Speaker 1: We are live today with our friends at Beer Bar
Speaker 1: in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.
Speaker 2: One sixty East, two hundred South.
Speaker 1: The home for all RSL watch parties every match, no blackouts.
Speaker 1: They do have Apple Television of course. Nick Romondo, the
Speaker 1: legend himself, part of the ownership group here. They've got
Speaker 1: an event coming up on Thursday, will tell you about.
Speaker 1: But RSL back at action, welcoming in an old friend
Speaker 1: coming up on Saturday, it's the return of Chico Orongo.
Speaker 1: Last week, in interesting week, RSL went up to Portland
Speaker 1: and want at Providence Park and then done in by
Speaker 1: one wonder strike against one of the best teams in MLS, Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: one nil. Our next guest, the head coach of RSL,
Speaker 1: Pablo Match Joanny. On a Tuesday afternoon. Pop's happy Tuesday, man,
Speaker 1: How we're doing.
Speaker 2: How are we doing?
Speaker 3: Happy tuesdays?
Speaker 4: Ben's doing well.
Speaker 3: Just prepping for this game at the weekend.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, yes, sir.
Speaker 1: So before we look forward, let's just talk a big picture.
Speaker 1: Since you and I haven't spoken for a little while
Speaker 1: prior to that loss.
Speaker 2: Again, since now that you guys have.
Speaker 1: Gone five games unbeaten, and that Cincinnati game.
Speaker 2: Man, that's a good team. We'll get to it.
Speaker 1: I felt like you guys were really bright and really good.
Speaker 1: But soccer's cruel where one moment can decide a game,
Speaker 1: and you guys did that to Portland, Cincinnati did that
Speaker 1: to you.
Speaker 2: It's kind of the deal.
Speaker 1: But how do you feel like things are shaping up
Speaker 1: over the past five, six, seven games where you guys
Speaker 1: have seen the forum really turn around?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know, that break halfway through the
Speaker 3: you know, at the halfway mark was was a great
Speaker 3: time to kind of reflect, digest and and and really
Speaker 3: learn from some of the the moments in the first
Speaker 3: part of the season. And the guys came in with
Speaker 3: a wonderful attitude and really, you know, the vibe around
Speaker 3: the training training field was was was palpable, you know,
Speaker 3: and I think it was a noticeable difference. And then
Speaker 3: then the results, you know, manifested themselves in a way.
Speaker 3: We're validated the work that we were doing in the
Speaker 3: training and I think, you know, this league is so
Speaker 3: you know, it's it's such a streaky league. You know,
Speaker 3: you get on a good run of form, you have
Speaker 3: a lot of belief and the mistakes that we are making.
Speaker 3: You know, in the first part of the season we
Speaker 3: were cleaning those up, defending set piece as well. Even
Speaker 3: when we weren't defending set pieces as well, we still
Speaker 3: found a way to win a game. And so, you know,
Speaker 3: I think confidence and belief are are critical to sustaining
Speaker 3: good performances and and good results and so and like
Speaker 3: you rightly pointed out this week, and I thought we
Speaker 3: the guys played a fantastic game and and we were
Speaker 3: you know, we were done by a wonder strike. And
Speaker 3: that's a part of it that hasn't changed the mind
Speaker 3: of the mentality. And in today's training, the same same
Speaker 3: type of energy that you know and and in real
Speaker 3: focus that we've had in the last few weeks. So
Speaker 3: really optimistic to where you know, where where where.
Speaker 4: The group is right now, and and with the window
Speaker 4: opening up, and you know, the addition of some players
Speaker 4: and into a group that is is is confident at
Speaker 4: the moment, I think, is you know, a welcome sight.
Speaker 1: So before we get back to Cincinnati, let me ask
Speaker 1: you about poor Lynz. Let's kind of hone in on
Speaker 1: some of these games in a vacuum I hadn't maybe
Speaker 1: maybe I.
Speaker 2: Knew and I just forgot.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize it had been eight years since RSL
Speaker 1: was able to get a league win up there, and.
Speaker 2: That's that's a good team.
Speaker 1: And you know, you guys were able to snatch three
Speaker 1: with a late goal, kind of like Cincinnati did to you.
Speaker 1: But what do you like most about that performance? And
Speaker 1: what can a road win like that do to kind
Speaker 1: of solidify the group?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think you know, coming off of
Speaker 3: the Houston game, I felt like in the second half,
Speaker 3: we we we struggled to find a way to get
Speaker 3: the ball back once we turned the ball over right,
Speaker 3: So our defensive shape was a bit compromised at moments,
Speaker 3: and so we doubled down on that during the week,
Speaker 3: and what I saw against Portland was a team that
Speaker 3: knew exactly how important the structure was going to be
Speaker 3: and the roles within that structure. And more importantly, I
Speaker 3: think defending for the way I look at defending is
Speaker 3: it's it's just merely a mechanism to win the ball back.
Speaker 3: It's not a it's not a tactic. Right you defend
Speaker 3: because you don't have the ball. And so when you
Speaker 3: when you frame it from a perspective of we want
Speaker 3: to win the ball back, because then we want to
Speaker 3: control the game with the ball. I thought we did
Speaker 3: a really good job of that game of being dominant
Speaker 3: with the ball and being so disciplined and dominant defensively,
Speaker 3: and then taking your chances that come and and and
Speaker 3: obviously there weren't a ton of real clear chances in
Speaker 3: that game, but Yogo took his chance and game set match.
Speaker 3: And so, you know, going into the Cincinnati game, it
Speaker 3: had a similar vibe where and Spence I think too,
Speaker 3: this is a product of now you're you're on the
Speaker 3: You're you're going down the home stretch. Every game is
Speaker 3: going to be tighter, every every game is going to
Speaker 3: be defined by the slightest of margins, and so that
Speaker 3: that that's where I think in the Portland game, we
Speaker 3: did a really good job. We were really disciplined and
Speaker 3: capitalized on the moment that presented itself.
Speaker 1: So with the Cincinnati game, and I talked about this
Speaker 1: with a couple of people afterwards. I didn't leave that game,
Speaker 1: Pablo with you know, with my head down about the form.
Speaker 1: I hope you felt the same way. Cincinnati is one
Speaker 1: of the best teams in MLS. They lead the conference
Speaker 1: in points, and I felt like you had the better
Speaker 1: of it. I know Diogo certainly will want one or
Speaker 1: two of those chances back. And I don't know much
Speaker 1: about this Luca or Orlano kid. I think that's how
Speaker 1: you say it. But yeah, first, first of all, I mean,
Speaker 1: it was one of those goals where you just.
Speaker 2: You got a tip the cap, there's nothing else you
Speaker 2: can do. Well done.
Speaker 1: But overall, as you went back and reviewed it, did
Speaker 1: you feel like you guys had the better of it?
Speaker 1: And then what went through your mind when you watch
Speaker 1: that kid score with that left peg?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, when I went back and watched the
Speaker 3: game again again, it was a lot of the sentiments
Speaker 3: I felt during the game where the first half it
Speaker 3: was it was a little bit you know, transitional. They
Speaker 3: had some chances, We had some chances. But I think
Speaker 3: in the second half we really put our foot on
Speaker 3: the gas and did a great job of keeping them
Speaker 3: pinned in to their defensive half, creating number of opportunities
Speaker 3: on their goal, defended transition moments really really well, and
Speaker 3: you know, I think and on the goal, we actually
Speaker 3: defended the transition moment really well. And again I think,
Speaker 3: like you said, you have to tip off your cap,
Speaker 3: because to hit a ball with your left foot from
Speaker 3: that part of the field and go across the goal
Speaker 3: to the far post, I mean, just the angles of
Speaker 3: that ball have to go in front of in front
Speaker 3: of Oheita on the left side, and then it's going
Speaker 3: to go in front of Glad and then it's got
Speaker 3: to go in front of Rafa and so it's one
Speaker 3: of those like one in a thousand shots that you're
Speaker 3: going to score, and on this day, he caught it
Speaker 3: perfectly and the stars the line. And so I think
Speaker 3: oftentimes as a coach, you get you look at the
Speaker 3: result and you have this bad feeling in your you know,
Speaker 3: bad taste in your mouth with with how the game went.
Speaker 3: But it was one of those flukey moments and it's
Speaker 3: where I felt like, there's no way these guys are
Speaker 3: going to score on us tonight, especially the way we
Speaker 3: controlled the second half. So again that that's the whole
Speaker 3: thing about sports, and that's why it's so amazing, is
Speaker 3: that you never know which moment it's going to cost
Speaker 3: you the game, and and you just got to be
Speaker 3: prepared for anything. But I think the overarching feeling of
Speaker 3: the game was a terrific execution of the tactics and
Speaker 3: the only thing that let us down was that the
Speaker 3: goal and not not being able to score goal. And so,
Speaker 3: and I've said this a lot this year. It's been
Speaker 3: our boogey men this year. We've we've created quite a bit.
Speaker 3: And uh, you know, but I don't think and not
Speaker 3: that I don't think, I know, it hasn't changed the
Speaker 3: mindset and the belief within the group. And I think
Speaker 3: that's the most important thing.
Speaker 1: How is I heard somebody on some soccer show and
Speaker 1: you know, who knows if they know anything about you
Speaker 1: know anything, And you're the guy that watches these players
Speaker 1: play every game and you're you know, obviously every training
Speaker 1: you see things that none of us do. But I
Speaker 1: feel like there's maybe some concern about the partnership between
Speaker 1: Diego Luna and Diego Gonzalez, just because they're both skilled
Speaker 1: in unique ways.
Speaker 2: That might be similar to each other.
Speaker 1: How is that partnership going, What what's that process like?
Speaker 1: Because they're they're they're so skilled, I would imagine when
Speaker 1: it clicks, it's going to be really special.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think I think it's it's been
Speaker 3: a bit of a disjointed year where I think you know,
Speaker 3: Diego had a hard time at the beginning of the
Speaker 3: year finishing his chances. In recent weeks, he's buried a
Speaker 3: couple Diego was gone for for a month with the
Speaker 3: national team, and now you know, they're both coming into
Speaker 3: the team in a real positive way. And it's really
Speaker 3: about learning that, you know, get that chemistry right. You know,
Speaker 3: I think Diego is a really good positional player that
Speaker 3: need balls played into him to be able to then
Speaker 3: play forward. And Diego's more of a guy that is
Speaker 3: just off the cuff, right, And so sometimes it's hard
Speaker 3: with Diego because he is a very instinctive player that
Speaker 3: makes plays. And you know, but what I've seen in
Speaker 3: the last you know, two weeks that the guys that
Speaker 3: have been are the last week that the guys have
Speaker 3: been together, has the amount of communication between two of them,
Speaker 3: not only in games, but in training and getting that
Speaker 3: understanding back because now we're playing with a bit of
Speaker 3: a hybrid two striker system with Gozo and Willie Gatta
Speaker 3: and or r ePol, and so the idea is to
Speaker 3: have these creative players underneath, but to have players ahead
Speaker 3: of the ball that they can pass to and combine
Speaker 3: with and create goal scoring opportunities with so I think
Speaker 3: it's still you know, we're we're essentially a week into
Speaker 3: this this process, a week and a half, but I
Speaker 3: see I see some growth, and I think, again, if
Speaker 3: you have quality players, they're they're able to solve problems
Speaker 3: in real time on the field, and that's what you
Speaker 3: need in order to continue to getting results.
Speaker 1: When you talk about the kind of new approach with
Speaker 1: the attack with Gozo Orgatta, then pol when it comes
Speaker 1: to lineup decisions, obviously, when you have three games in
Speaker 1: seven days, you're gonna you're going to stagger to make
Speaker 1: sure the minutes aren't overwhelming for one striker or the other.
Speaker 1: But what do you like most about the three that
Speaker 1: you name the gotta goes on Peel and what do
Speaker 1: you kind of instruct them to do to take advantage
Speaker 1: of the creative flair they have behind them with Diego
Speaker 1: and Diogo.
Speaker 3: Yeah, great question. You know, I think in order to
Speaker 3: give Diego and Diego the kind of space that they
Speaker 3: need to operate in. Whereas the first part of the season,
Speaker 3: Diego and Diego were cramped because we didn't have stretch
Speaker 3: ahead of the ball, right, And I think when you
Speaker 3: have two strikers that are willing to run without the ball.
Speaker 3: That's what we're telling them to do is essentially always
Speaker 3: be looking to hit to running behind the defense, and
Speaker 3: in doing so you drop the back line another ten
Speaker 3: yards and then the midfield mine is stuck looking at
Speaker 3: the ball. And so now you have space for guys
Speaker 3: like Diego and Diego to combine and to really drive
Speaker 3: the ball forward. And I think now having two more
Speaker 3: options ahead of the game has created a ton of
Speaker 3: chances for Gozo, a ton of chances for Willie, and
Speaker 3: more importantly, I think Spence from a psychology perspective is
Speaker 3: defenses have to really they have more questions to answer.
Speaker 3: Right Whereas before we had a lot of guys coming
Speaker 3: towards the ball, it is easy for back line just
Speaker 3: to squeeze their lines and make the space really tight.
Speaker 3: Now when you have guys that are willing to break beyond,
Speaker 3: and if the timing is right, when the forward stretch
Speaker 3: our Tens dropped right and in that moment there's a
Speaker 3: gap to get the ball in turn behind the midfield
Speaker 3: line and really attack the goal. And so I think
Speaker 3: that compliment is something that has given us a lot
Speaker 3: of success in recent weeks and something that we want
Speaker 3: to continue to explore. And again, I think once Diego
Speaker 3: and Diego are firing and all cylinders, I think we're
Speaker 3: going to be a very dynamic attacking team.
Speaker 1: I have not asked you about this next player because
Speaker 1: I didn't know much about him. But you know, early
Speaker 1: on in the season, when you were giving Gozo opportunities
Speaker 1: and he started taking advantage of them, and even when
Speaker 1: they weren't manifesting on the stat sheet, you know, you
Speaker 1: could tell there's something bright about Gozo. I don't know
Speaker 1: that this Kaluscan kid has the same juice that Gozo does,
Speaker 1: but the more and more I watch him pobble, the
Speaker 1: more and more I think he might have something here
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 2: So I haven't asked you about him.
Speaker 1: Before he was with Portland's we talked to Curt and
Speaker 1: Jason about the acquisition. But from the head coaches standpoint,
Speaker 1: what have you liked so far about him? What do
Speaker 1: you think he can be as he fully develops?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think, yeah, I think Noel is
Speaker 3: a player. I think he's twenty five years old and
Speaker 3: started late because he was in an international so he's
Speaker 3: an older college student. When he went to I think
Speaker 3: Loyal Merrimont, and so he got drafted out. And he's
Speaker 3: a player that is experienced and beyond his years. You know,
Speaker 3: he's kind of an old soul, carries himself like a
Speaker 3: guy that's been playing professionally for many years. The way
Speaker 3: he just trains, the way he looks after his body,
Speaker 3: the way he recovers everything is a ten out of ten.
Speaker 3: And you know, I have this really interesting conversation that
Speaker 3: I'll share with you. Is in preseason. You know, he
Speaker 3: was playing in the midfield, and so naturally he's a
Speaker 3: midfielder by trade, and you know, I was he was
Speaker 3: talking to asking me about his opportunities and I said, well,
Speaker 3: we got some real physical anomalies in the middlefield with
Speaker 3: the Mecca and no Haeta, and he says, Paba, but
Speaker 3: I think the game so fast. I feel like, you know,
Speaker 3: it's given an opportunity. I can, I can, I can
Speaker 3: achieve some of the same things in a different way.
Speaker 3: And it just expanded my mind. You know, as coaches,
Speaker 3: I think we get sometimes we get set in our
Speaker 3: way of thinking. And and so he started, you know,
Speaker 3: he was playing right back because we had a lot
Speaker 3: of pivots at the time midfielders, and slowly but surely,
Speaker 3: with every training session he became a beast in training.
Speaker 3: And so once he got his start, don't know, a
Speaker 3: couple of months ago at right back, he's never looked back.
Speaker 3: And this is a guy spends that spends every afternoon.
Speaker 3: He'll he'll ask goes it to go one to be
Speaker 3: one with them. He doesn't ask another guy. He wants
Speaker 3: the fastest, the most dynamic player to go one to
Speaker 3: be one. And so here's a guy that just really
Speaker 3: cares about his trade. And so I think again, it's
Speaker 3: amazing how many players come through, you know, come through
Speaker 3: RSL and and other teams give up on and and
Speaker 3: and find a lot of joy here. But so proud
Speaker 3: of what he's been able to do. And and the
Speaker 3: other part too is it hasn't been easy for him, right,
Speaker 3: no one's given him anything. He's had to literally beg
Speaker 3: and plead for an opportunity. And like you just Riley said,
Speaker 3: you know, we give opportunities and they take them or
Speaker 3: they don't. You know, the players take them or they don't,
Speaker 3: and they grow or they don't. And so nothing's come
Speaker 3: easy for Noel. And that's why I think he's he's
Speaker 3: a long term, you know, fit for for the club
Speaker 3: as far as like someone that you can rely upon
Speaker 3: in multiple positions, which is really hard to find these
Speaker 3: days because the game of football has become so specialized.
Speaker 3: You know, the fact that he can play right back
Speaker 3: and then against you know, Houston, and then come and
Speaker 3: play as a pivot against Portland and really be one
Speaker 3: of the top performers in that game says everything you
Speaker 3: need to know about Noel Cowskin.
Speaker 1: I'm curious about the anatomy of a position switch. We
Speaker 1: talk about this in football a lot. You know, our
Speaker 1: our local team, the University of Utah, their head coach just, somehow,
Speaker 1: some way has always been able to say, Okay, you
Speaker 1: were quarterback in high school, but now you're a defensive end,
Speaker 1: and it for something. He's just really good at it.
Speaker 1: I'm fascinated by it. And you reference Noel a midfielder
Speaker 1: by trade who you've elected to play outside back.
Speaker 2: What's the mentality there? Is it something you see in training?
Speaker 1: Is it a desire just to get the best players
Speaker 1: on the field, regardless of position. When you decide to
Speaker 1: encourage a player to switch positions, what does that look
Speaker 1: and sound.
Speaker 3: Like, well, I think too. There's there's a lot of
Speaker 3: components to it. One is their receptivity to that type
Speaker 3: of suggestion, right, so like you'll know right away. It's like,
Speaker 3: what do you think about just you know, training out
Speaker 3: right back and seeing how it's going. And if you
Speaker 3: get you know, if you get a you know, a
Speaker 3: no nod, then you're probably it's not even worth pursuing
Speaker 3: because if the player doesn't believe in it, you know.
Speaker 3: But I think a player that is so hungry to
Speaker 3: get on the field is willing to do whatever it takes.
Speaker 3: And so now I was like, yeah, I'll play right back.
Speaker 3: And so I think that's that's the first part. If
Speaker 3: you don't you know, because it can't just be the
Speaker 3: coach's idea because it could be a great idea, but
Speaker 3: if the player doesn't buy in, then it's never going
Speaker 3: to work. So I would say that's the most important part.
Speaker 3: And then the other thing is like learn ability. You know,
Speaker 3: what's the player's you know, ability to learn something and
Speaker 3: and so like like I allude to uh, just when
Speaker 3: I was speaking about his ability to think the game.
Speaker 3: He's a learner. He thinks the game. And so when
Speaker 3: you have really bright soccer players that can interpret space
Speaker 3: and time. They can essentially play anywhere they want if
Speaker 3: they're a willing participant. And so I think his smarts
Speaker 3: and you know, because he's again he physically you know,
Speaker 3: if you look at him, you wouldn't think that he's
Speaker 3: able to cover ground. But we played Houston, who's got
Speaker 3: one of the most dynamic young wingers in the league,
Speaker 3: and he shut him down. And so he shut him
Speaker 3: down not by playing him at his strengths, which is
Speaker 3: his physicality, but thinking out smarting the player. And so
Speaker 3: his positioning was off off the chains and then him
Speaker 3: working on his one v ones and having a really
Speaker 3: good idea of when he's going to stab at the ball,
Speaker 3: and you know, and these are things that you have
Speaker 3: to constantly practice that. And so if you're willing to learn,
Speaker 3: if you're willing to make yourself vulnerable, right and put
Speaker 3: yourself in a position that isn't comfortable, but your desire
Speaker 3: to be on the first team is so great that
Speaker 3: it overshadows it. I think that's that's where you can
Speaker 3: get players playing multiple positions. But again, the most important
Speaker 3: person and of these decisions is the players himself.
Speaker 2: Give me an update on a Mecca.
Speaker 1: I thought in limited minutes over the past couple of
Speaker 1: matches when he's been available.
Speaker 2: I mean, we all know that he's good.
Speaker 1: Obviously he's your captain, but how's that progress coming and
Speaker 1: how close are we maybe to seeing him start and
Speaker 1: play a full ninety.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good question. That's a conversation that we
Speaker 3: actually had today with our performance coach and thinking about
Speaker 3: now we have a lot of games coming up, what's
Speaker 3: the best way to deploy a Mecca to put him
Speaker 3: in the best position again to not get hurt one,
Speaker 3: which is the most important coming back from six weeks off,
Speaker 3: but two to get him performing at the level that
Speaker 3: he has been performing the last two games, which has
Speaker 3: been really, really good. And so we'll look at how
Speaker 3: training goes tomorrow tomorrow's our biggest load day and seeing
Speaker 3: how he feels, and then you know, obviously we want
Speaker 3: to get a Mecca back out there because he's an
Speaker 3: important part not only on the field, but let in
Speaker 3: the locker room as well. And so you know, and
Speaker 3: now you have Pablo Reeves who's playing really well. You
Speaker 3: have brian O Hade, who I thought did really well
Speaker 3: in the game at the weekend, so there's going to
Speaker 3: be some competition in the middle of field. But you know,
Speaker 3: Mecca is a big part of the group, both on
Speaker 3: and off the field, and we want to get him back.
Speaker 3: So tomorrow we should have a better idea as to
Speaker 3: how we're going to to utilize him to make sure
Speaker 3: we put him in the best position to be successful.
Speaker 1: Tell I want to follow up about Pablo Luiz because
Speaker 1: this is kind of a feel good story that I
Speaker 1: don't feel like anybody's talking about. I mean, before his
Speaker 1: two knee surgeries and knee injuries, I felt like he
Speaker 1: was really on his way to becoming a star. I mean,
Speaker 1: he was taking a lot of your corners, he was
Speaker 1: taking a lot of the free kicks, and unfortunately, as
Speaker 1: you know, injuries have derailed so many careers, and I
Speaker 1: just wonder what it's like for you to see how
Speaker 1: Hardy's work to get back to this form and what
Speaker 1: that means to your club.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: No, I think Pablo Reice is a special player. You know,
Speaker 3: we say that he's got a wand of left foot.
Speaker 3: He can put that ball anywhere anywhere, you know, to
Speaker 3: anyone on the field, whether it's on the ground, in
Speaker 3: the air, if it's lofted, if it's if it's driven
Speaker 3: to your chest. I mean, this guy, he really is
Speaker 3: a special talent. And you know what he's been through
Speaker 3: the last two years. A lot of times we'll just
Speaker 3: you know, like you said, it'll it'll cut a career short.
Speaker 3: And it takes a real mental it takes real mental
Speaker 3: fortitude to be able to overcome something like that. And
Speaker 3: I think the game against Portland that he played, I
Speaker 3: think solidified it to me that that he's on the
Speaker 3: men and he's on his way back. And I still
Speaker 3: think he's got, you know, maybe ten percent more to
Speaker 3: go to reach the kind of levels he was at
Speaker 3: before he got injured. But man, I'm just taken aback
Speaker 3: by his resolve and commitment and and his quality and
Speaker 3: his play that we haven't had right. I think last
Speaker 3: year our team was a little bit different, so what
Speaker 3: we asked from our pivots was different. I think this year,
Speaker 3: you know, in these last six games that he's played in,
Speaker 3: has has brought a lot of consistency to the group,
Speaker 3: but also the relationships with Diego and Diego and finding
Speaker 3: those piercing balls between the lines where the guys can
Speaker 3: turn and that's something that we haven't had, so I
Speaker 3: couldn't be happy for him. It's been it's been grueling
Speaker 3: watching him, you know, work outside of the group just
Speaker 3: to just to get back to full help. And now
Speaker 3: you're starting to see a guy that's flourishing and really
Speaker 3: contributing meaningful minutes to helping the team get great results.
Speaker 1: You got a hungry San Jose team rolling into town
Speaker 1: on Saturday. They have not won in six matches. They
Speaker 1: have four draws and two losses. And when you look
Speaker 1: at the standings, both of you need points. Both of
Speaker 1: you are right there on the playoff line. They're on
Speaker 1: twenty nine points around twenty eight. They have a striker,
Speaker 1: Let's see if I can pronounce his name. I believe
Speaker 1: it's a cheat show or wrongo. Eleven goals, five assists.
Speaker 1: He's doing what Chicho does? What sort of extra layer
Speaker 1: does his return add? And what are you guys up
Speaker 1: against coming up on Saturday?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think you know Chios Chicho's a
Speaker 3: fantastic player, and you know, I think he still has
Speaker 3: really close relationships with the guys that were here last year.
Speaker 3: You know, I think it'll be a kind of a
Speaker 3: mixed emotional game, you know, before the game starts anyways,
Speaker 3: I think there's gonna be a lot of emotions. I
Speaker 3: think once the whistle blows, you have two teams that
Speaker 3: that that, like you rightly pointed out, need points, right,
Speaker 3: and so I think all that flies up the window.
Speaker 3: But you know, San Jose's as a team that thrives
Speaker 3: and transition, they have you know, they have quite the
Speaker 3: attacking group of players that that that I haven't played
Speaker 3: with each other for a long time, but all speak
Speaker 3: the same language as far as running and moving and
Speaker 3: the combination play at the top of the box. And
Speaker 3: then they have finishers and Espinoza and Martinez and and
Speaker 3: and obviously Chichos. So you know, I think the game
Speaker 3: if if, if, if we're cheap with the ball and
Speaker 3: we give them space, we're going to be We're gonna
Speaker 3: you know, it's going to cause a lot of issues
Speaker 3: for us. But if I think we can control the
Speaker 3: game with the ball as we did in Portland, who's
Speaker 3: another very good transition team, and defend our box, well
Speaker 3: I think, you know, I think will be in a
Speaker 3: good way. So, uh, you know, I think it's going
Speaker 3: to be a very exciting game. I think there's a
Speaker 3: lot of great storylines coming into this game, but the
Speaker 3: most important thing for us is that we continue to
Speaker 3: you know, clean up some details and continue to believe
Speaker 3: as a group and continue to you know, get these
Speaker 3: points that are going to be critical down the stretch.
Speaker 1: How would a young Pablo mash Nerney in his prime
Speaker 1: do at the MLS Skills Challenge where we find Diego tonight.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what not as good as you're going
Speaker 3: to see Diego Luna doing tonight, I'll tell you that
Speaker 3: I don't know, you know, I think there's you know,
Speaker 3: but Spence, I was just think I was just a
Speaker 3: role player. I was a guy that just won the
Speaker 3: ball back and gave it to the players that can
Speaker 3: do more than I could. And Diego is a real
Speaker 3: special talent, and you know he's doing he's doing all
Speaker 3: the work I did defensively, but he's also got a
Speaker 3: Ferrari like attack that can create and score goals. So
Speaker 3: he's operating on a different planet than I was as
Speaker 3: a players. But I'll be rooting for him tonight, and
Speaker 3: I think he'll do well in the Skills Challenge for sure.
Speaker 1: All right, before I say you lose coming up on
Speaker 1: on Thursday, the secondary transfer window opens. It is the
Speaker 1: summer transfer window. I don't want you to get in trouble, Pablo.
Speaker 1: I don't want anybody to give you a guff for
Speaker 1: the answer, But I got to ask. I've seen these rumors.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing maybe a couple of nines on the way.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing maybe an outside back. I don't know what
Speaker 1: you what are you expecting when this thing opens? What
Speaker 1: can we expect to see?
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, listen, there's definitely gonna be movement. You know,
Speaker 3: we've identified quite a few attacking players both in like
Speaker 3: you know, a nine roll and a nine and a
Speaker 3: half is what we're calling it. Essentially a guy that
Speaker 3: can play on the highest line but also combine near
Speaker 3: the box and is comfortable with his back to goal.
Speaker 3: So I think those two positions are are positions that
Speaker 3: you know, we feel like we can continue to improve
Speaker 3: our group and more importantly, have some some real depth
Speaker 3: into our group. You know, I think oftentimes this year
Speaker 3: where we fell short is is just not having enough
Speaker 3: firepower coming into games when again, the most important moments
Speaker 3: and games are in the last fifteen to twenty minutes, right,
Speaker 3: So I think that that's definitely an area. And I
Speaker 3: think along the back line as well. You know, I
Speaker 3: think there's there's a couple of different ways we can
Speaker 3: we can we can we can do this. But you know,
Speaker 3: I think everyone's been working extremely hard to make sure
Speaker 3: that we're bolstering the group in a way that that
Speaker 3: puts us in contention for you know, a good run
Speaker 3: at the end of the season and even in you know,
Speaker 3: in this League's Cup as well. You know, this is
Speaker 3: a tournament that we want to do well in and
Speaker 3: and and you're playing against monsters like a Club America
Speaker 3: that are you know, the you know, Central American powerhouse
Speaker 3: and you know, the really hockey cast powerhouse team with
Speaker 3: a lot of history. And so in order to compete
Speaker 3: with these guys, we we got to be able to
Speaker 3: to make sure that we not only have talent on
Speaker 3: the field, that we have talent coming into the game
Speaker 3: to help us secure the results.
Speaker 1: Last thing, as the head coach, do you get juiced
Speaker 1: at the prospect when you're watching tape of these players?
Speaker 2: Does it excite you? And then what are the.
Speaker 1: Main challenges to ingratiate new players into a locker room?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: No, I do, and it's not just for me. It's
Speaker 3: just the feeling of you know, when I was a player,
Speaker 3: and and and and some players came new players came in.
Speaker 3: It did. It did a couple of things. One, everyone
Speaker 3: was pumped that that, you know, new players were coming
Speaker 3: in and that they're going to help the team. But
Speaker 3: the other part, too, is there's a competitive aspect to it.
Speaker 3: It's like, Oh, this guy's coming to try to take
Speaker 3: my position. I gotta I gotta really pick up my game. So,
Speaker 3: like from my chair, I just feel it's a it's
Speaker 3: a win win situation. You know. Obviously there's gonna be
Speaker 3: some players that that might be affected in the short
Speaker 3: term or you know, if they choose the letter to
Speaker 3: affect them that way, versus I'm going to compete the
Speaker 3: right way. I'm going to show and bring the best
Speaker 3: out of my game to show that I'm up for
Speaker 3: the challenge. And so I think there's gonna be there's
Speaker 3: gonna be some type of effect, you know, into our group.
Speaker 3: And and I think a big part of that effect
Speaker 3: is going to be determined by this the form the
Speaker 3: current team is in when these new players come. And
Speaker 3: so if these players would have come in the first
Speaker 3: part of the season, I would have been a bit
Speaker 3: hesitant to to have higher expectations given that they're coming
Speaker 3: into an buy. I mean, that's that's not necessarily conducive
Speaker 3: to the adaptation of these new players. But now, given
Speaker 3: the run of form that we've been in and the
Speaker 3: way we've been playing, and the belief in the group,
Speaker 3: I feel it's a perfect time to bring in players
Speaker 3: so that their adaptation into the group and their assimilation
Speaker 3: will be a bit more seamless. Although it's never easy
Speaker 3: in our league, I feel it's like the best case
Speaker 3: scenario to have players come into an environment that is
Speaker 3: rich with belief and good play so that they can
Speaker 3: just come in and do their jams.
Speaker 4: So I'm really.
Speaker 3: Excited about the prospects and uh and and I think,
Speaker 3: you know, hopefully, you know, we can we can land
Speaker 3: a couple of these guys and get it over the
Speaker 3: line sooner than later so that we can all enjoy
Speaker 3: a good finish of the season.
Speaker 1: All right, my guy, Well, enjoy the skills challenge tonight.
Speaker 1: Good luck and training, and obviously good luck on Saturday
Speaker 1: against chee Cho and San Jose.
Speaker 2: Thanks for the time, Bud.
Speaker 3: Thanks Fan's appreciate you, Bud, all right.
Speaker 1: Problem Mastrondi, Oursel, head coach for Alsau Lake in the
Speaker 1: midst of really the best run of form they've had
Speaker 1: all year.
Speaker 2: They did lose over the weekend of Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Prior to that, they went unbeaten in five and as
Speaker 1: a result find themselves right in the mix.
Speaker 2: So San Jose's in town on Saturday.
Speaker 1: Obviously the return of Chicho will be of probably the
Speaker 1: biggest point of interest. San Jose is second in the
Speaker 1: Western goals scored. You would expect that, but they allow
Speaker 1: a lot of goals. They're actually third worst in the
Speaker 1: Western goals scored, So maybe we see we haven't seen
Speaker 1: a lot of high scoring affairs from RSL this year,
Speaker 1: but maybe with the way San Jose plays, we will
Speaker 1: this weekend. San Jose currently is ninth in the West
Speaker 1: on twenty nine points. RSL is tenth on twenty eight.
Speaker 1: So this is actually a sneaky big game for the lads.
Speaker 1: We're here for the lads, of course, So RSSEL back
Speaker 1: in action coming up this weekend seven thirty Mountain time
Speaker 1: on Apple TV. But tonight seven o'clock on Apple Television
Speaker 1: is the MLS All Star Skills Challenge featuring one Diego Luna,
Speaker 1: five different events. You can check out some of the
Speaker 1: events on Apple TV starting at seven o'clock. We've got
Speaker 1: the Shooting Challenge, we have the Touch Challenge that sounds weird,
Speaker 1: the Cross and Volley Challenge, all Start Passing Challenge, and
Speaker 1: then the All Star Crossbar Challenge, and finally Goalie Wars
Speaker 1: intense and dramatic. All right, We're live today at Beer
Speaker 1: Bar one sixty two hundred south right in the heart
Speaker 1: of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Looks like we have
Speaker 1: a table full of Ozzy Osbourne fans taking tequila shots.
Speaker 1: So we're getting weird on a Tuesday, if you want
Speaker 1: to come on down and check that out. But they've
Speaker 1: got a great event coming up on Thursday of this week.
Speaker 1: It is Pie and Beer Day for some Pioneer Day
Speaker 1: for others.
Speaker 2: It's all right, all good.
Speaker 1: So on Thursday at nine am at Smith's Ballpark, the
Speaker 1: old home of the Bees, they're gonna have a pie
Speaker 1: and Beer tasting where you can gain entrants for thirty
Speaker 1: dollars and get access to four kind of combos of
Speaker 1: pie and beer. They're gonna have kickball tournament featuring a
Speaker 1: team put together by our very own Nick Romondo. So
Speaker 1: that's Thursday, starting at nine, but the night before here
Speaker 1: at beer Bar, starting at seven o'clock, they're gonna have
Speaker 1: kind of a welcome party. They're gonna have DJs, one outside,
Speaker 1: one inside. I can tell you they've rebranded the facility
Speaker 1: with new signage. They've redone their menu that now includes
Speaker 1: a breakfast sandwich and turkey sandwich, a bunch of different salads,
Speaker 1: French dip sandwich, pastrami sandwich, and the famous cotton bottom
Speaker 1: garlic burger, in addition to the brats that you become
Speaker 1: accustomed to here at beer Bar, So keep that in
Speaker 1: mind for Wednesday night. Also, beer Bar is your home
Speaker 1: of all RSL watch parties, Utah football watch parties, NFL Sundays,
Speaker 1: jazz hoops, NBA basketball. Is my favorite place to watch
Speaker 1: a game here in Salt Lake. So it is beer
Speaker 1: Bar one six two hundred South in the heart of
Speaker 1: downtown Salt Lake City.