And guests are cool, especially when they can let you know what in the wide world of sports is going on. And for this we get to add Chris Dorrin to the stacks and welcome him to the chaos that is the Morning Show.
Chris, thanks for j John, thanks so much for having me. It's great to see you.
Great to be seen. What we like to do here on the show is when Atlanta United, and since that's where we're based, you know the fan base that is attached to the Five Stripes when they have opposition, we can dive into markets and we can sit there and go, hey, let's try and grab somebody to give an education as to what they might be facing tonight. When it comes to it, lant United. And so we have consulted our oracle and come across you to be our source for
oppo researchers. That's what you've gotten yourself in. When right now the way things are Columbus fourth and the table in the East eight seven and three thirty one points, how would you characterize what you have seen so far in the good, the bad, the good old GBU. Perhaps when it comes to expectations for crew here in twenty twenty five.
I mean, you could go all the way back to January and February, but you know, we're halfway through the season, John, and what's done is done. I think what we've seen in the month of May was a bit of disappointment in the sense that Columbus had some injuries, some call ups, and really deflated a bit defensively. In particular, in that
last week of May. It was that congested week where everyone pretty much played three games and we ended with a match in Miami in Fort Lauderdale that resulted in a five to one defeat at the hands of Miami. We had given up eleven goals in that three game span, and in the month of May, I think Columbus probably left a couple of points on the table that they
should have kept. So that said, it's about coming out of May and setting the tone for what will be a hectic second half of the season with Leagues Cup coming up in late July early August. I think it's all about momentum, and Columbus has gotten off to a great start with that first game in June two weeks ago against Vancouver. I'll give you that Vancouver was not
at full strength. Neither was Columbus, but a two one win at home is a great way to get started, and then two tough tests this week with Atlanta tonight and then a Sunday night game against Philadelphia. So keeping the momentum going is really where I think the crew are right now, and I think they've got themselves focused on the task at hand, and that's Atlanta tonight.
Because of everything that has to be juggled during an MLS season. Is Wilford Nazi still underappreciated as a head coach in Major League Soccer.
I don't think he's underappreciated it. I think he's one of the most admired coaches in the league and he
has been for several years. Even the soccer purists watched what he did in Montreal with very little addition to the roster and only two years as a head coach, and the kind of productivity he was able to get out of that squad was something that sort of set him up, certainly for the job in Columbus, but then beyond that, for the accolades he enjoyed last year as Coach of the Year and he was in the running for Coach of the Year coming out of that Montreal
second season and winning MLS Cup in twenty twenty three. But there were others who in the regular season had achieved so much more in the way of in season trophies. So Wilfried Nanci deserves every bit of the credit he gets. I also think it puts him in a position where he can, I won't say call out the league, but he will. He will offer feedback on what makes this league unique and positive and unique and negative. One of
those areas is the scheduling that goes on. He's not happy that his team only has three games in the month of June. He's not happy that he had to play six games in the month of May. So there are and I think coaches feel the same way. I don't think as many coaches have the street cred right now to be able to stand up and say it into the microphone. But wilfreed Nazi knows that he's got that street cred. And then the last piece is the
schedule overall. Should this league be operating on a winter schedule versus the summer schedule that it's really on, and he is all four moving the schedule to in August or September until May scheduling so that he and his staff feel like they can get the most out of trade windows and the building of teams throughout the course of throughout the course of the FIFA calendar.
And I know that Wilfrid Nanzi is not alone in his assessment about flipping the calendar, and that has been something that has been discussed and is Major League Soccer
going to do it? That that's kind of one of the specters that's hovering over our collective shoulders over the next couple of years as to whether or not the schedule will flip one way or the other when it comes to and all things being equal, tonight, how would you anticipate the starting eleven looking for Columbus going up against it Land United, knowing that you've got this matchup on Sunday night? Soccer? Is it? You know? Is it literally all hand, all hands to the hose and don't
worry about it and we'll get to Sunday later. What are you in to see?
I think it's more the latter. We have never seen a game in a congested week where Wilfried Nancy has bailed on his preferred eleven or preferred you know, core just for the sake of what's to come. This is not a trap game for Columbus. They are anxious to capitalize on the momentum they started with Vancouver two weeks ago. They've got a couple of bodies out and a couple
of bodies back in, which is great. As you know, Max Arsten is with the men's national team for the US, and then Nico Hagen, our backup goalkeeper, is with Guatemala and they've advanced by virtue of their result just the other day. So we're dealing with those international absences, plus some injuries, including first string goalkeeper Patrick Schulte who's coming back from an oblique injury and he will be out.
So you'll see thirty nine year old goalkeeper Evan Bush get his second consecutive start, his third on the season tonight against Atlanta. In all likelihood, I don't know that for a fact, but that's likely. Shan Zawatski is back from injury. He should be with the Red, White and Blue, but he had to decline the invitation because of injury. But he's healthy and back centrally in the back line.
I think one of the things we saw versus Vancouver that was delightfully surprising was the addition of ibrahem Alu as a left wing back instead of a front runner like he played in Houston. He has wing back pedigree in the sense that he's played it before, and he showed very nicely in the first minute of the game against Vancouver, putting Columbus up one zero. So we're excited about that. Because Max Arsten being away means that that left wing backslot is open. It looks like Aleo could
have found his home in that position. Whether he's a starter over Max or not doesn't make any difference. Tonight, Max is not available and so we'll likely see Ibraheim in that spot. You can rely on Darlington Nagbee. I know United fans know and love Darlington when he's wearing the five stripes and winning that MLS Cup a few years ago for the city. Darlington will be in the center. Who will be alongside him likely Dylan Jambo, and then
up top we've got Daniel Gozdog and Diego Rossi's. So our three dp's are available and will likely start tonight against Atlanta.
You mentioned goz Dog and I just can't help but laugh, and I mean that in the most positive way humanly possible about how Gozdog And a lot of folks in the league were like, okay, that's highway robbery. You got meaning Columbus. Columbus gets Gozdog, and it's like, okay, so no embarrassment or riches here, We'll go ahead, Daniel Gazdog from Philly, uh, from your tour and all of your contacts in the league when the Gozdog deal happened. What
was conventional wisdom? What were folks telling you when Daniel Gozdog showed up at the Columbus crew door.
I mean, no one really had to say anything. He's one of the most polished pros right out of the gate I think I've ever known in terms of, you know, meeting him from a journalism side of the of the relationship. He gets up with the general manage during his introductory press conference and says, my job is to come here and score goals and help win trophies. And he's about his playing about it like it's putting on socks in the morning. He's about his playing about it as you
can possibly believe. Be What's ironic is that other than a supporters shield, Philadelphia is not won much and so he finds himself in a spot where not only can he be utilized, and he was right away after that press conference, he was put on a plane, flown to Saint Louis and played forty five minutes. But he's also in a system that he's going to have to reacquaint
himself with some things. And I think one of the things we saw in the game against Vancouver was finally Gozdog appeared to be somewhat at home in that his relationship off the ball with Diego Rossi started to look like it made a lot of sense. There were nine games before that, John where Gozdog was trying to do every thing and wash the dishes after dinner, and it
just was not coming together for him. He did not contribute to a goal in those nine games, and finally got one against Vancouver with the assist on the game winner to Diego Rossi. Everyone in Crewe Country was relieved to see that happen. Now, I want to give you a little backdrop. We forget that these professional athletes are human beings. Gozdok's family remained in Philadelphia after the April trade so that their son could finish school. That makes
all sorts of sense. But Gozdok's going back to I don't know, a condo, an apartment, a hotel room by himself after every training session for a family man. And I don't know if you know much about Hungarians, but families everything in that culture, and it should be in every culture. But it is truly an important component to your life. For a family man to go back to empty apartment after training or after a game, or after
a road trip by himself, it's just not the same. Well, the weekend that Vancouver played here in Columbus two weeks ago, Daniel's family had made the permanent move to Columbus. You want to talk about a weight being lifted off a man's shoulders. He can go home to his wife and kids, good game or bad game, good training session or bad training session, and everything can feel normal to him. I
feel like the turn for Daniel Gosdog has occurred. The family is in Columbus, and we're going to start to see more of what we saw from him in Philadelphia Here in Crew Country.
MLS fantasy players, please take Chris Dorn's advice. Okay, from the way I think I'm a shoot man, look I'm you're sitting and that's the thing. It's like you go back to We've seen it countless times when you were mentioning that. Literally the movie Trouble with the Curve stuck in my head where at the end there's the evaluation of the pick where the family comes in and he's
and there the family's cooking for the player. Hey, he's hitting three twenty ever since his family showed up, So that that makes that makes entirely too much sense to have that kind of comfortability to create a word early in the morning to make sure that that's there in a new environment, and that's that is absolutely key in a situation like this. Chris dorn A, voice of the Crew, hanging out with us FROPO Research here as we get
ready for at Land United and Columbus Crew tonight. When you mentioned the starting eleven and how you feel that that is going to be in a perfect world through quick analysis for someone who has not seen crew and might be just a casual dropper in and you know, listening to you on the local option, listening to you know, Mike and Jason on our end watching on Apple TV choice D all the above, you might it might be
Ibrahim Aliu. But give me somebody who is below those A level guys where things are going well for Wilford Nanci, focus on this individual or these individuals that are like the B level, the B plus players, the guys that don't get a whole lot of pub for things to go well. Who else outside of the main stars should we focus on and be in the Chris Dorn spots.
Well within the potential starting eleven. And you know, I don't know how often you're able to get on the air on a morning of a game day and talk about a starting eleven confirmed because we just don't. In fact, there are a lot of crew players who are waking up this morning who are getting the text message that they're starting tonight. Because Wilfred Nancy is notorious for keeping everybody on edge, and he does that for a reason.
He wants everyone to feel like they're going to start on any given game night, and that keeps the mentality where it needs to be. I'll give you two players from a potential starting pardon.
No, I'm with you.
I'll give you two players from a potential starting eleven. A Z Jackson, great, great on the ball, Titan's real tidy in spaces where he's got limited what looks like limited options, but he explodes out of space and under pressure on the dribble so very well, keeps his head up and does a really fine job of moving the play forward. So I would say, I don't know if a Z starts or not, but I would say that A Z would be a guy that you'd want to keep your eye on. And then the two center backs
outside of Sean Zawatsky. Should Zawatsky start in the center, and he likely would Yevan Shoberko Stephen Morera on either
side of him. One of the I would say part of the evolution of this team now Wilfrid Naci in his third year, is that the game model requires that there's attack from the center backs, and so when those two outside center backs step forward, they're going to unbalance Atlanta or any opponent we're playing, and in so doing create a through ball opportunity, or create a one v one that wasn't anticipated, get through that and then play
a ball across the six. So I think any time Yevan Schaburco or Stephen Morera get up in the attack, and I'm not talking about in a long string of possession. I'm talking about literally a ball forward, a one to two or looking for a long ball over the top. Those are situations where you can rest assured it's fully rehearsed, rest assured that those guys know exactly what they're doing, and that the pressure then becomes placed back on Atlanta to adjust and defend in a numbers up situation.
And full disclosure when this has happened in the past, that particular action that you're talking about, regardless of the opponent, it literally puts defensive puts defenses on their heels, and you're literally having to sit there and try and account for more than you're used to accounting for in this kind of a situation. And those center backs they're not
afraid to launch from twenty or twenty three. If the opportunity is there, they jump into the play, they engage in it, and they end up on the score sheet, you know, more than you would anticipate from that particular position because of literally that snap of the fingers that
happens jump into the play and get engaged. You're creating numbers problems that traditionally that you're having a problem accounting for these kinds of things, and it's one of those things I think that makes Crew constantly a troublemaker when you're trying to be trying to defend them. It's one of those hallmark issues that you sit there and you're like, oh, ish, here this comes again. It's something that's always there that you've got to account for.
Yeah. Yeah, And it goes back to a kind of a total soccer theory or model game model, if you will. I mean, I think a lot of people who watch your podcast likely pay attention to Barcelona. You know, when Barcelona was at in its prime, it didn't matter who was rotating forward, there was always someone covering for them, and there was always someone looking to play a ball forward. So the total soccer concept is really what I think
Columbus is leaning into right now. And they've got the personnel that's completely comfortable and trustworthy when it comes to getting into the attacking third. If Atlanta drops back into you know, kind of a five back igloo situation where they're in a really low block, it's going to become cumbersome for Columbus to break that down. But they've spent a lot of time the last year and a half really even when Kuco was here trying to break down
a low block. They've got some solutions that they can utilize. But you know, I think Atlanta wants to come out and make a really good impression. There's no pressure on Atlanta in this game tonight. You know things haven't been going well. You've got the personnel, you're on the road, so you're you're not under pressure to play in front of thirty six thousand in front at Mercedes Benz come out and put it all on the line. So I think Atlanta's going to want to come out and play tonight.
The telltale sign will be can Columbus maintain that possession and put them under so much pressure that they're not able to withstand withstand themselves withstand Columbus's pressure defensively.
Current juice boxes have crew at minus one thirty seven. Your ninety minute draws a plus three thirty two, and Atlanta United is a plus three to five. If you would, sur please cut the promo and let everybody know how they can listen to you, not just tonight, not just today when they come back and listen to the audio version of this year program, but how then, how they can envelop themselves in the entire Christorn experience twenty four secs.
Well, I appreciate that, John, Thanks and thanks to everyone for h for listening. We we We're available obviously on iHeartRadio on Columbus Alternative one oh five seven. You can find us tonight on Apple Television on the home radio option, as you do when Atlanta is at home. And uh, I hope you follow me on Twitter as well. You can find me at Chris door in eighteen.
As we have done. Uh. You now have the garage door opener. You've got You've got the keys that are no longer under the mat, or at least you know now where they are. So if it under any circumstance, if on a Friday in the like the ten thirty last half hour, in our hour of chaos, if you want to come in vent your spleen, sit there and go. I've got two minutes. I want to get this off my chest. You now have the keys to the kingdom.
You sir, can come in and talk about anything from IU to guitars to you know, to Mark Knopfler and Columbus crew. It is all available to you, my friend. I cannot thank you enough for hopping into the pile and adding to our stacks when it comes to opposition research. Can't thank you enough, have a fantastic call tonight, and don't be a stranger.
John, Thanks so much, it was really a pleasure to talk to you. And lots of luck to Atlanta United through the rest of the season.