Speaker 1: Pablo MASCHOENNI Wednesday afternoon. Pob's happy Wednesday, sir?
Speaker 2: How are you happy Wednesday? Spent doing well?
Speaker 3: Bud appreciate the time.
Speaker 1: Brian Wilson Beach Boys passes away today at the age
Speaker 1: eighty two. First concert I ever saw Pobs Beach Boys
Speaker 1: when I was eleven years old. First concert a young
Speaker 1: Pablo Mastuotdi attended.
Speaker 2: Oh man, you're not gonna believe this.
Speaker 3: I can't wait.
Speaker 2: Run dmc.
Speaker 1: Okay, you know what, that's cool. That's a good answer.
Speaker 1: That's that's a cool answer.
Speaker 3: You know you can. You can impress a lot of
Speaker 3: people with that one. How old were you?
Speaker 2: I was in the sixth grade, okay, all right?
Speaker 3: And where was this?
Speaker 2: And that was in Phoenix, Arizona.
Speaker 1: Phoenix, Arizona. Okay. Did you ever go through a Beach
Speaker 1: Boys phase?
Speaker 2: I didn't. I always liked the music, just never never
Speaker 2: followed them to know when they were going to come
Speaker 2: into town or if they were still touring at that time.
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, fair enough, all right.
Speaker 1: Before we get to your club, I want to ask
Speaker 1: you about the US men's national team, who got their
Speaker 1: heads kicked in last night and have now lost four
Speaker 1: straight five and five under Prochattino.
Speaker 3: We have the World Cup.
Speaker 1: One year away, but I thought Diego showed well when
Speaker 1: he was able to hinterer at halftime. So just curious
Speaker 1: as your thoughts as to where we're at with a
Speaker 1: gold Cup. Of course, I want to know your thoughts
Speaker 1: on how Diego played and where we're at with the
Speaker 1: US men's national team one year away from the World Cup.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think I think it's been a
Speaker 2: tough start under Pochattino, and I think a lot of
Speaker 2: it has to do with him still trying to figure
Speaker 2: out who are the guys that he can rely on,
Speaker 2: right And I think when you're adding such a big
Speaker 2: number of MLS players into the pool, there's there's going
Speaker 2: to be moments where it's it's not going to go well.
Speaker 2: There's no continuity, there's you know, I think he's still
Speaker 2: trying to, you know, fine tune the way they want
Speaker 2: to play. And at the international level, you just don't
Speaker 2: get the luxury of having practices every week and every day,
Speaker 2: so you got to come together quickly. And again, because
Speaker 2: it's a relatively young team, there's a lot of guys
Speaker 2: that you know that just in self preservation mode. They're
Speaker 2: not really experienced players that are going to guide the
Speaker 2: younger players. And so I think that's a big part
Speaker 2: of why it's been it's been a bit of rough going.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of figuring out to do, both from
Speaker 2: the players and the staff. But as far as Diego,
Speaker 2: you know, I think, you know, one of the things
Speaker 2: again that that make me the most proud of his
Speaker 2: growth has been his mindset. And you know, I think
Speaker 2: with attacking players, we typically say they're good when they're
Speaker 2: scoring goals. They're good when they're making plays, creating chances
Speaker 2: given given assists. But but again, there's soccer is a
Speaker 2: very low scoring game, right, And so what else do
Speaker 2: you bringing to the table when when when when you're
Speaker 2: not doing those things? And and Diego just brings a
Speaker 2: ton of energy, a ton of passion, a ton of focus,
Speaker 2: and a real commitment to defending right. And I think
Speaker 2: and and those are the conversations that I've been having
Speaker 2: with them over the last couple of years. Is just
Speaker 2: like every coach in the world can find the players
Speaker 2: that can do those things. It's like, how are you
Speaker 2: going to separate yourself from the rest of these guys?
Speaker 2: All over the world, you know, to put yourself in
Speaker 2: the spotlight. And again, even though he didn't score a
Speaker 2: goal the other night, just did a great job of
Speaker 2: getting around the ball, you know, clean with his decision making,
Speaker 2: you know, it just as aggressiveness, and he brings this
Speaker 2: like energy to the team, you know, and I think
Speaker 2: that's something that every coach in the world can hang
Speaker 2: their hat on because they know, regardless that they're scoring
Speaker 2: and insisting, which is what they're on the field to do,
Speaker 2: if nothing else, they're bringing great energy, great pressing, great
Speaker 2: great attitude. And so I think he's in a fantastic way.
Speaker 2: And you know, this gold couple will be really important
Speaker 2: for both Diego and the team. You know. I think
Speaker 2: this is historically a tournament that the US has done
Speaker 2: really low in. I think they'll they will do well.
Speaker 2: I think these games, these to warm up games, you know,
Speaker 2: showed the coaching staff and the players of what playing
Speaker 2: at a really high level looks like. And you know,
Speaker 2: I don't think they'll confront too many teams that are
Speaker 2: like these two teams that they played, so I think
Speaker 2: they should be able to learn from those games and
Speaker 2: put together a good run in the tournament. That I
Speaker 2: think they should have a good chance of winning.
Speaker 1: At Donny On earlier, he was on the broadcast for
Speaker 1: Turner last night and I asked Dunny if he believes
Speaker 1: Diego is legitimately in the mix for a roster spot
Speaker 1: for the World Cup, and Dunney said, he thinks he
Speaker 1: can start. He thinks he, you know, has the eye
Speaker 1: approach a Tino and his staff. What's your what are
Speaker 1: your thoughts on that whether or not Diego has a
Speaker 1: legitimate chance of not just making a World Cup roster,
Speaker 1: but maybe actually sneaking into that eleven and upping his
Speaker 1: personal pedigree.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know again, I think from a coaching perspective,
Speaker 2: I think you want predictability, right, predictability and he like
Speaker 2: behaviors as a person and also behaviors as a player,
Speaker 2: And I think Diego comes every game he plays. You're
Speaker 2: going to get a ten out of ten effort, a
Speaker 2: ten out of ten commitment, at ten out of ten attitude.
Speaker 2: And I think when you're kind of looking at the roster,
Speaker 2: at the pool of players, you know, you have some
Speaker 2: attackers that have a lot of goals but currently don't
Speaker 2: but they don't necessarily bring the energy to the team.
Speaker 2: So I agree with Gunny. You know, I think Diego
Speaker 2: has a legitimate chance, but I think starting for that
Speaker 2: team has a lot to do with form going into
Speaker 2: the tournament as well. So there's a lot of other
Speaker 2: players that can potentially, you know, take a spot or two.
Speaker 2: But one thing I think you can't do is leave
Speaker 2: a player like Diego Luna off that national team because
Speaker 2: he's a spark when he comes in and he's a
Speaker 2: great player when he starts. So I think he's putting
Speaker 2: himself in a really good position to be a part
Speaker 2: of the twenty twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: Over the past twenty four hours or so, and for
Speaker 1: our listeners perspective, Pablo played in the World Cup for
Speaker 1: the US men's national team.
Speaker 3: Did you plan in two yep? Okay, very nice two
Speaker 3: thousand and six.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. So we've heard from some former
Speaker 1: teammates of yours. We've heard from Landon Donovan, We've heard
Speaker 1: from Clint Dempsey, and then after Alexi Lallis was done
Speaker 1: giving his take on Tariff's in the Southern Border, we
Speaker 1: also heard him criticize some players who decided not to
Speaker 1: show up for this Gold Cup run. And you know,
Speaker 1: It's interesting because the Gold Cup, of course, is much
Speaker 1: much different than the World Cup, and in years past
Speaker 1: it is known as kind of this platform for players
Speaker 1: that aren't necessarily among the first choice players for the
Speaker 1: World Cup to show what they can do. And it
Speaker 1: was a World Cup appearance from Kyle Beckerman and Nicki
Speaker 1: Rimando back in the day that kind of was a
Speaker 1: conduit for their World Cup experiences. Do you share the
Speaker 1: sentiment that players like Weston McKinney and Christen Polisic and
Speaker 1: I think Tyler was hurt, but a lot you know,
Speaker 1: maybe six or seven of the potential starters for the
Speaker 1: World Cup team and maybe eleven or twelve of the
Speaker 1: potential eight team for the World Cup team are not
Speaker 1: playing in the Gold Cup. Do you believe they should
Speaker 1: be as we are literally one year away from the
Speaker 1: World Cup in our region.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, I could see I could
Speaker 2: see both sides. Spence and one. These players in Europe
Speaker 2: have ruling schedules. And again, if if they if they
Speaker 2: compete in this and they don't have a break right
Speaker 2: because right now is there is their break between seasons,
Speaker 2: then they're then they're probably putting themselves at risk from
Speaker 2: an injury perspective, I also understand the fans perspective and
Speaker 2: ex players perspective that, listen, we're a year away. We
Speaker 2: still don't know what we have. How are you not
Speaker 2: a part of this group, forming the identity, the core
Speaker 2: base of this team that's going to compete on our
Speaker 2: home soil in a year's time, Right, So I understand both,
Speaker 2: and I think the truth is somewhere in between those
Speaker 2: two things. And I don't know where they're at physically.
Speaker 2: I don't know if they're shot. You know, there's a
Speaker 2: lot of things that we don't know. So it's easy there,
Speaker 2: you know, it's easy to kind of sit at the
Speaker 2: thirty thousand feet level and say they should. But obviously
Speaker 2: we don't know the details as to the whyse and
Speaker 2: and so from a you know, from a player perspective,
Speaker 2: I can only imagine that they're just spent, right, and
Speaker 2: they don't feel like one it's going to be conducive
Speaker 2: to the next run in because their season next year
Speaker 2: is going to be just as important to them making
Speaker 2: the national team and actually playing at a really high
Speaker 2: level because the expectation is that what the McKinney, You know,
Speaker 2: Polissice uh, moussa, these guys are aren't playing at an
Speaker 2: extremely high level if we're going to have a chance
Speaker 2: to make a great run of the tournament. So uh,
Speaker 2: you know, uh, it's I'd be cautious to say one
Speaker 2: way or the other. And and I but I agree
Speaker 2: with both camps. I agree with both camps that I've
Speaker 2: been in kind of both camps, and so it's it's
Speaker 2: not an easy one. But but what it does do
Speaker 2: and I always look at the silver lining and say, well,
Speaker 2: it gives an opportunity for guys like Diego, guys like
Speaker 2: MS players Brian White that are doing well to show
Speaker 2: their goods, you know, in the absence of these other guys.
Speaker 2: And so the onus is on now these players that
Speaker 2: are in camp to show real well and win and
Speaker 2: win the tournament. So now you start, you know, putting
Speaker 2: you know, seeds of you know, putting seeds in the
Speaker 2: coach's minds as that I'm capable of playing, and all
Speaker 2: of a sudden, the pool becomes more competitive versus just
Speaker 2: having six or seven players that are locks.
Speaker 1: Is it a commentary on our overall depth and talent
Speaker 1: pool that without our best five or six players, we
Speaker 1: look so bad.
Speaker 2: Is that?
Speaker 1: Is that a commentary that maybe the Diego was great?
Speaker 1: I want to be clear, and I think he's got
Speaker 1: a bright future. But I don't know if it's an
Speaker 1: indictment on MLS. I don't want to go there. But
Speaker 1: what does it say to you about our talent pool
Speaker 1: that when our top shelf guys aren't in there, we
Speaker 1: seem to look so lost.
Speaker 2: That's a great question. I think it's multi faceting. The
Speaker 2: one thing I'll point to and I think it's a
Speaker 2: real thing, and and pro and pro soccer really and
Speaker 2: mass team's a part of that as well. Is the
Speaker 2: the with the modern game because it's become so so
Speaker 2: much more physically demanding. The thought is we want younger players, right,
Speaker 2: We want younger players, which is great because they'll do
Speaker 2: a lot of things that older players won't. But what
Speaker 2: they don't have is the experience to kind of lead
Speaker 2: and the experience to help these players that are coming
Speaker 2: into this camp. And so I think that that has
Speaker 2: been an issue with the national team. And you can
Speaker 2: do it with young players. It's not that you can't,
Speaker 2: but they have to be special players that are willing
Speaker 2: to you know, and I think Tyler Adams is a
Speaker 2: good example. I think he's the leader, you know, I
Speaker 2: think he leads by example, but he's also very you know,
Speaker 2: he communicates really well and he organizes. But but you know,
Speaker 2: I look back at our teams when I was playing,
Speaker 2: and I always had guys that were seven eight years
Speaker 2: older than I was on the field, and oftentimes, especially
Speaker 2: when when bullets started flying and we were under a
Speaker 2: little bit, they were the ones that helped organize the team.
Speaker 2: It wasn't the coach. The coach has no connection to
Speaker 2: the game when it's going on, right, he sets the
Speaker 2: plan in motion, and I just deal with our national team.
Speaker 2: We lack a little bit of that experience that can
Speaker 2: guide these guys, and so it's I don't think it's
Speaker 2: so much of you know, the talent that I'm talking
Speaker 2: about is more about experience. And so the younger players
Speaker 2: can look up in times of duress and see the
Speaker 2: guy is calm, and hear him communicating, and hear him
Speaker 2: don't worry about it. We're going to handle this. Whereas
Speaker 2: if you have a lot of inexperience on the field,
Speaker 2: oftentimes they're you know, they're they're they're they're under a
Speaker 2: lot of pressure, and they're in more self preservation mode
Speaker 2: as opposed to, you know, solving the problem right, and
Speaker 2: they're acting more as individuals as opposed to a collective.
Speaker 2: And so, you know, I think that we do have
Speaker 2: a group that has a World Cup experience, and now
Speaker 2: the onus is on on those guys. Polisage, mckinne. You know, Moosa,
Speaker 2: these guys that did well in twenty twenty two to
Speaker 2: really show up in twenty twenty six and and and
Speaker 2: be not only great players but also leaders and mentors
Speaker 2: for the rest of the group.
Speaker 1: Okay, to your one more thing here, because to your
Speaker 1: point about the coaching stuff, it's a really good one.
Speaker 1: I don't feel like soccer coaches more so than any
Speaker 1: other sport, any any any other sport you call it
Speaker 1: time out, any other sport that.
Speaker 3: Plays over get over here.
Speaker 1: And I know that you and your assistants are in
Speaker 1: communication with players as are running by you or whatever,
Speaker 1: but it just feels like once the game starts, soccer
Speaker 1: coaches soccer managers are a kind of spectators.
Speaker 3: And I know that's not entirely true, but I know
Speaker 3: you get my point.
Speaker 1: And ultimately, when it comes to what we've done with
Speaker 1: the US men's national team, you know, even moving on
Speaker 1: from a guy like Bob Bradley, and then it was
Speaker 1: Jurgen and then it was Greg and now it's poach.
Speaker 1: And you know, there's a lot of noise about Pochettino
Speaker 1: and whether or not he's the guy. I'm like, dude,
Speaker 1: you moved on from the guy that could have been
Speaker 1: the guy. It can't always be the coach. But it's
Speaker 1: hard to cut players and move on from players. What's
Speaker 1: what's fair to say about the early returns from Pochettino
Speaker 1: after ten and does it change the way people should
Speaker 1: look at the job that Greg did before he was
Speaker 1: let go.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Again, I we've talked about this oftentimes. You know,
Speaker 2: the coaches is is always going to be the guy
Speaker 2: that flipped at as when when there's issues that that's
Speaker 2: that's the problem. And and again, as as I continue
Speaker 2: my coaching journey, the most important thing for me is
Speaker 2: is a group of players that have aquisent amount of
Speaker 2: experience to lead themselves. So if you go all young
Speaker 2: guys in a game where like you said, coaches cannot
Speaker 2: call time out, then you're left to the winds of
Speaker 2: their experience. Right. But when teams have six experienced players
Speaker 2: that hold themselves accountable and then bring a lot into
Speaker 2: young guys. Now you've created an environment where you have
Speaker 2: coaches on the field right now. I think that's different
Speaker 2: from other sports where you can have just talent, and
Speaker 2: talent will see you through because now the coach can
Speaker 2: call a player, call a time out, and do these
Speaker 2: different things. We don't have that luxury, and so what
Speaker 2: we rely on is one we have a leadership group, right,
Speaker 2: and a lot of these A lot of the guys
Speaker 2: in our leadership group at RSL have two three years
Speaker 2: of experience, right, and then there's a couple others that
Speaker 2: have a lot more. But I just think that the
Speaker 2: dynamic of the team that must have a requisite number
Speaker 2: of players with tremendous experience to be able to calm
Speaker 2: the game down when at tech, speed it up when
Speaker 2: it's lull, when there's roles in the game, you know,
Speaker 2: like get the guys dialed in on set pieces where
Speaker 2: we're at times you feel like it's a time to rest,
Speaker 2: but it's really a time to be focused, you know.
Speaker 2: So we go through all that in training, but you
Speaker 2: can imagine when bullets start flying, it's not we can't
Speaker 2: stop the session, we can't stop the game, call a
Speaker 2: time out and be like, guys, this is a really
Speaker 2: bullet moment. So I think the makeup of the team
Speaker 2: has to be so that you have coaches on the field.
Speaker 2: If not, then then you're just you're oftentimes flipping the
Speaker 2: coin as to how they're going to respond. And again
Speaker 2: that's how players gain experience. And we talk about it,
Speaker 2: this is a moment. What do you think about this
Speaker 2: moment from a management perspective, Oh, we could have done
Speaker 2: this differently, right, So now it might take six or
Speaker 2: seven more of those moments for them to finally understand,
Speaker 2: and then it might take six or seven of those
Speaker 2: moments for them to be able to communicate with the
Speaker 2: teammate without feeling like I'm being hard on my teammates.
Speaker 2: So I think that's that's been the toughest thing. And
Speaker 2: so with Poach, again, for me, it's early days. He's
Speaker 2: trying to figure out exactly the best way to go
Speaker 2: about it with the team tactically, from from a mentality
Speaker 2: standpoint as well, and then on top of that, he's
Speaker 2: trying to figure out the players that are going to
Speaker 2: be able to help him. You know, just you know,
Speaker 2: see out his ideas and his style of play. So
Speaker 2: I'd be I'd be real cautious because again I think
Speaker 2: Greg did a really good job. It did a really
Speaker 2: good job. And everyone and everyone always thinks that the
Speaker 2: grats is always greener with someone else, and it's the
Speaker 2: truth is, it's the same players and depending on where
Speaker 2: there are, where they're at in their soccer journey, will
Speaker 2: dictate whether or not you have leaders on the field
Speaker 2: that can that can carry out the plan.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't it just be more prudent to find the guy,
Speaker 1: believe in the guy, and ride with the guy and
Speaker 1: give them.
Speaker 2: Time that that that would be the that would be
Speaker 2: the sensible way of looking at it. But I think
Speaker 2: in pro sports again, like and and and I'll say
Speaker 2: pro sports in a in a social media world, there's
Speaker 2: just no time. There's just there's just no what you know,
Speaker 2: everyone wants to plan an orange tree, a seed of
Speaker 2: an orange tree, and then recruit the next day. And
Speaker 2: it's like, well, that's just not how nature works. But
Speaker 2: we're bucking the nature trend and just demanding that things
Speaker 2: go They go great from the start, but but there's
Speaker 2: gonna be a big learning curve. And again, this is
Speaker 2: Pochatino's first gig as a as an international manager, and
Speaker 2: that's very unique because you don't have the building blocks
Speaker 2: to be like, Okay, this is how we play, and
Speaker 2: we can train this for the next month. You got
Speaker 2: camp set, you have two training sessions, and then you
Speaker 2: have a game, and then you have a training session,
Speaker 2: then you have another game, and it's like there's there's
Speaker 2: no time. And that's why I go back to this
Speaker 2: experience thing, because those guys know how to conduct themselves
Speaker 2: in a way where like they can grasp tactical concepts
Speaker 2: really easily because they've seen a million different coaches in
Speaker 2: their careers and they can apply in real time.
Speaker 3: Do you know Alexi Lallas at all.
Speaker 2: I do?
Speaker 3: Is he as unpleasant of a person as he seems?
Speaker 2: You know? I think when he went to TV, he really,
Speaker 2: you know, like he has this bad image he's you know,
Speaker 2: and any portrays that I think on the TV, I
Speaker 2: don't think that's genuinely who he is. I think he
Speaker 2: does speak his mind, but but my experiences with him
Speaker 2: as a player are different from what I think you
Speaker 2: see on the TV.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, fair enough, we don't we don't have
Speaker 1: to stay in the space. It's getting uncomfortable already. So
Speaker 1: let's move over to your team, Pablo. Since uh, since
Speaker 1: you and I last spoke, you hit the road for
Speaker 1: a couple of matches, and Jason christopped on the show
Speaker 1: prior to you guys leaving and informed us that Diogo
Speaker 1: was being left off the trip due to disciplinary reasons.
Speaker 1: So I have a two part question. Can you shed
Speaker 1: any light on that decision? And have you been pleased
Speaker 1: with his response since you guys decided to leave him home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think and I talked about this
Speaker 2: a couple of days ago, and and I think just
Speaker 2: given where we were at as a team, there's a
Speaker 2: there's a huge sense of urgency, right, And Indigo had
Speaker 2: been out for eight or nine days with a with
Speaker 2: a heal injury, and so it was his first day back,
Speaker 2: and and we had to the next day, we were
Speaker 2: traveling to Austin, and and so he was in a
Speaker 2: different mode than than the rest of the group, right,
Speaker 2: And I think that wasn't taken into account that he'd
Speaker 2: been out for eight days and had to get up
Speaker 2: to speed. You know, the expectation was that he'd be
Speaker 2: pick up right where he left off, and that's not
Speaker 2: real either. So I think a lot got misconstrued with
Speaker 2: the urgency of the group and what we needed to
Speaker 2: do and where he was coming off of his injury.
Speaker 2: So I think that was that, you know, that was
Speaker 2: a situation. And and so since then his response has
Speaker 2: been fantastic. He's been he's been great in training, really focused,
Speaker 2: doing just doing a lot of great things in training.
Speaker 2: So I feel very optimistic. And then obviously with Diggle
Speaker 2: out this weekend, uh, he'll probably play on the left side,
Speaker 2: coming in where he's the most comfortable. And you know,
Speaker 2: I looked forward to a very good performance from diegle
Speaker 2: this weekend.
Speaker 3: Good to hear.
Speaker 1: Good to hear, because you need him, man, you need
Speaker 1: him now more than ever. Maybe who else will you
Speaker 1: rely on in the attack with Diego away? So Diego
Speaker 1: will be on the left. Who else are we going
Speaker 1: to see in the attack?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll more likely see Johnny Russell playing on the right.
Speaker 2: And again another player that hadn't had a preseason, been
Speaker 2: six months out and every training session he just gets
Speaker 2: brought to sharper and sharper. His fitness levels have gone
Speaker 2: up incredibly in the last you know, three weeks, and
Speaker 2: he's putting in a lot of work and his qualities
Speaker 2: kind of speaks for itself. You know, he's been scoring
Speaker 2: a lot of goals in training, which is which is
Speaker 2: something that we've been sorely missing. So really excited to
Speaker 2: see Johnny and then you know, William Goza. More likely
Speaker 2: we'll shore up the rest of the front line.
Speaker 1: As far as the rest of the group. I know
Speaker 1: you have been banged up, but it's been a minute
Speaker 1: since your last match. Have you been able to utilize
Speaker 1: the space to get everybody ready to get ready to
Speaker 1: go in healthy?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, no, it's it's been great. You know, I
Speaker 2: think it's it was a tough flog the first part
Speaker 2: of the season. But again, where where I really leaned
Speaker 2: into is the belief and and the way the way
Speaker 2: I I I see belief is in the in the
Speaker 2: effort and the commitment and training. Right. So we had
Speaker 2: we had a week where we didn't have a game
Speaker 2: and we had three training sessions and those are really
Speaker 2: hard as a player to get up for because there's
Speaker 2: nothing at the end of it, right, and and just
Speaker 2: like the level I mean, there's a couple you know,
Speaker 2: scuffs in there. There's a couple of bus stoups and
Speaker 2: guys that are really compete and really want to want
Speaker 2: to turn things around. And so for me, like, I
Speaker 2: feel so proud of this group. Whilst we haven't been
Speaker 2: able to score goals, it's not from a lack of trying,
Speaker 2: and it's not not from a lack of creating really
Speaker 2: good opportunities. It's just that final piece which at times
Speaker 2: takes you know, a bit of instinct, a bit of luck,
Speaker 2: a bit of fortune. But the way they've applied themselves
Speaker 2: and you know, in the last two weeks has been fantastic,
Speaker 2: and so I'm really looking forward to a spirited performance
Speaker 2: this weekend against DC.
Speaker 1: Only two matches this month based off of these tough
Speaker 1: sledding and you know, lack of health and such. Do
Speaker 1: you view that as a good thing or do you
Speaker 1: view that as something you wish was a little bit
Speaker 1: different so you can maybe go get some more points.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, you know, I really don't spend too much
Speaker 2: time on things that are beyond my control. You know,
Speaker 2: I think you know, Dom won't be available, Loota won't
Speaker 2: be available, and those are two guys that have been
Speaker 2: playing playing really well the last few games. So it
Speaker 2: could be is a good thing and bad thing, who knows.
Speaker 2: But what it is is an opportunity for other guys
Speaker 2: to chip in, you know, stake acclaim in a position,
Speaker 2: make it competitive so that when everyone gets back, we
Speaker 2: have a team that's that's even stronger than they than
Speaker 2: we were when when those guys left the group. So
Speaker 2: if we have two matches, we got to take them
Speaker 2: on the right way and make sure that you know,
Speaker 2: we have fifteen points typically forty five points, we'll see
Speaker 2: you into the playoffs. That means we need to win
Speaker 2: ten games in the second part of the seas. So
Speaker 2: ten of our seventeen games are at home, right, and
Speaker 2: this is this is my pitch to the group. This
Speaker 2: is so it's black and white here. We need ten games.
Speaker 2: We need to win ten games, right and we have
Speaker 2: we have we've let ourselves down at home and you know,
Speaker 2: there's been some crazy things that have happened. However, that
Speaker 2: we can control our own destiny here and so our
Speaker 2: focus is on winning ten games. We have ten at home,
Speaker 2: those are ten great games to shoot at and uh
Speaker 2: and then if obviously if we drop any points, we
Speaker 2: got to make them up away from home, and so
Speaker 2: we have seven games to do that. Even though it
Speaker 2: hasn't worked out and the task might be a bit daunting,
Speaker 2: I believe that we have the spirit. And then obviously
Speaker 2: we have another window where we can hopefully, you know,
Speaker 2: add some add some different players into the roster to
Speaker 2: hopefully bolster a team that's in really good form.
Speaker 3: All right, last thing that I'll set you lose.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the thirty thousand foot view and I like
Speaker 1: it through that prism of understanding what the math looks like.
Speaker 1: But it does feel like Saturday is bigger than most
Speaker 1: regular season matches as it is getting late early. Is
Speaker 1: there any extra added emphasis, extra added weight to go
Speaker 1: get three on Saturday? Juxtaposed to what you said about
Speaker 1: the macro approach, Yeah, no, Again.
Speaker 2: I think the other the other important thing is is
Speaker 2: like you know, I'm I was an older player, and
Speaker 2: I can handle pressure really really well. It's it's not
Speaker 2: it's that was never an issue. My thing with this
Speaker 2: group is like completely staying focused on everyone doing their jobs.
Speaker 2: You know. I think when you're in these moments, you
Speaker 2: have certain players that want to do more than and
Speaker 2: and and forget to do their own job right. So
Speaker 2: I believe that if we have eleven guys that are
Speaker 2: all committed to doing their job to the best of
Speaker 2: their abilities, it'll put us in a great position to
Speaker 2: win this game at the weekend, as opposed to saying, hey, guys,
Speaker 2: we really really need this game. We you know, and
Speaker 2: and and I got. I'm always careful of the way
Speaker 2: I speak to them, because again, if I say we
Speaker 2: really really need to do this, it means they might
Speaker 2: interpret that as oh, I need to do someone else's job, right,
Speaker 2: So just to be really clear with them as saying, listen,
Speaker 2: if you're a center back, just to find the right way,
Speaker 2: if you're an attacking player, make plays, and and if
Speaker 2: everyone in the pivot's doing a little bit of everything,
Speaker 2: and if we have everyone doing their job, I feel
Speaker 2: like we'll be in a good position to break the snide,
Speaker 2: start a good run of games, and hopefully find ourselves
Speaker 2: in the playoff positions.
Speaker 1: All right, buddy, We'll good to catch up with you,
Speaker 1: pulling for as always, good luck on Saturday.
Speaker 2: We'll chat too, Thanks, Ben, appreciate it, Bud.
Speaker 1: Hey, Pablo mas JOHNI aresa with a big one. They
Speaker 1: need points badly