So it's Friday.
We know what that means, and let's see if we can actually hit it to where it actually does what it says it's gonna do. We hit our magic button and go here. Now I hit the wrong one. Let's try the short version.
Come on, man, go.
For it, dude.
It's Friday.
Then.
Lucas Panzig is a national and he's going, what in the wide world of sports have I wandered into bat and lead off? Promise this time it actually is happening. Lucas Panzig of one of four five on morning?
Brother? What's going on?
Morning John? Hope you can hear me all right? A little cold, but excited to get the season started.
Four degrees if I remember correctly, just staring over at the big fifty five and they were telling me what's going on up there? And hopefully the water the pipes did not freeze for or any of your neighbors. You kept the spigot on overnight in the furthest bathroom away from you, and everything is up and running, wasting no time because I know you actually have a job and you have to leave there to go to said job. Brought you in here to talk about Nashville as we
always do coming into match week number one. When you look back at twenty twenty four and you look at the season and all of its transitions and everything and ending up with bj Callahi on the touch line. Now he gets his first full training camp, summer and winner and everything getting into this particular season. What sticks in your mind the most as you analyze twenty twenty four, Well.
It's kind of a fresh start. You know, it's the first full season for bj Callahan. Like you said, obviously he had the nine games in charge last year, but you know that was him coming in inheriting a team that was struggling to score goals, struggling to make a push for the playoffs, and they had some nice moments, but on aggregate obviously ended up in the bottom part of the Eastern Conference and missing out for the first time.
Nashville just had its biggest roster overhaul in an offseason that it has ever had, eleven signings boosting the midfield.
Kind of a blend of veterans with Gaston Brugman and Brian Acosta and Eddie Tagsith coming over from Norway, and you know, some youth with a Matt Corker and a Tryalist from Birmingham Legion who really impressed throughout the course of preseason, so they addressed every level of this team are much more balanced and much more well equipped to play the way BJ wants to play, kind of that connective,
free flowing, pressing, attack minded style. But again, John, I do think it's going to come down to your best players, as it does for most every MLS team, and that is how much Honeymooktar and Sam Surage can carry the load scoring the goals for this team.
So then if let's play a defensive devil's advocate here. So if you and I are going up against this squad and we know that the idea is to feed Honey and Sam so they can be A and B when it comes to scoring goals, if I cut off those supply lines in twenty twenty five, who is supposed to step up in those spaces to be those influencers, to be that middle step to get it to Honey and Sam to get it in.
Yeah, I suppose that's what we're trying to figure out in the early goings. Early candidates. Eddie Tagsaf comes over, and that's a guy that can play in central hacking role. Can play wide, can play between the lines. They really like his versatility, his ability to progress the ball, whether that's through the dribble or his passing ability, his vision.
So you know, it's kind of staggered, right. It's an Eddie tag set who could pick up some of that goal scoring load, or a Guston Brugman who can do more of the string pulling from a deeper lying role. Now, I don't know that Guston will play on Saturday. He's kind of got an issue. It seems like he's further away from any of the other guys dealing with something right now.
But they love Guston Brugman.
Bj Callahan told Mike Jacobs in the offseason that they wanted to go find a midfield or a light Guston Brugman, and they got deep enough in the process to where they said, why don't we just call La and see what we can do about bringing the man himself in here.
And that's what they did. And then to your point, I want to.
Throw in Jacob Schaffelberg's name as well, because obviously he flashed. He was a great spark for the Canadian national team last year. But you know, he's not sort of a bright you know, a spry young guy from Canada that you're happy to get a few.
Moments out of anymore.
And at this point, the next step for him is to turn those international performances into consistency at the club level and more goalscoring contributions.
When you look at the vibe there in town coming out of last season and the frustrations that I'm fairly certain that to everyone who believes in everyone in featured, what has the vibe been like with this transition? Getting everybody ready? All of the folks that have come in, is it fan base sitting there going okay, I need a hello?
My name is name tag?
For some of these folks really having to go down the Encyclopedia Britannic of Soccer trying to figure out who these are? Is what's the vibe been like getting ready for twenty five?
A little bit of that, right, A little bit of that when you're talking about guys coming in, you know, not new faces to MLS, Brian Acosta and Andy Najara right back, those guys have been around, but yeah, you know Eddie Tagseth comes in and you know most Nashville See fans aren't watching the Norwegian First Division. I'm ed Kassem comes over from Sweden as the U twenty two initiative signing. He's still in the visa process, so he
won't be playing Saturday. But but you know, fans see these moves and Nashville is taking for.
They're looking in corners of the globe. They weren't necessarily looking before because Gary Smith played obviously a very certain style and they just they weren't taking these sort of outside the box wings that they are now. So there's a lot of excitement there that the club is making moves like this. And on the youth side of it, Nashville was the oldest roster in MLS last season. Their average roster age went from twenty nine and a half
to twenty six and a half. There is a clear directive here where bj Callahan has publicly said we're not going to be afraid to play the young guys, whether it's eighteen year old homegrown Chris Applewhite or Matt Corkoran who I mentioned from Birmingham Legion. So it's sort of this blend that makes it exciting for fans that at least can count on Nashville being fun to watch. They can be fun this year. Will they contend for a trophy? I don't know.
I mean, we've seen teams make these turnarounds before, right Elly Galaxy is a prime example of it from last year. But they will at least fun, and fans are very excited for that prospect.
What about as you analyze the rest of the conference and Nashville's place in it. We were kind of getting into. But when you analyze the rest of the conference, what do you see from your perspective coming into twenty five?
Man, I can't wait to see who kind of emerges as the favorites here because the usual suspects of the last couple of years, with the exception obviously of inter Miami, who looks to come back stronger. I look at Cincinnati and wonder how those pieces will gel together with those changes. I look at Columbus Crew, who suddenly has had so much of that crazy goalscoring production slashed from the last
couple of years. I wonder how they'll adapt. And then I wonder what team will be able to really take advantage of maybe those teams dropping off a little bit, whether it's a Charlotte who just continues to ascend under Dean Smith or in Atlanta. I loved the offseason Atlanta had.
If I'm an Atlanta fan.
It just promises exciting football, and you know, I feel like, you know, you can tell me obviously being there. But I feel like so much depends on Miranchuck and how much he's able to carry the load as that as
a playmaker consistently throughout the course of a season. But if he's able to do that, fans of the Five Stripes, I feel like should be really excited for what's to come this year, But as usual, it feels like a lot of parody and a lot of opportunity, unless you know you're Intero Miami and you're obviously the overwhelming favorite once again.
Yeah, with the with the Five Stripes in Atlanta United, we have we're trying to figure out. I think they've settled on the nickname for the attack. I mean, me, being an old wrestling guy, I'm sitting there going four horsemen, But it looks like it's going to be slam As is the acronym this year because of Saba La Telt, Midanchuk and al Moron, So there might be some onyx being played in Mercedes Benz this year.
I don't know, I'm into that.
That's great, No, I mean I love the I love just that sort of mix of nostalgia that can help the team. Right bringing Amron back that just made too much sense and late lotsa it's hard not to get fired up about what he can bring, terrorizing back lines, running in behind, running right at defenders. So I know we got to wait a few weeks for that first Nashville Atlanta matchup, but it's a team I'm really excited to watch this year.
Yeah, no doubt about it.
And so we're taking all of our activity today except when we duck out and talk about Europa League Champions League and the women's national team. We're spending all of our time getting ready for the weekend, whip around and letting everything go.
I know, you got a boogie.
Hit the promo for me about everything going on at one oh four five and let everybody know how they can keep an ear out for what's going on up there in Nashville.
Sure you can find me on Twitter at Lucaspanzico. Beyond the Call.
Tomorrow night in Nashville hosting New England to open up the season seven thirty Central kickoff, and as you guys know, on Apple TV, you always have the option to listen to the home radio broadcast, So hope you'll check us out as I believe Atlanta as an hour before, right, so maybe once that Montreal game he wraps up, you can kick over and check out what's going on in Music City.
Multiple devices is what we anticipate all season long. Now that you have the key to open the door, you can crash in anytime. I'm tempted to turn Fridays into a free for all. So if anybody literally wants to just drop in, give me five minutes and get out about their particular matchup perfectly, fine, curve and cool, because that's what Friday's for for whip aroun when it comes to match weeks, go to work.
I don't wanted to get you in any trouble. Do you need a haul pass?
D I'm all right. I think I'll manage.
Let's see if I can make it through with this snow and ice still on the ground out here, but I just got to make it to tomorrow night.
Looking forward to it.
There you go, brother, be safe. We'll catch up soon.
Thanks, John, talk to you soon.
That's Lucas Panzica, one of four five the zone up there in Nashville, and it's great to catch up with him and get his feedback on what's going on. Interesting off season for our friends up there four hours away, a couple of weeks away, as Lucas said, from that matchup with Landy unighted and with Nashville, so wanted to get Lucas in to get the perspective of one of the region area rivals. We talked to Willie p earlier this week, talked to Lucas today and so that's kind
of where we sit. So our number two is going to be the weekend whip around pat and pending trademark coming center hopefully rather than later, and we'll go over everything. I'm anticipating that Jason's visit weekly visits at ten thirty will start in an hour and fourteen minutes from now, and we'll go over everything. I want to start with Rooted. I want to go through that. I want to go through on Side and what we saw there with Apple TV,
and then I want to get into the matchup. Obviously, the news yesterday, we still have a lingering question at the back line involving a fitness test. I wanted to get Jason's thoughts on the back line, what he thinks it's going to look like, and what the attack is going to look like, and what he sees against a team in.
CF Montreal that could cause early problems.
I mean, I think by the end of it, I'll want go through the juice boxes too as we go, but I think early on, I mean, there is no denying And for those of us that have seen Lauren Coontrois with his time in MLS Next Pro with Crew two, we know what he can bring to the table. And there are a couple of players that can cause problems for Atlanta United and have done so in the past. You have Caden Clark and Bryce Duke for starters. Remember Bryce Duke. If it wasn't in Montreal, it was out
in Los Angeles. And with Cad and Clark, we know his history as well here in Major League Soccer, so past those points. Want to get into that. And you've also got George Campbell hanging out at the back too, So want to get into Montreal a little bit, want to get into Atlanta a lot. Whatever is on your mind here on a match week preview on a weekend
Whip brown on a freestyle Friday. So we've obviously put out the bat signal to our friends at Beyond Goals Menering, so we'll see if Greg and or Parky can join us. In about fifteen minutes, we'll go through what it's like to start something anew what their anticipation levels are. If you've looked at Greg on his social media this morning,
he was going through a thirty minute challenge. I want to talk to him about that when it comes to his mentees, and we'll find out about that, and we'll see if Parky's thought out.
So we'll get into that stuff coming up in about fifteen minutes.
All right, time to cut the promos and get everything squared away for you here on a freestyle Friday once again we can whip around. Coming up an hour number two Okay opening Kickoff presented by our friends at Kickoff Coffee Kickoff Coffeeco dot Com. I've got the QR code in the computer somewhere. I just have to figure out how to turn it into it overlay and this is probably where I'll consult Mattie or Jason to get that done. Go to Kickoff Coffee and Kickoff Coffeeco dot Com. You
get your day started there. Don't forget buy out the store because you can buy out the store. And when you use the code socker down to your fifteen at check out, you say fifteen percent on your purchase. They in turn, meaning Kickoff Coffee, take ten percent, reinvest it in the youth games. Youth Initiated is very very cool stuff from our friends at Kickoff Coffee and Kickoff Coffeeco dot Com. All right, Opening Kickoff? Does it really seem
like that first ever Opening Day? Was that many years ago? Over at the Flats, it seems like it was yesterday at some points and in other points, yet it does feel like it was, you know, that many years ago.
But it's the beauty of opening day.
I mean, we discuss it right now with pitchers and catchers and your favorite teams and spring training, whether it's great further Cactus League, this is where optimism begins anew and everything is laid out. Where you've got You've got all of your off season transactions. Everything has been put together. If you're doing fantasy, set your fantasy leagues and set your fantasy rosters. I do not know yet if we're having a fantasy league this year, and when we do,
obviously we'll put out the notifications. So you set your fantasy teams, you have your expectations, You've seen what's been going on in the off season, and now it's time for the rubber to hit the road. Slam it into uh, slam it to drive. Squeal the tires like Steve McQueen did in Bullet when he missed the turn, back it up and go down the intersection, one of the best chase scenes ever. Squeal the tire, slam it and drive
and go. And I know that the optimism is there understandably so considering what we've seen in the Eastern Conference with transactions and players going from one place to another, and here in Atlanta obviously with what Garth Lockerway and Chris Henderson and the front office have done scouting department and everybody globe trotting and bringing in all these players over the last and we'll go ahead and say nine to twelve months, and the expectations are there, both in
house and obviously with you the seventeens, so you have all of this material piece together. Tomorrow is when it hits for real. And then the sprint which in a way it's what it is. It doesn't seem like it, but then by the time the season's over, you're like man that went by quick, and it kind of does.
Before you know it.
It will be September and October and we'll be looking at combinations and permutations and all that kind of stuff. Enjoy the ride, should be fun, should be a blast. Starts tomorrow. Remember, folks, pace yourself both when you go to games and just in general, so just pay yourself, enjoy it. It's Match Day one coming up tomorrow. We'll go over broadcast plans in our number two as well when it comes to Atlanta United. But pay yourself, enjoy yourself.
It's match week one, and I know that a lot of you are ready to just slam it in the fifth gear and get the twenty twenty five season underway, understandably.
So so let's have some fun.
And obviously, starting on Monday programming note there, Monday, we're gonna be talking about it all. I will be in a hotel room in Thomson, Georgia with you because of no actually no, i'll be Tuesday will be when I'm in a hotel room in Thompson Georgia. Monday is another one of our games of the week, and so after the Monday show where we have reaction Monday, Monday's matches are going to be in Lincolnton, Thompson and Lincoln County.
It'll be our first time there to look at the up and coming Lincoln County program in Class A in high school. And it's a region it's an area arrival. It's not a region rival, but it's an area arrival and Thompson separated by about twenty minutes, and it'll be a good gauge for what's been going on with will Homskis and how they've grown the program out there. So Monday Reaction Monday, I hop in a car travel to Lincolnton, broadcast from Lincolnton on our mixer channel Thompson and Lincoln County.
That is Monday night. So Tuesday as well, I'll try to recover. I'll be in a hotel room in Thompson, Georgia for the morning show and we will break it down there Today after all of this finishes up, Jason and I mid afternoon are going to try and welcome the traffic up I seventy five. We're gonna join it.
We're gonna head to Dalton, second time this week that the Dalton Catamounts have been on the air, and it's a boys game seven thirty beyond the air about seven to fifteen with your pregame show with Dalton hosting Johnson Gainesville. Two great programs here at the end of winter break, decided, Hey, let's match up and we'll see where we are. So Johnson gains will travels to Dalton seven thirty kick seven fifteen ish pregame on our Mixler channel. Let's soccer down
here dot Mixler dot com. So you'll get a big Georgia high school boys matchup tonight seven fifteen to seven thirty and then nine thirty and then Jason and I head back home. We should have an after the whistle posted for postgame of that match Saturday morning for you. It's kind of like a primer to get you into
match week one. So Action Tonight seven fifteen and seven thirty pregame and real game, uh the the high school game of the Day, presented by our friends at Kaiser Permanente and Kaiser Permanente fantastic sponsors here with us here at sdh SO seven thirty match after the whistle tomorrow because we got to drive back to Atlanta and I've got to let out somebody, but because he will have been staring at the door for a handful of hours. So that's the broadcast plan today. You've got all the
content that was put up yesterday. The interview that Maddy had with Dax McCarty is up on the network, so you can look at that, get Dax's thoughts as he's heading into Match week one now with the new gig where he's wearing a blazer and Tenney's working for Apple TV. Great conversation that Maddy had with Dax that's up on the network right now as well. So all of this stuff getting you ready for Match week one. Callum Williams conversation as well. So all of that material on the network,
on all of our social media channels. You can view it, you can listen to it, all of it once again getting you ready for Match week one. But tonight first step seven to fifteen pre game seven point thirty kick Johnson gains will and Dalton from a harmon chapel up in Dalton, and it's going to be fun to be up there and see that environment on a Friday night during winter break. Okay, other things. Now, once again you can get the first ever SDH jersey presented by our
friends at Kaiser Permanente. Thanks to our friends at Olivi and York helps out and once again thanks to our friends at Beyond Goals menoring Soccer for Good and with your purchase of that Olive and York jersey, you help out some of the programs that we have earmarked here in twenty twenty five to do our hashtag Soccer for Good campaign.
You can get it the navy jersey is Navy.
You can get it either in white letters and numerals for personalization, or you can get it in the Navy blue. So you can go to Olivi and York get the SDH jersey. You can help give back a soccer for Good here in twenty font Also, what you can do is you can go to Grady Baby and Grady Baby Co. You've seen me wear the sweatshirt, You've seen Jason wear the sweatshirt. I know that some of you also have picked up the sweatshirts and or the T shirts. You
can get it in red with gold lettering. You can get it in black with gold font Soccer's just Better in Atlanta. You go to Grady Baby and you can get the sweatshirt of the T shirt or both, and you're helping out middle school soccer programs attached to Atlanta public schools.
And so if you go through.
Great Baby and Grady Baby Co, you get the Soccer's Just Better in Atlanta, you help out the aps and middle school soccer programs and the growth of the game there. Also, don't forget if you watch us on a daily basis, you see in the open the discussion about becoming a
Fanati code. Go to Chant, download the Chant app, and then if you sign up for being a Fanati co ten dollars a year you get with the Chant app, you get all kinds of discounts to a bunch of cool places, and you get to help us out here at SDH. You get discounts a bunch of different joints here and we're starting our Fanati Coast chapter. For ten dollars a year. You go to Chant. I think Abby has done it. Abby has navigated it successfully. I still
have to figure out how to navigate it successfully. But go into Chant become a finaate co at SDH you get some really cool discounts along the way, very very cool stuff. Helping out SDH, helping out businesses and helping out grow in the game as well. So Chant the Chant app going to become a finati coo ten dollars a year helps you out there. I'm trying to think, Oh, the Marshall Islands projects send out some Marshall Island scarves yesterday.
And with all of that which you can do is you can help out a program that has grown from the ground up. Lloyd Auers, the technical director, is on the island right now. If you follow him on the two hundred and eighty character app and you see now inter intra Island since it's all inside the Marshall Islands chain, Intra Island Footsal tournaments. So that's where the game has grown in eighteen months. They now have organized footsal tournaments
amongst the islands there in the island chain. They're trying to get sanctioned and be a part of the Oceania Confederation in FIFA. A lot of growing to do. You can get the jerseys through them, you get the bucket hats through them. All of that stuff you get through them. They ship it from England. Help out locally. You want to get the scarf, you go to the Marshall Island store. You want the Marshall Island scarf. I send it to you because I've got him on the other side of
this door. Got about fourteen left right now in the current shipment. So you can help out the Marshall Island Soccer Federation continue to grow. Help the guys in England. Actually fly to the Marshall Islands. It's like a twenty two hour flight and you can help them out as they continue to grow the island and grow the island nation. When it comes to the beautiful game, so you can help out the Marshall Island Soccer Federation as we have
with our project. You get to see Maddie's face hold up the scarf that we help design with them, and I send it to you.
That's the beauty of it. I send you the scarf.
Order everything else that comes from England, you get the scarf.
It comes from me.
That's how close you are to helping out the Marshall Islands. It's a lot less than the mail service coming from the other side of the Atlantic. It's just when you kick me in the button, get me to the you get me to the post office so I can mail it to you, so you can help out the Marshall Island Soccer Federation by doing that. All right, so we do have news. We do have a bunch of things to discuss. The matchups are out in Europa Conference League.
The women's national team last night at Helen Michelle. We had Jamie Watson on yesterday to break down the She Believes Cup.
Two goals on the board.
Capt Maccario and ab and Ali Sentner score in the thirty third and the sixtieth one on each half in front of an announced crowd of just over fifteen thousand and so. Emma Hayes with a bunch of new faces that are there, uh Yasmin Ryan, Lily Johannes, all of the younger faces were there. We'll go through the grades really quickly. Jane Campbell, listed as a five, didn't have to make a single save on the day, posted a shutout defenders Emily Fox, Emily Sonnic, Tara McEwen Fox a six,
Sonata five mcew and a six. Jenn and Eiswanger had a four on the night. And this is once again courtesy of our friends at Soccer America and how they view things according to our friends at Soccer America. Apparently, according to Theodore Lloyd Hughes TLH, he said that jenn and Eiswanger looked uncomfortable at times dealing with Lacy Santos Ramirez and and Cayesadam so he gave Niswanger a four on the night midfielders Lily Johanna, Sam Coffee, Lindsay Heaps,
Lily Johannes he gave us seven. Lindsay Heaps of five, Sam Coffee got a six. Kat maccario back. You also had mccario once again. You had Yasmine Ryan and Alley Center. Yasmin Ryan six, Macario and Center got sevens. International debuts
last night for Giselle Thompson and Michelle Cooper. Thompson goes for fourteen minutes, Michelle Cooper goes for twenty seven And you also had Lynn Biendelo, Lynn Williams getting a handful of minutes, Jadon Shawn, Corbin Albert fives across the board according to TLH and Soccer America for Biendelo, Cooper, Thompson, Corbin Albert and Jaden Shaw. Your trivia courtesy of Soccer
America from last night. Lily Johannas at seventeen years, two hundred and fifty three days old, second youngest player ever to appear, and she believes after Brazil's Geo Garbealini back in twenty twenty one, seventeen years two forty five youngest ever to start, as she believes match McEwan Thompson Cooper fourth, fifth and sixth players to earn their first caps that she believes, following in the footsteps of Rose Level and seventeen ad franch in twenty nineteen and Trinity Rodman in
twenty two, she believes continues with the USWNT tanking on Australia in Glendale on Sunday, Your refing crew was a Karen Hernandez, Jessica Morales, may Ramra and Amarani Garcia was your fourth once again. Shots on the day ten to seven to the US, three on target for the United States, none for Columbia, one say for Columbia on the day.
Cornerkicks six total four to.
Colombia, two to the US twenty six fouls on the day fourteen for Columbia twelve to the US six off side calls four of those to Columbia possession two to one for the United States.
So that's your.
Rundown quickly of what happened in she believes and that is that's what you're staring at. So I think it was supposed to be Greg's turn. You know, Greg obviously is globe trotting. Then once again, you follow great through social media.
You know that.
He's all over the place helping out Major League Soccer and trying to grow Beyond Goals, and so we'll see, I'm trying to type with Greg through email at the same time I'm trying to talk to you, and so we may may have a cameo. Greg is obviously he's
trying to figure out if he can make it. If he can't, he can then once again, if he can't, then well then we'll obviously we'll pick up party and Greg on the flip side with our friends from Beyond Goals and the Friday free kick announced early this morning through MLS All Caps and the deal is officially official. Savannah's Indiana assalv part of the Tormentous System. Indy has been sent from All Caps to Philadelphia a million dollars
in guaranteed gam over two seasons. If you read published reports, you would have seen that Indy apparently was not happy with his time in Saint Louis and was looking for a new address to apply his trade in Major League Soccer.
Saint Louis and Philadelphia had a conversation, and so Indiana Vassilev is now headed to Philly in exchange for four hundred thousand in GAM and twenty five, six hundred thousand in gam and twenty six, and there could be an additional two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in GAM if certain performance based incentives are achieved. This is coming straight
from Saint Louis City sc This morning. Lutzvanensteel came out with a couple of sentences and it was two seasons before Saint Louis that that Indy was with Messi and Friends five plus two and forty five matches played back to back seven goal contributions seasons with Saint Louis two plus five and twenty three seven goal contributions and five assists were career bests. In twenty four he had three goals and four assists over twenty over twenty nine matches played.
So Indiana of asselev now officially official going from Saint Louis to Philadelphia. It was reported yesterday Saint Louis now has the official ward out that it is Indiana of asslev from Savannah heading from Saint Louis to Philly to be a part of the Union roster here in what's the year what I'm talking about, twenty twenty five, So that's what's where we are with the early transactions this morning,
getting you're ready for match week one. Also we'll get into we actually do have Friday Night football tonight and it is Lester and Brentford, and there are some stuff going on overseas. We'll get into Champions League so we can get the Champions League in the Europa League out of the way when it comes to matchups and discussions and things like that, and we'll say hi to everybody.
Gets you ready for match week one with weekend Whip Brown kicking off at ten o'clock now it is Champions League draw is in full and Ricky no doubt it is the connection with Bradley Carnell. Carnell liked what he saw with Vassilev and so it was an easy dance partner. So you end up with the last sixteen. Now officially they had the draw this morning. In about Champions League and in Europa League PSG and Liverpool obviously not a
bad matchup if you can have it. So you have PSG in Liverpool and they will get the winner of Bruges and aston Villa. So you have on the left hand side of the bracket. In Champions League you have all three Premier League clubs in the eight. On that side you have all three Premier League clubs to the left, no Premier League clubs to the right, Paris and Liverpool, PSG in Liverpool upper left they get the winner of
Bruges and aston Villa. Low left, realmad Athletico Madrid, hm, gee, that won't be any fireworks or nothing, and ps behind Hoven and Arsenal. So really the survivor of Real Madrid and ATHLETI could end up getting Arsenal, but don't tell PSV that right hand side of the bracket Benfica, Barsa, Dortmund and Leal, so you kind of see where it might be heading there if chalk was to happen, Bayern, Munich, Buyer Lever Cusan okay, and then fian Oord and Inter Milan.
So you do have some interesting subplots in bracket in the matchup number three as you go down each particular side in the brackets, as you're following along in bracketology, you literally have Real and Athlete as matchup three on the left hand side, and you have Bayern Munich and Buyer Lever Cusan as your third matchup on the right hand side. So that's what you're staring at with those matchups.
March fourth and fifth, eleventh and twelfth, and that is when the Champions League gets from the Round of sixteen heading toward the round of eight.
Liverpool and PSG.
And Arsenal is on the same side of the draw as Real Madrid, same mini bracket as Real Madrid. So if Arsenal survives, then they get the winner of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Gee, thanks for dropping by so uh Villa and Bruce is a tough quarterfinal for Unayamri as you look forward, but brucees and Villa man round of sixteen Real Madrid Atletico Madrid, thanks for coming. I'm
not gonna mention anything about frozen envelopes or anything. Third year in a row Arsenal get PSV mckel artetis side they've had problems away from home playing at PSV beat them four nil on the Emirates back in September twenty three. League phase inter have only given up one goal in
eight matches and that's just insane. Fine order fourth in the air to his Ze And so right now, Vincent Company, if you look back at the last matchup with the Vincent Company had in Champions League, just ask Jared about Celtic and how close Celtic was to maybe knocking off Bayern Munich. If it didn't happen at the death, you would have gone an extra thirty. Then you would have seen from there what would have happened. So Jared has
been ruing what happened in the last round. So you've got Byron Shabi Alonzo unbeaten in six against Byron beat him to the league title last year. Borusha Dortmann. By the way, they're eleventh in the Bundesliga. Right now, you get Lel you should advance Benfica and Barsa. If you were Juice, if you're looking at juice boxes in this one, you probably should take the over.
Just saying.
Five to four when they played in January, Barcelona, Benfica and Monaco. Remember the insanity of the six gold draw there at three to three, winning four to three on aggregate. So it's looking like, let's just say you figure Liverpool, you know, you figure maybe next round is Liverpool and Aston Villa Arsenal in Real Madrid. But Real Madrid, and that's lette who you figure Barsa an ter see one of the publications overseas is already looking at a Real
Madrid win over Barsa in the final. So that's what you're looking at. With the draw from Champions League this morning, we do have news out of the Premier League coming up. In a second Europa League draw round of sixteen. You got as everybody's heading to bill Bau, Victoria Pilsen and Lazzio Bodo Glimpt, remember the craziness that was there in Bodo Glimpt trying to advance furious second half comeback. So Bodo Glimpt advances, they get Olympiacos i Ax and Eintrach, Frankfurt,
oz At Alkmar and Spurs. Spurs is still hanging in their left hand side of the bracket. Right hand side, Roma and Athletic Clube, fender Bache and Rangers. So you could have Josie Mourinho and fender Bach taking on Roma in the next round of both teams advance FCSB and Leyel Rail sociodad in Manchester United. So Manchester United they get past Rail sociadd you could end up with Leon and then you look at the matchups.
Dutch fans. Remember when they tried to.
Go for the west Ham matchup last time around, Remember the security problems there. I would anticipate a lot of security in that matchup with azy alkmarn Spurs Our Sociodd Manchester United. With everything going on with Rubin a Marim and Manchester United, there's probably not a lot of optimism that Manchester United would get out of this matchup. You got folks sitting there saying Rale sociodid And apparently there's going to be a three D later today from Drew Dickinson.
He said it was one of the longest three d's that he has ever pieced together. So listen for that and we'll post that on the network a little later on. But so round of sixteen you could have Roma and Fenerbache in a quarterfinal. Now news out of the Premier League once again, we're gonna talk about it Land United and what's on your mind As we go after this and get you ready for the weekend. We'll go through gossip, rumor and innuendo. What to watch, her to watch it,
how to watch it. Then we're gonna spend the rest of the time talking about Major League Soccer weekend, Whip Brown and catching up with all you. Telegraph article Mike McGrath Manchester United staff threatened with the sack if they leak in from Chief executive Omar Barata has issued a warning in an email as an investigation has been launched into a succession of leaks. Warrant staff in a bombshell email revealing club information will be considered gross misconduct, which
could get them sacked. A five hundred and eighty word missive McGrath says to employees. As details of the cutbacks and redundancies continue at United, staff were told additional measures in quotation marks are now being put in place to prevent the details of changes being released before official club announcements. In the email quote, anyone disclosing information outside of the club is breaching their obligations of confidentiality. We are very
clear that this will be considered gross miss conduct. To protect the club and its colleagues. Additional measures are being put in place to prevent future breaches of confidentiality and also identify any person's responsible end quote. Under government guidelines, employees can be dismissed immediately for grossman's conduct if the correct procedures are followed. According to McGrath, so far Surgeon Ratcliffe has seen over two hundred and fifty staff leaving
through the redundancy process. Another one hundred now expected. United are going to hold a staff meeting Monday when further plans are outlined to reduce costs to raise revenues after losing more than three hundred million pounds in the last three years. And remember earlier this week we said that it cost fourteen and a half million pounds to pay out Eric Tenhag, his staff and Dan Ashworth.
Thank you for your service.
So that's probably the biggest piece of news from the Telegraph this morning. And there's a rather large special report in the Telegraph about the first year under Sir Jim Ratcliffe. As things have laid out, and it's probably easy to say that it has not been a fun year for anyone who has been associated either in the employee or in the fandom at Manchester United, checking really quickly just to see if there's anything else that.
I may have missed.
When it comes to stuff, probably your deeper you're deeper read This morning is over at the Guardian. Has to do with the Zambian Federation. Just so you're knowing what's going on with what's going on with the calf. You had an FA president reelected unopposed. Eight nominees were disqualified in the process, and so you have another federation that t is in a bit of upheaval. So we'll keep
an eye on that as well. Okay, let's say hot everybody and get you into what to watch or to watch it, how to watch it, and all the gossipermer in any window once again, our number two. We're gonna spend with weekend up around patent pending trademark coming sooner hopefully rather than later. Jason should be joining us around ten thirty or so. We'll go everywhere from onside and rooted forward with Major League Soccer, all those matchups and what he looks at in the Eastern Conference, any of
the other matchups that are there. So your gossip, berumer and innuendo for today Like I said, I'm getting all this stuff out of the way so we can talk Mlsson Atlanta United.
For the remainder of the show.
Liverpool look increasingly likely to sell Darwin Nunez, with him looking to struggle for playing time at Old traff at Anfield. Manchester unitedly the race to sign Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton you they remain interested Jack Grealish, Kevin de Bruna Bernardo Silva expected to headline an exodus of Manchester City
players this summer as pept Guardiella rebuilds the squad. Manchester City also could look to sell as many as eight senior players, according to The Daily Mirror, as they try and chase after Florian verts at bayer Levercusan and You've a full back Andrea Cambiasso. Guardiella is committed to putting things right at Manchester City, according to the Telegraph, but if he were asked to leave, the club would not stand in his way. If he were to ask to leave,
the club would not stand at his way. I have to get my modifier right. Newcastle prepared to pay Brentford fifty million pounds for Brian and Bumo ac Milan ready to listen to offers for rafa Al Barcelona Chelsea long term admirers Barcicon Admiral they want How are you going to pay the man? That's the biggest question. United also interested in signing Atalanta's keeper One Muso, currently on Londed Athletico Madrid. His concerns grow over Andre Onana's form. It's
a day that ends in why. Manchester United are also weighing up a summer move for ac Milan left back tail Hernandez, and Milan is willing to sell. United among several European clubs interested in Sporting wing back Giovanni kend To seventeen, but have not reached an agreement with either club or player. We've been discussing that with Nino Torres ever since Amarine got hired. No surprise, Yo Koresh Kenda at all looked for that pipeline from Sporting to line
up to Manchester United. Arsenal's been given encouragement to sign
Spanish keeper Jean Garcia from Espanol. The Newcastle will sign Burnley keeper James Trafford this summer, even if Burnley are promoted to the prem Newcastle interested in Bournemouth striker Antoine Semeno paid a man Barcelona Byron PSG interested in signing Mason Greenwood from Marseille United, would get fifty percent of any transfer fee generated by the striker, and Zo Moresca maintains the support of his players and the club's hierarchy
despite his side winning just three of their last eleven. Carlos Alcaraz keen to make his move to Everton, where he's on loan from Flamengo. A permanent arrangement no clause in the contract of Cole Palmer that would allow him to leave the club if they failed to qualify for the Champions League, and dony Iroola at Bournemouth would be spurs preferred candidate to replace Opasta Coglu if onepasta Coglu ends up leaving the club in one way or another.
An Arsenal agreed to a deal to sign young Scottish central defender Callan Hamill, fifteen from Saint Johnston this summer, fifteen years old. Now gossip Brummer and in the window is done. What to watch or to watch it? How to watch it? And this is just Friday, because Saturday. I know everybody that is probably here in this footprint, they're gonna end up being partying at Mercedes Benz getting ready for Atlanta United and c F Montreal so Friday,
Turkish Super League AOPSPOR and bishktas Is at noon. Once we're off the air, Ren and Reem in League two forty five being an ESPONOL simulcasting. If you don't have the b ins, you want to get the b N CEO New Wester Telly for the fans, tayse Ur Buddy Neino tours at gold TV LEGA one LEGA one max Pro. You go to finates FNTZ dot Co slash Soccer down here, helps the network out, helps our network out, helps you out. Become a true degenerate that Jason has turned me into.
I blame him. UAFA Women's Nation's League at three ten on CBS Sports Network, France and Norway. FS two has a double header going on right now in the league that we neither condone, endorse nor promote U twenty Women's Championship in CONCACAFT six o'clock on FS two Trinidad and Tobago and Bermuda Leicester City Brentford on USA at three o'clock at ESPN Deportes has selt the Divigo and Osasuna at three, Gold TV Braga nacion Il see if our buddy Nino is calling that one at three fifteen two
to NA Friday Night Football Puebla Tijuana at ten. Universo simul casting the Premier League. Three matches in the plus the Lalliga match Bundesliga at two twenty Bundesliga B at twelve thirty. Fox Soccer Plus has the U twenty Women's Championship Guiana Belize. First half is at the half right now. Dominican Republican bond Air is at six. NBC Sports dot
Com simul casting Lester and Brentford at three. You have a re air of the draws of the Champions League in the Europa League on Paramount Plus coming at noon. In twelve thirty Championship a Latte lot Less. Yeah, I think I got that right, Middlesbrough at two forty five, with Bristol City Siria A lech Udines at two forty five. The Scottish Championship at two forty five, Greenwick Morton and Falkirk Vicks has a double header in Legamaki, Coxhemos at
Lan and Puebla and Tijuana. So that is what to watch today because, like I said, all y'all gonna be probably at Mercedes Benz on Saturday, so I wasn't going to go that far. Okay, time to say hi to everybody and catch up once again.
Top of the hour.
We start weekend whip around patent pending, trademark coming. We'll go through all the matchups and I want to know what you think about all the other matchups in addition to Atlanta United and with c F Montreal coming to town. Morning, Alex Morning, Ricky, Yes, one more day, one day more, absolutely true? And Abby, good morning. Still low on the volume. I cannot understand this. I've jacked this up like nobody's business Morning, Derek.
Let's see.
Abby personalized her new jersey, same as always as far as what it says, but sparkly.
We always dig sparkly.
Abby was concerned about missing what happened last night at the Moxie that was postponed. It is now Our first third Thursday event is March twenty at Moxie Midtown. So March twenty, set your calendars appropriately and hopefully the load out is cool. Came wait to see what the TFO looks like, you know, I needs a t FO Morning ropes and let's see morning David. David got halfway through
his morning Espresso before the Twitch pitch call. Let's see Abby and BM Messi and friends having the discussion there. Let's see I'm trying to see who else Cafsie grab your ticket, come get with it at LX spress. Okay, so see now Kessy's gone musical this morning. Let's see so and everybody's trying to figure out how to access
morning Espresso. You can look at the video version on YouTube audio version of hit your podcatchers and also when you are a Finatiko and I'll have Jason explain this as well when he comes on that you can you get a newsletter every day in your inbox, so newsletter every day with headlines Jason with Morning Espresso and video form, and Morning Espresso goes to your podcatcher and audio form, so it gives you all three versions. It's three dimensional
when it comes to a morning Espresso. Here on the network, pars, we are not doing anything tomorrow before the match because we're all gonna be busy. Jason is obviously getting ready for ninety two nine. I will be in the building at two thirty getting ready for everything that you'll see on the halo board and all of that.
I have to be there five hours.
Early, and since it's the first one, I have to be there five hours early so we can get to the lighting right and the blocking right and all that kind of stuff for halftime. And Maddie is going to be busy with ninety two nine as well, and she
will be on pregame. So Maddy'll be on pregame, and I will be doing postgame for home games except for a couple of dates where I have conflicts, like with the Basketball Championships and stuff like that, so I'll be doing postgame with Abe, Maddie'll be doing pregame with Able ninety two nine. Jason will be with Mike calling the match. Then when postgame is done, then everybody congregates into the same room and we talk for fifteen or twenty minutes.
So we will all be in the building very very early doing one thing or another attached to a game day for Atlanta Night at either ninety two nine or inside Mercedes Benz. For Mercedes Benz, Yes, Ricky rooted was great onside like I said, on Side has a moment, and for folks that have seen on Side, you can put it in the twitch pitch if you wish, or you can talk directly to an individual about it.
But there is a moment in there.
And we talked to Tyler about it back on Wednesday that I wish I'd known it happened in real time, but to see it happen after the fact, it adds context.
And you're like, whoa.
It was definitely one of those Whoe moments that you get in the back of your seat. So definitely Onside, very very cool, Ricky Ricardo. Eight years ago, I had an entirely different life. You ain't the only one, Okay, Okay?
Cool? Public service, Ricky.
After the show's posting a link in the discord to a fantasy league if anybody wants to join. And so morning, Harry bart is in this morning, one day from the start of the season.
Are you ready? I feel like I should get Triple H's drop in here now too. Am I ready? Sure? Bring it on?
I mean, everybody was like, okay, you know, Atlanta United exits the playoffs and it was seven weeks ago, and everybody was thinking, it's like well, what are you gonna do for seven weeks to talk about to get everybody ready for twenty five? Seven weeks have past people, seven weeks are gone. You got a match at Mercedes Benz. You get time to catch up with your friends. Dress warmly because I think it's only going to be in the fifties, but at least it's not going to be
like seventeen degrees outside. I picked that number randomly. It was not just because of seventeen Bart going over USWNT. Jenna had a rough night dealt with most of the volatile Columbian attackers. McEwan struggled a bit too. And so you've got once again. Twenty third is Glendale? Twenty sixth?
Is it?
Snap Dragon? We'll talk to Bart about that our number two on Monday. And Ricky, yeah, Villa, it's got a great opportunity for them to make it to the quarters. KEFSI going to fors a Roma and Ricky with a question, do I have a sports ticker behind me?
Yes?
I do?
And this is from our friends at Glance led and I wish I had the bigger one like over here, like over my shoulder. But trying to figure out how to suspend it would have been a problem. So right now, the ticker that I have has news and information from the morning and things like that, but mainly it has soccer competitions and times and start times. So yeah, our friends at glance led. I saw that and I was like, okay, what can I add to the studio space in addition to.
The boss.
So what I did when I remember to turn it on is picked up the glance Led just as something kind of over the shoulder, Like I said, I don't we I don't think we have any way to suspend the longer ticker board over my left shoulder because that's a door that goes to the outside and people would
hit their heads. So yeah, this is glance Led and hopefully some mornings, if you miss information and you're looking at things short of having a ticker below me here on set, glance Led hopefully can help you out through it. And I know I need the bigger one, but I just wanted to get something started so I could have it here. See that's our friends from glance Led. That is a ticker that they have and they have various sizes and it's yours in their subscription service.
Forever you buy the thing and you're in.
So you buy it, and folks have got like rooms with their tickers and everything like that. So I think it's three separate sizes for Glance. They've been running deals and look on social media and then apply those codes. Go directly to the website and you can get your glance Led. That is not a That is not a paid endorsement, although I wouldn't mind if Glance had LEDs for all of us here in our home studios with SDH.
That's just a flat out endorsement because I'm a geek that wanted one of these things in my studio space. So no, it's not a paid endorsement at all. Glance is not a sponsor. I'd love them for too, I'd love for them to be a sponsor, but glance Led not a sponsor. But you can get it programmed and you can go online once you register the device, and you can program the grid to reflect whatever you want. For me, it reflects daily news and a lot of soccer, So that's a glance Led.
So there you go.
Kef C about Manchester United doesn't love it. Not ideal but firing someone and labeling as Grossman's conduct as well gross true. Michael had amazing about to start season number nine, hoping for the best time to see if all the talk is going to be backed up with the results. Kef c Alcoraz look pretty good in the handful of matches and rich with the with the note I'm guessing that this is the joining of Indiana of Aslev with the link. Yes, Indy coming to he come into Philly.
And by the way, Indy's mustache could not be any more snidely whiplash in that promo photo could not could not be any more snidely whiplash or rolly fingers. Those are your Google searches for today. The handlebar mustache that is growing from Indiana Vassala very very strong. When we had Indian, when he was up in the Saint Louis, we had him for a one v one. He looked off my shoulder and he saw this and lost his mind. He saw the Tormento scarfin but just about lost his mind.
PSA from Abbey, effective May seven, for anybody flying everywhere Georgia residents eighteen and older have to show a real idea, passport or other federally approved idea to board domestic flights.
Roma and Emelia.
We were talking about romas like might get a new stadium, you're gonna have to deal with the politics there in town first. And if you're dealing with the politics, and Nick can get into this a lot better than any
of the rest of us can. But if a place is looking for a new stadium for a franchise inside Syria, you got to go through the local boards and the local governments and you got to convince them that you're not going on some kind of ground that is thirty five hundred years old BC when it started, and that you're not tapping into anything historic and you're not uprooting
the history there in Italy. So it is a tall slog and I mean it in the tallest of forms for anybody that wants to do anything modern in Syria. Like I said, Nick can go on this topic forever because he has seen it, so that that's gonna be That's gonna be a tall slog for anybody in Syria. Roman wants one, don't know if Rome's going to get one. And it's going to be an interesting conversation with rich and Bart in the Twitch pitch about the about the She Believes Cup and what it means.
So I'd love to know on Monday.
I want to know the end result of this chat, and even if they have some stuff offline where Rich wants Bart to sell them on, she believes says it's not the all Garb replacement.
It was supposed to be.
Feels like it's just an excuse for the US to beat up on South Americans for a week. So I want to find out what the end of that discussion is, and I'll ask Bart about this on Monday. So remind me on Monday about that particular as I've sit here and pointed the twitch pitch here in my monitor. But uh, but yeah, I want to find out what the end of the discussion is. All right, ten o'clock hour and five minutes, We're going to go through everything in Major
League Soccer. We'll go through all the juice boxes and we will let you know what is going on here in am my last for match week number one. So biggest thing is Bart. Here's Bart, So here we go. I'll do Bart a public service. So since Bart's looking on YouTube, Bart sell me on. She believes Cup anymore, not the algar replace it was supposed to be. Feels like it's just an excuse for the US to beat up on South Americans for a week. Discuss there you go. Okay,
Now we've got to go over the broadcast teams. We've got to go over the officials, we got to go over the juice boxes. Got to go over the matchups, because it is match week one in Major League Soccer. So we look at the matchups themselves, and like I said,
we'll go over juice boxes. Probably the easiest thing to do is go over the matchups themselves, then go over the juice boxes, and then go back and go in depth into each match so we can read all the results in a line, then come back and analyze the matches themselves. And like I said, Atlanta United probably gonna take up the bulk of the final thirty or thirty
five minutes of the show. So your matchups here in match week one in Major League Soccer for twenty twenty five, and I'm probably gonna have to be properly high rated the entire time. So I apologize if I duck out in a matchup in mid information just to get a good swing of Soota. All right, One matchup at four point thirty LAFC in Minnesota, United that kicks off the week, so LAFC, after freezing in Colorado, has to turn around and play Minnesota United.
It's gonna be a tough matchup for LAFC.
Lafc's a minus one twenty draws a plus two eighty three in the composite courtesy of our friends at odds Portal Minnesota United plus two ninety nine. So basically, Minnesota United is a plus three hundred in this matchup against LAFC. Remember, LAFC had to freeze in Commerce City, Colorado, midweek, turn around and come back for this matchup.
Minnesota United.
Eric Ramsey, his quarter zip vest or, his button down sweater and his white T shirt did not have to so Minnesota United got the chance to watch.
Keep an eye on that one.
Minnesota United at plus three hundred draws a plus two eighty three at Land United CF Montreal at Landy United a prohibited favorite of a minus one seventy five CEF Montreal north of plus four fifty. These are at seven thirty seven forty on Apple TV Crew and fire Crew at a minus two hundred draw with Chicago a plus three forty eight at the Death Star and Chicago to win a plus four ninety one. Once again, we talk about teams that are having to balance a couple of
different things. Columbus no offense out of the blocks. The offense is lacking. Let's put it that way. I won't say no because I know that there's going to be a lot of folks that might have Jason Russell roll on their sheets this year as a leading scorer in Columbus. So Columbus once again minus two hundred plus three forty eight draw Chicago plus four ninety one DC I did minus one nineteen hosting Toronto FC draws A plus two seventy three Toronto FC's a plus three oh five Cincinnati
and Red Bulls. This one will be must see in the early block if you're if you have multiple devices going Cincinnati plus one oh two draws A plus two fifty six Red Bulls A plus two fifty MESSI and Friends hosting NYC at the Erector set of minus one thirty two draws A plus two eighty nine n y c's A plus three twenty six. Purple team hosting Philly and Indiana assilev Purple teams of minus one forty three or draws A plus three eleven Philadelphia on the road
to plus three thirty four eight thirties. Austin and Sporting Austin a minus one twenty five, Draws a plus two eighty six. Sporting is a plus three oh seven Texas Darby Houston hosting Dallas. We had Glenn Davis on the show yesterday to discuss Houston and has gone on with them from twenty four into twenty five. Houston favored at a minus one eleven. FC Dallas with Lucho Acosta, Acosta and Peter Mussa, They're gonna win you some games. Dras a plus two to fifty two, Dallas a plus three
oh one. Lucas this morning once again Lucas Panzico one oh four to five The Zone. Nashville hosting the Revs. Nashville favorite at a minus one eighteen, Dras a plus two sixty six. Revs are a plus three oh five last eight thirty All Caps hosting Colorado. Saint Louis City is a minus one oh four, Colorado a plus two ninety and the Rapids are a plus two thirty nine. Ten thirties. The beginning of Bruce Arena. The beginning of Bruce Arena hosting RSL. Santasee's a plus one twenty four.
DRASA plus two seventy six. RSL is a plus one eighty six. Once again, RSL, they don't know what their offense is going to look like, so we will keep an eye on that last matchup at your ten thirties, we talked about Seattle hosting Charlotte with Nico Moreno. That conversation is up on the network. It's also on Nico's in its entirety on Nico's social media at L Rollo ANDW part of the longer conversation that we had about the Western Conference. Seattle to minus one twenty seven, Charlotte
plus is a plus three fifty one. Your draw is a plus two to fifty eight. Sunday's matches four o'clock Portland hosting Vancouver in an early cascade of Portland to minus one oh eight draws a plus two eighty six, Vancouver a plus two forty eight. LAG at seven o'clock hosting San Diego FC and LAG a prohibitive favorite there at a minus two thirteen. San Diego is a plus four fifty five, and your draw is a plus three eighty eight.
So uh, those are.
Your matchups for week number one, referee assignments will go through some of the greatest hits. Let you know who the man is in the middle for a match Day one, Pierre Looke Losieer is going to be the man in the middle against for the matchup with the Atlanta and c F Montreal. Pierre Looke Loziere has one match in the USL Championship involving at Land United two a handful of years ago. He has been the man in the middle twice for Atlanta United in history. The fourth in
the matchup is Philip Duyach, and you may remember. You may remember Philip Duyach. You may remember Philip Duyach from a moment last year. That moment if you missed it, un least if I can turn it up in time. Philip Duyach, he was the man who was part of the however, var, but he's the fourth this particular matchup. Ref assignments La in Minnesota Geta Gonzales Junior is the man in the middle. Caroline Snard is your var. Pierre Look Lozier is your man in the middle. Here lies
Arfa who I don't know. I think this is his first activity inside major League Soccer as an AR of any degree. I think he's new here. Ben Pilgrim is your second AR. It has now changed. It is now Sergei Dimianchuk. Who is the man in the middle. Is no, it is not so I took so I played my joke and it passed by Sergei. Demionchuk is now your fourth. Jeff Gamble is your VR. FC Cincinnati and Red Bulls. Lucas so Apala is the the man in the middle.
Natalie Simon is your fourth. Edvan Jerasevitch is your VR. Fotis Bezakas is in the middle for Crew and Fire. Soren Stoutschka is your VR. Sergey Boyko DC United Toronto FC, Michael Radchuk your v R. Messi and Friends hosting nycfc Rosendo Mendoza is the man in the middle. Catherine Nesbit is your AR. Is your AR one. Unice Maracci is your VR. Purple Team in Philly, Ruby Elvasquez is the man in the middle. Kevin Terry Junior is your VR. Austin and Sporting Chris Penso is in the middle. David
Barry is your VR. David Barry, you remember, was var for the red card for Brad last season against LAFC.
So David Berry var.
Chris Penso your center f for Austin and Sporting Houston and Dallas. Armando Viral the man in the middle. Jc Rivero's your VR Nashville in New England, Marcus de Elavera the man in the middle. Harhy Gonzales your VAR City and Rapids, City and Rapids. Sorry, John Freeman, no relation. Man in the middle, Kevin Stott your VAR. Malik Badawi is the man in the middle for San Jose and RSL. Sean Taheney is your VR. Corey Rockwell is your AR
number one. Philip Duyitch is now been moved to ref the man in the middle Seattle and Charlotte and Greg Dapka is your VAR Portland and Vancouver. On Sunday, Victor Revos is the man in the middle. Kevin Stott your VAR there Lag in San Diego, Alan Chapman the man in the middle at seven o'clock eastern seven to ten really, and then Michael Radchuk is your VAR four that matchup with Lag and San Diego. So that is your refereeing matchups when it comes to the weekend. All right, let's
break it all down LAFC and Minnesota. We'll get the Uh. Well, ok so we'll tell you what.
Let's let's do that.
Let's do uh all right, so let me So Ricky is requesting the commentator assignments. So let's see if I can because they're traditionally posted. They are traditionally posted. There's your article about Sunday Night soccer. There's your season preview about the only the Captain rule. Uh, we have matts opening weekend, all.
Right, So.
Sliding, sliding, sliding, and I'm trying to find the I can't find the announcer assignments. It's something that we're used to seeing, especially early in the week. Huh okay, hang on, all right, So this is once again I feel like I need, like hold music or something. Sometimes let's see Friday night Baseball announcer schedules. But that went offline twenty twenty five. Uh, I really do need I really do
need hold music. Okay, Match Day six and twenty three Apple dot Com newsroom with season pass thirtieth sleeve patches.
By by the way, those look kind of cool. Sunday Night soccer man, this is this is odd.
Traditionally you used to you're used to seeing the announced teams posted somewhat regularly, whether it's done by MLS Communications or what have you, But I don't see them. Wow, I know I could, Derek, I could just tell the music to Jeopardy Ropes. I don't know the full I don't know the full girl from Epanima. That's my problem is that I don't know the the girl from Epanima in full. Twenty twenty four Assignments twenty twenty five is just listed. So we know who's going to be a
part of it this year. We know that it's going to be a six pack of folks. But the on came the on Cam talent this year, just on the whole, it is going to be you look at all the match talent. It is going to be Taylor Troulman, Diego Valerimo Adou Loari, Lindsay Andres Aguya, Tony Cherchi, Danny Higginbotham Kennedy, Saint Aubin, Marcelo Balboa, Sammy Sodavnik, Jake Zivin, Keith Costigan, Brunovine, Cangelosi,
Pablo Ramirez. So that we know about who's going to be in this year studio, folks, it's gonna be Kevin and Uh Ramsey Sandoval. They're gonna be paired with kayl and Kyle Antonella Gonzalez, b w P, Sasha Question, Dax McCarty, Geo Savaresa, Miguel Gajardo and uh and.
Uh Alonso and uh an Azzie Alonzo. So we know who's in.
So I'm gonna I'm gonna go and ask someone who is a lot faster and knows where to look. It might be Jason when he pops by. Hey, you know, Bart done a lot of play by play this week. I had a point, folks, It's like you're doing it, and you're doing it, and you're doing it and you're doing it. So I think Callum Williams is calling the matchup for Atlanta United, Ricky. I think it's Callum Williams,
And so, man, that is that is odd. Traditionally it's posted by Major League Soccer when it comes to who's who's doing what, and it's traditionally something that's released by communications. You have the graphic up for Major League Soccer. You got the Indiana Vassilev deal, And like I said, I'm sliding through and everything, but I can't but it doesn't.
I they don't have it posted.
That's just strange.
Man, that's disappointed. That's disappointing. I think it's Callum. I think Callum.
I think Callum Williams is doing play by play for uh Atlanta United this weekend.
So let's let's check.
Because Callum, by the way, was interviewed by Maddie and so you can catch up with that particular interview.
On the network. So cal.
Let's see play games this week. Okay, so Calum Callum doesn't. Callum doesn't list his call but I think call Like I said, I think it's Callum Williams that is calling the match for Atlanta United.
So yeah, they usually do post. It's just odd. I'm just glad that I found the referee assignment. That's wild. Okay.
Uh So if anybody finds it faster than I tried to look for it, then uh please post the link and we can all get informed together. All right, the matchups in depth, and like I said, we'll go through these and Jason comes in will get his thoughts. If you missed him last night on the six pack on
the network, you can go back and catch it. We'll see if anything is changed from last night to this morning, LAFC and Minnesota, I would as a rule, any team that had to play in the CONCACAF Hemispheric Extravaganza, I would be wary of them this weekend, especially if they are a favorite, just because they had to play in the midweek and they're having to turn around LAFC less so than the folks that really had to go on the road, like FC Cincinnati had to go on the road.
Seattle had to travel three thousand miles to get the Honduras. If you fly from Seattle's on pedro silo three fifty nine miles. See those kinds of things. So anybody that had to travel distance, anybody that had to deal with the elements, because we all know how old folks are first thing in the morning, especially when it's like nineteen degrees outside, bones are a little creaky, I will be I will be intrigued about rotation and how the rosters look.
For the clubs that played in the midweek. How much rotation is there.
How many minutes do folks get if they weren't rotated from starting eleven to starting eleven, And keep an eye on Like I said, keep an eye on the juice boxes in these matchups too.
LAFC I mean a minus one twenty two.
Minnesota United a tough team last season under Air Cramsey basically to plus three hundred heading to LAFC. Maybe look at that, Maybe look at that draw number at plus two eighty three as a baseline for what to expect. Obviously, Atlanta United a prohibited favorite minus one eighty two in the composite. See if MONTREALI plus four seventy six, crew and fire same thing. You know, you look at Crewe once again, they lose c ramon kuco.
Who's going to do the.
Scoring for them, especially early in the years they're trying to figure things out. Prohibitive favorite at a minus two hundred. But Chicago scores once maybe twice. Not plus four ninety one looks like a big number, especially the draw plus
three forty eight. I think you could see teams that played in the midweek get results against them from the teams that come into town because of all the activity that they had to go through, all the flying, all the all the playing, all the miles, having to get back region, get the region the next day, maybe a day of prep and then bang match day. I gotta keep an eye on that stuff. DC and Toronto. I mean this as no real slight, but you've got to be a hardcore. If you're not, if you're not gonna
watch your home team game. And traditionally what I will do on a on await days when I'm not at Mercedes been this all, watch MLS three sixty and Kevin and I'll text Kevin during the show, but I'll wait till commercial break. DC United at a minus one nineteen. I mean, is it probably just because Toronto may be worse or more schizophrenic? Toronto coming to town at a plus three oh five taking on DC United. If you have other matches to watch, I'd probably go watch those
other matches. At seven forty, that one might be a bit of it might be a bit painful. Cincinnati and Red Bulls once again, this is another one of those matchups. Cincinnati a plus one oh two at TQL, but they had to play in the midweek. Yes, they got a comfortable win, but it's the travel and it's all these things that you have to do to go back. And it is a Red Bulls team with a healthy as of right now Emil Forsburg and they are far different as a healthy Red Bulls team than they are without
Emil Forsburg. I think that you saw the difference in Red Bulls when Forstburg was a part of that lineup.
And what you saw when he wasn't a part of the lineup. So that's uh. That to me.
Is one of the big differences that's attached to this different different with Forstburg in the lineup. Cincinnati has Evander, but once again, you're just going to tell Evander match week one if you're Pat Noon and Yeguaton run. We'll get it all figured out as we go, especially with only a couple of days in between matches one in Conka calf and then getting everybody back for Major League Soccer. I think, once again, as we look at these things, red Bulls at a plus two fifty could go to
Cincinnati and get a result. Draw is a higher number than a win, not by much, but still is. I think you could end up with a win or a result at the very least if your Red Bulls going into Cincinnati. Because of the midweek. It's like I say, keep an eye on those kinds of things as we go here. Messi and friends in NYC. Obviously Messi and Friends that the director said a big favor and NYC could be losing. Santi Rodriguez, I wonder once again where
the goals are going to get scored from. So Messi and Friends could rotate to what extent you don't.
Know, but what I will let me. I want to do something really quickly here. I want to look.
At the minutes that were played in a cold night in Kansas City. I want I want to look at them. I want to look at the minutes that were played by the starting lineup in in that in that rundown. So I see a bunch of like I need I just need the I just need the layout. How many minutes come on? So fine, we'll go to sofa score. It's like you see game reports. It's like not you know,
I want a box score. It's like the last page of the last page of the freaking newspaper, like we were talking about with Glenn Davis yesterday.
Okay, so lineups, your lineup, your starters. By the way, for.
Messi and Friends in this matchup, it was Oscar Ustarian net back for Noah Allen, Gonzalo Luhan, Thomas Avulis and cell Awaygan midfield, Segovia bisquits, Redondo, Allende and your two fords, and Messi, so No and the Fafapico came in with a cup of coffee. Kroumowski came in for a cup of coffee. Robert Taylor came in at the end. You did not see Ryan Sailor, Max Falcone, Ian Fraid, David Ruiz, Sante Morales, Julian gressel Leo, Alfonso so Leo, Messi in
his and he played the full thing. So Messi played the full ninety before he gave the the center f off the field, before he gave the jersey in Conka CAF. Apparently his reprimanded, said referee. Luis Suarez played eighty nine minutes before he was pulled. The younger players like today, Oiende played seventy three, Redondo played the full ninety. Busschetz played the full ninety. Segovia played seventy nine. So Telasco
Segovie in his first match, played seventy nine minutes. Noah Allen played the full ninety, lou Han played the full ninety, Ovelus played the full ninety. Cell Awaygant played the full ninety, and obviously oscrew sorry played the full ninety So you have a lot of folks in this matchup for Messi and Friends against Sporting who played the full ninety minutes. How many of those folks do you see in this matchup? And once again, and the folks that did not play
or only had a couple of minutes. Pico at seventeen, Kroumowski had eleven, Taylor had a cup of coffee, Sailor Falcone, Frey, Ruiz Morales, Gressel Alfonso. That was the roster that saw either a few minutes or no minutes. There's also no mention to Jordi Alba there either. So Messi and Friends rotated, probably to what extent. You're probably gonna have Messi and Suarez in the starting day eighteen matched eighteen, Probably not
going to start. How many of the younguns go back to back because you still have to focus on the return fixture because you're only up though you're only up that margin that you're up, so you've got to find a way to lock it down. And the key is do you want Messi and Suarez and the big guns of the Gulfstream galacticas you need them for leg two? So probably match day eighteen not starting. I will be intrigued what Javier Mascherano does in this matchup.
Do I think that? Uh? Do I think NYC can get a result. I still think that.
Somewhere, somehow Messi and Suarez coming with twenty or thirty to go, they get a goal to get the win. Purple Team in Philadelphia, Purple team and Philly, you know, Philly. Once again, you wonder where the goals are going to come from Orlando at home, you know, you have some folks that are away from the twenty four roster. I wonder what Bradley Carnell's approach is going to be here in match week one. And what I mean by that is is he going to be more red Bullseyan? Is
he going to be Saint Louisy? What's it going to look like? What's it going to look like with with Bradley Carnell on the touch line?
Now?
Is it going to be very pressy with some older individuals? Do you and if you're going to press and do things a red bullsy in way late in the first half, late in the game, would be the chances for Orlando to score goals against that defense that will have exhausted itself in those forty five minute periods. I think Orlando gets it done. Probably not the shiniest game on the board, maybe a one goal game, maybe one nil something like that. Austin and Sporting Kansas City once again Sporting.
You look at what they did.
And Peter Vermese, his lineup was a pulse camp in net back for Libold, Voladaire Valencia, Davis in front of them, Tommy Rodriguez, Bartlett, Rodoja and Shallowy and Dejon Joviolch up top. Dejon Jovolch played sixty two minutes. Eric Tommy played the full ninety, Shallowy played eighty three minutes. And your back line, just so you know, Jacob Davis played the full ninety. Valencia played a half and was subbed out after forty five. Left hand side Voldair played the full ninety, and lie
Bold Tim Leibold played sixty two minutes before being subbed off. Joking, Fernandez was the one that came on at the half of Valin. Logan and Dembay played thirty minu Garcia played thirty, Willia Gatta played thirty. Steven Afrifa played a handful on the bench that did not play. Ian James Orhanda, Song, Jansen, Miller, Maga, matsulamanoff Elonis Fargus and Mason Toy. So that's what Sporting is looking at coming into this matchup. But once again Sporting on the road at Austin. Austin is a minus
one twenty five. Might I want to see what the lineup looks like once again having to look for leg two? How do you juggle this one? And being a plus three zero nine not really a surprise. Houston and Dallas. Houston favored of a minus one eleven. Like I said, we talked to Glenn Davis and got everything about all that firepower that was there, and that's all the changes. No kataskiya, noachiach. But you have folks coming in, Jack McGlenn. What does Houston look like? What does Dallas look like?
Is they try to get acclimated with a Costa and Musa up top in the attack. Plus three zero one for Dallas and Houston. By the way, four other matchups that we may get into Nashville and the revs All Caps in Colorado, San Jose, RSL, Seattle Charlotte, and then the two games on Sunday Portland Vancouver and LAG and San Diego. So it's time for while Jared Smith, welcome aboard.
How are you surviving? Yeah, yeah, yeah, man surviving. That's why it's like, that's the baseline today. Okay, we met John. As we have said before, we are all day to day, Yes, aren't we all?
Yes? If Jared' day to day, aren't we all?
As we get into I was running through all the matchups and just going through what to keep an eye on in these particular things. One of the Bellweather things that I have as a marker. As we were going through juice boxes and matchups and results, the teams that played in the midweek in Conka Calf, who still are chasing results coming up the middle of next week, and what the lineups look like from the folks that traveled and played in conca Caff midweek because Cincinnati traveled forever,
Seattle traveled forever, but they go home. Keep an eye on the clubs that had to play in concor Caff in the midweek, even though they may very well be favored going into the matchups this weekend.
Yeah, it's it's something we always have to contend with. I think at the start of the season is when we get Conca CAFF Champions Cup and then inevitably you get like Vancouver had to play some poissa. I think, uh, Cincinnati was a Matagua.
Yeah, this week Seattle at Antigua.
Man.
Yeah, it's it's a lot of travel. Yeah, it's uh, it's tough, man, it's tough to deal with.
Yes, And so you know, looking at all of these things, there are some numbers of these teams that played in Conca calf in the midweek and the Red Bulls game. Red Bulls Cincinnati specifically, for me, was one that I was looking at because Red Bulls Road or a plus two fifty and so, I mean it was intriguing to see these kinds of numbers. And so bart Is bart is charging in here.
Well, hi, bart.
John, that's the day before the season. I'm excited, and I'm still.
Looking at everybody's cashing in ticket, cashing in money in the bank left and right.
But that's what I wanted, you know, I got I got off the email.
I need to get off this morning and sit on I'm afraid to talk.
Well, you know, I had to do actual work. Yeah, and so I'm still looking for the piano to put my arm on. This time of the week, but the piano's not here, so it's like, you know, there's air, that's all I'm grabbing into. So, I mean, you know, looking at things in looking at things in general. Bart, we were talking about the CONCA CAF teams playing in the midweek and some chances for folks to get results that they may not necessarily even than you look at jothboxes,
it's a big number. Minnesota is a big number on the road with LAFC. Red Bulls are a big number. That's the one that I'm really circling. Red Bulls with a big number at a plus two fifty going to Cincinnati.
Uh, look at the Concreict same.
High period, because I think people are forgetting that Red Bulls were in the MLS Cup final last year. And yeah, so I'm with you that that's the one that I've been looking at all week going. While Cincinnati is my favorite for the Eastern Conference, that's a tough start for them.
M Yeah, so I am.
I am intrigued with with all of these matchups. There are a couple of matchups that I'm sure that folks outside of those two particular teams are sitting there going ain't no way, and one of those ain't no ways is probably Jarrett DC in Toronto, where it's like, basically.
This is this is this is the game you watch because you have an addiction. This is like in a movie. This is where you would have that epiphany of oh my god, I need help.
I have a problem.
Unless you are in the DC area or you are of a Southern Ontario persuasion in your life and you have an emotional investment in either one of these clubs, I cannot recommend or sanction watching this game unless you are applying to be one of the siccos.
So basically what you're saying is you're neither condoning nor endorsing that kind of behavior unless you really are a sicko.
Yeah, that's like an application for him to become one is to watch either one of these teams. And I stand by like still not sure if Robin Frasier is a really good coach or not. And I'm not sure will know after Toronto stint either because what he's going to have to work with. Man, it's like it's like having someone go coach per day would be like are they good? I don't know.
It's Purdue, uh so uh, Jared, Well, I think well, I thought that Jared was gonna go take care of that large dog that was in the background.
Well, put the dog on camera. I think he hit the wrong button, is what happened?
Put the dog on camera?
Yeah, I think that. Literally, I think that Jared hit the wrong button. So did you hit the wrong button, sir? I guess he did, because he dumped out again he did. Unless well, I think what might be happening is, uh, are you having audio, sir? Like I bring him in and then he dumps out, you know, So I don't know what I think Jared is. I think Jared is fighting with that dog that we heard in the background.
Right, No, it's it's it's like Big MLS kicking me out for for trash talking to of its clubs.
Well, I mean you competiably trash talk Nashville and New England too.
I could trash talk Na.
Well, actually the other parts here. I have to ask him if he saw the thing where like Rascal Flats tried to sing Sweet Caroline in West Virginia and yeah, and they and John I don't know if you saw this, they did the Sweet Caroline instead of bob Ba.
Uh.
The fans uh shouted, eat blank pit the usual wow.
Yeah, that's our normal thing that we did.
That's a standard reaction. This is not a surprise wow.
But uh, I mean uh yeah.
For the record, By the way, nachel has signed their first round draft pick, whitet Meyer. That is that release has come out this morning. The other late games Saint Louis City and Colorado San Jose at a plus one twenty four hosting RSL. I still think we ought to have a hard knock or at least an on side in its entirety with San Jose this season.
Correct, Yeah, gotta have the Seattle.
Seattle having to travel of six thousand, one hundred and eighteen miles back and forth from the airport in San Pedro. Sula gets Charlotte that a minus one twenty seven, Charlotte plus three fifty, and then we have Cascadia and Portland and Vancouver lag in San Diego's the late game on Sunday. I look at it. So, Bart, let me ask you about San Diego. This is this is where you put on your pundit hat. Now I know you're wearing your Land United shirt, but you need to put on your
pundit hat. As you sit from your Atlanta Nied coffee mug, when you look at San Diego, Yes there's Chuki Lozano, Yes there's Luca Dellatore. What did you see in San Diego this year in their in their build up to year number one under a MLS's umbrella.
Well, I think, first off, we need to start with what they're produce, what they're giving us as a look with their uniforms, which is bland, bland, bland, and I'm afraid that is going to transfer to the field because yes, you got Chuki, I'm not sure Luca Delatoria will be a very good MLS midfielder. I don't think that's like a hot take. But I don't really think there's anyone else on this roster that is going to help them become anything more than an expansion team that doesn't make
the playoffs. I do not see a playoff path.
For them this year.
But that said, it does seem like they are focusing on a long term plan. Now that may seem okay in some respects, but I think what we we Atlanta United, has uh, what we have have told the league is you don't need to be patient as an expansion team, and you kind of do need to come in guns blazing, and I'm afraid they haven't captured that. I don't think, you know, a Mexican international player is going to be the ticket to their success in the sands or on
the field. I just I don't think he's good enough to just bring that to them. And so for if I'm a San Diego fan, I'm worried. If I'm a team who has to play San Diego, I'm happy because I just I'm telling you, I think it's just going to be bland. It's just that's what they're giving from a uniform standpoint, and that's what I feel like they're going to be giving on the field too.
Jason drops in for the final twenty plus or until uh we send him fleeing into the night. From all the topics and conversation that we have.
Is eight of them more night?
John's out of control? All righty are you?
Are you at the Bodo Glimpse game of the Arctic Circle? See now that it might be night?
That was?
Yeah?
It might well? Yeah for like days on end.
Uh, Jason, I don't know to what extent you got into this discussion with Maddie last night on six Pack, But Sunday Night soccer is going to be unveiled on Apple TV and it's La Galaxy in San Diego. It's the beginning of everything in San Diego FC. And I know that the interview that Maddy did with Dax McCarty, Dax wasn't really all that about what San Diego tried to do to come out of the field here and you're thirty of MLS.
I'm not either. They're just not well constructed. I do like the Chucky Lizano signing. I think he's a very good player. He'll sell shirts, He'll he'll sell tickets. He's like I get it from that perspective, and sometimes you
need those signings. Not every club has the fan base that Atlanta United does, where you could sign, you know, straight out of the gate, a Tito Vijalba, a Miguel al Moron who nobody knew at the time, and at Joseph Martinez that nobody knew at the time, and you could make them stars because you had a fan base that could do that. Some markets don't have that, And when you're in San Diego and you have to compete with Sholos right across the border. You got to capture
people's attention, and I'm good with that. My issue is what's the rest of the team. Like Chucky can't play five per They have not built that roster well. And what's frustrating is to varying degrees. You know, Atlanta United, LAFC came out of the gates and were very good straight away. Nashville has been competitive, even if disappointing at times. Charlotte has been competitive, even if disappointing at times. Minnesota took them forever, but they finally figured it out.
Good on them.
It's you don't Austin was good for a minute and the bad. Saint Louis was good for a minute and then bad. Like you don't have to come in and do the old school nineteen eighties expansion team in a league and say we're not going to be good for five years. That doesn't exist in MLS. With all the allocation money and things you get to build a team. There's not really an excuse, and it's very frustrating for a team that has huge ambition and a team that's
going to develop a lot of talent. The right to dream connection is going to be huge for them. Why did they not go out and build a better roster for Mike e Varis in year one? It doesn't make sense unless they just literally missed on a whole bunch of possible additions that they couldn't get over the line. It's really disappointing for a team that I think will be a big one in MLS, but not in twenty twenty five.
All right, let's get into the discussion about it. Landy United.
Jarrett, your first question for Jason here on a pre match day match week one here in twenty twenty five.
Yeah.
Sure, So we know Joseph Martinez has gone, Roncutoy is going into another year of Montreal and Jason, we've talked about this that God only knows when Joey Supputo runs a club what the timeline looks like. But what does the attack look like from Montreal? That would concern you.
Caden Clark and Bryce Duke. I really like the dual Tends the way that they play. It's a unique kind of system that you don't get to prepare for very often the three four three, but it's more of like a three two wing backs, a box and ann and that's not always the way a three four to three plays out, So you're gonna have to deal with where Clark and Duke are in dangerous spots. They pressed well.
This is a team that will take a lot of chances, especially in this one, because I think they're gonna be a little depleted with injury. Jayalen Neil a question mark. JACOMOVRIONI who will be up top A question mark. A lot of questions about Montreal. And while I think Laurent Courtois is a very good manager, I really like the aggressiveness that he brings the team with. I like that they're bold. I like that he it doesn't play in any way scared, even though he's got less talent than
a lot of teams. You can only do so much, and I think in a game like this one for Montreal, Clark and Duke are gonna have to be outstanding. You're gonna have to cause turnovers. You're gonna have to win the ball high up the field and get in behind immediately. If you're Montreal, I think they could do that once or twice. I don't think they can do that enough. And then the flip side is defensively, especially if they don't have Jalen Neil. George Campbell is poised for a
big year with Montreal. He's gotten into the national team picture. There's a lot of openings at center back. So if George Campbell can have a big eighteen months here, don't be surprised. Don't be surprised. I said it a long time ago about George Campbell as a possible US men's national team player. The move to Montreal was a good one for him. He's gotten a lot of playing time. He's a very very good player. He's one of three center backs. Joel Waterman very very solid. He's two of
three center backs. Here's the other one going to be if Neil can't go. The wingbacks I do like in Pierce and Marshall Ruddy. I think central midfield. Saliba is one of the more underrated players in the league. Samuel piet very solid, also a few years older than he used to be. You can get at him, you can get in behind him. Can he run with Saba? Can he run with Miguel al Maron? Can he defend Alexei Moranchuk. I think it's going to be a wide open game.
What scares me is Duke and Clark in wide open moments. What excites me on the Atlanta side is Montreal not being able to run consistently in those wide open moments. The other way, it could be a lot of back and forth.
Bart Keeler, your question for Jason involving on the field with Atlanta and CF Montreal.
You did touch on the massive US men's national team rooting interest for Montreal, but outside of that, I do have to question what the point of.
It.
Seems like a youth movement, but not a real like we're going full into the youth movement, if that makes any sense. When you look at the Montreal team with what feels like a lack of experience, especially in MLS, where are they going to be able to navigate or how are they going to be able to navigate this MLS season, specifically starting with I've re energized Atlanta team, fan base and a whole bunch of people in STI out of a dome that's going to be real out.
Yeah. I think for them it's down to the way that they play. That's how they're going to have to bridge the gap of talent and experience. I think they're decent in experience. I mean, Duke and Clark are young guys, but they've they've got enough they should be Okay.
Campbell's passed it at that point.
I think he's a veteran guy in MLS with the amount of games he's gotten. Waterman and Pied are both very good. Saliba's still on the rise but getting it's kind of in that Duke and Clark.
I feel like where they are. It's not so much that they have no experience.
It's that you have Duke, Clark, Saliba, but Marshall Ruddy into this as well as the right wing backs. I think Campbell's passed it. But those four you're in that you've got enough games now to be a regular Rock, are you? And that's a valid question. I think with all four of those guys. I'm really high on Bryce Duke. I always have been. I think he's a very very good player. Can he take that jump to being in the Georgia Mihailovitch kind of class because he's got the ability.
Payton Park same thing, he's got the ability. Can he be that guy? That's the next step for those guys.
But the way that they bridge the gap of just not having as much they're gonna have to be extremely aggressive. They're gonna have to be extremely high risk taking. They're gonna have to play high up the field. They're gonna have to try to turn you over, and they're gonna get exposed.
Sometimes.
I feel like they're a team that could win some games that shock everybody three nil, and they're gonna have some bad losses where they lose five nil. Like I really think it's gonna be all or nothing kind of stuff. And if you're ready for that, if you're Joey Supputo and you're you're strapped in and ready to go okay cool, if you start to get antsy about some bad losses, then you're gonna pull the plug sooner than you should.
If you have an issue with that. Give Laurent courtois more talent, he doesn't have enough, so he's got to find a way to take some chances to bridge that gap.
Jareded for Jason at Landy United see Montreal coming up tomorrow night.
So we talked about how they get forward, you know, how they can cause problems for you. So how do you manage this? If you're Atlanta, Let's say you are up of this game and you know the game kind of hits a little bit of a lull where you're allowing Montreal to have a little bit of the ball while not necessarily control of the game. How do you manage those lulls in the game differently than you did a year ago.
You get behind the ball in moments where you have to and then you break out with pace, which you didn't have as much of last year. I think you know the way Rob Valentino had to play it down the stretch last year without a nine that was at starting level, without Latte lot, you know.
I mean, Jamaltira played very well. I think Daniel Rios played well.
You got what you could get out of guys who were twos and threes on the depth chart, they weren't one. You got a one now and you got a star one, and you got a star one on the wing and I think Saba it's turned into that as well. So now you've got the ability when needed and I don't think it's Plan A, don't think it's Plan B, but when needed, and a team is having those moments where they've got the ball and they're knocking it around and okay,
get behind the ball a little bit. You're in a four two three one, so you can drop six deep easily. Saba and Al Maroon are gonna defend, so it can turn into a four to four to one one. When it needs to get behind the ball, win it back. And when you do in those moments to change the momentum, look for the quick ball over the top. You know, it's It's not something that this team is going to
do all the time. I think there's so much conversation about like what Ronnie Dilo wants to do, and some of the things he said that I think are really getting twisted into like their own National Inquirer magazines at this point about being bored in a first preseason game about passing backwards. They're going to have to pass backwards occasionally. I do think they will look to get four faster than previous Atlanta United teams.
I do.
But you're not gonna be reckless.
You're not gonna tell, you know, Ronald Hernandez, Matt Edwards, Noah Cobb, Stean gregorson, Derek Williams, Luisa Brom You're not gonna say, don't pass backwards ever, just bombing. No, this isn't nineteen eighty four, you know, Camden FC. Okay, this is gonna be still based on creating good opportunities and
getting guys forward in organized ways. You're gonna have that ability this time though, when you get your head up and you see Al Maroon in the starter's blocks on the right side of the field, and you see Latte lat crouched ready to sprint in the middle of the field, you're gonna have those abilities early in a game where teams are kind of getting at you a little bit, keeping the ball, maybe frustrating you a bit, You're gonna have that ability to hit one long ball and have
those guys take off out of it cannon, and then the other team says, oh crap, we got to deal with that, and then they start to have to change and they're gonna have to drop off more and they're not gonna be able to be as aggressive. Then that creates space for you to play in. I want to see if Atlanta does that from time to time this season, where you need to change the momentum, you need to throw a sucker punch at the opponent. Yeah, hit a fifty to fifty long ball, let me go, all go Chase,
let''t say a lot to go chase. They don't get it, that's fine. You can then press, but also you put you plant that seed any other teams like, hey, I can't play a high line. Hey that guy can run past me in twenty yards.
I can't do that.
Now you start to scare them. Now you start to then they drop off. You try to get in behind, but they drop off. You have space for Miranshuk, you have space for Click, you have space for Saba coming inside.
You have a lot more space to work in. But you have to do that to create it.
Jared Smith, myself and Mark Keeler Soccer for USPOD catching up with Jason. Here's to get ready for a Land United and to see if Montreal seven forty. I think they're still taking the tenth minute in the pregame on Apple TV. Who's calling the game on Apple TV by the way, it is Callum Williams and Kayln Carr. We have a one v one with Callum on the network as of now. Madison Crease caught up with Callum yesterday.
Talked a lot about the game obviously, but talked a lot about MLS Season thirty as well.
So Bart Keeler Soccer for us POD your next question for Jason. As we preview, so we.
Talked about youth movement with Montreal and they do have a lot of young national team. It feels like with that landing United, our young guys are going to struggle to find a way into the starting lineup, let alone fine minutes. You know, while I think most people will look at that as a negative, what are the positives of you know, still providing our youth players, maybe outside of Noah Caaba Efri and Morales, but like they're not expected to cut hopefully hopefully hopefully.
This year.
They're not expected to come in and have to be key contributors like we've had to use them in years past. I mean, obviously this is let's have no injuries, but you know, it does feel like we're not relying on a U twenty two guy this year like we have to we have had to in the past. How does that help with this team?
Well, I mean you kind of express the conundrum in the question, like you can't I feel like some of the conversation at times around the city you can't have your cake and eat it too, you know, like you want to develop young players absolutely, and they need to play to do that. But you can't sign the best players in the world if you're gonna play kids, if you'm your academy in those spots, you know, like like Luke Brendan's a prime example. I think Luke Brendan's a
very talented player. I think he still has to produce more in the final third. That's the step for him. And you know, now's the time. But who's going to win you more games right now in twenty twenty five, Luke Brennan or Miguel Almerome Like, It's it's not a conversation, you know, an academy forward or lat Day Lot Like, that's the reality of wanting to be a big club. So you can't you can't do both in the same
way all the time. It's impossible Montreal is gonna play younger players because they don't have al Mirom, they don't have Latte Lot, they don't have those guys. They're not spending on those guys. Colorado makes decisions in the same way Dallas has made decisions historically, in the same way Philadelphia has made decisions in the same way. You you can develop young players in this model as well, and we've seen it in Atlanta Look. Injuries happen, guys breakthrough.
Bellow Wiley Chonqui's coming, you know, don't know when he's gonna get time. He's gonna be on a first team deal next year. Those young guys have to push. And I mean, I think we have this conversation honestly in any field, any any job that we do. It's this balancing act of developing talent while retaining really good talent. It's this balancing act of that really good talent wanting a pay raise, wanting more money, and you either pay them or you don't because you're giving an opportunity to
somebody younger who's going to be cheaper. You have these conversations every day in every walk of life. So Atlanta United this year, and this has been, in my opinion, the feeling from the fan base for a few years. They want to win, Okay, you want to win. Who gives you a better chance of winning in the starting lineup on opening day? Someone who has scored double digit goals in three different seasons, two of them in English Championship.
Somebody's got two hundred and twenty games in the Premier League with Newcastle, who's coming back to you somebody like matash Klik, who has fifty sixty caps with the Polish national team, a whole bunch of games in the Premier League and the Championship. Who is gonna give you a better chance on paper those guys or young guys from your academy. I think, if you know me and you know what we've done on SDCH over the years, you know how much I believe in the talent coming out
of this academy, how important I believe that is. But if the demand is win now, you got to play guys that have been there and done that, and that's where Atlanta United is right now. But when that door opens, and it will, somebody's gonna pull a hamstring, somebody's gonna have an injury, hopefully all minor stuff. It's just it's life. You're not gonna have the starting lineup play all thirty four games. Impossible, You're not gonna start that way already, like it's not gonna happen.
So you have to deal with that.
And that means Dominic chon Que maybe it left back. He's gonna get some time Jay Fortune last year. Look, he's a starting level player. He might not start as much this year, but he showed last year he can be that. Noah Cops showed he can be that. Maybe he's the third guy. Maybe he's the fourth guy center back. If Ryan Morales is his time, he's done everything he can with the time that he's gotten. Luke Brennan same thing. Like, these are all guys who have good ability, who have
done as well as you can do so far. And George Campbell's the prime example. If you're Atlanta and you want to win now, you might have to go get somebody who's further along in their development. That means your young guy might get to a point and then they might be worth nine hundred thousand dollars in allocation money and go to another spot that is good for them and good for you in the return that you're getting.
You know, that's the reality. You can't play more than eleven guys, and if you want to win now, you got to play guys with more experience to give you a better chance.
Right now.
If your long term and your DC and you give designated players away and you say, look, we're not really going to try to compete this year and might get our coach fired, but oh well, then you can play your guys out of your academy and you already.
Have low expectations.
I don't think you can get away with that here, and I think we've seen it over the last few years with the reaction you want to win.
Jared.
For Jason, what else is on your mind this morning as we get ready for it landy night and see Montreal?
Well, this would be the last one for me, But I want to ask about the bite in this team. I think we saw it last year for me, Jason. One of the watershed moments was the Nashville home game where you got knocked around in that game and you didn't show the fight that I expected to see. And after that it seemed like they had a choice to either lay down or stand up, and they stood up.
But go back to Sea on gregorson getting one of the Red Bulls players set off but kind of getting stuck into fights, and how much we'll see of that this year, not necessarily just trying to buy trying to you know, bait people into fights, but having that.
Responsible edge to you way more of that this year.
I've seen it in preseason so far, starting with just committing in transition more regularly, like if you're gonna be aggressive with counter pressure, you gotta know when you're beat and you gotta know, Okay, I can take a foul here, Okay, I might have to take a yellow card here. You're going to do more of that. You're gonna have those incidents where somebody Waylay's al Marone or takes a shot at last a lot, and I think you've got guys in this team that aren't going to stand for it.
And that's that's good. It's what's been needed. It's been an issue I think for a while. You know, it's okay to be a team that gets a lot of yellow cards. It's okay to be a team that commits a lot of fouls. That doesn't mean you're a bunch of bad guys. You have to be ready to take that stuff. And you know you don't want to see, especially for Philadelphia, I see it. Okay, No, no, no, no, that's that's the difference I'm making because you don't want to be cynical about it and you don't want to
do the dumb time wasting things about it. Like you want to win games. Sometimes your way to win games is somebody beats you when you're pressing Fallum. You know, somebody decks your star player deck them like, these are all elements of it, and you want to do it with the goal of winning a game, not trying to be the new broad Street bullies. Like there's a difference
and it all has to point to winning games. I think at times this team didn't win games in the past because they didn't have as much of that edge to them.
I don't think that's going to be a problem this year.
The back line right now, we're still waiting on the late fitness test for Derek Williams.
Yes, as far as I know.
Yeah, So if Derek is in, how does the back line look in your in your opinion, if Derek doesn't pass the fitness test, how do you anticipate it looking I guess well. I think the question is between Stean Gregorson who played forty five midweek from last Wednesday, so ten days ago, played forty five there, played forty five against Dallas on Saturday.
That would make you think that he could play. There hasn't many setbacks that I know of that he could start.
You know, can he finish? I don't know, but can he start? Yeah, he should be able to get you at halftime easily. Luisa Brom's been very good in pre season, so I think he can. He can go wherever you need. No a Cop can go wherever you need. Derek Williams is I guess day to day is the best way to put it right now. If he can't get you
at halftime, then he doesn't start. And I think it's a little easier in this case with a Brom on the left and Gregorson on the right, because Gregorson starts if he's healthy enough.
We have seen it.
We saw it against Dallas where Gregorson didn't start. It was Williams on the right, and it was a Brom on the left, which you know they're both lefties. That's okay, you can do that. My guess would be that A b and Gregorson if Williams can't go. If Williams can go, then it's the question between a Brom and Gregorson and Williams. Who are the two fittest who are probably ready to run a good bit because Montreal is gonna try to
play over the top. Who's ready to do that? And I think all three are, along with Noah Cop, I think they're all ready to go. But my guess would be what we saw last week with Gregorson in place of one of the two. So I think Gregorson and either a Bram or Williams would be my hunch.
But you know, I have I have a follow up to that, and this is like galaxy brain. So I apologize. Oh boy, here we go with Brooks Lennon out and possibly, you know, one of your starting center backs out. Could you see possibly a three back at least.
In possession or no, you don't, well, in possession, different conversation.
That's different because I could see like starting a right back as Noah Cob for you know, and then it didn't play okay.
Did not play there at all in preseason and he was asking. But I know that came up in the off season. I think that was before Ronnie Dila was here. And I think Daila sees Cobb as a center back, no question, does not see him as a possible right.
Back, you know, in a pinch? Is it possible? Sure?
I don't think it's how you start, like if you get late in the game, and you know, especially in this case, if Williams and Gregorson are not fully ninety minutes ready to go, and you know they're they're gassed and can't finish the game and you've got to move pieces around. Is there a configuration where Cobbin's up at right back? Yeah, I could see that, but not to start, Okay, I think I think I was just I was.
Trying to figure out, like, Okay, you got this guy out and possibly this guy maybe out, and this guy possibly out, Like how do you put together a back line that makes you know?
I think it's pretty simple.
I mean we saw and you go back to last Saturday, which was not a dress rehearsal but kind of sort of you saw Matt Edwards at right, and you saw Ronald Ornandez at left.
Ronald Ornandez is ready to go wherever you need him. That's just who he is.
You want him at full back rather than center back, but you had to play him at center back. You could too, you don't. You're covered there right now. I think Matt Edwards has had a really good preseason and and we had the chance to sit down with him Madison and I yesterday. You'll hear that here shortly as well on the Network exclusive Plugs. Matt is a guy who Ronnie has spoken about consistently as a top defender,
very good in the shutdown defending. Kind of think back to Miles Robinson a little bit when the conversation early on in twenty seventeen, before you really saw him early twenty eighteen, when we were seeing him with Atlanta United two and others, weren't everybody talked about Miles being such a good defender. It was the other elements of the game that they wanted to see improve that the soccer iq, the tactical know how you know it, being better on
the ball. Those are the things that Matt as well needs to improve.
But he can defend.
So if you go into it with Edwards, with Hernandez who can defend and Edwards, Ornandez can get forward too. Edwards got forward against Dallas too. I liked both of them at fullback in that game. Ernanda's got an assist, Edwards took advantage of the space that album Rone created coming in side. I think you're good with that without Lennon, without Amador. Amador hopefully coming back into the team for training next week. Uh so that'll be a process to
get him back. I think you have those swing guys in case of emergency or to finish games out in a Brom on the left and Cob on the right. You can if you have to, but I think more in terms of the way you play, they're gonna defend in a four to four to two because the way you're gonna see it is al Maron and Saba drop to create that line of four. Miranchut goes up high with the forward. It's then gonna look at times like a four to two four in the way that you press,
but your defensive shape is going to be that. Offensively, you're gonna build up with three a lot, but it's gonna be the central midfielders dropping. You know, you're gonna want to get those fullbacks high, and it's gonna be combinations of sleash and click and William Bah and fortune when when they're in that are gonna drop into those spots. And we've talked about it a lot lot in the Chattanooga game because the team worked on it very specifically
in the week leading up to it. It's been consistent throughout the preseason and it's probably time to follow back up on it. You're gonna see as often potentially as you saw the old school six drop between the two center backs and build up to create three. But it's not three center backs. You're going to see that, but you're going to see the six. One of the six is you can call the two central mids whatever you
want to call them. It's a double pivot. You're going to see one of them drop to the side of
the center backs quite a bit. It's something that I really liked seeing the drill, and I want to see it more in activity, where for example, you go to the right side, you play a let's say it's Edwards tomorrow, you play to Edwards, tire up the field, nothing do and you come back and you then come back to the center back and over to the defensive midfielder on the opposite side of the play to then break out into space.
That is something that is a different way of build up. Some teams do it. We've seen PEP teams do it. We've seen others do it.
I really like it with this group with fleash and or click in those kinds of positions to then drive forward into space. You almost use the initial ball as a diversion. You bring it back and you hit the midfielder on the opposite side who had dropped into the back line.
They go that.
That's kind of when you are going to look at this team from say those heat maps or the past maps. I'm not envisioning something and you've talked about formations. I'm not envisioning something that looks drastically different than what we saw with Paneda.
Obviously, I mean general use.
But what you just described is how I think we're going to see a little bit more eagerness to actually go forward. Is that a fair distinction between.
I don't Yeah, I think I don't think Gonzalo wanted the team to not go forward.
No, no, no, But like it was more of a we were looking for a little bit. We will be looking for it sooner you'll force it more now. Yeah, okay, I think is maybe the way to put it, and that's what Dyla's going to demand. And it's down to field position, you know. I mean field position we talk about in American football all the time. I've really leaned into talking about it in soccer a lot over the past couple of years. Have you been watching my youth
thirteen games? Because goodness gracious, it feels like the team that gets the kickoff gets the positions.
So important, and it's something that you know, I'm sure there's somebody out there with you know, yell and footy at me about it. But it's an important element and Dyla's talked about it a lot in preseason. He wants to play in the attacking half. He doesn't want to play in his own half that much. So it's not so much that they didn't want to go forward before. I think it's that it's that Dyla's going to demand of them to get into the attacking half. Quicker, knock
the ball around there and find the open man. That's okay, don't knock the ball around in your own half as much. So there's gonna be a remit to get into that attacking half much faster this year. That's gonna be a work in progress. I think we've seen it in preseason where you know, you have habits, you have muscle memory, you you know, you decide at times.
I'm gonna keep it and I'm gonna be patient.
Now the demand is no, if you come back, if what you're gonna have to, I just I don't want to see the situation where we start like getting anxious about a pass backwards. It happened in twenty seventeen and eighteen. It happened then with Frank Ruwer got killed for a team that had to be more conservative because they lost their legs. Defensively, we cannot do this. Passing back to go forward is a good thing. Have to explain it properly. I do not want to see headlines about this nonsense
all season. I already know we will. It's about coming back. So go back to that scenario of you play up the right side to Edwards at field. He's boxed in, there's nowhere to go. Do you just give it away? No, you come back to the center back that's closest to you. The thing is when you do that in the past, maybe it was all right, reset, keep the ball, cycle it, let's let's stay organized. Now it will be get the ball forward from that spot. Now, don't go back again.
Go to the opposite side and go That's what you're looking for now. The passback has to trigger getting forward, not just to keep the ball and then look for an opportunity.
It's come back to get forward.
That's what Yeah, the real question is can that translate from the U thirteen size field to a regular field?
But I guess it does. I mean look like, I feel like where the game's evolved is. You know, we we talked for a long time, just because the way we think about this game is constantly evolving. We thought for a long time possession numbers showed, and they can, but not by themselves. You know, it's about field position, which also doesn't entirely show control. You can always point to the game where a team has one shot on target and they win the game one nil. You can
always point to that game. That's an outlier generally, and I feel pretty safe about saying this. Generally, if you have more of the ball, you're gonna create more chances, which gives you a better chance to win. If you play more of the game in the attacking half, I think that's even more of an indicator of your more likely to win.
You're not guaranteed, but you're more likely to win. If you have the ball higher up the field more often, it gives you a better chance.
And that's what this game's about. It's not purely possession. It's more of where you're having the majority of your possession. And I think that's where Ronnie Daila is on board with that kind of model. I think Hansei Flick is somebody who is very much on board with that sort of model. A lot of Pep Guardiola and Hanse Flick, and I think Barcelona's been really interesting to watch this year because there's some elements that are very very different.
But there's a lot of similarities. PEPs teams press.
Really well and they do those things defensively, not right now because they don't have Rodery and they've gotten older, but in general, yeah, they're about defending first. Where they want to defend in your defensive third. They want to defend up there. They don't want to defend in their own half. That's kind of where Ronnie Daila is. That's where he wants to be. I think it's about field position.
It's about where you have the ball. It's about where you defend, and you want that to be as far away from your goal as possible.
All right, Jason, anything else that is we have not addressed, that is still on the table before we get the plug for everything at ninety two nine.
I'm sure there's a million things to still talk about. If you guys have any more questions, fire them off. Otherwise I'm going to go study Montreal Someimore. Yeah, work of my French Yeah, yes, absolutely true. So broadcast plans for ninety two nine on the weekend, So well, let's start before ninety two nine. Tonight it will be in Dalton, Georgia for Soccer Town USA. Dalton Catamounts hosting the Johnson Knights could be one of the best boys games in
the state of Georgia this year. Dalton went to Gainesville last year beat them two one nights. Coming off of a loss they lost to North Forsyth over the midweek to nil. Dalton had a huge win down at Peach Tree City three nil. Really looking forward to that one seven fifteen ish. We'll start on the network seven point thirty for kickoff that is this evening. Then I will be in the studios at ninety two nine in the game tomorrow morning. This is becoming like a yearly tradition.
For whatever reason, I fill in on opening day a lot. I will be there seven to eleven tomorrow morning with Sam Crenshaw. You will hear from Madison Cruise. During that show, you will hear a lot of clips of audio from Dax McCarty, from Callum Williams, from Matt Edwards, from Rodnie Dila from Brad Kazan from Miteyo's click from Saba Loo Genezza, You're gonna hear a lot of audio throughout the show
seven to eleven. We're gonna talk other sports too, but you know how it is when I'm there on a match day, I'm gonna kind of, you know, kick a soccer ball in the the match on match day man a lot. There's gonna be a lot of stuff we're gonna talk about there. So that takes you up to eleven o'clock, then you can catch your breath. Georgia State's men have a spring match. If you want to go over to the facility and watch that one, that's at noon.
That's a good pregame warm up. And then six point thirty five strikes countdown on ninety two ninety game the Oudyssey app. It'll be Abe Gordon and Madison Cruz getting you started with everything before seven, probably about six fifty five, myself and Mike Conti will have Garth Loggerway with us
in the booth. We'll talk about everything kind of off the field leading into the opener and then kick off seven forty and then full time report with Abe and that guy up there in the corner, John Nelson starting the post game show, tons of audio from the locker room afterwards, and then all of us will be jumping on microphones and talking about how things concluded. You can listen to that on your way home ninety to nine the game and the Audissey app. And if you're watching
at home, you're not going to the bends. You can listen to our game call on Apple tv mL Season Pass. Go to the audio menu, choose home team radio and send them requests. If you want to listen to us on the road, they just need to plug us in. But we're one of the only ones who travel, so other teams need to travel, and Apple needs to give the visiting radio and option, and we will do that for you.
Otherwise, you can listen on the Odyssey app and sink it. And it's not that hard. I did a lot of thinking last year and it's pretty close. It's not too difficult to do.
Yeah, because literally all it is is taking a separate audio cable.
It's running it end of the travel truck. Yeah.
Yeah.
It's the reason why you can't do it for teams that don't travel, is like we had this issue in twenty seventeen when we didn't travel, and it's very difficult because you've got to sync the audio and the natural audio with your audio.
Very hard to do.
They're not going to do that, but if you're on site, it's literally running a cable through the wiring of the stadium into the truck, and that's what they do for the home team radio. So it's doable. It's just doing it and providing that option. They do it for I believe their Major League Baseball coverage on Apple, so it's not impossible to do. It is doable. The fact is it's US, it's Red Bulls, it's NYC, it's Colorado, Philadelphia.
That might be it that travel consistently. There's others who travel some.
I'm trying to think if there's anybody Cincinnati travels consistently. That's sad that that's about it, and I think we're really lucky to get this opportunity to do it. The reason why we get the opportunity to do it is we're very fortunate to have a club that values it and has valued it from day one, and we're very
lucky that a lot of people listen and look. If they don't, then it's very easy to cut travel and have a stay at home and call it from the studio, which we would do and we would kill it as best as we could, but it's a lot harder to do it that way. So we're very, very thankful that it's year nine of Atlanta United and we're getting to call these games and amazing venues like Mercedes Benz Stadium.
We're getting to travel, we're getting to tell the story of this club, and tomorrow is the start of a really, really exciting new season. So everybody who has listened, everybody who does listen, thank you for giving us jobs and opportunities to do this, and we'll do our best to tell that story this season.
Yep.
Six to one and one in home openers across the board for Atlanta United heading into year nine, and Ricky says, you're going to do a four hour radio show the same day you're doing the game.
Yep.
Won't be the first time, won't be the last time. I'm doing a game tonight too. Mm hm, yes, maybe I don't know. There's other people who worked pretty hard last Saturday. I did a game and a half and ended two high school games that night. So and they both went to penalties, so that it was Look, I'm lucky, man, I'm lucky. I think it's really important in whatever role cachet value I bring to the table doing Atlanta United games. It's really lucky to reflect that or I'm really lucky
to do it. I think it's really important, and it's a responsibility to reflect that back on the community. And if that means popping in and talking soccer on the biggest sports talk radio station in the Southeast and including soccer in that conversation, which no other market in the United States does on a regular basis. All Right, Seattle and Portland are great soccer towns, LA New York, Chicago, great soccer towns.
They're leading sports talk stations.
Will not have the soccer content throughout the show, throughout the day, throughout their programming like Atlanta does.
It doesn't happen. It just does not. They're soccer people, don't get the host like I do. It doesn't happen.
So we're very fortunate to have that and it's very important in my mind, and it's even more important as we go into a Club World Cup the summer, a World Cup next summer. The Atlanta United side is critical and important. The national team side is critical and important, but this high school game in Dalton, Georgia is critical and important. You know, these youth mini fields being built
all over the area of critical and important. Parents driving their kids to games tomorrow morning and then go into the bends tomorrow night. It's all very very important. Everybody who refs, everybody who coaches, everybody who has kids playing, everybody who's part of it. It's all very very important.
And you can get in your feelings about like I want it to be bigger or I want this, I want that.
You can do that, and that's fine, and we all do it and hopefully it leads to good things growing. But man, take a step back and think back to when you know, people our age were kids. We didn't have Atlanta night of games to go to at night. We didn't have games on the radio to listen to. We didn't have the level of soccer that we have now. We didn't have all the opportunities to work in the industry and b role models to the next generation.
We didn't have that.
So I know there's things we want to be better. I know we want our teams to win every game. I know we want the national team to win the World Cup. I know we want all these things we do, and that's good, but man, don't let that distract you from how good it is right now. It's never been as good. Hopefully five years down to road, ten years down the road, it'll be even better. But right now it has never been as good as volume us, as anything as soccer is in this country right now, never
not even close. It's amazing where we are and I can't wait for this year to officially officially start tomorrow.
No doubt, I will bring the throat coat tea. I will have that. Stuff's gross. I don't need that. That's gross is not gross. Throat coat tea is gross, not gross. I have drank it two times in my life and I wanted to vomit afterwards.
Dang, Jason, I didn't expect you to have a bad food take like this.
Throat throat I will when I have a sore throat, when I need to go tea, I will go lemon ginger with honey. That gives me elements of throat coat that I need honey. I've back in twenty seventeen. That was the worst I was during a season I think I was still getting used to all this. I had a couple of games where I took a spoonful of honey in the break before kickoff and in the last break a halftime to get through that forty five minutes.
But in general, I've been all right knocking on wood in terms of getting a sore throat and dealing with it. You learn some tricks about how to talk, and you learn some tricks about how to call a game when you do have a sore throat, and pick your spots. Save it for the end of the game if you blow your voice out, because then you can just sign off and be good.
But no, no throat coat t That stuff's gross. Don't bring it anywhere near me.
And I will have tea if I need it tomorrow. But I'm in pretty good shape. We'll see how the game goes tonight. All right, I'll see this afternoon on our way up to Dalton. We'll catch up on the road.
Adios, everybody. All right, there goes Jason. And it's always fun to have Jason come in and discuss things. You know, we we are really in a blessed space, and it's to have everything going on on all the different levels across the board. It's it's fun to be able to be a part of it in our small way, you know. So, Uh, I'm glad that Jason was able to give us the the uh, the the big pep talk going into the
twenty twenty five season. Last things from you barred anything else on your mind before we go.
Well, I've got I've got a couple of pieces of content hopefully coming your way. John and Jason working on a blog for the site ranking the MLS twenty twenty five kits using the Taco Bell sauces as oooh, Patrick, there is one kit that may or may not be receiving a sauce at all. Who knows if they even asked for it from the counter, I don't know, And then also recorded an episode earlier this week talking about
the USL League Division One. John, I'll be honest, we weren't high on it, just the idea that the idea. We asked the question why are they doing it? And none of us on the call could figure out, outside of money, what the real motivation would be. But that will hopefully be coming to you today John, as well everyone, because I will hopefully be editing it today.
Yeah, there you go.
As always, Bart, thanks for crashing in and being the first example of the Friday free for all and coming in in all the Q and A that we plan when it comes to at Lanty night and everything else going on in Major League Soccer. So Bart Keeler from the Soccer fos pod the first person to come in on a free for all Friday and be a part of the party line.
So you John, it is exciting. We have a season starting tomorrow. I look forward to seeing some of y'all at the game and seeing your big face on the jumbo tron tomorrow.
Yeah yeah, and no makeup. So by last day, last thing you want is me with makeup.
Thank you Bart. So there goes Bart. Bart's gonna have a lot of stuff up. So once again, everybody, thanks for dropping by morning four card Morning cats. By the way, morning Katie, we are uh so uh. I've just grown accusted everybody's talking about throat coat. How it's gross. It isn't, Katie. I've just gotten used to it. I guess, she says, one hundred percent throat throat coat is gross. No, I've just gotten used to it. I guess it's not.
Really, it's not really gross for me, Derek.
You know, back in the day indoor soccer on TBS, I had indoor soccer in the USA network I had when I was in this This will really date me. We had here in Atlanta the Georgia Generals. Jeff Bourne had stayed from his time with the Chiefs and the Dallas Tornado when he was done in the North American Soccer League. We had here the Georgia Generals. And somewhere in my stacks I have the remade the Georgia General's logo and T shirt. So of course, you know, knowing me,
you're gonna have something like that. Back in nineteen eighty two, the Georgia Generals played in the ASL and it was star spangled soccer at the CAAB Memorial Stadium in nineteen eighty two.
That's what we had.
After the North American Soccer League, you had the Attack, you had you know Chiefs indoor in the late seventies, you had the Ruckus is a part of it.
My first exposure to the sport was in eighty two.
And it was the star spangled soccer of the Georgia Generals at the CAAB Memorial Stadium and Jeff Bourne and the match that sticks in my head is one of the best team names ever, the Oklahoma City Slickers. I don't even think they made the entire season, but it was the Georgia Generals and the Oklahoma City Slickers. And I have the program somewhere. I've got the ticket and I have the program somewhere in all of the stuff
that I've saved over the years. That was my first exposure to the sport, and to go through the ruckus at Adams Stadium and talking to folks like Michael Sabattel at the time and doing live shots and discussing what was going on with the men's and the women's team
at the time. So you go from Memorial to Adams to what we've seen with the beat in the WUSA and the WPS to where we are now and the fact that we got uh yeah, I think it was before the Billy Crystal movie for card all right, So if Star Spangled Soccer was in eighty two City Slickers, we'll see if we can get IMDb to answer the question.
For me, I want it.
Yeah, ninety one was the movie with Billy Crystal. So like I said, for me, it's nineteen eighty two at the KEB Memorial Stadium, then going from there all the way to where we are now, where you go to Mercedes been Stadium, state of the art facility with seventy thousand of your friends, and you get to root for a team that has been assembled to flat out win and just slam it into fifth gear every single time
they can think about this offseason for Atlanta United. Ronnie Diila, Chris Henderson, you bring back Mickey, you bring in Latte Lot, You're bringing Mattea's click for what, a pack of Enthal's, some zingers in a mood ring from DC United. All of these players that have been assembled, the youth movement
that is going through the academy. Getting to see somebody like DCQ Dominic Chun Quick continue to improve, guy like Matt Edwards who's impressed in the preseason, Noah Cob, ephranm Morales, all the all the young guys that we've covered here at SDH with as much time as we've spent with the twos, so you know what's going on with this club when somebody steps in. You've known about Noah Cobb ever since day one. You've known about George Campbell ever since day one that they were a part of the
fabric of what's going on here. All of you get to go to Lot seventeen tomorrow. I think it's going to be in the fifties and I.
Think Ricky the Hoff and I might be going out there. I don't know what the plan is for the for the uh.
The piece about that you'll see on the board, getting everybody acclimated to match day all over again, the welcome back piece.
I don't know what our plans are yet. I haven't seen a rundown, but.
It'll be good to see anybody and everybody when we do we get to leave the building, and or when we're in the building in the hallways and things like that. And seriously, you see me running around, just yell at me and say hi, good to hear your voice, good to see it. Seven weeks went by like that. Like I said, everybody who's worried, what are you gonna talk about for seven weeks? Well you've certainly found out a
lot to talk about. You've got Alexi Midanchuk with a full training camp under his belt, Saba finally got some rest.
Well, I'd say, lot Miggy.
Click sleechh all of these guys that are assembled, and it all starts again tomorrow in Major League Soccer, and it will go by in a flash. So enjoy the ride the entire time. That's all I can tell you. Enjoy each other, enjoy the game, enjoy all of the other aspects of it, because I've seen in the twitch pitch that some of you have to get up really early on Saturday and Sunday mornings for year U fives,
twelves and thirteens. It's because you love what you love what you're doing associated with the sport, and you love those that are involved in it and want to have fun and enjoy it, and you get to spread that. You get to spread that love and that wisdom forward every single time that you're out there. And like Jason said, tonight, we're going to Dalton for Johnson Gaines on the Catamounts.
Four card.
Good to see you. It'll be good to see it. So just enjoy the ride on all of the levels that you're interacting in. Because as Jason said, you got a clip World Cup this year coming to Atlanta. You have the World Cup coming what sixteen to fifteen months from now to Atlanta probably, and you're gonna have the
National Training Center in suburban Atlanta. In theory, you're gonna have the Women's World Cup here in thirty one, then obviously with the National Training Center, you're going to have matches in Atlanta.
All of this stuff.
Going on right now, and for me going back to the early nineteen eighties and seeing where it is now and what you can do now, we are in a tremendous spot right here. So we can't thank you guys enough for everything that's associated with what we do on a daily basis. The fact that you guys listen as much as you do, that you spread the word as much as you do, that you're showing support and being a part of the family as much as you are, and we're incredibly grateful for that.
We can do what we couldn't be doing any of this without you. And we're all gonna walk forward.
And match week one here in twenty twenty five tomorrow Lot seventeen side Mercedes Benz and yes, the pop when number ten will be introduced, it's gonna be huge, It's gonna be a fun moment. So for Jared, for Nick, for Maddie, for Jason, I'm just John. It's Friday, and so we got to end it in the Friday way. So once again, just be safe. We'll see it a bit. Welcome to twenty twenty five MLS season. Have a good Friday, everybody.
We'll see it either in Dalton tonight listening to Jason on the radio in the morning, or we'll see it Lot seventeen and at Mercedes Benz. Have a good weekend, everybody. This is how we always close it up. Have fun, play safe, mucha platy.
The keys.
Kept sticking into our fingers, The dictating equipment started asking us questions and our papers sends. Electric shocks just threw our body like a candle prod out in the warehouse. The trucks kept banging into the docks, not even thinking about stopping. Our frail bodies were strapped.
To the chairs and our chairs.
Were chained to the desks. Our please for justice were ignored, and the end seemed near.
But we busted our slave drivers, little bitty balls. We've charged higher, break fortress the streets. Our hearsty guys yets Friday five, he