Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Lauren Beck on RSL, Visiting FC Dallas Saturday, USMNT a month out from the World Cup + more

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Lauren Beck on RSL, Visiting FC Dallas Saturday, USMNT a month out from the World Cup + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Fie Miss American po Joe Ma Chevy to the levee,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the levy.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: You're tuned to The Shan O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
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  Speaker 2: Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred at ninety two one
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: a half m.
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  Speaker 1: This would be today that.
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  Speaker 3: Welcome down number three of The Shan O'Connell Show, airing
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  Speaker 3: of Grievances coming in twenty four ish minutes Right now though,
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: we check in with Lauren Beck RSL Radio pre half
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: and postgame show host.
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  Speaker 1: It has been way, way, way too long since we
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  Speaker 1: have spoken. Lauren, Welcome to the show. How are you?
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  Speaker 4: It has been a very long time. I was trying
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: to think of how long I can't play it, But
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  Speaker 4: I'm great.
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  Speaker 1: How are you doing great?
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  Speaker 3: It's good to hear you and you've had amazing things
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  Speaker 3: going on in your personal life. Congratulations. A little bird
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: told me you've had some major milestones recently.
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: Oh yes, we gosh, since since I last saw you,
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  Speaker 4: I have two children, one of them is a month
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  Speaker 4: old now. So yeah, we're we're on maternity leave, trying
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  Speaker 4: to get the brain function back up. So you'll have
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  Speaker 4: to you'll have to forgive the mom brain for a
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  Speaker 4: little bit of this, but yeah, it's it's absolutely crazy.
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  Speaker 4: I don't I can't believe I'm adult enough to have
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  Speaker 4: other human beings, to be adults or to be responsible for.
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  Speaker 4: But yeah, it's so fun.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I don't want to one up you, but I
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  Speaker 3: think I've had I've had three children since the last
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  Speaker 3: time we spoke, So.
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  Speaker 1: It has it has been. It has been way too long.
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  Speaker 3: And of course I didn't have to do any of
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: the work on that, so it's doesn't really count the
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: same way. Let's get to some RSL here, hot start
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: for this team, really really interesting kind of soccer cycle
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  Speaker 3: that we're coming up on. We are a month away
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  Speaker 3: from the biggest sporting event in the world, the World Cup,
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: being in our you know, home country, not here in
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Salt Lake City unfortunately, but you know, you've got like
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  Speaker 3: this inflection point for the sport of soccer that rolls
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  Speaker 3: around every four years, and it feels being brought into
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: that much more focused by RSL's prominence right now and
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: of course by the fact that this is a World
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: Cup happening in the United States. We'll stay with the
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: club for now, as you've seen the good start, the
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: strong start to what do we attribute the goal scoring
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: and the fact that this team is off to a
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: good beginning here in the season.
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  Speaker 4: Oh man, I just think the front office has done
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  Speaker 4: a really good job bringing these players. And you know,
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  Speaker 4: Pablo's been with the club for six years now and
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  Speaker 4: he's been he's seen a lot of players coming and out,
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  Speaker 4: and he's done a good job with that and we've
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  Speaker 4: had some fun times, but it's been inconsistent where this
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: year with the players they've brought in, the youth and
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: then the players who've been around for a little bit
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  Speaker 4: as well, kind of finding their stride and that leadership.
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  Speaker 4: I think it comes down to formation change, to the
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  Speaker 4: players they brought in and the chemistry. They all talk
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  Speaker 4: about how strong that chemistry, how strong that locker room
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  Speaker 4: is right now, and that's kind of always been a
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: focal point for Real Feltlake, but it's kind of been
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  Speaker 4: lost in the last little while with stars coming in
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  Speaker 4: and people coming and going from the club, I think,
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  Speaker 4: but it feels like everyone's really bought in and is
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: giving their all to this team right now, and I
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  Speaker 4: think that's made all the difference for them.
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  Speaker 3: So the formation change is something that we've touched on
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: with kind of everyone that we've had on to talk
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: URSL soccer, and I'm really fascinated by the way something
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  Speaker 3: like that coalesces with the roster and with the personnel itself.
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  Speaker 3: I know that they wouldn't make a change to something
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  Speaker 3: that doesn't fit the bodies that you have. But from
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  Speaker 3: your standpoint, was this a change that was brought to
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  Speaker 3: maximize the personnel or is the personnel being for not forced,
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  Speaker 3: but being asked to fit into an optimal formation.
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  Speaker 4: I think ideally, and what it seems like with RSL
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  Speaker 4: is that it's it's suited to the players. We've seen
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  Speaker 4: a lot of players come into RSL over the last
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  Speaker 4: couple of years or over time really that their strengths
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  Speaker 4: don't quite match the formation that the coach wants to play.
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  Speaker 4: I think more recently Anderson Julio, who is now with
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  Speaker 4: Fie Dallas, is a good example of that. He's he's
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  Speaker 4: so fast, he wants that ball over the top and
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  Speaker 4: to just run at his defenders. But that isn't the
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  Speaker 4: way that real felt like played when he was here,
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  Speaker 4: and it just didn't quite work out where this formation
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  Speaker 4: change really suits the dribbling, the hold up play and
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  Speaker 4: the skill that these players have right now, like Gozo
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  Speaker 4: and Luna and Giavogie and Olatunji as well. So I
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  Speaker 4: think I think it's more you you want to fit,
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  Speaker 4: that you want to bring players in that fit your
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  Speaker 4: system that you have, rather than having to kind of
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  Speaker 4: mold things together that don't quite fit. I think this
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  Speaker 4: is the best we've seen this roster built for the
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  Speaker 4: formation that they're actually trying to play week in and
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  Speaker 4: week out. And that's exactly what we're seeing, is that
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  Speaker 4: it's clicking and that that's working.
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  Speaker 1: What is the what is the home field advantage? Like
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  Speaker 1: right now?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, we go back to the championship year and
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: the years pursuing that championship and a newer club and
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: a fan base that was kind of figuring out its
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: identity the same way that the team was. And now
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  Speaker 3: this is this is not an experiment anymore. This is
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  Speaker 3: a died in the whole part of the sports culture
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  Speaker 3: here in the state. And of course the identity of
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  Speaker 3: a building, of a of a stadium, of a fan
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  Speaker 3: base kind of evolves with that, and of course it
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  Speaker 3: also goes up and down with the competitiveness as of
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  Speaker 3: a team and whether or not you're making deep runs
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  Speaker 3: in playoffs and things like that. In this twenty twenty
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  Speaker 3: six campaign, what are the supporters?
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  Speaker 1: What is the building like?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, it's it's sold out every week. I can't remember
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  Speaker 4: the exact number of consecutive sellouts now for Real Salt Lake,
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  Speaker 4: but it goes back a good ways and you can
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  Speaker 4: feel it in the stadium. I mean, they're five to
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: one to zero at home, the lone loss coming to
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  Speaker 4: inter Miami, which quite frankly was a winnable game for RSL.
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  Speaker 4: And we always say that you get into the playoffs
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  Speaker 4: with your home record and your away record is what
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  Speaker 4: kind of climbs you up the table into those top positions.
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  Speaker 4: And RSL with that five one and oh, it's becoming
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  Speaker 4: a fortress again. It was a little leaky at home
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  Speaker 4: there for a couple of years, but it's it's a
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  Speaker 4: really strong start for RSL. You can feel it in stadium.
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  Speaker 4: They have those added stamps, the temporary setings that they
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  Speaker 4: put in for the Miami game, and that little extra
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  Speaker 4: boost has been It's it's been loud and that Miami
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  Speaker 4: game is like nothing I've ever seen. But this this
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  Speaker 4: feeling of the club and at America first field this
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  Speaker 4: season is different. It's exciting. Everyone's bought in. The fans
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  Speaker 4: have been loud every single week it's been It's been
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  Speaker 4: quite a fun atmosphere change so far this year.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Up next to Houston, what do you expect in that matchup?
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  Speaker 4: Well, they are similarly styled to Real Salt Lake. They
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: play the same formation, so it'll be really interesting to
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  Speaker 4: see how RSL matches up against them. They sit right
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  Speaker 4: under RSL on the table. At home, they're two to
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  Speaker 4: one in four, so not great at home so far,
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  Speaker 4: but they have gotten some really good results. It's a
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: tough place to play in Texas. It's not quite summer,
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  Speaker 4: so it won't be too bad down there for RFL.
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  Speaker 4: But it's a strong opponent. The Western Conference is tough.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, if you look at Real Salt Lake on
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  Speaker 4: nineteen points, they'd be tied for second place in the
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  Speaker 4: Eastern Conference, but in the Western Conference there in sixth.
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  Speaker 4: Every Western Conference opponent is a tough one. It's going
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  Speaker 4: to challenge them, and that travel to Texas is tough
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  Speaker 4: as well, so I think they'll expect to have a
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  Speaker 4: team coming at them that attacks well. They have twenty
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  Speaker 4: goals scored for them this season, which is just one
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  Speaker 4: more than RSL and RFL struggled to keep those clean sheets,
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  Speaker 4: just the one on the year and that came last
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  Speaker 4: week against Portland. So a team that's similar to them
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  Speaker 4: and a strong attacking team. ALS had their challenges defensively
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  Speaker 4: and they've they've folded on a few of those but
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  Speaker 4: still found a way to get results. But on the
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  Speaker 4: road it's it's a little bit tougher. But this is
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  Speaker 4: a different RSL team mentally than we've seen the last
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  Speaker 4: few years. So I think while it will be a
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  Speaker 4: challenging game, it is a winnable one for RSL.
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  Speaker 3: We're coming up on the World Cup and with that
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  Speaker 3: a World Cup break, and you know it might not
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  Speaker 3: be the best timing depending what these next couple of
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  Speaker 3: matches look like. If you can build some more momentum,
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  Speaker 3: and it has been a strong early portion of the
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: season for this club. But I mean, the World Cup
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  Speaker 3: pauses for nobody, and of course I imagine these players have
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  Speaker 3: interest even if they're not participating. So when we see
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  Speaker 3: this sort of global phenomenon event on US soil, and
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  Speaker 3: of course Mexico and Canada as well, taking a portion
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  Speaker 3: of I don't know. I won't say an ideal season,
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  Speaker 3: but a really good so far season for RSL. How
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: is the club managing this and making sure that it
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  Speaker 3: doesn't throw an obstacle in the way of a club
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  Speaker 3: that is off to the right kind of start.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's the question right now. Right you go into
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: this World Cup break, there's four more matches, two on
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: the road, two at home, and then you're done for
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: two months. As a club. That's tough, and we've seen
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: that there's always a June international break in Major League
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  Speaker 4: Soccer and coming back from that has never been very
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: kind to Real Salt Lake, and the last couple of
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: years it's been where things have kind of fallen apart,
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: particularly in twenty twenty four for RSL. So it's going
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  Speaker 4: to be interesting. I'm not really sure how you handle
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: a two month break like that where you want to
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  Speaker 4: keep your players in shape who aren't going to the
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  Speaker 4: World Cup, but you know they also deserve a little
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: bit of that break, right, It's going to be absolutely
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  Speaker 4: loaded once they come back from the World Cup break.
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: It's a minimum of fourteen games in August and September
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: for this team, so you want to give them a
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: little bit of a break, but they've got to stay
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: in shape. Probably treat it a little bit like a
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: preseason with the players that stay in Salt Lake. But yeah,
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: that international break in June typically is not too kind
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  Speaker 4: to RSL. So who knows what a longer one will
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: look like for them with this World Cup.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: For the World Cup tournament itself, there's been all of
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: the headlines so far, and I've been perpetuating this, so
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: I guess I'm guilty or complicit. It's about, you know,
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: the price gouging. It's about like, how can you actually
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: afford to attend a World Cup game if you're a
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: big time soccer fan and the FIFA presidents it's like, man,
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  Speaker 3: we're pricing this for a US market. This is what
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: you guys pay for tickets over here, and we're the
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: biggest events in the world. I'm I'm really curious to
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: see if there's like a collapse of prices, if there's
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: a secondary market, you know, like just let me get
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: my money back for buying these things.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: I really have no idea how this is going to go.
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  Speaker 3: Do you do you have any sense of how successful
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: or not this World Cup is going to be in
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  Speaker 3: North America.
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  Speaker 4: Well, the reports are very conflicting. What what the FIFA
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: president is saying is that games are sold out, and
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: then FIFA's coming out and saying, actually, they're not sold out.
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: You know, they're talking about the pricing, and it's absolutely valid.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: The pricing is crazy. Uh. It's sure. You can claim
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: you're you're selling to a US market and this is
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: this is the market, but it really isn't in this economy,
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: and with with the number of games there are and
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: how spread out it is and the hotels and the
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: travel and everything else. It's it's been a lot of
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: finger pointing between FIFA and the host cities and whoever
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: else is involved. And it's unfortunate because it is such
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: a big event to see that the US is opening match.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: The lowest tickets are just under one thousand dollars at
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: this point. I do think they will drop. We've seen
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: drops in ticket prices. I think they'll continue to drop
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: as the tournament gets closer and games aren't selling out.
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: But you're looking at the resale market right now is
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: off the charts. There are tickets listed for the final
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: in the millions of dollars, and no one's going to
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: do that two.
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  Speaker 3: Point three for a single game in anything. It's like
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  Speaker 3: if maybe if I get to play.
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  Speaker 1: Like we'll get me on the field, if.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: I get to participate in the World Cup final, sure,
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: two point three million, but come on, well, and.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: He's saying I'll bring a hot dog in a coke
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: to anybody who can that much for those that's that's
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: not quite the compensation. I'm sure anybody would look for it.
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: But yeah, it's the market's pretty crazy right now for
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: those tickets, and it's unfortunate because you it's they've never
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: seen ticket prices like this before. For the World Cup,
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: it's usually not pricing out the average person. But I
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: think those tickets will drop. They're not selling out even
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: the US games, so I think I think we'll see
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: those prices drop as people as it gets closer, and
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: people will be able to fill those stadiums. But it
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: is an unfortunate situation, and hopefully they can get things
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: sorted with a transit as well in all of these
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: various places. I think the everyone from Europe, I think
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: doesn't realize and vice versa, how big the US is
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: and how big these cities are, and that they are
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: not really walkable so I think that's been a bit
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: of a shock for a lot of people who are
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: planning their trips to come to the World Cup as well,
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: that they're not going to be able to really walk
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: from their hotels to these stadiums in most of those games.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: So yeah, there's a there's a lot, a lot to learn,
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: I think from everybody involved in this this World Cup
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: this year.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's interesting because if you are lucky enough and
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: you go to some of these European cities, there's you know,
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: they drop their football stadiums right in the middle of
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: everything else for the most part, and that.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Is not necessarily our way.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: Now some cities are like that in the United States,
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: but that's not necessarily our way here in the States,
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: like and so uh that that's I guess I'm trying
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: to figure out the right way to phrase this question
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: because I feel like it is important to make sure
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: that the global community has a good time at the
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: World Cup. Like, we are not exactly the most popular
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: on the world stage sometimes and if you screw up
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: the World Cup, if you're price gouging all these people
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: that are already paying lots of money to come here
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: to participate, to come here to be part of the
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: World Cup in the United States, and then you make
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: it more difficult for them to enjoy it or cost
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: prohibitive for them to enjoy it. I feel like that
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: is like a massive pr mistake for the country. And
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: I know that the whole country isn't making these policies,
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: and a lot of it is FIFA and whatever, but
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: I don't know. I'm just I'm a little bit nervous
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: about that about everyone leaving the North American World Cup
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: and be like, we don't ever want to.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Go back there.
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: That place sucks, Yes, and it's kind of a precursor
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: to the Olympics in la as well, where you know,
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: how are things going to go with all of this
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: as well? And you would hope with the US having
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: so much experience hosting big events that there would be
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: a little bit more organization and it might go a
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: little bit smoother and maybe as it happens, it will
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: be fine. But yeah, I've seen the discourse of oh,
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: the US shouldn't be involved in this, how are we
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: letting the US host this World Cup? And I can
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: kind of understand it to a point, because again, with
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: a transit alone, that's something that people weren't expecting and
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: didn't realize it was such an issue in a lot
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: of places. And I mean you look at New Jersey
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: and they're still working that out with FIFA and keeping
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: their trains and whatnot affordable for everybody who's going to
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: and from games. So yeah, you just youve got to
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: hope it's a good experience. But it seems like it's
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: off to a rocky start. And this is this is
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: the event every country in the world wants to host,
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: the World Cup. It's an honor. It's the biggest event
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: in sports other than the Olympics, and you can't screw
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: it up. So yeah, hopefully in this next month and change,
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: some things get worked out and it makes they make
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: some good changes and the differences are made because it's
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: it needs to be as you said, it needs to
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: be a good experience. You don't want people leaving this
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: World's Cup saying the US can't ever do that again.
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: From an actual soccer standpoint, what is the team USA
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: ceiling in this tournament?
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Oh uh?
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: Pressure, so much pressure as one of the host countries,
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: as a team that's been not performing very well in
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: recent games. I mean Portugal and Belgium are good teams.
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: They a lot of people have them kind of higher
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: up in their rankings for this World Cup, but tough
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: results against those guys. In March, you have a couple
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: friendlies coming up to warm up for the World Cup
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: Senegal in Germany. Those will be crucial for the US,
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: but the pressure has got to be mounting. Christian Pelistic
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: has not scored a goal in twenty twenty six for
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: his club or country, and that's going to add to
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: his pressure as the face of the US men's national team.
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: I think it's Time magazine that he's on the cover
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: for like today, I think it was released, So lots
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: of pressure on him. But he has Last time he
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: had a streak like this where he wasn't scoring goals,
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: he scored some of his biggest goals of his career
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: coming out of that. So hopefully the pressure makes diamonds
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: in this situation. But hosting and having the last couple
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: of results not go their way and having your top
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: players not quite performing where you'd at, that pressure for
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: them is going to be mounting for sure.
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: This is a very ignorant question, and I apologize for it,
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: but like, how how how said can you make a change,
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: a desperation change. I know you're not going to do
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: it with Pulistic just because he's cold, But can you
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: make a change on the men's national team roster like
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: the day before the World Cup starts?
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, how set does the roster have to be
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: a month out?
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: Pretty well, right now it's it's not and nothing's been decided,
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: but I think it's the twenty sixth that they announce it.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: I can't remember the specific rules for bringing players in
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: after the roster announced. There may be some injury exceptions
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: depending on the situation, but it's usually pretty set once
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: it's set. It is a big roster, though, and that
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: does accommodate for injuries or other issues. It's a bigger
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: roster than you would normally have for a typical call up.
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: But yeah, it's uh, it wouldn't be too uh. It
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: would be a pretty big thing to make any any
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: big changes. And I don't know how big you can
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: really swing with the current pool of US players, but
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: you know, you you have players who've been performing really
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: well in Europe and in Major League Soccer for the US.
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: Hopefully they can they can pull it off. I think
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: the talent is there. It's just been a matter of
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: putting it together with a with the team, which is
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: a hard thing because they're not together very often. So
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: individually they might be great players, they might play really
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: well with their club team, but when you come in
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: as a national team, you're not ending a lot of
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: time together. So those couple weeks of training before the
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: World Cup are going to be huge. Those friendlies on
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: May thirty first and June sixth are also going to
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: be huge for the US.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: Lauren, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: giving us some time today. The time of a new
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: mom is like the most valuable time on planet Earth.
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: So to give us, you know, twenty five minutes or so,
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: that's a real gift. Thank you, congratulations and all the
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: great things happening in your life. You continue to do
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: a great job on pre half and Post for RSL
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: and hopefully I see you soon.
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's great to talk to you, Sean, have a
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: great day. Thanks for having me on.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: That's Lauren Beck RSL Insider, and yes she does host
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: pre half and Post