not even one day to train because then you're immediately
Speaker 3: going to Fort Lauderdale on Friday to play Miami. Do
Speaker 3: we think there needs to be some sort of conversation
Speaker 3: about time management and about this scheduling, especially because it
Speaker 3: can start to affect players, not like very physically, especially
Speaker 3: when you're doing those matches like that without that quick turnaround.
Speaker 2: No, the time management is you don't want to be
Speaker 2: in the wildcard game, like I mean, there's nothing you
Speaker 2: can do. And look, do you need to have nine
Speaker 2: teams in the postseason? I don't think so. I'm glad
Speaker 2: you do this year, but I don't think so. I'd
Speaker 2: like to see eight. Keep it simple. That would eliminate
Speaker 2: the midweek thing here. But look, guess it's the nature
Speaker 2: that's the the gift and the curse here of getting in.
Speaker 2: You know you're gonna have to turn around quick and
Speaker 2: play today, and then you're gonna have to turn the
Speaker 2: winner's gonna have to turn around and play quick on Friday.
Speaker 2: And if that means you almost punt game one of
Speaker 2: the best of three because you're probably gonna have to
Speaker 2: rotate and you're probably gonna have to see who's healthy enough.
Speaker 2: Then you have a full week to play for game two,
Speaker 2: which is a knockout game, and then all marbles in
Speaker 2: game three if you.
Speaker 4: Can do that.
Speaker 2: So if that's just what it is, that's what it
Speaker 2: is like. You shouldn't get an advantage by being in
Speaker 2: a wild card game. And if if this is the
Speaker 2: way that you're you know, air quotes punished for it,
Speaker 2: then that is what it is. You want to get
Speaker 2: Miami and in this case playing first to kick off
Speaker 2: the playoffs.
Speaker 4: I get it.
Speaker 2: And I feel like we do this thing in American
Speaker 2: soccer where it's like there's one side of people's mouths
Speaker 2: yelling about Miami getting all of the attention and why
Speaker 2: are we doing this to have Miami start to playoffs?
Speaker 4: So why why why?
Speaker 2: And then there's the other side of the mouth that
Speaker 2: is yelling, well, why aren't we highlighting Miami enough? And
Speaker 2: Lionel Messi, why aren't we taking advantage of this?
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 2: American soccer just punches itself in either side of the
Speaker 2: face so often with the way we talk about the game,
Speaker 2: and it's it's absolutely frustrating because there are so many
Speaker 2: good things going on right now, and this is the
Speaker 2: kind of year, and this is the kind of season,
Speaker 2: this is the time of year that this is why
Speaker 2: American soccer, Canadian soccer as well, is special. What we
Speaker 2: saw on Saturday, Yeah, you can flip it and make
Speaker 2: decision day matter about not getting relegated, but you saw
Speaker 2: the exact same kind of drama. Go tell Atlanta United,
Speaker 2: Go tell those players, Go tell that coaching staff that, oh,
Speaker 2: finishing ninth doesn't mean as much as finishing seventeenth to
Speaker 2: avoid getting relegated. Get out, shut up, stop like it
Speaker 2: meant everything to that group. And don't tell them they
Speaker 2: can't celebrate either, because then you'll get me tweeting.
Speaker 4: You don't want that.
Speaker 2: Look, there's a lot of emotion in this game. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of wonderful things in this game, in this
Speaker 2: league and all the things that we deal with, this
Speaker 2: is the time of year that makes it special. These
Speaker 2: are the kind of moments that make it special. This
Speaker 2: is a knockout game to continue your season. This is
Speaker 2: a game where players lives will change after it. Guys
Speaker 2: who season ends might be their last game for the club.
Speaker 2: It might be in this case last game for their
Speaker 2: coaching staff with the club. Like there's a lot of
Speaker 2: different situations here. When tonight ends for either team, you
Speaker 2: start the next season immediately, and there's going to be
Speaker 2: a lot of turnover I think on both sides, probably
Speaker 2: a little bit more staring at you in the face
Speaker 2: on the Atlanta side, just because of the nature of
Speaker 2: where the roster is right now going into next season.
Speaker 2: So this is a meaningful game. This is an emotional game,
Speaker 2: This is a big game. This is a big deal.
Speaker 2: And anyone who tries to tell you it's not or
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter because you just got in on the
Speaker 2: last day or any of those things like stop diminishing
Speaker 2: what makes it special.
Speaker 4: Playoffs are special.
Speaker 2: It's the thing about this league that is different and
Speaker 2: is unique, not truly unique, because Mexico has playoffs and
Speaker 2: they have special moments in playoffs. We've seen in playoff
Speaker 2: situations in Argentina as well, and they have it. They're
Speaker 2: going to kind of a playoff format in their league
Speaker 2: structure next year, which gonna upset a whole lot of people.
Speaker 2: You know, the defending world champions, How can they have playoffs.
Speaker 2: What are we talking about.
Speaker 4: It's it's a really cool moment.
Speaker 2: And yeah, it's hard because you got home at about
Speaker 2: midnight on Saturday and then had to reach in on Sunday,
Speaker 2: do a training session on Monday that you can't go
Speaker 2: too hard and then you have to travel and go
Speaker 2: play again and you're gonna have to do the exact
Speaker 2: same thing again if you win and go to Fort
Speaker 2: Lauderdale on Friday.
Speaker 4: So it's hard.
Speaker 2: It's also one of those things that you can kind
Speaker 2: of write yourself into history if you go on a
Speaker 2: moment like this in Atlanta, has that opportunity in front
Speaker 2: of them. You know, you're basically to the point where
Speaker 2: you keep winning, you keep getting results, you get to
Speaker 2: keep playing, you don't. It's time to go home, and
Speaker 2: this club's going to look a lot different next year.
Speaker 2: But this is an opportunity for guys to I think,
Speaker 2: make a name for themselves and write their names into history.
Speaker 2: And it's something that I think we have to do
Speaker 2: a better job of embracing that history. Like I talked
Speaker 2: about with Brad Kazanne, there should not be any negativity
Speaker 2: about Brad Kazanne in this club and in this team
Speaker 2: and in this fan base because of who he is
Speaker 2: and what he's done. You when you have somebody who's
Speaker 2: played more games for your club than anybody else, that's
Speaker 2: a legend. That's an incredible legend, and he needs to
Speaker 2: be treated as such. There's guys who are staring at
Speaker 2: their potential last game for the club tonight, and there's
Speaker 2: guys who are going to give you everything they can
Speaker 2: because they love that badge and they love that club
Speaker 2: and they've given everything for it. So that needs to
Speaker 2: be celebrated, and I think more importantly, that needs to
Speaker 2: be respected. So hopefully all the viewing parties, all the
Speaker 2: folks watching, everybody doing that will be making noise and
Speaker 2: embracing the effort that these guys are going to give.
Speaker 2: They're gonna fight till the whistle blows, and hopefully when
Speaker 2: it blows, Atlanta's got a ticket headed to Fort Lauderdale
Speaker 2: on Friday. Broadcast plans on ninety two nine The game
Speaker 2: in the Odyssey app six point thirty for your five
Speaker 2: stretch countdown seven forty four kickoff nineteen nine The game
Speaker 2: the Audissey App. You can sync it up to the
Speaker 2: TV very easily. We'll share your little photographic on how
Speaker 2: to do that. It's gonna be a fun one. These
Speaker 2: are the reasons why we do this. When you get
Speaker 2: into this kind of situation. It's the drama, it's the
Speaker 2: the back and forth.
Speaker 4: It's all of the stuff that we're.
Speaker 2: Going to get in this game tonight, the wild swings
Speaker 2: of emotion both ways. It's why we do this and
Speaker 2: talk about it and put all the effort that we
Speaker 2: put into it.
Speaker 1: So I cannot wait for kickoff. One more thing before
Speaker 1: you get out of here. I mentioned it as a
Speaker 1: part of opening kickoff this you know that you know
Speaker 1: that website, right, you know I know that website. It
Speaker 1: is now a gold winner. It is a gold medal
Speaker 1: winner for the Davies. We've we've upgraded from silver and
Speaker 1: the Davies to the golds. That came out this morning,
Speaker 1: So wow, look at that. So yes, officially gold Davy
Speaker 1: winners from our friends at the ai VA. So yeah,
Speaker 1: they hit us that with that about eight o'clock this morning.
Speaker 1: So I just thought you should know as you continue
Speaker 1: your day.
Speaker 2: Very nice. Jarrett probably had a hand on that, I think,
Speaker 2: I think so, I think he did.
Speaker 5: Maybe we'll see.
Speaker 1: Well, it's it's not having a hand something doesn't always
Speaker 1: have to be productive or healthy.
Speaker 4: When you're involved. Yeah, it's probably about right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Maddy had a hand in it too, but she
Speaker 1: ducked out, so she's she doesn't want to talk about it.
Speaker 5: But Jared made the point.
Speaker 1: He's like, so, let me guess you said the mixing
Speaker 1: of the MLS All Star Game is a part of the.
Speaker 5: Gun or an old soccer over their episode, yes or both.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that would have terrified people if they had no
Speaker 2: idea what that was all about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that that would be, like you think, it
Speaker 1: terrifies people, and if they do know what it's.
Speaker 4: All about, terrifies me on a regular basis. I'll tell
Speaker 4: you that much.
Speaker 5: Yes, all right, So what's what's lunch?
Speaker 4: I don't know yet. I'm not sure.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of places around here we're close to kind.
Speaker 4: Of too much poutine now, poutine's.
Speaker 2: Too heavy for for lunch on the game day. That's
Speaker 2: too much. I don't know what I'm to end up doing.
Speaker 5: All right, Well, take pictures and let us know when
Speaker 5: you get there.
Speaker 4: Okay, yep, we'll do.
Speaker 2: I know there's a gonna at least a couple Atlanta
Speaker 2: United fans in the building. I've seen heard from one,
Speaker 2: and i've seen on Instagram another one who is on
Speaker 2: her way. So I don't know if there's gonna be
Speaker 2: many more, but uh, maybe you'll hear us yelling around
Speaker 2: dot Suda.
Speaker 5: No doubt about it. All right, Be safe, brother, and
Speaker 5: have a good call, all right, see it