Speaker 1: RSL back at action against an old rival coming up,
Speaker 1: and some fun storylines surrounding this little soccer club. The
Speaker 1: head coach, Pablo Master Honey on a Thursday, Pops, Happy Thursday, Man,
Speaker 1: how are we doing?
Speaker 2: Happy Thursday? Spen's doing great.
Speaker 1: Let's appreciate the time. So let's not bury the lead.
Speaker 1: Diego Luna a all star once again. Back to back
Speaker 1: All Stars selections for Diego. That has not happened for
Speaker 1: RSL since Nick Romondo and Kyle Beckerman over a decade ago.
Speaker 1: So we have a lot to talk about that does
Speaker 1: not involve all Star selections and such, but a nice
Speaker 1: nod for Diego.
Speaker 3: Pablo, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's I think it's awesome for both
Speaker 2: Diego and the club. You know. I think as we've
Speaker 2: spoken about, you know, I think the Millers want to
Speaker 2: really build a fantastic team that can be a perennial
Speaker 2: playoff team, and I think in order to do so,
Speaker 2: you have to have players that are consistently playing at
Speaker 2: a really high level. I think Digo is a great example,
Speaker 2: and and so I think it's it's a great step
Speaker 2: for for the club and and Diego to continue to
Speaker 2: you know, mature into a well rounded player, a player
Speaker 2: that's playing at a really high level with the national team,
Speaker 2: and someone that hopefully will be around for many years
Speaker 2: to come.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction when you had found out that
Speaker 1: you were selected to the All Star team for the
Speaker 1: first time. I feel like that's kind of a nice
Speaker 1: little box check to dream that most young players have.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially you know, obviously not not prevalent and in
Speaker 2: Europe all Star teams. But I think growing up as
Speaker 2: a even if you just play soccer as I did,
Speaker 2: you're aware of you know, the NBA All Star Game,
Speaker 2: the Baseball Star Game and the NFL Pro Game or
Speaker 2: you know. I think it's just a great recognition and
Speaker 2: and and and I think in today's MLS it's a
Speaker 2: lot different than back in the day where there's so
Speaker 2: many stars in in in our league, and so to
Speaker 2: be a you know, a player like Diego who's now
Speaker 2: in his third year of MLS and and you know,
Speaker 2: to be recognized, it's pretty powerful. And it's definitely a
Speaker 2: boost of confidence, you know, and and you can also
Speaker 2: have the national team to his resume and all these things.
Speaker 2: It's it's pretty impactful, and it's I think an indicator
Speaker 2: that you're moving in the right direction. And uh a
Speaker 2: great experience as well, you know, because you get to
Speaker 2: you get to meet all these guys, obviously Messi and
Speaker 2: all the other guys that will be there, and it's
Speaker 2: almost like a fraternity of sorts for four days or
Speaker 2: three days, you know, and you get to mingle and
Speaker 2: and and share experiences and get to know the guys
Speaker 2: that are across the field from you. Some of the
Speaker 2: guys that you compete against weekend and week out, but
Speaker 2: some of the guys that you grew up you know,
Speaker 2: idolizing and and really shaping your game around these players.
Speaker 2: So it's going to be it's really a wonderful uh
Speaker 2: few days to be recognized and to spend with the
Speaker 2: other guys.
Speaker 3: You know. I always talk about this.
Speaker 1: I don't think, well, I know, I don't, and I'm
Speaker 1: quite sure most of our domestic sports fans don't fully
Speaker 1: understand the magnitude of who Lionel Messi is in the
Speaker 1: ECO system simply of the sport of soccer. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's Michael Jordan, He's Tiger Woods, he's whatever name you
Speaker 1: want to throw attached to the sport that most people
Speaker 1: believe is the greatest ever do it. I know there's
Speaker 1: a debate there. I'm not educated enough to have a take,
Speaker 1: but I don't even know, like what the question is,
Speaker 1: what do you think it's going to be like?
Speaker 2: For?
Speaker 1: And I know this has already happened, But when you
Speaker 1: when you take the field, when you take the pitch,
Speaker 1: and you look over and literally the greatest to ever
Speaker 1: do it is standing there. What sort of osmosis or
Speaker 1: whatever the hell it is can be ascertained from just
Speaker 1: that experience of playing with training and playing in a
Speaker 1: game along with the greatest that's ever done it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, obviously it's it's it's almost surreal, right. I
Speaker 2: think it's an out of body experience. You know. I
Speaker 2: had the opportunity to play alongside David Beckham in an
Speaker 2: All Star game, and even in that moment, it was
Speaker 2: like I was in a different planet and I was
Speaker 2: just soaking it all up and asking him questions about
Speaker 2: his career, and and you know, it's like one of
Speaker 2: your one of your heroes, is right there next to you,
Speaker 2: and and it's one of these moments that it's like
Speaker 2: you never thought it was possible, because you can imagine
Speaker 2: when Diego was growing up, Messi was in his heyday,
Speaker 2: you know, and so then, and they have a lot
Speaker 2: of similarities in their game, you know, And so I'm
Speaker 2: I'm I'm sure that he modeled a lot of what
Speaker 2: he does from what he saw with Messi on the screen.
Speaker 2: And then to share a locker room and a field
Speaker 2: and the opportunity to compete in the game together, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's it's it's unworldly, it's it's it's it's a magnificent opportunity.
Speaker 2: It's it's it's hard to kind of put into words,
Speaker 2: but I think you're I found myself thinking, I can't
Speaker 2: believe I'm in the same room with these guys. Like
Speaker 2: it's just it's it's surreal.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I can remember when we had Beckham here, and you know,
Speaker 1: initially he came here with Real Madrid and I was
Speaker 1: low Scalactakos and they had you know, rude band, mister
Speaker 1: Roy and you could keep Kaka, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: Eco Cassius, we could keep Roberto Carlos. Like I remember
Speaker 1: when that group walked into the hotel. We were waiting
Speaker 1: for them to get off the bus, and you know,
Speaker 1: they're such like a holy bleep like they're actually here,
Speaker 1: and you know, Beckham's whole thing is like his celebrity ultimately,
Speaker 1: Like he was a very good player.
Speaker 3: I'm not trying to say that he wasn't.
Speaker 1: He was a very good player for club and country
Speaker 1: and in England. But I feel like Messi is that
Speaker 1: times ten, you know. Like again, I just don't know
Speaker 1: that I really have any an accurate frame of reference
Speaker 1: for what that dude is for the sport that you're
Speaker 1: so consumed with.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I think it'd be reminiscent of when Pele
Speaker 2: came to NASL in the seventies, yeah, or in the
Speaker 2: late early eighties, like that was the Cosmo sold out
Speaker 2: every stadium, you know, And I can't it's got to
Speaker 2: be the same field because when you're so accomplished at
Speaker 2: the international level, like it's one thing for the you know,
Speaker 2: the the average sports fan to say, oh, I know, Messi,
Speaker 2: but this is someone that you grew up idolizing and
Speaker 2: watching and win all kinds of European titles, you know,
Speaker 2: and being the you know, Bolondo or winner the best
Speaker 2: player on the planet six or seven times or whatever
Speaker 2: it is, and now you're sharing the field with them. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it would be like playing with Michael Jordan. It's the
Speaker 2: same type of feel and you know very few people
Speaker 2: on the plan and get the opportunity to spend even
Speaker 2: a moment with some of these greats.
Speaker 1: I have a little bit of a non secuitar odd
Speaker 1: question for you that I wanted to ask you today
Speaker 1: when I saw you on the rundown and you know,
Speaker 1: we're right smack dab in the middle of the NBA
Speaker 1: Draft with Round one last night, round two tonight. And
Speaker 1: I'm always fascinated at the dynamic of the synergies between
Speaker 1: front offices and coaching staffs and how that manifests and
Speaker 1: pertains to decision making processes. And every front office does
Speaker 1: it different, and quite frankly, even front offices that are
Speaker 1: essentially set up the same, they do a different too,
Speaker 1: because people are just different, and personal are just different,
Speaker 1: and priorities are just different and experiences are not the same.
Speaker 1: How is the process coming along, Pablo? You've had a
Speaker 1: lot of change over, and the weird thing is a
Speaker 1: lot of changeover in the midst of some really good success,
Speaker 1: like Elliott did build a team that was successful, and
Speaker 1: you coached a team that I thought was the most
Speaker 1: exciting we've had here maybe ever, but now there's a
Speaker 1: new ownership group, there's a new primary decision maker. You
Speaker 1: were let's see here strongly encouraged to embrace your new
Speaker 1: insistent coaches, is how I'll put that. How is this
Speaker 1: process coming along with the different ownership, the different front office,
Speaker 1: the different coaches, and all the personalities you have in
Speaker 1: the rooms where it happens, sorry, Hamilton fans, to try
Speaker 1: to kind of figure out how you guys are going
Speaker 1: to make this work.
Speaker 2: As far as the draft moving forward next.
Speaker 1: Year, just in general, just everything, whether it's you know,
Speaker 1: the synergies to try to sign players or just the
Speaker 1: project overall.
Speaker 3: Jason Tony Kirk, you the whole thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, one thing and that hasn't changed from last year.
Speaker 2: Whilst quite a few players have come and gone from
Speaker 2: last year. The one thing that we stick to as
Speaker 2: both front office and and coaching staff is our processes,
Speaker 2: you know, And I think the one thing is the
Speaker 2: because it takes time to develop really deep relationships like
Speaker 2: those don't happen overnight, and so the processes help us
Speaker 2: continue to be in the rooms after all the games
Speaker 2: when there's big decisions to be made. About a player.
Speaker 2: We're all in the same room where we all have
Speaker 2: open dialogue. You know, we we the you know, the
Speaker 2: best idea wins and how are the best idea as
Speaker 2: far as how we're going to go through the process
Speaker 2: wins And so it's super collaborative and and and and
Speaker 2: I'll say that, you know, the the change of ownership,
Speaker 2: Whilst you know it just seems like it's a t
Speaker 2: there's there's now there's there's a new ownership group and
Speaker 2: and their vision is, like I said earlier, is to
Speaker 2: build a team that Salt Lake fans can really really
Speaker 2: wrap their arms around for many years to come. And
Speaker 2: so that that's obviously trying to keep players like Diego
Speaker 2: Diego Luna and some of our you know, Mechanelly and
Speaker 2: some of these players that are going to be the
Speaker 2: core players of the team. And so I think we're
Speaker 2: all aligned on those things. And I think that that
Speaker 2: comes from having deeper relationships than be business titles. You know,
Speaker 2: oftentimes it's a GM and a coach and those two
Speaker 2: have different perspectives, and Kurt and I also have different
Speaker 2: perspectives at times. But I think it's the it's the
Speaker 2: communication within the constant communication within that relationship that helps
Speaker 2: us both find a good middle ground to move forward
Speaker 2: as a group, you know, and that involves Jason and
Speaker 2: Tony and the coaching staff and then ownership as well. Right,
Speaker 2: And so I think whilst it's been a lot of
Speaker 2: moving parts, I think the consistency and the same people
Speaker 2: in the room at least from the front office and
Speaker 2: the coaching staff, has allowed for this transition to be
Speaker 2: as seamless as possible whilst working to improve the group
Speaker 2: moving forwards.
Speaker 1: So the annual and every time this comes out, you know,
Speaker 1: I always just kind of find it and are interesting
Speaker 1: to dig through this list. So the total roster spend
Speaker 1: list was released and maybe you guys have well I
Speaker 1: know you have access to this, but when it becomes public,
Speaker 1: it becomes something that people debate. And you know, as
Speaker 1: of now, you guys are third love you have the
Speaker 1: third lowest payroll in Major League Soccer. How does something
Speaker 1: like that land with the head coach of the team?
Speaker 2: Again, you know, I know, I know you hate hearing
Speaker 2: me say this, but like that stuff is beyond like
Speaker 2: beyond our control. There's there's you know, at least beyond
Speaker 2: my control. My job is to make sure I do
Speaker 2: everything I can to get the best out of the
Speaker 2: players that we have. Obviously there's there's room for growth
Speaker 2: in that department, and we're work insteadfastly to improve the
Speaker 2: group and bringing you know, some difference makers, both in
Speaker 2: the attacking side and the defensive side. And so you know,
Speaker 2: things obviously haven't gone the way they have the way
Speaker 2: we wanted them to. But I'm always the eternal optimist,
Speaker 2: and I think that through the struggles that we had
Speaker 2: in the first part of the season, I mean I've
Speaker 2: seen it, and I've felt that the maturity of the
Speaker 2: group going through some very difficult times. And now if
Speaker 2: we can stabilize the group and get a couple more
Speaker 2: good results and then bringing some difference makers, I think
Speaker 2: we'll set ourselves up for a good run in the
Speaker 2: second half of the season, but more importantly next year
Speaker 2: and beyond. So whilst the current situation is it has
Speaker 2: been difficult, I think, you know, given that we have
Speaker 2: money and to spend, I think it allows us to
Speaker 2: now really be precise and the type of player that
Speaker 2: we want, type of character that we want, and the
Speaker 2: position that we need in order to really make a push.
Speaker 1: You love when I ask you those questions. It just
Speaker 1: makes your day. I know how much you enjoy it.
Speaker 1: I appreciate your willingness to answer it. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: in a roundabout way, I'm trying to get your back right,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of like give the guy some ass.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I get it. I get it. But you
Speaker 2: also understand, like my standpoint for sure, if if I
Speaker 2: look at it from that perspective, and I'm just the
Speaker 2: victim and I'm not helping this, I'm not trying to
Speaker 2: find a solution. I'm just I'm just you know, you know,
Speaker 2: they're just tossing blame. And one of the things I
Speaker 2: never do is blame anyone. I always look at myself first,
Speaker 2: and I go, man, we got to do better, Papa,
Speaker 2: let's go, man, we got this, you know. And so
Speaker 2: that's just my mindset. But but yeah, I think you
Speaker 2: need to represent uh, you know, level of consistency and
Speaker 2: and you know, elite performers to be perennial playoff to
Speaker 2: be a perennial playoff team. And I think we're working
Speaker 2: towards that, probably not as fast as some people would like,
Speaker 2: but just know that the work is getting done behind
Speaker 2: the scenes. And again, I believe in the direction we're
Speaker 2: moving it and really proud of the Uh the way
Speaker 2: you know the guy played last game. The guys have
Speaker 2: trained the last couple of weeks leading into this game,
Speaker 2: so I think we're we've got some positive momentum moving forwards.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like going third person is an accurate
Speaker 1: portrayal of your humility?
Speaker 3: Pablo, Just kidding, I'll stop, I'll stop.
Speaker 2: I'm just there's somebody that lives upstairs, Spence, and and
Speaker 2: that's just the truth. And he's he's always digging in
Speaker 2: and he's always trying to get me to do more.
Speaker 2: But it's not third person like the the guy that's
Speaker 2: better than it's third person like U. There's there's some
Speaker 2: there's some person living upstairs that I'm always dealing with.
Speaker 1: Now I know, man, I'm luck, I'm impossible. It's why
Speaker 1: I can't stay married. So that's that's the deal. All right,
Speaker 1: Moving on, you referenced your last game. Uh, let's start
Speaker 1: with Johnny. Johnny Russell, who we've been waiting to see,
Speaker 1: fit and inform and opens his bank account, as the
Speaker 1: soccer folk will say, So let's start there. Uh, what
Speaker 1: was that like for you to see him tally that goal,
Speaker 1: and then and as far as what you liked the
Speaker 1: performance overall.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I'll start with just the collective team performance.
Speaker 2: You know. Again, I think in soccer the ideal is
Speaker 2: score a couple of goals and give nothing up. And
Speaker 2: I think from top to bottom, the guys that started
Speaker 2: the game, the guys that came in the game really
Speaker 2: had a great impacts. So I would look at that
Speaker 2: as a collective team performance. And then Johnny, you know,
Speaker 2: we brought him in because we felt like we could
Speaker 2: use we can lean on his experience, but also he
Speaker 2: can make plays, and you know I can. I can
Speaker 2: show you probably twenty five other times in the season
Speaker 2: where we had the same similar situation that Johnny was
Speaker 2: in and he just capitalized on it. And I think,
Speaker 2: you know, as he was dribbling the ball, I knew
Speaker 2: exactly what he was thinking as he was cutting across
Speaker 2: the field, is that he's going to go near post
Speaker 2: on the goalkeeper and use the other players a screen
Speaker 2: so the goalkeeper couldn't see it. And those are things that, like, again,
Speaker 2: we train them, but it's one thing to train it
Speaker 2: without pressure. It's another thing to have the game feel
Speaker 2: like a training session, right, and I think you have
Speaker 2: to be so calm and poised in those moments that
Speaker 2: are really hectic and fast, and I think Johnny's experience
Speaker 2: and his quality really allowed him to do so. So
Speaker 2: you know, he's been he's been struggling with a little
Speaker 2: bit of an aductor. But I believe that he'll be
Speaker 2: in a good way for you know, this game at
Speaker 2: the weekend, and and hopefully you know he's going back home,
Speaker 2: uh to to case and you know he's got you know,
Speaker 2: he's he's really pumped up for this game. So both
Speaker 2: him and an extra motivational aspect to their performance this
Speaker 2: weekend heading into skc oh.
Speaker 1: He's got to play, Boblo. He's tell him to take
Speaker 1: whatever you need for the abductor. He's got to play
Speaker 1: on Saturday, doesn't.
Speaker 2: He Yeah, on one leg, he'd play. It would just
Speaker 2: be it would it'd be impossible for him not to
Speaker 2: be out in the field. And and and again it
Speaker 2: was just a little strained. We were cautious with it,
Speaker 2: you know, given that you know, he those were his
Speaker 2: first forty five minutes and he left again with an adductor.
Speaker 2: But he's recovered well, he's trained great this week. He's
Speaker 2: been sharp, he's been bright, and like I said, more
Speaker 2: importantly than anything else, he's motivated.
Speaker 1: And if we're going to crack on Diogo because he
Speaker 1: hasn't played well, we need to give him flowers for
Speaker 1: when he does something heat tally the assist on Johnny's
Speaker 1: goal with a very nice through ball.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and the play that actually before he actually
Speaker 2: played the through ball spence with some high level technical
Speaker 2: work yep, to like Bob and we between two or
Speaker 2: three guys, and and this is what we've seen in
Speaker 2: Diego when he's playing out his best, you know. And
Speaker 2: and and really you're absolutely right. I think it's a
Speaker 2: moment to really mention how hard you know, he's worked
Speaker 2: in these last couple of weeks to put himself in
Speaker 2: position to play as well as he did and contribute
Speaker 2: on a really really important goal. You know, he put
Speaker 2: that ball in the play for Johnny, and you know,
Speaker 2: and so I can't say enough things because you know,
Speaker 2: in sports, everyone thinks it's it's uh, everyone's got it easy, right,
Speaker 2: These guys are well paid everything, you know, what could
Speaker 2: possibly we're on. But we're all human beings and we
Speaker 2: all suffer and we all go through good times and
Speaker 2: bad times, and I think when professional athletes are going
Speaker 2: through a tough time, it's times one hundred because of
Speaker 2: the scrutiny from the public and it's not easy. And
Speaker 2: so see what I've seen in Diego is really this
Speaker 2: evolution of a man in a way that has you know,
Speaker 2: he's going through probably one of the most difficult parts
Speaker 2: of his life. But then stuff's on the field and
Speaker 2: is one of our best players, if not our best
Speaker 2: player on the weekend. So really proud of him and
Speaker 2: really excited to see what he can continue building as
Speaker 2: we move forward.
Speaker 1: All Right, last thing, I'll set you loose on this
Speaker 1: kind of a sneaky big game for a number of
Speaker 1: different reasons Saturday, namely, you and SKC are right next
Speaker 1: to each other. They've got nineteen, you've got eighteen. Wanting
Speaker 1: to keep that momentum rolling, so give us a little
Speaker 1: helped update. Do you have a chance to repeat your
Speaker 1: starting eleven for the first time in months?
Speaker 3: Which is wild? What do we expect? Can you see, Saturday?
Speaker 3: How do you come away with three?
Speaker 2: Yeah? You know, I think for us it's it's it's again.
Speaker 2: We I think we've learned a lot from the games
Speaker 2: that we've played so far. And the one thing is
Speaker 2: the way we get after the ball was really good
Speaker 2: against DC. And I think when we press higher up
Speaker 2: the field and we cause turnovers. Now we got guys
Speaker 2: like Gozo and Reilly and Johnny in positions to really
Speaker 2: counter right, and I think that's going to be really important.
Speaker 2: I think the heat will play a big factor. So again,
Speaker 2: dominating game or controlling the game with the ball will
Speaker 2: be another critical aspect. You know, they had a game
Speaker 2: Wednesday or yesterday, and so how can we really dictate
Speaker 2: the game with the ball? And I think that will
Speaker 2: be the key. So we've got to execute, We've we've
Speaker 2: got to you know, take our chances when when when
Speaker 2: they come. But more importantly is how can we control
Speaker 2: the flow of the game with the ball. And I
Speaker 2: think we have the team to do that.
Speaker 1: All right, Buddy, thanks for the time today, Best of
Speaker 1: luck throughout the weekend.
Speaker 3: We'll chat soon.
Speaker 2: Awesome s Bence, Thanks Budd.
Speaker 1: Boblo Master Runny ourselve back at Action and on Saturday,
Speaker 1: Sporting Kansas City. That's a six thirty first kick at
Speaker 1: Children's Mercy Park. It can be seen on Apple tv
Speaker 1: MLS Season Pass