Speaker 1: And this is where we bring in Michael Parkers. So
Speaker 1: are they scoring goals?
Speaker 2: Cap negative? What we got shut out last week to zero?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: Puano?
Speaker 1: I mean come on now, uh, if you were, if
Speaker 1: you were uh.
Speaker 4: In that in that locker room, I mean, what would
Speaker 4: you would you be discussing with them? I And this
Speaker 4: is you know, outside of Kano. This is not any
Speaker 4: kind of Kano discussion. But it's like, what would you
Speaker 4: be talking to those players about. It's like, you know,
Speaker 4: you know, put the biscuit in the basket kind of
Speaker 4: a thing. I mean, so what kind of conversations do
Speaker 4: you have when you have an offensive drought like that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm just trying to give them confidence.
Speaker 3: Maybe let them score a little bit in training, just
Speaker 3: let them know that, hey, it'll happen type thing. I'm
Speaker 3: not going to give him any advice because the last
Speaker 3: thing a struker wants is a defender to tell him.
Speaker 1: How to put the ball in the back and then
Speaker 1: right true.
Speaker 3: So yeah, just try and give him a little pick
Speaker 3: up like, hey man, yeah, we'll get there. We'll get there,
Speaker 3: and just try and do our part in the back
Speaker 3: of you know, try and keep a zero because it's
Speaker 3: easy to say, well, just keep it zero zero.
Speaker 2: But.
Speaker 4: A lot of pressure on a defense, yeah, because then
Speaker 4: you know, hey, you know, you put the pressure on
Speaker 4: the defense, and if you end up with no goals scored,
Speaker 4: then at the end of the day, at least you
Speaker 4: get out of there with a point. But I mean,
Speaker 4: right now, the Eastern Conference is a street fight, no shock.
Speaker 4: Right now. If the season ended today, which it is not,
Speaker 4: Rhode Island would be in the playoffs in the postseason
Speaker 4: as the eight seed in the East. But you've got
Speaker 4: what you have, six teams separated by six points north
Speaker 4: of the playoff bar, south of the playoff bar. So
Speaker 4: everybody knows what you were getting into in USL Championship
Speaker 4: with Rhode Island. And it's a different kind of bulls
Speaker 4: eye considering that the run you that reminds me, man,
Speaker 4: I've got to get the gear from last season. I've
Speaker 4: got I've got to add that to my stacks. But
Speaker 4: I mean, everybody knows what Rhode Island is bringing to
Speaker 4: the table now, So you're kind of working with a
Speaker 4: bit of a bullseye on your chest at the same time,
Speaker 4: and everybody's kind of gunning for you. The year after
Speaker 4: you made the run that you did in twenty four.
Speaker 2: Totally, and that's the that's what you have to deal
Speaker 2: with with success.
Speaker 3: Everybody's after you, especially when you knock three teams out
Speaker 3: of the playoffs as a first year team, those teams
Speaker 3: especially have a target on you. So yeah, that's that's
Speaker 3: part of playing as the as the favorite. But like
Speaker 3: we tell all of our mentees, right that pressure is
Speaker 3: a privilege. Right, we earned that and so now you've
Speaker 3: got to deal with it and step up. So I
Speaker 3: think we will.
Speaker 4: And you mentioned the whole idea of pressure is a privilege,
Speaker 4: and I mean if you are not, if you're not
Speaker 4: being pressured, and if you're just kind of going out
Speaker 4: there and you're either being underestimated or overestimated and there
Speaker 4: doesn't seem to be any pressure, how do you tell
Speaker 4: your mentees not to rest on their laurels if the
Speaker 4: external factors aren't there, where the pressure isn't coming from
Speaker 4: the outside, how do you tell your mentees to like, look,
Speaker 4: you've still got to be one hundred percent. You can't
Speaker 4: just sit there and don't focus on the outside. Focus
Speaker 4: on what's going on in here so you can continue
Speaker 4: to grow and improve even if the noise isn't there
Speaker 4: There still should be stuff that you have to respond
Speaker 4: to on a daily basis.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3: It's just not being complacent, right, Complacency is a killer,
Speaker 3: and so being in that situation can be great for confidence,
Speaker 3: and that's important. But understanding that there's always a next level,
Speaker 3: there's always a higher goal, there's always something better that
Speaker 3: we can become at a tougher environment and tougher opponents
Speaker 3: and bigger goals. So yeah, it's constantly just challenging yourself
Speaker 3: and understanding, hey, I'm not there yet, I'm not a
Speaker 3: finished product, and that's difficult, but yeah, that's what the
Speaker 3: best players are constantly doing. They're constantly challenging themselves and
Speaker 3: they're constantly trying to prove.
Speaker 2: Someone or people in general wrong.
Speaker 4: How hard is it to challenge yourself when you don't
Speaker 4: feel like either you're a being challenged or you know
Speaker 4: you're not being challenged yourself, or that there's something wrong
Speaker 4: where the challenges aren't challenging.
Speaker 1: Does that make any sense?
Speaker 4: You know, when you don't feel like the level of
Speaker 4: the challenges there, how do you maintain your own quest
Speaker 4: and try to become better If the external stuff you
Speaker 4: don't think is mad levels.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we talked to younger players a lot about how
Speaker 3: there's always going to be players, teams, maybe even coaches
Speaker 3: that you come across and you either can be infectious
Speaker 3: on them or they can be infectious on you.
Speaker 2: And so players that.
Speaker 3: Aren't taking practice seriously and kind of goofing around and
Speaker 3: they can have an effect on players that initially had
Speaker 3: good intentions for that day, or the opposite can happen,
Speaker 3: right of course, And so we talked to them a
Speaker 3: lot about, hey, making sure that you are having the
Speaker 3: infectious behavior and not being the one affected, and that's difficult. So, yeah,
Speaker 3: constantly just trying to improve your own play, and I
Speaker 3: get when the challenge isn't quite what you want it
Speaker 3: to be, you need to create those internal challenges and
Speaker 3: have those goals set for yourself to keep pushing or
Speaker 3: to work on your leadership skills or something a little
Speaker 3: bit out of your comfort zone. And then obviously at
Speaker 3: some point you're gonna need to get into a different environment.
Speaker 4: If if a game is a blowout and it's a
Speaker 4: team that you're completely and totally overblowing, it's I mean
Speaker 4: you're overmatched, they're overmatched.
Speaker 1: You're taking care of business.
Speaker 4: How how difficult is it in those challenges.
Speaker 1: Two, I don't wanna I don't want to sit here.
Speaker 4: And say, you know, take mercy on the other guy
Speaker 4: and make it look like you're being you know, a honk.
Speaker 4: You know, when a situation, you know, it's there's a
Speaker 4: comfortable win in a blowout, and then there's something that
Speaker 4: can get completely and totally out of control where you
Speaker 4: could be demoralizing the other the other guy. Where where
Speaker 4: is that balance of working on yourself in a game
Speaker 4: that's a blowout that you know that you're blowing the
Speaker 4: other guy out to where you're still.
Speaker 1: Working on your own game, but at the same time.
Speaker 4: You don't look like the rest of the world doesn't
Speaker 4: think you're a jackass because it's a you know, like
Speaker 4: a seven to two thing. It's like, I'm working on
Speaker 4: me and I'm doing my best, and you know this
Speaker 4: is what's happening.
Speaker 1: To try not to take blame in a situation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's a difference between really stepping on
Speaker 3: the gas and trying to embarrass an opponent versus hey,
Speaker 3: you're playing the game the right way. And I think
Speaker 3: that's the biggest thing in the opponent in a blowout
Speaker 3: is to still.
Speaker 2: Have the respect for the opponent.
Speaker 3: I see it all the time on baseball field when
Speaker 3: it gets to be a blowout and kids start chirping
Speaker 3: and just goofing around in the outfield. They're goofing around
Speaker 3: on the infield, and just that that is disrespecting the opponent,
Speaker 3: disrespecting the game. So and the same thing can happen
Speaker 3: in soccer. So that's that's the biggest thing for me,
Speaker 3: because there will be a day when you're on the
Speaker 3: other side of a of a butt kicking and you'll
Speaker 3: see how it feels, and when the other team maybe
Speaker 3: unnecessarily scoring goals, but they're still doing the things that
Speaker 3: made them successful as far as you know, being organized
Speaker 3: and communicating and passing the ball.
Speaker 2: Well, you can do a lot of things and still
Speaker 2: not run up the score. That's part of it.
Speaker 4: You mentioned respect and chirping and disrespecting those kinds of things.
Speaker 4: I know that we have generational disconnects, and I'm seven
Speaker 4: hundred and two years old and I probably look at
Speaker 4: things a little differently than a lot of folks. But
Speaker 4: how much respect do you see out there with your
Speaker 4: your mentees and respect and understanding of what they need
Speaker 4: to work on and how much correcting has to be
Speaker 4: done with those of the ages of your mentees where
Speaker 4: they have to be steered back and not be disrespectful
Speaker 4: and chirping. And because I know chirping can have its
Speaker 4: positivity at point, but how do you sit there and
Speaker 4: steer them away from the negative aspects of chirping and
Speaker 4: showing disrespect. Is it something that you have to work
Speaker 4: on at all in address here and there?
Speaker 3: But it's rare for us, and maybe that's just the
Speaker 3: players that are coming to us, but we've found.
Speaker 2: It pretty rare.
Speaker 3: There there is an occasion where a parent is honest
Speaker 3: and says, hey, my kid's got this going on and
Speaker 3: I can't get through to them and need some help
Speaker 3: in that regard. So there has been the instance where
Speaker 3: we're trying to let them know how to have respect
Speaker 3: on the field and why it's important to have that respect,
Speaker 3: and but it's not too too often. So I will
Speaker 3: say that in general, most of most of the kids
Speaker 3: have pretty good respect out there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, and so what is it what is it
Speaker 4: like for for you and for Greg and your your
Speaker 4: other mentors that I'm imagine are still closer and closer
Speaker 4: to signing their contracts. Are you going to have the picture,
Speaker 4: by the way when you're when your new mentor signs
Speaker 4: and you're going.
Speaker 1: To have the whole, the whole.
Speaker 4: Are you going to have like the contract and the
Speaker 4: the b GM background and the look and the smile
Speaker 4: and the I'm look I look like I'm signing the
Speaker 4: contract and I'm smiling at the camera.
Speaker 1: Are you going to have that signing by the way
Speaker 1: when you have your new mentor.
Speaker 2: No, we've talked about this. We actually talked about this
Speaker 2: with her last week because.
Speaker 3: We don't and she's a little bit naive because she's
Speaker 3: a younger pro. As far as I don't want to
Speaker 3: put her in a place where I've seen people do
Speaker 3: a lot of things off the field as a professional athlete,
Speaker 3: and when things are going well, that's great, and when
Speaker 3: things aren't going well, all of a sudden, coaches, GMS, teammates,
Speaker 3: fans can be like, h, this person should do less
Speaker 3: of that and more focusing on soccer, even though there's
Speaker 3: plenty of time in the day to do these things
Speaker 3: away from job number one. And so just being respectful
Speaker 3: of her, I don't want to make this a huge,
Speaker 3: huge deal because this is very secondary to her career,
Speaker 3: which is just getting underway. So she's been really busy
Speaker 3: with national team stuff along with NWSL schedules. So yeah,
Speaker 3: we haven't really locked down when we can announce yet,
Speaker 3: but hopefully I think she's with national team stuff this
Speaker 3: week and maybe back next week, so hopefully in the
Speaker 3: next couple of weeks we'll be able to get something.
Speaker 3: But yeah, nothing crazy to try and keep it low
Speaker 3: key for her.
Speaker 4: Okay, So when you have younger players, you know, trying
Speaker 4: to be supportive in a team environment, and you know,
Speaker 4: and we saw this and the reason I kind of
Speaker 4: steered this way. We saw this in the matchup with
Speaker 4: it Lane United in Columbus. Were you there by the way,
Speaker 4: I was? Okay, So I don't know if you saw
Speaker 4: what was going on at the beginning of the second
Speaker 4: half where Noah Cobb is trying to be there and
Speaker 4: be supportive and and you know, address the energy of
Speaker 4: everybody out there on the field. And Noah wasn't part
Speaker 4: of the eleven that was out there playing at the
Speaker 4: beginning of the of the second forty five, but he
Speaker 4: was out there, you know, dapping players up and things
Speaker 4: like that. When it comes to that kind of behavior,
Speaker 4: what's it like for you to see someone who isn't
Speaker 4: regardless of age and level and experience, to see someone
Speaker 4: who's not a part of the starting eleven sitting there
Speaker 4: and trying to raise the energy level up of the
Speaker 4: of your teammates in a situation like that, What's what's
Speaker 4: it like for you to see a younger player take
Speaker 4: that mantle and address that issue and sit there and
Speaker 4: it's like, okay, guys, you know, beginning the second half,
Speaker 4: let's rock and roll. What's it like for you to
Speaker 4: see that kind of activity from a younger player?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's nice. It shows maturity, it shows a level
Speaker 2: of care.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: So many players are just in it for themselves, So
Speaker 3: it's easy when you're on the bench to be like, well,
Speaker 3: in a blowout like that, poof thank god I'm not
Speaker 3: on the.
Speaker 1: Field, yeah, or.
Speaker 3: Or obviously the other way is to be upset that
Speaker 3: you're not on the field and upset at the coach
Speaker 3: and upset at the other players that I'm not getting
Speaker 3: my chance, and you kind of stick to yourself, and
Speaker 3: you know, that's.
Speaker 2: Definitely what I see from at least.
Speaker 3: One player on the Atlantian at a bench. But yeah,
Speaker 3: that's that's just the type of person. No, it is,
Speaker 3: So I'm not surprised, But yeah, that's great. It's great
Speaker 3: for the team because, yeah, they needed some energy and
Speaker 3: he obviously saw that and was trying to do whatever
Speaker 3: he could.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, and I mean, and that can be taken one.
Speaker 4: Of two ways, and you hope that it's taken in
Speaker 4: the most positively possible where I and I know that
Speaker 4: in some circles, and I'm gonna, you know, step away
Speaker 4: from it, Landy Knight, And I'm fairly certain that there
Speaker 4: are veterans in some situations regardless of where you're talking,
Speaker 4: it's like, well, you know, what is he? You know,
Speaker 4: what is he doing? It's like he's not out here,
Speaker 4: what is he doing? I'm gonna focus on me? And
Speaker 4: then that negativity, you know, continues to fester in those moments.
Speaker 4: But and I would imagine it would take a true
Speaker 4: professional to understand where that player is coming from, regardless
Speaker 4: of level of experience, about trying to make sure that
Speaker 4: the messaging is best and that the effort is the
Speaker 4: best heading into that situation where you can improve your
Speaker 4: lot in that second forty five.
Speaker 2: Set, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3: And I think that a lot of it is timing,
Speaker 3: a lot of it is personality.
Speaker 2: Right, Who is it that's saying it their energy level?
Speaker 3: You can tell a lot as a player of where
Speaker 3: where this is coming from. Is it genuine, is it
Speaker 3: real for the team the energy wise, or is selfish somehow?
Speaker 3: And it's one thing if he's trying to from the
Speaker 3: side of the field get somebody going right after you
Speaker 3: give up a goal and kind of like pick somebody
Speaker 3: up or something like, then the guy on the field
Speaker 3: might be like, you know, f off right now. But
Speaker 3: if you're you're coming off of halftime, you know it's
Speaker 3: purely just to get the energy going type thing. And
Speaker 3: I think that players know that Noah, by the way
Speaker 3: he carries himself, is a genuine person and wants the
Speaker 3: team to do well.
Speaker 2: So I think those little things make a difference.
Speaker 3: Right if it was a player that you know has
Speaker 3: a bad attitude generally and is doing it, you kind
Speaker 3: of shrug it off.
Speaker 2: And be like, dude, go back to the bench, I
Speaker 2: don't need it right now.
Speaker 3: But yeah, So, and that's why character and holding yourself
Speaker 3: well is important, because the only in moments like these,
Speaker 3: you're viewed differently based off of your character and how
Speaker 3: things have been portrayed over time.
Speaker 4: How many discussions do you have with mentees about their character,
Speaker 4: whether it's an adjustment or a reinforcement.
Speaker 1: How much?
Speaker 4: How many conversations do you have about characters specifically with
Speaker 4: your mentees?
Speaker 3: An a ton because when I asked a college assistant coach,
Speaker 3: what's the number one red flag when you're watching a player?
Speaker 3: He said, body language and body language is such a
Speaker 3: big component of character. And you can have a great
Speaker 3: character and terrible body language, don't get me wrong, but
Speaker 3: in general they go together, and characters such a huge piece.
Speaker 3: And I think that sometimes younger athletes don't realize how
Speaker 3: important character and the way you hold yourself and the
Speaker 3: way you conduct yourself is versus how well you pass.
Speaker 2: The ball, kick a ball, score all these other things.
Speaker 3: Right, of course those things are important, but you can
Speaker 3: do those well and have terrible character terrible body language,
Speaker 3: and you will not have the opportunities that you would
Speaker 3: if those.
Speaker 2: Things were different.
Speaker 4: How many, and I'll go back to the great character
Speaker 4: poor body language thing in a second, how many coaches
Speaker 4: reach out to you and to Greg to get intel
Speaker 4: on mentees. How much of a conversation piece is that
Speaker 4: in that two way street with you got?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we we always for our mentees, tell us, tell
Speaker 3: them to put us down as references. So there have
Speaker 3: been some, not not a ton, honestly, but you know
Speaker 3: we do have small checkings every now and then or
Speaker 3: you know, tell us about the dis guy, or how's
Speaker 3: the family or little things like that.
Speaker 2: It's never anything to do with.
Speaker 3: Soccer and it's always just off the field stuff and
Speaker 3: you know that.
Speaker 2: But that's important.
Speaker 4: Okay, So great character, poor body language? How how does
Speaker 4: that look? I mean, you know, is it self? Well,
Speaker 4: it's yeah, break break that down for me.
Speaker 1: How do that? How does that? How does that look
Speaker 1: to the eye?
Speaker 4: So we know what we're we're staring at because we
Speaker 4: can all we can all see great character, great body language.
Speaker 4: But you could have somebody who's great character in poor
Speaker 4: body language. How does that look?
Speaker 3: It looks either selfish or it looks deflated. In my opinion,
Speaker 3: right where you can have you know, a great character
Speaker 3: who's got poor body language right at Lanta United right now,
Speaker 3: or I'll take Atlanta United twenty seventeen eighteen Miguel great
Speaker 3: character in the locker room, great human being, terrible body
Speaker 3: language out on the field and right constantly getting upset
Speaker 3: with guys about making mistakes and you know, not playing
Speaker 3: the right past at the right time and these little
Speaker 3: things like that which can drag on guys. And you know,
Speaker 3: that was addressed and he got much much much better
Speaker 3: about it, and now I think his body language is
Speaker 3: way way better in general. So that's one example. But
Speaker 3: you can also have in these instances a great character
Speaker 3: that's just sick and tired of the way things are going.
Speaker 3: And that's that's kind of normal in this regard. But
Speaker 3: I can see, like, you know, even Brad's body language
Speaker 3: on Wednesday was good, even if he's constantly like he
Speaker 3: knows he's got two homegruns in front of him, right,
Speaker 3: it's not going to be perfect. Things have not been good.
Speaker 3: So anytime he had the opportunity to pat a guy
Speaker 3: on the back, you know, say a good job, or
Speaker 3: he was doing it right, even after he makes a
Speaker 3: big save, like hey man, whatever whatever he's saying, but
Speaker 3: it looks positively he's trying to bring positive energy instead
Speaker 3: of just.
Speaker 2: Another one.
Speaker 3: I got to dig out of the back of the
Speaker 3: net right, And that's difficult. It's really difficult, especially when
Speaker 3: times are like they are right now.
Speaker 4: I was going to ask, how hard is that to
Speaker 4: continue you to I'm not I was about to use
Speaker 4: the word spin, But that's not right to lean into
Speaker 4: the notion of finding a positive, finding encouragement, making sure
Speaker 4: that those younger players are the inexperienced players that are
Speaker 4: out there having to perform in a situation so they
Speaker 4: don't get dragged down and get dragged down into a
Speaker 4: negative in a situation that's already negative. How hard is
Speaker 4: that to try and be positive, find a positive, and
Speaker 4: be encouraging in a situation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's difficult, but I mean that's where it's important
Speaker 3: to have some veteran guys in the field as well,
Speaker 3: because you know, these these homegrowns, it's not their fault.
Speaker 2: At Atlanta Night is not doing well right now.
Speaker 3: It's not expected that these guys are going to lead
Speaker 3: the team and these these players are going to be
Speaker 3: the ones that are going to turn things around or whatnot.
Speaker 3: Right They're they're taking a brunch of it, especially being
Speaker 3: on the back line where they mistake free of course,
Speaker 3: not do you expect them to be mistake free. No,
Speaker 3: you know, and anyone can go to Columbus and get embarrassed.
Speaker 2: That's a pretty easy place to go in and get embarrassed.
Speaker 3: And so, you know, I think Brad understood that and
Speaker 3: knew that. Okay, it's not on these guys. It starts
Speaker 3: a little higher up the field. Maybe it starts with
Speaker 3: the approach from the team and the energy and things.
Speaker 3: There's a lot going on there. So yeah, that's why
Speaker 3: it's important to have, you know, some veteran guys that
Speaker 3: can pick these young guys up and the them know, hey,
Speaker 3: keep going, man, keep going.
Speaker 2: This is a learning experience.
Speaker 3: It's not on you learn from it, you know, and
Speaker 3: try and find those small little.
Speaker 4: Positive adam at Parkhurst on the two hundred and eighty
Speaker 4: character app at beg Menoring and the two hundred eighty
Speaker 4: character app beyond Goals menoring dot com and the Friday
Speaker 4: Free Kick with her buddy Michael Parkers. How frustrating was
Speaker 4: it for you to go to lower dot com and
Speaker 4: see what you saw out of Atlanta United in the midweek.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I was thinking about it.
Speaker 1: You were you mumbling words?
Speaker 4: You know that you shouldn't be saying publicly under your
Speaker 4: breath at points.
Speaker 2: No, it's just no, because it wasn't.
Speaker 3: All that unexpected to be honest, right, I think that
Speaker 3: the way things have gone and should I see Columbus
Speaker 3: play pretty often.
Speaker 2: They're a very good team. And but that being said,
Speaker 2: that was.
Speaker 3: Every bit of a three zero score line at halftime, right,
Speaker 3: it could have been five.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it really could have been, and you know, maybe
Speaker 2: Atlanta had a chance. So yeah, it was it was
Speaker 2: tough to watch. Yeah, and I know that.
Speaker 3: I know that they're trying to fix things and trying
Speaker 3: to have the red attitudes and I was at the
Speaker 3: hotel and got to catch up with a few guys
Speaker 3: and energy seems pretty good and all those things. So yeah,
Speaker 3: it's just it's tough. It's tough to see stuff to watch,
Speaker 3: and that's never good. I mean, the response in the
Speaker 3: second half was good. They could have easily made it
Speaker 3: through to to get back in it, so that was.
Speaker 2: Good to see.
Speaker 4: How how hard is it to be patient with what
Speaker 4: is to what you see the younger guys out there
Speaker 4: there learning and all this kind of stuff, And I
Speaker 4: know that expectations are one thing, and especially coming into
Speaker 4: the season, expectations.
Speaker 1: Being what they were.
Speaker 4: But you know when when you kind of see things,
Speaker 4: you see younger guys as an alum, how hard is
Speaker 4: it to be patient and it's like, okay, let's turn
Speaker 4: this around.
Speaker 1: You know, does that? Does that make any sense?
Speaker 4: How hard is it to see what you see, be
Speaker 4: patient with the young guys and hope that things turn around.
Speaker 4: How hard is that?
Speaker 2: It's it's easy to be patient with the young guys.
Speaker 2: It's the older guys.
Speaker 3: It's some of the other players that you have less
Speaker 3: patience for because you know what, to be honest, the
Speaker 3: fans have had patient for the last five years, so
Speaker 3: you know, it's it's running out and there's been moments
Speaker 3: for sure in between there, but not enough. And you know,
Speaker 3: I think that the club realized that and that's why
Speaker 3: they spent a ton of money in the off season.
Speaker 3: And you know, when that doesn't turn to results, obviously,
Speaker 3: people get frustrated and guys start pressing and everything.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, it's not good.
Speaker 3: It's easy to have patience with the homegrowns on the
Speaker 3: field because it's it's based off expectations, and to be fair,
Speaker 3: I think a lot of the homegrowns are a lot
Speaker 3: of our best players in some of the games, right
Speaker 3: Will Will's energy seems to really turn things around.
Speaker 2: In the second half, so you know, he was a
Speaker 2: bright spot.
Speaker 3: And it seems like that happens a lot these games
Speaker 3: where it's like you come out of it and say, oh,
Speaker 3: this homegrown or that homegrown was our best player the energy,
Speaker 3: and that's not good, not good when you've got guys
Speaker 3: that are you've paid ten plus million four out on
Speaker 3: the field. And to be fair, thought, Miguel was very
Speaker 3: good against Columbus, one of his better games, and uh,
Speaker 3: you know, obviously lat is really struggling right now. I
Speaker 3: thought he was terrible, to be honest, and should have
Speaker 3: had a couple of goals or at least more opportunities
Speaker 3: and things. So yeah, it's the patient. The patients is
Speaker 3: tough in general for the team, but not for the
Speaker 3: home grounds.
Speaker 4: And you mentioned pressing, and you know it's I think
Speaker 4: that press and this is just me who has covered
Speaker 4: sports and not played it professionally, but I would imagine
Speaker 4: that pressing is a delicate dance where you're you're pressing
Speaker 4: and you don't want to turn it into something where
Speaker 4: you're pressing too much and too much and too much.
Speaker 4: You want to press to improve, but in the desire
Speaker 4: to improve, sometimes you press too much and you go
Speaker 4: past that point of improving it and it goes the
Speaker 4: other way. It almost it almost seems like it's it's
Speaker 4: not a straight one, it's a curve.
Speaker 2: Almost totally totally.
Speaker 3: And the easy example of that is like a striker
Speaker 3: when they get a big opportunity and they should pass
Speaker 3: the ball for an easy assist, but because they haven't
Speaker 3: scored in a while, they're trying and shoot and it's
Speaker 3: not the right option and things like that, so just
Speaker 3: clouds your judgment a little bit, where it's all you
Speaker 3: can think about is is scoring the goal versus hey
Speaker 3: have a good performance and you know the goals will come.
Speaker 3: But for every player it's a little bit different of
Speaker 3: how they want to get out of it. You know,
Speaker 3: some guys need to get away from the game just
Speaker 3: a little bit. You know, some guys need to really
Speaker 3: work extra out on the field. Right it's just a
Speaker 3: comfort thing. So it's different for each player. And yeah,
Speaker 3: I think a Latte for sure needs to figure it
Speaker 3: out for himself.
Speaker 4: Did how much did you press at times when you
Speaker 4: were trying to help correct a situation in any of
Speaker 4: your professional professional actors.
Speaker 1: Did you press a lot? Did you press? Did you
Speaker 1: press any?
Speaker 3: Yeah, there were there were times I pressed where it
Speaker 3: was like, Okay, hey, I really need to be better.
Speaker 3: I really need to be more reliable today. I can't
Speaker 3: have turnovers, you know, building out of the back, specifically
Speaker 3: thinking back to Columbus my last year of you know,
Speaker 3: my center back partner was always changing and the season
Speaker 3: wasn't going that well. And it's like, in those moments,
Speaker 3: you want to be someone the team can rely on
Speaker 3: and you you know, Okay, I.
Speaker 2: Got to be good today.
Speaker 3: And and sometimes when you press that much, you get
Speaker 3: a little bit more nervous and things just don't seem
Speaker 3: to go your way when you're pressing. You know, if
Speaker 3: we've talked about it before, when things aren't going your
Speaker 3: way and you give up penalty kicks or they're not
Speaker 3: called for you, or the ball bounce about the post
Speaker 3: and goes in said it goes out. It's the same
Speaker 3: thing individually, when you're pressing and you're putting too much
Speaker 3: on every little moment, those moments don't go your way as.
Speaker 1: Often, and you know, it's.
Speaker 4: I would imagine it is probably one of the biggest
Speaker 4: things to tackle as a professional athlete is correction, whether
Speaker 4: you know, not necessarily from yourself, but a team correction
Speaker 4: and being in your part of it, to try and
Speaker 4: be a part of a larger picture and not be
Speaker 4: saddled or not put too much of the pressure on
Speaker 4: yourself to be a part of that correction to where Okay,
Speaker 4: we can all do this together instead of being an individual,
Speaker 4: Yeah I can fix this. And that turns into more
Speaker 4: and more and more of a problem because you put
Speaker 4: too much of that responsibility on yourself trying to fix
Speaker 4: some m M for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And.
Speaker 3: It's depressing stuff, and it's difficult and there's no easy answer.
Speaker 3: And that's that will always be the challenge for players,
Speaker 3: right And that's that's honestly, what separates the great players
Speaker 3: from the good players is their ability to get out
Speaker 3: of those situations quicker and to bounce back quick and
Speaker 3: to to not get into the position where you need
Speaker 3: to press or understanding for themselves.
Speaker 2: Okay, I am pressing.
Speaker 3: How do I get out of this and get back
Speaker 3: to a good flow state?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 4: All right, so what is your what is your flow
Speaker 4: state currently with the beyond goals as we prepare for
Speaker 4: that day where we get the signing I want, I
Speaker 4: want the signing picture where you know, looking up and
Speaker 4: signing and I'm nowhere close to the signature line.
Speaker 1: But what's what's the latest with you?
Speaker 2: Other than mentoring?
Speaker 3: Just working on the college programming so that we can
Speaker 3: help guide players that want to play in college at
Speaker 3: each stage of high school. So that's a big, big
Speaker 3: thing that I got going on right now.
Speaker 4: Okay, all right, it's that time where we welcome someone
Speaker 4: else into the stacks and going on. So let me
Speaker 4: let me bring in, let me bring in the new
Speaker 4: team here. Uh three way dance? Do you recommend this?
Speaker 1: Gentleman?
Speaker 5: What is what is going on here?
Speaker 1: Look?
Speaker 5: What do you steal my thunder? What's going on? I'm
Speaker 5: stealing your thunder?
Speaker 4: Well, Dak's traditionally at nine thirty on Friday mornings, when
Speaker 4: they're not conquering the planet, we usually have Greg Garza
Speaker 4: and Michael Parkhurst on just to talk about mendoring and
Speaker 4: you know, what's going on in their world in Rhode
Speaker 4: Island FC, and and you know, lack of offense and
Speaker 4: things like that and so and so. Basically I was
Speaker 4: filibustering until hopefully you would come in at ten o'clock
Speaker 4: so Michael Parkhurst could ask you a.
Speaker 6: Question, oh god, about what's going on in the world
Speaker 6: of Dax McCarty, because he's done this with with I
Speaker 6: want to say, he's done it with Ozzie Alonzo already
Speaker 6: this season coming into this ten o'clock slot. So so
Speaker 6: Michael Parkhurst co host here on the Freestyle Friday, your
Speaker 6: question for Dax McCarty.
Speaker 2: Dax and I we're on an event the other night.
Speaker 3: I'll ask you the same question I asked Brad Okay.
Speaker 2: Toughest part of the new gig, oh.
Speaker 5: God, easily easily the Yeah, the biggest challenge is the preparation.
Speaker 5: For sure. It's funny because when you play an MLS
Speaker 5: for as long as I did, or as long as
Speaker 5: Parky did, there's maybe this preconceived notion that your knowledge
Speaker 5: of the league and what you already know about it,
Speaker 5: it's just going to be like riding a bike. You
Speaker 5: just step off the field and it's like the conversations
Speaker 5: that we had Parky, like in the meal room at
Speaker 5: breakfast or at lunch, where we're just talking shop. Right,
Speaker 5: we're talking about the opponent and tactics. That's so easy
Speaker 5: just to do it with with your your teammates because
Speaker 5: you're unfiltered. You give, you give your strongest opinions, and
Speaker 5: you you exchange ideas and it's so easy. So you think, oh,
Speaker 5: I'll just do that same thing on TV, and it's like, no,
Speaker 5: it does not work like that at all. You want
Speaker 5: to still give your strong opinions, you want to be
Speaker 5: as unfiltered as you can be, but you also have
Speaker 5: to prep and you have to prep significantly more than
Speaker 5: I think what my initial anticipation was, because talking with
Speaker 5: no pressure, with face to face with someone who you're
Speaker 5: close with is a lot easier than just going on
Speaker 5: TV cold and being like, all right, here's why Columbus
Speaker 5: is so good, here's why the New York Red Bulls
Speaker 5: are so good. You actually need to be able to
Speaker 5: back that up with your the eyeballs and then also
Speaker 5: with some data that you intertwine in there. So the
Speaker 5: preparation is definitely something that threw me for a loop.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So yeah, So Michael, as always, thanks again for dropping
Speaker 4: in and fixing the world's problems as you and Greg do.
Speaker 4: At nine point thirty on Friday, mornings. Be well, my friend,
Speaker 4: and we will catch up with you next time. And
Speaker 4: thank you for taking the co host duties as you
Speaker 4: always do, and we bring in the new guys when
Speaker 4: it comes.
Speaker 3: To Always a pleasure and happy belated birthday John by the.
Speaker 1: Way, Oh thank you, Yes, seven hundred and two.
Speaker 2: You guys have a good park, your legend.
Speaker 5: I would like to keep seeing you at least once
Speaker 5: a week. This is a nice This is a nice
Speaker 5: moment for me.
Speaker 2: This is nice