Speaker 1: Time now talk a little soccer club legend friend of
Speaker 1: the program, Brian dun Seth.
Speaker 2: Happy Friday, Donnie. How are we doing?
Speaker 3: No, I appreciate it, man, Sorry to keep you waiting.
Speaker 3: By the way, did I hear did I hear you say?
Speaker 3: Another rebuild for the Utah Jazz. I feel like I've
Speaker 3: heard that since two thousand and five.
Speaker 1: All the Clipper fan comes out and Donnie, look at
Speaker 1: that taking shots at the Utah Jazz. Hey, look, man,
Speaker 1: Uh it's uh, it's tough. It's tough sledding, dude. I
Speaker 1: just I miss spring basketball, man. I love the playoffs
Speaker 1: as all.
Speaker 3: No, I'm just teasing. Man. I'm having a hard enough
Speaker 3: time watching the Clippers now that they've got James Harden
Speaker 3: and the starting letter starting five. So trust me, I
Speaker 3: feel the pain, Donny.
Speaker 2: How do we score goals? How does this? Uh?
Speaker 1: Outside of uh, you know, as as Camaradnie likes to
Speaker 1: say this year RSL Diego Luna as well, and they
Speaker 1: don't do much else well in the attacking third?
Speaker 2: What's going what's going on in the attack dude? Help
Speaker 2: me understand this.
Speaker 3: It was the loss of Andras Gomez and Chicho Wrong
Speaker 3: that doesn't help Anderson Julio being sent down to Dallas
Speaker 3: with Junka coming up. You know, the lack of investment
Speaker 3: in the international window in the midst of a transition
Speaker 3: and ownership once again, and we're rent and repeating the
Speaker 3: same conversation you and I had met in February when
Speaker 3: we were heading into the season. So not much has
Speaker 3: changed outside of Gozo is the twenty twenty five version
Speaker 3: of what the twenty twenty three twenty twenty three version
Speaker 3: of Diego Luna was, which is a young kid that
Speaker 3: utilized the US under seventeen experience or US under twenty
Speaker 3: experience going to be a part of the Olympic team
Speaker 3: experience and turn that into opportunity when other guys weren't performing.
Speaker 3: Because at the end of the day, no matter the
Speaker 3: apparent or the equivalent value of players coming in, if
Speaker 3: statistically you're not affecting the game in a consistent level,
Speaker 3: it's going to open up the door. And that's why
Speaker 3: Diego Luna is to be a full US men's national
Speaker 3: team player under Mariso Pochettino, and Gozo is going to
Speaker 3: be a weekend, week out starter in Major League Soccer.
Speaker 1: Okay, what is fair to say both critically and then
Speaker 1: maybe given space for some things that happened that nobody
Speaker 1: saw coming about the additions or slash lack thereof editions.
Speaker 1: Now that the primary window is coming gone, we have
Speaker 1: not spoken since that window came and gone. It's Williegatta,
Speaker 1: and then it's Johnny Russell, who you probably played against,
Speaker 1: due respect, but.
Speaker 3: He's not that old.
Speaker 2: I think he's like thirty eight, dude.
Speaker 3: I mean, look, yeah, you know, ultimately it was long
Speaker 3: gone by that point.
Speaker 1: Okay, fair enough, fair enough, but but you get the gist.
Speaker 1: So tell me what's fair to say on both sides
Speaker 1: of the coin about the primary transfer window and what
Speaker 1: RSL did and did not do.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, listen, I think Izago and Peel were erry.
Speaker 3: I mean not in terms of physical builds similar, but
Speaker 3: technically and tactically played the game differently. But they were projects.
Speaker 3: Elias Manuel, you dodged a bullet with that guy said
Speaker 3: he wanted to come, then he said he didn't want
Speaker 3: to come and wanted to do a contract se La,
Speaker 3: and then ultimately coming up short on on I can't
Speaker 3: I think it's I can't remember how to pronounce his
Speaker 3: name exactly. But both the kid that was playing the
Speaker 3: Slovakian International, the kid was playing in Portugal, and that
Speaker 3: fella fell apart at the last minute, where I commend
Speaker 3: Kurt and Alphon in real Salt Lake for holding their
Speaker 3: ground and not allowing people to change the agreement on
Speaker 3: the deal and the dying moments, and boyd Vista is
Speaker 3: is long recognized for some really unsavory things. I believe,
Speaker 3: whether it's Reggie Cannon in Dallas or Albert Ellish in Houston,
Speaker 3: they still owe those two teams significant sums of money
Speaker 3: having not paid on previous transfers in Major League Soccer.
Speaker 3: So there was always already a kind of a general awareness.
Speaker 3: But the reality is the risk versus reward. Right, The
Speaker 3: risk is, as you continue to negotiate to get a
Speaker 3: fair price that you think is doable for your club.
Speaker 3: The reward is if you get it over the line.
Speaker 3: The risk is if you've pushed it to the final
Speaker 3: moments of a window and that Herbie Hancock still isn't
Speaker 3: on the piece of paper, well, then you've you've royally
Speaker 3: pushed a moment in which you now are punished because
Speaker 3: that window is closed. I think Willie gotta coming over
Speaker 3: at twenty five, twenty six years of age. A guy
Speaker 3: that can score ten plus goals in the season is
Speaker 3: a smart and savvy move because everything had gone sideways
Speaker 3: in Kansas City, pulling off both off and off the field,
Speaker 3: that had led to the departure and firing of the
Speaker 3: most tenured manager in Major League Soccer at the time,
Speaker 3: Peter Burmes. Johnny Russell is at the end of his career,
Speaker 3: but I think a great addition in terms of the
Speaker 3: locker room. He's got a ton of presence, a ton
Speaker 3: of leadership. Bill got a great left foot, and we're
Speaker 3: just waiting for him to be fully fit enough after
Speaker 3: you know, being out of contract for a little bit
Speaker 3: to step on the field. But you know, the reality
Speaker 3: is again when you lose and you make the decision
Speaker 3: to cash in on Andres Gomez, which was really for
Speaker 3: me a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I think
Speaker 3: the right decision, and then the surprises of Chicho Rongo
Speaker 3: effectively wanting to leave and he's flying right now, but
Speaker 3: he becomes a distressed asset. You know, now you're looking
Speaker 3: at a situation where you're relying on guys to score
Speaker 3: goals that are either unproven or unreliable.
Speaker 1: So if we're going to focus on one positive, it
Speaker 1: certainly is this young man, Diego Luna, who has continued
Speaker 1: to show that he is a star on the rise
Speaker 1: with seven goals on the season. And you know, Donny,
Speaker 1: it's not just that he's scoring goals. Like the way
Speaker 1: he's doing it there a lot of them are just
Speaker 1: like wonder strikes where you go, holy smokes, and I
Speaker 1: just wonder if he's already better than you thought he
Speaker 1: could ever be.
Speaker 3: That's a great question. No one's ever asked me that.
Speaker 3: I'm still to this point not sure what his ceiling is,
Speaker 3: and I mean that with the utmost respect, because I
Speaker 3: could easily see clubs from La Liga. I could see
Speaker 3: clubs in Holland and so Spain, Holland, Germany. I could
Speaker 3: see teams in Mexico. I could see because of his build,
Speaker 3: similar to let's see Jefferson Savarino. I could see him
Speaker 3: down in Brazil, because you know, he's kind of built
Speaker 3: like Clint Mathis was built. He's got that feel. He's
Speaker 3: also kind of built like guatemot Blanco. For those that
Speaker 3: remember back in the day the Mexican International and Spension
Speaker 3: time in Chicago. The thing about Diego is his center,
Speaker 3: bounce technique, monster mentality, all of those things, but most
Speaker 3: important for me is that he's a kid to bet
Speaker 3: on himself. And I don't know how you could ever
Speaker 3: bet against a kid who's willing to bet on himself
Speaker 3: and to walk away from the San Jose earthquakes and
Speaker 3: go to l Passo as a teenager to work himself
Speaker 3: into a moment where he's got the opportunity to come
Speaker 3: to real Salt Lake, you know, to get punched in
Speaker 3: the teeth on a few occasions of understanding what that
Speaker 3: next step look like. Whether you talk about dietary, whether
Speaker 3: you talk about physical, whether you talk about the work
Speaker 3: off the ball on the defensive side, he has done
Speaker 3: everything that has been asked of him. I covered the
Speaker 3: ussman's national team in January down in Orlando when he
Speaker 3: got his nose broken, and Mariso Pozatino said what he
Speaker 3: loves best about him. He said, quote big balls in
Speaker 3: the post game on T and T in our coverage,
Speaker 3: and I don't think there's a better description of what
Speaker 3: he's got. There's a just a from a competitive standpoint,
Speaker 3: a killer mentality. I still can't understand round my head
Speaker 3: around why he was left off the Olympic team. In
Speaker 3: the summer, he was justly rewarded with an All Star
Speaker 3: spot as well as an MLS Young Player of the Year.
Speaker 3: He was the best performer down at the Nations League
Speaker 3: when had the opportunity against Canada to step on the
Speaker 3: field for Marisa Postino in that third and fourth place game,
Speaker 3: and Spence I fully expect him to be gone for
Speaker 3: a good chunk of the summer from Real Salt Lake,
Speaker 3: because I think this kid is going to be one
Speaker 3: of the main featuring playmakers for the game against Turkey,
Speaker 3: the game against Nashville, and then heading into the Gold
Speaker 3: Cup this summer. He's been fantastic and I know, in
Speaker 3: a position where there's a lot of great number tens
Speaker 3: in Major League Soccer, I would never want to see
Speaker 3: him overshadowed by the bigger names, because I think the
Speaker 3: amount of respect that he's earned from the players around
Speaker 3: this league speaks volumes for what he's done in his
Speaker 3: short career so far.
Speaker 1: The politics surrounding the US men's national team program probably
Speaker 1: aren't things that I fully understand, but I know that
Speaker 1: you do. Is it too late to expect Diego to
Speaker 1: be a key part of the US men's national team
Speaker 1: come World Cup twenty six.
Speaker 3: I think it's the immediacy in the in the future.
Speaker 3: I'm not joking, Spence. He Mauricio Pochettino adores Diego Luna.
Speaker 3: He he, It's it's I'm trying to I'm trying not
Speaker 3: to give too much. That was behind the scenes, But
Speaker 3: Diego we we we kind of used this saying in soccer,
Speaker 3: and I know Paplo has probably used it with you
Speaker 3: on multiple occasions. He's got that dog in him, like
Speaker 3: he is a monster mentality player and the only thing
Speaker 3: that's going to slow him down is God forbid any
Speaker 3: type of injuries. He is as long as Mauricio Pochettino
Speaker 3: as of right now, Mauricio Pochettino, He's going to be involved,
Speaker 3: I have no doubt. And when the and the roster
Speaker 3: comes out for those two friendlies which I'm fortunate enough
Speaker 3: to get to be a part of against Turkey and
Speaker 3: in East Hartford, Connecticut, and then against Switzerland and Nashville.
Speaker 3: It's reverse fixtures. Mexico will be up here playing Switzerland
Speaker 3: at the U and then they'll flip flop the teams
Speaker 3: on the on the return a few days later, I again,
Speaker 3: I think, I think Pochatino and his staff love everything
Speaker 3: that they're seeing because there there's there's no how do
Speaker 3: I say this correctly? With all due respect to the
Speaker 3: guys that are cutting their teeth overseas and continuing to
Speaker 3: push the envelope for some of the biggest clubs and
Speaker 3: in Champions League competition, dig there's there's not an ounce
Speaker 3: of entitlement that comes along with Diego Luna. He recognizes
Speaker 3: every moment that he has to work and earn every
Speaker 3: chance that he gets. And there's something to be said
Speaker 3: about to your point, you know, we're we're we're about
Speaker 3: to turn into that final twelve months before the World
Speaker 3: Cup comes to the United States, and god forbid we
Speaker 3: have any similar type of performance that we saw at
Speaker 3: the Nation's League or Copa Libertadores last summer. So I
Speaker 3: think Diego's is fully cognizant of what these chances mean.
Speaker 3: And I would never ever bet against Diego Luna.
Speaker 1: Is RSL wasting this young man's ability, because it just
Speaker 1: feels like there are way too many games where if
Speaker 1: Diego doesn't create something, there's nothing created.
Speaker 2: Does he have enough help in the attack.
Speaker 3: No, not right now, And with respect to Diego, I
Speaker 3: think Diego Gonzalez hasn't come anywhere close to being the
Speaker 3: player that we thought the previous two players coming from
Speaker 3: Denmark could be when talking about Evander who was in
Speaker 3: Portland and has moved to at C Cincinnati and Honey Mouktar,
Speaker 3: who's been a multiple MLS All Star as well as
Speaker 3: Best eleven performer down in Nashville. So been really disappointed
Speaker 3: with the with the lack of consistent forerformances an influence
Speaker 3: that Diego has, He's looked more like a complimentary piece
Speaker 3: as opposed to a pure designated player and statistically dominic.
Speaker 3: Marchuk hasn't shown me anything anywhere near enough, and I
Speaker 3: can't be the only one if if Pablo Mastroni continues
Speaker 3: to give Gozo the runout, because on both sides of
Speaker 3: the ball, Gozo has looked the much more dangerous player
Speaker 3: that's willing to leave it all on the field, as
Speaker 3: opposed to Marchook that in moments has looked dangerous but
Speaker 3: far from the consistent product that we expected after betting
Speaker 3: down for the better part of the last twelve months.
Speaker 2: So Donny before I set you lose.
Speaker 1: I've had a few guests who cover our cell who
Speaker 1: feel like as a result of the lack of additions made,
Speaker 1: And yes, there's a summer transfer window, but after that closes,
Speaker 1: I think you have eight or nine matches left. Do
Speaker 1: you feel like this is a lost season? Do you
Speaker 1: I mean, with without talent at his disposal. I don't
Speaker 1: know that this is an en diamond on Pablo at all,
Speaker 1: and I feel like they really like him over there,
Speaker 1: But do you feel like this is kind of a
Speaker 1: one off, like throwaway season for RSL with the inability
Speaker 1: of the front office to make significant talent editions.
Speaker 3: Well, just to be clear, I do want to make
Speaker 3: sure that there's nuance to this conversation that understanding, you know,
Speaker 3: the predicament that the front office found themselves in considering
Speaker 3: you know, it was pretty obvious that Ryan Smith was
Speaker 3: highly focused on the Jazz and Utah Hockey Club or
Speaker 3: Mammoths whatever we're calling it now. In the transition of
Speaker 3: the Millers, you know, taking over a majority ownership and
Speaker 3: David Blitzer and company kind of stepping down in their ownership,
Speaker 3: that there was going to be behind the scenes and
Speaker 3: infrastructure change, as well as probably concerned about how much
Speaker 3: was invested. I mean, I think that's kind of incredibly obvious,
Speaker 3: and I'm speaking I'm not to be clear, Like I'm
Speaker 3: not a team employee, you know, Like I do some
Speaker 3: voiceover work and i do some hosting stuff, but my
Speaker 3: main gig is covering the US men's national team and
Speaker 3: covering Major League Soccer, So I'm coming in from it
Speaker 3: from more of a national coverage perspective for MLS and
Speaker 3: Apple TV. There is a way around this, and it
Speaker 3: has to be very similar to what we saw with
Speaker 3: chi Cho Rongo two summers ago, where if you've identified
Speaker 3: your guy, get that deal over the line. And my
Speaker 3: hope is that with the Miller's completely settling in that
Speaker 3: there will be a significant amount of funds that are
Speaker 3: now made available now that everybody has clarity about what
Speaker 3: this looks like. Notoriously more easy during the summer transfer
Speaker 3: window to sign players or have better conversations because players
Speaker 3: are out of contract as opposed to coming out of
Speaker 3: contract and having to buy players out of contract. The
Speaker 3: cap hit is half of what it normally would be
Speaker 3: because effectively half the season. But similarly, what they did
Speaker 3: with Chicho Arongo is get him in the market a
Speaker 3: good month before he's even eligible to step on the field.
Speaker 3: Get whoever you're deciding to have be a part of it,
Speaker 3: Get them in market, get their family settled, get their
Speaker 3: kids registered from school, get the player training with the team,
Speaker 3: and then the moment that the availability and the paperwork
Speaker 3: is through on registration, get this player or play yours
Speaker 3: on the field and hopefully they have a similar impact
Speaker 3: that Chico did. You cannot afford to have what happened
Speaker 3: last year with Diogo, where whether it was the inability
Speaker 3: to get the done, the deal done as early as
Speaker 3: it needed to be, the negotiation snags, snapoos, Diogo never settled,
Speaker 3: and at that point Pablo was really concerned with keeping
Speaker 3: the momentum and keeping the kind of starting eleven matchups
Speaker 3: in play while trying to get Chicho back on track
Speaker 3: after the suspension earlier in the summer. So there is
Speaker 3: a way around this. But to your point, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 3: if you are not really tight on your timelines, you
Speaker 3: could have actually even less than eight games remaining. Because
Speaker 3: it's a dirty little secret right now that it's very
Speaker 3: difficult to get paperwork through. You know, from a registration
Speaker 3: work permit visa situation than it ever has been before.
Speaker 1: Give me a quick thought on Colorado, RSL Colorado or
Speaker 1: Marl of course rivalry match.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Colorado, three consecutive losses a jekylin high team soft underbelly.
Speaker 3: They've got the ability to score some goals, transition moments
Speaker 3: defensively haven't been good enough. Pressure on Zach Stefane, goal,
Speaker 3: pressure on Chris Armis to get this right. They won
Speaker 3: the Rocky Mountain Cup last year. They celebrated it like
Speaker 3: it was a real trophy. Egotistically RSL players, Hopefully they
Speaker 3: understand that the fan base it really matters to we
Speaker 3: also late fans, so hopefully they put in a performance
Speaker 3: worthy of the fans approval.
Speaker 1: All right, brother, I appreciate the time, safe travels, and yeah,
Speaker 1: let's chat soon.
Speaker 2: Thanks dude.
Speaker 3: I appreciate my man. And by the way, don't ever
Speaker 3: listen to cant I'm Ronnie. Dude.
Speaker 1: No, that's a great point. That's a great point. Brian,
Speaker 1: you always offer great advice. Thank you, my friend.
Speaker 3: I appreciate you it all right.
Speaker 1: The great Brian don Seth now with Apple TV does
Speaker 1: some work for Turner Sports. When the national team is
Speaker 1: playing as well. He exited Twitter during the last World
Speaker 1: Cup cycle, but I think you can find him on
Speaker 1: Instagram and threads and wherever else.
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