Speaker 1: I don't know how your teachers were across the board
Speaker 1: in high school, but how many of your teachers when
Speaker 1: you had a point five, like a seventy nine five
Speaker 1: eighty nine to five, they would round up and get you.
Speaker 1: It's like, okay, that's an eighty, that's a ninety. You
Speaker 1: got the A or the B. How many teachers did that?
Speaker 2: Honestly, that's tough to answer, because I don't know if
Speaker 2: I cared enough about grades to pay attention, like if
Speaker 2: I was getting benefited doubt. I know, sometimes you got
Speaker 2: like graded on a curve for tests or whatever. But
Speaker 2: they liked me right, Like I was a pretty good student.
Speaker 2: I didn't cause too many issues in class, so they
Speaker 2: probably rounded up on my behalf.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, so you you got that benefit of
Speaker 1: the doubt I had. I had a particular math teacher
Speaker 1: when I was in high school back in the late
Speaker 1: eighteen nineties, and I had three seventy nine and a
Speaker 1: halfs and I got three c's because I sat in
Speaker 1: the back of the classroom and didn't give two you know,
Speaker 1: what's about this particular math and what it was going
Speaker 1: to be doing for my lifestyle, you know. So I
Speaker 1: had the one math teacher that was like, oh seventy
Speaker 1: nine and a half. See, yeah, I was.
Speaker 2: I was front of the room, heavy on participation, almost
Speaker 2: too annoyingly. So so I think they liked that, and
Speaker 2: so I think I got the benefit.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you did, absolutely true. Ave Gordon dropping byz
Speaker 1: he always does on a Monday, looking at it Landy
Speaker 1: United and the weekend that was it was a matchup
Speaker 1: against New England. Fans in New England or lamenting already
Speaker 1: about having the same things happened in the preseason that
Speaker 1: happened last season under Caleb Porter. So there's gnashing of
Speaker 1: teeth and you know, mixing of fingers and there's a
Speaker 1: lot of consternation at Landy United comes out with a
Speaker 1: two zero win at IMG Academy. Early thoughts from thirty
Speaker 1: thousand feet before we dive into individual thoughts and players.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, look, I wasn't really paying attention to
Speaker 2: what New England was doing. I was certainly watching for
Speaker 2: the Atlanta United perspective and looking here, what do we
Speaker 2: know like set pieces and corner kicks and free kicks
Speaker 2: are a danger spot for Atlanta United offensively again, And
Speaker 2: I think that's something that was I mean sorely missing
Speaker 2: up until the later stages of the season last year,
Speaker 2: and I think we have seen that now at multiple
Speaker 2: parts of this exhibition season, so certainly looking forward to
Speaker 2: see if that can translate into the regular season as well.
Speaker 2: I thought the team looked pretty good. I thought they
Speaker 2: looked physical too, And there's some bodies being banged over
Speaker 2: any exhibition season, almost to the point where I'm like,
Speaker 2: all right, guys, like, let's try and get to opening
Speaker 2: day healthy here. And I know Tira who bagged that
Speaker 2: backpost touch off the free kick, he went down for
Speaker 2: a little bit, and there were a couple of other
Speaker 2: moment so you know, you just don't want to see it, right,
Speaker 2: You get a little bit nerve, I get a little
Speaker 2: bit nervous and so uh. But but again, I talked
Speaker 2: to you last week a little bit about Mattea's Click
Speaker 2: as well. I just think he's such a huge addition
Speaker 2: that's gonna get buried. I think because of al Marone
Speaker 2: and and I guess I hadn't talked to you officially,
Speaker 2: they because of latte Laugh as well. I just think
Speaker 2: Click is gonna be such an integral piece here. And
Speaker 2: if you're talking about service, and we already saw it
Speaker 2: again in this exhibition season, just kind of making a
Speaker 2: mess of things in the box and just causing issues
Speaker 2: and ultimately Click puts it on net and buries it.
Speaker 2: So very pleased with that edition. It is gonna get buried,
Speaker 2: and rightfully so right like Latte laugh is out here
Speaker 2: talking the trash already and and so we're ready for that.
Speaker 2: And it was great to see Niggy Beck officially in
Speaker 2: a jersey competitive all that stuff, so and a too
Speaker 2: nothing win. And I think that's the other aspect is
Speaker 2: you are seeing a team that is burying chances and
Speaker 2: I don't really look at it as hey, they probably
Speaker 2: could have had five or six goals. I mean, I
Speaker 2: feel like at times that was the discussion last year
Speaker 2: is like, man, you really gotta bury the chances you have.
Speaker 2: Remember they had that weird x G and then as
Speaker 2: I deem it actual G differentiation And it doesn't necessarily
Speaker 2: feel right now, and again it's exhibition season, let's keep
Speaker 2: that in mind. But it doesn't feel like that's a
Speaker 2: massive problem right now. And that's a good feeling too.
Speaker 1: So x G minus G equals a G. I believe
Speaker 1: in the ape Gordon stat Yeah, that's correct, that's correct.
Speaker 1: Nothing like math.
Speaker 2: They should have bumped you up that half point with
Speaker 2: that that sort of on the fly.
Speaker 1: I don't even that I was awful at math and
Speaker 1: it never happened. Uh yeah, I was. I was. I
Speaker 1: was the leader of the d's in the f's and
Speaker 1: algebra I had nothing to do with it. And uh see,
Speaker 1: you know, because the only thing that we need math
Speaker 1: for in this business is back timing breaks. That's the
Speaker 1: only literally, that's the only math we have, right.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, And I guess the fourth official has to
Speaker 2: do the math on stoppage time and it start to
Speaker 2: add up seconds and count over that clock. But uh yeah,
Speaker 2: I think we're pretty math free, and I think that's
Speaker 2: a good thing.
Speaker 1: We're digging it. Uh So when you look at Miggie
Speaker 1: and his return, Miguel al Maroon back and most of
Speaker 1: the starters played seventy for yeah, Ronnie Daila and Atlanta
Speaker 1: United because you're ramping them up to get them ninety
Speaker 1: minutes fit and such. MIGGI specifically, I think that, uh
Speaker 1: you know, you're it's look, it's it's match week one,
Speaker 1: getting ready to integrate with your new teammates. You know,
Speaker 1: the passes aren't going to be there every single time,
Speaker 1: Relationships and wants aren't going to be there every single time.
Speaker 1: But I think the larger thing is here, he's out there,
Speaker 1: it's practice, he's integrating. And this was just the first
Speaker 1: example during game.
Speaker 2: Stay well a couple of things here, and I think
Speaker 2: initially the good news is that he is out there,
Speaker 2: like you're saying, and that obviously fares well for him
Speaker 2: being available to start the season. And sometimes when you
Speaker 2: bring in players, especially later or closer to the season start,
Speaker 2: you might have an issue getting them eligible to play,
Speaker 2: and even lockday laugh. I believe is eligible on opening
Speaker 2: day on the twenty second. Now, that doesn't mean he's
Speaker 2: going to be out there. He won't really have had
Speaker 2: much time to do a lot with his teammates, but
Speaker 2: it's still a possibility and that's kind of exciting. And
Speaker 2: I was talking about this with Mike Connie at the
Speaker 2: end of last week and I mentioned this to you
Speaker 2: once before. I don't need this team to be at
Speaker 2: its peak at the opening game, and I think you
Speaker 2: saw a little bit of that in this exhibition game.
Speaker 2: Here is that it's going to take time for Miggy
Speaker 2: to get back into the top level chemistry with every
Speaker 2: single teammate that is new here from when he was here.
Speaker 2: He's not just gonna walk right back in and everything
Speaker 2: is connecting at one hundred percent. So I think you
Speaker 2: did see a little bit of that. You did see.
Speaker 2: Oh I thought this player was gonna make this run.
Speaker 2: He made that runner. I thought he was gonna weigh
Speaker 2: this past this heavily. He was actually way that heavily.
Speaker 2: And so there are gonna be those moments. But I
Speaker 2: think getting him out there one is exciting, as we
Speaker 2: already talked about, but also it is important to have
Speaker 2: those kind of decisions in the preseason and kind of
Speaker 2: move on from that. But look, we're not gonna go crazy.
Speaker 2: At least I'm not gonna go crazy. I can't control
Speaker 2: anyone else and what they're saying. But in terms of
Speaker 2: if it is a slower start to the season, then
Speaker 2: maybe we want. It's a very difficult schedule early on.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of playoff teams from last year right
Speaker 2: up at the front and a lot of moving pieces,
Speaker 2: and that includes a new manager, and there's just so
Speaker 2: much inconsistency from last year to this year. That I'm
Speaker 2: gonna give them time to build, and I'm gonna say
Speaker 2: that multiple times with you, especially if they do struggle early,
Speaker 2: because I do think if they stay healthy, this is
Speaker 2: a team that absolutely can compete in the Eastern Conference
Speaker 2: and potentially league wide. But that doesn't mean they're gonna
Speaker 2: be right there day one. So I think you saw
Speaker 2: some of those things with Miggi in his first time back.
Speaker 2: I think whenever you do get latte life out there,
Speaker 2: you're gonna see probably that as well. But again, we
Speaker 2: don't need to be the best team in the MLS
Speaker 2: at match day one. We need to be the best
Speaker 2: team of the MLS match day twenty eight, twenty nine
Speaker 2: thirty and moving forward. And so we're gonna we're gonna
Speaker 2: pace ourselves, right, I mean, you know me, I'm a runner.
Speaker 2: We don't sprint at the start of a I did
Speaker 2: a ten k this weekend. You don't sprint at the
Speaker 2: start of a ten k. You settle in, you're kind
Speaker 2: of weaving in and out of traffic as you maneuver
Speaker 2: into the open lanes, and then you hit a stride
Speaker 2: right and then you really find your rhythm and then
Speaker 2: you try and pick up towards the end, as you
Speaker 2: know that finishing kick is there, you're not sprinting out
Speaker 2: the start, or you won't have much for a finishing
Speaker 2: kick at the end. So if we're gonna relate in
Speaker 2: the season to that, I think it's okay to be
Speaker 2: a little hesitant and tentative early on to make sure
Speaker 2: you have what you need down the stretch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I mean literally, you're in the newborn calf
Speaker 1: stage here. You know, it's the episode of whatever nineteen
Speaker 1: eighties or nineties show that had farm animals, and it's
Speaker 1: like the newborn calf is like, Oh, it's gonna be tough.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be tough getting to that point.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna tell you what the problem is already with
Speaker 2: this analogy. Yeah, I'm rooting for the predator. Usually I
Speaker 2: doubt the calf that's barely walking, and that's obviously not
Speaker 2: what we want here.
Speaker 1: So no, but I mean in the barn, you know
Speaker 1: the calf's first steps, you know, they're kind of kind
Speaker 1: of clunky, and you know, you're you're trying to make
Speaker 1: sure that you can stand on your on your own
Speaker 1: feet before you go out there and you start running
Speaker 1: around and you push beer barrels from Saint Louis to
Speaker 1: a bar someplace. You know, it's all on the bill.
Speaker 1: That's that's where we are.
Speaker 2: I'm just hoping the mother accepts the child as opposed
Speaker 2: to rejects it and needs raised by human hands.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, no, it's not good. Ab Gordon hanging out
Speaker 1: with us as he always does, bat and lead off.
Speaker 1: He he is our Ricky Henderson on Mondays for Reaction.
Speaker 1: Mondays here on sdham H you mentioned Mattea's Click, and
Speaker 1: I think that in the the four to two three
Speaker 1: one that we're going to be looking at from Ronnie Dila,
Speaker 1: I think that Matteas click is a part of an
Speaker 1: interesting equation because you're looking at Click, You're looking at Sleash,
Speaker 1: You're looking at Mulliam Bai, you're looking at Jay Fortune,
Speaker 1: You're looking at guys who are going to be fighting
Speaker 1: for time in practice every week. And I will be
Speaker 1: intrigued to see who the dance partners are of the
Speaker 1: four plus that are going to be a part of
Speaker 1: that midfield three.
Speaker 2: Well, it's also interesting, especially if you believe Clickle will
Speaker 2: ultimately end up on the right side that early in
Speaker 2: the season when you would have brooks Lennon, and you're
Speaker 2: not going to the service from the right side, where
Speaker 2: is it coming from? And that's something that Mattea's click
Speaker 2: absolutely excels at. You could just look at his assist
Speaker 2: totals from last year with DC United and yes, a
Speaker 2: lot of those are going to Benteca and that makes
Speaker 2: it a lot easier to get assists as well. But
Speaker 2: we traditionally over the last couple of years, counted so
Speaker 2: heavily on brooks Lennon getting forward and providing service into
Speaker 2: the box. With him out injured, is his replacement on
Speaker 2: the right side going to be able to do that
Speaker 2: or maybe do we rely on the midfielder to actually
Speaker 2: provide that service. I think that is something that is
Speaker 2: part of the discussion for Ronnie Daila. Look, we talked
Speaker 2: about it because not everyone's going to get through this
Speaker 2: season healthy guys are gonna have bits here and there.
Speaker 2: It's good to have the depth. It's good to have
Speaker 2: the discussion of boy, there's a lot of talent here
Speaker 2: and someone's gonna have to be the odd man out.
Speaker 2: It helps you stay fresh over the course of the season. Look,
Speaker 2: it's great to be like the MLS's iron man, right
Speaker 2: and play. I mean, and that's what Brooks Lennon essentially
Speaker 2: was for the most part. But like, there's also some
Speaker 2: value of getting guys a little bit of break throughout
Speaker 2: the course of a season, especially as you hit stretches
Speaker 2: of match compression without taking a dip in quality. And
Speaker 2: I think that's what you're trying to build. Look, i'd
Speaker 2: love to sit here and tell you and say and sure,
Speaker 2: I assume you have the same questions, like here's the
Speaker 2: guys that are gonna be in the midfielder, here's the
Speaker 2: odd man out, and this is a guy that will
Speaker 2: come in in case of injury, in case of yellow
Speaker 2: card concerns late in games, whatever, whatever. I just don't
Speaker 2: know what Ronnie DLAs specifically is looking for and how
Speaker 2: it's gonna work out. And quite frankly, I don't think
Speaker 2: we're gonna know until we're a couple of games into
Speaker 2: the season and kind of see, right, because he might
Speaker 2: start someone one or two games and then maybe he's
Speaker 2: not quite getting what he wants out of that position.
Speaker 2: He might move guys around, and so I think it's
Speaker 2: gonna be a little while until we settle in there,
Speaker 2: especially in the midfield. Potentially in the back as well,
Speaker 2: but again to have the depth that you had to
Speaker 2: be able to bring in a guy like Click to
Speaker 2: settle him potentially next to Bartech Shleech who seems to
Speaker 2: be a mainstaye j A Fortune and Moyamba as well.
Speaker 2: And Moyamba had had a couple of rough stretches over
Speaker 2: the course of the season, but he also did have
Speaker 2: some really nice stretches in the playoff run. So it'll
Speaker 2: be very interesting to see how it links up. If
Speaker 2: I had to guess, because of the absence of Brooks Lennon,
Speaker 2: because of the desire to have service from the right side,
Speaker 2: that's how I would start things up. But again I'm
Speaker 2: not Ronnie Diela. I don't know specifically what he's looking
Speaker 2: for or even what he's seeing there in the exhibition season.
Speaker 1: And to your point, Ronald Hernandez had some opportunities to
Speaker 1: send in some service. Again, it's New England on the weekend,
Speaker 1: So is it a combination of Click in and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Ronnie out on the right hand side to
Speaker 1: be those servicemen from the right to work what you're
Speaker 1: discussing when it comes to activity inside the eighteen. Another
Speaker 1: couple of minutes for you, how are you on pre
Speaker 1: season chippiness.
Speaker 2: It's a love hate relationship, right Like. Obviously you don't
Speaker 2: want anyone to pick up any sort of knock heading
Speaker 2: into the season, and that's just my biggest concern. But
Speaker 2: at the same time, you have to have have some
Speaker 2: level of it or it's going to be just an
Speaker 2: ugly slow start to the year all around, not just
Speaker 2: for Atlanta United, right like, Like, you have to have
Speaker 2: a little bit of an attitude. And the other thing is,
Speaker 2: in anyone who's played soccer football, really any contact sport,
Speaker 2: you can't go into a content tact hesitant. You can't
Speaker 2: go into it trying to avoid injury. That's only gonna
Speaker 2: lead to you doing things wrong and actually probably getting
Speaker 2: hurt more often. So you have to have that contact.
Speaker 2: Now you're talking about unnecessary contact, right stuff like that.
Speaker 2: I understand it. But at the same time, you and
Speaker 2: I are sit here talking about an exhibition season and
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter in this or that new manager. Guys
Speaker 2: are trying to win jobs, Guys are trying to prove points,
Speaker 2: and ultimately there's a competitive factor for every single player
Speaker 2: on Atlanta and I. You don't get to become a
Speaker 2: professional soccer player by kind of having a whoham attitude
Speaker 2: anytime you step on that field. The fact that we
Speaker 2: call it exhibition probably doesn't mean much for them. They're
Speaker 2: probably upset that they didn't get a win if you're
Speaker 2: New England or in other situations for Lanti United. So again,
Speaker 2: for me, it's just like, man, let's just get everyone
Speaker 2: to the season healthy and that's the big concern. But
Speaker 2: at the same time, like that's not how they You
Speaker 2: never go out there thinking you're gonna get hurt. You
Speaker 2: never go out there thinking, oh, it's just the exhibition season.
Speaker 2: I'll take it easy, especially not when you have a
Speaker 2: manager that's watching that maybe hasn't seen you as much
Speaker 2: as previous guys that that you don't want to leave
Speaker 2: a bad taste in the mouth of So I get it,
Speaker 2: but hey, if everyone gets to the season healthy, that's
Speaker 2: what matters the most.
Speaker 1: Well, And the reason that I bring it up to
Speaker 1: your point in the match early on looked like New
Speaker 1: England was trying to push some buttons and they went
Speaker 1: into some hard tackles. You'd mentioned Jamal being injured early on,
Speaker 1: and to me, it's like there's a level of preseason
Speaker 1: schippiness and getting in people's faces and all that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. It just seemed like to me early on,
Speaker 1: especially in the first half, that New England was trying
Speaker 1: to kind of overdo it a little bit, and you
Speaker 1: just kind of want to sit there and it's like
Speaker 1: the the kid who's had too many like the kid
Speaker 1: who's had too many pieces of sugar and he's just
Speaker 1: running around the kitchen. You want to sit there and go, dude,
Speaker 1: just chill for a minute. You know, here's some decaf.
Speaker 1: That's what it seemed like to me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the other aspect of that. John and I
Speaker 2: didn't look up the game notes heading into to a
Speaker 2: preseason game to check, but you also want to learn
Speaker 2: the officials, the referees and what they're gonna call and
Speaker 2: maybe this is a guy that they'll have in MLS.
Speaker 2: Maybe this is a guy that they'll have in MLS
Speaker 2: a couple of years from now. I didn't Again, I
Speaker 2: didn't look at the level of officiating and who was
Speaker 2: on the match, But you also have to learn those
Speaker 2: guys and kind of feel it out that way, and
Speaker 2: that may have been part of it. Yeah, it is
Speaker 2: a little bit of like all right, man, it's your
Speaker 2: first opportunity, like again, pace yourself a little bit. But
Speaker 2: again it looks and feels like everyone came out of
Speaker 2: it healthy, and that's all I can ask.
Speaker 1: For, no doubt. All Right, So, now that you have
Speaker 1: run yet another ten k and and pretty much put
Speaker 1: the rest of us into the ground when it comes
Speaker 1: to our own physical capabilities, what's the week like for you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, just building towards the opener, and it
Speaker 2: just it really has crept up on us. And I
Speaker 2: know we were joking like, oh, there's only seven weeks
Speaker 2: of the offseason, and then like all of the sudden,
Speaker 2: and because Atlanti's United's offseason was so busy, right, Henderson
Speaker 2: and Dila click and then Almaa and Latte laugh, and
Speaker 2: there's just so much going on, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: we are less than two weeks away from opening kick.
Speaker 2: We've obviously still got it in. We talked about match compression.
Speaker 2: You still got two more exhibition games, including one tomorrow afternoon,
Speaker 2: and so looking forward to keeping an eye on that.
Speaker 2: I do want to send a reminder this weekend and
Speaker 2: Tuesday's game is not going to be on ninety two nine,
Speaker 2: but that game against Dallas on Saturday, February fifteenth, eleven
Speaker 2: fifty a m. Broadcast time. Mike Conti and Jason Longshow
Speaker 2: will have the action for you on ninety two nine
Speaker 2: in the game, of course, so looking forward to that.
Speaker 2: And once you get there, it's a week from the
Speaker 2: game's finally meaning something. So it has happened incredibly quick.
Speaker 2: But boy, the excitement has also built quite quickly, and
Speaker 2: I think rightfully so based on again, you don't want
Speaker 2: to like go so crazy high and mighty, but a
Speaker 2: franchise defining offseason, I mean it really, we really hope
Speaker 2: that that is ultimately what this was.
Speaker 1: Yep, it is Garth and Chris's team now. As always,
Speaker 1: my friend, great to see you, Baton lead off here
Speaker 1: for a week for another reaction Monday. We will catch
Speaker 1: up with you next Monday and actually get ready for
Speaker 1: games that count. Good to see you, my friend. Glad
Speaker 1: you survived your weekend. Will catch up with you soon,
Speaker 1: you know, as always, you can crash whenever you feel
Speaker 1: like it. Thanks for dropping by you.
Speaker 2: Gotta sounds good, all right, that's
Speaker 1: Ab Gordon everybody, So that's a