It is the bottom of the hour, and so we get to ask about moguls and training and find out what's going on. Because there's a team that we follow on a weekly basis here on the show, and there's a postseason coming up in the second division in the US Soccer Pyramid, and there's a particular team that we do talk about and they made the playoffs.
We just don't know where.
We don't know where they're seated because we have one final weekend in USL Championship to figure it out. So we will ask our favorite mogul and training about what it's like to experience the playoffs and get in there and what it's going to be like. Time for the Friday free kick with our friends from Beyond Goals Entering and our buddy Michael Parker is hanging out with us this week.
What is up?
Good morning?
So are you nervous? Are are you excited?
Rhode Island FC is in the playoffs and it's the kings of the draws.
Got a good draw and you're going to be in the postseason.
You don't know where yet, I think, because there's some math and one more match to play.
But how does it feel?
I broke my I broke my sideline reporter a guidebook out, and I just said, so, how does it feel.
How does it feel?
Cap It feels really good. Yeah. Obviously that was goal number one going into the season. We wanted to be a playoff team, you're one, and so we've accomplished that, and yeah, we feel really good about where the team is right now. The second half of the season has been really strong for us, and so you know, we know that we're going to have an away game. We don't know where that'll be, but honestly, we feel confident going into that game. You know, obviously we hope to avoid Louisville.
Yes, that would it every just like, no, you can have Louisville, I insist.
And probably Charleston, but yeah, I think everybody else we feel we feel good about going in there, and so we'll see. And selfishly, I hope it's Detroit or Indie because those are quick little trips for me.
Yes, well, and going going to Keyworth to play Detroit City. Danny Dickyo has done some great work there this year with them, and it's uh, Keyworth is a pain in the ass to go, it's to go play.
It's a tough place to play, no doubt about it.
And Indy eleven they play at the mic at Ouey Poui, Indiana University, Purdue University, Indiana, Indianapolis, whatever they call it, but the mic, the mic not as intimidating.
But I think that if you can avoid.
Going to ham Trammick and going to Detroit City, I think that Detroit City can be had. I think Indy eleven can be had. India eleven likes to score a lot of goals, but I think that you guys defensively can take something like that. So I like the idea of the first round matchup, and I know that you can take a little hot flight or maybe even hopping the car and turn it into a golfing excursion while you have the time left on the clock to do it.
I like where your head's at, John Well.
I mean, come on, somebody's got to play golf on this show. And since I don't have the time to do it, I anoint you to improve both of our handicaps simultaneously.
I will gladly excite.
All right.
So we got a lot of different things to kind of get into here that are somewhat postseason mentally related Atlanta United, and I guess this is where I'll steer us into the mentoring conversation. So Atlanta United goes into the eight and nine. They go into a hostile environment, they take care of business. They get out to the early start, then it turns into too two. Then they go to PK's and a forty year old keeper, as we all know keepers age differently though, takes care of business.
And then they go to the next stage of this. What is it when you have conversations with with mentees about going into high impact emotional situations? Do you have these conversations about controlling emotions and understanding the moment while still trying to accomplish what you want to accomplish coming out the other side?
For sure, there's no doubt about it. And I've spoken to a few teams in high school that are going into playoffs or going into championship games and things like that, and the two messages I always tell them are one, play to win the game, don't play not to lose, and to expect the unexpected and expect that something will go wrong. You will get punched in the face metaphorically in the game. And what's going to be the reaction right.
Maybe you go down one zero, maybe you give up a two goal lead, maybe you get a red card, you know, who knows, Maybe the referee doesn't give you obvious penalty. I don't know, but something going to go wrong, and be ready to dig deep in those moments and get over it and get past it quickly.
When you have a when you have a lead, like Atlanta United did in this in this playing game in a hostile environment, they handle everything well. But then you get that moment with Brad where I think it was because Gregorson was in his peripheral vision and you see a shot coming in and you see something wobble and you're like, okay, what was that? And you're instant, you're distracted slightly, and then Joseph comes in for the slam dunk to make it two to one.
You're in a moment like that.
You've got to shake off those moments too, and that's what your teammates are for. That's what all those voices and that experience is for, you know. I guess the next stage is conversations emotionally about getting past those rough moments and not turning it into quicksand I guess it's probably the next topic here. Do you talk about quicksand and how to avoid those kinds of things?
For sure? Yeah, for sure. It's funny. I just made a phdeo doing a lot of video and mouths.
But they just made a.
Video because I saw is something happened in an FC Dallas game. I'm pretty sure it was from last weekend, and I don't know who the player was. He was their defensive midfielder and it was late in the game. I think they're winning two zero, and he gets the ball in his own eighteen, makes a bad pass, but the player takes a bad touch and it comes right back to him. So mistake number one, no harm, no foul, plays the ball out wide. It's not a good pass,
no harm, no foul. His teammates ends up getting to it, he goes over to support, gets the ball back again, and I talk about how at this point right now, his confidence is shook because he gets the ball back and he's got a second to look up and play a wide open pass through the lines, and he doesn't. And I talk about it's because his confidence is shot. He was afraid to make this pass and so he
didn't make it. Then he gets closed down, tries to play back to the goalkeeper, forward, reads the pass, intercepts it, scores And it's not the first mistake. Usually that hurts you the most. Right, if the first mistake might hurt you, it might give up the goal, but usually it's not. Usually it's a second it's a compound effect, and you know, that's what we can't have. That's what we need to avoid.
Right We're not going to avoid mistakes, but can we avoid the compound mistakes that are based off of basically losing some confidence and not being able to get over the first one.
How do you how do you develop short term memory? I guess is the it's the whole goldfish mentality bit, you know what that we've seen from Ted Lasso. How how do you develop short term memory and being able to put things past you? Because I would I would think as an athlete growing up and then as a professional that shutting those kinds of things off and then
just focusing on the next and going forward. That's got to be one of the most difficult things out there to try and be as an athlete, is to put the past to the side, even though it's going to be hanging on your shoulder and kind of reminding you about what just happened here. How do you put that fear aside? How do you put that activity aside and focus going forward.
Yeah, that's absolutely one of the toughest things, and there's there's no easy solution, and everybody's a little different, you know. I think there's some younger athletes I talk to where you try and have something, some sort of action or voice or something that triggers your ability to get your mind off of that and onto something else, like picking up a blade of grass and throwing it, or telling yourself a certain phrase that you've already come up with
to remind yourself to let things go, you know. And I think it starts beforehand as well of not expecting to be perfect, expecting to make mistakes. It goes into it as well, because I think when you have that mentality, it helps you get over it quickly rather than expecting to be perfect and then you lament on it for longer. So yeah, it's a challenge and you really need to go through it, experience it, and that's why we say that mistakes and losses and all these bad things make
you better in the end. If you're able to learn from it.
What were your for lack of a better word, dismissers, What were your triggers to put something past? Was it a deep breath? Was it the blade of grass? Was it you know, kicking you know, kicking air? What were your what were your ways to get past that bad moment when you had a chance to breathe and process and move forward.
Yeah, for me, it was always I wanted to have absolute full focus for like the next five minutes. It was like, Okay, I've made a mistake right now, but don't make another mistake here in the next few minutes, right, really focus in, play safe, if you have to, right, get into a tackle, do something, get in, get involved. And also don't let the communication lack just because you had a bad moment, like those types of things of like trying to make sure, hey, stay in tune, stay
in tune, stay sharp here. Right, these are the moments that your most susceptible to make another mistake, right, as individually and as a team. Right, they say, like at right after scoring a goal, Right, it's the most susceptible time to giving up a goal. Right, It's because you know you let your guard down for a minute, and same thing. After you make a mistake, you let your guard down a little bit, you're thinking about it, your confidence isn't as high, and then boom, the ball comes
right back to you, because of course it does. And are you ready?
It's just.
I you know, you look at those moments and you try not to compound mistakes, and we talk about putting
that first mistake past you. Then you get those individuals that apparently can't, and then you get into the whole compounding of a mistake and it turns into one and another and another and another, and then you can't get out of your own way, it seems, and that that to me, it's you know, while we talk about getting past that first mistake is difficult, it's compounding those mistakes then get back and it seems like the more the mistake, the more difficult it is to get out of that,
to get out of that rut. Or is it just that one shaking moment of confidence, even after you've had just the worst day and your you know, your day was ish and Soccer America gave you a two up to that point, you get to that one moment. Is it as simple as for an athlete that one moment or does it have to be if you've had a really bad day and you.
Had mistake, mistake, mistake, mistake, mistake and you can't shake it off.
Is it as simple as that one good moment that can move you forward or do you have to have a chain?
Do you think? Or does it vary with the individual?
It does? But that John, this is what separates you know, the okay to the good, the good to the best. Right, This is what separates the best athletes. It's their ability to get over these little things and not let them
affect them. Because anyone can do it well once and anybody can do it well for a week or whatever it is, right, But when you do get punched in the face, when you do have a terrible game right, mistake after mistake and it just doesn't go your way, can you get back on the horse and can you get it back on it quickly? And even in game right? These are the things right And it's every single sport
that this is what separates so many athletes. And it's not really anything to do with kicking a soccer ball or shooting a basketball or anything like that. It's more than mental space for sure, right, because they all can do it. It's what got them to this place, and it's what got a youth athlete to their travel team or whatever. Right, But to get to the next step, right, everything's going to get harder, and so how do you react?
And yeah, for good players, they that one good play can overshadow it and get them back on track.
Right.
For somebody that's not as in tuned, they need a whole good game or two good games or whatever it might be, five good plays in order to start getting over it. And sometimes that's too much.
Being an underdog going into a situation where everyone around you is thinking, yeah, you're the underdog. The other team's just gonna truck you, and this kind of thing. How do you handle and how do you have conversation with folks about understanding that, yeah, you might be an underdog, but that's the outside noise. How do you in a situation like that? And yes, I'm kind of talking about a team that you used to play for. Everybody is staring at one team and going, yeah, they're the nine.
You know, it's like.
They're going to Miami or Fort Lauderdale and they're the dog. How do you put or channel the idea of no one believes in us and channel that into positive energy instead of letting the negative weight and everything else that surrounds.
Us today affecting you.
How do you channel internal as opposed to focusing on external and letting that affect your playing.
Yeah, I honestly think that's pretty easy. That's that's what brings teams together the most, right, is when everybody thinks they're going to get crushed or lose or have no chance right where it's like, hey, it's us against the world out here, and nobody thinks that we have a chance, and and that's a good way to play a lot of times, right because it's like the pressure is totally on the other team. There's there's no pressure on you as a big underdog, right everything you go. If you
go out there and win, it's it's amazing. You go out there and lose, and it's like, well, we were expected to lose, So really it should free you up to play a little bit more loose and take those risks and go after it because you have to. Right as the quote unquote worst team, you need to take
risks and do things right. You can't just go out there and hope that you can have one moment and just defend and do those things because you know you're not the better team, right and you know, specifically to Myami versus Atlanta. Yeah, and Miami is the better team, right, There's that's that's fact. Does that mean they're going to win the series? No, it doesn't. But you know, you you need to do some things that are a little
bit special in order to pull an upset. And you know, sometimes when you've got that mentality of us against the world, right, it brings the team together a little bit and gets it gets everybody on the same page.
How difficult is it in a situation like this to focus on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back, because you know that the Gulf Stream, Galactic Coast, they're going to be out there and it's going to be you know, Messi, Suarez, Busquets Alba, all
the young guns, all this kind of stuff. How do you tell folks to focus on the crest and the jerseys that you're going up against and not be intimidated by your surroundings knowing that there are those big guns that are on the other side like that.
Yeah, it's tough. You know, I think that it's easy to get distracted by those three, but there there's a lot of good players on Miami that can hurt you. And so if you focus all your attention on those two guys, especially right, there's then Julian or Gomez or Campana or.
Or whomever.
Yeah, yeah, exactly the other English winger wherever he's from?
Oh, Robert Robert Taylor? Yeah?
Yeah, uh is he? Where is he from?
I think I think he's He's it's a weird one American, like Sweden or something.
I didn't think he was an American, but it's a it's.
An it's it's like Robert Taylor, and it's an odd it's an odd one that you wouldn't necessarily associate.
I think it's like Sweden or something.
Okay, but yeah, they've got a lot of pieces that you can hurt you. I think the most important thing for me, and I cannot, for the life of me, John understand it, is I really hope that for Atlanta that warning signs go up in your head when Messi's got the ball, or Jordi Alba has the ball and they always look for each other, or Messi runs after he plays the ball, he runs deep, Like when I watched that Revolution game from last week. I cannot believe they let this guy run free. How can you not
run with him? I get it if he beats you, right, that's one thing. But he always passes and moves always. His movement is so good. So and I cannot believe if Jordi Alba has one more cutback cross to Messi at the top of the box for a goal, I don't know how it happens. John, It's unbelievable.
It's there on tape. Finland is Robert.
Taylor by the way, Finland.
Yeah, so it was like it was something scanning.
But yeah, it's like this has happened on tape and in person for years.
This is how this happens. How do you not know that this is going to happen when so and so I was there then.
But one last thing, John, is I can't remember. I tell you already. I went to the Miami Columbus game here in Columbus a few weeks ago, and Columbus dominated the first half. They played so well. It was like the fortieth minute and I was thinking to myself, this is the worst I've ever seen Messi play. He wasn't completing passes. He didn't have the ball much anyways, because
Columbus had it a lot. But even when he did, he was so bad, like the worst I've ever seen him play, and I was thinking, godh this is crazy. And literally six minutes later it's halftime, it's two zero and mess He's got two goals. Right, So it's like you can never ever let your guard down and that but also to your point of like, hey, mistake after mistake after mistake and then going right right back in it.
And that was why I wanted to ask about, you know, handling the crest on the front as opposed to the name on the back, because it can be something where it does turn into quicksand you get that you're you're even after forty five, say, and then a moment happens and then you're Then it might shake you into this idea of like, oh crap, yeah, we're playing Messi and Suarez and alb and Busquets, and then the moment happens, you get that second and then you turn into New
England and you give up six And fantasy players who captained Messi and got double points had a field day even though I only played like thirty five minutes speaking from experience, but and that to me is just one of those things where I think that maybe younger players and we saw this when uh, when Messi and friends were here in Atlanta. You had j Fortune, and I want to say it was like Jay Fortune and Stean Gregorson who may not necessarily have the other than maybe
watching on TV or something. You got young guys who are just kind of like, yeah, okay, it's like, fine, you're the guy with the ball. You're not Lionel Messi with the ball. You literally had Messi at the top of the d. You had three defenders collapse on him and he couldn't do anything with the ball, and they
weren't intimidated by their surroundings Atlanta defensively. That's what I was trying to understand is focus on this, don't focus on that, and then you've got to you got you can put all of that behind you and just focus on your job. You can be locked in on your job for ninety minutes in a situation.
Like that, for sure. Yeah, absolutely. And Messi is like one of the few players where yeah, your job changes a little bit and you have to be a little bit more concerned with the name on the back, but in general, right, your own play absolutely, And I think Atlanta should have confidence going to this game because you know, the last two times they've played Miami, they've done really.
Well, more points, maybe a win and a draw.
And the game in Miami they could have had six goals. So that would be my mentality going into this game. Hey, Messi's gonna do special things, right, He's going to He's the best in the world. He likely will even score, right, Miami's probably going to score. But that's okay because we can score two or three on Miami. They're not a defensive juggernaut, right, They are capable of giving up goals. So that would be my mentality, like, hey, yeah, we're
going to try and shut them out. We're going to try and put but you know what if Messi sticks one in the top bins, like okay, so be it. But you know what, we can go down there and score on the other side.
You mentioned doing videos these days beyond goals. I mean, I want to get into that for a bit. What's it like to have these kinds of creative outlets for you and Greg to show what's going on in your brain and have examples of what folks can use from entering. What's it like for you to go in and dive down that rabbit hole for creation?
Yeah, I really enjoy it because I don't know, I see these things happen out on the field, and I feel like I can talk to them and see like, hey, this is why this player did this, like in a good way, or hey, here's what we need to learn from this place. This is what this player did wrong, and you know how you can avoid this situation type thing.
So it's just a way for me to like help analyze the game a little bit, help them see things and understand things a little bit of how things are done out there in the field at a higher level and what it takes and just seeing things a little bit clearer. And there's little things that you can that turn into habits or I don't know, like when you're on an end line crossing a ball, like where what are your options to look for rather than you're trying to hit it in the middle of the goal. You know,
there's little cues. So just trying to point out those things I think can be really helpful for younger athletes.
What's the worst habit that needs correcting today from either younger players or players as I mean, like the younger players like the U eighteens, the eighteen to the twenty two's, what's the worst bad habit that can be easily kicked that you keeps running into.
The days, probably not aware of your surroundings, not knowing what you're gonna do with the ball when it comes to you, as far as like what do you do with your first touch? Even if you're not playing it to someone, but what are you doing to avoid pressure? Or do you know where pressure is coming from? Like those types of things, like the first touch is just a game changer, and you know it's it's not clean
enough in most instances. I mean, shoot, even at the professional level it's it's not sometimes, but definitely at the youth level it's it's something that can really separate players and just give yourself such a better opportunity to have success in each moment of the game.
Is it wasted these days? Do you think more often than not the first touch?
Uh, it could definitely be done a lot better. Is you give yourself more opportunities? That's for sure? It's often wasted, not so much wasted is not taking advantage of right. That doesn't mean the first touch is always a turnover, but it means that the first touch didn't do anything positive for you when it could have.
Bark Keeler's in this morning and he says the probably the biggest bad habit.
He says, stop thinking that you don't foul opponents. You're on a field with twenty one other people. You're gonna foul him, Accept it and move on.
That's a really good one too. And I do have a video where I point out professional fouls how to do them, like the importance of them, why you do it,
you know, especially for attackers. I did one the other day. Actually, I was talking to a kid and I'm like, hey, if you foul this guy right here, right, not only do you get to walk back and get in position, but like six other guys in your team get to as well, right, and it slows things down and you get to rest a little bit, and you know, you get behind the ball, so and you're not gonna get
a yellow card, so stop worrying about it. And yeah, it's that's that's a good one, Bart for sure, because you know, I think that there's a misconception between like being a good sport and sportsmanship and fouling, and you know, they don't have to live separately.
And the professional foul I think is a lost art.
At times these days.
Especially in in one of those transitional moments and you're like you're you're yelling at the screen or you're yelling at the field foul I mean, and it's like they want to sit there and poke and prod and pull a shoulder instead of actually just bowl somebody over.
I think at times of professional foul is a lost art.
Yeah. Not in South America, No, no, no, No.
Guy saw something I think it was yesterday in the Roma Dinum o' Kiev where literally dude goes in studs up on a tackle and destroyed the roma players sock and the padding underneath to where there was a hole about the size of my palm. And no card. I'm guessing because you're OPA league, you know I'm but I'm it's like, yeah, you want to go in studs up, They're not going to give you a card, all right,
that's the bar. We know what, we know what we're doing until something happens and then the bar changes.
What's going on?
With beyond goals other than you and ushering Rhode Island FC into the land of the playoffs.
Nothing really new right now, it's going things are going really well. So nothing really new to report, which is uh, which is a okay. I think the newest conversation is looking to potentially bring on another mentee, likely a female, and grow the business in that area. So U, but that's not happening in the next few weeks. That's more of the next month or two, right there's no rush. We want to find the right person, but yeah, we're searching.
Excellent as always, my friend.
It's great to see you in between moguling and ushering teams into playoffs and building what's going on there beyond goals with you and Greg. It's always great to see my friend. Be safe, have fun. I know that you'll be watching pacing back and forth in a room somewhere looking at Rhode Island FC's final match of the regular season, figuring out.
Where you're going to go for the playoffs. It's always great to see you, my friend. Be good, have a safe weekend.
Likewise, enjoy the game tonight, everybody, you got it.
There's Michael Parkers and CAP's gonna go and do things, and you know he dude, I mean, he's They've got it going on and it's fantastic. I love what I love what Greg and Cap are doing on a daily basis and finding out what's going on with them and all of this