I don't know how your teachers were across the board in high school, but how many of your teachers when you had a point five, like a seventy nine five eighty nine to five, they would round up and get you. It's like, okay, that's an eighty, that's a ninety. You got the A or the B. How many teachers did that?
Honestly, that's tough to answer, because I don't know if I cared enough about grades to pay attention, like if I was getting benefited doubt. I know, sometimes you got like graded on a curve for tests or whatever. But they liked me right, Like I was a pretty good student. I didn't cause too many issues in class, so they probably rounded up on my behalf.
Okay, all right, so you you got that benefit of the doubt I had. I had a particular math teacher when I was in high school back in the late eighteen nineties, and I had three seventy nine and a halfs and I got three c's because I sat in the back of the classroom and didn't give two you know, what's about this particular math and what it was going to be doing for my lifestyle, you know. So I had the one math teacher that was like, oh seventy nine and a half. See, yeah, I was.
I was front of the room, heavy on participation, almost too annoyingly. So so I think they liked that, and so I think I got the benefit.
I'm sure you did, absolutely true. Ave Gordon dropping byz he always does on a Monday, looking at it Landy United and the weekend that was it was a matchup against New England. Fans in New England or lamenting already about having the same things happened in the preseason that happened last season under Caleb Porter. So there's gnashing of teeth and you know, mixing of fingers and there's a lot of consternation at Landy United comes out with a
two zero win at IMG Academy. Early thoughts from thirty thousand feet before we dive into individual thoughts and players.
Yeah, I mean, look, I wasn't really paying attention to
what New England was doing. I was certainly watching for the Atlanta United perspective and looking here, what do we know like set pieces and corner kicks and free kicks are a danger spot for Atlanta United offensively again, And I think that's something that was I mean sorely missing up until the later stages of the season last year, and I think we have seen that now at multiple parts of this exhibition season, so certainly looking forward to
see if that can translate into the regular season as well. I thought the team looked pretty good. I thought they looked physical too, And there's some bodies being banged over any exhibition season, almost to the point where I'm like, all right, guys, like, let's try and get to opening
day healthy here. And I know Tira who bagged that backpost touch off the free kick, he went down for a little bit, and there were a couple of other moment so you know, you just don't want to see it, right, You get a little bit nerve, I get a little bit nervous and so uh. But but again, I talked to you last week a little bit about Mattea's Click as well. I just think he's such a huge addition that's gonna get buried. I think because of al Marone and and I guess I hadn't talked to you officially,
they because of latte Laugh as well. I just think Click is gonna be such an integral piece here. And if you're talking about service, and we already saw it again in this exhibition season, just kind of making a mess of things in the box and just causing issues and ultimately Click puts it on net and buries it. So very pleased with that edition. It is gonna get buried, and rightfully so right like Latte laugh is out here talking the trash already and and so we're ready for that.
And it was great to see Niggy Beck officially in a jersey competitive all that stuff, so and a too nothing win. And I think that's the other aspect is you are seeing a team that is burying chances and I don't really look at it as hey, they probably could have had five or six goals. I mean, I feel like at times that was the discussion last year is like, man, you really gotta bury the chances you have.
Remember they had that weird x G and then as I deem it actual G differentiation And it doesn't necessarily feel right now, and again it's exhibition season, let's keep that in mind. But it doesn't feel like that's a massive problem right now. And that's a good feeling too.
So x G minus G equals a G. I believe in the ape Gordon stat Yeah, that's correct, that's correct. Nothing like math.
They should have bumped you up that half point with that that sort of on the fly.
I don't even that I was awful at math and it never happened. Uh yeah, I was. I was. I was the leader of the d's in the f's and algebra I had nothing to do with it. And uh see, you know, because the only thing that we need math for in this business is back timing breaks. That's the only literally, that's the only math we have, right.
Uh yeah, And I guess the fourth official has to do the math on stoppage time and it start to add up seconds and count over that clock. But uh yeah, I think we're pretty math free, and I think that's a good thing.
We're digging it. Uh So when you look at Miggie and his return, Miguel al Maroon back and most of the starters played seventy for yeah, Ronnie Daila and Atlanta United because you're ramping them up to get them ninety minutes fit and such. MIGGI specifically, I think that, uh you know, you're it's look, it's it's match week one,
getting ready to integrate with your new teammates. You know, the passes aren't going to be there every single time, Relationships and wants aren't going to be there every single time. But I think the larger thing is here, he's out there, it's practice, he's integrating. And this was just the first example during game.
Stay well a couple of things here, and I think initially the good news is that he is out there, like you're saying, and that obviously fares well for him being available to start the season. And sometimes when you bring in players, especially later or closer to the season start, you might have an issue getting them eligible to play, and even lockday laugh. I believe is eligible on opening day on the twenty second. Now, that doesn't mean he's
going to be out there. He won't really have had much time to do a lot with his teammates, but it's still a possibility and that's kind of exciting. And I was talking about this with Mike Connie at the end of last week and I mentioned this to you once before. I don't need this team to be at its peak at the opening game, and I think you saw a little bit of that in this exhibition game.
Here is that it's going to take time for Miggy to get back into the top level chemistry with every single teammate that is new here from when he was here. He's not just gonna walk right back in and everything is connecting at one hundred percent. So I think you did see a little bit of that. You did see. Oh I thought this player was gonna make this run. He made that runner. I thought he was gonna weigh this past this heavily. He was actually way that heavily.
And so there are gonna be those moments. But I think getting him out there one is exciting, as we already talked about, but also it is important to have those kind of decisions in the preseason and kind of move on from that. But look, we're not gonna go crazy. At least I'm not gonna go crazy. I can't control anyone else and what they're saying. But in terms of if it is a slower start to the season, then maybe we want. It's a very difficult schedule early on.
There's a lot of playoff teams from last year right up at the front and a lot of moving pieces, and that includes a new manager, and there's just so much inconsistency from last year to this year. That I'm gonna give them time to build, and I'm gonna say that multiple times with you, especially if they do struggle early, because I do think if they stay healthy, this is a team that absolutely can compete in the Eastern Conference and potentially league wide. But that doesn't mean they're gonna
be right there day one. So I think you saw some of those things with Miggi in his first time back. I think whenever you do get latte life out there, you're gonna see probably that as well. But again, we don't need to be the best team in the MLS at match day one. We need to be the best team of the MLS match day twenty eight, twenty nine thirty and moving forward. And so we're gonna we're gonna pace ourselves, right, I mean, you know me, I'm a runner. We don't sprint at the start of a I did
a ten k this weekend. You don't sprint at the start of a ten k. You settle in, you're kind of weaving in and out of traffic as you maneuver into the open lanes, and then you hit a stride right and then you really find your rhythm and then you try and pick up towards the end, as you know that finishing kick is there, you're not sprinting out the start, or you won't have much for a finishing
kick at the end. So if we're gonna relate in the season to that, I think it's okay to be a little hesitant and tentative early on to make sure you have what you need down the stretch.
Yeah, because I mean literally, you're in the newborn calf stage here. You know, it's the episode of whatever nineteen eighties or nineties show that had farm animals, and it's like the newborn calf is like, Oh, it's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough getting to that point.
I'm gonna tell you what the problem is already with this analogy. Yeah, I'm rooting for the predator. Usually I doubt the calf that's barely walking, and that's obviously not what we want here.
So no, but I mean in the barn, you know the calf's first steps, you know, they're kind of kind of clunky, and you know, you're you're trying to make sure that you can stand on your on your own feet before you go out there and you start running around and you push beer barrels from Saint Louis to a bar someplace. You know, it's all on the bill. That's that's where we are.
I'm just hoping the mother accepts the child as opposed to rejects it and needs raised by human hands.
Yeah, no, no, it's not good. Ab Gordon hanging out with us as he always does, bat and lead off. He he is our Ricky Henderson on Mondays for Reaction.
Mondays here on sdham H you mentioned Mattea's Click, and I think that in the the four to two three one that we're going to be looking at from Ronnie Dila, I think that Matteas click is a part of an interesting equation because you're looking at Click, You're looking at Sleash, You're looking at Mulliam Bai, you're looking at Jay Fortune, You're looking at guys who are going to be fighting
for time in practice every week. And I will be intrigued to see who the dance partners are of the four plus that are going to be a part of that midfield three.
Well, it's also interesting, especially if you believe Clickle will ultimately end up on the right side that early in the season when you would have brooks Lennon, and you're not going to the service from the right side, where is it coming from? And that's something that Mattea's click absolutely excels at. You could just look at his assist totals from last year with DC United and yes, a lot of those are going to Benteca and that makes
it a lot easier to get assists as well. But we traditionally over the last couple of years, counted so heavily on brooks Lennon getting forward and providing service into the box. With him out injured, is his replacement on the right side going to be able to do that or maybe do we rely on the midfielder to actually provide that service. I think that is something that is
part of the discussion for Ronnie Daila. Look, we talked about it because not everyone's going to get through this season healthy guys are gonna have bits here and there. It's good to have the depth. It's good to have the discussion of boy, there's a lot of talent here and someone's gonna have to be the odd man out. It helps you stay fresh over the course of the season. Look, it's great to be like the MLS's iron man, right and play. I mean, and that's what Brooks Lennon essentially
was for the most part. But like, there's also some value of getting guys a little bit of break throughout the course of a season, especially as you hit stretches of match compression without taking a dip in quality. And
I think that's what you're trying to build. Look, i'd love to sit here and tell you and say and sure, I assume you have the same questions, like here's the guys that are gonna be in the midfielder, here's the odd man out, and this is a guy that will come in in case of injury, in case of yellow card concerns late in games, whatever, whatever. I just don't know what Ronnie DLAs specifically is looking for and how
it's gonna work out. And quite frankly, I don't think we're gonna know until we're a couple of games into the season and kind of see, right, because he might start someone one or two games and then maybe he's not quite getting what he wants out of that position. He might move guys around, and so I think it's gonna be a little while until we settle in there,
especially in the midfield. Potentially in the back as well, but again to have the depth that you had to be able to bring in a guy like Click to settle him potentially next to Bartech Shleech who seems to be a mainstaye j A Fortune and Moyamba as well. And Moyamba had had a couple of rough stretches over the course of the season, but he also did have some really nice stretches in the playoff run. So it'll
be very interesting to see how it links up. If I had to guess, because of the absence of Brooks Lennon, because of the desire to have service from the right side, that's how I would start things up. But again I'm not Ronnie Diela. I don't know specifically what he's looking for or even what he's seeing there in the exhibition season.
And to your point, Ronald Hernandez had some opportunities to send in some service. Again, it's New England on the weekend, So is it a combination of Click in and uh, you know, Ronnie out on the right hand side to be those servicemen from the right to work what you're discussing when it comes to activity inside the eighteen. Another couple of minutes for you, how are you on pre season chippiness.
It's a love hate relationship, right Like. Obviously you don't want anyone to pick up any sort of knock heading into the season, and that's just my biggest concern. But at the same time, you have to have have some level of it or it's going to be just an ugly slow start to the year all around, not just for Atlanta United, right like, Like, you have to have a little bit of an attitude. And the other thing is, in anyone who's played soccer football, really any contact sport,
you can't go into a content tact hesitant. You can't go into it trying to avoid injury. That's only gonna lead to you doing things wrong and actually probably getting hurt more often. So you have to have that contact. Now you're talking about unnecessary contact, right stuff like that. I understand it. But at the same time, you and I are sit here talking about an exhibition season and
it doesn't matter in this or that new manager. Guys are trying to win jobs, Guys are trying to prove points, and ultimately there's a competitive factor for every single player on Atlanta and I. You don't get to become a professional soccer player by kind of having a whoham attitude anytime you step on that field. The fact that we call it exhibition probably doesn't mean much for them. They're probably upset that they didn't get a win if you're
New England or in other situations for Lanti United. So again, for me, it's just like, man, let's just get everyone to the season healthy and that's the big concern. But at the same time, like that's not how they You never go out there thinking you're gonna get hurt. You never go out there thinking, oh, it's just the exhibition season.
I'll take it easy, especially not when you have a manager that's watching that maybe hasn't seen you as much as previous guys that that you don't want to leave a bad taste in the mouth of So I get it, but hey, if everyone gets to the season healthy, that's what matters the most.
Well, And the reason that I bring it up to your point in the match early on looked like New England was trying to push some buttons and they went into some hard tackles. You'd mentioned Jamal being injured early on, and to me, it's like there's a level of preseason schippiness and getting in people's faces and all that kind
of stuff. It just seemed like to me early on, especially in the first half, that New England was trying to kind of overdo it a little bit, and you just kind of want to sit there and it's like the the kid who's had too many like the kid who's had too many pieces of sugar and he's just running around the kitchen. You want to sit there and go, dude, just chill for a minute. You know, here's some decaf. That's what it seemed like to me.
Yeah, and the other aspect of that. John and I didn't look up the game notes heading into to a preseason game to check, but you also want to learn the officials, the referees and what they're gonna call and maybe this is a guy that they'll have in MLS. Maybe this is a guy that they'll have in MLS a couple of years from now. I didn't Again, I didn't look at the level of officiating and who was on the match, But you also have to learn those guys and kind of feel it out that way, and
that may have been part of it. Yeah, it is a little bit of like all right, man, it's your first opportunity, like again, pace yourself a little bit. But again it looks and feels like everyone came out of it healthy, and that's all I can ask.
For, no doubt. All Right, So, now that you have run yet another ten k and and pretty much put the rest of us into the ground when it comes to our own physical capabilities, what's the week like for you?
Yeah, I mean, just building towards the opener, and it just it really has crept up on us. And I know we were joking like, oh, there's only seven weeks of the offseason, and then like all of the sudden, and because Atlanti's United's offseason was so busy, right, Henderson and Dila click and then Almaa and Latte laugh, and there's just so much going on, and all of a sudden, we are less than two weeks away from opening kick. We've obviously still got it in. We talked about match compression.
You still got two more exhibition games, including one tomorrow afternoon, and so looking forward to keeping an eye on that. I do want to send a reminder this weekend and Tuesday's game is not going to be on ninety two nine, but that game against Dallas on Saturday, February fifteenth, eleven fifty a m. Broadcast time. Mike Conti and Jason Longshow will have the action for you on ninety two nine in the game, of course, so looking forward to that. And once you get there, it's a week from the
game's finally meaning something. So it has happened incredibly quick. But boy, the excitement has also built quite quickly, and I think rightfully so based on again, you don't want to like go so crazy high and mighty, but a franchise defining offseason, I mean it really, we really hope that that is ultimately what this was.
Yep, it is Garth and Chris's team now. As always, my friend, great to see you, Baton lead off here for a week for another reaction Monday. We will catch up with you next Monday and actually get ready for games that count. Good to see you, my friend. Glad you survived your weekend. Will catch up with you soon, you know, as always, you can crash whenever you feel like it. Thanks for dropping by you.
Gotta sounds good, all right, that's
Ab Gordon everybody, So that's a