Time now talk a little soccer club legend friend of the program, Brian dun Seth.
Happy Friday, Donnie. How are we doing?
No, I appreciate it, man, Sorry to keep you waiting. By the way, did I hear did I hear you say? Another rebuild for the Utah Jazz. I feel like I've heard that since two thousand and five.
All the Clipper fan comes out and Donnie, look at that taking shots at the Utah Jazz. Hey, look, man, Uh it's uh, it's tough. It's tough sledding, dude. I just I miss spring basketball, man. I love the playoffs as all.
No, I'm just teasing. Man. I'm having a hard enough time watching the Clippers now that they've got James Harden and the starting letter starting five. So trust me, I feel the pain, Donny.
How do we score goals? How does this? Uh?
Outside of uh, you know, as as Camaradnie likes to say this year RSL Diego Luna as well, and they don't do much else well in the attacking third?
What's going what's going on in the attack dude? Help me understand this.
It was the loss of Andras Gomez and Chicho Wrong that doesn't help Anderson Julio being sent down to Dallas with Junka coming up. You know, the lack of investment in the international window in the midst of a transition and ownership once again, and we're rent and repeating the same conversation you and I had met in February when
we were heading into the season. So not much has changed outside of Gozo is the twenty twenty five version of what the twenty twenty three twenty twenty three version of Diego Luna was, which is a young kid that utilized the US under seventeen experience or US under twenty experience going to be a part of the Olympic team experience and turn that into opportunity when other guys weren't performing.
Because at the end of the day, no matter the apparent or the equivalent value of players coming in, if statistically you're not affecting the game in a consistent level, it's going to open up the door. And that's why Diego Luna is to be a full US men's national team player under Mariso Pochettino, and Gozo is going to be a weekend, week out starter in Major League Soccer.
Okay, what is fair to say both critically and then maybe given space for some things that happened that nobody saw coming about the additions or slash lack thereof editions. Now that the primary window is coming gone, we have not spoken since that window came and gone. It's Williegatta, and then it's Johnny Russell, who you probably played against, due respect, but.
He's not that old.
I think he's like thirty eight, dude.
I mean, look, yeah, you know, ultimately it was long gone by that point.
Okay, fair enough, fair enough, but but you get the gist. So tell me what's fair to say on both sides of the coin about the primary transfer window and what RSL did and did not do.
Yeah, I mean, listen, I think Izago and Peel were erry. I mean not in terms of physical builds similar, but technically and tactically played the game differently. But they were projects. Elias Manuel, you dodged a bullet with that guy said he wanted to come, then he said he didn't want to come and wanted to do a contract se La, and then ultimately coming up short on on I can't I think it's I can't remember how to pronounce his
name exactly. But both the kid that was playing the Slovakian International, the kid was playing in Portugal, and that fella fell apart at the last minute, where I commend Kurt and Alphon in real Salt Lake for holding their ground and not allowing people to change the agreement on the deal and the dying moments, and boyd Vista is
is long recognized for some really unsavory things. I believe, whether it's Reggie Cannon in Dallas or Albert Ellish in Houston, they still owe those two teams significant sums of money having not paid on previous transfers in Major League Soccer. So there was always already a kind of a general awareness. But the reality is the risk versus reward. Right, The risk is, as you continue to negotiate to get a fair price that you think is doable for your club.
The reward is if you get it over the line. The risk is if you've pushed it to the final moments of a window and that Herbie Hancock still isn't on the piece of paper, well, then you've you've royally pushed a moment in which you now are punished because that window is closed. I think Willie gotta coming over
at twenty five, twenty six years of age. A guy that can score ten plus goals in the season is a smart and savvy move because everything had gone sideways in Kansas City, pulling off both off and off the field, that had led to the departure and firing of the most tenured manager in Major League Soccer at the time, Peter Burmes. Johnny Russell is at the end of his career, but I think a great addition in terms of the locker room. He's got a ton of presence, a ton
of leadership. Bill got a great left foot, and we're just waiting for him to be fully fit enough after you know, being out of contract for a little bit to step on the field. But you know, the reality is again when you lose and you make the decision to cash in on Andres Gomez, which was really for me a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I think the right decision, and then the surprises of Chicho Rongo effectively wanting to leave and he's flying right now, but
he becomes a distressed asset. You know, now you're looking at a situation where you're relying on guys to score goals that are either unproven or unreliable.
So if we're going to focus on one positive, it certainly is this young man, Diego Luna, who has continued to show that he is a star on the rise with seven goals on the season. And you know, Donny, it's not just that he's scoring goals. Like the way he's doing it there a lot of them are just like wonder strikes where you go, holy smokes, and I just wonder if he's already better than you thought he could ever be.
That's a great question. No one's ever asked me that. I'm still to this point not sure what his ceiling is, and I mean that with the utmost respect, because I could easily see clubs from La Liga. I could see clubs in Holland and so Spain, Holland, Germany. I could see teams in Mexico. I could see because of his build, similar to let's see Jefferson Savarino. I could see him down in Brazil, because you know, he's kind of built like Clint Mathis was built. He's got that feel. He's
also kind of built like guatemot Blanco. For those that remember back in the day the Mexican International and Spension time in Chicago. The thing about Diego is his center, bounce technique, monster mentality, all of those things, but most important for me is that he's a kid to bet
on himself. And I don't know how you could ever bet against a kid who's willing to bet on himself and to walk away from the San Jose earthquakes and go to l Passo as a teenager to work himself into a moment where he's got the opportunity to come to real Salt Lake, you know, to get punched in the teeth on a few occasions of understanding what that
next step look like. Whether you talk about dietary, whether you talk about physical, whether you talk about the work off the ball on the defensive side, he has done everything that has been asked of him. I covered the ussman's national team in January down in Orlando when he got his nose broken, and Mariso Pozatino said what he loves best about him. He said, quote big balls in the post game on T and T in our coverage, and I don't think there's a better description of what
he's got. There's a just a from a competitive standpoint, a killer mentality. I still can't understand round my head around why he was left off the Olympic team. In the summer, he was justly rewarded with an All Star spot as well as an MLS Young Player of the Year.
He was the best performer down at the Nations League when had the opportunity against Canada to step on the field for Marisa Postino in that third and fourth place game, and Spence I fully expect him to be gone for a good chunk of the summer from Real Salt Lake, because I think this kid is going to be one of the main featuring playmakers for the game against Turkey, the game against Nashville, and then heading into the Gold
Cup this summer. He's been fantastic and I know, in a position where there's a lot of great number tens in Major League Soccer, I would never want to see him overshadowed by the bigger names, because I think the amount of respect that he's earned from the players around this league speaks volumes for what he's done in his short career so far.
The politics surrounding the US men's national team program probably aren't things that I fully understand, but I know that you do. Is it too late to expect Diego to be a key part of the US men's national team come World Cup twenty six.
I think it's the immediacy in the in the future. I'm not joking, Spence. He Mauricio Pochettino adores Diego Luna. He he, It's it's I'm trying to I'm trying not to give too much. That was behind the scenes, But Diego we we we kind of used this saying in soccer, and I know Paplo has probably used it with you on multiple occasions. He's got that dog in him, like he is a monster mentality player and the only thing that's going to slow him down is God forbid any
type of injuries. He is as long as Mauricio Pochettino as of right now, Mauricio Pochettino, He's going to be involved, I have no doubt. And when the and the roster comes out for those two friendlies which I'm fortunate enough to get to be a part of against Turkey and in East Hartford, Connecticut, and then against Switzerland and Nashville.
It's reverse fixtures. Mexico will be up here playing Switzerland at the U and then they'll flip flop the teams on the on the return a few days later, I again, I think, I think Pochatino and his staff love everything that they're seeing because there there's there's no how do
I say this correctly? With all due respect to the guys that are cutting their teeth overseas and continuing to push the envelope for some of the biggest clubs and in Champions League competition, dig there's there's not an ounce of entitlement that comes along with Diego Luna. He recognizes every moment that he has to work and earn every
chance that he gets. And there's something to be said about to your point, you know, we're we're we're about to turn into that final twelve months before the World Cup comes to the United States, and god forbid we have any similar type of performance that we saw at the Nation's League or Copa Libertadores last summer. So I think Diego's is fully cognizant of what these chances mean. And I would never ever bet against Diego Luna.
Is RSL wasting this young man's ability, because it just feels like there are way too many games where if Diego doesn't create something, there's nothing created.
Does he have enough help in the attack.
No, not right now, And with respect to Diego, I think Diego Gonzalez hasn't come anywhere close to being the player that we thought the previous two players coming from Denmark could be when talking about Evander who was in Portland and has moved to at C Cincinnati and Honey Mouktar, who's been a multiple MLS All Star as well as
Best eleven performer down in Nashville. So been really disappointed with the with the lack of consistent forerformances an influence that Diego has, He's looked more like a complimentary piece as opposed to a pure designated player and statistically dominic.
Marchuk hasn't shown me anything anywhere near enough, and I can't be the only one if if Pablo Mastroni continues to give Gozo the runout, because on both sides of the ball, Gozo has looked the much more dangerous player that's willing to leave it all on the field, as opposed to Marchook that in moments has looked dangerous but far from the consistent product that we expected after betting down for the better part of the last twelve months.
So Donny before I set you lose.
I've had a few guests who cover our cell who feel like as a result of the lack of additions made, And yes, there's a summer transfer window, but after that closes, I think you have eight or nine matches left. Do you feel like this is a lost season? Do you
I mean, with without talent at his disposal. I don't know that this is an en diamond on Pablo at all, and I feel like they really like him over there, But do you feel like this is kind of a one off, like throwaway season for RSL with the inability of the front office to make significant talent editions.
Well, just to be clear, I do want to make sure that there's nuance to this conversation that understanding, you know, the predicament that the front office found themselves in considering you know, it was pretty obvious that Ryan Smith was highly focused on the Jazz and Utah Hockey Club or
Mammoths whatever we're calling it now. In the transition of the Millers, you know, taking over a majority ownership and David Blitzer and company kind of stepping down in their ownership, that there was going to be behind the scenes and infrastructure change, as well as probably concerned about how much
was invested. I mean, I think that's kind of incredibly obvious, and I'm speaking I'm not to be clear, Like I'm not a team employee, you know, Like I do some voiceover work and i do some hosting stuff, but my main gig is covering the US men's national team and covering Major League Soccer, So I'm coming in from it from more of a national coverage perspective for MLS and
Apple TV. There is a way around this, and it has to be very similar to what we saw with chi Cho Rongo two summers ago, where if you've identified your guy, get that deal over the line. And my hope is that with the Miller's completely settling in that there will be a significant amount of funds that are now made available now that everybody has clarity about what
this looks like. Notoriously more easy during the summer transfer window to sign players or have better conversations because players are out of contract as opposed to coming out of contract and having to buy players out of contract. The cap hit is half of what it normally would be because effectively half the season. But similarly, what they did with Chicho Arongo is get him in the market a good month before he's even eligible to step on the field.
Get whoever you're deciding to have be a part of it, Get them in market, get their family settled, get their kids registered from school, get the player training with the team, and then the moment that the availability and the paperwork is through on registration, get this player or play yours on the field and hopefully they have a similar impact
that Chico did. You cannot afford to have what happened last year with Diogo, where whether it was the inability to get the done, the deal done as early as it needed to be, the negotiation snags, snapoos, Diogo never settled, and at that point Pablo was really concerned with keeping the momentum and keeping the kind of starting eleven matchups in play while trying to get Chicho back on track after the suspension earlier in the summer. So there is
a way around this. But to your point, yeah, I mean, if you are not really tight on your timelines, you could have actually even less than eight games remaining. Because it's a dirty little secret right now that it's very difficult to get paperwork through. You know, from a registration work permit visa situation than it ever has been before.
Give me a quick thought on Colorado, RSL Colorado or Marl of course rivalry match.
Yeah, Colorado, three consecutive losses a jekylin high team soft underbelly. They've got the ability to score some goals, transition moments defensively haven't been good enough. Pressure on Zach Stefane, goal, pressure on Chris Armis to get this right. They won the Rocky Mountain Cup last year. They celebrated it like
it was a real trophy. Egotistically RSL players, Hopefully they understand that the fan base it really matters to we also late fans, so hopefully they put in a performance worthy of the fans approval.
All right, brother, I appreciate the time, safe travels, and yeah, let's chat soon.
Thanks dude.
I appreciate my man. And by the way, don't ever listen to cant I'm Ronnie. Dude.
No, that's a great point. That's a great point. Brian, you always offer great advice. Thank you, my friend.
I appreciate you it all right.
The great Brian don Seth now with Apple TV does some work for Turner Sports. When the national team is playing as well. He exited Twitter during the last World Cup cycle, but I think you can find him on Instagram and threads and wherever else.
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