The bass has dropped on a special edition of Soccer Down Here SDHPM Live. A little bit different time spot here, but it's been one of those kind of days with news on the Atlanta United Front. We were on hand for the big press conference introducing Chris Henderson, so we'll talk about that any other news that has happened today as well. We'll try to get into it on a little short special edition of SDHPM alongside Madison Cruise. I'm Jason Longshore and Maddie. We got the chance to meet
Chris Anderson this afternoon. The City of Atlanta got a chance to meet Chris Henderson this afternoon. Just your big picture thoughts on meeting the new person in charge, the chief soccer officer of Atlanta United.
It's exciting. I'm excited. I think this was something that I think has been in the works for a while, so actually getting it announced is pretty cool. And finally being able to meet the person that you know, we've heard rumors about that is going to be the new GM for Atlanta United. It was nice to get to put a name to the face a little bit getting
to see him in Atlanta. Believe I think he mentioned his press conference, only his second day in Atlanta, so very very brand new to everything, but very excited to see this duo back in action, I think for another MLS club. So you've seen what they've done with Seattle, so I'm excited.
Yeah. I think one of the things that jumped out to me, and we'll get into it. I asked Garth Logerway and Chris Henderson kind of about this aspect of it is, Look, these are two guys who know one another really really well, and there are two guys who are friends, and you know, it's not a surprise that Chris Henderson is here in Atlanta. I think a lot
of people just assumed it straight out of hand. Now Garth didn't get into detail on the timeline of things, but it was under contract with Inner Miami and a draft pick had to be sent to Inner Miami to get this deal done. So keep that in mind when you hear rumors and you're like, oh, it's definitely going to be this, and then it's not, or why isn't it this? Somebody already said it was going to be this. Well, sometimes things aren't that simple. We've got a few clips
from the press conference today. If you didn't have the chance to check it out live. It is archived and available on the Atlanta United YouTube channel. Here's a clip from very early on I believe Felipe Card and Us ask the question of Garth about choosing Chris Henderson and how the whole process played out. Here's Garth loger away from earlier today.
In terms of timey, how we know, we interviewed a number of people. Some of that was just logistical in the sense that we had to have team seasons end before we could get permission to talk to their executives in a lot of cases, so that timey was kind of spread out.
But look, given my track record with Chris, while it certainly wasn't clear if Chris was going to be available or not at the time when he became available, then honestly he went to the top of the list and we thought, hey, you know, there might be an opportunity here, you know, but certainly that was not known for a considerable period.
And I we'd like to say thank you to Miami for allowing Chris to leave.
It was it was.
There were they were really gentlemanly about it, uh and you know, really appreciate, you know, working that collegiately across the league and hopefully have a great opportunity going forward to the Chris.
It's not a surprise that they're reunited. It was a little bit of a surprise as how things played out in Miami with Chris Henderson. And I don't know if we'll ever truly get the behind the scenes on all of it, but they hired somebody in that basically replaced Henderson's link to the ownership. They put somebody in between that, so it got a little complicated, the role changed. Maybe that meant he was looking for a way out, maybe
just opportunity all present itself. But now you are here and at Atlanta has their chief soccer officer and Chris Henderson, Maddie, I mean, you know, you hear from Chris, you hear Garth talk about Chris. These are two guys who just have a ton of respect for one another, and I think that part is abundantly clear with the two of them.
Yeah, and they look at each other and they've known each other for years, so there's obviously that mutual respect already, they've worked together for years. They have that bond that I think is so important. It's what made their run at Seattle so successful. I mean, you can't deny what they did at Seattle and what it has done even years now. Seattle Sanders is one of the clubs I think when you look at MLS, they're one of those
powerhouse clubs. And a lot of that has to do with what Garth and what Chris did during their time there. Very early on too. It was very early on in Chris's journey of being an executive officers I believe actually from doing the deep dive he was it was his first executive physician job because he had just come from being the assistant head coach at the Kansas City Wizards
Sport in Kansas City. But that's crazy, you know, he got that opportunity and to have that success in Seattle to then be able to bring into Inner Miami and what he did with Inner Miami with all of the roster limitations, the roster issues they were having, was able to bring that down and able to make it roster compliant with everything in MLS. And then now he's coming to Atlanta and he has a lot of really really
nice things to do. He has two DV slots opened up, he can move things around, do what he wants to do and it's really appealing.
Yeah, it's fascinating how life and careers work sometimes. And you know, talking to Chris Henderson, this is somebody who played in the league from day one, played a long time in the league, missed maybe the early stages of his professional career, and there wasn't a league. You know. This is somebody who was on the nineteen ninety World Cup roster, the youngest player in that roster. There wasn't a place for him to play professionally at that time in the United States at this kind of a level.
But he came back to MLS day one. Year one he played and was a you know, a legend in this league. And I think when you talk about the National Soccer Hall of Fame and you separate the MLS side of it out, Chris Henderson is an MLS Hall of Famer, no question about it. On the field, then, as you mentioned, his first executive job in MLS was
helping to bring the Seattle Sounders into the league. You know, he took over in there as the technical director in January of two thousand and eight, going into their last season in the USL before they started in MLS. And then what's so fascinating is what happened to Chris in Miami where somebody was hired in between him. I don't know the structure in those early days in Seattle, but
both of them talked about it today. Garth came to Seattle after a good bit of success that the Sounders had already had, with the expectation to take that even higher, and he came in above Chris, who had been there from day one. And what Garth said about how Chris Henderson was so welcoming and so, you know, let's work
together to do even more. You don't always get that, and I think it says a lot about both individuals that that could have been a really awkward situation and it wasn't, and they found a way to work together and have a lot of success in Seattle before Garth came to Atlanta.
It's almost like, you know, when you're somewhere and you get and someone else gets picked and they haven't been there for long, and you've been there for this long, and you're like, wait, what about me. It's nice to have that balance that they were able to come in and immediately click and get along and you bring back to Chris Anderson's I think whole history in what he's done for the league. I think what's so interesting is he helped UCLA get a championship at a sophomore year. He
stopped playing soccer for a couple of years. He didn't play collegiately. He graduated college, and then he continued and then he went.
To those those were the weird days of soccer in the US. He didn't stop playing, but he didn't have a club to play for. The US national team kind of essentially became a club in that time. Trust me, it's before your time, and you're better off for it, because it was chaos. You had players that didn't sign to a club. They were signed to the national team program. The nation had to be the club. So the national team like you see now where they play games, you know,
not in international breaks and without full rosters. The national team played thirty forty games a year. That's why some of these guys have so many caps, because they were playing it like it was a pro club. It was craziness at that time. That's the era that Chris came out of, and that's why, honestly, I think it's really important to have somebody like this in the club, because when when we talk about MLS and ah, the rules
are weird, and ah, why does it like this? And this is and you just get mad if you were there before the league and it got delayed. As Chris told us in our interview that you'll hear the whole thing tonight on Atlanta Soccer tonight on nineteen ninety game. You know, he was one of those guys who was ready for the league to start in nineteen ninety five and it didn't start. It had to wait other year because they needed to go get more investment. He went
through that. So when you've been through that, and you've been through practicing in public parks and you know all of the things that were the early days of the league and then the professional days that predated the league, and you get to now and it's like, man, this rule book is kind of crazy. When you understand where you came from, you get past that really quick and you find a way to maximize it. And I think
Chris has done that in Miami especially. He did a great job maximizing what that roster could be with Lionel Messi and friends. The second part of Felipe carden US's question about you know, kind of to set the scene for everything. Here was what lessons he had learned during his time in Miami that he'll carry forward. Here's Chris Henderson talking about that time in Miami.
There's a lot of lessons learned over the last four years. What I have founded is there's many different ways to build a team, and there is different roster category stores and mechanisms how you can sign players in the league, and you can be successful on a young team. You can be successful mixing veteran players with young players.
I feel.
To have success in this league, you need to be able to have depth in each position. And that's going to be a focus is you know, you can have your starting group, but what happens when you have injuries, what happens when players get called up to international duty. You need to have those answers ready and give your coach and your coaching staff all the weapons they need to have success because there's going to be ups and
downs in a season. And to go through last season where we had an incredible regular season, and knowing that you need you need a team that can compete in multiple tournaments. Sometimes you have two three different tournaments to go through during the season. So I'm really excited because we have two designated player spots open. There's huge potential
for how we can build this team. The history of working together and with the staff of Demetrios, with Jonathan, with ours, and with the group that we have here, I think we have a lot of resource and really smart people who can help build a strong team.
As Lady A on the comments, I believe that is Abby under a different name here on YouTube. As Lady A points out, they did cross over on the playing side of Miami Fusion for a minute, but I think it's really been since that time is when they've really
built that relationship. Garthoger Way and Chris Henderson. Chris they are talking about enter Miami and I mean, what a crazy cycle that he's went through there, coming in with all the sanctions that you mentioned, having to find a way to put a good roster on the field, making
them competitive. Before Messi shows up winning Leagues Cup in that first burst of excitement as Messi wears the Miami shirt, having the best regular season in history, but also getting knocked out in the first round by a little club called Atlanta United. There's a lot there that when you talk about Miami's ambitions you talk about Atlanta's ambitions, they're shared. They both want to be the biggest club in this hemisphere.
And I think Chris Anderson's time in Miami and what he went through, it's going to be a different experience here, but I think it's going to help him a lot to have that four year time in Miami to then bring here to Atlanta.
Yeah. I mean even too, with a lot of the trials that you had to go through when you come into Miami. The minute you get there, you're already dealing with violations with roster eligibility or roster cap limits. Like you're already dealing with all the money side of everything of just okay, how do we become roster compliant with everything?
That's one hurdle you get to jump through, and that gives you, I think, some learning lessons when you do enter a new situation like this where you do have to do deep spots, open up how you can delegate that. Now you can sit there and be like, oh, well, I've seen this. This is what we did that didn't necessarily work. Here's how I fixed it. Let's go into this and let's make it different, and let's make sure
that we are doing what we're supposed to do. That way, we can get the players on time and they're not scrambling because something's not in place, or this deal didn't go through, or there are things just going back and forth. You get everything situated and everything's good, and you've learned
from it. Now, when you come into a new situation like you have here in Atlanta, it's a lot easier to deal with it, and it's really great because now you have a lot more flexibility and now like you are more comfortable with it too, you don't feel this immense pressure. I think when you enter a situation like this where it.
Is very much a rebuilding hold that thought about, especially the roster build and what Chris has been through in Miami and what he's learned to bring here.
I do want to play this clip from Garth loger Way. I ask the question to both of them. When you have a front office partnership like this had success, you have skills that complement one another. So I asked Garth about the skills that Chris brings to the table that maybe he doesn't have, and Vice versa. This applies to what you were just talking about. Here's Garth talking about Chris Henderson's skills that he brings to that partnership.
I'm trained as a lawyer. I tend to think very linearly and.
Maybe get bogged down in logic sometimes, but am very process oriented.
Chris is again, I think, the best talent evaluator in the league.
So again, different skill sets, and it's you know, I'm making it overly simple there, because to be clear, I think there's some good overlap where we collaborate on a number of things. But if you want to break it down really in the basics, Chris has an incredible eye for talent.
Young players, old players.
Again, He's built different teams in different models across different clubs, and I think that type of flexibility and experience that that all ladders up to.
Chris is a proven winner, and so.
I think, you know, you take our two skill sets and he had Chris's track record, and you say, hey, proven winner. We've been adding proven winners across all these departments. That's going to drive the club forward.
So one thing that Garth really hit on was Chris's eye for talent. And you go back to the conversation that I had a few months ago with Garth and with Demetrios about managing the MLS rule book and the roster changes and the salary cap and how things have evolved. And Demetrios, I think has shown during his time here in Atlanta, and he was with the league before he came to Atlanta, he knows every little nook and cranny of that rule book that you can find and manipulate
to maximize what you have. You know, I think the prime example is the last three and I put in air quotes designated player signings for Atlanta United that were able to be rotated through in terms of when the acquisition cost would hit the books, and then that would make somebody a DP and cycled through three windows to basically give you the most talent you could possibly have
on this roster at a given time. So you take that which is already in place, and then you add an eye for talent that garthagger Way is raving about. And I think we've seen that in Miami too. Not talking about Messi and Suarez and Geordie Alba, I'm talking about Yannick Bright. I'm talking about guys like that. Robert Taylor that have been big for that team, that maybe
we're not the obvious choices. So you take those things and you combine them, and then you look at a roster that's got some holes in it and it's got two designated player spots and other spots to upgrade. It feels pretty exciting to see all of this come together with those skill sets coming into play.
Yeah, also very intelligent of just you know, everything going on, especially with you know, dividing out, you know where, who's going to be a DP in this certain time. To be able to handle that because it was a weird time when you know, we didn't really know who would be the new DP, who we're bringing in, what's going on. It was weird. It was a weird time. So being able to do that, I think is so intelligent. And to be able to know the rule book of MLS
like the back of your hand. That's also a huge plus because as we've seen with other clubs, it can be an issue if you don't know some of the nitty gritty stuff how difficult it can be to get a player somewhere when maybe something doesn't go through initially, How you can get a player as quickly as you can in MLS because that also can be in hindrance
depending on certain situations. And you add that, then you also add Chris Henderson who having an eye for talent and what he's been able to do at Inner Miami. We talked about it in Game three, Miami missed Bright like they missed him in that year, like seriously, like that was I think the biggest thing that was, like what was missing from Miami in that game is they
didn't have him in the midfield closing it down. They didn't have him at all, and that I think just shows you know, you can have all this star power, which I mean bringing in Messi, Sorez, Bousquets, you know, all of that is great, but you need to have
players around it who can help support that. And that's one thing that they also said was, you know, Guard talked about in a press conference a lot earlier, earlier, a couple of weeks ago, using this roster, trying to revolve it around Madanchuk right there and as a number ten, trying to make things work with him. We know kind
of that connection that him and Saba already have. We know that connection to him and Bartech and Fortune and Moyumba have with him as well, finding those other pieces, finding someone on the left wing who can do that, finding a striker up top who can be that finisher
who can find it. That's where you're gonna see the moving parts here, because that's the one thing that I give huge credit to Rob Valentino for this is connecting those pieces with Madanchuk, with the midfield, with Bartech, with Jay, with Dax, with Moyumba, connecting them to Saba. I think that is where it's so important going to be coming
into next year. When you see those other pieces starting to fill in, you're going to see something more complete, and those players are going to be able to help the new dps who are coming in get associated with everything because it takes a long time to learn how a player acts and how a player does stuff. And to have already a lot of players who know how Madanchuk works, that's pretty nice to have.
Yeah.
I think having all that and then having somebody who can fit the pieces together in Chris Henderson is going to be really exciting to see how this group comes together for Atlanta United, Harry Austin joining us. Yeah, The morning shows are on a little bit of a hiatus. Is John is being I think the way he puts it is other John. He like splits himself into different personalities in his head. I guess no, he says it, not me. I don't call him different people like he's
like other John. I'm like, okay, whatever, you're in high school football, it's cool. So he is doing the Georgia State High School Championships. He's holed up in a hotel near the stadium because he's there. Pretty much like twenty four to seven, it seems like it's chaos. Friday, the Morning Show will be back in its normal time slot nine oh five. We hope to have some more content over the next couple of days. That is special for you guys that we can deliver as well, but thank
you for sticking with us. And we're also going to have some some different kinds of content as we get into twenty twenty five, which is geez, like fourteen days away.
Oh god, that's terrifying.
Absolute chaos. But that's where we are right now. So the second part of my question to Garth and Chris, you heard what Garth said. Chris brings to the table that maybe he didn't that Chris brings that's unique. The flip side, this is what Chris Anderson had to say about what Garth Agerway brings to the table in terms of their partnership, and I.
Would echo what Garth said about being a winner. Garth's a winner as well. He's done it at a smaller club in Salt Lake, he's done it in Seattle, and we're going to do it here in Atlanta. So I do feel like Garth sometimes will come at a different perspective and sometimes I'll see things in a different way because of what Garth brings to it. He's very direct, which I prefer. And yeah, we've been able to set goals together accomplish those. He's a great away from away
from work too. He's a great family man and very close friend of mine. So there is something being able to work with a friend and have success together.
It's very cool to hear that that sort of thing from Chris. You know, like we talk about it with the players and the coaches all the time. You know, we're talking about human beings. And you want to be in a place that you enjoy being and you're enjoying your time, and when you're working with friends and around friends. More than likely you're going to be enjoying that time. So I'm sure that was a huge appeal for Chris as well, to reunite with Garth after all the success
they had. I think I miss said it earlier. Chris went to Miami, I think right before Garth came here, or right around the same time. It was right around the same time that they both left Seattle, and now they're back together here in Atlanta. I'm really intrigued as we get to know Chris, and again, make sure you're listening tonight on Atlanta Soccer. Tonight, Mike Contie and I had a chance to sit down with Chris for a
full segment. It'll be the first segment of the show, and we got a little bit deeper into some of the things, and I think you got a little bit more of a sense of maybe what Chris is looking for in terms of those player acquisitions and how he I think expects to define what Atlanta United is. He did say attacking soccer, He did talk about entertaining this fan base, the things that I was definitely very happy to hear. So that whole conversation will be tonight ten
o'clock ninety two ninety the game. You can listen on the Odyssey app. It'll go out as a podcast afterwards. I do want to share a clip from that because this was just kind of funny, a little bit of a teaser from this, so to give you guys the whole scope of things and fire the camera person from the clips that were playing earlier that was me.
Oh, I thought you were pulling out my camera stuff for this.
No, no, no, your camera workers good. I didn't want it to be in the same category. I was giving you credit here because you filmed our interview with Chris and it looks good and it looks like a professional, did it not where people's faces are half cut in the screen. I was worried about the audios, getting the audios, trying to get a couple other things, but I was getting the audio. I was talking and it happens. Okay, it happens.
Here is the clip from Atlanta Soccer tonight at the end of the interview, and chaos ensued because that's what happens at times.
One more, because I know you're out of time and we appreciate your time.
I have to have a little bit of fun with you.
Game three Messy scores, there's a little bit of a dust up in the net. It's two two. What were you thinking as all that was unfolding? And now that you're on the Atlanta side of things, you can be maybe a little less diplomatic because that's going to go down as one of the all time memories for this club. I think what was your reaction in your perspective as all that was unfolding in the final couple of minutes of that really very major upset.
Yeah, it was like that rights went out, you know, Yeah, the goal happens, you feel the adrenaline and then yeah, I was on the other side by the bench and I looked over and saw something happening in the goal. And then with Suarez and with with MESSI wanting to grab that. You know, after you score a goal, you always want to go grab the ball, and the defender the keeper want to grab the ball too, and it always causes problems. And I think it's just the competitive
nature of both, you know, both teams, both players. I you know, I spoke with all of them after, including Brad, and it's just, you know, they all have tremendous respect for each other, but it was. It was an intense moment and it really was. You know, I was on the other end and lost that series. But it was an exciting series, and you understand why the playoffs come into it, and it's not just supporter shield playoffs are
exciting and that was a prime. If you were a fan just watching, you would have been like, that was a good series.
It was.
It was great we especially in the outcome. But we're glad you're with us now. Chris, thank you so much for your time.
Yeah, the lights went out. I blame Luis Suarez. I think he had roombugged and flip the lights out, and we started talking about it. But you see two things. First, the absolute pro that my CONTI is because he just keeps going through because we know we're using the audio for radio, so completely doesn't even phase him. And then Chris completely uses it in his first line, So brilliant
from both of them. It was a really fun conversation and hopefully get a little bit deeper into what Chris Anderson it's going to bring to you his time here in Atlanta.
I really liked it being able to listen and you know, mee being a camera woman in that moment, but being able to hear some of the things he was talking about, I think just where he wants to go with the
club and what he's saying. One thing that stuck out to me, I think, and I'm not going to spoil the whole interview before tonight, so I'm being very generic when i say this, but just kind of what he's looking for within, you know, the identity of Atlanta and even you know, finding players that want to be in Atlanta, because he said, you know, you talk to any of these players, they love it here, and that's what you're trying to find here. You know, you're trying to find
people who want to be in Atlanta. And I'm excited.
I'm very interested. To me and you talked about this, It wasn't really talked about in either interview, but I'm really interested further down the line, once Chris gets more acclimated and everything, his ideas on the academy and the second team, because he touched on it a little bit in that press conference, you know, bridging the gap and really having that seamless of like having young players who are developed here then they go to the twos to
get that training, get that professional experience and then get them ready to be a first team and wanting to play for Atlanta. As we've seen so many homegrowns already do that with Jay, with Noah, with Ephra. You've already seen it was so many players, Luke Brennan, you're seeing it so many of them, and now you're getting a couple more in there. Ashton Gordon's another one who's coming
in next year. Like, it's gonna be interesting to pick his brain later on down the line about his ideas of what he's thinking when trying to bridge that gap, because I think I don't think there is a big gap when it comes to Atlanta. I think there is
a good transition, especially in developing it. But I'm interested to hear what he has to say about it and how he's thinking about doing that, especially when you add added Javier Perez included into that, and how they're gonna work together to try and create the seamless pathway for these players.
Yeah, there's definitely a process and there's a gap between the levels, But in Atlanta, I think the lack of a gap is down to the amount of talent that you have here in terms of just filling Academy roster spots and being competitive and creating that internal competition, and then having those guys like George Bellow and Caleb Wiley and George Campbell who have gone on and had success and warn a you know, US men's national team, Jersey,
youth national team Jersey. You know that's gonna inspire the next group coming through. And then seeing guys like you know, whether it's Noah, whether it's Ashton, whether it's Jay who are coming through now, and the kids who are right behind them, they want to be those guys. So I think what's interesting is being you know, Chris and being somebody with that eye for talent. He's gonna love all
of the options that he has here. And it's different than Miami, where I think Miami's done a really good job in a short period of time in terms of local talent. There's a ton of local talent South Florida. Don't get me wrong. It's a little complicated at times with all the different tentacles into it, with different clubs that are very well established, maybe struggled at times with
giving guys up to the inner Miami Academy. But then you look at a guy like Benjamin Kramowski who came through and he was fast tracked and he's been great and he's been a big contributor for that team. David Ruiz is a player that I always shout out when we talk about Inner Miami. That is a homegrown and
that's a very young academy. In Seattle, I think it was a little bit more of a struggle getting the homegrowns active in that team, And I know it was something that would get talked about at times in those those years of success, especially the middle of the twenty tens, where they didn't have a lot of homegrowns that were impacting that. But you're talking about a different youth soccer culture in that area, and you maybe don't have as
many players to pull from in that area. Here, you're not building an academy like from scratch or one or two years old like it was when Chris went to Miami. You're talking about an academy that is almost ten years old.
You're talking about an academy that is developing players on the regular, and you're talking about an academy that I think is doing a really good job of giving guys opportunities, whether it's playing up in age group, moving into Atlantic ninety two, getting those tastes of competition in cup competitions with the first team. It's been very cool to see that pathway shake out. You have Javier Perez, who is gonna be here going into his second season next year
with the club. Came in in mid season, so you'll have him being able to put more of his stamp on it. Chris Henderson will put his stamp on it. And I think you'll see young local players developed in the academy maybe be a bigger factor in Chris Henderson's strategy than it might have been in Seattle or in Miami, just because of the tools you have to work with. You know you can make a better dish. You've got better ingredients, and I think you've got more of them
you're in Atlanta. So that's exciting to see. And as much as we cover academy and second team, I think you're gonna see a jump in all of that as better as and Henderson really get cooking.
Especially because you know Chris Henderson talked about depth in that in that clip we you just played a couple of minutes ago, Like depth is important, and when you have young players who can step up in those moments, and we've seen it so many times. We've seen Noah get thrown into the deep end and he's handled himself so well. Ephra same thing with him, Like we've seen these players get thrown into the deep end and they handle the pressure very well. We've seen it other times
with the Academy. One that sticks out to me is I mean, I feel like we've we've talked about him so many times. Dominic chunk Wi. I think is someone that is really really going to shine next year. I really do, because just from what we've seen from him in the twos, seeing him with Academy, now, I'm like, this kid is crazy, absolutely crazy.
But left back university here in Atlanta, I don't know why. Sometimes you get some places that one position becomes the thing, and it's it's George Bellow, who is playing in Austria and playing very well now that he's gotten healthy. He's been in the right situation. I think the move to Germany wasn't the right one for him, but he's in a really good spot at lask in Austria. Then Caleb
Wiley was the next one. That's what made Bellow not expendable but maybe fast tracked that a little bit because Caleb was ready to go, and then George moves, Caleb comes into that spot. Now Caleb is gone and there's a little bit of a gap, and Peter Rombador's jumped right into that gap and been great. But Dominic choon Qui is chomping at the bit. And you're talking about a player who came in last season, second half of the twes year, and got better and better every game.
And that's not easy to do because that is that gap is real in terms of level. He just jumped right over it. And you know, Steve Cook talked about it a lot like that's not what you normally see. You see somebody move up and they might start find and then they start to struggle a little bit because it's about consistency. Shuan Quey was really good, and I think what we've seen with him in the academy games we've done here in the last couple of months is defensively,
that area of his game has dramatically improved. And look, if you're gonna be a left back, you want to get forward and you want to contribute in the attack, but you've got to be a good defender, and I think Shaun Quee that was a question mark now that is getting answered in the affirmative side of things pretty well.
And you're going to see, I think, with that depth that Chris Henderson is talking about, you're going to see I think in those situations you're going to see it more likely when the Open Cup comes back around any of these competitions, that you're going to see, especially in those first couple rounds. I mean, I want to be shocked if you see a lot of those players on
Academy on the twos, any of them who are on deals. Yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if you see a full roster where you see a lot of these young players get the chance to shine, because it's going to come in some weird moments. We saw it last we saw it this year, how compact the schedule was and how you needed that rotation, You needed those players to step up because you're going from playing a game on Saturday to having an Open Cup game on Tuesday, and you're like,
oh gosh, you have two days to prepare. Who's stepping in? And I think that's what you're gonna see from this side. And that's why this depth is so important and having Javier Perez jump in, having Chris Henderson come in to help facilitate that depth, and I mean even huge creditude to Steve Cook and his staff what they've been able to to prepare these players to get ready to go
jump up and be in the Open Cup. I think back to Alan Carlton when he jumped in and he was a huge, huge impact off the bench for the Open Cup run Like That's that's why it's so important. And to have a GM like Chris Henderson who already is noticing that, and to have already Hobbyer Pros has already been here for a little bit and has been analyzing the academy and the twos for a little bit. I think having them two together that's going to be a really fun combination to see where that plays.
Out and having them be able to plan from day one of the season a minus one of the season. And that's where you're at right now. You're not quite into the season yet. Preseason will start in about a month's time. We know that Chattanooga's announced it there's a match the first Saturday or the last Saturday in January in Chattanooga against Chattanooga FC, and it sounds like you're going to have a full radio coverage of that one.
And then there is a match the following Saturday that is at least on ticket Master, has not been announced by either club yet. With Birmingham Legion and Atlanta United and that one you will have some sort of broadcast. If you don't make the trip over to Birmingham, we will have soccer down here, content from those markets, from those post games situations to break everything down. So if you're going to make the trip, stay tuned. We'll let you know where we will be afterwards, so we know
that's coming. You have the chief soccer officer now, you have David Tenney in place in terms of the performance side, You've had Javier Betrez in place in terms of the methodology, academy all the way through to the second team head coach is still there. That announcement has to happen. Garth, in one of the answers today, said in the next couple of weeks he wanted to have that done. I'm sure he'd love to have it done in the next couple of days. I don't know where things stand. When
Chris Henderson was asked about it. He said that he had been briefed on the candidates. So I don't know if it's down to a final two, if it's down to a final three, if it's down to a final four, I don't know where that stands. But that's got to come pretty soon. So you get ready for then that preseason that the training sessions will start in about a month's time, and you'll be able to be pointing everything
into the same direction with Atlanta United. There's a couple other things I wanted to touch on before week go. I also wanted to touch on this Tomorrow night, if you're in the Atlanta area at the brew House Cafe from seven to nine, we are having our second ever broadcasters roundtable. Kevin Egan, Jessica Charman, Mike Conti, myself. We will be there purely, straight up taking your questions. We're not there to interview one another. We're not doing any
of that. We are taking questions from the audience. This isn't gonna be broadcasts, this isn't gonna be streamed, it's not gonna be posted as a podcast later. If you're in the Atlanta area and you can come out, please do so. And one other element to that is we will be asking for donations to help us kick start our SDH Soccer for Good Fund. You'll be able to make the donations tomorrow via QR code. We are in the process of creating a community strategy for twenty twenty five,
which is really exciting. You guys know my story, I think in terms of working in soccer for Social change and working for Soccer in the Streets for a decade and watching that grow from two and a half employees and a five figure budget to what it was before I left and what it is now. We've always wanted to find ways and we've done the best that we
can to give back via the SDH network. And we have a couple of really exciting things that we'll be doing in twenty twenty five, working with partners like Georgia Impact and Georgia Revolution and Patchyuka Georgia and helping raise money for them and getting you guys connected to their stories as well. That all starts tomorrow with the SDH Soccer for Good Fund. So you will not have I have to pay to come into the brew House. We
don't have anybody at the door. We're not going to put Scott Flood on the door blocking people from getting in if you don't have your ticket. But we will be asking a few times to please make a donation if possible, because it will be for the kids and it will help the kids get more time on the soccer field. So that's tomorrow night, brew House seven to nine, come out if you can, poor favor. A couple of things that I wanted to touch on before we go quickly.
Becky Sowerbrun, one of the all time greats with the US women's national team and in THEWSL, has retired sixteen year career thirty nine years old. She won the championship trophy in the top flight American League three times, Olympic gold in twenty twelve with the US. She missed the last World Cup due to injury, and it was a big miss to not have her in that tournament. One of those players, and I think a lot of times we overlook the contributions of defending in general national teams.
We're talking about goalscorers, sometimes goalkeepers, but we're talking about goal scorers, we're talking about chance creators. Becky Souerburn was an absolute bedrock to the US women's national team and how good that team has been over the years, and she's a legend, and I hope that she's remembered in a very big way for how incredible her career has been.
Absolutely, I mean, for someone who's been doing this for sixteen years is unbelievable. And the mark that she's going to be leaving for the US women's National Team and women's soccer in general, I think is so impactful. I agree with you. I don't think we give defenders their flowers, and I love giving defenders their flowers because without them half the time, everything would go astray. It wouldn't be crazy. And I'm not saying that because I.
Play center back in Yeah, I was wondering.
Listen, listen. I always have a soft spot for the
center backs and for defenders as well. But I think the mark that she's going to be leaving with the US Women's National Team, with NWSL, with women's soccer as a whole is so huge, And she's an inspiration to a lot of a lot a lot of young girls who are trying to make it big, and especially with the growing platform that women's soccer now has in the US and all over, that's so important and to have someone that young kids can look up to and say, hey,
I want to be like her, Like that's that's cool.
FIFA announced their the best awards today. Venetius Junior won the FIFA Player of twenty twenty four, not the Ballandor, and he was very upset about not winning the Ballandor, so I did not watch any of the ceremony. If they had it, I hope he showed up and didn't have his club boycott it, like the whole balland'or ceremony and all of that, because that that Real Madrid in that whole situation. Itana bon Mati won the Women's Player Award again and she also did win the Ballandor earlier
this year, two separate awards. They don't always fall in alignment, and they did it on the men's side they did on the women's side. Intercontinental Cup tomorrow Real Madrid Venetius Junior is or killing it. Bape is expected to be part of that. He has a thigh injury, but he's expected to play. They're playing Pachuca from Mexico, which will be really really interesting. The Intercontinental Cup is the former Club World Cup, which was the former Intercontinental Cup. All
comes back around, doesn't it. Because now you have the gigantic Club World Cup that's coming here to Atlanta and the United States in twenty twenty five. Real Madrid will be favored by a ton We're not getting into juice boxes on this, but those games are always interesting and
I hope Patchuca makes it a game. It'd be great for soccer in this hemisphere if Patchuka makes it a game, and maybe we'll create a little more excitement for League's Cup and all the different things going on with that, anything else that you wanted to jump into before we take off.
Oh I don't think so. No, it's listen a Pachuka create chaos tomorrow, please, I would love to see chaos. I think that would be brilliant. Come out to the Burrosse Cafe. It's gonna be fun. We're gonna have a great time. I'm gonna be running around handing mics to people. It'll be great hanging out, having a good time. Maybe have a beer or two.
Who knows it can happen.
Night is young, but it's gonna be.
It could happen.
It's gonna be. It's gonna be fun tomorrow. It's it's so exciting because all four of those people, wonderful people I have looked up to for you, least three of them. Yeah, very much, I'll come on, Lord of Mercy. No, but it's it's it's awesome, it's cool to, you know, be a part of it. It's sick, and it's for a good cause as well. So make sure y'all donate.
One last bit of news. I believe it. You just came out a little bit ago. Jimmy Mauer, who is Atlanta Developed Players, started his professional career here with the Atlanta Silverbacks back in the day. One of the really good guys in the league. Finished up his time with FC Dallas. He's not going very far. He's moving over to Houston Dynamo to be one of their goalkeepers in that goalkeeper room. Jimmy Maoer or somebody that I always hoped would somehow find his way back to Atlanta and
Atlanta United. It just has never been in the carts for Jimmy to represent his hometown team again since the silver backstays. But one of the good guys, somebody that we've had the chance to catch up with at various points on the SDH network. So congrats to Jimmy Maller keeping his career rolling along with the Houston Dynamo. I don't know what tomorrow's content schedule will look like. I have Atlanta Soccer tonight this evening on ninety two ninety
the game. You'll hear a whole conversation with Chris Anderson, with myself and Mike Conti. That'll be the first segment of the show. It's ten o'clock. You can listen on the radio old school style. You can listen in your car on the radio, you can listen on the Odyssey app. You can listen afterwards a podcast off the Woodwork. Make sure you subscribe to that wherever you get your podcasts, and you can consume that whole show. No John tomorrow.
He is still a football John, not soccer John. So we will have some maybe bits and things during the day before our event tomorrow night at the Brewhouse Cafe seven to nine o'clock Thursday, we will have the fully loaded hour either live or on tape, with Nino Dorres and Nico Moreno, catching up with them and what's going on in their worlds. It's always fun to hear from
those two. You will hear that on Thursday. I don't know the timing yet, so stay tuned, and then we'll be back normal Friday morning nine five with Soccer John back in place. Football John will be retired for the year, I think. I don't think he has any other like National Signing Day things or anything. Maybe he does, I don't know. There's only two weeks left in the year, so he's running out of time. Soccer John will be backday morning nine oh five as we start to put
a bow on twenty twenty four. But thanks for hanging out with us SDHPM. You get to hear a lot about Chris Henderson hopefully at Land United. Fans are excited about his appointment, and I think it's going to be a fun ride with Chris driving the ship. We'll see when the head coach gets hired, We'll see when designated players get signed. All of that is to come, and twenty twenty five can't happen soon enough. But thanks for hanging out with us today. We'll have more content all
over the SDH network the rest of the week. And then I didn't really