Speaker 1: And as I said, it's been entirely too long. See
Speaker 1: if I can't remember the last time that someone has
Speaker 1: been on the show, it has been entirely too long.
Speaker 1: And so that's how we're phrasing things. It's been entirely
Speaker 1: too long since Brad Feldman has visited the show. And
Speaker 1: so now we bring Brad in. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: morning show, my friend.
Speaker 2: Hey, good to be on. How you doing doing great?
Speaker 1: It's been entirely too long since we've had you. And
Speaker 1: what I wanted to do for our listeners and our
Speaker 1: viewers here in the Southeast is kind of go back
Speaker 1: and bring everyone forward from the beginning of the season
Speaker 1: to now so they can get their education on the
Speaker 1: REVS getting ready for it. Landy United expectations coming into
Speaker 1: the season, What was the level of optimism? What were
Speaker 1: the thoughts coming into the twenty twenty five year?
Speaker 3: The resided a near total rebuild in the off season.
Speaker 3: Last year didn't go according to plan, only seven wins,
Speaker 3: finished out of the money in the playoff picture, and
Speaker 3: Caleb Port his first year was a frustrating one for
Speaker 3: the team and the fan base, and so sporting director
Speaker 3: Kurtinolfo and his staff helped Porter do a real churn,
Speaker 3: a real turnover with fourteen new players coming.
Speaker 2: In, and.
Speaker 3: So I believe an honest framing of the expectations would
Speaker 3: have been optimistic, but cautiously so because you didn't know
Speaker 3: so many of these players, or if you did, you
Speaker 3: weren't sure how they were gonna gel with one another
Speaker 3: and in Porter's system. And you know, if you look
Speaker 3: just at the standings right now, you know it would
Speaker 3: look like it hasn't worked. But I think that the
Speaker 3: noise so far hasn't. You know, fans are right right
Speaker 3: to be in entitle to be impatient, but I would
Speaker 3: say that come in, the expectations were what they still are,
Speaker 3: which is to make the playoffs. And it's early enough
Speaker 3: in the season still that that's not out of the question.
Speaker 3: But they need to get busy soon because they only
Speaker 3: have one win from six. So you know, I think,
Speaker 3: you know, there's noise out there on the transom that's
Speaker 3: not very positive, but the mood within the camp is
Speaker 3: still very professional and forward looking.
Speaker 1: I was going to say, where are the pitchforks and
Speaker 1: the tiki torches right now wandering around Foxborough? As opposed
Speaker 1: to the pacer We're.
Speaker 3: Not quite there. We're not quite there yet, but it's
Speaker 3: you know, people want.
Speaker 1: Some wins, and you know completely and totally understandab why
Speaker 1: that's concerned with Caleb Porter in this offense. And that's
Speaker 1: the other thing that I wanted to bring up is
Speaker 1: that only a handful of goals this year, and Carlos
Speaker 1: Heel with his two goal performance against Red Bulls is
Speaker 1: accounting for most of that. How much of a concern
Speaker 1: is the lack of offense in the results so far?
Speaker 3: That's the main concern, quite honestly, is the lack of
Speaker 3: finishing now, full disclosure, They've only had their new striker,
Speaker 3: former Inter Miami striker Leo Campana, for a couple of games,
Speaker 3: and so the plan has not really been executed, you know,
Speaker 3: according to script. Without Campana, they have looked toothless up front.
Speaker 3: But the last week in the loss of Cincinnati, hit
Speaker 3: the post twice could have been a different story. Even
Speaker 3: against Red bull where both goals came from set pieces
Speaker 3: of free kick world class requ free kick from Carlos
Speaker 3: Hill in a penalty.
Speaker 2: Late they could have scored twice.
Speaker 3: Got good service from the right wing and Ignatius gonna
Speaker 3: go drove the ball right on the goalkeeper when he
Speaker 3: had the whole goal to look at. And you know,
Speaker 3: those are pretty big chances. They north of two, you know,
Speaker 3: two expected goals for the ninety minutes. So it's not
Speaker 3: as if they're not generating attacking chances. They just aren't converting.
Speaker 3: And that's the thing, and we know very well our
Speaker 3: low scoring sport, you got to take your chances when
Speaker 3: when you create them or they're presented. Otherwise you know,
Speaker 3: you can end up on the wrong end of score
Speaker 3: lines that look unfair. Quite honestly, they're bossing the match
Speaker 3: in the first half at Cincinnati, and then you know
Speaker 3: the there is an incorrect throwing call which happens all
Speaker 3: the time.
Speaker 2: Rez relax for a second.
Speaker 3: They give up the goal, and then Cincinnati played pretty
Speaker 3: conservatively to protect a one miill lead at home. The
Speaker 3: Reds are organized. Their patterns of play are really good.
Speaker 3: The game model is Caleb Porter likes to call it
Speaker 3: seems to be generating attacking play. But Maxi or Rudy,
Speaker 3: who is one of the great old heads in the league,
Speaker 3: was brought into to be a guy off the bench
Speaker 3: to spell Campana or gonna go in the late stage
Speaker 3: of the games having you know, he's an old thirty
Speaker 3: three right, Like it feels like he's been in the
Speaker 3: league forever. I think his first year is twenty twelve
Speaker 3: or something. But he he doesn't look like a guy
Speaker 3: who wants to press for ninety minutes. He just doesn't
Speaker 3: have it in his legs. He's great for ten to
Speaker 3: fifteen minutes at a time. And you know, I think
Speaker 3: also the Revs the first couple of weeks were you know,
Speaker 3: working in their sort of full back compliment. First Will
Speaker 3: Sands and more importantly Peyton Miller were not one hundred
Speaker 3: percent fit with Miller back. Now they get more tacking
Speaker 3: play down the left. And Langoni, Luca Langoni on the right,
Speaker 3: who's a you know, really a winger, wasn't playing his game.
Speaker 2: They've gotten through.
Speaker 4: To him what his game is and now that he's
Speaker 4: able to run in behind it, you know, again, like
Speaker 4: the the Revs are generating offense. They just they have
Speaker 4: him and they they don't have an animal up front
Speaker 4: who's the lights out goalscorer or when Campana comes back,
Speaker 4: they're hoping they do.
Speaker 1: I was gonna ask you reading my notes, where is
Speaker 1: Campana when it comes to being back and being a
Speaker 1: part of this offense.
Speaker 3: I was on a conference call with Caleb Porter yesterday
Speaker 3: where you know, I think he was quite genuinely unsure.
Speaker 3: I think that Campana is either gonna be fit to
Speaker 3: make the match day squad tomorrow or a week from tomorrow,
Speaker 3: and it's not certain yet, like he's training, but they
Speaker 3: they want to be judicious in sort of unleashing him
Speaker 3: because they don't want this to be a recurring thing.
Speaker 3: He did a hamstring and so I think more importantly
Speaker 3: in the immediate future, Tomas Shakalai, DP winger usually plays
Speaker 3: on the left side, another Argentinian for the Revs. He
Speaker 3: blew out his ACL last year and it's been you know,
Speaker 3: the normal progression back. But I think he's a you know,
Speaker 3: a step closer to returning. But I how's that both
Speaker 3: could be in the squad, neither likely to be in
Speaker 3: the starting eleven based on the way they sort of
Speaker 3: dole out minutes. The guy's coming back from these injuries,
Speaker 3: but obviously Chankalai returning from a longer term injury, and
Speaker 3: the performance people and the athletic trainers, they have a
Speaker 3: schedule they want to keep and you know, even if
Speaker 3: Chankalai has been training full I think for almost two
Speaker 3: full weeks now, but they're not gonna give ninety minutes
Speaker 3: or even sixty minutes most likely, But he's gonna be
Speaker 3: He's a guy who you know, can fire from anywhere,
Speaker 3: and even if he's not the one scoring, opens up
Speaker 3: space for other people because he's a constant goal threat
Speaker 3: in the attacking third. So you know, I think you're
Speaker 3: going to see one or both available against Atlanta, and
Speaker 3: it's just a question of how many minutes and if
Speaker 3: both are in the squad.
Speaker 1: All things being equal, how are you anticipating the starting
Speaker 1: eleven rolling out from what you've been able to glean
Speaker 1: from calib.
Speaker 3: Portia Ooh, you know, it's hard to say. I think
Speaker 3: it's can be very similar to what we saw against Cincinnati.
Speaker 3: You know, Matt Polster has been so good. You know,
Speaker 3: he wasn't even really projected to start. They acquired Jackson
Speaker 3: Yule after eight years in San Jose, and he's been fine.
Speaker 3: He actually made a bit of a difference coming on late.
Speaker 3: Makes some runs out of midfield, but he's more of
Speaker 3: a technical possession type player in terms of battling in
Speaker 3: the midfield. Polster still has all of his energy and
Speaker 3: range and legs, and so I think that's the one
Speaker 3: real question. I'm assuming both center back Sabios and Fofana
Speaker 3: and two new players in the league who have who
Speaker 3: have been good. You know, the Revs have been very
Speaker 3: solid defensively, They've been in every game. They haven't given
Speaker 3: up more than two goals, and you know that's usually
Speaker 3: you know, that was when they were you know, that
Speaker 3: was Philly and they were pushing and stretched a little bit.
Speaker 3: So you know, Carlos Heel is a dead uncertainty to start.
Speaker 3: Another new player. Eli Fineghal, a twenty year old Israeli
Speaker 3: who can play on either you know, at either full
Speaker 3: back position, likely would be the right back again. Peyton Miller,
Speaker 3: assuming he's still fit. Like, watch out for that kid.
Speaker 3: He is a horse. He is a horse. He looks
Speaker 3: like a grown man. He's seventeen years old. He's got
Speaker 3: a national team and European potential. Like he you know,
Speaker 3: he's still you know, getting his his his sort of
Speaker 3: game IQ to where it needs to be. But he's
Speaker 3: got all the tools and can really impose himself on
Speaker 3: the game.
Speaker 2: And you know, the wingers have been I left out.
Speaker 3: Al Hassan Yusuf has been very good Nigeria international ball winner,
Speaker 3: but not like a crunching tackler. He'll he'll slide tackle
Speaker 3: more of the most players nowadays, but he's not dirty player.
Speaker 3: He just gets around the pitch, covers every you know,
Speaker 3: blade of turf and and really Rangy it's been gonna
Speaker 3: go and Langoni on the wings. That could change. I
Speaker 3: don't think Shakalai comes in. Luis Diaz has been a
Speaker 3: guy off the BA who's done well replacing Langoni. Helped
Speaker 3: create one of the goals against New York Red Bulls.
Speaker 3: But I still think Langoni. He was very good against
Speaker 3: Red Bulls two weeks ago and pretty good against Cincinnati.
Speaker 3: You know they won him like hugging the touch line
Speaker 3: and chalk on his boots and then running him behind
Speaker 3: you using his pace and then you know heel behind
Speaker 3: a ROUTI is the most likely scenario, but you could
Speaker 3: see gotta go up top with with Carlos underneath and
Speaker 3: they push somebody else wide or Carlos heel starts at
Speaker 3: one of the wide positions and has a free role.
Speaker 3: We've seen that in the past with Porter and the
Speaker 3: previous coaches. So you know, but I think you know
Speaker 3: you're picking eleven from the thirteen guys I mentioned so
Speaker 3: and then ali Asievicic has been the goalkeeper, you know,
Speaker 3: every game going back to last year. I don't see
Speaker 3: that changing. Alex Bono is the backup. But barring injury
Speaker 3: that you know, that's and I don't think you know,
Speaker 3: Ronnie dla is gonna you know, he's to know that
Speaker 3: that's probably the group. And let's they throw a curveball
Speaker 3: and all of a sudden, components closer than we realize
Speaker 3: that he starts up top. I haven't heard any noise
Speaker 3: to that effect, but you know, they keep it pretty
Speaker 3: close to the best in these situations. So yeah, like that,
Speaker 3: that's that's what I would expect.
Speaker 1: Brad Feldman, Voice of the REVS for the REVS Education
Speaker 1: Here on a Friday, in the hour of chaos, as
Speaker 1: we call it, or at least I'm calling it the
Speaker 1: hour of chaos just because, uh, when you I'm gonna
Speaker 1: have you play defensive coordinator here for a second. You've
Speaker 1: seen Carlos Hill. You know what he can do. You
Speaker 1: know the magic that he can create. If you were,
Speaker 1: say in an American football parlance, defensive coordinator, and you
Speaker 1: were forced to try to make Carlos Hill be uncomfortable
Speaker 1: and do things that he doesn't like to do, and
Speaker 1: the revs still have to try to create How would
Speaker 1: you defend Carlos Heel? How have team's been successful in
Speaker 1: defending Carlos Hill in the past.
Speaker 3: You're sure you're not sharing this with the coaching.
Speaker 2: Staff now, right, Like, hey, Ronnie.
Speaker 3: Yeah, now listen that that's not a secret. He's one
Speaker 3: of the most fouled players since he's coming in the
Speaker 3: league in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2: Carlos Heel.
Speaker 3: People have tried to stop him a little different, a
Speaker 3: lot of different ways, but the two main tactics that
Speaker 3: we've seen is one, you know, get somebody who's super
Speaker 3: mobile and hey, you know, shadow him in a way
Speaker 3: that you know they force he's going to receive the ball.
Speaker 3: The further from goal he receives it, and the less
Speaker 3: he's able to receive it in transition or when you know,
Speaker 3: the attacking team has numbers forward so he has fewer
Speaker 3: defensive players between him and.
Speaker 2: And the goal, the less effective he can be.
Speaker 3: He can still you know, surgically dissect an opposing team
Speaker 3: that has two banks of four between him and the goal.
Speaker 3: With a little through ball combination, a little dribble sucks
Speaker 3: in the you know defender, a little dink chip over
Speaker 3: the top, or he you know, opens things up with
Speaker 3: an inch perfect you know switch.
Speaker 2: But you know, what you don't want is for.
Speaker 3: Carlos to get the ball turned, pick up his head
Speaker 3: and run at you, because he'll he you know, even
Speaker 3: at thirty three, can slide by on the dribble quicker
Speaker 3: than you think. You never know when he's going to
Speaker 3: release the ball. He's inch perfect with his with his
Speaker 3: key passes and all that. So you know, then the
Speaker 3: other thing is to you know, I hate to say,
Speaker 3: kick lumps out of him, and teams will do that.
Speaker 3: But what has to then happen is that the referees
Speaker 3: set a tone early with a yellow card or you know,
Speaker 3: call the fouls. Carlo sometimes gets frustrated. He doesn't get
Speaker 3: off his game when you frustrate him. He just gets
Speaker 3: more motivated, so that like the psychological component, like getting
Speaker 3: in his head doesn't work. But you know, he's not
Speaker 3: the most physically imposing player. And you know, we've seen
Speaker 3: other teams go right up against the edge of playing dirty,
Speaker 3: which I don't like on you they should respect. You know,
Speaker 3: he's an immaculate player and a great profession on the
Speaker 3: credit to the league, but he's very competitive. It's pro ball,
Speaker 3: and I think that, you know, that's one of the
Speaker 3: reasons also why posters out there is to police that
Speaker 3: a little bit, and so you know, I hope it
Speaker 3: doesn't disintegrate into something like that where they're trying to
Speaker 3: kick him into the third row. I know there's a
Speaker 3: good respect between Ronnie dla And and Caleb Porter, and
Speaker 3: we've seen the past Dallas teams have played it the
Speaker 3: right way against Carlos, trying, you know, everything within the
Speaker 3: laws of the game to limit him, and I think
Speaker 3: that's what's going to happen. But Carlos is you know,
Speaker 3: he's worth the trip to the stadium. He's he's great.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: He has caused issues for Atland United fans and Mercedes
Speaker 1: Bens in the past, so.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he knows Brad Guzan too, they played together
Speaker 3: at Villa.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that that is that is there with that
Speaker 1: as well. So then I ask you the defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: question to kind of go into this follow up. So
Speaker 1: if Carlos heel is not a out to create Who
Speaker 1: are some of those next level guys that may not
Speaker 1: necessarily get the Brad Feldman spot shadow and the show
Speaker 1: open that folks need to gravitate toward to be wary of.
Speaker 1: If you're an Atlanta United fan going up against New England,
Speaker 1: if Carlos Hill isn't, then whom.
Speaker 3: Well that I've already alluded to it, you know, it's
Speaker 3: the wing play, certainly Luca Langoni, and I think Luca
Speaker 3: is gonna love it on the Mercedes Benz Stadium field
Speaker 3: because it's there's a lot of room out there, you know,
Speaker 3: Like I was saying on another show, people, you know
Speaker 3: NYCFC get very defensive. If you say that the Yankee
Speaker 3: Stadium field is more than two inches two feet narrower
Speaker 3: than standard, it looks like it's ten feet skinnier than
Speaker 3: a normal MLS field. I've never pasteed off, I can't say,
Speaker 3: but it just psychologically feels that way, like it's cramped
Speaker 3: on the wings, and I think I think that when
Speaker 3: you go to the Lantet it feels like the reverse
Speaker 3: is true, that there's even more space out there on
Speaker 3: the flanks, and what the official field dimensions, which suggest
Speaker 3: that favors a Luca Langoni who is just you know,
Speaker 3: lightning quick times. His runs really well, and like I
Speaker 3: said against against Red Bull two weeks ago, is really
Speaker 3: put in great crossing passes and so down that right
Speaker 3: flank he could be a danger on the other wing.
Speaker 3: The way the Revs plays, they really like to get
Speaker 3: that left full back forward and Peyton Miller and you know,
Speaker 3: sometimes his crossing is really good and sometimes at least
Speaker 3: something to be desired, but he gets it right enough
Speaker 3: of the time.
Speaker 2: And then you know, gonna go.
Speaker 3: Who's you know, he's an international player, like he's he
Speaker 3: just hasn't found the scoring touch. He'll on settle a
Speaker 3: defense and then I don't you know, going through you
Speaker 3: know the list, and then Eli Feineld he's both powerful
Speaker 3: and technical and tuck inside but can overlap. He'll also
Speaker 3: drop a shoulder and go through you like he's another
Speaker 3: young player, and they just need to get somebody on
Speaker 3: the end of those you know, that service from all
Speaker 3: three or four of those players, and one of the
Speaker 3: guys who needs to get on the end of it
Speaker 3: and finish is gonna go.
Speaker 2: Like I said, he's been hitting the goal.
Speaker 3: You know, he's been getting to the right spots, he's
Speaker 3: been taking on defenders, getting taken down in the box
Speaker 3: for a penalty, and you know, it's like everything but
Speaker 3: to finish and it has to come good sooner or later.
Speaker 3: But those are the guys i'd really watch.
Speaker 1: I had to when you mentioned Yankee Stadium, I had
Speaker 1: to go to the Peter Vermes quote, and so Peter
Speaker 1: Vermes measured it off when he was managing it Sporting
Speaker 1: and he said it's one of six by sixty eight.
Speaker 2: Sixty eight.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what Peter Vermes said at the time. So
Speaker 1: when you were mentioning the the U twelve pitches, we joke.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, sixty eight is about what I think. Like
Speaker 3: they say it's seventy, it's really sixty eight. It looks
Speaker 3: sixty five.
Speaker 1: Yes, So at sixty eight we're rounding up because it's
Speaker 1: more than sixty seven and a half, we're rounding up
Speaker 1: to seventy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you. I think that's about right.
Speaker 1: I know you've got other stuff to do, and I
Speaker 1: can't thank you enough for doing this. Go ahead and
Speaker 1: hit the promo for me for folks and how they
Speaker 1: can listen to you twenty four to seven, three sixty five,
Speaker 1: not just tomorrow afternoon.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're on ninety eighty five the Sports Up tomorrow
Speaker 3: at two thirty, the flagship station, number one Sports station,
Speaker 3: New England. And when we're not we're on HD two
Speaker 3: for all home games. You can tune into the home
Speaker 3: radio option with a couple clicks of the button on
Speaker 3: Apple TV Plus.
Speaker 1: As always, my friend, great to see you. It's been
Speaker 1: entirely too long. You now have the keys to the castle.
Speaker 1: You want to come in and vent in the hour
Speaker 1: of chaos in this ten o'clock hour on Fridays, talk
Speaker 1: about your match. You can get out, you can, You
Speaker 1: got the keys. You're welcome anytime.
Speaker 2: Good to see it, Thanks John, Good to see you
Speaker 2: all right.
Speaker 1: That's Brad Feldman, play by play voice of the ReBs.
Speaker 1: He's got like nineteen different things he's doing today, and
Speaker 1: we like squeezed him in, squos, Squeeze squeezed squos. We
Speaker 1: jammed him in and he was incredibly generous and gracious
Speaker 1: with his time to give us the background and the
Speaker 1: breakdown of everything going on with the revs. So there's
Speaker 1: your REVS one oh one