Chaos ensues one of the busiest days of the year. But before before, before, before he shows up. We always have to play the appropriate piece of audio. We always have to.
Hey, Glenn Davis here in Houston, Texas, A big fan of soccer down.
Here, because it always does. And so here's Glenn.
John, you know better than the challenge me technologically.
Right there with you, brother. I think we're in the same target demo.
I figured it out, though it's incredible. I created an account and I figured it out.
So I'm here, okay, So uh and uh he he is wearing his Soccer Matter's T shirt.
He's guessed shameless promotion.
As it should be, no doubt about it. Uh, good to see you, my friend. Congratulations on year dose echis when it comes to being the play by play voice of the Dynamo first and foremost.
Yeah, it's uh. It's been a great ride for me looking at the game and how it's develop going from Robertson Stadium to where it is now. I actually started as an analyst. It's also the thirtieth year I've been involved with the league since its inception, so obviously it's been a lot of fun.
All right, So let me ask you, do you remember day one of season one when you started your activity with the Dynamo as the analyst. Do you remember that first match day?
I remember some early ones. I think one of them may have been in Colorado. I'm not sure exactly which was my very very first game, but I was fortunate to do it with a lot of great people. I was certainly very green. I was working with Bill Land, who had a long career with the San Antonio Spurs but also called games in the NASL, and he was just a wonderful play by play guy to break in with because he really mentored me and worked with me.
So now we come to two zero two five on the calendar. When you look back at last season for the Dynamo and we've had the whole seven weeks, I guess to ingest the whole thing. What sticks in your mind from last season that you got to see that you're carrying forward to twenty five.
Well, the biggest thing from last year, and it's not being carried forward in twenty twenty five, was the fact that Hector Herrera wasn't as engaged as he was in twenty twenty three. Yes, there were injuries, I personally believe he could have got his injuries sorted out earlier right after the season. He didn't, But to watch him in
twenty twenty three was to watch something very special. So carrying for obviously the basis of the team, the quote unquote style of play, or the word now is game model remains the same, but I think that's going to be altered a little bit. And that's a really possession based, narrow team. They keep their team shaped, they're in every game. But the big question coming into this season, it was much like last year, was at the score goals.
When you look at the transactions that happened in the offseason, Coco Kata Skia gone, and you have a Sebastian Ferrera gone. You got a couple of folks in from the Purple team, Nicol Ladero in, Michael Halliday inn, Jack McGlenn in. When you look at the ins and outs, like when you and I were growing up, and we had a thing called a newspaper, on the last page of the sports section and the really small print, it had the transactions page.
Yea yeah, And so when you look at the transactions page for the Dynamo coming out of twenty four going into twenty five with all this activity, you look at that transactions page in the small print, what'd you think, Well.
Obviously you're losing two very key pieces in midfield, right, so you're replacing them with Jack McGlynn Nicol Ladero. Now was a big signing. Yes, I think in my opinion, we're gonna see what's gonna happen now because Jack McGlenn and Nico Ladero I think are good signings. If and this is the big thing, I think those signings will
become a lot more significant. If pat Onstead, the Dynamo general manager, Asher Mendelssohn, Ben Olsen, they can find a DP that's up here, then that will then allow them to do different things with Jack McGlynn and different things with Nico Ledero. Right, So I think that's how those two signings become even better.
Now.
The other big piece that's going to be missing is likely Mikhayel going to Palmiers. So they taken about eight and a half million dollars. It's probably their greatest transfer window ever. But the question is can you replace the quality of what you lost? And a lot of the moves that have been made have been very frugal but good economic moves. But the bottom line is these players have to deliver. You know, Steve Clark, they had to move him on salary too big. Andrew Tarbell becomes a starter.
Now how does your team change. He's going to be hitting more longer balls. He's going to be trying to knock balls in behind defenses as opposed to playing out of the back. How does that affect your game model? Does that make you lose a little bit more control of games and get you into games that are more fighting and chaotic and second balls. So we'll see. But I think on paper that's my opinion. Now on paper for the fans, I don't think it's good enough for
them yet. Although I think the Ladero signing is interesting, is exciting. We know how good of a player he is. How do you utilize him to get him to make some special plays and maybe unlock the posential of your Argentine center ford Ezekiel Poultse.
Does Nikodero then not start every game? Do you pick his spot so he can give you the full ninety when you can because of schedule, compression and things like that, or do you bring him in like Bennie Johnson from the El Detroit Pistons, where he's a microwa. When you bring him in for the final thirty and have him create, what are you envisioning here?
Yeah, that's the question. I mean, I think older players like that as long as they're accommodating and don't believe they're a ninety minute player and are here to be a part of it, and I think he is. He's obviously bringing depth and great experience. He's one of the great playmakers in MLS history. I don't think there's any question. When you think Seattle, you definitely think of Nico Ldero. But I think there's a lot of ways to utilize them.
I think it's going to be interesting. You let others go in there when the game's intense and beat each other up for sixty five seventy minutes. You bring him in against fatiguing defenders. He gets an extra half a yard of space and he can kill you in and still make place right. So I think that's going to be interesting. And I do think he's capable of starting games. I think he started sixteen in Orlando, So yeah, I think, you know, utilizing a player like that with that vast
experience that playmaking skill which the Dynamo need. They need playmakers. You know, they play against a lot of settled defenses that are back behind the ball and they have to break them down and it's not an easy thing to do, and that's because of their style of play. It's been very methodical and possession based.
When you look at the McGlenn transaction, specifically, the barn door got let open finally in Major League Soccer where you could have intra league transactions and you could just go ahead and pick folks up if the number to the left of the decimal was right. It was something that needed to happen a lot sooner. But you bring in somebody like Jack McGlenn, What did you think about this idea finally coming to the four where you can get an evander in if you want, You can get
a Luco Acosta if you want. In Houston's case, you get Jack McGlenn out of Philly. Sits there and thinks that they're Scrooge McDuck. I guess all of a sudden, with the money bags that they brought in for McGlenn, what do you think about this particular rule finally coming to the four?
Love the rule. Love the rule. It's made for some really interesting transactions. Of course, Acosta now goes to FC Dallas to play under Eric Quill. Oh how quickly a Vander ends up in Cincinnati. Now, So I think this is great. I think the more mechanisms that can allow for roster build the better, and more and more guys want to come and play in the United States. I mean, I don't think there's any question about that. The question is is when do you start getting them more in
their prime? But all these mechanisms are great, and listen, being a central defender as a professional player, I really love great defending. But I'm sorry, at this point, I want to see the artists operate, you know. I want to see Lanel Messi in five degrees last night, take a ball down off his chest, turn a couple people, and finish. I mean, it's absolutely remarkable.
I think word that popped into my head when you were describing it was filthy. But yeah, I mean that was filthy.
Is good. I don't know if I don't know if everybody looked at it from this perspective, because it was such a magical play, but it was almost as if four defenders were in fear of him, and they drop off. They don't even attack the ball in the air, and they give him enough room, that little window from a spatial perspective to take it off his chest. And I mean, at that point, you're like, you're done. I've fallen all
over each other. Incredible though, and I love it because everybody was questioning his wotton desire to play in five degrees. That's probably the coldest game Messi's ever played it, right.
Yeah, I would think, but you mentioned two words at the beginning of that last sentence, want and desire. Take the weather part out of it. Want and desire involving Leo Messi or things that he's never been short on when it comes to trying to advance.
People are going to think this guy's not going to play just because it's cold. He's a competitor. He's one of the most fiery competitive competitors ever. I think that Guardiola said he was just in practice when he had him at Barcelona. It was just an absolute killer and is the most competitive guy. I think, you know, there's
a way that ran athletes and people. I unfortunately didn't get this wonderful thing, but you know, to look like you're not trying when you do things is kind of a gift, and I think that's kind of what you see with him.
Friend of SDH, Glenn Davis making his pre match Week one appearance here on sd H A m and we are coming on with you, John. Oh. But look, it's fun to see you, brother, because I know that you run around at five hundred thousand miles an hour, just like the rest of us. And the fact that you can hang out with us early in the morning with a cup of Joe and you know, I got my Mountain dew, You get your cup of Joe, and we're
ready to rock and roll. Huh oh. Yeah, I'm not a copy I've never been a coffee guy, never.
Had interesting I never was until I went to Greece, and I guess I was about twenty two or twenty three and I went to Greece. So last Tuesday, yeah, not quite. Not quite a lot of tuesdays.
Ago, John, right there with you, brother. Twenty twenty four season for Houston, you were the five seed, fifteen ten and nine fifty four points. One of the things that we talk about when you come on specifically is the fan support, the fan base, and you were mentioning the transactions and winning the press conference coming into twenty five and the vibe and everything. What is the vibe coming into twenty five for the fans there in Houston, because
here in Atlanta the excitement's off the chart. It's going to be seventy thousand of your best friends on Saturday. What is the current state of the vibe with the fan base?
Now, yeah, you got Biggie Almoron coming back and meet front office changes. I mean it's remarkable. I mean, if that's not a statement in Atlanta about hey, we want to win the MLS Cup, I don't know what is. I think you can look at every team in the league and you can say, and I'm not talking about players and the competitive staff, but I'm talking about the overall organization. Are they overly commercial or are they a club that really wants to be both commercial and win
an MLS Cup? And I don't think there's any question Atlanta gets put into that category. And then you know, you got your great player coming back after a great stint in the Premier League with Newcastle. But I think there's a lot of excitement going in right now. The relevancy still is not where it should be in Houston. I don't mean this to bag on people, but I've been here since nineteen eighty four. It should be bigger
the Dynamo. But they're off too. They really have opportunity here with FC Dallas to start, and then you've got Messi coming in. Hopefully the weather's going to be okay on the weekend, but you know, there's no mainstream coverage. You know, there's an amazing storyline about a local youth player who went on to play an MLS who's coming in in his debut as the head coach of FC Dallas, Eric Quill. Now some might say, oh, but that has
nothing to do with the Dynamo. No, but it has something to do with our Houston soccer community, and we produce players, coaches, administrators that go throughout America to contribute that in very, very big ways. And the Eric Quill story is a great storyline. You're not going to see
it in the Houston Chronicle. You're not going to see it in mainstream and in fact, you're looking at the only guy who probably even talks about it, right, Because I love the Houston soccer community and have seen what amazing things happen with people achieving from out of there, But it's still a challenge. I think they'll get off to a nice start here. I mean, you've got a lot of opportunity. You're going to get a lot of unique viewers in for the game against Inenter Miami right
that maybe don't normally attend a Dynamo game. It's an opportunity for you to win them over. You're going to play an exhibition against El Salvador. Okay, we got tons of Salvadorians. If you want them coming to your games, you have to play that friendly against El Salvador to win it, Okay, to win it and put your best team out there. You've got to make a decision there that we want to put our best eleven out to win this friendly game in order to try and boost
attendance and relevancy. Then you've got great leagues cut with Tigris, Lazetlan and Pachuca, especially Tigris as Honestly, this is Tigris country here in Houston and Rayatos. Because Monterey, Mexico is close to the border, people drive over the border to go to games. Can you get those people? I always hear people, Oh no, you can never get this generation of Mexican I cried bs on that, because if you're not trying and your stadium's not full, you're doing something wrong.
And again, you're playing Tigris in a real competition. You knock them off. You've got bragging rights in Houston, but they are the number one supported team here you aren't. So these are games you got to win, in my opinion, and you got to play well.
When you look at Houston's place in the West, what are you looking at out of the blocks with everybody else in the Western Conference? In Houston's place in it? Is it still that chasing after that that home that home playoff game at the four? Where do you what do you see?
Yeah? I think so, I think Look, you know you can. It's funny. Major League soccer is an amazing thing, right you can. You can cherry pick any kind of information you want to describe your season. You could say, wow, this is the most points we have gotten in quite some time. What a season. Yeah, but you got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. Or you can say we didn't get as many points, but we got to the Western Conference final, right, So what's most important?
And It's always kind of the conundrum. I don't know if you see it, but it's the conundrum of the overall body of work over the course of thirty four games end, or is it you know, is your season good just based on the playoffs? So you can have an average regular season, but if you do well in the playoffs, is that a great season? So it is a playoff league, and I think you can position that
any way you like. I mean, I'm obviously someone I give a lot of credit to the overall bodies of work, but that's generally secondary to what you do in the playoffs in MLS.
Yeah, And I mean here in Atlanta, it was trying to fight for decision day. The math goes your way, you get the wins you need, and as we see in other playoffs structures and other leagues, look just get into the dance because you never know what's going to happen. And last last year in Atlanta, you beat Montreal in the playing game in the eight nine and then you get Messi and Friends. You take Messi and Friends to Game three down there at the Erector Set in Fort Lauderdale.
You knock off the big dog on the block and then then you lose eventually to Orlando and the one and done's and so that's the momentum that you had
with the roster that you had. Then Garth Logerway and Chris Henderson, they get to bring in latte Lot for Middlesbrough, they bring in Meggie and they bring in Mattea's click from DC and you add that to those pieces that you brought in getting that first full season of training camp, get your ask at the seven weeks and so, yeah, everybody's pretty jacked up about what's going on, but it's become an off of that playoff run that you had late twenty four.
Yeah, and what's interesting is you know you got teams at MLS that will go after the best of MLS when it comes to the standpoint of the front office, right, I mean, when you're going for Garth Lauberway and you're going for Chris Anderson, you're going with guys that have tremendous, tremendous experience connection have done it within the league. You're not pulling somebody from another league or another area to
make crucial decisions. So as much as we talk about roster bills and the type of players that are being brought in. It's equally interesting to watch the people that are hired for roles of real, real, real responsibility for Houston.
I know we talked about the the A listers, the shiny objects walking in the door here in twenty five. Give me someone on the second level. Give give me the grinder. Give me somebody that's not going to be in your TV open in the Glen Davis spot shadow, the player to watch, you know, lower third comes in with the tombstone and you have the stats and everything.
Give me somebody on the second level of that roster that wouldn't be in a player to watch segment that is going to be key for Houston here in twenty five.
Yeah, that's an easy one. Eric Siachenko is a center back that's got tremendous experience. I think we have to watch that now because he's going to lose, likely to Palmiers Mikhayel, who kind of is the athletic sort of you know, ying to his yang right, he's very intelligent defender. I think the other one you go right to is our tour as the holding midfielder, phenomenal season last year. I mean, these two guys are the glue of the team,
in my opinion, phenomenal, phenomenal experienced players. I think those two. You know, remember it's a team that's leading goals at six right. If you're into the well we do it by committee. I have always been from the opinion that you do need a primary goal scorer. They had a number of guys who had six, five and four. They get into the final third very well, the Dynamo. The problem is, I don't think our expectations are fair on guys like I mean, Bossi, Sebastian caval cech Aliu Ibrahim.
They don't necessarily have a history of scoring a lot of goals. And I would throw Coco Karski into that. And sometimes the answer to goal scoring is simply having players that are goal scorers, right. I think sometimes our expectations are too high. Those guys are all at one soccer players, but they're not goal scorers, so can they figure that out? And then of course they're center forward
layere In Ezekiel Ponce from Argentina. They paid six million for very good player, smart uses his body well, but the guy never gets to face goal and get chances. He plays a lot of the game with his back to goal, and I think that's another one of the pieces of the dynamo and then that can unleash the attack. Of course, we talked about McGlenn and Ladero as passers,
but I don't know. I don't know if they add a little more transition up tempo to their game, if they add a little bit more width to it, or these the things tactically and nuanced. I mean, that's up to the head coach Ben Olson. I'm not questioning anybody, but that's how I see it as an analyst from the outside.
Copa Tejas to start things off Round one, eight thirty Eastern Kicks Saturday Night Dynamo and FCD, go ahead and a little bit, give me the promo, go ahead and hit me well, John.
Cope, Tajas is not the first thing that comes to mind with you for that game, but it is a Texas Derby, and it is a rivalry game and there is history to it. There really is. I think there's gonna be a lot of unknown I think there's gonna be a lot of mistakes which will make the game very interesting, just like a lot of other games in MLS. The beauty, I guess for coaches and MLS is you have a lot of time to get things sorted out, and as you said, make the playoffs. I mean, let's
face it, eighteen teams make the playoffs. If you don't make the playoffs, your season was garbage. I'm sorry, it's just it's just it's a little too friendly for me, you know. And I think it allows for there to be a fallback position. Nonetheless, that is the way the league runs, and I think there'll be a lot of intensity. I think they're going to be guys flying all over the place. Having gone through long preseasons myself and then getting into the first game, it's like it's like the
curtain raiser. You're almost over a drenalized to want to play. So we'll see people that are overly, overly jacked up for the opener. There'll be mistakes, there'll be things of interest, there'll be people that might blossom in the opening game you didn't expect to. You're you're unveiling the curtain with new players. So I think there's a lot of excitement for everybody, including commentators like you and me, no doubt about it.
And please, if you would, sir, promote the activity that is on the T shirt as you as you prepare you to make soccer matters.
Yeah, it's radio show every every usually every Tuesday and Wednesday, sixth Central. We go tonight on a Thursday, ESPN nine seven five dot Com. A lot of different guys that bring people on from Europe. You know, I try to do as good a job as you do. John Ah, you have a lot of Dynamo coverage this week we have been all I'm gonna have Duyne de Rosario on the legendary I'm a lust player Top twenty five all time. He'll be on. I've got Eric Quill talking about his debut.
FC Dallas will bring him on tonight. So that's it, and you can hit me up on Twitter and Instagram at Glenn Davis sock.
No doubt about it. It reminds me I see in this new office space. There's one thing that is lacking that I need to send you, and it is one of our SDH scarves.
Send me.
I need to get it to the Glen Davis imitation stage.
If you've advanced to scarf level with the podcast. I have not yet, but we do have free shirts and hats and they go to a five oh one Sea charity called the Snowdrop Foundation to fight pediatric cancer. So if anybody wants his shirt, I'm going to shamelessly promote. And you want a shirt that is good to help fight pediatric cancer, which probably touches all of our lives, feel free to.
Grab one, love, and I have done so in the past. I've got one of the of the dress grays. They are very, very comfortable and.
You know, I go to life. Listen. You cannot wear a cardboard weight T shirt in Houston, Texas, absolutely die. I have a drawer full of shirts that I never wear because they're just heavy, ugly cotton. These are really light, and you know, you try not to wear. The few clothes you can wear here, the better in Texas. Although right now we're freezing our tails off. It's twenty one degrees hmm.
Right there with you, my friend, what cup of coffee are you on? I forgot to ask.
This is black, just a good cup of black coffee. Wow. I do with the low acidic, you know, because we don't want to turn the stomach up and down.
No doubt about it. It's great to see my friend. Do not be a stranger. That link that I sent you. Yes, that is universal to this studio space. So if you ever get a hanker in while you're having that cup of coffee on like a Friday and your board when it's a free for all, you can charge in anytime you want, give me five minutes, me your rant, tell me how your coffee is, and get out the door. I think we're turning Friday into any time.
John, I got to reciprocate. We've got to bring you on. You got to come on Soccer Matters here real soon. We'll set that up. And you know, you do a great job with the podcast. I think there's a lot of great podcasters out there that we do need to give a lot of credit for bringing attention to the game. And I know ninety nine percent of them love what they're doing, just like you and me. So a big shout out to all those podcasters because they've become an
important element. You know, my radio show just gets flipped into a podcast on Spotify, Google and Apple probably like yours, and it goes live and then it's a podcast. So yeah, great job. It's it is fun and there's no doubt you can tell the guys that really have passion and knowledge for the game.
Yeah, it's great to be with Jason Longshore. One of my dearest.
Friends, Nice said, hello, he's a good man.
We'll do and just be safe, enjoy your black coffee, stay warm, and have a great call this weekend. We'll catch up soon.
John, Thank you very much, and best of luck to all those great Atlanta United fans. One of the highlights of my TV career was doing a national broadcast in there and just taking in that whole atmosphere for Atlanta United a couple of years ago.
Fantastic stuff. We'll see you soon, my friend.
Thanks.
All right, there goes Glenn Davis. It's great to see Glenn because he's a dude. He's a class a dude. And when he comes in and he comes in and hangs out with us, uh, it's a great education on a bunch of different fronts.