Speaker 1: All right, Dax, welcome to the chaos that is uh
Speaker 1: Friday here on on SDHAM.
Speaker 2: Uh problem, thank you? So uh, you.
Speaker 1: Know, leading into the conversations, all right, so prep Uh.
Speaker 1: Michael said that he was at the matchup at lower
Speaker 1: dot com to see it Landy and I I'm gonna
Speaker 1: throw you right into the fire since he already asked
Speaker 1: my first question, no problem. Uh, Atlanta United and Columbus. Columbus,
Speaker 1: you know put a stomping on the first forty five.
Speaker 1: It was three nil. It ends up three to one.
Speaker 1: When you look at I guess Columbus, that's expected that
Speaker 1: they go and they're gonna put their foot on your throat.
Speaker 1: And that's an expected result. When you look at Landy
Speaker 1: United right now, having been with you when you were
Speaker 1: here and covered you at SDH and your time here
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, when you look at Atlanta now as someone
Speaker 1: with Apple TV, what is sticking in your mind about
Speaker 1: it Lanty United right now?
Speaker 2: Uh, they don't have any cohesion. There's some sort of
Speaker 2: discos accessibility shortcuts. Wow, sorry about that. There's not There's
Speaker 2: not a ton of cohesion right now with Atlanti United
Speaker 2: from top to bottom. I see a roster that of
Speaker 2: players who I see talent. I have seen talent at
Speaker 2: different moments during the season, but there is just a wild,
Speaker 2: I think, disconnect between the players and between what their
Speaker 2: strengths are, what their weaknesses are. They don't there's not
Speaker 2: they don't balance each other out well and quite frankly,
Speaker 2: there's just not a ton of cohesion on the field
Speaker 2: when you look at what's happening, look at either side
Speaker 2: of the field. Defensively, they cannot stop leaking goals. They're
Speaker 2: one of the worst teams in the league at goals conceded.
Speaker 2: They give up seemingly multiple goals almost every game. Can't
Speaker 2: even remember the last time they had a clean sheet.
Speaker 2: And then on the attacking side of the field, their
Speaker 2: big time players haven't been good enough. And it's okay,
Speaker 2: it's okay to say that, Like I think, when you
Speaker 2: sign designated players, there's a lot of factors that go
Speaker 2: into them settling. But the reality for Atlanta United is
Speaker 2: that if you're going to spend forty or fifty million
Speaker 2: dollars in the transfer market and have this very expensive outlay,
Speaker 2: then you don't really have the luxury of time to
Speaker 2: try to get acclimated to each other. It has to.
Speaker 2: It has to almost work in the first couple of
Speaker 2: months of the season for a proof of concept. So
Speaker 2: it's not just all down to the designated players. There
Speaker 2: are other issues that I see in midfield, but for
Speaker 2: the most part, Emmanuel Latte Lot, Miguel al Moron, and
Speaker 2: Alexi Moranchuk have not lived up to the price tag.
Speaker 2: And when you can't score goals and then you can't
Speaker 2: defend your net consistently, you're going to end up where
Speaker 2: Atlanta United is, which is outside the playoffs looking in
Speaker 2: How frustrating.
Speaker 1: And and I'll go ahead and say, you're an alum,
Speaker 1: you spent time in Atlanta, how frustrating for you is
Speaker 1: that as alum of Atlanta United?
Speaker 2: Well, look at my preseason predictions. I thought that Atlanta
Speaker 2: and I did, with a few additions, would be at
Speaker 2: the top of the East fighting for a supporter shield.
Speaker 2: I thought Emmanuel Latte Lott would be fighting for the
Speaker 2: Golden Boot. And I think this is just a really
Speaker 2: good lesson that I think money buys you better players,
Speaker 2: it always has, but it doesn't necessarily buy you cohesion
Speaker 2: and success because there's so much more that goes into
Speaker 2: it than just let me just buy a bunch of
Speaker 2: expensive pieces and see if they fit together on the field.
Speaker 2: There's a lot more that goes into it. So I've
Speaker 2: been frustrated for sure, because I actually really love almost
Speaker 2: everyone that I encountered in Atlanta. It's a really good
Speaker 2: group of guys in the locker room. I don't know
Speaker 2: the coaching staff as well. Obviously I didn't play under Ronnie.
Speaker 2: I played under Carl Robinson a little bit with Rob Valentino.
Speaker 2: But I really like all the people that work in
Speaker 2: the front office, behind the scenes, the kitmen, the chefs,
Speaker 2: the people who sell tickets. Everyone there is really pleasant
Speaker 2: and really really wonderful. But that doesn't necessarily mean you're
Speaker 2: going to put a winning team together on the field.
Speaker 2: And so I've been just as frustrated as the fan
Speaker 2: base because Atlanti and iited gave me the opportunity to
Speaker 2: end my career on my terms, and I have some
Speaker 2: wonderful memories in Atlanta. So I you know, as an analyst,
Speaker 2: you have to take a step back. You can't be biased.
Speaker 2: You have to try to be objective in how you're
Speaker 2: looking at things and analyzing things. And if I have
Speaker 2: to put my analyst hat on and analyze what's happening
Speaker 2: this year. It's just not good enough and it's unacceptable,
Speaker 2: and the players will know that, the front office will
Speaker 2: know that, the coaching staff will know that. I appreciate
Speaker 2: the candor with which Ronnie DLAs speaks. You know, he
Speaker 2: doesn't sugarcoat what's happening right now. So it's frustrating. It's
Speaker 2: never over right with regards to him that making the
Speaker 2: playoffs at this point. But I would say it would
Speaker 2: take a little bit less than a miracle for Atlanti
Speaker 2: and I to to make the playoffs at this point.
Speaker 1: Apple TVs. Dax McCarty hanging out with this SERI the
Speaker 1: hour of chaos as we call it here on Fridays,
Speaker 1: the last hour of the week. So then you have
Speaker 1: this time on the road where Atlanta United is away
Speaker 1: from home, and you have other tournaments being played at
Speaker 1: Mercedes Benz, and so you get the opportunity to try
Speaker 1: to sort things out away from Atlanta United and the seventeens,
Speaker 1: but you're also a month away from the summer transfer window.
Speaker 1: If things do not fix themselves. In whatever terminology you
Speaker 1: want to use in air quotes, and that's a dollar
Speaker 1: in the jar for me. How you know, Hey, cliches
Speaker 1: are dollars in the jar and at the end of
Speaker 1: the year, the boss is like, oh, look at the jar.
Speaker 1: How active? And I'll use that word. How active? Would
Speaker 1: you anticipate the summer transfer window for teams south of
Speaker 1: the playoff bar right now at Lanti United included, Yeah.
Speaker 2: I would think that it's it's got you have to
Speaker 2: be active if you're not in the playoff picture at
Speaker 2: this point in time. But there is context and nuance
Speaker 2: into why you should be active. If you're a team
Speaker 2: like Toronto FC, then how active should you really be?
Speaker 2: The season's over for Toronto FC? So you know in
Speaker 2: c F Montreal, right like these types of teams who
Speaker 2: quite frankly, they don't have a chance to make the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Do you wait until the winter where you can turn
Speaker 2: over the roster a little bit faster, you can get
Speaker 2: players in and get them a full preseason. Or are
Speaker 2: you a team like the Chicago Fire who are maybe
Speaker 2: are on the outside looking into the playoffs, but they
Speaker 2: have a good enough team to not only make the
Speaker 2: playoffs but make a run. And so there are nuances,
Speaker 2: there's nuances to the different teams, but I'll keep it
Speaker 2: at Lanta United focused. Landa United has to be active.
Speaker 2: They have to do something because what's happening right now,
Speaker 2: what the supporters are seeing, what we are seeing as fans,
Speaker 2: it's just not acceptable. They're not even competitive in games.
Speaker 2: If you look at their last three results, two zero
Speaker 2: to the New York Red Bulls, four zero to NYCFC,
Speaker 2: and three to one to the Columbus Crew. I mean,
Speaker 2: even that score line against Columbus flatters Atlanta. They were
Speaker 2: miles off of it. They didn't even look competitive. So
Speaker 2: you need to be active if you're at Lanta United.
Speaker 2: I actually don't know how much flexibility they have to
Speaker 2: make moves to bring players in. I would think that
Speaker 2: in order to do that, you would have to move
Speaker 2: some players out, and some players that are you know,
Speaker 2: quite frankly, probably pretty high priced players, you know, And
Speaker 2: so you need to make moves out of the team
Speaker 2: first before you can bring people in. And I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think where Atlanti and Nited should focus mainly is
Speaker 2: in midfield and on the back line. You're not going
Speaker 2: to be able to get rid of Miguel al Moron
Speaker 2: or Emmanuel Latte Lot or Alexi Moranchuk. Maybe Moranchuk would
Speaker 2: have some transfer value somewhere in Europe, maybe somewhere in Russia,
Speaker 2: right if you got an offer. But Alexi Moranchuk, to me,
Speaker 2: he hasn't been as bad as people sometimes talk about him.
Speaker 2: But again, him and Miguel al Moron, it doesn't seem
Speaker 2: like they can coexist together in a functional way. So
Speaker 2: it depends. And then with midfield, you need to bring
Speaker 2: in a defensive midfielder. That's been such a problem for
Speaker 2: Atlanta United this season, not having that spine of the team.
Speaker 2: It's been a rotating cast at center backs. What do
Speaker 2: you do at center backs? You have some young players
Speaker 2: in f Rraane Morales and Noah Cobb who I think
Speaker 2: have a lot of potential, but it's clear that the
Speaker 2: coaching staff doesn't trust them at this point in time.
Speaker 2: So you have Derek Williams Andon Gregorson who have had
Speaker 2: trouble staying healthy. I think you need to bring in
Speaker 2: a defensive midfielder and a center back in this transfer
Speaker 2: window in the summer, and then you reassess and reevaluate
Speaker 2: what you're going to do for twenty twenty six in
Speaker 2: the offseason.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned Chicago. I just like saying the word
Speaker 1: zinc ornogy myself. It's a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: a lot of scrabble, a lot of scrabble points that
Speaker 1: are attached there. Let's let's get into since you mentioned
Speaker 1: other teams in the Eastern Conference, I guess we can
Speaker 1: go into senior superlatives here as we have into the
Speaker 1: All Star break, all star team gets announced snubs. We
Speaker 1: know that there were locks. We know that there were
Speaker 1: locks that attach to the MLS All Star roster. First off,
Speaker 1: do you dig the All Star Game being the way
Speaker 1: that it is or would you rather play MLS players
Speaker 1: playing MLS players in showcase the league in and of
Speaker 1: itself instead of going up against leg at mc geese
Speaker 1: or Juve's D squad or whatever.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think an All Star Game is
Speaker 2: a very American thing and it's hard for it's hard
Speaker 2: for you know, other people from that aren't from the
Speaker 2: US to understand why we do it. I love the
Speaker 2: All Star Game. The format with the All Star Game
Speaker 2: when I was a player, was you played these big
Speaker 2: time teams right who were in their preseason preparations. And look,
Speaker 2: we played against Real Madrid in twenty seventeen and I
Speaker 2: was lucky enough to be a part of that. That
Speaker 2: was incredible. It was an incredible experience. And even if
Speaker 2: you know some of the biggest players they had at
Speaker 2: the time, I don't think Cristiano didn't play. You know,
Speaker 2: they had all of the stars right that were there.
Speaker 2: I mean, Gareth Bale was there at the time, Marcelo,
Speaker 2: Sergio Ramos, I mean, these guys all played, and even
Speaker 2: though it's preparation for them in preseason, you still want
Speaker 2: to win. You're at Soldier Field in front of seventy
Speaker 2: thousand people, and it's a fun game, right, It's almost
Speaker 2: like a training exercise. But people come go to All
Speaker 2: Star games to be entertained. So the Lega MX format
Speaker 2: has been nice. I think that it's been competitive. I
Speaker 2: think that fans have enjoyed it, but I think you
Speaker 2: lose a little bit of the All Star feel when
Speaker 2: it becomes a really competitive game, Right, you want fans
Speaker 2: to be entertained, want you want players to enjoy themselves
Speaker 2: and show out. I mean, players go to the All
Speaker 2: Star Game. They don't want to get injured. So I
Speaker 2: would personally love to see an East first West like
Speaker 2: throwbacks to what we had in the early days. I
Speaker 2: think it would be great. I think it would be
Speaker 2: especially with thirty teams in MLS. Now you have so
Speaker 2: many players who are deserving. I mean, you could go
Speaker 2: the twenty six All Stars, I think all deserving. Sure,
Speaker 2: you could have another All Star team of twenty six
Speaker 2: players who would all be deserving as well. So it's
Speaker 2: difficult for players that have missed out. I mean, there
Speaker 2: are so many snubs I can think of off the
Speaker 2: top of my head. Honeymook, Tar, Sam Surge from Nashville.
Speaker 2: They've been fantastic, pet Bil from Charlotte, Martino Hayda from
Speaker 2: Orlando City has been wonderful, right, Andrew Goutman, Dan Lovets,
Speaker 2: Kai Wagner. I mean, I'm just naming fullbacks here who
Speaker 2: have all been deserving to get recognition in an All
Speaker 2: Star Game. So I definitely see the novelty and the
Speaker 2: the functionality of doing it lega MX's versus MLS. I
Speaker 2: think there's a lot of synergy right now between those
Speaker 2: two leagues when you look at Leagues Cup. But yeah,
Speaker 2: the All Star Game is always going to be fun.
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to it. It should still be really
Speaker 2: fun this.
Speaker 1: Year and you know, as we sit here and look
Speaker 1: at senior superlatives to this point of the season, who
Speaker 1: has been your biggest surprise wise that is north of
Speaker 1: the playoff bar currently, since we've talked about it, Landy
Speaker 1: United below the playoff bar. Biggest surprise north of the
Speaker 1: playoff bar for you this year is there one?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not even close. It's San Diego. My expectations
Speaker 2: for San Diego going into the season were low. I
Speaker 2: had them I think my preseason which, by the way,
Speaker 2: preseason predictions suck. No one can get them right. So
Speaker 2: I just didn't give them a ton of credit because
Speaker 2: of the fact that I was skeptical about their back line.
Speaker 2: I was skeptical about their goalkeeping situation, and quite frankly,
Speaker 2: I didn't think that they had a striker to be
Speaker 2: able to thrive in that attack. With Dryer and Lozano
Speaker 2: as wingers, they have blown the doors off of every
Speaker 2: expectation that I think anyone could have of them. Right now.
Speaker 2: I think they're sitting first in the West at this
Speaker 2: point in time, which is nothing short of insane, and
Speaker 2: the way that they have played, they're completely breaking the
Speaker 2: model for how an expansion team can come into MLS.
Speaker 2: They played beautiful soccer, they play entertaining soccer, and they
Speaker 2: play effective soccer and it gets results. So I think
Speaker 2: if you put together a formula of like what is
Speaker 2: the perfect expansion team expansion season, san Diego's living that
Speaker 2: right now. And so I know there have been other
Speaker 2: expansion teams that have been great. Chicago Fire back in
Speaker 2: the late nineties, obviously winning I believe they won the Double.
Speaker 2: I know they won MLS Cup, but LAFC, right Seattle,
Speaker 2: even Atlanta United when they first came into the league,
Speaker 2: I mean really took the league by storm. The way
Speaker 2: that San Diego's doing it has been so impressive. Anders
Speaker 2: Dryer right now is the MVP in Major League Soccer
Speaker 2: if the season ended today. That's not a hot take,
Speaker 2: that's just a fact. But I've been so impressed with
Speaker 2: mikey Veras and everything that San Diego's done.
Speaker 1: No doubt about it. And I'm right there with you.
Speaker 1: I was looking at San Diego FC, and I'm sitting
Speaker 1: there going, you know, I don't know, and they have
Speaker 1: absolutely just sat there and they wagged the people's index
Speaker 1: finger at me and they're not so fast, my friend.
Speaker 1: Before you get out of here, and first off, thank
Speaker 1: you for doing this. And now that you have the
Speaker 1: garage door opener and know where the key is under
Speaker 1: the mat, you know that you can crash here on
Speaker 1: Fridays at any time and sit there and shoot. You know,
Speaker 1: at nine point thirty, if there's ever a great Guards
Speaker 1: or a Michael Parker's sighting and you sit there and
Speaker 1: you go, oh, I want to crash on that segment,
Speaker 1: you know you love it. What is your best? And
Speaker 1: Kevin Egan is one of our A listers as well?
Speaker 1: What is your best? Kevin Egan's story to this point
Speaker 1: of the season about live at MLS three sixty, Oh.
Speaker 2: Kevin Egan's the best. Genuinely, before I say any any story,
Speaker 2: I genuinely feel like I could not have gotten more
Speaker 2: lucky being able to walk into MLS three sixty with
Speaker 2: the crew that we have, me knowing Bradley right Phillips
Speaker 2: and Sosha question, well, already I know Kaylen Kyle as well.
Speaker 2: I knew her before this, but Kevin Egan is is
Speaker 2: the probably the person I didn't know the best out
Speaker 2: of everyone, and he's been probably my greatest asset in
Speaker 2: terms of helping me acclimate to a new life. We
Speaker 2: lived in Atlanta together, uh for those six months where
Speaker 2: I stayed in Atlanta until May, and we were on
Speaker 2: every flight together up to the studio and just being
Speaker 2: just being able to have him as a sounding board
Speaker 2: and to pick his brain on things that I was
Speaker 2: curious about, things that I needed help with. He's one
Speaker 2: of the most selfless individuals that I've ever met, and
Speaker 2: he he just wants everyone to thrive, and so he's
Speaker 2: he's an amazing person and he's very good at his job.
Speaker 2: One of the best hosts I've ever seen. Best Kevin
Speaker 2: Egan's story up to this point. He's just it's not
Speaker 2: it's not just one single thing that he does. It's
Speaker 2: just an accumulation of things. He absolutely loves food, and
Speaker 2: so he's a big foodie and so he'll uh whenever
Speaker 2: we get to the studio, he's always on the hunt
Speaker 2: for a new restaurant or or somewhere to uh to
Speaker 2: grab a bite to eat. And he's just he's just
Speaker 2: a great guy. Like there's really there's really no one
Speaker 2: single particular story that stands out, but it's his preparation.
Speaker 2: I'll tell I'll tell everyone, like for how we prep right.
Speaker 2: We prep through the week, and as a host, your
Speaker 2: prep is a little bit different. But every single day
Speaker 2: on Saturdays, in the hotel before the show, Kevin Egan
Speaker 2: goes down to the lobby. He grabs a coffee and
Speaker 2: he grabs like an overnight oats or a bagel or
Speaker 2: something from the hotel and he sits in the little
Speaker 2: cafe area for six seven hours before MLS three sixty
Speaker 2: and he's just banging out prepped notes. He's got a notebook.
Speaker 2: It's very organized. You'll see it next time you watch
Speaker 2: MLS three sixty. Look at the desk, look at the
Speaker 2: big notebook he has. And that's why I that's that's
Speaker 2: why I take my preparation so seriously, is because I've
Speaker 2: seen him do it, and because I see how big
Speaker 2: of a pro he is. And he's just consistent. He's
Speaker 2: just a consistent individual who just wants our show to
Speaker 2: be the best it possibly can be. And without him,
Speaker 2: he's the team dads. I'll tell you guys that he's
Speaker 2: the uh, He's the team dad and just a great
Speaker 2: dude altogether. Man. So really really grateful for everyone on
Speaker 2: our crew, but especially keV.
Speaker 1: If if my math is correct and I really suck it. Math.
Speaker 1: There will be a moment this Saturday where you will
Speaker 1: have a ten box amazing. It will be early second
Speaker 1: half because you have six seven forty kicks and four
Speaker 1: eight forty kicks ten box.
Speaker 2: I don't know if we've ever had that before.
Speaker 1: So you'll start with a six pack and you'll go
Speaker 1: from a six pack early second half to a ten box.
Speaker 1: And I don't know what to call a ten box,
Speaker 1: So I mean literally this this could you could be
Speaker 1: getting critical mass in Kevin E can Ray with a
Speaker 1: ten box and going you got we gotta go, you know,
Speaker 1: one of those. I am now officially intrigued about the
Speaker 1: ten box and what this is gonna look like here
Speaker 1: coming up this Saturday. Dax as always great to see you,
Speaker 1: Great to have you come and crash the party. Good
Speaker 1: luck with your ten box, sir. I wish you nothing
Speaker 1: but the best success when it comes to the ten
Speaker 1: box and everything going on. It's great to see charging
Speaker 1: and taking care of everything up there at MLS three sixty.
Speaker 1: Do not be a stranger once again. Like I said,
Speaker 1: you got the garage door opener. You know you can
Speaker 1: crash at anytime, so just have a hell of a
Speaker 1: show and we'll catch up with you soon, my friend.
Speaker 1: Thanks for visiting, and don't make this the first time,
Speaker 1: all right.
Speaker 2: John, Thank you guys for having me. Cheers,