Speaker 1: And guests are cool, especially when they can let you
Speaker 1: know what in the wide world of sports is going on.
Speaker 1: And for this we get to add Chris Dorrin to
Speaker 1: the stacks and welcome him to the chaos that is
Speaker 1: the Morning Show.
Speaker 2: Chris, thanks for j John, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2: It's great to see you.
Speaker 1: Great to be seen. What we like to do here
Speaker 1: on the show is when Atlanta United, and since that's
Speaker 1: where we're based, you know the fan base that is
Speaker 1: attached to the Five Stripes when they have opposition, we
Speaker 1: can dive into markets and we can sit there and go, hey,
Speaker 1: let's try and grab somebody to give an education as
Speaker 1: to what they might be facing tonight. When it comes
Speaker 1: to it, lant United. And so we have consulted our
Speaker 1: oracle and come across you to be our source for
Speaker 1: oppo researchers. That's what you've gotten yourself in. When right
Speaker 1: now the way things are Columbus fourth and the table
Speaker 1: in the East eight seven and three thirty one points,
Speaker 1: how would you characterize what you have seen so far
Speaker 1: in the good, the bad, the good old GBU. Perhaps
Speaker 1: when it comes to expectations for crew here in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five.
Speaker 2: I mean, you could go all the way back to
Speaker 2: January and February, but you know, we're halfway through the season, John,
Speaker 2: and what's done is done. I think what we've seen
Speaker 2: in the month of May was a bit of disappointment
Speaker 2: in the sense that Columbus had some injuries, some call ups,
Speaker 2: and really deflated a bit defensively. In particular, in that
Speaker 2: last week of May. It was that congested week where
Speaker 2: everyone pretty much played three games and we ended with
Speaker 2: a match in Miami in Fort Lauderdale that resulted in
Speaker 2: a five to one defeat at the hands of Miami.
Speaker 2: We had given up eleven goals in that three game span,
Speaker 2: and in the month of May, I think Columbus probably
Speaker 2: left a couple of points on the table that they
Speaker 2: should have kept. So that said, it's about coming out
Speaker 2: of May and setting the tone for what will be
Speaker 2: a hectic second half of the season with Leagues Cup
Speaker 2: coming up in late July early August. I think it's
Speaker 2: all about momentum, and Columbus has gotten off to a
Speaker 2: great start with that first game in June two weeks
Speaker 2: ago against Vancouver. I'll give you that Vancouver was not
Speaker 2: at full strength. Neither was Columbus, but a two one
Speaker 2: win at home is a great way to get started,
Speaker 2: and then two tough tests this week with Atlanta tonight
Speaker 2: and then a Sunday night game against Philadelphia. So keeping
Speaker 2: the momentum going is really where I think the crew
Speaker 2: are right now, and I think they've got themselves focused
Speaker 2: on the task at hand, and that's Atlanta tonight.
Speaker 1: Because of everything that has to be juggled during an
Speaker 1: MLS season. Is Wilford Nazi still underappreciated as a head
Speaker 1: coach in Major League Soccer.
Speaker 2: I don't think he's underappreciated it. I think he's one
Speaker 2: of the most admired coaches in the league and he
Speaker 2: has been for several years. Even the soccer purists watched
Speaker 2: what he did in Montreal with very little addition to
Speaker 2: the roster and only two years as a head coach,
Speaker 2: and the kind of productivity he was able to get
Speaker 2: out of that squad was something that sort of set
Speaker 2: him up, certainly for the job in Columbus, but then
Speaker 2: beyond that, for the accolades he enjoyed last year as
Speaker 2: Coach of the Year and he was in the running
Speaker 2: for Coach of the Year coming out of that Montreal
Speaker 2: second season and winning MLS Cup in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: But there were others who in the regular season had
Speaker 2: achieved so much more in the way of in season trophies.
Speaker 2: So Wilfried Nanci deserves every bit of the credit he gets.
Speaker 2: I also think it puts him in a position where
Speaker 2: he can, I won't say call out the league, but
Speaker 2: he will. He will offer feedback on what makes this
Speaker 2: league unique and positive and unique and negative. One of
Speaker 2: those areas is the scheduling that goes on. He's not
Speaker 2: happy that his team only has three games in the
Speaker 2: month of June. He's not happy that he had to
Speaker 2: play six games in the month of May. So there
Speaker 2: are and I think coaches feel the same way. I
Speaker 2: don't think as many coaches have the street cred right
Speaker 2: now to be able to stand up and say it
Speaker 2: into the microphone. But wilfreed Nazi knows that he's got
Speaker 2: that street cred. And then the last piece is the
Speaker 2: schedule overall. Should this league be operating on a winter
Speaker 2: schedule versus the summer schedule that it's really on, and
Speaker 2: he is all four moving the schedule to in August
Speaker 2: or September until May scheduling so that he and his
Speaker 2: staff feel like they can get the most out of
Speaker 2: trade windows and the building of teams throughout the course
Speaker 2: of throughout the course of the FIFA calendar.
Speaker 1: And I know that Wilfrid Nanzi is not alone in
Speaker 1: his assessment about flipping the calendar, and that has been
Speaker 1: something that has been discussed and is Major League Soccer
Speaker 1: going to do it? That that's kind of one of
Speaker 1: the specters that's hovering over our collective shoulders over the
Speaker 1: next couple of years as to whether or not the
Speaker 1: schedule will flip one way or the other when it
Speaker 1: comes to and all things being equal, tonight, how would
Speaker 1: you anticipate the starting eleven looking for Columbus going up
Speaker 1: against it Land United, knowing that you've got this matchup
Speaker 1: on Sunday night? Soccer? Is it? You know? Is it
Speaker 1: literally all hand, all hands to the hose and don't
Speaker 1: worry about it and we'll get to Sunday later. What
Speaker 1: are you in to see?
Speaker 2: I think it's more the latter. We have never seen
Speaker 2: a game in a congested week where Wilfried Nancy has
Speaker 2: bailed on his preferred eleven or preferred you know, core
Speaker 2: just for the sake of what's to come. This is
Speaker 2: not a trap game for Columbus. They are anxious to
Speaker 2: capitalize on the momentum they started with Vancouver two weeks ago.
Speaker 2: They've got a couple of bodies out and a couple
Speaker 2: of bodies back in, which is great. As you know,
Speaker 2: Max Arsten is with the men's national team for the US,
Speaker 2: and then Nico Hagen, our backup goalkeeper, is with Guatemala
Speaker 2: and they've advanced by virtue of their result just the
Speaker 2: other day. So we're dealing with those international absences, plus
Speaker 2: some injuries, including first string goalkeeper Patrick Schulte who's coming
Speaker 2: back from an oblique injury and he will be out.
Speaker 2: So you'll see thirty nine year old goalkeeper Evan Bush
Speaker 2: get his second consecutive start, his third on the season
Speaker 2: tonight against Atlanta. In all likelihood, I don't know that
Speaker 2: for a fact, but that's likely. Shan Zawatski is back
Speaker 2: from injury. He should be with the Red, White and Blue,
Speaker 2: but he had to decline the invitation because of injury.
Speaker 2: But he's healthy and back centrally in the back line.
Speaker 2: I think one of the things we saw versus Vancouver
Speaker 2: that was delightfully surprising was the addition of ibrahem Alu
Speaker 2: as a left wing back instead of a front runner
Speaker 2: like he played in Houston. He has wing back pedigree
Speaker 2: in the sense that he's played it before, and he
Speaker 2: showed very nicely in the first minute of the game
Speaker 2: against Vancouver, putting Columbus up one zero. So we're excited
Speaker 2: about that. Because Max Arsten being away means that that
Speaker 2: left wing backslot is open. It looks like Aleo could
Speaker 2: have found his home in that position. Whether he's a
Speaker 2: starter over Max or not doesn't make any difference. Tonight,
Speaker 2: Max is not available and so we'll likely see Ibraheim
Speaker 2: in that spot. You can rely on Darlington Nagbee. I
Speaker 2: know United fans know and love Darlington when he's wearing
Speaker 2: the five stripes and winning that MLS Cup a few
Speaker 2: years ago for the city. Darlington will be in the center.
Speaker 2: Who will be alongside him likely Dylan Jambo, and then
Speaker 2: up top we've got Daniel Gozdog and Diego Rossi's. So
Speaker 2: our three dp's are available and will likely start tonight
Speaker 2: against Atlanta.
Speaker 1: You mentioned goz Dog and I just can't help but laugh,
Speaker 1: and I mean that in the most positive way humanly
Speaker 1: possible about how Gozdog And a lot of folks in
Speaker 1: the league were like, okay, that's highway robbery. You got
Speaker 1: meaning Columbus. Columbus gets Gozdog, and it's like, okay, so
Speaker 1: no embarrassment or riches here, We'll go ahead, Daniel Gazdog
Speaker 1: from Philly, uh, from your tour and all of your
Speaker 1: contacts in the league when the Gozdog deal happened. What
Speaker 1: was conventional wisdom? What were folks telling you when Daniel
Speaker 1: Gozdog showed up at the Columbus crew door.
Speaker 2: I mean, no one really had to say anything. He's
Speaker 2: one of the most polished pros right out of the
Speaker 2: gate I think I've ever known in terms of, you know,
Speaker 2: meeting him from a journalism side of the of the relationship.
Speaker 2: He gets up with the general manage during his introductory
Speaker 2: press conference and says, my job is to come here
Speaker 2: and score goals and help win trophies. And he's about
Speaker 2: his playing about it like it's putting on socks in
Speaker 2: the morning. He's about his playing about it as you
Speaker 2: can possibly believe. Be What's ironic is that other than
Speaker 2: a supporters shield, Philadelphia is not won much and so
Speaker 2: he finds himself in a spot where not only can
Speaker 2: he be utilized, and he was right away after that
Speaker 2: press conference, he was put on a plane, flown to
Speaker 2: Saint Louis and played forty five minutes. But he's also
Speaker 2: in a system that he's going to have to reacquaint
Speaker 2: himself with some things. And I think one of the
Speaker 2: things we saw in the game against Vancouver was finally
Speaker 2: Gozdog appeared to be somewhat at home in that his
Speaker 2: relationship off the ball with Diego Rossi started to look
Speaker 2: like it made a lot of sense. There were nine
Speaker 2: games before that, John where Gozdog was trying to do
Speaker 2: every thing and wash the dishes after dinner, and it
Speaker 2: just was not coming together for him. He did not
Speaker 2: contribute to a goal in those nine games, and finally
Speaker 2: got one against Vancouver with the assist on the game
Speaker 2: winner to Diego Rossi. Everyone in Crewe Country was relieved
Speaker 2: to see that happen. Now, I want to give you
Speaker 2: a little backdrop. We forget that these professional athletes are
Speaker 2: human beings. Gozdok's family remained in Philadelphia after the April
Speaker 2: trade so that their son could finish school. That makes
Speaker 2: all sorts of sense. But Gozdok's going back to I
Speaker 2: don't know, a condo, an apartment, a hotel room by
Speaker 2: himself after every training session for a family man. And
Speaker 2: I don't know if you know much about Hungarians, but
Speaker 2: families everything in that culture, and it should be in
Speaker 2: every culture. But it is truly an important component to
Speaker 2: your life. For a family man to go back to
Speaker 2: empty apartment after training or after a game, or after
Speaker 2: a road trip by himself, it's just not the same. Well,
Speaker 2: the weekend that Vancouver played here in Columbus two weeks ago,
Speaker 2: Daniel's family had made the permanent move to Columbus. You
Speaker 2: want to talk about a weight being lifted off a
Speaker 2: man's shoulders. He can go home to his wife and kids,
Speaker 2: good game or bad game, good training session or bad
Speaker 2: training session, and everything can feel normal to him. I
Speaker 2: feel like the turn for Daniel Gosdog has occurred. The
Speaker 2: family is in Columbus, and we're going to start to
Speaker 2: see more of what we saw from him in Philadelphia
Speaker 2: Here in Crew Country.
Speaker 1: MLS fantasy players, please take Chris Dorn's advice. Okay, from
Speaker 1: the way I think I'm a shoot man, look I'm
Speaker 1: you're sitting and that's the thing. It's like you go
Speaker 1: back to We've seen it countless times when you were
Speaker 1: mentioning that. Literally the movie Trouble with the Curve stuck
Speaker 1: in my head where at the end there's the evaluation
Speaker 1: of the pick where the family comes in and he's
Speaker 1: and there the family's cooking for the player. Hey, he's
Speaker 1: hitting three twenty ever since his family showed up, So
Speaker 1: that that makes that makes entirely too much sense to
Speaker 1: have that kind of comfortability to create a word early
Speaker 1: in the morning to make sure that that's there in
Speaker 1: a new environment, and that's that is absolutely key in
Speaker 1: a situation like this. Chris dorn A, voice of the Crew,
Speaker 1: hanging out with us FROPO Research here as we get
Speaker 1: ready for at Land United and Columbus Crew tonight. When
Speaker 1: you mentioned the starting eleven and how you feel that
Speaker 1: that is going to be in a perfect world through
Speaker 1: quick analysis for someone who has not seen crew and
Speaker 1: might be just a casual dropper in and you know,
Speaker 1: listening to you on the local option, listening to you know,
Speaker 1: Mike and Jason on our end watching on Apple TV
Speaker 1: choice D all the above, you might it might be
Speaker 1: Ibrahim Aliu. But give me somebody who is below those
Speaker 1: A level guys where things are going well for Wilford Nanci,
Speaker 1: focus on this individual or these individuals that are like
Speaker 1: the B level, the B plus players, the guys that
Speaker 1: don't get a whole lot of pub for things to
Speaker 1: go well. Who else outside of the main stars should
Speaker 1: we focus on and be in the Chris Dorn spots.
Speaker 2: Well within the potential starting eleven. And you know, I
Speaker 2: don't know how often you're able to get on the
Speaker 2: air on a morning of a game day and talk
Speaker 2: about a starting eleven confirmed because we just don't. In fact,
Speaker 2: there are a lot of crew players who are waking
Speaker 2: up this morning who are getting the text message that
Speaker 2: they're starting tonight. Because Wilfred Nancy is notorious for keeping
Speaker 2: everybody on edge, and he does that for a reason.
Speaker 2: He wants everyone to feel like they're going to start
Speaker 2: on any given game night, and that keeps the mentality
Speaker 2: where it needs to be. I'll give you two players
Speaker 2: from a potential starting pardon.
Speaker 1: No, I'm with you.
Speaker 2: I'll give you two players from a potential starting eleven.
Speaker 2: A Z Jackson, great, great on the ball, Titan's real
Speaker 2: tidy in spaces where he's got limited what looks like
Speaker 2: limited options, but he explodes out of space and under
Speaker 2: pressure on the dribble so very well, keeps his head
Speaker 2: up and does a really fine job of moving the
Speaker 2: play forward. So I would say, I don't know if
Speaker 2: a Z starts or not, but I would say that
Speaker 2: A Z would be a guy that you'd want to
Speaker 2: keep your eye on. And then the two center backs
Speaker 2: outside of Sean Zawatsky. Should Zawatsky start in the center,
Speaker 2: and he likely would Yevan Shoberko Stephen Morera on either
Speaker 2: side of him. One of the I would say part
Speaker 2: of the evolution of this team now Wilfrid Naci in
Speaker 2: his third year, is that the game model requires that
Speaker 2: there's attack from the center backs, and so when those
Speaker 2: two outside center backs step forward, they're going to unbalance
Speaker 2: Atlanta or any opponent we're playing, and in so doing
Speaker 2: create a through ball opportunity, or create a one v
Speaker 2: one that wasn't anticipated, get through that and then play
Speaker 2: a ball across the six. So I think any time
Speaker 2: Yevan Schaburco or Stephen Morera get up in the attack,
Speaker 2: and I'm not talking about in a long string of possession.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about literally a ball forward, a one to
Speaker 2: two or looking for a long ball over the top.
Speaker 2: Those are situations where you can rest assured it's fully rehearsed,
Speaker 2: rest assured that those guys know exactly what they're doing,
Speaker 2: and that the pressure then becomes placed back on Atlanta
Speaker 2: to adjust and defend in a numbers up situation.
Speaker 1: And full disclosure when this has happened in the past,
Speaker 1: that particular action that you're talking about, regardless of the opponent,
Speaker 1: it literally puts defensive puts defenses on their heels, and
Speaker 1: you're literally having to sit there and try and account
Speaker 1: for more than you're used to accounting for in this
Speaker 1: kind of a situation. And those center backs they're not
Speaker 1: afraid to launch from twenty or twenty three. If the
Speaker 1: opportunity is there, they jump into the play, they engage
Speaker 1: in it, and they end up on the score sheet,
Speaker 1: you know, more than you would anticipate from that particular
Speaker 1: position because of literally that snap of the fingers that
Speaker 1: happens jump into the play and get engaged. You're creating
Speaker 1: numbers problems that traditionally that you're having a problem accounting
Speaker 1: for these kinds of things, and it's one of those
Speaker 1: things I think that makes Crew constantly a troublemaker when
Speaker 1: you're trying to be trying to defend them. It's one
Speaker 1: of those hallmark issues that you sit there and you're like, oh, ish,
Speaker 1: here this comes again. It's something that's always there that
Speaker 1: you've got to account for.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, And it goes back to a kind of
Speaker 2: a total soccer theory or model game model, if you will.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think a lot of people who watch
Speaker 2: your podcast likely pay attention to Barcelona. You know, when
Speaker 2: Barcelona was at in its prime, it didn't matter who
Speaker 2: was rotating forward, there was always someone covering for them,
Speaker 2: and there was always someone looking to play a ball forward.
Speaker 2: So the total soccer concept is really what I think
Speaker 2: Columbus is leaning into right now. And they've got the
Speaker 2: personnel that's completely comfortable and trustworthy when it comes to
Speaker 2: getting into the attacking third. If Atlanta drops back into
Speaker 2: you know, kind of a five back igloo situation where
Speaker 2: they're in a really low block, it's going to become
Speaker 2: cumbersome for Columbus to break that down. But they've spent
Speaker 2: a lot of time the last year and a half
Speaker 2: really even when Kuco was here trying to break down
Speaker 2: a low block. They've got some solutions that they can utilize.
Speaker 2: But you know, I think Atlanta wants to come out
Speaker 2: and make a really good impression. There's no pressure on
Speaker 2: Atlanta in this game tonight. You know things haven't been
Speaker 2: going well. You've got the personnel, you're on the road,
Speaker 2: so you're you're not under pressure to play in front
Speaker 2: of thirty six thousand in front at Mercedes Benz come
Speaker 2: out and put it all on the line. So I
Speaker 2: think Atlanta's going to want to come out and play tonight.
Speaker 2: The telltale sign will be can Columbus maintain that possession
Speaker 2: and put them under so much pressure that they're not
Speaker 2: able to withstand withstand themselves withstand Columbus's pressure defensively.
Speaker 1: Current juice boxes have crew at minus one thirty seven.
Speaker 1: Your ninety minute draws a plus three thirty two, and
Speaker 1: Atlanta United is a plus three to five. If you would,
Speaker 1: sur please cut the promo and let everybody know how
Speaker 1: they can listen to you, not just tonight, not just
Speaker 1: today when they come back and listen to the audio
Speaker 1: version of this year program, but how then, how they
Speaker 1: can envelop themselves in the entire Christorn experience twenty four secs.
Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate that, John, Thanks and thanks to everyone
Speaker 2: for h for listening. We we We're available obviously on
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio on Columbus Alternative one oh five seven. You can
Speaker 2: find us tonight on Apple Television on the home radio option,
Speaker 2: as you do when Atlanta is at home. And uh,
Speaker 2: I hope you follow me on Twitter as well. You
Speaker 2: can find me at Chris door in eighteen.
Speaker 1: As we have done. Uh. You now have the garage
Speaker 1: door opener. You've got You've got the keys that are
Speaker 1: no longer under the mat, or at least you know
Speaker 1: now where they are. So if it under any circumstance,
Speaker 1: if on a Friday in the like the ten thirty
Speaker 1: last half hour, in our hour of chaos, if you
Speaker 1: want to come in vent your spleen, sit there and go.
Speaker 1: I've got two minutes. I want to get this off
Speaker 1: my chest. You now have the keys to the kingdom.
Speaker 1: You sir, can come in and talk about anything from
Speaker 1: IU to guitars to you know, to Mark Knopfler and
Speaker 1: Columbus crew. It is all available to you, my friend.
Speaker 1: I cannot thank you enough for hopping into the pile
Speaker 1: and adding to our stacks when it comes to opposition research.
Speaker 1: Can't thank you enough, have a fantastic call tonight, and
Speaker 1: don't be a stranger.
Speaker 2: John, Thanks so much, it was really a pleasure to
Speaker 2: talk to you. And lots of luck to Atlanta United
Speaker 2: through the rest of the season.