Pablo Mastroeni on #RSL 4-2-8 start, shutout @ COL, roster latest + more

And then you know, even this morning, just broke down all the different chances that some of them were not even getting shots on, and they just come down to decision making, patience. Some we have to go faster, some we have to go slower, and so just kind of breaking the different scenarios down for the guys so that they can you know, digest it, we can train it.

We train it, say, we'll train it the rest of this week and hopefully, you know, because if we don't have that one guy that's gonna you know, and dig a little has been that guy and it's obviously a big burden to carry and it's not going to happen every game. So how how can we now figure out different solutions more as a front five as opposed to

just relying on one or two guys. And so that's that's really the methodology that we're going to take as to how we're gonna flip this around and find more ways to goals and then hopefully for those five front fiber operating in Unison, then we can release a pivot a little bit higher that give us a six attacker, so that hopefully again doing it by numbers, doing it by committee, and doing it more as a collective. And

so that's it's been frustrating. But again, you know, you know, we have all the pieces that we're going to have for for the time being, and the onus is on myself to and the coaches to find solutions to get these guys hitting balls in the back of that.

I have to find solutions. I have to relay and sell that solution to the players. And that's the that's the that's the beauty of the scraft, you know, because it's it's really easy to say, hey, listen, we lost forty something goals from last year. We're not going to be able to score goals. But the beauty of coaching is finding different solutions to new problems. And and so for me, you know, the one thing identified identified three different things in the attack that we the ways we

can score goals. One is offensive set pieces, right, and that's nothing to do with anyone in particular. That's good delivery and bravery and getting in the box.

That's that's those are the areas that we've identified we can make games, and I think that's what the that's where my focus lies. So when you talk about frustration, it's when you stop coming up with different pathways to achieve a goal. I think is when you get frustrated. And I think from a coaching perspective that frustration is about yourself. And so that's where that's where I stay

positive because there's always a solution. You just have to ask the right questions to get to the right to the right solutions and put a game plan in place to achieve those. And so that's the plan obviously. You know, like you said, I think winning is the thing that drives all of us athletes, is it is the holy grail. And when you're not doing that, it's really easy to get down on yourself, down on down on everyone, down

on life. But it's really about being resilient and for me, more importantly, being the type of me behaving like the type of player I want to see out in the field. And that's even though it's it's it's not going well, you still believe, you're positive, you're finding solutions, and you're approaching every day like it's a great opportunity to get better.

I don't know. Like I watch your post game presser and there was a little something there after the Colorado l and I see on the sideline, like I just have to imagine if I'm as frustrated as I am watching your club and attack right now, I just have to imagine at times you're looking around at teams that have payrolls ten times more than yours, and we were all expecting something more during the primary transfer window and it didn't come.

dominant in the way we build from the back. And you know, there's there's a bunch of crazy stats there is We're one of the top teams in the league is going from our goal to our opponent's final third, Right, So that's a status and no one cares about that. That's useless information. As far as you know results, go game to game. The hardest thing to do in soccer is really that final third, and I just feel that we are so close to hit in the back of

the net. And there's all in every game. I can show you six or seven different if there was one decision made differently, it would hit the back of the net. And you obviously can't joystick the guys, so you're giving them information and they're learning on the fly and so they're trying to digest this information and delivered in real time, and so like, I feel really good about our offense until we get to the final third, and that's really where you know, and you saw it last year with

guys like Gomez and guys like you know, Chicho. They were scoring goals with very little x G and it made the coaching seem like we were geniuses at the time, right, And it was really them making plays. And that's what I was alluding to after the game, is like just somebody smash the ball on top bin from twenty yards out, you know, Somebody get across the front of the defender and flick one in the back post, you know, And

it's just about making plays. But oftentimes when you're not scoring a lot of goals, spence, what ends up happening is that run is a little bit late, that passes a little bit late because you start overthinking it, you know, and it doesn't come. It's not natural to you, right, We're not operating in the flow state, and so it is. It's tough and again and and I actually feel for the it's my frustration, but I feel for the guys because it's very difficult to come in after damn the

same guys. But ninety percent of the game, you guys on both sides of the ball are doing a great job, and I can't give them the the you know, the the know how in real time where seconds and inches are the difference between scoring and not scoring. That type of experience one because I was in a goalscorer myself. But they just, you know, they're just lacking that little bit of that that polish, that that that nowse you know.

And and like I said earlier, Diego lun has been the guy that's been doing that for us, and it's impossible to expect a guy that hasn't typically scored you know, ten fifteen twenty goals a season to be that guy

every single game. And so I feel for him as well because he's doing a ton of work for us, and at the end of the day, we all as a team come into that locker room frustrated and it's really about one phase of the game that can really turn this thing on a screws and so it's it's you know, if nothing else it's going, it's going to bring our you know, the way I feel about the way we train today, it's again Tuesdays for me are the day because after a tough result, you can you

can drop tools, you cannot believe. But these guys got after today and they're full of belief and commitment and the energy was just spot on. And so you know, as long as we have that we have, we do have a chance. And so now it's just about as a collective working extremely hard, believing harder than anyone does. Because once you get the first goal, the second goal, then they start coming in droves, and who knows, it might be Gozo that's going to be a ten goal scorer this year.

The league has changed sixteen years fifteen, sixteen years later, so now we can talk about it as more of a grown up, big boy league. Although I do think there are several things about the infrastructure league that need to be looked at. That's just me personally, and whether it's NFL, NBA, NHL. There is one thing, Pablo, and it's now prevalent in MLS they can even the playing field,

and that is economic investment in talent period period, period period. Okay, it didn't used to be that way, but it is that way. And you have not received that from the front office or the ownership. You just haven't, Okay, So I just need to know how that lands with you.

the guy that's being double team triple teams. And it just it's it's and it's a tough ask to, you know, to to ask a guy like you know, you know, Dom or Gozo or his Seuss or Wolf or you know, to be the guy that scores goals when you know historically it hasn't happened. And so I agree that investment is really important. You've got to have that. And I do believe with two players that that we can we

be an No one would recognize our team. They wouldn't recognize all the work that's being done and the commitment, the the graph, the quality from our goal to to the final third. But I think that two players would, I mean, two players have proven experience, would would make the biggest difference in the world. And and and you know,

I've talked to Kurt and Jason. I think we're all on the same page as as to what we need in order to be you know, a real contender, because again, it's really hard to get all the phases right, and I'm saying we have on both sides of the ball. I would say we have, you know, five to the six phases unlocked. Well, we're up there with the top of the league. But the one that sticks out the

most is that final third. And like you said, two hundred and something minutes without a goal, you know, that's that's where the pressure just keeps mountain on the defense. It keeps mounting on the guys trying to score goals because they're just not coming in and offensively try to do more than defensively. You can only withstand so much pressure before you know you're playing from a place if we can't get one up, because if we do, how

are we going to score goals? And I just think those two top players would alleviate all that for us and would put us in the right direction.

So then I left him on the Colorado game, he was he was leggy from the start and came out the halftime, he says, coach, I got I got more tank and I was like, all right, well let's let's see it now. And to be fair, when when I decided in the sixtieth minute, he wasn't really involved in the play except right before he came out, and at that moment I should have pulled the sub back and said, no, Diego is going to win this, you know, win this game for us. And so that's probably the you know,

that's on me. But it was. But it's also you know, three games in a row where he's put in max effort. You know, the amount of running he does is through the roof. We're playing down a man in Dallas, so I was half cognizant of not running them through the ringer. You know, he wasn't really involved in the game, and I was like, Okay, maybe this is, you know, an opportunity for some fresh legs, but I think in hindsight, I should have kept them on and maybe run him

through the ringer. But then my biggest fear is if we lose a guy like Luna, then then then it's catastrophic as well. So it's it's it's all those different variables that went into it, but after review, you should have left them in the game.

thing he really wanted was get on the ball. And I was talking about how the national team is speaking about him and how they say he's a guy that plays with stones, right he steps on the field and he has a presence so even when maybe the attacking stuff isn't working, that he still contributes massively to the team and the spirit of the team. And so then I said, was it was in context of how how fast he's got he's gone from the player he was

to the player he is. And so I said, along that same trajectory, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not here at the end of the summer, because someone's going to come in and pay twenty five million dollars or whatever it is to take him somewhere else, you know. But I think and and I think the big the biggest thing with that is too is you know, with with the ownership change, there's uh and it's just been mentioned to me recently, which is really exciting is ownership

doesn't want to sell players moving forward. They want to build a team that the community can get to know, support, have their favorite players, and build and build something that's long, long term. And so that was news to me. Obviously, I never want to lose Luna. I think that he's he's a player that can you know, a lot like Hobby Morales back in the day, where he's a game changer, he's a he's he's a guy that starts the attack,

finishes the attacks. He's he's one of the most likable people you will ever meet in your life and someone

that you always want to root for. So, at least from my perspective, you know, if if if Luna stays here at the club, it would be it'd be I think the best thing for ourselves moving forward, because he is a He is a player that is I wouldn't say is irreplaceable, but you'd have to you'd have to open up the bank to get a player that it is committed and has the type of investment that that he has as an attacking player on both sides of

the ball. That that is that is just starting, you know, to make the leap from young player too now superstar. So that that I think, So that was that was taken out of context. It was It wasn't me wanting to move lunaan. I was just speaking towards his trajectory and how fast it's been. And I wouldn't be surprised given how how far he's coming a year and a half, two years to where he could potentially go. But hopefully it's here at ourselves for the long term.

is also news to me. That had to be music to your ears.

ways of doing things. They care about the club, they look at it from a different perspective, and so I think the Miller is being you know, family here and you off for so many years and love their sports and want to build something that the fans can hang

their hat on. Is just think about it from a coaching perspective, we you know, we put a lot of you know, time and energy into a guy like on Grace Gomez where you know, he came in wasn't proven and it took about a year for him to get up to speed and then he just took off like a rocket, and I thought, you know, it just feels like you're almost like a you know, you're you're raising these you're helping develop these young players, and then they leave at the time where you think they can make

huge impacts not only at the club from a plane perspective, but in the community and and and and you know, like guys like Beckerman that we're at the club a long time. I mean fans you say Beckerman, and everyone knows who you're talking about, and it's like it just feels good. And from a coaching perspective, it's great to see that, you know, some of the the time and energy,

and it's not all soccer. A lot of it's about life and how to be a good pro and how to look after yourself and how to how to you know, how to carry a little bit more, uh, you know, responsibility and all these little things that you go and see these guys and and and you know, and Beckerman still lives here and so now he's given back to the community. So it's I think it's a gift that

keeps on giving. But from our standpoint as coaches, is it makes the work more meaningful when you know that there's a pot that they could potentially be here long term, and it may and it just you can go all in. It's not like a short term thing. You can go all in and and and make the necessary decisions to help them more longer term, which I think is is

even better for him. So music to my ears. I think that's why we do it, is to build something that sustainable, build a team that can be a perennial playoff team that competes with trophies every year. And the only way you do that is continuity and and so you know, helping Luna in his journey, but more importantly, having the ability to keep him around is truly, uh, music to my ears. As you said, yeah for.

little bit. And look, he's young, he's raw, but you can see there's something there isn't there.

you know, you give them. I was working with Gozo today on his crossing right because that's an area I think he can make games, and just gave him a just a way to think about how he crosses the ball, and he started delivering really good balls. And so it's like, this is for me, the beauty of coaching is like sharing your experience, but more important, you have to have

a willing participant receiving it. If they know everything, then there's no there's no need for a coach, right, And so I think those are the similarities between the three of them. And I think what Gozo has is really high end speed, really high end work rate defensively, and what he's doing every day after practice is sharpening his tools in front of goal, so shooting, crossing, passing, you know, all these little things. And so there is no doubt that Gozo is going to be a top player in

this league. And again, is it two years from now, is it next year, is it four years from now? Is I don't know. But he has all the footballing characteristics that can make him a top pro physical, physical, and you know, technical, But more importantly, he's got the character of a guy that I believe will be a learner and he'll get it. He will figure it out, and he will understand what his role is and what

his craft is in putting all together. In the short term, the way he's helping our group is he just brings so much enthusiasm and energy at a time where our team really really needs it. So he's been special for us now, but I really believe he'll be a special player for this club in the future.

is good news. If you missed it, check out the website in a few minutes, all right for you catch break five o'clock out of the drive. Welcomes in Corey from Cortland roofing on a Tuesday. Corey, Happy Tuesday man. How you doing I'm doing great? How are you hey? Bottom line Spring special save thousands of dollars on a roof replacement period.