Speaker 1: Start things off today with a little soccer. A couple
Speaker 1: of points left on the table, left on the board
Speaker 1: last night, Jason Christ our guest on a Thursday Jay,
Speaker 1: Happy Thursday, buddy.
Speaker 2: How are we doing?
Speaker 3: I'm doing good. How are you spent?
Speaker 2: I'm well, I'm well.
Speaker 1: So there were moments last night, certainly there were uh
Speaker 1: and Minnesota badly needed at least a points.
Speaker 2: You know they were gonna there, they were gonna be cooked.
Speaker 2: But let's just start in a vacuum.
Speaker 1: Your takeaways from what I perceived to be a couple
Speaker 1: of points left on the table after that nil nil
Speaker 1: draw last night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the frustration kind of continues here and
Speaker 3: that we feel like, now that's three games in a row,
Speaker 3: to be honest, where we walk away with one point,
Speaker 3: feeling like we probably should have had nine points. So
Speaker 3: three points over three games where I think we should
Speaker 3: have realistically had nine. So the frustration continues. But we
Speaker 3: do also have to look at it from somewhat of
Speaker 3: a bit more realistic perspective, and that Minnesota came in
Speaker 3: here last night extremely defensive, area ended it, extremely negative
Speaker 3: in their play and made things difficult for us. And
Speaker 3: they're a team that has now one four of their
Speaker 3: last five, and including us, that's four and a draw
Speaker 3: in their last six. So they're a team that has
Speaker 3: been trending very positively and they were no slouches.
Speaker 1: So when and it, you know, it was pretty clear.
Speaker 1: I guess one of the old ways to say it
Speaker 1: is parking the bus. When a team does that, Jay,
Speaker 1: what's the best way to I mean, oftentimes it feels
Speaker 1: like the only way to crack a defensive lineup like
Speaker 1: that is with a little bit of luck, with some
Speaker 1: long ball or something.
Speaker 2: But what's the.
Speaker 1: Best way to go about your business to try to
Speaker 1: at least find one when a team clearly is playing
Speaker 1: a very defensive style of soccer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they played with a very deep back five, They
Speaker 3: played with the team that's had in the entire all
Speaker 3: that and other players were sitting in their own half
Speaker 3: of the field, and we've seen that earlier in the season.
Speaker 3: We saw that on several occasions, teams come here and
Speaker 3: prove come out with a very negative mindset and just
Speaker 3: proved to be very different to break down. So it
Speaker 3: does require us to do some different things that perhaps
Speaker 3: were not comfortable doing yet. And there are some things
Speaker 3: like playing a bit more direct. There are some things
Speaker 3: like looking to play behind the opponent more and another
Speaker 3: idea is just to serve more balls in their pealty box.
Speaker 3: If they're content to defend their penalty box, perhaps we
Speaker 3: need to make some havock in that area, serve more
Speaker 3: balls there, and then just look for knockdowns. So those
Speaker 3: are all stuff that we've been discussing this morning in
Speaker 3: the early afternoon.
Speaker 1: So Pablo made it a point both pregame and postgame
Speaker 1: to really point out the production of Matt Crooks and
Speaker 1: what Matt means to you guys.
Speaker 2: And you know, it's interesting.
Speaker 1: This is probably going to not make a ton of
Speaker 1: sense because you know, ultimately they play a different position,
Speaker 1: but it kind of reminds me a little bit of
Speaker 1: back in the day when Kyle would have a game,
Speaker 1: Kyle Beckerman would have a game where he didn't necessarily
Speaker 1: score a goal or have an assist, or even had
Speaker 1: a shot on goal or was even involved in the attack.
Speaker 1: And Kyle certainly was never a wallflower, but at times
Speaker 1: it was like, Okay, was Kyle involved enough?
Speaker 2: And then you see the data after.
Speaker 1: The game, you're like, Duderew just ran like seven miles
Speaker 1: and connected all these passes, and so yes, he wasn't
Speaker 1: involved up front, but certainly was doing what you were
Speaker 1: asking him to do. From your vantage point, What has
Speaker 1: Matt Crooks meant you guys? Even though you know three goals,
Speaker 1: five assists not horrible numbers, but it's they're not Chicho
Speaker 1: or Andres or Anderson or whatever numbers even Diego. But
Speaker 1: how would you articulate Jay, how important that is to
Speaker 1: what you guys are doing right now?
Speaker 3: What s Matt's done over the past four or five
Speaker 3: games is really led by example, and I think that's
Speaker 3: what Pablo's talking about. He's become a bit of the
Speaker 3: talisman for our group, a guy that is showing the
Speaker 3: rest what type of effort and commitment it takes now
Speaker 3: to get points in these in these stretches of seasons.
Speaker 3: So he's a guy that has been there and done
Speaker 3: it at a very high level in England, and for me,
Speaker 3: he's he's he's performing at a different level than he
Speaker 3: has from most of the season. His performances. Of course,
Speaker 3: we want statistics in the end for a player that
Speaker 3: plays in an attacking position, we'd like to see more
Speaker 3: system goals, but I think just just a level of
Speaker 3: commitment showing has to be commended. And when you look
Speaker 3: at the data, it doesn't lie. You know, he's just
Speaker 3: ranking right at the top, and you know, distances covered,
Speaker 3: high speed running, all of it.
Speaker 1: All right, So ultimately, as you reference, you know, last
Speaker 1: night in a vacuum, frustrating, certainly, but this is something
Speaker 1: that does stretch back now for three matches where you've
Speaker 1: conceded late goals against Portland and Austin and couldn't find
Speaker 1: one against Minnesota, and Jay, I think, if we're honest,
Speaker 1: it even goes back a little bit further. You know,
Speaker 1: I was asked the other day, are you more confident
Speaker 1: in RSL now to make a late playoff run than
Speaker 1: you were earlier in the season, And my response was like, well,
Speaker 1: early in the season they were beating everybody. You went
Speaker 1: fifteen straight without losing, an unbeaten streak that broke a
Speaker 1: club record. There was a stretch where it felt like
Speaker 1: if Chiacho only scored one goal, he had a bad game.
Speaker 1: So I think, if we're honest, this stretch of you know,
Speaker 1: soccer that wasn't that isn't necessarily what we were seeing
Speaker 1: earlier on in the year.
Speaker 2: Stretches back quite some time.
Speaker 1: So let's now pan out from thirty thousand feet now
Speaker 1: that we've attacked last night in a vacuum.
Speaker 2: What is it? Is it new players?
Speaker 1: Is it Chichos suspension kind of hanging over his head?
Speaker 2: Is it lack of form? Like? Is it competition?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 1: What exactly would you attribute the lack of consistency to
Speaker 1: over the past I don't know, three or four weeks.
Speaker 3: Well, I think it's a few things. I think that's
Speaker 3: an interesting comment to make about, you know, whether you
Speaker 3: think a team will make a deep run in the
Speaker 3: middle of a season. That's kind of an absurd comment. Actually,
Speaker 3: you're not going to know how you think a team's
Speaker 3: going to do at the end of the season until
Speaker 3: the end of the season, and so I would agree
Speaker 3: with the sentiment that it doesn't you know, it doesn't
Speaker 3: look like we are a team at the moment, at
Speaker 3: this moment that should be or is going to be
Speaker 3: challenging for an MLS Cup. And that's frustrating because I
Speaker 3: think all of our dreams were aligned in the middle
Speaker 3: of the season, that we were in a really good spot,
Speaker 3: and if that could continue towards the end of the season,
Speaker 3: then I think we would all be feeling the same.
Speaker 3: Having said all of that, things can change very drastically
Speaker 3: at the at the flip of a switch. Really, things
Speaker 3: could go right for us this weekend and then go
Speaker 3: right for us two weeks from now. And now you've
Speaker 3: got a little bit of momentum, because from my perspective,
Speaker 3: we do have the talent. The team is good enough,
Speaker 3: the players are good enough, the coaches are good enough
Speaker 3: to challenge for trophy this year. We just need some momentum,
Speaker 3: We need some positivity, and we need some confidence. And
Speaker 3: I think a lot of that, as we've talked about before,
Speaker 3: does come down to a little bit our leader up front.
Speaker 3: You know, he is in a bit of a slump.
Speaker 3: I think we can go ahead and say that now
Speaker 3: where he hasn't scord to go in a very long time,
Speaker 3: and a lot of that comes through the inconsistent nature
Speaker 3: in which he's been playing. You know, he's suspended for
Speaker 3: the four games for what happened in the middle of
Speaker 3: the season. He comes back, he gets injured, he comes
Speaker 3: back from that, he gets suspended again for yellow card accumulation.
Speaker 3: So he just hasn't played minutes on a consistent basis
Speaker 3: that I think he needs in order to get hit
Speaker 3: his form back.
Speaker 1: Jason, it's sports talk radio. The whole thing's absurd, Dude,
Speaker 1: Nothing about this is normal. You know, I've got to
Speaker 1: come up with topics, and you know, when it's August
Speaker 1: and I have to do four hours, we're going to
Speaker 1: talk about if rself can make a run.
Speaker 2: The whole thing is absurd.
Speaker 3: Now, So I didn't mean it that strong way. It's
Speaker 3: just kind of a funny comment. Hey, you know, if
Speaker 3: you're in the middle of the season, Hey, do you
Speaker 3: think the team's going to make a deep, deep runt
Speaker 3: in the playoffs? Well, I don't know. Talk to me
Speaker 3: like a lot closer to the playoffs. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Have you ever seen that show where the boss would
Speaker 1: dress up as something and fool the staff into believing
Speaker 1: he's just one of the staff.
Speaker 2: I think have you ever seen that?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I've got an idea.
Speaker 1: Okay, for one day, I want you to come in
Speaker 1: here and do four hours of radio and I'm going
Speaker 1: to do your job, and let's see how absurd you are, Jason.
Speaker 3: I mean, can you imagine how bad I would be
Speaker 3: at that spense? It would be unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Equally bad is finding a striker in Argentina or something,
Speaker 1: so you know, you know, like for like there, Okay, specifically,
Speaker 1: what has to be better then over the past or
Speaker 1: the final couple of matches. What will you be looking
Speaker 1: for to give you a little bit more confidence that
Speaker 1: things are going better?
Speaker 3: I think it's it's it's literally just a little bit
Speaker 3: more sharpness, a little bit more fine tune play. And
Speaker 3: maybe you know, if you were to say one thing,
Speaker 3: if you were to say, okay, what does a typical
Speaker 3: what do the typical performance look like on a team
Speaker 3: that has a bunch of new people and pieces, I
Speaker 3: would say that would be it. You lost some of
Speaker 3: that you've lost summer. You're trying to gain some sharpness,
Speaker 3: some fluidity, some cohesion between the players, and I think
Speaker 3: we're just missing a little bit of that as well
Speaker 3: as just a little bit of confidence. And I think
Speaker 3: that confidence comes just through something good happening, and then
Speaker 3: I think the switch flips and everything moves in a
Speaker 3: really positive direction. So I still still believe that this
Speaker 3: group has it takes to challenge for a Cup. It's
Speaker 3: just that in these last couple of games, I don't
Speaker 3: think we've put it together. And having said that, look,
Speaker 3: seventy minutes, two games in a row. For seventy minutes,
Speaker 3: we played very well to get two goal leads against
Speaker 3: Portland and against Austin away at Austin. It's just that
Speaker 3: last twenty minutes that crushed us. And then this last game,
Speaker 3: you know, we don't get the two goal lead, but
Speaker 3: we also don't suffer a late goal or a big
Speaker 3: step back towards the end of the game. So there
Speaker 3: are some provements. We just got to put it all together.
Speaker 1: And I did want to ask you about the shutout because,
Speaker 1: as you reference to start out the interview, it's not
Speaker 1: like Minnesota was putting their best foot forward, but Zach
Speaker 1: was called upon a couple of times. Was it at
Speaker 1: least better last night from both Zach also the back four,
Speaker 1: and then I saw Chico really working hard defensively. I
Speaker 1: don't know if that's a point of emphasis, but was
Speaker 1: it a better defensive effort last night, even though Minnesota
Speaker 1: was not necessarily on the front foot much.
Speaker 3: Yes, all three of those are correct. I think the
Speaker 3: penalty box are deep. Defending was much better last night,
Speaker 3: and that's a big improvement over the last two games.
Speaker 3: I think Zach looked very solid back there, which that's
Speaker 3: a very good thing for us. And Chicho has worked
Speaker 3: very hard both the last two matches when we don't
Speaker 3: have the ball, which is going to be critical.
Speaker 1: So are you getting closer and closer to deciding who
Speaker 1: the keeper will be or have you decided? Are you
Speaker 1: going with the vet the rest of the way.
Speaker 3: I think that's it's it's definitely. Pablo's decision is something
Speaker 3: that we talk about a lot, and you know, his
Speaker 3: direction as of a week ago or two weeks ago was,
Speaker 3: you know, Zach would get a game, and if Zach
Speaker 3: did well, we would continue. So I think that's where
Speaker 3: it lies right now. And that's that's the way it is.
Speaker 3: And in all kinds of positions in our game, anywhere
Speaker 3: where there's just there's no guarantees. You got to keep performing.
Speaker 3: This is professional sports.
Speaker 1: Is it absurd to ask about positional decisions when there
Speaker 1: are games?
Speaker 3: No, it's not absurd. That's a very good question. I'll
Speaker 3: look at your questions are absurd. It was just an
Speaker 3: absurd comment.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, Like I said, Like I said, all right.
Speaker 1: One of the other things Pablo said about Crooks last
Speaker 1: night is that he's seen a lot of synergy between
Speaker 1: Crooks and Gonsalavez and Diogo, like that partnership in Pablo's
Speaker 1: eyes starting to really, you know, maybe even manifest more
Speaker 1: than meets the eye.
Speaker 2: Have you kind of seen the.
Speaker 3: Same, Yeah, I think Yeah, I thought Pablo was wrote
Speaker 3: from Singh Dominic the relationship between Matt and Dominic because
Speaker 3: Dominant plays.
Speaker 2: Well, maybe that's what that was closer to him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they've got a really nice relationship. I think they've
Speaker 3: shown some really good combination play to get behind the
Speaker 3: opponents back for and it's something that they could just
Speaker 3: have talked a lot about.
Speaker 1: So how has the because you know, it's a good
Speaker 1: problem for Pablo to have, He's he's got a lot
Speaker 1: of options in the attacking third when it comes to
Speaker 1: both the existing players you've had and the new players
Speaker 1: you brought in. Talk about that process, how it's going
Speaker 1: with Dominic and Lochlin and Diogo and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: in combination and conjunction with Diego and Anderson and Chicho
Speaker 1: are the guys that have been here, uh, and just
Speaker 1: how that how that group is kind of coming together,
Speaker 1: because obviously it's going to be paramount if you guys
Speaker 1: want to win something big that those guys are connected.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know. I think if we go back two
Speaker 3: games ago versus Portland, then we talk about Austin to
Speaker 3: finish both those games with two goals and the show
Speaker 3: those games. I thought we were looking at some really
Speaker 3: positive things. And then obviously we're upset. We're upset with
Speaker 3: last night because I don't think we generated enough goal chances.
Speaker 3: Forget about goals, but I don't think we showed the
Speaker 3: same type of stuff. Now we have to remember the
Speaker 3: opponent was different. The opponent was very, very deep, as
Speaker 3: I said, with a back five and two central until
Speaker 3: players in front of them. So in essence, it was
Speaker 3: a It was a hard game to try to create chances.
Speaker 3: But we we still need to and certainly when we're
Speaker 3: at home we need to. So I think the relationships
Speaker 3: are moving forward. I think it is a It does
Speaker 3: make for a difficult coaches decisions because I believe that
Speaker 3: we have we have a very high number of quality
Speaker 3: attacking players, and not all of them get to play
Speaker 3: together at the same time.
Speaker 1: How has the locker room to your knowledge, I know
Speaker 1: that's Pablo's sacred space, but has there been buy in
Speaker 1: from everybody? Understand standing that you know, certain players are
Speaker 1: going to come in and take your spot, and sometimes
Speaker 1: you're going to start, sometimes you're going to come in
Speaker 1: as a sub. I mean, does it feel like Pablo
Speaker 1: is getting to buy in from the group that he needs?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean how you judge that is based upon
Speaker 3: the performances that you see, Right, So persons like myself
Speaker 3: and you, we watched the games and see how a
Speaker 3: player like Diego Luno comes off the bench last night,
Speaker 3: how does he respond in that situation? And last weekend
Speaker 3: it was Diogo coming off the bench. And I would
Speaker 3: say that in both cases, those guys come in wanting
Speaker 3: to positively affect it and you could see it through
Speaker 3: their energy and their efforts. So it appears that all
Speaker 3: the guys understand that this is this is the game
Speaker 3: of soccer at the highest level. Is you know, you're
Speaker 3: not always going to start every game. So so far,
Speaker 3: it seems like it's been a good situation.
Speaker 2: I've got to go back to Chicho.
Speaker 1: You referenced him earlier in the interview, but it's just it's,
Speaker 1: you know, a very simple thing to say that he
Speaker 1: is super important to everything you do, both on and
Speaker 1: off the field, and you know, it's been a long
Speaker 1: time since we've seen him look the way he looked
Speaker 1: prior to this, when he was scoring a lot of goals,
Speaker 1: he was providing a lot of service, and he was
Speaker 1: really in the mix for MVP and looked like a
Speaker 1: sure bet to break RSL single season goal record and
Speaker 1: maybe even lead the league and goals. Most of those
Speaker 1: things are gone by the wayside. Now what do you
Speaker 1: attribute that most to and what do you want to
Speaker 1: see from him badly over the final couple of matches
Speaker 1: in the regular season.
Speaker 3: Man, I tell you what, I'd like something to just
Speaker 3: go off of his off of his chest, or his knee,
Speaker 3: or the back of his butt, whatever it is, and
Speaker 3: end up in the goal. Because, as I said, I
Speaker 3: think it's it's just that that mindset of something positive
Speaker 3: happening to him or for him that could completely open
Speaker 3: everything up. So I was hopeful that it was coming
Speaker 3: last night. It's interesting that we went to Austin and
Speaker 3: the coaches brought him out of the game because he
Speaker 3: would just look like he was fatiguing, and then five
Speaker 3: minutes later we get a penalty, So you know, if
Speaker 3: he had been on the field for that, perhaps he
Speaker 3: takes the penalty and perhaps we're moving forward with him,
Speaker 3: but unfortunately not to be the case. So I really
Speaker 3: just think it's just a matter of something happening, right
Speaker 3: because you know, a couple of weeks ago, what I
Speaker 3: told you I wasn't. We weren't really happy with the
Speaker 3: work rate we were getting from him, and we wanted
Speaker 3: him to just focus on that, and we've gotten that
Speaker 3: in the last two games. So I think that's a
Speaker 3: step in the right direction. Now it's just about something
Speaker 3: positive happening, all right.
Speaker 2: Jay, Before I set you loose a couple of matches left.
Speaker 1: When you look at the table, you know some of
Speaker 1: the things that were within reach are no longer. You're
Speaker 1: not going to catch either LA team. The Galaxy have
Speaker 1: pulled away. LAFC has a game in hand and a
Speaker 1: two point lead. I suppose some things stranger could happen,
Speaker 1: but ultimately there are six points left up for grabs.
Speaker 1: You guys are at four now, Houston is only two
Speaker 1: behind you, Colorado is only three. How important is it
Speaker 1: for you to keep that top four status to at
Speaker 1: least host your first home playoff match.
Speaker 3: It's critical, It's absolutely critical. So for us, we believe
Speaker 3: that to have the to give ourselves the best chance
Speaker 3: to make a run in the playoffs. We need to
Speaker 3: have home field advantage. You don't have home field advantage
Speaker 3: unless you finish in the top four. There's something else
Speaker 3: that's out there for us, and that if we can
Speaker 3: pick up six points, we can break an all time
Speaker 3: record for RSL as the highest point standings ever ever
Speaker 3: gained in a single season. So I'm hoping that's out
Speaker 3: for the player, out there for the players, because that's
Speaker 3: that's called making history.
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, all right, Jay, thanks for stopping by and
Speaker 1: insulting me as.
Speaker 2: Well as come.
Speaker 3: I apologize.
Speaker 1: Look you know me, I'm gonna mess with you no
Speaker 1: matter what. So thank you for the time and have
Speaker 1: a great weekend.
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, YouTube, bye bye?
Speaker 1: All right, Jason Christ RSL leaving a couple of more
Speaker 1: points on the table last night. You know, I kind
Speaker 1: of alluded to this with Jason. It just hasn't been
Speaker 1: good enough for a while.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: They got the Dallas win now three straight draws, They
Speaker 1: got smoked by Houston prior to and we can go
Speaker 1: back and forth, but for my money, they have not
Speaker 1: looked really top shelf since maybe late June early July.
Speaker 1: Can we go that far back, but hopefully they can
Speaker 1: at least host a home playoff match. I know most
Speaker 1: everyone around here is focused on football, but if you've
Speaker 1: ever been to a playoff home soccer match, I know
Speaker 1: some of you are rolling your eyes because your football, bros.
Speaker 2: And soccer is lame. It's really fun.
Speaker 1: So I'm at least hoping they can do that back
Speaker 1: in action, coming up against the worst team in Major
Speaker 1: League Soccer San Jose, and then they'll finish it off
Speaker 1: after a little break against Vancouver and then it's signed
Speaker 1: for playoff soccer.