Latest / Tectonic Takes / Episode 180: Changes In Attitudes
Transcript
- Tectonic Takes: What's up Quakes fans? We are back with another episode of Tectonic Takes. Unfortunately, not a lot of good news. ⁓ Gavin Wilkinson is still in ⁓ you know, employed by the Earthquakes. The Earthquakes have lost two games in a row. But we're gonna try and stay positive and get through this together. Devin, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty well. ⁓ coming off a pretty adventurous weekend, so you know, ⁓ mine's mind is scattered about. But ⁓ you know, here we are talking on the podcast about quakes and you know, we'll get right into the nitty gritty here in a minute. Right. ⁓ so we did get some confirmation on some transfer rumors. ⁓ the Quakes are supposedly according to Tom Boger, the club hasn't announced it yet, but we're getting Edward Leuven. and it looks like they're not done because we are also ⁓ linked with ⁓ Sasha Horvath. So the Austrian Bundesliga. ⁓ Sasha Horvath. I almost said Ethan Horvath, ⁓ the goalkeeper, but not quite. Are they related? Maybe, I don't know. I I I wouldn't I wouldn't better on it. ⁓ but yeah, I a a midfielder, you know, decent quality, his transfer market value is two million. So, you know, in terms of pedigree, probably a upgrade ⁓ in that spot, but you know who who knows what'll happen. We did get confirmation that Boost is gonna be looking into bringing some new players, which I think is a good thing. I think that after the performances we've had lately, it's pretty clear that we need it. And midfield is definitely one of those places because Jonah Gonzalez is not cutting it. ⁓ what are your thoughts, Dowin? Yeah, Jonah Gonzalez is definitely not cutting it. I a hundred percent agree. I think there's a bunch of midfielders out there who simply also just aren't worth that, you know, their price tag. ⁓ I think, you know, not maybe Jack Skein is not one of them as as he's more of an attacking midfielder, but I don't think he necessarily rises to the occasion on many chances this season. I know he started off well early in the season, but you know, as as we we dive deeper into twenty twenty six, it's it's not looking good for for Jack, unfortunately. you know, Ronaldo Vieira came into the into the team last year in the summer. ⁓ for about four hundred and seventy thousand. And I I had thought I was initially impressed by his performances and his strength and size and maybe his name as well. Since he has Ronaldo and Vieira, I thought maybe had a little bit extra pedigree and aura to it, but you know, as more you know, as more games that we we watch him play, the the less interested I am in watching him play. ⁓ at least, you know, coming into the second half of the season, it's He he hasn't contributed what I thought he should as a six. ⁓ you know, and and so for that reason I'm kinda happy that our transfer window is is starting to, you know, come alive again with the potential signing of Edward Loewen. As as we record, we're not a hundred percent certain 'cause the earthquakes haven't publicly announced that Loven has, you know, joined the earthquakes, but you know, according to Tom Bogart, ⁓ it is a a done deal. So You know, just awaiting for public confirmation there from the earthquakes. Right. If if that ends up being incorrect, ⁓ you guys can go after Tommy Bogart instead of us, 'cause ⁓ you know, we just we just go off of what he says and he's usually right. I don't think I can recall a time where he was ⁓ a hundred percent wrong or something. and and this would be a really big addition for us. ⁓ I I c I do wanna push back a little bit on Ronald because in the beginning of this year He looked pretty good. He he you know, he was controlling the midfield very well, he would position himself very well. ⁓ but in the second half, ⁓ like after the break, he hasn't been that same player. He's been the player that ⁓ he looked exactly like he did last year when he you know, had just been brought in on transfer and ⁓ had no chemistry with anyone and you know We remember that guy. That wasn't a great player for us. ⁓ you know, so he has kind of reverted back to that form, but we do know that he has a lot more ability than he has shown ⁓ recently. but yeah, ⁓ Edward Lewin, very big name ⁓ in this league. ⁓ the number ten for Saint Louis, I believe with a D P for them, he will be a D P for us if this is indeed factual. ⁓ paid almost a million in total, ⁓ four hundred twenty five K Gam and five hundred K in add ons. I think it's a good deal because this is like you know, drastic times call for drastic measures. Paying a million is fine for to to really bolster our midfield. Unfortunately, because of the type of player that Louvin is, it kind of seems like he's looking to take Bolero's spot more than Vieira's. ⁓ though I wish it were the other way around. ⁓ what do you where do you stand on on the kind of pecking order in the midfield? ⁓ I could see Lovin being a starting six. ⁓ you know, I think But on an offensive type of six. Yeah, I I'm I'm really confer confused and interested at the same time how this is gonna play out because, you know, as as the number ten role, obviously I think we can only see Nico Taking that spot, especially when you're given a number ten, not just to play as the ten position, but to be given that number ten. That kind of gives you an extra bit of pedigree to to be a starter and to to you know to have value for the team. ⁓ I I don't see anyone else stripping that position away from Nico. I also don't see anyone stripping the starting role away from Bo the Rue, especially after the consistent performances, even through rough times and rough patches like we're going through right now. I d Bo LaRue has been consistently impressive. He may have, you know, moments here and there where he loses the ball and and the opposition counters. But I mean, we we can put the responsibility on every single player in the starting eleven who's done that, you know, including Gunn. ⁓ but, you know, those those two positions seem to be pretty locked down, which is the only reason why I would think Lovin comes in here as a six, which he's he's played as a six. ⁓ you know, I think Transfer Market shows him as an eight, and I I'm not exactly sure what what St. Louis fans ⁓ have specified him as. So with that in mind, yeah, I'd I can see him s you know, slotting into the six Ronaldo Vieira comes off as a sub, or as a rotational player, you know, midweek games Ronaldo Vieira plays and and Loving is subbed and you know, coming onto games late. Is is that how you view things, Abram? ⁓ I I am surprised to hear about ⁓ Saint Louis calling him a six, although ⁓ you know, with with the fan base at large they'll call anyone anything. ⁓ you know, I I'm I'm sure that somebody thinks that Bo Laru is a six and like he's in a double pivot, yes, but he is a box to box Smith filter which is like a very clear eight, right? ⁓ Y you know what I mean? ⁓ b just I say that because when you look at the the contributions and the kind of A thing that we use in stats is like this like web looking kind of thing. It's like ⁓ this portion is like how close you are ⁓ to to being like, you know, a very good passer, shooter, you know, dribbler, defender. His defending is the lowest one, and every other attacking stat is like in the nineties. ⁓ in terms of like the percentile that he, you know, accomplishes those actions. so there's reason for me p to believe that he is ⁓ you know more offensive minded player, though his defensive stats are only in the, you know, seventy fifth percentile, so that's not bad. ⁓ and it could very well indicate that he's just a deep lying playmaker, which when we've played against him ⁓ with Saint Louis, he he not a ten like he could play there. Like, you know, he has good dribbling, ⁓ great creativity. But I I think that with his like He doesn't look very fast whenever we face him. So I think that he likes to receive the ball from deep and then, you know, operate from that position rather than ⁓ you know buzz around under the the strikers. it's just like different types of styles, right? ⁓ so that that's where I'm at with his positioning. I I can't say for sure, but my guess would be that Nico will still start at the ten position. And then Leuven will be, you know, operating from a deeper role. Whether it's from Beau Laru's side of the pitch or Viera's will remain to be seen. ⁓ though it would be really, really nice to see Bo Laru and Edward Leuven and Nico Shekaris in a midfield three, excuse me. I think that would be like one of the best midfields in the league. You know, thinking about it now, actually I can see that happening because one of the things that I I really enjoy about this the beautiful game is is the fact that there are pla you know, the professional players out there are interchangeable. You know, whether when you're on the field, the position that you're given at the starting, you know, the the first minute of the ninety is not going to be your position all the way through the game. You're allowed to interchange with players. Left wingers go to the right, right wingers go to the left. You know, attacking midfielders will sit deep sometimes and those sixes will push up. ⁓ I can see Nico Having the experience of a ten and an eight, and Bo having the experience of an eight and sometimes a ten, and Levin having the experience of all three, of a six, eight and ten, I can see them all working in in unison and and kind of covering each other's roles when needed and and just providing that extra bit of chaos in the midfield. ⁓ I think that's something that the the Quakes need is more of a centralized presence. And Levin will do exactly that. ⁓ No matter what position he plays or starts. So, you know yeah, we're in a bit of a slump right now, but I think ⁓ a bit is actually ⁓ an under underrated term. But I I can see Lovin kind of, you know, pulling the pulling the strings in the midfield, ⁓ especially as as Nico's, you know, still going through his recovery process and and Bolaroo just being Bolaroo. Yeah, and you know, we love Bolaroo but it's it's has to be said, we've seen him being taken out of the team before. and you know, these aren't our decisions, these are Bruce Arena's decisions. And so it's kind of what we have to go off of. ⁓ looking at who we are linked with, Sasha Horvath, ⁓ his stats are kind of confusing here. It it I believe he's a deep lying playmaker. and Devin I'm I'm hoping this makes sense to you. ⁓ but he's, you know, primarily a DM in their in their system ⁓ L A S K. ⁓ nineteen percent defensive contributions, ninety seven percent chances created in terms of where he is and in percentiles and how he accomplishes those things. Th that's a deep lying playmaker, like if I've ever seen one, right? Yeah, I agree a hundred percent. I don't have the stats up in front of me, but based off of what you just said, Abram, yeah, that's that's I just got there right now. Looking at a lot of his, you know, ⁓ distributions and shooting stuff like that, that's all in the the greens. Like we have ⁓ very high percentiles for for those things, especially crosses, which this season he has a hundred percent success rate off crosses. ⁓ ninety five percent ⁓ percentile for ⁓ no no no, sorry. So he's in the hundred percentile for successful crosses. He's in the ninety seventh percentile for successful crosses, but he's only con ⁓ completed sixty three percent of his crosses, which is very good for a central midfielder. ⁓ you know, a winger would probably be higher. I mean these are compared to other ⁓ players in his position. So definitely a creative player. he plays from deep, but he is looking to, you know create chances more than stop them. and his defensive contributions really nothing special. I think Boluru blows him out of the water here. ⁓ so I'm curious to see how, you know concrete these rumors are because for me I'm not looking at this and feeling very excited. I think Edward Leuven kind of covers everything this guy is trying to accomplish. ⁓ And I don't think that we need a ⁓ you know, a clone of that. Yeah, I'm curious how far down the pecking order this this Horvath guy is. Because I know for a fact that the the team's been trying to bring in players for for most of the summer, and you know, a lot of it hasn't gone their way. I'm I'm curious how far down the ladder we're we're attempting to go with with Horvath being in it. ⁓ as you said The the numbers aren't as impressive. I'm sure, you know, our our scouting team has a purpose and an identity we're looking for within the midfield presence. But ⁓ yeah, the the stats kinda speak for itself and and Bolaroo is the clear number one ⁓ when comparing the two. Obviously it's different leagues, but ⁓ yeah. I I don't see this being a immediate starting role transfer. It just seems more like depth to me. Yeah. And and trying to get things across the line. It it's also like in FIFA you have a short list, right? And there's just a paint in the picture for people to understand better. and so if you're looking for a deep line playmaker, then you might put in an offer for a few. And so maybe we weren't sure about getting the Lubin thing done. maybe we were looking at this guy and then realized that Lubin was available. And then went that way instead. ⁓ maybe we want both, right? That's also a possibility. ⁓ just you know, opening up all the the different ⁓ situations that could be at play here. Personally, I'm not extremely excited about this Horvath ⁓ transfer. ⁓ if it ends up happening, obviously we'll we'll support him you know as as long as he's here, but ⁓ I think that there could be different profiles of players that I think would, you know be better suited to our team. I think that ⁓ a ⁓ actual defensive defensive midfielder ⁓ would be good alongside Vieira because if he's not firing in all cylinders, then our backup there has been Jonah Gonzalez who is not that great and period. ⁓ and then we also have ⁓ Noel Buck who I also don't think is ⁓ a great defensively. You know, and so there's nobody that really covers Vieira's spot completely. I think that ⁓ Luven and and LaRue are are more similar in terms of like what they want to accomplish on their pitch. And so I'd like like a a rock in front of the ⁓ defense, if that makes sense. Yeah, it does. And I I think the ideal position that we'd or the the ideal traits that we'd want out of the six that we haven't seen much from Vieira is more of like an intercepting role, you know, f ⁓ intercepting the passing lanes, covering ground, destroyer defensively. Yeah, exactly. Like a destroyer role. I don't know if you wanna if go through what a destroyer role does, Abram, but you pretty much got it. So it's like how I was saying how ⁓ Edward Leuven has everything except for d defensive contributions. ⁓ Destroyer would have defensive contributions, you know, way higher. And basically their job is to receive like get the ball, take it away, and then give it to somebody who is better suited to progressing it. ⁓ like Makalele or or Angolo Cante, though both those players were able to do things on the other side of the ball, that's not really what they were special for. Like they were just amazing at ⁓ you know, getting the ball back, ⁓ and that kind of thing. So that's that's I guess the very basic description of destroyer. ⁓ Jutsin is probably the the best destroyer we've had in recent memory. Until his knees fell off a cliff. ⁓ he was insane. And especially on FIFA. ⁓ like obviously it different from FIFA to real life, but like he had such good pace and and he was like an engine on FIFA as well as a destroyer. So yeah, no, I'd I wish we had Prime Jutsin back. That would that would have been wonderful in this Bruce era. Although he is Brazilian, so maybe i it wouldn't have worked out as well as I thought 'cause yeah, he's he's not not a big fan of all the Brazilians as as we can tell. Right. ⁓ w we'll get on to ⁓ Vitor Costa's performance against ⁓ Minnesota which was is rough, but ⁓ I wanna ask you with the ⁓ possibility of new faces coming in very soon, what's ⁓ what position are you looking ⁓ at For the Quakes to improve in. ⁓ well, based off of the last game, I think I would really like to see a upgrade at right back. I know the last two or three games, Abram, I would like your opinion after this, but ⁓ the last two or three games I have not been at all impressed with with Benji Kakanovich. I'm not sure if it's a slump. I don't know if it's a mental thing, if you know, ⁓ if it's just like a if it's a mindset. But something's been off about Benji and it's it's almost like he's had more of like a lazy performance. Anytime he tries to clear the ball, anytime he tries to tackle a player. ⁓ it it it gives two things. Either it's it's extreme fatigue and he just can't physically push himself to to that limit going full ninety anymore, or or it's something else. And ⁓ you know, I think we can bring in a right ⁓ like a starting quality right back who who can take Benji's spot and they, you know maybe push Benji up in more of an attacking role that we've seen in historical years. apart from right back, maybe right wing, because I don't I like Oseni Buddha. Don't get me wrong. I love what Oseni B Oseni has provided in the first half of the season. ⁓ but with second half, I I I can't name a right back that has actually done a starting quality work needed to perform at a professional level. here for, you know, NML S. ⁓ Jack Skein isn't cutting it. Right winger, you mean? Yeah, right winger. ⁓ Jack isn't cutting it. You know, Darius when on the field isn't necessarily cutting it, even though I thought he could. ⁓ Buddha isn't necessarily providing much opportunities. Even though we had a good chance versus Minnesota last game, ⁓ one or two good chances. ⁓ but, you know, there's a difference between having a good chance and fighting the back of the net. It it felt like, you know He was saving up on getting chances ⁓ in the last two games for that Minnesota game and then neither of those worked out. Because he hasn't looked good against, you know, the previous games either. ⁓ and and as good as those chances were, it was like, Okay, so you could have been doing that and you haven't been doing that. ⁓ and then you didn't you do it for the rest of the game. You did it two times and that was it. So yeah, I agree. ⁓ I'll let you continue, sorry. think the ideal profile of a right winger would include someone with a lot of pace who can keep the ball close. For example when when Nico obviously Nico's not a a right winger, but just a trait that I want to see in a right winger is is perfectly depicted by Nico where he can keep the ball close when dribbling at higher pace and speeds and and and you know transish or transi yeah transitioning ⁓ changing directions. There we go. ⁓ when changing directions you keep the ball close, shielding the ball well ⁓ and then, you know, successful one v one take on. Something that I like to see out of Werner, especially with his speed, is his ability to cut back, to take the ball to the goal ⁓ to the end line and and beat his man on a dribble. He doesn't necessarily have to get past the man necessarily to beat a man one on one, but it's to find enough space to where you can make a play towards another player. So, you know, if you if you if you can create yourself a gap of like two or three feet and you wanna make that pass to the six from the end line you're able to do that because you have enough pace to get get yourself enough space. That's something that I want to see out of a a right winger and I don't necessarily see much of that confidence in one v one abilities ⁓ from any of our candidates right now, other than even like if Timo Werner were were to play on the right wing, I think he'd be able to do that. But you know he's more of a left left sided guy than a right sided guy. there's something that bothers me and we don't have to include this if it's too rude. But people think that Buddha is faster than he is. ⁓ I think FIFA got it right. Seventy eight, that's about where he is. He where he beats a player is through trickery and and you know, elusiveness and skill. He's not like burning people on the regular. Like he he can move, right? I'm not saying he's slow, but he's not like a lights out winger. ⁓ Jim Jamar Ricketts is very fast. ⁓ Buddha can't Do those things and Buddha has more things to his arsenal. ⁓ and I think that's great. But I think people mischaracterize Useni a lot and they're like, Well he's at his best when he can like just have space and and burn people with his pace. I'm like, that's not he he could never do that. Like, I don't know. Do you do you see anything you see what I'm talking about? A hundred percent I agree with you. I think Useni has he has good pace, but it's not elite You know, it's not something that we're you know he can like chuck the ball down the field to himself, you know, like Kate Cow send himself a through ball. Yeah, like Kate Cow was he's not is insane. He's in like the top ten fastest players according to to FIFA, which yeah, you know, I I think I think Daniel Munich was definitely ⁓ snubbed on that list. It's because he's a center back. If he wasn't a center back, then he would be a lot higher. But they have to make it so that like center backs aren't super fast, otherwise I think that yeah, they tried to keep the game in in more of an arcade mode and they they Yeah. Sorry, we got into FIFA like the game development speech. but no like yeah, you see what I mean? Yeah, no, I know exactly what you mean. And and that's something that we do need out of a right winger because Bruce is a very counterattack minded coach and in order to support that that those tactics, we need a player with pace and and right now the only guy we have, I think really who can kind of somewhat compete is Jack Skane. But I that's speed is kind of all all I see out of him. Apart from the grit that we see both from from Skane and and Preston. But yeah. Yeah. ⁓ and Skin has good things about him. I think that one of the only things that keeps him playing for us is the fact he can run really fast. ⁓ he's not like extremely fast. That's one that FIFA got completely wrong. They have him at a ⁓ center mid at fifty nine pace. And it's like you're not watching Jack's gameplay. ⁓ I mean I don't blame you, but like you're just that's insane. ⁓ but regardless, ⁓ I I would agree. I think ⁓ if we could revive Marvin Chavez and just like stick him on the right wing, I think that would be really nice. I think Shay Salinas ⁓ was pretty fast. Like b in his day. He wasn't like He was faster than Useni. ⁓ I would say he's closer to Skein. I don't know w where where you see him. ⁓ but not quite like ⁓ Timo Werner. but that would be great too. Someone like that. Darren Huckerby, are you ready to come out of retirement? Was he was he a fast player? That's way before my time. Yeah, he was pretty quick. Okay. Came from Norwich as well. Yeah, he did. I have his ⁓ bobblehead back there. ⁓ but ⁓ let's go into the the game analysis real quick. ⁓ we'll start with Galaxy. ⁓ that was a frustrating game because I don't disagree with a lot of the ⁓ the rhetoric from the players and the coach where they're like they we should have won. If we tied we would be pissed to lose is insane, especially when the other team was a player down for an entire half. ⁓ It was a ridiculous performance. I I'll let you You know, go over it real quick. How pissed are you? Yeah, it was quite it was it was quite frustrating, mainly due to the fact that we had such quality chances. I really liked the fact that Luca was able to get his himself in front of the box, in front of the net, and take you know, take a couple of chances and even provide a couple of chances to his teammates. He made a great pass, ⁓ with J T coming out to to Paul Marie on his left and and Paul, you know, tried to just slot it home. But it just went straight to the the Galaxy center back standing on the line. it was really unfortunate and and he definitely could have, you know, slotted it more towards the side netting than than central ⁓ es centrally. but yeah, I I was somewhat impressed with Luca. We had quality chances and we just weren't able to put them in in in the back of the net. apart from that, I think the first seventy minutes I was really entertained by our defense. I mean, yeah, we we let a couple of chances go by, but we didn't let Gun you know do a lot of the work. Yeah. Yeah, we didn't leave him out to dry. We were we were standing strong and and staying compact, which you love to see out of a back line. But you know, you can't defense can win you championships, but you can get to a championship game by scoring goals. You know, you can't you can't make it to the next round of a playoff game if you don't score goals because that's the only way to win games. Yeah. And our offense just did not show up then. And yeah, ⁓ is that is that something similar, Abram, to what you saw? Yeah, I I think that ⁓ you know, Romney and you know, Bruce were correct that we needed to finish the chances and that was the main blight on that match. If we scored one, two, three of those chances, which we definitely could have ⁓ this is a different game. We're not thinking about it anymore. I think that ⁓ Janinsky could have scored that shot against JT. ⁓ he could have scored the header against JT. He ⁓ Palmer should have scored the the ⁓ sweaty goal, I guess. I don't know how else to to call it. It's a for for Palmer it was kind of like the ball was placed a little bit behind his run. And so when you're in that situation and you're running and then you expect the ball to be here, like in front of you, and then it's like a little bit to the right of where you wanted, you're like, ⁓ I could still get to that. It's gonna sacrifice all power, ⁓ all like, you know, accuracy. I can just I can get it and get it to go in that direction, like general direction. And there's no keeper, I'm gonna do that. Right. You could see like the math in his head. but it didn't work out because there was a defender on the line there. ⁓ if he takes a touch, maybe the chance is over. If the ball is placed a little better, you know, maybe it's ⁓ a goal, but I don't expect a perfect pass from ⁓ Luca in those situations. He was like being bored down on by the keeper, defenders all around. He did really well to get that pass over. Palmerie has to like he he he wasn't like on that game. He didn't look a hundred percent focused. ⁓ there was a few things where it's just like, come on, Paul, you gotta you know, you gotta improve in that. But I can't blame anyone too much. I can't blame Gunn for that the pain so call. You know, I I think that's that's ridiculous. I understand that he hasn't gotten a clean sheet yet. But he's not at fault for that. you could blame Jack Jasinski, but it's also like Pinzel did really well to position himself and he's also really fast. So, you know, when he gets behind Jack in that situation and the ball's played right there, y pretty much nine out of ten times he's gonna get that against most defenders. do you who do you blame for that goal, Devon? Yeah, I think Jasinski's is a an accurate player individual to blame. I definitely do not think Gun is at all in any realm blameable for that. I don't think Gunn should have necessarily come out and and been a wall there. I think he he had the right positioning. But when when the galaxy, you know, slots the ball across net, ⁓ for essentially their own version of a sweaty goal, ⁓ There's there's nothing you can do as a goalkeeper. ⁓ I I think it was the the tracking run by was it Ricketts, Abram? Correct me if I'm wrong. Yeah, Ricketts was caught out, I believe. It's been it's been a while. ⁓ it was on like Wednesday. Yeah. You know. And we we had a whole other game that we still need to talk about as well. So forgive me for for being slow in this response. But ⁓ yeah, I think Ricketts would had failed to track that run. So I I also want to put some blame on him and I think there's a bit of inconsistency in the last several games from Ricketts in that regard, not being able to track or defend a one on one chance. ⁓ I would love to see a lot more improvement from Jamar. so I think in that regard, I also want to put a little bit of blame on on on Ricketts there for having other defenders to do the job that he was supposed to do. Yeah. disappointing match. Again, there was so many chances that we should have put away. Didn't end up happening. ⁓ but it was a positive experience ⁓ watching it with ⁓ Zion ⁓ Kaplan, ⁓ our guest on last week's episode. We watched it live on Instagram, even though he had a setting on so that only people that he followed could watch it. ⁓ so nobody saw it. ⁓ But we did have a few people before ⁓ I lost connection on on my end when we first hosted it. But yeah, that's something we're gonna try to do more often. ⁓ we're gonna do ⁓ live streams on Instagram for away matches. We have three in a row coming up, so make sure that you guys are are watching for that. ⁓ the match against Minnesota, if you forget about the fact that it's Galaxy, ⁓ this match is much worse. Like way, way worse. Five to one. And we were winning. God. ⁓ yeah. I'll I'll let you you you go on for a bit, David. Like what did you say? This was this was a tough one, Abram. ⁓ if you want to pull up the stats to that game, it's it's definitely abysmal. ⁓ Earthquakes, yeah, they started off great with ⁓ you know, of goal of their own to to open the scoring. ⁓ which is something that we needed, something I've been I've been calling out for is an early goal to give us a lead. You can kinda hunker back and and then, you know, absorb pressure ⁓ and then counter based off that, which I I think only worked for maybe about five minutes, if that, and then Minnesota equalized. So that kind of threw all the rest of the momentum in the game ⁓ against us. I was impressed, quite impressed with with Nico's performance that game and I I really enjoyed Boluru's connection. I thought that, you know, game by game, those two alone are kind of rebuilding the chemistry that once was early in the season before Nico got hurt. ⁓ it seemed like when Nico came back there was just like a lot of Nico was obviously like a good performer, but it just seemed like the chemistry was was somewhat off between each player. Nico is just trying to to gather that chemistry again. ⁓ and he and Bo are definitely stepping up together in the midfield. I I was really impressed with with their performances. Again, kind of like Oseni Buddha, I was also somewhat impressed with with his attacking ability, not necessarily pace, but the chances created. Unfortunately, none of them went in. ⁓ it's kind of one of those things that like ⁓ back to back games, ⁓ a Quake's Academy Goalkeeper had played like games of their lives, essentially, showing us that, hey, we're Academy goalkeepers, don't don't get rid of us. You know, we we have quality, keep us. ⁓ but, you know, is what it is. Callendar had a an impressive performance nonetheless, but that doesn't take away the fact that the Quakes had chances to put away, and also giving up five does not help any sort of argument in favor of a winnable scenario. Gunn was definitely at fault for for two of those, should it come out for for the corners, and you know, just let let some of the near post goals slip. But A lot of these chances that we see against us come from the fact that there's in a wide open man in the middle, you know, the the build-ups come from the wide areas, whether it be left or right, and our our defense is just left wide open. ⁓ there's there's hardly anyone in the box that's that's covering a man. It's just kind of positional coverage and it's it's not good. on many occasions player teams come into this into our stadium and create what we've we've described earlier as a sweaty goal. It's just a pass into the center area of the box and that's just an easy slot home. It's that easy. And that's not necessarily on gun. That's that's on our back line. That's on our defensive midfield. That's on our our centralized players who are not tracking right, who are not communicating right, who are not getting these things done to You know, prevent these chances from happening. And it it's so obvious that that these are, you know, fixable errors, but they're not being fixed. Yeah, I mean what when you watch ⁓ Joaquin Pereira just like turn around and then just do a dinky little Rabona and then it somehow ends up in the bottom corner. Like it goes at like one mile an hour. Like it it's not moving fast. That it's it's getting that shot off is the problem. And then, you know, you could you could look at gun and be like, Well, you know, you could have stopped that. I don't know if he can see it. ⁓ you know, it it but I don't think he was able to, no. And it it was also like shades of of Eric Lamella at Tottenham versus Arsenal where he hit a Rabona, Megged the defender, and then just hit it far post. Like ⁓ it's actually an impressive goal, if you really think about it, because of like the the placement on that shot was like right in the bottom right corner of the net. You couldn't have placed that any better off of a Rabona. Yeah, Gun was probably blocked, his vision was blocked on that shot and it was it's it's normally hard for for Gun to to get down and and react appropriately because that's something that we see out of Gun historically in the last several games since we've gotten him, he has very slow reactions. But I just don't know if necessarily that was a reactable save because I Personally I think it was just a really well placed shot. Yeah. something to note is that if you look at the shot map, we both had eleven shots. They only have one outside of the box. We have four. And the ones inside of the box aren't necessarily very high XG either. the penalty obviously is is you know point seven nine. That you know to be expected. They had decently high XG shots inside the box. Like ⁓ Kelvin Yaboa, point five seven. That's not even to to count the X G O T like when it's on target. That's as much higher as almost one is is point eight three. ⁓ so, you know, these things can't be happening. ⁓ we talked to Muni in the press conference and basically n we got nothing from him. I I didn't expect him to have an answer because If he knew what to do, he would have done it. Right. ⁓ I think that goes for all the players. If they knew how to make it so that they don't concede goals, we wouldn't be doing that. but it's just like he just went like, ⁓ we just gotta be more compact, we gotta work together and it's like I So you don't know. Like, you know? ⁓ Yeah. I think in that regard though, sorry to cut you off here, but it it it holds true. What you just mentioned, ⁓ that Muni had said is is very true because several moments of the game where I'm watching us defend, the the gap between Daniel Muni and Reed Roberts it's it's a big gap. And Minnesota took advantage of that gap on several occasions. I I had wished that that Muni and Roberts kinda sat a little tighter and maybe maybe that was the the ⁓ the strategy and tactic heading into the game. is is to kind of spread the field, but also when you're defending you're supposed to remain compact. And they weren't compact. I think there was a closer gap between our left back, of of Vittor Costa and Reed Roberts than there was between Reed Roberts and Daniel Muni. And and I think that was a catalyst to conceding a lot of those goals based off of, you know, kind of what I saw in in the first half. It it it just went from one nothing up to to one to three in in almost like you know, a matter of a gif or giv, however you want to pronounce it. And speaking of gifs, ⁓ we had two crazy things happen. one, a baby invaded the pitch. ⁓ and ⁓ a lot of people have the sentiment that the baby was just trying to save the match. It's like, hey let me have a go, ⁓ 'cause I'll do better than this. but ⁓ I believe it was was it Guns Child? ⁓ it was, yeah. Yeah, so maybe he was like, Get out of here, Dad. I'm give me the gloves. ⁓ you're you're allowing way too many of these shots to go in. and then also a thing that's regrettable but does kind of paint the emotions of Quakes fans right now is ⁓ Bruzzerina was struck in the back by a beer from the stands. and We can only assume this was a San of the Earthquakes fan because one, the away section is really far from Bruce Arena, but also it doesn't wha what do they care? Like they have no reason to to make that kind of assault. and that's, you know deplorable behavior from Quakes fans. We don't wanna be the team that is known for doing that kind of thing. So, you know, if if you happen to be a fan of the show and you were like and you happen to be the guy who did that, we're not with you, although we are frustrated with Bruce. we have a podcast about it. ⁓ where and we don't throw beer at him. ⁓ but yeah, any any thoughts on that? Did you get to see that happen? I did not see the the beer thrown. ⁓ I only heard about it or had read about it in our Discord. Just the like the moment it happened, someone said, OMG L O O, someone hit Bruce with a beer ⁓ in the back. And ⁓ yeah, we don't we don't wanna see that happen. We don't wanna see our our staff, no matter how angry we are at them, to be struck by any object ⁓ that kind of takes away the the the culture of this fan base. We we just don't do that here in San Jose and you know, here we are denouncing it. ⁓ Yeah, just don't don't throw things at the coaches and players because that's that's who we're here to watch. ⁓ I it's it's one thing to hop on a podcast and and be frustrated with the coaching staff and people who are being play paid to entertain you. ⁓ that's one thing. It's it's one thing to protest, but it's it's another thing to ⁓ act in violence against those individuals and and we we don't want to see that. ⁓ But this is actually a really good topic here, Abram, and I I am thankful that you brought it up. ⁓ I I don't think necessarily in the current state of affairs, I don't want to say that this is one hundred percent on Bruce, and I have a list of of reasons why here. ⁓ and I I would like to go through that starting from the the moment that that Bruce was hired. ⁓ I think Bruce, yes, had done a bunch of ⁓ things that inevitably led us to where we are now. But I think there's a five or ten percent of me that kind of sides with him on on some things and it it just rings true from you know from twenty fourteen on. So obviously twenty twenty four we announced Bruce ⁓ as our Head coach and sporting director for the 2025 season and on. ⁓ in the offseason, we offloaded players, ⁓ restructured the roster with you know Rev's players and Chicho and Joseph. Do you know how much those players cost us, Abram, in total? How much did they cost us in total, Devin? No actual money, Abram. It was either gam or or or ⁓ draft traits. ⁓ so we had collected a bunch of players. essentially for free, you know, we got ⁓ Chicho on GAM due to the stuff that happened in RSL and then Yosef on a free ⁓ due to the fact that he was a ⁓ free agent. ⁓ our internationals began to fade out from the starting eleven ⁓ and then obviously were sent to different clubs. The one of I think potentially three transfers that we got was in the summer that season and We Ronaldo Vieira for approximately four hundred and seventy thousand dollars. ⁓ and then nothing of that, you know, we d I don't think we got any other transfers in that summer window. You know, winter transfer window came by after the postseason. ⁓ we got teamur Timo Werner, which was basically a free transfer. Teamer Werner. Teamer Verno. and pre-summer window, ⁓ before the summer window opened up. Around the World Cup time, we got Darius Johnson for an undisclosed fee. We're not exactly sure how much that was. ⁓ and then summer window opened up, we got Jovanovich for six hundred thousand dollars, and ⁓ Angus Gunn for free. ⁓ and then most recently, unofficially as of recording today, Edward Loven for Gam and five hundred thousand add-ons. So in the last two years, the total net spent by us is one point one million, which is pretty low, if you ask me, considering this is Bruce Arena and he's he's known for bringing in, you know, big name talent. And we we had assumed that that based off of the success that he had in the first two halves of his seasons, you know, ownership would back him and we we'd bring in a you know a good player, im heavily impactful player, similar to Timo Werner, but we'd actually pay a decent sum for them. We haven't seen that. ⁓ you know, I think there are also some some other factors, considerable factors here that, you know, Leach was fired from his role, Espinoza contract being the catalyst of that, I believe. ⁓ he we we haven't signed anyone ⁓ or haven't brought anyone in in in Leach's role since he's departed. ⁓ we also had the passing of ⁓ forgive me if if I misspelled his name. ⁓ or mispronounce his name, Kremenzidis? Kremenzides. ⁓ earlier this year in February passed away in preseason. and then alongside the technical director, parting from the earthquakes in summer of this season, ⁓ Bruce, you know, having to kind of be the manager for all three roles ⁓ up until, you know, now where Gavin Wilkinson is kind of doing that that temporary GM work ⁓ for him. ⁓ but I you know with with with that in mind I think there's a lot of things against Bruce unfavorably ⁓ like apart from Gavin Wilkinson because we can get to that but there's just there's a lot of factors to consider here that you know there's there's things that just aren't going Bruce's way. And I think the biggest factor for me is is not being backed financially in the transfer markets and transfer windows because it it's inexcusable to to have such great success in in the first half of of the seasons and and being like I don't remember what the record was, but you know, out of fourteen games, you've won essentially ten plus, right? You would think that the ownership would back you on some sort of level. ⁓ I I I like Jovanovich as a transfer, but I think we deserve more. whether it be players not coming in due to the fact that they just don't want to join San Jose, they're they're not thrilled with with our training programs regime, our location, whatever it may be, ⁓ I I would expect to have a larger impact signing and more of ownership support than what we're getting. And and the like We see this over the last three or four head coaches we've had. It it's it's been the same consistent story of ownership not backing the head coaches. ⁓ Abram, do you have any thoughts on any of that? Yeah, I mean, ⁓ it's nothing new. ⁓ we'd never had at least in my ⁓ recollection, a coach that is backed by ⁓ ownership. ⁓ Matias Almeida, you know, famously was vocal about the fact that he wasn't getting the support from ⁓ the ownership and you know nothing new. It doesn't really matter who it is, ⁓ that's why he's looking to sell, right? so yeah, I'm not surprised at all. As as bad as Bruce has been, there's there's a lot of things to look at holistically than just a bad on field performance. There's a lot of things that that, you know, he has to manage on the side of things. ⁓ that may not necessarily be going his way or or the club's way for that matter. ⁓ Bay F C ⁓ has denounced earthquakes and they are basically upset about the signing of Gavin Wilkinson, which is completely fair. ⁓ I'm with them. I've actually ⁓ tried to get in contact with their PR team and hopefully we can maybe talk to them on the show and see, you know, if we can get any more on that situation and how they feel about it. but they have publicly said that they are not in agreement with the earthquakes and ⁓ are asking for them to do better and ⁓ and to fire him, which, you know, the ⁓ our podcast to a much lesser extent, ⁓ or at least much lesser impact is doing the same thing as BFC. GW out. but also ⁓ Jeff Carlisle says that Wilkinson has gone through a restorative accountability process that was cleared to work by MLS. So they put him through this process and they called it a restorative ⁓ accountability whatever. ⁓ that sounds like we just want this guy working again and so we're just gonna slap a certificate on his back that says he could do what he wants. ⁓ I don't buy that at all. ⁓ I don't think that any of the people that were affected by his actions or more accurately, lack of action, ⁓ would say that ⁓ they feel any justice has been restored. Right? ⁓ the thing that happened happened. And I don't know I can't say specifically, I don't know any of the people personally. I don't know if he's been reaching out to them and giving them you know, apologies, especially after the apologies that we have seen publicly, ⁓ that were not sincere or effective at all in in making anyone feel better. It was just kind of covering his own ass. ⁓ those are the two big things that we have heard in the news ⁓ recently. ⁓ your thoughts, Devin? ⁓ yeah, I I don't necessarily think like, you know, when incidents occur The apologies should be made between, you know, the two parties who were involved or however many parties were involved. And and sometimes, you know, others may not have to know about those things as long as those parties are are in agreement and they've they've come to terms with those things and and you know, acknowledge that mistakes are made and they've built that relationship back up. But also this being in a public professional soccer league. Where everything is essentially publicized, you should understand that whatever position you're in, the public and the teams in cities and and you know people that you represent will they will find these things out. And your actions is obviously your responsibility, but also portrayed by the city you represent. And You know, some things just aren't forgivable. It's just simply not forgivable. And in the acceptance of what Gavin has done, I don't think is restored through a accountability or restorative class. It it's it's not something that you can retain through that. Right. So yeah, I think my disappointment is it's still on the earthquakes because, you know, they still have to They still are the ones facilitating this to some extent. ⁓ but ⁓ my disappointment with the league is at a greater level at this point, ⁓ because it's very obvious that they just want, you know, this guy working, ⁓ for whatever reason. ⁓ and they're just like, ⁓ well he has this this this quirk about him. Well we'll just pay for this ⁓ you know, class. I've taken so many classes, I don't remember anything. Like you asked me to do like algebra to you know, to the level that I was in eleventh grade. I can't do it. ⁓ I could do some algebra, don't don't get me wrong. I I could do math. But ⁓ th the point is the I don't think that I am curious about this restorative process, ⁓ because I don't know how effective it would be other than just saying that he's done it, ⁓ which that kind of is what we assume it is. ⁓ you know, whether this is you know, on the team to I d I don't I I'm so curious about how the team views this. Like is it like ⁓ well we believe that he is better now like the the behavior before was just an affliction of of you know wha whatever was troubling him in his past. That that I d I don't I'm I'm so curious because they've been quiet on all of this. They haven't said anything ⁓ Yeah, I simultaneously would also like to know what this class actually does to benefit an individual who has gone through, you know, this type of thing. and, you know maybe this is like the inner not journalists in me, but I'm just really curious if like others have gone through the the same course who were also involved in the report. and may have also been cleared to come back into either N W S L or or MLS. ⁓ You know, how does how does this process take place? who who is not like qualified, but you know, who who by the league is is given this opportunity versus what actions are unforgivable and may not qualify to partake in these these you know, these courses. Like we said, very curious to see the team's perspective. They have not given any concrete answers. Which is probably what we are most disappointed in them for. you know, nothing from Jared Shawley, the president. ⁓ even though Bruce threw him under the bus and saying that, you know, he he should answer for for that. But it's also like I don't think that this is a f ⁓ like we said earlier, this is not a footballing decision. Or this is a footballing decision, you know, so ⁓ it's not a business side of the the the team. So Jared wouldn't have to deal with that. ⁓ it's definitely something that the sporting director would decide on. or at least have control over, right? ⁓ so I'm going to reach out to the BFC team and see if they're willing to, you know, have someone on the show to to talk about the situation from their perspective. ⁓ you know, the the absolute ideal would be to talk to Some of the players that were at the Portland Thorns ⁓ during that time, if they're comfortable, we don't want to bring them into a place where they, you know, would be ⁓ uncomfortable talking about it. So if they just don't want to talk about it, that's totally understandable. But it would be really ⁓ illuminating to get their perspective. So that's something I'm gonna try to do. ⁓ no promises at this point. but ⁓ Devin, do you have any closing thoughts before we go? I have zero thoughts. Zero Thoughts. That's how we like it. I don't know what it means. We're winging it. Yeah. ⁓ yeah, guys, we'll be back. ⁓ there is a long break before we have to be at PayPal Park. ⁓ we have three away games in a row, right? ⁓ let's see we have the fixtures. Yeah, I believe so. I mean Houston's coming up. I'm not looking forward to that game because now they're leading the Western Conference. Houston looks good. But yeah, it's gonna be an away game. I think last time we played Houston there was like a thunderstorm ⁓ in Houston and it we started off great and then after the thunderstorm we absolutely tanked. So you know, second half Quake's vibes. So we'll be back after the Houston game. ⁓ we have we have a rough schedule coming up. Houston's very high in the league, and then we have Austin San Diego, LAFC a little bit in ⁓ in next month. Anyways, we'll be back to talk to you guys after the Houston game But until then, GW out. GW out.