Michael Parker is joining us this morning. Cap What is the word?
Good morning, John? The word is word is good?
Okay, Friday's beautiful weather here and I'm playing golf. Greg caught me by surprise, so I only got about fifteen minutes with you.
John.
That's all good.
No, if you're playing golf, and that's good because I was going to say, is Greece the word? You know, because it's got groove, it's got feeling, and so you know.
I mean, I don't think the Greeks have slept yet from last night?
No, no, no, no, all right.
So we were getting into that discussion in the first half hour of the show. And when it comes to national team duty in Greece and when you're in a moment like that where you end up with a big upset after going through what they're going through with the loss of a teammate and George Bulldog, how do you navigate something like that where your heart is heavy and your mind is elsewhere. It's got to be one of the most difficult things you could ever face as an athlete.
As someone obviously who's never done anything like that, how difficult is it to manage emotions and put things to the side and at the same time try to use it as a motivator. That's got to be one of the most difficult things. Going through a difficult time and still having to do your job. That's got to be just one of the most difficult things that you could ever face.
For sure. Absolutely.
I had a teammate in Denmark gets struck by lightning at a reserve game and he was close to death for you know, a couple of weeks and he ended up pulling through and you know, doing okay. But yeah, that's it's really challenging. But that's it's it's an extreme example. But you know, one of the things we talk about is being able to put everything else aside and focus solely on the game and what's going on, right and kind of that being able to compartmentalize and ignore everything
else for the time being. And I think that's that's what you try and do, right And also I think it gives you a little bit of motivation because you know, like how lucky you are to be able to play the sport and do your thing, and you know how all the guys that are in the same situation would want to do that, And you know, so they get kind of play for that person a little bit as well. Gives you a little bit of extra motivation for sure, which I think it did for Greece yesterday.
You know.
So that's that's the way you got to tackle it a little bit, and you know, but it's easier said than done, for sure.
No doubt.
And then you get to have the moment that they did yesterday, putting all of the emotion aside, when you can go into somebody else's barn and come out the other end with a massive upset that you can have all kinds of momentum carry with you.
What is that like to be able to have.
The knowledge inside you that, yeah, I mean, even with everything going on around you, that you that you can compartmentalize, you can put something down and then you can come out the other side with a large result that you don't know where it's going to carry you at the end of things, but you know you have it in you.
Get together to have a result like that.
Yeah, I think it's probably equal part joy and equal part relief after the game. You know, getting through that first game is always going to be the most difficult after an event like that, And you know, to see the team pull together and come through, because just as equally what could have happened is they could have gone out there and lost five zero and everyone would have understood and said, you know, hey, that's a tough spot.
You know, obviously England's a far better team anyways on paper, you know, plus of what happened, and so you know, to come out there and have the performance that they did, I'm sure they were relieved and excited obviously and thrilled in the locker room. Now it's like, Okay, we're capable of doing this right and that motivation is super high. You know, can we do it again in a few days or we're gonna have a huge letdown.
When it comes to those kinds of those those kinds of moments that you have when you're when you get to come out the other side in something like that.
I mean, it's it's.
Got to be a great lesson on a bunch of different fronts, but on the same side, for England, it's got to be a lesson at the same time where you have all of this firepower, all of this star power, and yeah, you could have eleven dudes out there who are great as their own dude in their system with their club. But sometimes the most difficult thing is to take all of that, all of that greatness that's out there and put it together as a unit when it comes to and as you've done this.
With nacent things, oh you know what it's all about.
Having all of that experience and all these great things that you guys do separately. The difficulty of piecing it together and acting as one to try to come out the other side, that's got.
To be just as difficult for sure.
And that's the importance of a great coach, right.
These guys don't need to be taught anything per se, but how do you bring them together? How do you get the right guys on the field playing together in one cohesive unit? In England have struggled with that for a long time. I mean, they've had some success under south Gate and obviously got close, but it's never.
Going home if I'm drinking.
I actually really like a lot of the guys on the English national team, but in general I can't stand the English national team, and it's mostly because of the fans. Their fans are so obnoxious and think that they are by far the best and most superior and everything and yet it's not coming home, and you know they just show time and time again.
Why so oh boy?
Now that now that the United States says their new manager that you're getting your first days of the Murcio Pochettino end product coming up this weekend and in this window, how I don't know. I'm not going to say the word excited. But how are you gauging this first window? What are you looking for? What are you looking at anything? Are you just sitting there going yeah, okay, this is a first window. We'll see how it all lays out. It's friendlies. I just want to see like building blocks here.
What are your expectations?
Yeah?
I think that the thing I'm most curious about is is more like what formation is he going to go out there with and what personnel? Right, who in the very beginning does he think he can get good results from? And like is that the most athletic group, is that the most super experienced group?
Is that the you know somewhere in between? Like what is he basing it off of?
Right?
He said previously that playing time is super important. So guys that aren't playing for the club team, are they not going to play or are they still going to be involved, right, like those types of things rather than like you know, oh, shoot, do we dominate the game
or whatever? Like So, those are the things that I'm curious about because not that not that things can't be changed, but the guys that get first opportunities, it's there, it's theirs to lose, uh and so, and just kind of how he views that and where his initial mind frame is, I think says a little bit.
How do you talk to your mentees about opportunity and taking advantage of it, but at the same time not you know, I'm trying to figure out how to phrase this. It's like, you know, you you've got an opportunity in front of you, but you don't want to overdo it. You don't wanna, you don't want to be too eager, you don't wanna you don't want to be somebody that you're not in trying to secure your place in a
new situation. How do you talk to your mentees about the first day at school with the new teacher and making sure that you're not sucking up to the new teacher, but you're showing the new teacher what you can be.
Yeah, first impressions are important. There's no doubt about it on and off the field. And so you know, when we're talking about on the field, you know, you've earned an opportunity to not only be on the team, but if you're in the starting lineup, to be in the starting lineup, right, and that's based off of who you are and what you've done, right, So there's no need
to be something that you're not. It's just go out there and prove that you are the player that you are and that you can do it, you know, on a consistent basis, so that that would be how you know, I would approach something like that with within soccer.
But yeah, no, there's there's no doubt about it. This first thing.
You can come back from a bad first impression, but it takes time. It does take time, and especially the type of coach I enter a college player right now and he didn't have the great first impression and his coach and he's got a long battle ahead to try and turn things around, and he hasn't gotten the playing time that he wants because of it. And it's not a lost cause, but it takes time because his coach is like an old school typ coach. So yeah, those first impressions are important?
What about four more minutes with Michael Parker's I've set my clock to four minutes gets you a quarter till Is it different with first impressions with old school coaches versus younger coaches? In getting your feedback, it's like, Yeah, the guy's like one hundred and seventeen years old and he's stuck in his ways versus yeah, someone who's closer to us in our age group. And I can, you know, feel like I can relate better to the younger coach.
Do you have those kinds of differences when it comes to navigating this kind of thing too?
Are these are those?
Are those older coaches stuck in their ways? And is it Is it a harder climb with an older coach than it is with a younger coach?
I guess in general more so yes, I think.
Like it is tough that that that balance John, because that first impression is super important. Yet you don't want to put too much pressure on yourself that you fail in those moments. Because I remember a January one of the first January camps with Klinsman, and a player had gotten his first opportunity with the national team and he played in the game and he did not do well and that was it.
Like never again.
Uh.
And so it's just one example, but it happens.
Uh.
And so if you're not ready for that opportunity, you might not get another. And that's just the reality of it, especially at the high high level. Now, you know, talking to youth players is obviously much different. But yeah, there's an importance there.
Two minute warning, Two more questions. One at Landy United next because next time I see you, I think it'll be I think Greg's going to owe you a week, So it might be before after the end of the regular season. At Lanty United, still in it. They put up a performance against Red Bulls and now they got to they gotta take care of work. What is it like in one of these situations where you gotta do what you got to do.
You can't focus.
On everybody around you, but you know you're going to be scoreboard watching on decision day, the difficulties of compartmentalizing. They're in a situation where you just got to go out and do your thing and hope that things fall your way. When it comes to something like what at Land United is going through.
Yeah, there's no doubt that you're going to be scoreboard watching. It's just natural and it's going to happen. But it doesn't matter if you don't win, right It literally nothing matters unless you go out there and win. And so that's obviously the most important thing. You go out there and you win, and you end the season on a high note with two straight wins. And will it be absolutely disappointing if they don't make it in for sure, and it won't be good enough. But at the same time,
that's all you can control right now. And we always talk about control what you can control.
What you can can.
Control, and that is your performance against Orlando and going out and getting three points and everything else is going to happen the way it's meant to be, and hopefully that's in Atlanta's favor.
So sub question one B, how much do you hate the Purple team?
Honestly, there's a dislike, but they never beat me John, so like it's tough to hate somebody that you just dunked on for the.
Most of your career, you know.
So.
I don't know, they're just like another team, but I get there's a rivalry and it was fun to play against him in the rivalry and then Joseph cing him do his thing and so but for me, honestly, I probably disliked the Red Bulls more than Orlando because of the games that we had against them when I was playing.
Yes, final question, Evan wants to know how Tidewater Landing is going good.
Yeah, it's coming along on target.
We're looking at April opening, so we'll start on the road for just a little bit. But yeah, everything's coming along well. And we've got like our three D thing going on and we're doing tours at the stadium and so it's coming and yeah, we're excited at MF.
Parkerson on the two hundred eighty character AP at BG Minnoring on the two hundred and eighty character APT Beyond Goals Minering, go play golf.
You're the man, John, all right, you too, It's Michael Parker