Speaker 1: Our next guest joins us on a consistent basis. He
Speaker 1: is the chief roster constructor over at RSL. It's always
Speaker 1: great to have Kurt Schmidt, even though I'm laboring a
Speaker 1: little bit, playing injured with the voice. But Kurt Schmidt
Speaker 1: stops buying a Monday Afternoon Kurt, Happy Monday, sir.
Speaker 2: How are you good?
Speaker 3: I'm good? Sorry, sorry about your laboring.
Speaker 1: Well, hang it in. You know, we all have challenges, Kurt.
Speaker 1: Problems are inevitable, but they're also solvable.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, agreed.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well I'm glad you agree, because right now there
Speaker 1: are some problems with the roster. See what I did there,
Speaker 1: a little bit of transition. Look, man, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask you. Everybody's wondering if there's help on
Speaker 1: the way up top at number nine, and you're the
Speaker 1: guy that's making the phone calls talking ownership. I know
Speaker 1: these things are complex and nuanced and oftentimes take time.
Speaker 1: But when we last spoke, you kind of implied that
Speaker 1: you felt like you were getting close. I would imagine
Speaker 1: that you're still kind of there. But where are we
Speaker 1: at with this fan base who was anxious to see
Speaker 1: if we're gonna get some help with some playmakers either
Speaker 1: up top or on the wings surrounding the forwards.
Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously, you know, and we talked about this before,
Speaker 3: but certainly there's there's help on the way. Like you know,
Speaker 3: we see it as well as as everyone else can,
Speaker 3: and we we know we need strengthen things a bit,
Speaker 3: and we're close with two or three options that we
Speaker 3: think will come in and improve the group and hopefully
Speaker 3: tie it all together.
Speaker 1: So two or three options, and I would imagine those
Speaker 1: options are all on the attacking portion of the pitches.
Speaker 2: They say, is that fair to say?
Speaker 3: Say?
Speaker 2: Then again, the two or three options.
Speaker 1: The two or three options are either strikers, they're attacking players, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, attackers, And not that we're going to sign
Speaker 3: three guys. But you know, obviously when we're working on deals,
Speaker 3: we need to have a couple couple avenues to work on,
Speaker 3: and you know, not everything goes according to plan all
Speaker 3: the time. So it's just about about having options and
Speaker 3: being able to pivot if necessary, from from one to two.
Speaker 1: Is there an amount of players that you would like
Speaker 1: to sign prior to that April window closing.
Speaker 3: I think we need one guy for sure, and if
Speaker 3: we can if we can add a second we will
Speaker 3: look into that, but certainly are our situation with international
Speaker 3: spots is a little tight at the moment, so it
Speaker 3: would have to be a domestic player. And you know,
Speaker 3: I think if we can free up a spot and
Speaker 3: start to integrate, you know, a young player from the
Speaker 3: draft that we think has done well in training as
Speaker 3: well in Hasus Bray, we might might do something like
Speaker 3: that also.
Speaker 1: So looks like MLS announced Friday the cash from players
Speaker 1: sales kind of spilling in and r SL if I'm
Speaker 1: reading this correctly as the fifth most gam in all
Speaker 1: of the MLS card, is that correct?
Speaker 3: I believe you are spot on. Probably hasn't changed since then,
Speaker 3: but it will probably change soon.
Speaker 1: But yes, so for our listeners, and this probably includes
Speaker 1: most of them.
Speaker 2: Uh what is and why is it good that you
Speaker 2: have a lot of it?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean, gam is essentially a roster of flexibility.
Speaker 3: But it kind of comes into play in a couple
Speaker 3: of different ways. And one is it's the internal currency
Speaker 3: within MLS. So if we want to trade for a player,
Speaker 3: we have to you know, before the cash trade rule
Speaker 3: which just came into effect, there was just league assets,
Speaker 3: and so league assets are like draft picks players. But
Speaker 3: then GAM was an asset that you could put into
Speaker 3: trades and add on top of trades. And I think
Speaker 3: when you're using it in that way, it has a
Speaker 3: little bit of a It has an inflated value over
Speaker 3: over and above what its sort of face value is
Speaker 3: relative to real money. But then you also use it
Speaker 3: to extend your roster. So you know, when we spend
Speaker 3: on salaries an amount that exceeds what the the cap is,
Speaker 3: we can use GAM to buy players down so that
Speaker 3: we fit back into the cap. So when we sign
Speaker 3: new players right now, we're at the cap or cap neutral.
Speaker 3: When we sign a new player, basically do for dollar
Speaker 3: his cap charge comes from GAM.
Speaker 2: There you go.
Speaker 1: The education session on Game Today on the show on
Speaker 1: a Monday afternoon, courtesy of the guy that could break
Speaker 1: it down, Kurt Schmidt joining the program today. All right,
Speaker 1: upon rewatch, do you feel any better about San Diego
Speaker 1: rolling in here and winning three to one after you
Speaker 1: went back and watched the game?
Speaker 3: No, I don't feel better about it. You know, I
Speaker 3: think any any result like that is going to be frustrating,
Speaker 3: you know, for me, for the for the staff or
Speaker 3: the players. You know, I think there was that that's
Speaker 3: a game where we feel like we can get a result,
Speaker 3: that we can win that game, and and so coming
Speaker 3: out with not even a draw but a loss is
Speaker 3: certainly setting, especially when it comes as late as it
Speaker 3: does or it did in that game. So from that standpoint, no,
Speaker 3: I don't feel better looking back on it. I'm going
Speaker 3: to be frustrated until we win the next game, and
Speaker 3: that how I've always been and it won't change. But
Speaker 3: from the standpoint of how we play, I do think
Speaker 3: that there's there's certainly positives to pick out of how
Speaker 3: we're playing, how we're creating chances, the chances we are
Speaker 3: creating that you can pick out of sort of the
Speaker 3: mucket negativity of a negative result.
Speaker 1: And ultimately that's why I ask the question, because you know,
Speaker 1: while in the moment, it is frustrating for obviously all
Speaker 1: of you with the club and fans that care about
Speaker 1: the club, to have an expansion franchise roll in and
Speaker 1: essentially dictate play. I mean, it felt like at the start,
Speaker 1: you guys were a little bit fortunate not to be down,
Speaker 1: you know, three zero. After fifteen or twenty minutes, you know,
Speaker 1: you do hear a lot from Pablo after some of
Speaker 1: these losses, Like I like the flow, I like the
Speaker 1: way we're playing, we.
Speaker 2: Just can't finish. We're just not finishing.
Speaker 1: So that's why I ask the question, like it is
Speaker 1: it as simple, Kurt as the guys up top not
Speaker 1: putting the ball in the back of the net, or
Speaker 1: are there more proper problems with the way you're playing
Speaker 1: right now?
Speaker 3: Well, at the moment, the two guys up up are
Speaker 3: actually the two that have scored so far, So I
Speaker 3: don't know if it's quite that simple. You know, our
Speaker 3: force are both both picking up goals. I think maybe
Speaker 3: they both could have picked up a few more goals,
Speaker 3: But you know, I don't want to take anything away
Speaker 3: from from the way they've played and the goals they
Speaker 3: have scored. I think it's it's the other attacking group
Speaker 3: that I think we can get a little more out
Speaker 3: of in moments. You know, obviously, we had especially two,
Speaker 3: maybe three really good chances, and I'm the goalkeeper that
Speaker 3: I think any other day of the week we do
Speaker 3: a lot better with each one, and you know, to
Speaker 3: miss both is certainly you know, unexpected, probably doesn't do
Speaker 3: it justice, but just just out of the ordinary enough
Speaker 3: that I know that that I feel confident that if
Speaker 3: we continue to create champions of that caliber, you know,
Speaker 3: the result is not going to continue to be the same.
Speaker 3: You know, these are all very very good players, and
Speaker 3: they can play and finish at a high level. That said,
Speaker 3: they're human, and you know humans aren't perfect. But I
Speaker 3: know that if we continue to create chances like that,
Speaker 3: for whether it's Diego or Dom or Force or Ari
Speaker 3: or Diego Luna or Diego like they they're going to
Speaker 3: score those goals.
Speaker 1: And to your point, and I didn't mean to highlight
Speaker 1: only the Nines, because you know there were a lot
Speaker 1: of uh, you know, Diego had some chances.
Speaker 2: Diego had chances, Dom had some chances.
Speaker 1: You know. So I guess what I'll say is when
Speaker 1: you if you just don't you don't take away the Nines.
Speaker 1: But if you include all of the pieces of your attack,
Speaker 1: your your central midfielders they're in the attacking portion, your wingers,
Speaker 1: and your forwards, are you satisfied at least with the
Speaker 1: chances that are being created.
Speaker 3: I'm I I like the chances that we're creating. I'm
Speaker 3: not satisfied in that work that we're not going to stop,
Speaker 3: but we we like the chances that we're creating. I
Speaker 3: think if we continue to create chances of the caliber wheels,
Speaker 3: score roles, will win games. So the key is how
Speaker 3: we're playing and how we're getting into the final third
Speaker 3: and also even you know, generating shots in the final third.
Speaker 3: So I think that we can improve those aspects of
Speaker 3: our game. But I think we are also doing doing
Speaker 3: a good enough job right now to you know, to
Speaker 3: get a better result this past weekend for instance. But
Speaker 3: it's something that we're always working on, we're always improving on.
Speaker 3: But it's enough encouraging signs. It's you know, you know,
Speaker 3: you don't come into work and feel like where do
Speaker 3: we start? You know, I think we have some clear
Speaker 3: ideas about how to improve the group. And but again
Speaker 3: me sitting in my seat, I have confidence that at
Speaker 3: the coaches and the players continue to do what they're doing,
Speaker 3: we're going to score those goals.
Speaker 1: What is your response, Kurt to fans that are frustrated
Speaker 1: that the money the club was able to garner as
Speaker 1: a result of a number of transactions including Sealdandres, which
Speaker 1: was proof of concept and we all understand why you
Speaker 1: did it, but what's your reaction to fans that were
Speaker 1: hoping that the bulk of the money that was made
Speaker 1: on those transactions would be reinvested into the roster by now.
Speaker 3: So it's an interesting question. You know, when you sell
Speaker 3: a ten, ten or eleven million dollar player, you know,
Speaker 3: it doesn't mean that you you take all of that
Speaker 3: and you buy a ten or eleven million dollar player.
Speaker 3: That's not always the way things work, especially not I
Speaker 3: guess with with clubs like ours. It's easy to forget
Speaker 3: since we did sell him for eleven million or so
Speaker 3: that that, you know, Andreas wasn't eleven million player when
Speaker 3: we signed him. We signed him for three million, right,
Speaker 3: And so I think we're always going to be a
Speaker 3: club that's looking for those guys. Dominic Marzouk is a
Speaker 3: good player. We didn't spend ten million on him. We
Speaker 3: spend just under two. You know, he's a guy that
Speaker 3: is going to come in and you know, we hope
Speaker 3: to develop him and he'll show us, you know, what
Speaker 3: he has and we'll be able to potentially do the
Speaker 3: same thing with him. And you know, I do think
Speaker 3: there's some players where we can we can buy at
Speaker 3: that level, you know, show their quality and their value
Speaker 3: and make them worth more money. But I think when
Speaker 3: we look at, you know, the sales that we've made,
Speaker 3: you know, it's it's We're a club that is not
Speaker 3: going to just go ten million, ten million, ten million
Speaker 3: every single year. It's not something that is in how
Speaker 3: we can operate within this ecosystem. But I do think
Speaker 3: we can operate in a way where we pick up
Speaker 3: players that are either undervalued or overlooked or developing in
Speaker 3: certain ways at the right price points, and they can
Speaker 3: add a lot of value to our club for a
Speaker 3: number of years and then and then make that right
Speaker 3: transaction at the right time.
Speaker 1: Tell me, Kert, from your vantage point, what you've seen
Speaker 1: with Diogo, who is the loan DP on your roster,
Speaker 1: who at times, you know, you definitely see the quality.
Speaker 1: You definitely see moments and spurts here or there. But
Speaker 1: if we're honest, I'm not sure that the DP production
Speaker 1: has necessarily been there so far. So what have you
Speaker 1: seen up to this point about his growth and what
Speaker 1: are you hoping to see moving forward.
Speaker 3: I think he's he's a good player that shows his quality,
Speaker 3: as you said, and in a lot of a lot
Speaker 3: of good moments. You know, the ball he played, the
Speaker 3: forcer for his goal the other week was a very
Speaker 3: very good pass. You know, his technical quality is very high,
Speaker 3: and you know usually usually his finishing quality is very high.
Speaker 3: His production. It's fair to criticize at this moment, but
Speaker 3: it's another one where I have confidence in the quality
Speaker 3: and quantity of chances he's creating that that the goals
Speaker 3: will come. And so you know, he it's easy to
Speaker 3: forget he hasn't played quite that many games with us
Speaker 3: yet when you look at the grand scheme of things.
Speaker 3: But I think, I think that he will come good
Speaker 3: in terms of you know, getting in the right spots,
Speaker 3: and if he keeps getting in the right spots, he'll
Speaker 3: get the assists, he'll get the goals. You know, sometimes
Speaker 3: the assists are a little bit elusive because you can,
Speaker 3: you can put a guy in a good spot. You know,
Speaker 3: you can pass the ball, but you can't always you know,
Speaker 3: can't have the ball and take the shot and score
Speaker 3: the goal. You have to pass the two teammate and
Speaker 3: then the teammate has to do his thing. So assists
Speaker 3: are a little bit mercurial that way. And I think
Speaker 3: when he gets in those champions like the other night,
Speaker 3: that was in my opinion, on characteristic and I think
Speaker 3: he's going to finish those chances to.
Speaker 2: Your earlier point.
Speaker 1: Forrester and Piola found the back of the net, and
Speaker 1: for our listeners that are just tuning in Skurt Schmidt
Speaker 1: from RSL, who's indicated that he believes help is on
Speaker 1: the way. I know a lot of fans hoping to
Speaker 1: see a big time number nine sign or at least
Speaker 1: a number nine that can provide a little more quality
Speaker 1: up top. But we should give them credit for at
Speaker 1: least finding the back of the net. How do you
Speaker 1: envision their role once these reinforcements are brought in. Have
Speaker 1: they shown enough that okay, maybe neither of them are
Speaker 1: I'll just use a chi Cho you know, for about
Speaker 1: three months last year type prime striker, but they do
Speaker 1: have a place on the team, like Pablo can utilize
Speaker 1: them in spurts. Have you seen enough from the two
Speaker 1: nines that we've seen for the most part to indicate
Speaker 1: that they do have a place on the team.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, and you know that's why we brought them
Speaker 3: both in. You know, both are in terms of per
Speaker 3: ninety goals per ninety rates are on incredible rates, you know,
Speaker 3: and scoring as early as they did in the season
Speaker 3: is great for their confidence and their sense of belonging
Speaker 3: in their development. They're both young players, they're both in experience,
Speaker 3: so they do need to gain, you know, experience, They
Speaker 3: need to continue to play and get those minutes which
Speaker 3: are going to help them develop. But again, you know
Speaker 3: they're they're young, young players that aren't the finished products.
Speaker 3: So there's plenty of confidence in them playing a role
Speaker 3: going forward, irrespective of additions. But I'm happy to see
Speaker 3: them excelling at this stage.
Speaker 1: I always remind people, whether it's a good start or
Speaker 1: a bad start, that this season, more so than maybe
Speaker 1: any other, is such a slog it's such a marathon
Speaker 1: that there will be ebbs, there will be flows, there
Speaker 1: will be highs, there will be I didn't mean that
Speaker 1: to rhyme. Maybe I should write children's books when I'm
Speaker 1: not on air.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: But at what point in the calendar do you start
Speaker 1: to feel a little bit of urgency for a year
Speaker 1: like this when the start hasn't been very brighter? What
Speaker 1: point do you kind of get that pressure mounting on
Speaker 1: you just a little bit hurt?
Speaker 3: I mean, honestly, like, this isn't the methodical or well
Speaker 3: thought how to answer it, like now, like I feel
Speaker 3: that pressure now, I feel that pressure all the time.
Speaker 3: I want us to be good. I want us to
Speaker 3: get better. I want to add quality in the team.
Speaker 3: I want them to to play at a high level,
Speaker 3: you know, all the time. So I guess you know,
Speaker 3: if you're asking what, you know the pressure that I
Speaker 3: put on myself, that we put on ourselves here, it's yeah,
Speaker 3: it's there. Now we want to pick up those wins now.
Speaker 3: It's you know, certainly it's how you finished, not as
Speaker 3: much how you start in this league, and the summer
Speaker 3: can be a slog, but you know, points in March
Speaker 3: count the same as points in September October, and you know,
Speaker 3: we want to pick up points and we want to improve,
Speaker 3: you know, not just match, but improve upon what we
Speaker 3: were able to do last year.
Speaker 1: I don't want this just to have the negative context
Speaker 1: or kind of tone. So I will ask you from
Speaker 1: your vantage point as you watch the games in real
Speaker 1: time and then have gone back to kind of look
Speaker 1: at tape, where are the bright spots so far, kurve
Speaker 1: that you're seeing.
Speaker 3: In terms of individuals, or just play either whatever.
Speaker 1: I don't want this to be all negative So is
Speaker 1: there a couple of players, is there a way you're playing?
Speaker 1: Are there things that are and maybe there's nothing. I mean,
Speaker 1: if we're honest, it has not been a very good start, man.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to give some space for maybe things
Speaker 1: that are actually bright that maybe we're not seeing.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, I think the play of our pivots, you know,
Speaker 3: a Mecca and Oheta have a great partnership and really
Speaker 3: like to see a Mecca building on a strong twenty
Speaker 3: twenty four and Ojeita has been really good this year.
Speaker 3: The level of depth of competition, especially along the back line,
Speaker 3: is really high, and some of the new guys that
Speaker 3: have come in there and pushed pushed the starters for
Speaker 3: for minutes and for time, and I think that's just
Speaker 3: only going to serve us well along the way. You know,
Speaker 3: I think there have been a lot of really good
Speaker 3: moments from our attacking group, you know. I think Dom
Speaker 3: has been really well in moments, Diego Diogo, you know,
Speaker 3: and the two young strikers. So there, Look, there are
Speaker 3: a lot of bright spots. Now, not everyone is always
Speaker 3: a bright spot all the time, but I think there's
Speaker 3: been a lot to be encouraged by, like I said
Speaker 3: with the young strikers, I think with you know, Don
Speaker 3: coming out of Champions Cup, I think he's, you know,
Speaker 3: put on some really good performances. So there's a lot
Speaker 3: there to be happy with and proud of going forward.
Speaker 3: But now it's time to put the results away.
Speaker 1: The options for the nine or a couple of options
Speaker 1: you're looking at. Are these players that currently are in
Speaker 1: MLS or are they potentially international transfers to come in.
Speaker 3: Both? All right, yeah, OK, not a lot of context
Speaker 3: around that.
Speaker 1: Okay, fair enough Before I say you lose, tell me
Speaker 1: about Houston.
Speaker 2: That's the opponent coming up.
Speaker 1: And I mean luckily you're at Houston in March and
Speaker 1: not July, because that's impossible. But tell me about this
Speaker 1: team you're playing coming up this weekend.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, Houston's always a fun, fun road trip,
Speaker 3: but like you said, the weather is a little bit
Speaker 3: a little bit cooler now than it is in the summer.
Speaker 3: You know, they're a team that's lost a few key
Speaker 3: pieces from last year and is trying to figure out
Speaker 3: what they look like in twenty twenty five as well.
Speaker 3: And you know, I think that's what makes them a
Speaker 3: little bit tough to maybe game plan for or to
Speaker 3: to really expect a lot out of or know what
Speaker 3: to expect out of. You know, they lost their left centerback,
Speaker 3: who's a really, really good, good young player that they
Speaker 3: picked up in Brazil. They sold them back to Brazil.
Speaker 3: They lost Hector Herrera, was like a real metronome in
Speaker 3: the for them in the middle, and so they're trying
Speaker 3: to fill those gaps now with some guys who haven't
Speaker 3: maybe tell you as many minutes in the past couple
Speaker 3: of years. So it's about, you know, making sure that
Speaker 3: we basically don't let them figure it out against us. Right, Like,
Speaker 3: there's Trulls trying to do some of the same things
Speaker 3: they did last year, and they're not quite doing it
Speaker 3: as as high level as they did last year, and
Speaker 3: so it's just about us imposing our game on them, all.
Speaker 1: Right, Kurt, Well, I appreciate the time man, been a
Speaker 1: rough star, but like I said, it's a long, long season.
Speaker 1: So best of luck as you're trying to get these
Speaker 1: things across the line. I'm innately aware that it's not
Speaker 1: as easy as a lot of people think. And appreciate
Speaker 1: your time man, have a good week and good luck
Speaker 1: against Houston.
Speaker 2: Okay, so good. Thanks man, all right, Kurt Schmidt.
Speaker 1: RSL got smoked over the weekend, and it looks it's unacceptable.
Speaker 1: San Diego is an expansion franchise. They rolled into America
Speaker 1: First Field, and they could have been up three to
Speaker 1: nil after like fifteen minutes. RSL did get a really
Speaker 1: nice goal by Pole to tie it up one. San
Speaker 1: Diego got two in the second half, came on the
Speaker 1: heels against a really good winning their MLS opener home
Speaker 1: opener against Seattle, I should say their MLS opener, they
Speaker 1: got smoked by San Jose. So I would imagine if
Speaker 1: you're an RSL fan, you're not too pleased with a
Speaker 1: state of well, quite frankly, everything.
Speaker 2: Cocka CAF Champions Cup.
Speaker 1: First time you qualify in like a decade, you get
Speaker 1: smoked by a club that isn't very good. The reinforcements
Speaker 1: that I've been rumored have not been able to get
Speaker 1: across the line.
Speaker 2: As I referenced, San Jose smokesha.
Speaker 1: Then you get Seattle at home and an expansion franchise
Speaker 1: rolls in and dictates everything. Houston is not one yet,
Speaker 1: so RSL hopefully you can get one on the road.
Speaker 1: They're back home against Dallas on the twenty second, so
Speaker 1: appreciate Kurt's time