A big match coming out tomorrow here in the market. Portland is in town to take on ourselves. Our next guest is the head coach of Rayal sa Lake. It's been a minute since we caught up with a great Pablo Mastuoini. Pablo, Happy Friday, brother, how we doing?
Happy Friday? Spence doing well about you?
All good here?
All good here, beautiful day and vibes are good right now as you guys bounce back to get that win on Wednesday. What did you like most, Pablo about the way you guys were able to respond after losing the match to Houston last weekend.
Yeah. No, I think it was a fantastic performance. More so from the mentality perspective, you know, I think with all this change and a couple, you know, factors that were beyond our control. There's there's, there's been this, and the way the schedule has been where we've only had a few games in the last couple of months. You know, I think we've lost our way a little bit from a mindset perspective, And I think everything starts and ends with the way you approach the game as an individual
and how that permes into the collective. And I think the guys that that that played on Wednesday did a great job of pressing the right way, attacking the right way, but more importantly, playing as a team and doing it for one another. And I think that's what kind of evaded us against Houston and against San Jose, which was another game where I felt like we weren't playing for
the group. So, you know, I think it's a it's it's important to understand that, and more so for the for the players that are coming in from other countries and joining the group this late in the season. It's it's it's got to be clear to them what we represent and what we stand for. Above the tactics, above the technique, above individual performance on game day is who
are we as a group? And what I'm grateful for is that type of performance with that result hopefully cements that that mantra that we're we're doing this for the team.
You know what, I was going to ask you a question about Houston, but it's Friday, it's seventy five degrees, and I don't want to, so I'm not. We're gonna move on from it, okay, but here's I want to ask you a couple of things about the Dallas match. And I've talked to you before about the process you have in place for penalty kicks and who steps up and why and all that stuff. And I suppose if chi Cho's out there, it's chie Jo and maybe some other options as well. And we know that Vera's got
a can. And I'm not saying he should not have been the guy. I'll just speak for myself. I was a little bit surprised. So take us through the thought process or just the mindset, whatever unfolded. It allowed Vera to step up to the spot and obviously he converted.
Yeah, no, I think you know, over the last year and a half, I've been able to to watch Vera in these moments. And the one thing I think is really important, Spence, and I think you have a nail on the head if chi Cho's out there. This is not this is not even a conversation. But it was one of the few times where we had a penalty
kick and and Chicho wasn't on the field. And and so for me, the one thing I know that I'm gonna get from Vera when you go to a free kick or a penalty kick in this case, is that there is zero doubt in his mind. In other words, he's not trying to see where the goalie's gonna lean. He's not he's not overthinking it, where I think an attacking player might be trying to play a little bit of cat and mouse, a little bit like Chicho does.
And I think when you as a coach, when you know what you're going to get, regardless of the end result, at least you know that he went in there into that situation full of confidence and belief. And and again, if there's one guy on our team that I wouldn't want to stand in front of twelve yards out, it's
it's Brian Vera and so again a fantastic finish. But but yeah, so and again it's it's not that it's not I mean, obviously, in today's game, it's obviously the nine that takes it, right, But you know, even growing up and playing myself, there's there was times when center backs took it because again, there's not this way to X. They just go up and knock the ball in the corner. So but hopefully Chijo will be on the field for the next one for sure.
All Right.
You often talk about life and soccer and sport defined by individual moments. What did you make of that moment when Anderson Julio and you know, it's funny, Pablo, I watched the replay and he didn't even look up.
I mean he must have.
He must have been seeing tendencies from the keeper prior to that opportunity, because he just got the ball and then had a nice little touch and turned around and right when he hit it.
It's funny.
My first response was he underhit it, like I didn't think he got enough of it. But and maybe you can help me understand. Is that a thing that players do they notice maybe five or ten minutes prior to oh wait, he is creeping up if I get it, Because he didn't look up, he didn't turn around, He just one touched and he struck it.
What did you make of that moment?
No, I think again, I think that's individual brilliance. You know, over the last two years, we've had you know, Chicho do it this year, Pablo, we just do it last year and now and and I think it's a multitude of things. One, it's obviously individual brilliance to be aware that that is happening, which is a great thing because again in soccer, it's about understanding where everyone is at all times and then making the best decision available to you.
So his ability to understand that the goalkeeper is playing off his line is awesome on Ada's part. And then the execution, which is very difficult from that distance to your point, how do you gauge a sixty yard ball? And the funny thing is that the training not one training goes by where these guys, especially the attacking players, aren't picking out a goal out in the distance and they're like, okay, one hop into that goal, you know, So like, I don't know if that's subconsciously training it,
but it's definitely something that we don't go over. That's a low quality chance, so we don't even talk about that. But I think the reason why you're seeing this more and more all over the world is too one, teams want to press higher up the field, which means the most goalies are playing like a sweeper keeper, right, so they're protecting the space behind and that's kind of what
happened in that particular play. And the other part is is a lot of teams are using goalkeepers and builds, so now they're you know, playing twenty five yards out from goals, So if you steal a ball, these moments are more readily available than they were back when I was playing in you know, nineties and eighties, and these
kind of things were goalkeepers were just goalkeepers. So the more that they're becoming more field players and have more responsibilities with the ball and defending the line, that is extremely high. I think these moments will continue to present themselves.
All right, So we're learning about some of these new players, and I do have a question in a moment about the macro situation of getting them accustomed to what you want them to do. But that run up the right side from Dominick, Mark Zuoke and the cross and Anderson Julio, that was arc man.
That was brilliant start to finish.
I mean the problem is the highlight lights later on, like the highlight shows just showed the cross, but the turn, the run, the I mean that was one of the first times that I mean, I haven't seen him play much, but that should indicate to RSL fans and there's some quality with this young kid. What do you so two part question, What did you make of that snapshot moment? And what can you share with us about how he's looked from a macro standpoint.
Yeah, so I would even rewinding a little further because it was actually a great team goal where Justin Glad plays it out to Philip Quinton, he gets pressured and he zips the ball out to Dom, and Dom just an individual play that is just awesome. And these kind of moments are exactly what we saw in the video when we were scouting him from Poland, is his ability to make good decisions on the end line and then have the quality to pick out the best option with
the right way to pass. And that's exactly what he did on that goal. So I think, and I don't know if you saw his reaction to it, it was like, thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this. You know. He was so excited, obviously for the team, but himself because I think some of the there's a lot of doubt when you're going from league to league and you're a really young player and you don't have a lot of experience. So it couldn't have come at a better time for for Dom and his integration to
the group, and and the other thing. It's really important for for our forwards, you know, and and and and Chicho. To understand is that he's now shown his quality to find the nine in the box. And so once you have that, now the idea is, can we get our nines playing more central, more more close around the goal, because now we have a player that can finds you
in these areas. And then you know, I think for us, you know, after Andres left, it's really about who you know, how long is it going to take for these younger players to accomate newer players, And you know, we played lockey out there. He did a really good job, but he likes to come inside on his left foot. And now we saw in this game that Dom did a
really good job. And I'll also say the work that he did defensively was awesome, really high level stuff that usually takes a lot of time, but he did a really good job of making it difficult for for that whole right side. So I feel like it's these kind of moments that you know, bring a lot of belief into the individual, and I think given his performance, brings a lot of belief to the group.
All Right, help me understand what happened with the hayesus FTA free kick, because I still am confused now it was a hell of a strike actually by him. But I don't know, Like if I was playing FIFA, I would have thrown my controller and said you're cheating. I felt I felt like that was my reaction. I'm like, you're cheating, I'm resetting the Xbox. What happened there?
Yeah, So it was it was strange, and again it's it's so interesting. These are all things that we talked about in the preseason that we hit on and if you don't get hurt by it somewhere along the somewhere along the regular season, then you don't really bring it
up because it's almost like a known action. Right. So when when Cropsey commits the foul, the first thing you do when it's around the goal is the person that foul the player is, stands in front of the ball and he waits for the referee to say back up. So one, when you do that, you buy time for the rest of the group to set up behind it, whether you're going to go with a line to defend a wide free kick or you're going to set up
a wall. And so then the other part of that is gab setting up the setting trying to set up a wall. A two man wall, but there's no one in front of the ball, and I think it's it's just a great learning opportunity for GAB is like, you can't set anyone up or prepare to set anyone up
if there's no one there right you. You you've got to protect the goal because at any point unless the referee says on the whistle, and that usually happens when you have someone stand on the ball and they the referee has to mark off ten yards and so then the referee goes okay on the whistle and now we can start setting up and all these things. So what you said it was it was a video game moment that rarely happens and one that is that will never happen again with our group.
So you reference something after the game, And I wanted to dig into this a little bit because we've talked a lot talk to Jay about this this week about the system that you've been wanting to implement, and you started to implement the system in the offseason and carried over with some excellent results, and you were playing a
lot more in possession. And when you guys are in possession, it feels like you're really dangerous and sometimes when you're chasing it a little bit, it feels like you're very vulnerable. And the message that you sent, at least via pregame was we want to play in possession, we want to keep the ball, but when we lose the ball, it's eleven dogs after the ball.
And you looked at the camera and you winked a little bit.
Okay, and so you could see, like, you know, I like your facial expression. You know, you could you could see what you were saying is this is how I used to play, and I want my players to play this way. And it's kind of a consistent theme in our conversations is do you guys have the force and the bite to go win something special?
Because you have to have force and bite to do that.
So how do you how do you kind of translate that message to your players, and how do you feel like it's been received? You know, when you're not in possession, do everything you can to get the ball back.
Yeah, you know. I again, I attribute a lot of this to the fact that there's been so much change within the group and it's gonna you know, and and all the different dynamics that come about with like the guys that are still here with new guys coming in, and it's just like it's such a turbulent time and then you're not getting the results, and so it's like, how do we peel peel all this back and talk about under the hood, what does it look like? Who
are we like? What makes us go? Because again we we've talked a lot about in possession, but for me, mentality always stems from the way you defend. And why defending for me is so important is because it's this most selfless act you can do in professional sports. Right, The selfish acts are wanting to be the guy in front of the goal. Right, that's easy, Like, that's that's
what you know. The hard thing is is a forward track in somebody back thirty or forty yards, a pivot chasing someone to the sideline, you know, a ten sprinting out of the line to put pressure on the ball. Like these things are all selfless because at the end
of the day, the attackers just want to attack. But what we've learned about our group is what got us in a good run of for him was we were very dangerous with the ball, but we were really really difficult to play against when we didn't have the ball because we were just putting pressure on the first guy, pressure on the second guy, the guy that the back line was able to step up and put real pressure.
And so what I've seen in the last probably you know, two or three games, particularly the San Jose home game and the Houston away game, was this like, we're going to wait for the guys back there to win the ball and then they can just give it to us.
So we're playing with like six dogs, right, and so it just makes sense that when you have eleven dogs working for each other, and more in particular the front four working hard for the team, those guys in the back will sell their souls to the devil to do whatever it takes to give those guys the ball when
they see them working that hard. However, the foot part of that, if they don't work hard from the defensive standpoint up front, the lack of predictability breeds so much doubt within the whole team that you end up not being good without the ball, and then when you get it, there's so much doubt you're not good with the ball, and it becomes this cycle. And so we when we get pressure on the ball at all times, we are
present minded. This guy goes, this guy covers, this guy goes, this guy covers, and it's like you're just playing from a place to flow. When you're not getting pressure on the ball, everyone is guessing what the next guy is going to do because there's no real clear trigger to make play predictable for the guys behind. And so when you have a game like we had against Dallas, where it was really front foot defensive, you end up scoring
three goals, right, and granted there were strange goals. There are anomalies in a lot of ways, but that's what I feel like the game gives you because you're almost it's like a self fulfilling prosoty. We're going to be on the front foot, we're going to be aggressive, and with that comes the ball in the attacking half. With that comes with loose balls being won closer to their goal. And so that's that's got to be who we are. So that's clear to the guys that are coming into
the group. These are the expectations, these are the standards, regardless of the positions. We're eleven dogs. When we have it, play play to your quality and everyone's got different qualities. But when we don't have it, you're one of the dogs that we need to make sure we get that ball back.
So I'm not going to say it was the most impressive individual moment because I thought, obviously Anderson's goal was nuts in that run up the up the flank by Mark Zuke and La Crosse was pretty pretty brilliant. But the goal that Diogo had that was called back, I rewound that and watched it like five times, like that was a skill check. Now it was off, that didn't count. But you know, all these new players, we're all we're all trying to get to know him a little bit.
In that moment right there, I think for a lot of people, even though it was called back, was another indicator that you might have something special on your hands. How's the project coming along? Trying to ingratiate Diogo into what you want to do?
Yeah, no, it's he listened. He's a fantastic player, he's a fantastic teammate and and and I think with him within our with just coming to MLS in Europe, you have a more i don't want to say sophisticated, but there's a lot more respect with teams, Like there's very few teams in Europe that high press the way we do, and in our league everyone high presses right, So in Europe it's more like, oh, you have the ball, well
we'll drop back by midfield and we'll find gaps. What he's brilliant at is finding the space between the lines to receive. And he's a technician, and I think that play that you're talking about is case in point. Diego has an eye for goal, Diego the technique to be
able to execute it. I think the transition between the two leagues is how do I create that kind of space for myself where in Europe it would be very available, where a lot of times in the MLS's helter skelter in around goal, and so in Europe you might be able to turn in that pocket and in the MLS, for whatever reason, there's a guy that's waiting to just smash you and and so you don't have as much space in and around goal that I feel like you
can find at times in Europe. And so there's there's no doubt in my mind that Diego is going to be a top player for this team. I think the challenge for myself and the staff is always thinking about how can we put our group that understands clearly what we want in this moment now, whilst bringing these guys along and in a role that allows them to understand the mentality the tactics so that they can fully execute their technique versus you know, square peg, round hole. It's
not it's not clicking quite yet, but that's fine. It's not his fault that we you know, we got here with seven games left. That's just life. And now it's our jobs to try to find that that that that connection between He's a really special player and you know, he plays really well with this cut these three guys, but struggles a little bit with this guy against this type of system, and so there's still you know, a
learning curve to go. But there is no doubt in my mind that Diego is a special player and that will just need a little bit of time to transition to, you know, to being the guy.
All right before we set you lose your win combined with like a ridiculous amount of results that went RSLs way, which is awesome. On Wednesday, bumps you up to second. No rest for the weary Portland is in town tomorrow. They're the highest scoring team in the West and second only to Miami with sixty goals scored, So according to numbers, they score a lot of goals and they give up a lot of goals.
That's what's in front of me.
So tell me about Portland, Pablo, what do you have to do to go get all three tomorrow night?
Yeah? I think you said it. They're they're a team that that attacks really well, and at times they're you know, they're they're they're poor us in the back. And I think it's really easy against this team to get caught in this transition game, which is they lose the ball and their front foward don't necessarily transition to get back beyond the ball, and so it's now it's our attack. It might be like say six guys in that transition
moment against six of their back guys. The problem is when you don't make good decisions in that moment and you give the ball up and now it's four versus four in the back in our in our defensive half. Those four players are some of the most dynamic. Uh. They're they're they're all capable of not only creating goal scoring opportunities for the teammates, but they're all very good one v one attackers. And so for us, it's it's going to take a little bit of you know, sophistication.
Even if we can go to goal, if the numbers aren't great or if the space isn't wide open, we almost have to wait for our team to get forward and set up camp in their attacking half to force the attack the fourced third attacking players to get back and defend. It's it's almost counterintuitive as to how we want to how we normally play. But given that there's such a unique team and they're very dangerous, we don't want this to be an open game. We don't just
want this to be a transition game. We want to be able to dictate the game with the ball and be very tight and put out fires when that we have to. If we have to give up a foul, you know, when we lose the ball, then that's better. So we can get numbers behind the ball and let them beat us with eleven versus beat us for v four. But I feel like, you know, if we have the right mindset, we can we can get a couple of goals, and if we're just defensively savvy, I feel good about our chances.
I'm considering coming out but I need to guarantee that you're gonna win if I'm gonna drive out to Sandy.
Let's go, Spence.
I love it.
I'll put it out there. Man, running this game.
I love it all right. Always good chat with you, man, Go get three chair for you.
Okay, Bud, Thanks.
Man Allo Mastronie head coach of RSEL. Brought to you today by Big O' Tires. Get our Healthy Car Special for fifty nine to ninety five, which includes a conventional oil change, checks on alignments, breaks, batteries, and more. We want to keep our customers safe on the road and help them save money on tires and service. There's always something on sale at Big O Tires. Stop into any of our fifty locally owned and operated locations in.
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