Latest / Tectonic Takes / Episode 188: Playoffs CLINCHED! What's Next?
Transcript
- Episode 188 Playoffs CLINCHED! What's Next : What San Jose earthquake has been thinking in San Marco on the richer scale of football I think. What's up Quakes fans? We are back after clinching playoffs. Devin, how are you feeling? Abram, this is the I had a word in my head for like the last six hours that I wanted to use. okay, another word. This is like the lowest cortisol episode that we have ever shot, I believe, in since I've joined Tectonic Takes. It this is a privilege to be here. Finally clinching playoffs with four games remaining. The longest or what is it? Yeah, the longest we've clinched playoffs away from decision day since two thousand twelve. That's insane. Yeah, that's that's a very big deal for the club. That's a historic milestone, I guess, 'cause we've been so bad for so long. It's it's just yeah, I'm super thankful to be in this position. and hey, like, you know Things could go downhill from here, we could end up in ninth place. That's the literal worst possible scenario. you know, based off of how we have played the season. Like if if we lose the rest of our games we end up in ninth, which is fine. It's still better than we have gotten previously. so no matter what, this season is a big improvement. but we're still nine unbeaten Devon. that's so many unbeaten and it doesn't really 'cause look, Nashville are the best team in this league right now. And there's also a plane outside my window for some reason. but ignore that. We didn't look as good as them, I I will say. Like that's my analysis. I think they look better, but it wasn't like crazy different. we we weren't as good as them, but we held them to six shots total. They have the best offense in the league with a plus forty one goal differential. I I'm I'm happy with how that performance went. And I think that if we can tie to Nashville with a full strength squad, I believe. They had Nahar, they had Espinosa, they had Mukhtar, they had Surge, all these, huge players. They had a lot less out than we did. Sorry? They had a lot less players out than we did. Yeah, exactly. We had yeah, we're not at full strength. So just keep that in mind, for the rest of the season. We do have a difficult next three games where we're away. which is is, you know, frustrating for the the standings, but I am I am not I don't mind because it it's a good break for us. We just all we have to do on our end is show up to the the midweek availabilities and the post game press conferences on Zoom and that's that's our job bro. but yeah how are you feeling right now about the table and where we might end up. Do you think that we're gonna stay in fourth? I mean I think we'll the worst we can do in my opinion I think is sixth or seventh. seventh being the absolute lowest that we can go. I just don't see us falling into a a play in round. Honestly, this team gives me hope after the Nashville game. Yes, we drew. It's not ideal to draw at home. you always want to take those three points. Look, Nashville is the best team in the league. They have the best players in the league. Espinoza, Mukhtar, and Surridge all performing at a league best at the moment. You you simply just cannot walk into this game and say, Yeah, we deserve three points. Nashville is Nashville, even if they look uncoordinated, which most of a lot of fans had said during the game, that Nashville just didn't look like they're at their best. Even at their worst, they're still a pretty darn good team, maybe a fourth place team at their worst. Just because of the sheer amount of talent on there. So walking away with a point without Nico Sakaris on the field Or just in the roster at all. I feel pretty confident in that. And being nine games unbeaten, with Nico being out so many games and potentially coming back, you know, in the next couple of weeks or week, it gives me hope. It gives me hope that, you know, now we're playing teams with a lot less power on their roster than what we've just faced. is that a similar thing that you're thinking, Abram? Yeah, it Like I said, we it was a big feat to get a draw against Nashville. To to get you know, it it's not the best look to get three draws in a row. But when you look at the fixtures we had, Colorado away, RSL away, and Nashville at home, that's a totally fine string of results. I have no problem with that. And and you look at that it's like, well we only got three points in the last three games. Like, okay, but they were very that was a difficult string of three games. So I'm I'm happy about it. And we have Dallas next and we could if we win in Dallas we can match them on points and we would overtake them because we have a better goal differential. Am I unless I'm I'm missing some other 'cause this league changes so much I I I don't even know if goal differential is even like what we're looking at. Do you know I think you're right, Aaron. I think you're right. Yeah. And I I'd said something about head to head, but I think that's the third or fourth category to determine who w which team is better than the other. But yeah, goal differential I think is first. Yeah, and and I'm trying to confirm that. So it looks like Minnesota, San Diego, and Portland are all even on points. But actually no, because Portland has a worse goal differential and they're a Is it wins? San Diego. Check the wins category. yeah. Portland has more wins. Got it. That might be the number one thing then. Yeah, and if we were to if we were to beat Dallas at in Dallas then we would have an identical record. We'd have fourteen wins, they would have eight losses. Regardless, I I'm pretty confident going forward and and I feel a lot better about it because we don't need to win. Like I I'm already like we accomplished the thing. I know that's not how the player should be feeling and if you're a player listening You you you go try your ass off. Don't listen to me. I'm just talking about how I feel about this team right now. And I feel a lot better now that we have clinched playoffs. And we will see a home playoff match, for the first time in PayPal Park. and and you know, whether we see two or one depends on where we end up finishing. the first four teams get their first First game home, second game away, then third game if it happens, that would be home. and I know that a lot of the people at Take Tran takes the staff are our staff Devin have taken days off of work in anticipation for the playoffs. So they're definitely happy about this. but what do you think this does for the fan base? Do you think that like I I think there's definitely a buzz about this team now that we're you know We seem like a good team now. I hope it emits more attendance. I hope it brings fans to the games before postseason to to you know, hype up this crowd, hype up the city, the fan base, everything, and be like, This team is playoff ready. You know? The fans have the players back. The plans the the players are doing what the players need to do to give the fans a good show and to perform in playoffs. as Preston Judd seems to continuously reiterate as he's continuously, appointed man of the match and post game press conference the postgame press conference player, pretty consistently recently. he just keeps saying he wants to win a playoff game. You know, he's made playoffs now. He hasn't ever had a playoff game in his career in MLS. and and he w he doesn't just want to stop at one game. He wants to continuously, you know, make it through each round and And he's making a good case for it. I think with his current performance, sure, he's gonna miss next game versus Dallas because of yellow card as accumulation, which is unfortunate. But having sixteen goals in a season, only two other players in Earthquake's history, or recent earthquake's history at least, Chris Wondolowski and Jeremy Abobasi have been able to do that. you know, he's he's in there with with a a good couple of names for Earthquake's history. So I think, you know, if Preston Jug keeps this form. Yeah, there's a good chance that this team can go a lot further into the playoffs than you know what we've been expecting used to seeing and expecting in in recent past. And I I want to acknowledge something. I made a made a big mistake just now. and Crystal is probably already texting me before we even get to this correction. The games after Dallas after we play Dallas are at home. So we play Colorado and RSL at home. I was looking at Fot Mob and they have they the the fixture difficulty they have it as hard. And I would have thought that the home games would have been green, but they have orange. And so I thought that like, it's it's gonna be hard because they're, you know, away. Abram, what are the scales for that? Is is hard like the easiest difficulty and then it's just like Ultra challenges difficulty no impossible. I would have thought it's the same as you. Like I I thought you know we'd be on the the green level. Yeah, I thought that, you know, maybe maybe take into account the positions of the teams that we're facing. but I don't see like Colorado, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I wouldn't argue I wouldn't say that our fixture difficulty coming up is that hard seeing as we have the Dallas Away game, that's definitely a big game. we have to, try really hard for that one. It's gonna be away. but the next two games at home, Colorado and and Salt Lake City I don't know. That's that's I think a lot of people would be happy with that fixture lineup. so I'm I'm really confused about how FatMob is is, you know, doing this here. and if I'm looking at Royal Salt Lake's recent form, they have two losses in their last five, but they have two wins, so it's not terrible, but it's not like, my god, that that team's gonna, you know, give us a run for our money. I sh but moving on from that, I think that Something that is going to play a big factor in this next match, against Dallas, or I hope will, is that I was in the elevator and I happened to run into Nico Shikaris and somebody else in the elevator asked him how he's doing and his response is that he's back next week. And so take that with a grain of salt because when he says he's back doesn't necessarily mean that, you know, he will be on the field. or that Bruce thinks he's back, yeah. Exactly. So that's really up to the the physios and all the people in charge. but it's not like we haven't put him out there and and like Bruce has said himself that he's maybe pushed Nico a little bit hard. I I'm I'm hoping that we don't rush him back, but we it would be good to have him back sooner rather than later. where are you on that? Do you think? just get Nico in as soon as possible or err on the side of caution. Patience is the name of the game here. We've already seen rushing you know, us rushing Nico into you know, into the game post injury twice this season, I believe. And once was with surgery and that was, you know, second half of the season. I didn't think that was a great look for our coaching staff. And, you know, I think if if we want Nico for playoffs, we're gonna have to play the patience game. Let him recover, you know, stay fit. And I now that we've qualified for playoffs, I'd rather have him for that than to immediately start him and play him for ninety minutes, etcetera, again for the remainder of the season or the the regular season. you know, let's pick our battles. We we were able to finish off with a one one draw against Nashville SC without Nico, and I think, you know, maybe we can play Nico for about thirty thirty or forty minutes each each game for the next two. And then maybe we give Nico a little more time on the field for the final two games of the season just so at least he he's got some form and and confidence heading into playoffs. But yeah, again, I don't I don't see any need to rush Nico back onto the field again. just due to the fact that, you know, we need him more in playoffs. Yeah, I a hundred percent agree. And I I'd I'd rather like give him extra time and have him in playoffs than you know, rushing back because like I said, we're already in. So we have that we are afforded that privilege to be able to do that. but you know he's obviously huge. We we talk about it a lot, but I think that this team that we ran out against who did we just tie against? Nashville. We weren't talking about it, sorry. it's a very solid team defensively. Reed, you know, very good. Romney is having like a a renaissance. he he was really solid. and you know, Muni's doing Muni things. But without Nico, there is definitely a lot less about this team. He is the X Factor, in my opinion, that, you know, takes us from a solid team that can, you know, grind out a result to a team that's extremely dangerous. Like you don't want to play the center of the earthquakes when Nico's available and also Preston Judd and Timo Burner You would Louvin. We have a bunch of players who are like threats and but Nico makes everyone more dangerous. Like everyone on the pitch, including himself. I'll just add a little tidbit and I'll let you keep going, Abram. But like you know, if you look at the schedule and our past results, without Nico, how many of those are are wins and how many of those are draws? You know, sure we're we're nine unbeaten, but like without Nico, I think about what, three of those four games are draws? I have no idea because it doesn't not more on Fot Mob it doesn't say with Nico without Nico. I'd have to go through every game and look at the lineup. But I it's not many games without a w I'm with you there, yeah. I think that we we we can draw without Nico and that's great. You know, that's a really good sign that this team has a really good you know, mentality and and they're able to continue going and and you know make things happen even at when they're not at full strength. Drop my my light, sorry. but it it's when he's here it it's a whole nother level. Like it's two two levels up in my opinion of what we're capable of and what we can achieve. Just because he he's a goal threat now. We we're talking about it for years, like he when he gets in the box one on one, he he gets nervous. It doesn't seem to be that way anymore. he he's able to set people up and and it's fantastic. he's able to make space for himself and teammates and and a lot of his assists are also secondary assists. So, it's not just the final ball, it's the the one before it, which is very important as well. I I I could go on and on about Nico. so with all that being said, I think it's safe to say that we agree that we should be a little bit more careful when bringing him back because we don't rely on that right now. We we can kind of afford to to give it a minute. but did I ask you, Devon, about this match. I I know that like you said that Nashville looked kinda disjointed and not what was the word you use? The they're not coordinated? Yeah, somewhat uncoordinated. the tactics looked like they weren't as sound as as they used you know, they normally are. Okay. And did you agree with Bruce's comment saying that they dominated us in the first half? you know, I I believe Nashville had it's not like the courage, but Nashville had the determination to beat us in one v ones and fifty fifty balls. I think they just they had the energy to want the ball more. in pressing situations, when passing, when shielding balls, they're winning the physical battle. It seemed like we we just had less of an edge on that. They had more of the edge. and the desire to to bring the ball forward in more of a direct way. Similar to what we see in Bruce Arena, but just more of utilizing the the big name players and and having them connect off each other. in a fluid style performance. so yeah, in in a way, I kind of agree that, you know, Bruce what Bruce said has merit to it and that it seemed like they they dominated. But also we had really good chances as well. And I think we were just lazier with it. You know, I I don't want to discredit Preston Judd because, you know, sure he got a yellow card, now he's suspended the next game, but he had a couple of good chances and he got the goal, sure. Yeah. But there was that one that one play in the first half where he did like that Wandolowski at Stanford back flick, which, you know, almost hit the post. Sure. But I think he could have made a better meal out of that and actually tested the goalkeeper. but instead hit wide of the post. Sure, good effort, but you know it's it's moments like that where, you know, kinda look on the other side of that spectrum and and say, Did we really make the best out of the chances we had? And the answer is no. Yeah, I mean I don't know if I agree on that specific play because I think that that's literally the best option that you have because you can't the ball's coming at him to his left foot. unless he stops it, turns around. the goal is fully behind him. It's behind him. And so the the quickest way to get the ball to go toward, the goal there is is that back heel. maybe he could've executed it better, sure. but I don't think that like a traditional shot, I guess, or trying to to make that happen was h like very possible in that moment. But to to your point though, I do agree that we were kinda wasteful in this match. you know, we we say that that Nashville dominated and there are a lot of stats that that do back that up. They had, you know, four hundred and fifty eight passes to our three hundred and eighty nine and they had higher accuracy. They they had more more passes in our our half. but we had more than double the shots. but We had half of these shots on target. So we only had two shots on target out of 14 total shots the whole match. So I totally agree with what you said that we're being wasteful. We're not, utilizing those chances the best we could. it just so happened that Louven put in an amazing free kick to find Preston Judd there. Otherwise this match ends as a loss. And and I I couldn't if we had lost this game, I wouldn't say that we deserved a draw or anything. I I think that that would indicate, how the match was going. Yeah, I think even Nashville fans who who I discussed or talked to had said that they they felt like they deserved to lose. just because it looked like we we had a more dominating second half and our performance overall looked a lot better. which I don't know. It seemed like a very fifty fifty game. Obviously the statistics don't make it look like a fifty fifty game. Mm-hmm. But I I thought that, the game could have gone either way. Which I think a one one draw is is a perfectly good depiction of of what we had seen. but you know, that being said, I wasn't exactly happy with the performances of of some of our our big names and and one in particular, Timo Werner, a name that we had we usually talk about in and more of a respectful and and and you know When we talk about Timo Werner, we usually say good things. And this time I didn't find much from Timo performance wise that was actually good. and in particular his attitude on the field, especially when he doesn't have the ball. I I noticed that there's a trend with certain players when they receive the ball and they make a play with it, and it's not exactly up to Timo's standards per se. he visibly alm he doesn't throw a tantrum, but he gets upset and you can tell he's upset. Yeah. You know what mean? And and I think two of those players in in mind is is Jack Jazzynski and Jamar Ricketts. He he doesn't seem happy with those two. And that's just my observation. It may not necessarily be true, but when those two, you know, are are in possession, they have the ball, and they do something with it. it doesn't really matter what it does. You could just see that there's there's something that irks Timo. And I just don't like that behavior at all. And especially when in the second half, when Chazinski I think attempted a shot or a cross and it didn't necessarily go his way. Yeah, he took a shot outside the box and it went straight not straight to the goalkeeper, but the goal the the natural keeper made a quite easy save. Timo turned around, looked at Bruce and made a a substitution. thingy gesture. yeah, I I literally see it right here. Jack Judas you took a s shot in the sixty sixth minute and Timo get taken off in the sixty seventh. Yeah. He saw that shot and he just immediately I don't may maybe it's not correlated. Maybe it's not correlated. But based on what I saw, it just seemed like yeah I'm I'm pretty unhappy with go what's going on. Or you know, it's the sixty sixth minute I've I've had enough. I've played too much. Take me out. but then like in the in the photo post game, Timo's not anywhere in sight. You know. Which may have different you know, different reasons as as to why, you know, with this with his hamstring injury and he could be in the the training room or the medical room, whatever, and getting attention to it. I I yeah, I can understand that. But I just it's like on the on the field product, I don't appreciate the way he's handling himself. Yeah, w I think that he's injured. That's that's my prognosis and and that's just a simple I I'm covering that with a very broad thing, just like hurt and so not really I g I guess kinda writing him off because he's hurt, because you look at his numbers for this game, he didn't look very good at all. honestly. I'm looking at some of the attacking stats here. And you mentioned Jack Zinski and it's funny you mentioned him because he has more X G as a as a right back in this match than than Timo does. And you know, Timo didn't he d also doesn't have any very good X A which is expected assist, so he's not putting teammates in in very good positions either. And also if you look at the the heat map, it looks like Swiss cheese. He's just everywhere. Which isn't, in itself a bad thing. I'm not saying w you need to be more consistent in one area. But it it is like what it's showing is that with all this movement and all the places he's picking up the ball and he's not doing anything with it. he he touched the ball What thirty four times. Not nothing. He he d he looked invisible. and for for reference, Nashville's Mukhtar touched the ball forty times and he played all ninety minutes. So, you know, that's kind of putting in perspective that like Timor touched the ball a lot. Mukhtar also touched the ball a lot. I don't know, you know, who touched the ball more, but Those are comparable players in terms of what they want to do, they want to create, they move around and and try to create space for the teammates and and themselves. Mukhtar looked way better. Like he had a lot more quality and a lot more patience and and you know, a a lot of things. So yeah, not happy with Timo's performance and I kind of just think that he's just not ready physically. He didn't look super pissed I will say when he came off, yeah, he he didn't look happy on the field and I I I can understand that. we were losing at the time. But he he came off and shook everyone's hand near the bench. I don't know about if he touched like all his teammates' hands, but every all the coaching staff, you know, Shawri, Sarakin, all them. before leaving to the to the locker room. So that's not saying like that's totally excused then. But it is like he he's there's something there where it's like he does have some awareness and I I'm hoping and, that thing gives me more evidence that it's probably just an injury thing that he, has to go to see the physio about and, whatever it is. because the performance wasn't what we have come to expect from from Timo who has put up really good showings for the Quakes somewhat recently. He he it's hard. It's very sporadic because he's injured very often. But no, definitely not the best game for for Timo Werner. but it it also seemed like he was holding himself back too. Yeah. Like during the game. You know, he got the ball and it and he wasn't making sprints either in behind the lines. he he was just kind of reserved and received the ball, made a couple steps forward, dribbled the ball, took a little bit of space and then made it either play laterally or or backwards. And and that's that's that's what we mainly saw from Timo. Yeah, definitely. And like I said, Jack Jinsky the the right back got more X G. same same amount of shots, by the way. Timo also had a shot which went very wide. Not a good shot. but, you know. Regardless, I she doesn't tell the whole story. somebody who got mad of the match, in according to Pop Mob, which is weird to me. I thought it would be Preston Judd, but they gave it to Bo LaRue, who has a identical rating on Pop Mob. I thought Bo looked good. I I wouldn't I wouldn't have picked him, I guess. I liked Luvin. I I liked Preston Judd. For his his goal, obviously. what were your thoughts? I thought Bo looked great. I just didn't see it being a man of the match performance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. but yeah, in possession, he shielded off up opponents pretty well. managed to find, you know, excellent threads across the field, switched the field, knew where his players was at all times. I yeah, I was really impressed with with Bo's performance, you know. So given the fact that given the fact that We already know what Bo's capable of. still, you know, an excellent performance. Got a yellow card, which I don't think was a yellow. a yellow nonetheless. and then yeah, like it's funny that two seven point eight rated players both got yellow cards and i either I guess weren't deserved. but given Preston Judd's reputation, I think the yellow is was going to be given. Either way. I wanted to bring that up because I don't think he elbowed that guy. that's just how I There was no contact. he kinda he had his arm up and like sure I I agree with I think Leonardo said don't put your hand that high because you're gonna get called for that when you are pressed and judd. And I do agree that like he has to be cognizant of that. But if we're looking at just like the objective things that happened, I don't think that Other players are getting called for that because I don't think that you know he didn't hit I don't know. it seemed very simple and cut you know, pretty clear cut to me. But it's it's pretty clear that Preston Judd's reputation precedes him and the ref is like, Well, y this guy, you know, literally eats center backs. So maybe I'll I'll I'll give him a caution here so to save that guy's life. I don't know. What do you It seems frustrating to me, but I there's a world where I can understand it. where are you at? I mean, I was also in the Nashville Discord server partially at the time of the game, 'cause I was sitting as a fan. I had wasn't in media this time, I was just sitting with my family, enjoying the game with them. And you know, even the Nashville Discord server had said that there was no contact made with that foul. Mm-hmm. I think the intent may have warranted the yellow. it's a pretty high elbow, pretty quick elbow thrown. If someone's face was there, it's probably gonna hurt a lot. But, you know, no contact was made and a player went down claiming that that, you know, he got hit in the face. So I I think we need to start giving yellows to embellishments a little more more than usual. Just to to get rid of that diving aspect of the game. Because if there's if there's no contact, then why are you going down? Yeah, it was it was just really frustrating because it's not just any yellow, right? It's it's keeping him up for the next match. And, against Dallas it would be really nice to get a win there. and not having our our Star Striker, that's gonna really suck. but The big point of contention for this match was Christian Espinosa, who didn't have a great game. thankfully. I I was really worried that he would, score a hat trick and then Espinosa would be looked at at the same level of someone like Landon Donovan. and I just emotionally I couldn't I just did not want that to to happen. but no, he didn't have a great game. everything seemed amicable for the most part. He is a fierce competitor, so during play he was very fierce and and giving, you know, Ricketts a hard time and and I totally, you know there there's things that I I was frustrated with how they went, but I wasn't like, okay, well, I hate that guy now forever. and and to me I just chalk it up to the heat of the moment. But is that Mira your your perspective on on how it's been also played? I think you you painted a great picture there, Abram. Jamar Ricketts and and Espinoza postgame also made up and and Jamar af the a video essentially said, Yo, are you trying to kill me or what? so they they made a joke about it. So I I can't be upset. You I'm not I'm not gonna be one of those people that gets upset for somebody who's not upset. Yeah. so that being said, yeah, I think we we shut down Espinoza the way that we knew how to shut him down. The way we knew how to the way we knew he plays. he's not necessarily one that that presents a set of skill like Neymar does. He doesn't really have that four or five star skill setup, maybe a three star skill, on a FIFA rating, if you want to give him that. but his his main main aspect to his game is shielding the ball and using his speed and agility to find space. and releasing the ball and making great passes and assists as, he's the the team's leading s assist men. so in that regard, you know, Jamar Ricketts and Reed Roberts had shut him down pretty well. They didn't give him that many options to to make crosses into the box and they they forced Christian Espinoza to to recycle balls back to the the eighteen yard box or behind him in Blaze and and to to force him wide and keep his back facing towards goal, which is the exact thing that we needed him to do and and and sure enough, I think he only had like what, two or three crosses in the game total. So the the less crosses the better and I think all those crosses end up going to a Quake's head, so it's perfect. Yeah, it ended up going in our favor. unfortunately that Mook Tar goal did go in. And honestly there is a game, you know, there is a Plain, I'm sorry. There is like a Doctor Strange like reality, right, if you get that reference, where we win this game because that Mukhtar goal doesn't go in and we win one zero. Because it it hits gun and it parries right to Mukhtar again who gets the goal on his second try. frustrating goal to concede. My my dad doesn't wanna blame it on gun. But I I kind of just like I I so the first shot, very powerful, like very hard shot. and when it's shot that hard, as a keeper you're just trying to get in the way. You're not like thinking about parrying. But I think that I don't know, I just I don't think Edwards does that. Like you know and I I I I thought that he should have done better on the second one. 'Cause one of his strengths is that he is six foot five and he has a lot of he has a big frame and he doesn't utilize it to you know, block more area in the follow up. And I thought he could have done better i it on the on the rebound. wha what what are your thoughts about the the Muk Tar goal? I mean like after days of watching highlights and kind of thinking about that play I would like to equally place blame on our defenders. Mm-hmm. I know Reed Roberts went down to take you know, to to block a shot there. But when Mukhtar takes a shot, he takes a shot with power. He's not taking a shot on the floor. You know, if want to block a shot, at least block the shot when you're standing on the just standing on your feet. the fact that that Reed Roberts went down meant that any sort of parry from Enga's gun is going to lead it right back to any player on Nashville. and and that I think, you know, left Angus in in sort of a a help me situation because it was a hard powered shot. Yeah. You know, he had very little reaction time and and historically our fans and sometimes us have criticized him in the past of having really bad reaction time and maybe he wouldn't have gotten to that in the first five games of the of being a Quake. but he ended up blocking that shot with Henny Mukhtar and unfortunately it went straight back to Henny. Where, maybe maybe you could say that that Angus could parry it over for a corner kick, you know, with the fingertip save to prevent any sort of direct rebound and mirrored opportunity. you could say that, but I think at that point when it's such a a a tight angled shot and so close to goal. You just want to have any sort of contact in it to prevent it from going in, no matter where the ball ends up, and you just really hope that Reed Roberts or any defender is there to clean up your mess and and you know, to have him sitting on the floor in that moment, I think was a bad decision on Reed. I think he should have he should have sat or stood on his feet and, you know, cleared the ball out, even just on the floor for a corner kick. That would have been the ideal situation. but I I'm not gonna entirely blame Angus Gunn for for conceding that goal. even though there there could have possibly been, you know, scenarios and realms where f you know, Hani didn't get another opportunity. but to to solely blame Gunn for that definitely is it doesn't feel correct to me. and I think putting a good portion of that on the Quake's defense line or or back line was the more appropriate decision there. Yeah. I I can't say that, my focus was was on Reed at the time, I'd have to look it over and see what you're saying. But no, I I do think that that's a very different situation. y if there's a defender there to if not get to the rebound first, contest the second shot. 'Cause a contested shot is a much harder thing to do than, just go in and and take another volley. so, you know, even me just being there next to to Hanu Mukhtar could have put him off. but I guess that's neither here nor there anymore. we're we're happy with that result. I think Bruce was ecstatic. He was in the press conference like if yeah, I'm not gonna do the voice, but he's like super happy to not have lost at either of the last three games, which we know we've been talking about were very hard stretch of games. So to come out at the end of of of that with three points, I'm I'm like, okay, that's fine. but this Dallas match, they lost Sam Sarver for throwing a beer into the crowd. not his first time interacting with a a loose beer I was it against us where he just downed an entire like can? Yep, that was us. Someone threw a beer in the field and he just picked it up and and doused it on himself and drank it. I don't know how much he got in his mouth, but he yeah, that was very funny. but thankfully there will be no beer shenanigans in Frisco come the twenty twenty fourth. Because he he's gonna be out for that match. They're also missing Logan Farrington, who is a strong young player for them. yeah, about twenty four years old. I'm like, is he even that young anymore? Yeah. regardless, if Nico is back for this match, it's we're like at a completely different level in terms of our expectations. But let's let's let's play it safe like we said we would want to. And say there's no Nico available, Devin. How do you think that this match plays out? I mean, given the fact that we'll have a full week of recovery until the next Until the next game. Yeah, no judge by the way, also. Did you did you hear that, Avon? No. Some weird stuff that's been going on in my closet. It's it's October, so it's Pookie Month. Yeah, apparently. I think we got a little friend back here somewhere hanging out. but no, anyways. I I think given the fact that we'll have a full week of recovery, I think you know, we'll we'll put Dallas to the test. our defenders will be put to the test with Peter Musa, if I'm getting his name correct. you know, he's he's one of the best attackers in the league right now. Definitely a a golden boot candidate, if not the leading gold golden boot scorer right now, if Messi isn't. I think, you know, Muni and Roberts in particular will play an important piece to shutting down Peter Musa. and you know, our midfield will have to come up strong in order to, you know, play a huge part in in making good offensive third passes to open up lanes for Timo Werner or for Oseny Buda or Luka Jovanovich because we clearly won't have Preston Judd away at Dallas. so we're gonna have, you know, one of our attacking pieces have to step up here in order to make a difference and collect three points on the road because this isn't going to be an easy game attacking. this is another reunion for a former Quakes player, a former Quakes star, that is, of, you know, Danielle. no player in this league finds it easy to put a ball past him. so we're gonna have to take lots of shots and and put him on target if we really hope to come out with three points away. It it's so frustrating to, you know, have Judd be in such good form, but he misses so many games because of his yellow card tendencies. And we're still like just not seeing anything from Jovanovich. I I've seen like a little bit more at this point where I'm like, okay, well he's not super fast. he's not he doesn't have like crazy size or anything. But I'd still I'd love to see more of him on the the front foot attacking 'cause he's always, you know, defending. That's all he's been asked to do. And for the love of God, not Buddha. Like Buddha Buddha for Werner makes more sense because he can buzz around. I I liked what he did. I had no qualms with he would get the ball and then, dribble somebody or circulate it. He was fine as a second striker where Judd was the guy stretching the defense. Just not not like for like. I I looked it up 'cause I was curious who the top scorer in the league is. Peter Musa is number two. Messi has twenty five goals this season, which is just ridiculous. but it's still very impressive for Mamusa. let's see where Preston Judd is on that list actually. I mean I but while you're looking for that stat, I just want to point out pr Preston Judd is in fifth place for most yellow cards this season. He is tied for fifth with like a whole bunch of other players, probably like eight. or seven different players here. But tied for fifth with nine yellow cards. Only Diaz for Minnesota, Atensio. I don't know who he plays for. Atencio at Westwood and Durkin for St. Louis. all have more yellow cards this season. not not the the greatest stats group to be a part of, but hopefully with seasons to come, given the fact he has sixteen goals and five No, not five assists, three assists. this season, you know, with a diminishing amount of yellow cards per season, maybe those those goal stats can can ramp up and and you know, we'll see a better performance in the playoffs. Yeah, the only I guess, you know, silver lining for him getting the suspension is that it kind of resets until his next yellow card accumulation. Though we have like a a little bit of a buffer for the rest of the season after the Dallas game. but i how Preston compares in the league, he is tied for tenth, with Hani Mukhtar. and there are two other players, Tai Baribo and Guillerme. they all also have sixteen goals, but Hani and Preston don't have any penalties. they're they're not the penalty takers, I guess. So they are, you know, ranked higher than Guillerme and Ty Baribo. but that's really good you know what's it called? Company to be around. Sam Seridge is above them, Kel Kelvin Yaboa, Denny Buanga, Brian White, Hafa Navajal, who we thought was a Colorado player, is not a Colorado player, is is having a killer season at at St. Louis right now. But I don't think anyone would have expected to see Preston Judd in this list. I wonder how many of these players are like, you know, college players. I I don't know where Brian White's pathway brought him through. but and I don't think I could find that very quickly. but it it's regardless, it's very impressive. because Sam Surage used to play for Nottingham. Calvin Yaboa I believe played like in in Europe for a while. Danny Bonga, obviously League 1. A bunch of players from a bunch of different places, that who brought into the league to perform and Paston Judges performing at the same level as them. So very impressive for him. Brian White went to Duke University. Got it. So he he's another one of those guys and this league, you know, tends to produce these guys that are just like college dudes who somehow score a bunch of goals. they're they're like the the poacher types. We have Wandolowski who is the best ever to do it. and then we have like it was Duncan what was his name? He he played for Orlando. Duncan sounds right. Yes, Duncan Sounds sounds right. Yeah. I don't know if that was his last name or first name. regardless. That that's somebody I can remember off the top my head. but super happy to see that Judd is is up there and hopefully he can get even more 'cause the season's not over. And then obviously he said that he's super excited to play in playoffs, so th we could see you know, an incredible season from Preston Judd here. It it could, you know, be happening. but who are you looking at to pick up their performance from the game against Nashville coming into the next match against Dallas? It's a weird name to say, but I I think Timo Werner is one of those names where he ne he's he's going to pick up pace. I think he was just, you know, withdrawn withdrawn from due to comfort and longevity reasons. among the other reasons why I stated earlier in the in in this podcast. I think if if Timo Werner gets a full week of rest and doesn't injure himself in training, I could see him being a good performer. specifically in long shot opportunities. Yeah. I know he didn't have that good opportunity versus Nashville, which sailed over all the way to Lobina. but I you know I I know that Timo is capable of better than what we've seen, you know, in recent time and and and I think Dallas is a perfect opponent to really test his limits and to test Daniel. I think, you know, Timo's had limited Very limited time with Daniel, if I remember correct. Yeah, yeah. Very limited time 'cause Daniel was was traded earlier in the summer. so with with that limited time I think, you know Timo will know what to do against Daniel and and hopefully, you know use that knowledge to to his advantage. I also think another name that can improve is God, I I almost just said a Senni Buddha, which does not feel right to say. 'cause he'll be playing the nine. I think Vieira's gonna step up. Okay. Vieira will have more of a centralized presence and I know Dallas is more of a centralized team. They like playing through the middle. and hopefully Vieira can can break up a lot of those midfield opportunities that that Dallas are looking to present to against us. Yeah, that'd be great. I think Vieira when he's at his best on this team it's just so much smoother. Everything went way better. for me, outside of the names that you said, I am looking at it's not because he was bad, but I just seen better. Jack Zusinski. it wasn't his best match against Nashville. Not his worst, but he he is a a dangerous player, I think. and he's gotten three goals and for for a right back that's very good, but it's mostly just like the H his ability to move the ball forward I don't think is as good as Marie's, but it is, you know, decent and it's obviously Benji's not fit right now, so that's the option that we have. I I would really like to see if Julinski plays 'cause Marie, you know, he came on last match, but if if it's Julinski I'd like to see him a at a at a higher capacity, because I know that he can do it and I think that this team looks really good when Josewski is firing and all cylinders just like Beira. before we go, I want to talk about Timo Werner and his impact on the club so far. I think that if you told me at the beginning of the year that he would get i well so far, let's take the stats that he has so far. In twelve starts he would have eleven goals and assists. And I don't even know if this counts the secondary assists. I'd be happy with that. and his it probably looks way better with secondary assists. which MLS does count. where would you be? 'Cause I'm I'm like, that's a pretty solid season. well he's certainly not a banjo and a donkey player. Yeah that's for sure. I think he's a little better than that. I think six goals automatically. Better than than not being able to hit a a a cow's ass with a with a with a banjo. Yeah, I still think he's capable of hitting red solo cops at Lobina. Yeah. but you know, he's a much better player than I think a lot of a lot of an analysts and and other fans kind of expected him to be. You know, they saw Tottenham's performance, they saw his RB Leipzig performance, they saw post Chelsea performances, and they looked at Timo and they're like, Man, this guy's just gonna show up, collect his DP cash and get out of here. and I that's not the case. I think he's actually putting in a decent work ethic and you know, he's he's trying to manage his his injury along with it. So six goals and nine assists while injured after so much time and and being limited to so many minutes, is is worthy of a I I you know, I I'll take that back. It's not worthy of a D P spot, I think. I I don't want to put injury prone players in a in a D P slot, but it's it's worthy of of putting them in a good praise position. I mean we've seen players like Simon Dawkins have a D P and I'm talking in a second stint. And obviously that's not the metric that we want to use for everyone. But I think that The main thing that that, brings Timo down is well he the attitude thing is not great, but you put that away. I think the main thing that brings him down is his lack of a of availability because he is injured so often. But if these the twelve starts were, you know, out of you know, the Quicks played, you know, a few a few games. if if he hadn't missed so many games is what I'm trying to say, then this that would look very good, much better and I think that I would see that as a D P output. But because and I still think it is in terms of output, per time played, we are getting a lot of value in terms of like how much he's scoring, how much he's assisting, but we're not getting a lot of value in terms of the overall amount of minutes to be played versus how many he's actually playing. So that is where you see, you know, kind of a discrepancy between what we're paying him, and how that's actually impacting our roster because we can only have three D P slots and you know, the reality of what he's outputting. but yeah, like I said, in terms of his output, I'm happy with it. I wish it could be better. It it's not, you know, where where it could be because he has been injured some of the games he's played. But it it's it's very solid, I would say. Well Abram, if I if I told you this, if we took Timo's name out and we just looked at it a player stat, right? And I had told you that in eighteen games played, there's a player on a team that out of eighteen has fifteen goals and assists combined. And those are what viewing the secondaries. Yeah, those those will include secondaries. But you know, fifteen points out of eighteen games played and twelve games started. what w what would you think of that? And I'm not taking into account how many games he's missed. Correct. Yeah. You're just looking at that face value stats. Yeah, I'm I'm like that's a D P level player in this league. that that's my opinion. he's a winger. He's not like a striker, so Preston Judd has more goals, but he also has more minutes and is a striker. Preston I know that team has played striker in the last few games because of the formation. You know what I mean. If you if you were commenting that you're just being, argumentative. Regardless. I think that those numbers, i put in the right perspective, are a D P worthy indicative of a D P worthy player. You put in all the other caveats in there, you think about it more. Then then there's a conversation to be had and that's for the the front office and and the sporting director to decide, not the the guy with the microphone. So yeah, I I I think that if he was fit, it would be a great season. I think he would have made Tim Howard have the tattoo already. But obviously that's not the case. Nico's another player where if I just look at his numbers, per you know, minutes played, D P immediately. unfortunately we don't have to pay him D P money for whatever reason. I think it's it's very beneficial to us. but no. I think that Timo gets like kind of a hard rap. He he he has a higher, you know, standard than than most players here. but no. I I just looking at the numbers alone and and taking out those caveats, like I said. Can I can I say something that's maybe controversial, Abram? Yeah, yeah. I think Nico wouldn't have these stats if he were to be transferred. No no no if if he were to be transferred to any other team. I just don't see Nico fitting in any other system, in any other team. And and I could be wrong on this, but enjoying the culture that he's playing for to provide him such stats. I think he really likes it here in San Jose. Obviously he wants to go to Europe, right? But I think San Jose is the best opportunity for him to get these stats and to be where he is now, I just don't see Nico domestically fitting in any other team's system and environment alike to be as good as he is now. That's that's a very controversial opinion. Tectonic take here. Yeah. I don't I think mostly because I don't think any other team would play him. Just based off of what he brought in to this year. They wouldn't have the context of, all the things that he did before. Maybe they would in your in your hypothetical, but even then, I think that it's that's a hypothetical that can't be disproven because we can't know that, I'm not sure if I agree, but that's because I don't watch every other team. I watch the earthquakes and whoever we play against that week. So I'm not gonna say you're wrong because I don't know because I don't watch it any other team. fair. But there are thirty other teams in this league. if any of them decided to take a punt on on a twenty year old who's injury prone and and make him the the centerpiece of their squad, it's possible. I don't know who. I don't have any examples. I I don't see it as like an impossibility. Like he can only do this with Preston Judd and and Vieira on the same team as him, but I think that Preston Judd scored this many goals because Nico is is there to support him. same with Bo Luru. It he it does definitely stack up really well for Nico that he is in a squad that lost a bunch of D Ps, they lost Chicho Arango, they lost Hernan Lopez. And so it's very cheap to go with the wonder kid that we have on our bench who is now suddenly fit. That I definitely agree with that. the circumstances really line up well for Nico. who is coming up against another very young midfielder Bolaroo to to really help him. You know, and they they connect so well together. There's a lot of circumstances that that do definitely lead to him having a a really good season that that, you know, happened because of the other pieces of the puzzle that we happen to have here. But I can't say for sure, at least in good faith, that it's impossible for that to happen anywhere else because I only care about the center of the earthquake, so I don't know. yeah, exactly. I I think my point is more of like you can't prove it and you can't disprove it. It's just more of a based off of literally nothing in vibes. Yeah, I guess but you could say a lot of things like that. Like I would I if I like ate two hamburgers on Tuesday, then I would be six foot three now. I don't know. you can't say I can't I wouldn't, It's a good conversational hypothetical because it just makes people talk about the game. But yeah, no. They I like like like you mentioned, Nico's Nico's currently being raised as a starter right now with a bunch of other young guys and and you know, this is exactly what what Bruce and and Nico wants is to to bring up a group of guys that you'll have on your squad for the next good while. and Nico, like you said, Nico and Bo. Perfect duo to make that happen. Yeah. I j it's just unfortunate that I I fear we we may le we yeah, we may lose Nico before we get to that European the calendar switch. I just I don't know what to like then he will be transferred to a European team before then? Exactly. Yeah, it'll be sent over overseas. Yeah, and you know, there there's part of me that's like I I hope that for him because I want the best for him. also this you know Tangent real quick. I have a a laptop. I don't have it with me. It's on the couch over there. But it's the size of a kind of large Nintendo DS. Like it's it's very small. It's like this big. You seen it, Devin. you seen it because I almost pulled water on it on the on the the soccer Jesus incident. the mini laptop. But regardless, I was in the elevator and it happened to just be me and Nico after the other people left. and he was like, What is that? And I was like, this is my laptop. It's like, sh I never seen one like that. And I was like I was trying so hard to keep my cool and I'll be like, Yeah, this is a GPD mini PC two. And I I I would have ran on off so many things, Dude, you did way better than I could have. Yeah. you my fandom for Nico, so yeah, yeah, I No, Nico is my favorite Flix player right now, so absolutely thankful that I one, I've spoken to him before, so it's not like I've never done that. You know, the the job we do, we have to talk to them. but I I am the most nervous talking to Nico because he's my favorite quicks player. in a long time actually. I like him more than than I like Kate Cowell who's my previous favorite. but yeah. we have had a long episode. We always are like, we're gonna have a short episode this week 'cause not much to discuss. Dude, yeah, right before we started, like right before Abram pressed the button to start the podcast, I had said, Let's make this a quick podcast, let's make this a short podcast. We'll keep it short and then we can do something else on the side. Yeah. And sure enough, this is about an hour, three minutes in. So yeah. It never goes to plan. No, this like we're always like, you know, kind of apprehensive when we start the episode 'cause it's like it's our Monday. We just started like work for the for the week and like we had to do this. And but it's always my favorite part of the week. Like the the the hour that we have it. David, you're you're a very good friend of mine and one of the closest friends I have. So I'm I'm really thankful to do this this podcast with you. and I'm th what's gonna suck is well, it's it's gonna be two things, right? It's gonna be bitter sweet that in the off season we're gonna do this way less. We're gonna have way less to talk about, so we're gonna cut down the amount of episodes that we do. so that means more free time. But also we don't get to have as many discussions that that are meant to last thirty minutes but end up being an hour. so that's kind of the Doing the six seven thing. But the you know, the give and take of of the circumstances we have here. yeah. Real quick before we end this episode, I want to give a shout out to Jel X by Maria. She did this ball for us. it's backwards for you guys, but she painted on the soccer ball and we're gonna have it on the back of our podcast right here. Or I'll probably find a better home for it. So it's not I think the screen the screen mirrored it right. We can see the word tectonic, so yeah. Perfect. That's good. we have Deramoto Mayor and I believe that's actually I didn't ask her to do this, but I believe this is Dave Romero's son. who who is it with the fault liners and he he has the drum and stuff. that w that was just a pure coincidence. I don't think she she meant to do that, but huge shout out to her. I I saw her work And she does nails, so if any any of our listeners want a set of nails, hit her up on Instagram. She did one for Ruth Bebas and I was like, that's incredible. Like she did an amazing set of nails. And I don't wear nails, so I'm like, I can't get that. But we did end up working on this ball here, and that was our compromise. so very happy and thankful for her work on this. thank you Maria. but that's all we really have to say. We'll be back to talk about which game is it, Devin? FC Dallas. Well we'll we'll talk about FC Dallas, but we'll also have it's the mist mix of Colorado and RSL again. Yeah. So we have we have quite a few games coming up before October ends. but until then, GW up. Fisher out.