Speaker 1: RSL has clinched a playoff spot that has clinched the
Speaker 1: top three seed.
Speaker 2: They moved up on Saturday.
Speaker 1: Game one against Minnesota will be Tuesday, October the twenty ninth,
Speaker 1: at seven o'clock. Our next guest has been on fire
Speaker 1: as of late, scored a goal over the weekend. It's
Speaker 1: Diego Luna back on the drive. Diego Happy Monday, man.
Speaker 1: How you doing good?
Speaker 3: How are you? Thank you for having me?
Speaker 1: I'm good, buddy, I appreciate the time. So congrats on
Speaker 1: yet another goal. What what would you most attribute your
Speaker 1: good form to as of now? You've been playing really
Speaker 1: well as of late.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's just finding the right stride at
Speaker 3: the right time, right being in the right mindset mentally,
Speaker 3: and then yeah, making sure your body's on the same
Speaker 3: the same tracks.
Speaker 1: So you guys are headed into the postseason now, and
Speaker 1: ultimately it does feel like some of the defensive issues
Speaker 1: you've run into have more or less been eliminated. You
Speaker 1: had a couple of clean sheets prior to the one
Speaker 1: goal Vancouver was able to get. We had Pablo on
Speaker 1: the show last week and he told he told us
Speaker 1: that he's asked you as a group to put in
Speaker 1: a little bit more work as the collective to make
Speaker 1: sure that those defensive issues are are behind you. Do you,
Speaker 1: guys feel like you have buying from everybody to make
Speaker 1: sure that even if you're an attacking player, you got
Speaker 1: to track back and play good defense.
Speaker 3: Of course, right, that's soccer, playing both sides of the
Speaker 3: of the game, and that's that's what's going to lead
Speaker 3: us to a championship. And that's what you know kept
Speaker 3: us five games unbeating right now going into playoffs. Is
Speaker 3: that mentality for both the attackers and defenders to play
Speaker 3: both sides of the game.
Speaker 1: Tell me what it's been like to welcome in all
Speaker 1: these new additions. You've had five new players added to
Speaker 1: the roster during the transfer window, and you had to
Speaker 1: say goodbye to some really good players name Leandres Gomez.
Speaker 1: What's that acclamation period been like for you guys, diego.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a big change, right. I think we
Speaker 3: had a momentum and we had a stride. But that's soccer, right,
Speaker 3: That's that's the transfer windows where you lose players, you
Speaker 3: get players, and then you have to kind of rebuild
Speaker 3: that chemistry and get everybody back on the same page
Speaker 3: and I think it took a little bit of time,
Speaker 3: but I think, like I said, we're finding it at
Speaker 3: the right time and and you know, heading into the postseason.
Speaker 1: So of course, you know, we all know how uh
Speaker 1: proficient and effective Chiechho is when he's right. And I
Speaker 1: thought he was going to smash the club record. I
Speaker 1: thought he was going to maybe win the Golden Bood.
Speaker 1: But diego, we haven't seen a chia Cho goal since July.
Speaker 1: Why what do you attribute that to most.
Speaker 3: I couldn't really tell you. I think he's been doing
Speaker 3: what he's been what he's needed to do to be
Speaker 3: in those positions. I think the ball just hasn't you know,
Speaker 3: found his found his foot and been able to you know,
Speaker 3: be there for him. I think, you know, that's the
Speaker 3: game of soccer. When things are not working out for
Speaker 3: for one player or one one you know, teammate, then
Speaker 3: it might work out for the other. And that's well,
Speaker 3: that's why you need a lot of threats on a team,
Speaker 3: right And then also I think it could be just
Speaker 3: uh like he's been better on the defensive side of
Speaker 3: the ball and and everything else. So I think once
Speaker 3: once he finds that next goal, I think it's gonna
Speaker 3: it's gonna be a you know, takeoff from there because
Speaker 3: he's he's put in more work on the defensive side
Speaker 3: and being as a leader, and I think that's that's
Speaker 3: adding on to what we already know he can do.
Speaker 3: So I think once he gets that first goal, he's
Speaker 3: going to be flying.
Speaker 1: So I was a little bit surprised, Diego to see
Speaker 1: you on the right side of the lineup card on Saturday,
Speaker 1: and it feels like, uh, you know, Pablo has tried
Speaker 1: out some new formulas and some different things to make
Speaker 1: sure the group is as connected as possible. Do you
Speaker 1: like playing out there on the right? Do you prefer
Speaker 1: to be a little bit more centralized or on the left?
Speaker 1: What What are your thoughts on the position you're asked
Speaker 1: to play and where's the spot you would like to
Speaker 1: play most?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think yeah. I would consider myself a natural ten.
Speaker 3: So I like to play in the pockets. I like
Speaker 3: to play in between the lines, and you know, centrally,
Speaker 3: I like to drift. I like to to go wherever
Speaker 3: the wherever the game calls for me. I like to
Speaker 3: get on the ball and create things, right, That's that's
Speaker 3: that's what I do. But in information you have to adapt.
Speaker 3: And yeah, playing on the right, it gave me opportunities
Speaker 3: to to go one v one and hopefully we look
Speaker 3: for that more. And then on the left, you know,
Speaker 3: I get to pinch in more and also float around.
Speaker 3: So I guess, I guess the answer to your question.
Speaker 3: I prefer to play the left as it gives me
Speaker 3: more freedom to tuck in and to roam. But the
Speaker 3: position I like to play most and where I find
Speaker 3: myself the most dangerous is essentially and being a ten
Speaker 3: and rolling around and finding the space.
Speaker 1: So tell me about the partnership that you have formulated
Speaker 1: with Diogo since he landed, you know, obviously a designated player.
Speaker 1: He comes to the club with a tremendous pedigree internationally
Speaker 1: and it is still early, but tell us some of
Speaker 1: the things that you've noticed in training and how do
Speaker 1: you think it's coming along to kind of ingratiate him
Speaker 1: into what Pablo wants to do.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he he came in strong. I think
Speaker 3: he had you know, it's difficult. I can't imagine right
Speaker 3: coming to a new country and a new team and
Speaker 3: such a weird you know, timing where where everybody's you know,
Speaker 3: in form and stuff like that. So you got to give,
Speaker 3: you know, a little bit of credit to him for
Speaker 3: coming in at that time. And then but he's adapted.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 3: He's a great guy, uh personally, so that that made
Speaker 3: it easy for everybody to to get comfortable with him
Speaker 3: and really connect with him into the into the team.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I think he still has another level that
Speaker 3: he's going to reach and that's just going to be
Speaker 3: another thing that that brings ourselves to another level of
Speaker 3: having everybody reaching their peak form, you know, at the
Speaker 3: right time.
Speaker 1: Ask about Ask you about a couple of the other
Speaker 1: new guys, Dominic, Dominic, Mark Zuke, who looks like Pablo
Speaker 1: likes to use him, you know, kind of out wide
Speaker 1: a little bit where we saw Andres Gomez play and
Speaker 1: he's been called to some international duty, so he hasn't
Speaker 1: been around, I'm sure as much as Pablo would prefer.
Speaker 1: But how's that process going and what type of player
Speaker 1: is he?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Dominique another great guy that made it very easy
Speaker 3: to connect with and and you know, become a friend with,
Speaker 3: So that part was taken care of. And then on
Speaker 3: the other side of the ball, he's a great player
Speaker 3: and I think for him to go one b one
Speaker 3: a lot his his strength and you know, just one
Speaker 3: v one and get assists, sand crosses in and I
Speaker 3: think that's his strength and that's where we need to
Speaker 3: find him more on the wing.
Speaker 1: Same question about Lochlin Brook, another international young Australian kid
Speaker 1: brought over here as well. He came on for you
Speaker 1: in the eighty sixth on Saturday. Tell us about him?
Speaker 1: What have you learned and what type of player is he?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Lachlan, he's gifted with his left foot right, so
Speaker 3: he's got a very nice left foot, and I would
Speaker 3: say he's similar. He likes to go one on one,
Speaker 3: he likes to drive inwards with the ball essentially, and yeah,
Speaker 3: he's very skillful with his left foot. He's very technical.
Speaker 3: So I think he's another, you know, great addition, especially
Speaker 3: you know when when we need someone like that to have.
Speaker 3: And I think that's uh yeah.
Speaker 1: So I think I know the answer to this question,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna ask you anyway. We had a point
Speaker 1: guard here for a number of years named John Stockton,
Speaker 1: who set an NBA record for assists, and John always
Speaker 1: talked about how he liked setting his players up as
Speaker 1: opposed to simply scoring all the time.
Speaker 2: You do both really well. You have e goals, but
Speaker 2: you also have twelve assists.
Speaker 1: Do you like scoring goals more or do you like
Speaker 1: setting your teammates up more?
Speaker 2: And why I like.
Speaker 3: Scoring goals more buys far? I like. I like scoring goals.
Speaker 3: I like, you know, putting the ball in the net.
Speaker 3: And yeah, whether it's a top end, whether it's a
Speaker 3: shot from thirty yards out, whether it's a header, I
Speaker 3: don't care. I like scoring goals, and you know, I
Speaker 3: wish I ended with more goals. I don't think eight
Speaker 3: was enough. My goal was to reach double digits in
Speaker 3: the season. But yeah, and then assists, you know, it's
Speaker 3: they're great, right, Like that's something that you know what
Speaker 3: we need goals and assists, but not nothing beats scoring goals.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I figured as much, And you know, I can
Speaker 1: totally understand why, certainly in soccer, when one goal changes games.
Speaker 2: When when when you.
Speaker 1: Have the ball at your feet, like on Saturday, even
Speaker 1: against San Jose, and you're still a little ways out
Speaker 1: from goal and you've got players making runs, what goes
Speaker 1: through your mind and how do you decide when it's
Speaker 1: time to have a go or time to maybe lay it?
Speaker 2: Off and set up a teammate.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think moments like that. My mind's always thinking
Speaker 3: goal right, and that's that's a hard mindset to to
Speaker 3: transition into as as where you know, I grew up
Speaker 3: and you know, you find find the paths that's open, right,
Speaker 3: find the player that has the best chance of scoring.
Speaker 3: All these things are taught to you. But you know,
Speaker 3: in this level and stuff like that, you gotta you
Speaker 3: gotta score goals, man, You gotta if things are not
Speaker 3: going well for the team or you got to find
Speaker 3: a way, you know, to score goals even on bad games,
Speaker 3: on on good games, whether that's inside the box, outside
Speaker 3: the box, getting in the right position for a cross, it's, uh,
Speaker 3: it's all about that. And then that feeling that you
Speaker 3: get you can't really explain it, you know, when when
Speaker 3: you're gonna shoot, when you're gonna pass. It's that feeling
Speaker 3: you get when you're when you find that little gap
Speaker 3: in between you know, the players, and you get you know,
Speaker 3: you get six to twelve inches of space. You got
Speaker 3: to take that shot.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Baseball players often talk about as soon as they make
Speaker 1: contact with the ball pros, no if they hit a homer,
Speaker 1: how quickly. How quickly do you know, uh, diego after
Speaker 1: you have struck the ball that it's got a shot
Speaker 1: to on the back of the net.
Speaker 2: Is it instantaneous? Do you look up like how quickly
Speaker 2: do you know you hit a good one?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think that's a great question. I think a
Speaker 3: lot of it, you know, from from shots I'd say
Speaker 3: outside the box. It's it's the feeling like as soon
Speaker 3: as you hit it, you know. But I think like
Speaker 3: the goal on Saturday, or when you're dribbling or these
Speaker 3: little things, it's as soon as you look up and
Speaker 3: the ball, either the first bounce or the first like
Speaker 3: half second, as soon as you look up then you know.
Speaker 3: And yeah, but I think it's a lot of it's
Speaker 3: the feeling like making good contact, like you know, like
Speaker 3: other sports.
Speaker 2: So here's a follow up.
Speaker 1: Which strike because the one you put off the crossbar,
Speaker 1: like we were all standing and screaming, man.
Speaker 2: Because of the couple of step over.
Speaker 1: So which strike was actually a better strike when you
Speaker 1: actually took the shot, the one that went in or
Speaker 1: the one that hit the crossbar, one that.
Speaker 3: Hit the cross bar? Yeah, yeah, I made better contact
Speaker 3: with that one. And and you know with the follow
Speaker 3: through like the speed and and how hard I hit it.
Speaker 3: It was definitely with that one. But I leaned back
Speaker 3: a little too much on that one, which you know,
Speaker 3: which led the ball to go a little higher than
Speaker 3: than I wanted. But the contact was good and and yeah,
Speaker 3: it would have been uh would have been an amazing
Speaker 3: you know, cherry on top.
Speaker 2: Did you think it was going in when you struck it?
Speaker 3: No, I knew, I knew I hit it. I knew
Speaker 3: I was leaning back, so I thought it was gonna
Speaker 3: go over, but you know, I hit the crossbar.
Speaker 2: It looked good.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 2: What do you have a favorite goal that you've scored
Speaker 2: this year?
Speaker 3: Oh? This year? Probably San Jose?
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, what about what about all time?
Speaker 2: Like, what about in your career? Do you have one?
Speaker 3: Okay, I would probably you know, San Jose is still
Speaker 3: up there, you know, just because it's it's in my hometown, right.
Speaker 3: I was in front of you know, one hundred and
Speaker 3: fifty people friending family, and yeah, I think that that
Speaker 3: was pretty cool. And then I'd also say maybe one
Speaker 3: of the goals I scored in Opaso. There's maybe two
Speaker 3: or three that were very special, so that.
Speaker 2: Could have been awesome that San Jose goal Man.
Speaker 1: That was something special that definitely has to be right
Speaker 1: after on the list. I wonder, you know, because obviously
Speaker 1: it's unfortunate that Brian Vera has been suspended and he's
Speaker 1: going to miss uh, he's gonna miss the first playoff game.
Speaker 1: Did you guys talk to Brian afterwards? Because I would
Speaker 1: imagine Diego he is so bummed out to miss a
Speaker 1: home playoff game.
Speaker 2: Have you guys talked to him?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I personally haven't talked to him about the situation
Speaker 3: or thing he do. He did, but I think the
Speaker 3: team has and and you know, the coaching staff has
Speaker 3: and yeah, it's unfortunate, but you know things, you get
Speaker 3: consequences for things, you know, for action, So I think, yeah,
Speaker 3: he'll learn from it. He'll come back, you know, stronger better.
Speaker 3: He's been training good, training hard.
Speaker 1: So yeah, all right, who is on the roster right now?
Speaker 1: Who's the best free kick taker? When that balls lined
Speaker 1: up and you guys are debating about who's going to
Speaker 1: take because Brian takes a lot of him because he
Speaker 1: has that cannon left leg. Who's the Who's who's the
Speaker 1: best free kick taker right now?
Speaker 3: I would say, uh, probably Diogo? He has a really
Speaker 3: good technique and and yeah or Pablo, uh.
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, that's right. Unfortunately he's been her.
Speaker 1: What's because you're you have to be really good at
Speaker 1: that too, right, I mean is that an area that
Speaker 1: you'd like to improve a little bit?
Speaker 3: Yeah, a little bit. But I think I think I
Speaker 3: am good at free kicks, but I think we have
Speaker 3: a lot of guys on the team that are also good.
Speaker 3: So I think it's like a kind of who's on
Speaker 3: the field, who committed the foul, who's at the right
Speaker 3: time going to take it?
Speaker 2: You know, how do you guys decide that?
Speaker 1: And how does Pablo completely leave it up to you
Speaker 1: or is it predetermined depending on where the kick is
Speaker 1: taken from.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's where the foul is, who's on
Speaker 3: the field at that time, and who who's feeling the
Speaker 3: confident at that moment.
Speaker 1: All right, buddy, before I set you loose, you know,
Speaker 1: it was an own goal that allowed you guys to
Speaker 1: get to win on Saturday, and you're you are in
Speaker 1: great form, which is good news, But I think there's
Speaker 1: a feeling that the team still needs to find its
Speaker 1: form in order to make a deep run. So what
Speaker 1: do you have to do and hopefully getting to win
Speaker 1: against Minnesota because I think you guys are a better side.
Speaker 2: I think you're going to win that series.
Speaker 1: But what do you have to do to make sure
Speaker 1: your form is where it needs to be leading into
Speaker 1: the rest of the postseason to maybe do something special
Speaker 1: this year?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think we need everybody to put
Speaker 3: in the work on both sides of the ball. I
Speaker 3: think that's the biggest thing for us. Because we have quality,
Speaker 3: we know we're going to create chances, and we know
Speaker 3: we're gonna you know, we're going to have opportunities. But
Speaker 3: making sure that everybody's put in the work on the
Speaker 3: defensive side is what's going to make the difference. And
Speaker 3: I think that's that's what ours is, right, the work
Speaker 3: workhorse mentality that's in our DNA, and that's what we
Speaker 3: need to remember that what got us there, and I
Speaker 3: think that that's going to be the deciding factor of us,
Speaker 3: whether making a long run or ending it short, is
Speaker 3: going to be the defensive work from from everyone all
Speaker 3: eleven plus guys.
Speaker 1: Well, Buddy, as you often say, when the ball's at
Speaker 1: your feet, you'd like to make magic happen. So keep
Speaker 1: making that magic happen. Best of luck and we'll chat soon.
Speaker 3: Okay, thank you very much, appreciate it. Thank you for
Speaker 3: having me.
Speaker 1: Diego Luna on fire, wonder goal against San Jose, another
Speaker 1: goal against Vancouver, but the best strike he had may
Speaker 1: have not been the one that went in and went
Speaker 1: off the crossbar after like three stepovers soccer term.
Speaker 2: It was very cool. All right.
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