Latest / Tectonic Takes / Episode 181: Is Löwen Our Saving Grace?

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Episode 181: Is Löwen Our Saving Grace? · Tectonic Takes

• Tectonic Takes: What's up Quakes fans? We're back with another episode. I am joined by my co host Devin. Devin, how are you doing today? Doing all Getting ready for for this upcoming weekend. I will not be able to watch the earthquakes game against Austin, unfortunately, as I will be in Monterey Bay for the f the the finale for the IndyCar series in at Laguna Seca. So I'm I'm very much getting ready for that, packing all my stuff, getting all my camping gear ready to go. Abram, how was your weekend? How are you doing? My weekend was fine. so for people who aren't in the Discord and ⁓ also people who are in the Discord aren't obsessively checking ⁓ the FIFA FM channel. I have been grinding the retro FIFA's hard. It's so much fun. ⁓ being able to play as Wondolowski, like and you know, dominate back in the day is is the best feeling. And hearing the commentator being like Wondolowski it's it's absolutely insane. British way that we don't hear any more. ⁓ Alan Smith and Martin Tyler. Wonderland. It's like, ⁓ my god. It's amazing. so I I won the MLS Cup in FIFA twelve and so I moved over to FIFA thirteen, which is just a much better game. ⁓ people who probably don't remember because it's like over ten years ago, it's like a different engine almost, like a completely different like way that the players move. It's been such an amazing experience. And so my whole weekend was basically that. and that means that I was so like locked in playing as the Quakes on FIFA that I basically didn't get to watch ⁓ them play ⁓ St. Louis. ⁓ I did I did have it on the screen, ⁓ but it was a secondary screen. ⁓ it that that's how locked in I was. I know I w I have to be here with you guys, but I know Devin spent his free time today rewatching the game and so he is going to Give me his notes on the game and I will be experiencing it with you guys. Before I give you anything, Abram, you and I had talked about a you know, the FIFA thirteen and there was one specific player that I had never heard of before, and he's Turkish. Is there is do you do you wanna talk about that? There there's really not much to talk about, but ⁓ something that is interesting about going back is seeing players from like this forgotten time that were reserves. like way back then, even before we like signed any Academy players. So it's like people that I guess we got from the draft maybe. ⁓ Sam Garza, ⁓ Joey Gurtson. there's let me think. Bobby Berling is a guy who I didn't know ever existed until I played with him on FIFA twelve. Or like this guy cannot do anything but head the ball. And that's perfect. That's all I need him to do. Six foot five That might been why his name was Berling. Yeah, I'm like, that's the perfect name. ⁓ but the the player that you're referring to is Sir Kan something. ⁓ a Turkish player. He was thirty two years old when he joined the earthquakes. I think had two appearances. I think five two or five. I I I looked it up and and I might be, you know, mixing up the numbers. Never scored a goal for us, but that's just the kind of player that you see ⁓ in the reserves and for me I never used that guy because obviously I have Wandolovsky. Why would I need this random Turkish guy? ⁓ but he was, you know, complaining all the time. So that's why I you know in FIFA how they're like, you're not playing me. I'm like, okay, but Wondolowski has twenty goals in twenty games, so I'm gonna keep playing Wondolowski. Like you're not getting on the field. ⁓ but ⁓ but yeah ⁓ that did that answer your question, Devin? It did it did answer my question. And I like just for the viewers, I just wanted them to kind of like want like to know what it's like to play a a FIFA thirteen game back in the day. You know, some some may have not played video games at all and some may have skipped that version and started in like FIFA twenty, FIFA twenty one. Right. But we have young viewers, we have old viewers who may not have ever played a FIFA. So yeah. Well for both you and I who have gone all the way back to the YouTube days of watching British YouTubers play that video game, you know, we've we've had that experience and and knowledge of these players, but ⁓ yeah, no, I just thought it was really interesting when you and I were conversing about this where, you know, this random Turkish ⁓ earthquakes player popped up and I'm like, Who is this guy? I never thought we had a Turkish player on our team until you brought him up. So that was that was ⁓ pretty fascinating. It it it's it is weird and also like somebody who never got much of a look for us but was like extremely impactful for my ⁓ earthquakes team in these games is Ike opara. Like somebody who we drafted and then didn't play well for us. I'd I I was too young to really like take in how he was actually performing at that time. But he is incredible in the game. He's so fast. He could jump over everyone. ⁓ and then in real life he was also really difficult to play against ⁓ whenever we faced him. ⁓ he played for sporting Kansas City and I think ⁓ was it Minnesota United at some point. Like I hated playing against that guy because he was just everywhere. ⁓ but somebody who never ended up, you know, becoming a star for us, ⁓ but is a huge star in my game and in my game only. That is pretty cool. I guess one of my flexes would be like back in like the two thousand ten, maybe before that era, we had a player named ⁓ Kelly Gray. And Gray played with us for I think like two or three seasons. And then he retired, went into broadcasting and like was a director at one of the summer camps and I got to work with with Kelly Gray for like a whole week at at a summer camp and I I felt so like thrilled to be like working with former Earthquakes player. I'm like, ⁓ my god, Kelly Gray. Like I'm teaching kids how to play soccer with this guy. It really meant it meant the world at the time, but looking back, I'm like, well I never got re re asked to join the the group again. But yeah, that was really cool to you know these these types of players that not many fans may may know about. I don't know if ⁓ anyone remembers this. We're going like way back ⁓ Earthquake says not way back. We can't go that far back just due to our age. But in the mid twenty tens, the Earthquakes used to do this four V four tournament. I don't know if you're aware of it. my my team were pretty competitive at the time but I guess not in four V four, ⁓ we would enter every year and we'd get absolutely destroyed. Actually we had a team that won it. but that was like we we had to split our team into like, you know, five different groups because it's only you know, six on the roster or something like that. And so we had a team that won it but I was not on that team. I didn't get to play for for the for the A team I guess, even though my dad's a coach. ⁓ But ⁓ because they went far, we got to get our jerseys signed or I don't know I think everyone was able had the opportunity to get the jerseys signed by Tommy Mueller, who was a ⁓ Earthquake player back in the day. Also there was somebody else with him at the table signing, but it was so long ago I don't remember, I couldn't tell you who it was. But ⁓ Tommy Mueller is a is a name I remember because I tried to trick my friend who played center back for us that Thomas Mueller was signing our shirts. ⁓ which You know, technically he was, but ⁓ that's the only reason I remember that. Same name, different aura. ⁓ different aura, different lots of things. Well Talbot Smiller now does play an MLS. And speaking of MLS, ⁓ there was an earthquakes game that happened over the weekend, Abram. and we'd played against Houston Dynamo and it finished to a a nil nil scoreless draw. But it wasn't it It was way more entertaining than than a nil nil scoreless draw. We actually had a lot of chances on net and and thankfully the earthquakes changed formation for a more centralized presence and it paid dividends for for an away game in in Houston. ⁓ what were your thoughts on the game? ⁓ Earlier in the episode I said ⁓ Saint Louis. I don't know. I think I was thinking of ⁓ because Edward Lubin is from Saint Louis, like that's where we got him from, so that's that's what I was thinking of. But we actually played Houston, which not Saint Louis at all. Yeah, no, I didn't even notice that you made you made that mistake. It just flew right over my head. I'm glad you corrected. Our fans will notice that, so that correction is for you guys. ⁓ Yeah, it was a much better game than we used to. We've been on a losing streak and this breaks that losing streak. I think we had four games in a row. ⁓ it also breaks the streak of ⁓ conceding goals. We didn't concede in this game, which ⁓ was a very huge shocking point in the post game press conference ⁓ that I just got to see today. Very interesting p post game ⁓ for you, Devin. But we won't go into that. ⁓ I will say that It is very nice that we didn't concede a shot on target. That's obviously a great thing. I think that the there was a lot of emphasis on the defense being more compact, which is ⁓ you know, specifically something that I know that they wanted to work on based off of what they had said in the past. I think having three center backs on the field is helpful to that. ⁓ very conducive to not allowing a lot of space. ⁓ but We know that it's not that simple because we had that last season where we played three centre backs and conceded a lot of goals still. ⁓ so it's a delicate balance and ⁓ I'm not ready to say that this is a sign of things to come, like, okay, we're gonna use this formation and we're gonna win the league. Right? That's not ⁓ where I'm at yet with this formation. I'm not, you know, a hundred percent convinced. But against Hu ⁓ Houston, I I was gonna say St. Louis again. Against Houston, it worked and I'm very glad it did because that's a team that we were very frightened about facing going into this match. Yeah, for some reason our team loves to face against top top opponents, top opposition, like in the the top five of either the West or the East, and we we like to make a pretty pretty good performance out of it. You know, LAFC, ⁓ Vancouver White Caps, Houston Dynamo, whatever other team that you you might think about you seem to have pretty impressive performances against them. And above all things, the referee for that match was, you know, Pierre Luc Lausier. I don't know if you remember that name, but if we date all the way back to when Bruno Wilson got a red card in Portland and that was, you know, like a whole abysmal fiasco. actually I I think, you know I I was walking into this game that thinking, well, maybe Quakes don't have a chance because, you know, this ref has had historical historically bad incidents with us, but surprisingly enough, I I think the refereeing and Pierre actually did a decent job in as a the Center F. Did you see anything wrong? Usually so to preface this, Quakes fans will typically, including myself, will complain about referee behavior on the field and decisions that typically go against us. I think in the last year or two, as since Bruce Rena has has come to manage the earthquakes, we haven't really ha seen that many mistakes against us or f you know, unfavourable calls. ⁓ but I yeah, I I think I think the the refereeing tonight was was actually pretty good and and in in the last s several weeks, several match days, we've actually had decent refereeing. Did you see anything? Well no, I haven't seen anything, but that is the praise for the referee, right? Like you're a good referee is invisible, pretty much. ⁓ unless like there's a huge call that is like really difficult to tell and then the referee making a good call. I don't have to explain it. ⁓ there wasn't anything that I saw that was like, ⁓ great, great call or whatever. But you're you're right in that a lot of times we get b very bad refereeing decisions against us. ⁓ I remember a game where referee came up a lot, ⁓ for Bruce. I can't tell you where when it was last season sometime. ⁓ Ted Raimi had asked about ⁓ Bruce's thoughts on the referees not respecting the earthquakes. And he was like, That that has nothing to do with it. N don't mean to be disrespectful. But so that's the only reason I remember the referees being brought up at any point last year, but it's definitely something I've noticed a lot less. You know, you mentioned this pizza particular ref and we've had issues with him in the past. I think that was an abysmally called game by him in Portland. it destroyed ⁓ Luci Gonzalez's MLS career so far. He hasn't managed an MLS since then. I mean he has actually no tha I don't know why I said since then but since he got fired from the earthquakes ⁓ he hasn't managed an ML. Yes, and that was the beginning of the end. for him. and Lucci brought up referees a lot more often, ⁓ because it was impacting us a lot more. ⁓ and that's just how I see it, ⁓ being at these Quakes games and seeing, you know, how how it goes. You could tell when a a game is ref poorly and it happens like occasionally we'll get a call that I don't agree with, but it's never like season altering the way that the one in Portland was. Yeah, and I'm thankful that this current team has the ability to put performances in that makes you kind of forget that there's even a ref existent. You know, i we in this recent s you know, two seasons, we've been able to kind of break down the tactics and criticize and, you know, praise the team for its ability on the field rather than pick and choose these incidents that the ref kind of, you know, bring forth that may alter the ⁓ outcome of a game. ⁓ but, you know, speaking of the game, ⁓ written in these notes here, Abram, it despite it being a zero zero result, we actually had decent chances and, you know, as you mentioned with with our more centralized presence, it wasn't just the three center backs that made the difference. It was also our four central midfield players. We you know this is the first time that we've seen this happen ⁓ for us where Bo Laru ⁓ Edward Leuven, Nico Sacaris, and Ronaldo Vieira occupied the central midfield. And and I think it paid great dividends because, you know, it seemed like any time we lost possession of the ball, we saw that style of of pressure that we had seen early in the first half of the season, where immediately we step up to the attacking half of the field and attempt to win the ball back rather than sit back and absorb pressure. and hoped to counter ⁓ against these opposition teams. And and maybe maybe this is just a one-off thing because we didn't have Timo Werner, but you know, it it brought a lot of confidence in me watching this team, Abram. And and I think when we were able to press high in the field and especially have such a a saturated midfield presence in the in the the center of the field, I think it it it allowed our are wing backs, Paul Marie and and ⁓ Jamar Ricketts to not actually be wing backs. I think it it it allowed them to sit f like higher up the field. And especially in the first half where you know Paul Marie in the 14th minute he he stole the ball, immediately counters with Oseni Buddha, and lays off a great cross, but Buddha unable, you know, being able to unable to finish. Wow, my English, ⁓ I think is a great example of of how our wingers or wing backs were allowed to press further up the field than than we had seen, you know, since coming back from the World Cup break. And I I was really impressed by our performance and and the fact that our four midfielders allowed us the opportunity to press higher up the field again. and and it kept showing. ⁓ and the eighteenth minute Nico T Sakaris again, you know, dictating the s ⁓ the centralized play in every aspect of the areas of the field, you know, even coming back to the the center back area, ⁓ playing as a center back for maybe about twenty or thirty seconds, collecting the ball and then distributing it wide to Paul Marie and the likes of of Jamar Ricketts again. ⁓ you know, there was a point in the eighteenth minute where Romney ⁓ won the ball. Gave the ball to Nico, sends it left to Ricketts. Ricketts takes a couple touches, ⁓ whips whips one in, and then it's it's sent out for a corner kick. Like that's that's how quick our plays were, ⁓ versus Houston Dynamo. And and I was pretty impressed with with our speed of play too. it it seemed to catch Houston off guard. Did you see any any similarities with that? You're muted. Oops. ⁓ it sounds like we were able to control the midfield pretty well with this formation. ⁓ I think that that's kind of why Houston was a good team to use it against. ⁓ I think Ace Achae is is huge in this league. ⁓ plays very well, very hard to close down, you know Very, very good midfielder in this league, and if you kind of crowd him and don't let him do atcha things then you're gonna find success in that and especially if ⁓ Houston are relying on that, ⁓ then it's gonna pretty much nullify one of their biggest we weapons. ⁓ somebody I saw get on the ball a lot was Guillerme. ⁓ I don't is he resilient? I'm not sure. ⁓ but he's one of their better players that's been performing ⁓ pretty well recently. ⁓ but Like we said, there wasn't any ⁓ shots on target for them. So I think that they will also look at this game as a game that was disappointing for them. but like we said, everyone played played well. ⁓ Edward Leuven or Edward Leuven. I'm trying to get it how he says it, but ⁓ I'll probably not always do that. ⁓ he seems to be a a big factor. I really like the way that he does that. I don't know what you call it, ⁓ but you like the pullback. I I would I just always call it a pullback where he he pulls the ball back and then moves to the side. You know what I mean? Is that like a coiff ⁓ it's kind of like a coif turn. It's I would say it's related, but it's like a pullback to a coif turn. Like you you pull it back and then ⁓ move it behind your your standing leg. Yeah, you know you know what I mean. ⁓ he does that very effectively. That's that's a move that I think is very underrated. You don't see it a lot anymore. Back in the day, it was like the thing to do, you know, and pressure is just like do that. ⁓ and he did it very effectively a few times. Like I think I saw it two or three times where I was like, okay, you you go. ⁓ so it it looks like a very good signing so far. ⁓ I don't think that he took away too much from from Nico at all. ⁓ I didn't see Bolaru standing out too much for me. I thought that he just like played well. He he was just, you know, doing his job. ⁓ I think he got a seven point two match rating, so you know, not bad, ⁓ by any stretch of the imagination. I I I am curious to see if we can do this formation. One against a team with like a lot of pace on their wings. Like I think that's where this this kind of falls apart a little bit. If if you know, we're not able to close down the the ⁓ the wings. If that center back three gets stretched out, then you're in trouble. But ⁓ I also think that one of the weaknesses is that Buddha is not the lone striker you want in that situation. we mentioned that chance that he got from Balmarie crossing it. ⁓ and he kind of had broken free to ⁓ you know get that shot off and even then he had to like do a ⁓ like behind the back to get it on on frame. Because if he stops that ball, he's not he don't get a shot anymore. He has to do that very fast, and that's the reason for that that you know form to to shoot it that way. ⁓ But that's never that's a very low chance, like XG chance. Like ⁓ the keeper is usually gonna get those. You have to kind of like surprise them or do it in a ⁓ an from an angle where they can't stop it. Because a shot to the keeper in that way is always just gonna be, you know, picked up. and there wasn't a lot of other opportunities. I saw us a few times get to the wing and then, you know, they l wanted to cross. Ricketts and Marie, like they would want to cross, but then they would think about it and like you know, you'd be like, hey, the guy who is in there is about five nine and ⁓ probably not a good idea to cross it. So I'm gonna, you know, cut back and play it into the midfield. Which is fine, you know, keeping possession, I don't mind it. And in a game like this where we were away against a team who had ⁓ a huge, you know, percentage chance ⁓ in terms of MLS and they they they thought that their how do I put this? Their chances of winning were like way higher on on by w MLS, you know, calculated. I don't know how they do that. But So getting a a tie here is great, but ⁓ I don't think it's very sustainable to to play like this every game because we need to score more. ⁓ if we can keep, you know, getting clean sheets, I have no issue with that, right? ⁓ but I think that ⁓ I would have liked to see Luka Jovanovic or Judd, you know, at at the striker because I think Buddha is just not he doesn't sting enough, you know, he he isn't that kind guy who's gonna get in behind or I don't know, he just has to pop up in a really good shot to have like ⁓ to have a chance he needs to have it like a lot of factors go his way. ⁓ whereas a physical player will overcome odds to make a chance. ⁓ or a player like like Luca who is not like the biggest guy but he throws his body in you know he makes his his chances in that way where Buddha kind of has to get the ball to the feet, look up and shoot, or it has to be like a really good pass to his to his feet where he can shoot and he has a great shot, but the the opportunities where he's gonna score from in this formation at least aren't coming as often as I would like. ⁓ d I just wanna rant, ⁓ does that make any sense to you? It makes a lot of sense and I I wanna add, as my ADHD brain is going a hundred and fifty million miles an hour ⁓ and I'm trying to to form a cohesive sentence that will depict what I what I would like to say. But I think one of the things that I had seen in the first half, because the first half and second half seemed like stark differences. The first half was way more energetic, second half had little to no offensive activity. in the first half I was I was really like mindful of Paul Marie's presence on the right hand side. I think as a winger slash wing back, he didn't an impressive performance defensively and offensively, especially with pressing high up the field as a w ⁓ on the right hand side where normally we would see Osani Buddha play. ⁓ I think there were there were a bunch of times where, you know, it was in our offensive third and offensive portion of the midfield third where he had won the ball back and immediately took the ball to the end line and looked to cross for Osani Buddha, right? There was one specific instance in the twenty first minute where Paul Marie was absolutely relentless defending, intercepted a pass, and immediately crossed the ball into the middle, ⁓ where Osinia Buddha just wasn't you know, to be seen. I think it's moments like that where I think in this current moment I would rather see Paul Marie on the right hand side making these attacking plays because it seems He's more direct and more interested in getting the ball into the into the middle. And in that same note, I think he's doing a better performance on the right than Osseni Buddha. And that Osani Buddha may not necessarily be that guy that Jamar Ricketts and Paul Marie should be sending crosses into. I think if that's the case that we had seen from both Paul Marie in and and Jamar Ricketts in this formation, if we were ever to continue playing. Again. I would like to see given that Timo Werner is potentially back, you know, as Bruce had stated, he is week in, week out, ⁓ or he's week to week. I would like to see Timo on the left and Paul Marie on the right and see if we can just deliver balls into the middle to either Luka J ⁓ Jovanovich or or Preston Judd. ⁓ I think with that kind of service, Preston Judd would be way more useful with his his one time ability, his his Chris Wondolowski esque ability to, you know. get balls on target after a a one touch finish. But I don't see that necessarily from Osseni Buddha. As you stated, you know, it it takes a lot of a lot of good good situations, you know, benefiting him to put a chance on target and to challenge the goalkeeper. ⁓ in the second half there were many opportunities by Oseni Buddha where he was on the right hand side as the winger and y and he he had one specific instance in the fifty seventh minute where he had, you know, ⁓ I think dribbled the ball forward a little bit and sent a cross in to a wide open Nico Tzuqueris, like right next to the six yard box, who had unfortunately skied the ball almost unmarked, where I thought that could have been the go ahead goal to put us up one nothing. ⁓ but yeah, again, Nico skied the ball and ⁓ unfortunately it was through the fact that he was leaning too far back and just couldn't get his foot above the ball. ⁓ it's moments like that where I think Oseni has a great ability to impact the game off the bench as a late late sub ⁓ on the right hand side because I I do believe firmly that Paul Marie in the first sixty minutes of a game as he showed versus Houston Dynamo that he he has the capacity and skill and talent to, you know, push this team forward and to to press high and and really be a good fluid piece of this this this tactic that that Bruce Arena has has just concocted for maybe maybe just this game and and and or future games. ⁓ and and it's it's the energy from Paul Marie that we had seen that you don't necessarily see from any other players, especially first team players in the last three or four games that I was really impressed with. and yeah, as you stated, you know, Oseni Buddha just it just felt like the wrong choice centrally. And he didn't connect well with our midfield quad quadro Quartet. ⁓ yeah, quartet. He didn't really connect very well with with Buddha, Bo or not Buddha, ⁓ Nico, Bo, or even Lovin, because obviously Viera's too far back to to make those connections. But ⁓ in in moments like like those, you can also see like, you know, one touch passing. ⁓ From our midfielders to our forwards back to our mids and and they can generate their own opportunity on net. And we didn't necessarily see that. I I I think Buddha has great off the ball skill, but when it comes to on the ball skill, it seems like, you know, it's it's almost Adam John esque. I don't know if you remember Adam John or if anyone listening or watching. ⁓ his nickname was Pillow Feet, and he did a good job with keeping the ball close, but you know, it it it kinda like his ability kind of just stagnated beyond or you know, at that. and and his his skill didn't necessarily progress. ⁓ and I think that's kinda where Buddha's at now. He's he's somewhat stagnated and in maybe is uncomfortable in his position. but yeah I think we deserve to see a Jovanovich or in this specific formation ⁓ another Preston Judd appearance. Although I would like to know what you think on on on Preston Judd because In the second half he was subbed on and in my opinion, I don't I don't think he did enough to warrant ⁓ you know ⁓ that that sub in performance. I think Luca would have been a better option as a substitute. What'd you think of of Preston Judd? Yeah, I mean first of all, ⁓ I remember one time we were watching a game, I don't remember what game, ⁓ I might g be misquoting you, but you said something like Yeah, we need somebody like ⁓ Adam John. And I was like, What are you talking about, Devin? 'Cause I know you like the guy. ⁓ but I was like, every time I watched Adam John come on and this is during the gap of of a few years where I didn't watch the Quicks much that I was in high school. ⁓ but when I did, I was like, it was g it was over. Like I I cannot I I I was always felt dread when I saw him come on. I was like, this guy is so tall But he cannot move. It takes him five minutes to cross the penalty box. And I was like, this is ridiculous. Like you can't take off ⁓ you know, whoever it is for for this guy. But ⁓ back to Judd. I am frustrated with his attitude. It seems like ⁓ like you know, I we we we like Preston and ⁓ I don't wanna like pin too much on him, but the more Performances like this persist, the more it feels like he was playing for a contract and now he's safe, and now, you know, it's good. Which isn't the case. And, you know, maybe Preston would tell you differently. You know, maybe he's just like not in the right headspace. In and that's, you know, fair to him. You know, he he'll have a different story. But ⁓ he was playing amazingly this season, and then all of a sudden ⁓ he gets a new contract and then we don't see the same amount of effort. And this is quantifiable. This isn't like, hey, I don't feel like you're trying hard enough and I'm sitting here watching f like from my couch. This is like there's a ball played in and I see you just like sigh and just you know, look at it go somewhere else. This happens at least once twice a game. Like he's just like fed up with all of it. And I understand. I'm also frustrated with the situation at the club. You're not helping. You're actually, you know, somebody in a position that could help us win a game or two. And you're just like you can't be bothered. and I'm not saying like ⁓ he's not ever trying at all. I s I see him make runs, I see him trying and battle for the ball. But I also see him get yellow cards and get ⁓ sent off for Cali Classicos. because he's arguing with a referee a about a player that didn't involve him. ⁓ I see him like I said, when the ball's played into him, he just kind of if it's not inch perfect, throws his arms up, doesn't run for it. And those situations are too common for somebody who has only just started to get their career you know up and running and just started to get noticed. Just finally got eleven goals f for the first time in his career about twenty six years old, twenty seven maybe, ⁓ got double digits in the season. ⁓ you know, he was playing for SKC two not that long ago. He was playing for ⁓ Los Angeles two, like in in MLS X Pro not that long ago. And he wasn't getting opportunities at LA Galaxy. We took a punt on him, and a lot of the fan base was very upset. Devin, I know you were one of them, like we don't want Galaxy players here. Don't don't shrug, that's what happened. ⁓ I have the receipts. You those true no in all caps is what is what happened. And we all changed our mind on him because he he earned that, right? and so that's why it's it's really frustrating to see that it's not be like he's not failing because of only like everyone else is failing him. He's also just like looks like he's done. He he looks like he doesn't want to be on the pitch. When he comes off, he looks like he's pissed. But it's like you weren't doing anything on there to to show us that you want us the owner that we should keep you on. ⁓ he it's just his attitude is is all over the place and it it's not good. And I like I'll let you go in a second, but it's it's not like Luka Jovanovich just showed like, ⁓ you know, he's clearly the starter and and we need him on the pitch, but we're like we we need, you know, to to see what he could do. We need to to to broaden our horizons of what we we what we have at the club because we haven't seen everything from Luca. And the reason that like we're keen to give him those opportunities over Judd is because Judd isn't performing. If Judd's scoring every game, Luca can wait, right? But that's not what's happening. Well to add on to that too, like Preston Judd came on as a substitute. And he acted like he's just been playing for seventy full minutes or however long it took for him to get subbed on. He came on as a substitute and he barely contributed to the game. You would think that if, you know, as a striker, we saw historically of Chris Wondolowski coming on and defending and and not even coming on because Wando started like every game, but you know, defending at every moment and supporting the team and their structure defensively. But it seemed like every time I I had seen Preston anywhere near the ball, it it wasn't necessarily just lazy, but it was just like yeah, I'm I'm on the field and I'm just gonna wait for my next turn. It was almost like a a different version of Joseph Martinez. You know how he was just like kept walking around the field and didn't really contribute much defensively? It was just like that for Preston Judd. And I felt very annoyed watching that because it's not fair to the rest of the players to to behave like that and to not contribute ⁓ defensively to the game and to the team. ⁓ i it just felt very unfair to me to watch Preston kind of behave with such negative mannerisms and his his arms, you you can just tell, like when someone's walking with with poise and and purpose, you have just a certain swagger to you when you walk around. But with Preston it's like his his arms were just limb to the side of his body and it just like very obviously I know there's a lot of things going on outside of of football. You know, with the the whole wedding coming up, he's got a like a baby on the way and the you know, the the dog thing that happened earlier this year. I'm trying to remember Poppy, ⁓ the whole Poppy situation that he also has, you know, the go not the GoFundMe, but the Poppy's promise. ⁓ I know a lot of that has happened over the year. but I I I don't think in a football context that that's excusable for the behavior he's showing on the field. I get it's you know, there's a bunch of external forces going on. in his life. But I think when you get subbed on in the seventieth minute and you still act you you you contribute less than the s the player that you just subbed off or that you subbed on for, there's some red flags there. Yep. A hundred percent. And ⁓ you know, I it sucks to say this about players that have been on the show. ⁓ and I'm I'm definitely cognizant of that. And we appreciate Judd for for being on the show. I think that he has a lot of ability. ⁓ and I think that he would probably agree with what we're saying in terms of ⁓ his performance. You know, we can't speak for what's happening off the pitch. ⁓ I'm sure that is very stressful and ⁓ we we you know always want to see the best for him. but like I said I think he would agree with with what we're saying about how he's actually performing. Like he he also wants to do better. you know and If he can't do it, then he shouldn't do it. I like I don't I don't know how else to put it. Like I understand if there's things out of his control that are are not allowing him to play at his best. ⁓ but th that's not what we're doing here, right? ⁓ I think that we've seen ⁓ a player earlier this season who is a nightmare for defenders. ⁓ not just because he might score on you but he also might like take your boots off. Like he is he's a a nightmare. He might go and piss on the corner flag. Like it it's he he Preston Judd is an MLS caliber striker who can get double digit skulls. He can get more. He could I think he's about fifteen is where is where like I see him at his best. Like fifteen goals a season consistently. But he's not playing consistently. So Yeah, like don't don't get us wrong. Like we're not here trying to intentionally, you know, put put our players down. Like I I think speaking speaking for Abram here potentially, that like we see the capability, we see the potential in these players. And we're we're making these comments knowing full well what they're capable of and what we've seen from them historically for this club, but we're just not seeing it now and we need to call it out. in order for changes to be made. Right. I I that's a hundred percent correct. ⁓ and like I the I I I'm like foreseeing the the feedback to us going on around about Judd and being like, well you can't do what he can do. No I can't, but he can and he's not doing it. ⁓ and I have a show where I talk about what goes on on the pitch and what I'm seeing is that it's not that he can't do it because I know he can but when the time for it to happen comes, he looks pissed about it and doesn't do it. And that's where I'm like, well I'm just watching and saying that that's I don't know where that comes from. And if he's not able to do it, then he's not able to do it. And we're not signing people, you know, for for fun. We we he we're paying him to to play football. And I I I would love to see a you know, late season comeback for Judd, ⁓ which I do think that he can do and I would love to see it not just for the success the success of the club, but also for him personally because it's been a long time coming. He's been fighting really hard to to show everyone that he is an MLS striker. And now he has the opportunity, he has a contract, he has a starting spot. He has to grab that opportunity. And it's been slipping, but it's still there for him. We don't have strikers who are gonna come take it from him. ⁓ I think that he can do it. He just gotta do it. I agree. I agree. And and speaking of players who may have received criticism in in recent performances, ⁓ Angus Gunn finally gets his first clean sheet. ⁓ it may not have technically been up to Angus because there were no shots on target by Houston. So the the critics who were w listening and watching this game or this game, this podcast ⁓ may still be right that Angus is is still you know, he's got a lot to prove. but confidence is confidence and you have to start somewhere. And he finally has a clean sheet to his name in the earthquake's lore. ⁓ you know, did you did you see anything out of ordinary from Angus throughout this game? I have an incident, but I want to know what your thoughts are. ⁓ I'd be curious to hear what you had to say, 'cause like I said, I I was kind of half watching. ⁓ or I would say like sixty percent watching, I guess. but no, nothing from Angus. I thought that the defense played really well. ⁓ the attack looked scared of Muni and Romney looked good. ⁓ nothing bad from Reed of course. but ⁓ Angus ⁓ pretty quiet. Yeah, I agree. I think our defense essentially came up huge and there was there was actually a a moment that I noted here in the forty fourst minute forty force forced? Forty first minute where Bogush had a breakaway opportunity which was squandered by a hustling Romney who cut down the space and blocked Bogush's shot attempt. I'm I'm pretty sure you you remembered that moment, Abram, where you know Romney had made a a ⁓ a ⁓ an impressive run from way behind Bogush to to come in sliding on the shot and ⁓ block an attempt on goal. ⁓ I thought Romney was probably one of the best players on the field. Yeah, it's very interesting. Like I we always knew that he could do this, but he was playing left back. So ye right so so we we've only been kind of dogging on Romney all year because he is not a left back. ⁓ he's played left back in his career but it's only because he is a defender that is left footed. ⁓ so like it it's not the same thing. It's not the same thing. ⁓ he isn't like a ⁓ an MLS caliber left back anymore. ⁓ he is a decent centre back. in the right system that requires the things that Romney is good at doing and he's really good at doing the thing that he's good at doing. ⁓ so I beg that we stop asking him to do things outside of that. ⁓ he can he can run, he can head, he can kick far away. ⁓ sometimes he'll cut in on a defender and score on his weak foot. That's random, but he does do that. So, you know, ⁓ I think it was was it against LA FC he that? I don't remember. ⁓ it might have been. S something like that. Anyways, this is like where you want Romney. He you want him to be in a defensive shape with with support around him, ⁓ with players who can do the progressing for him, ⁓ because he he he's not that guy. He's not a ball playing centre back, he is very much a no nonsense center back, ⁓ where Muni and Roberts both are more capable with their feet. ⁓ and also the the midfielders were dropping in to to help with ⁓ the build out and stuff like that. So this situation ⁓ favored Romney a lot and he definitely is a player who knows what he is capable of and took the opportunity to show it. Yeah, we are big proponents of of or big fans of playing Romney centrally rather than playing at left back. We we know for sure he's he's got the talent to to be a great center back for us and ⁓ I think Having the pairing of of both him, Muni and and ⁓ wow, I'm I'm I'm blanking here. ⁓ he, Muni and Roberts on the same you know, on the field at the same time, I think really benefits and and ex you know, extracts the best out of him. ⁓ but there there was a minute or a moment in the forty eighth minute ⁓ that I wanted to bring up about Angus Gunn, ⁓ where Houston's few chances ⁓ They had a cross into the box. Luckily nothing came of it, but Angus Gunn decided to come out and attempt to punch the ball away. But at the very last second, he retracted that punch. And it seemed like Houston definitely was able to to put a head on the ball. They obviously didn't put the head onto the ball, but they they had the chance to. which I thought was a a shaky moment for Angus Gunn. It seemed like he was he was very confusled with with his decision making. And maybe that's what we've been kind of talking about without openly talking about it, Abram, where he's just so shaky and and it could describe why his reaction time is just always so late because he he may be second guessing himself. And I think that was a moment that I thought kind of I don't know, like it it displayed his hesitance. where he just wanted to punch the ball but then decided against it. But I think that that could have been the chance to end up in the back of our you know in the back of our net. ⁓ did you ⁓ do you remember that? I didn't see that particular chance. ⁓ it was one of the ones that I must have missed. But it is something that I've noticed from him. It's like is he here? Like is he all there? Like does he have a concussion? 'Cause he does weird things. He will get a shot, like, shot directly at him, and then he will stand there The ball will hit him in the body and then he will dive. Like that that's happened once or twice, maybe three times in the time that I I can see him. Yeah, yeah. ⁓ it's weird. ⁓ I I am this is like a genuine question. Not not I'm not gonna ask you a genuine question, but it's a genuine concern. That like, is he a hundred percent because I know that if I had a weird thing and I had a lot of money, ⁓ to go to an MLS club and, you know, stand in net for a bit. I I would st I don't know if I would tell anyone. ⁓ but that's just like really weird ⁓ what's it called? You know, speculation. We're we're not we're not we're not saying that he has anything. We don't know anything, we don't have any information. It's just genuinely weird. ⁓ that's not our normal thing. He you don't get to Premier League by letting the ball hit you in the chest and then you know, like it's happened a few times and it's weird. Weird is a definitely a good way to describe it. ⁓ but yeah, like those types of moments happen I I wanna say even more than three times per game. It's like three or four times where a shot's taken and it takes him about like I don't know, three quarters of a second. To a full second to like make a reaction time. You know, in in in the professional athletic world, usually your reaction times are under point three seconds, around point two, point one eight, something like that, to to really, you know, react to something and and correct a mistake or behavior. ⁓ whether it be in like skiing, formula one, volleyball, any sport that you can name. You have to have quick reaction times. And especially in MLS, as a goalkeeper, you need to have the quickest reaction time on the field. And he just he doesn't have that. I don't know how to describe it because I'm not a goalkeeper. This is the moment where I wish ⁓ Eric, that footy dad, was on the show with us and you know, we can get an opinion out of him and Yeah, I was like third choice keeper on my team. So I I c I have all the expertise we need. Okay, yeah, we can go to you straight to you, Abram. ⁓ but yeah, no, it's just again, like you said, it's it's weird. Any extra thoughts on that? It it is weird because in a shot that goes directly at you, even even an MLS shot, like you put your hands in front of you. And we're not even seeing that. ⁓ he we we see him struggle to get low. Like shots along the ground he has a hard time getting there because he's s so freaking tall. But this is beyond that. Like that that's something like you can explain a little bit, like okay, well he's really tall, it takes time for him for gravity to have an effect on him to get to the ground. ⁓ you know, but this is more than that. It's like i is he hitting it with his chest? Like is that on purpose? Why does he want that? It it it wi so many weird things. ⁓ I'd be curious to talk to ⁓ fans from ⁓ Norwich to see if this is a common occurrence for him. I d Or even Nottingham Forest where he came from. Yeah. Yeah, he only played like once for them, but like still. ⁓ it's it's still something where I'm like There's no way he was doing this and and sometimes the way he plays I think like Are are they not in the championship? Do they not shoot? Like, do they do they not try to score? Because this is the he was a good keeper in the championship. ⁓ we had ⁓ James ⁓ McCleish, ⁓ a friend of the show. I asked him ⁓ his opinion on on Gunn because he's seen him plenty of times in person. ⁓ he was friends with a a season ticket holder at ⁓ at Norwich. ⁓ and he said you know, he he has his moments but he'll definitely he he said that he would be around Daniel's caliber. Like he said that he's not gonna be better than Daniel, he's not gonna be worse, but around Daniel's caliber Daniel could catch balls. Like Daniel was a very competent goalkeeper. ⁓ and whether he could do the same things he did for us over in England, I don't know. But Gunn is just there's there's a really weird thing going on for him. I I I wonder if it's just mental. Maybe he's scared. I don't know. I don't know why he would be scared. It it's really weird. ⁓ but like we said, we're not like here to say anything concrete. We're just speculating with people who watch him every week. ⁓ very glad to see he's got a clean sheet. It was weird or not weird. I understand why they did it, but it was funny to see the team post his picture ⁓ for the clean sheet. And I know that he got one, but like you said, Devin, it wasn't up to him because there wasn't any shots on target. ⁓ and he he made a mistake that almost led to a shot, but ⁓ you know, he soon didn't capitalize. So Again, really weird. ⁓ I hope that it can, you know, be fixed whatever is going on with him. I and I hope that we end up getting a very good keeper out of this because whatever is making him, you know, act that way. and be strange. ⁓ it can have affected him his whole career, and I hope that it's something maybe we're making up. ⁓ because we n we need a good keeper to to finish off the season. Yeah, agreed. We need to have a performance if we were to make playoffs as well. We need a goalkeeper to come in clutch and and right now he's not coming in clutch and we need that to change. ⁓ but as we may have seen in the game, Abram, one of our center backs As we had just talked about, ⁓ you know, I almost said Mitt Romney, but that's we're not getting into politics. Dave Romney had to get substituted out due to concussion protocol. So there is a chance that may he may miss, or actually, I think due to concussion protocol and being subbed out, you have to miss a couple of games. Or at least the next game. I don't I don't remember the rules on that, but ⁓ he was subbed out nonetheless, and you know, as as the replacement, ⁓ Max Floriani has has come onto the field. ⁓ and he actually he looked pretty decent with the the minutes that he's been given this season. I think he's looked pretty good. Abram, did you did you what what are your thoughts on Max Floriani? Does he do you think he fits into the starting eleven mold in this formation? So I d I don't know. ⁓ maybe. It it's I'm leaning yes, but the thing about ⁓ Max Floriani is I've seen him have really good games, I've seen him play well, ⁓ I've seen tackles from him where I'm like, great tackle, ⁓ you know He has a lot of ability. But he does things where it's similar to a gun where I'm like, Why are you doing that? What is what is happening? It's like in FIFA I have this ⁓ So I've been playing my FIFA games on the PS3 and the PS3 controllers are all like thirty years old. So I have this like ⁓ you know aftermarket controller with a dongle to make it wireless. It'll often disconnect And then my player will just like start running in the like whatever direction he was running last and he I can't stop him. Sometimes Max Floriani is doing that on the field in real life. And it's it's like, dude, you're you're good. You're a good centre back. I think that you have the ability to play in this league. But then you do something, you know, that is like what are you how how could that happen? And y that's not something we can afford as a centre back. ⁓ and so I keep wanting to say yes, but I've been burned by Mac Floriani. So I you know you know what I mean? I think I think you could probably relate to this, like I would love to see him be successful 'cause that would obviously culminate in success for us. ⁓ I've I've seen things that I like from him, but then I don't know, something weird happens and it's like Where where did that go? Like where did it come from? Why why'd you do that? Yeah. I'm on the same mindset as you, Abram. I think there's he he does have his you know, his his starting eleven performance, you know, where you're like you're kinda advocating for him to continuously be a a starter in future games to come, but then he also has moments where, you know, he'll like obviously he hasn't done that for us, but it it it seems like he just like kicks the ball into his own net. You know, that that type of egregious error. And then you're like, Maybe the second team is the the best place for you right now until you get better. Like it's it's just it's it's moments like that. Obviously we don't we want all of our players to be at performance of playing for the first team. ⁓ but you want consistency out of center back players and and and the reason why I specified in this specific formation is because I think well you kinda hinted at this, Abram, in that he's way more confident and comfortable in a three man back formation. Whereas in a two man formation, which just with two C Bs, I think he just doesn't perform at an elite level and he seems uncomfortable and doesn't know where or how to distribute the ball once he acquires possession. It it's ⁓ it's the same term as we'll use for gun. It it's it's weird. I'm not sure. It's it's like very moment momentous. Yeah. ⁓ sorry, ⁓ well, you don't know what you have more things. No, no, go for it. Go for it. I mean somebody who played soccer, I didn't play it like a crazy high level or anything, but you can it's it's like very good players lose their head. I've seen some of the best players I ever known. I I've been like, What do you why'd you do that? That's so weird. You're really good and then you just something went wrong. and it it happens often, like weird weird like ⁓ I guess anomalies where Like we're not getting supernatural here or anything, but it's like he has a the ability and I think that like without those mistakes he could be playing regularly for for a lot of MLS teams. I've seen I've seen very good things from him. ⁓ I don't think it's like, ⁓ well I the on the formation sheet it's a four instead of a three. Like I I don't think and obviously it's more complicated than that, but I don't think that he can't play in a back t ⁓ a back four and can only play in a back three. ⁓ you know, there's definitely differences when when you're playing on those, but it's like I think it's it's more egregious in that like it's just very quick lapses of judgment that hit him at very inopportune moments. ⁓ because the mistakes that happen have really tainted him for a lot of Quakes fans. They don't want to see Floriani on the pitch ever again. But if you watch him, you know, for the second team, you watch, you know, the full game for the first team, you see that he has a lot of ability. It it's it's those weird things. I don't think that it's it's necessarily like, ⁓ well I have ⁓ a right back that's closer to me now instead of like, you know, a wing back. Th n obviously there is differences and you know in in in extreme situations I could I could see, you know, a player struggling to adapt to this system, but I think for That's more for midfielders and forwards and wingers who would have a a different you know, a harder time playing in different formations than a center back whose job in in in terms of what your mission statement is remains the exact same. ⁓ you know, maybe you you run wider to receive the ball or like, you know, you look for different players in terms of b ⁓ in terms of the build up, sorry. ⁓ I just I wish it was that easy to classify what the problem is for Floriani. I don't think it's as as simple as, you know, three at the back, four in the back. I think it's really just he wants to show he can do something and ⁓ has actually never done that before at this level and so he can't actually he's never experienced doing it. Like to to to beat a player, you could be you know ⁓ when I'm talking about dribbling, if You can beat players in college a lot easier probably ⁓ when they're pressing you than you can in MLS. ⁓ and so if you're if you see a a player rushing you and then you you go to dribble past him as a center back, that might have been like your bread and butter in college. You might have had no problem doing that every day. All the coaches were like, We love how you step out from the back with the ball. And then you're like, okay, I'm a I'm a center back who can play with the ball at his feet. And then you get to MLS and then you have a welcome to the league moment and it's like, ⁓ well now we've the other team just scored because you messed up. And then you have to psychologically recover from that. And let's be real, there's not a lot of resources to help people do that in the most healthy manner, right? And so I just think it's that where he he thinks that he can do this And isn't really, you know, accounting for the fact that the level has gone up and he has to change the whole way he plays and really work on the the attributes that he has that brought him here rather than you know the the extra thing. Because Romney he he's not gonna dribble nobody, he's not doing stepovers, right? He's not Rodriguez who who has his limits. Rodriguez could do that and was good at it. Not everybody can do those things. ⁓ especially with the big build, it's it's a lot of things. And you know, I'm not saying he'll never get there. ⁓ if Florina, if you're watching the show. You know, I I love to see that in a center back when they can do it, but you have to understand the consequences you know, are are very detrimental. ⁓ if you are not able to do it correctly. So Especially in a club that's so fragile as it is right now. Yeah, exactly. So honestly Your best bet is probably just to play as safe as you freaking can until you are established and and have more experience, ⁓ you know, in MLS and and understand what a professional player at this level can and can't do. ⁓ then you can really gauge ⁓ you know, what you are able to accomplish during a game. ⁓ I think it took Boluru a few a few games before he started dribbling past players, you know. ⁓ Like a while. He would only pass, ⁓ really. He would just kinda get the ball and pass and and we was good at it. Yeah, he he he's very good at it. ⁓ but it took him a while, like almost like we didn't see it really last season. It was this year when he decided, ⁓ well, I'm comfortable now. I can nutmeg people. I actually can do that in this in the at this level. And he's doing it and it doesn't work out every time. Sometimes it it there is mistakes. But You know, the the point is he he eased himself into it and really scoped out what the the situation required of him and what he can do at this level. and you know, some people have a harder time, some people have the misfortune of being centre backs it at when they wanna be, you know, higher up the pitch, but a centre back can't make those kind of risks the way that a midfielder can. ⁓ or a winger. A winger is given license to to do a million stepovers and and trying to be players all the time. ⁓ and their mistakes aren't as, you know, consequent consequential. ⁓ so that's that's where I see it is just like maybe just play it safer. You know, 'cause he he seems like a guy who likes risks. He will he will sly tackle the heck out of somebody. And sometimes it's like, I I don't know, but he he gets it off and he can do it. But, you know, overall I don't know if he should, you know be trying to be a maverick from the back. ⁓ does that make any sense to you at all, Devin? Yeah, I mean th I I'm trying to figure out ways to disagree with you, Abram, 'cause I like every time you ask me like, you know, does this make sense to you? I always say like I agree and I wanna add a little spice every now and then to be like, No, Abram, I don't agree. Actually and here may be some reasons why, but no, like you hit the nail on the head there and I I cannot disagree with you there. I mean that's what our job is, right? I mean not that we want to disagree with each other. We don't we don't want to, but like we we wanna approach it from all angles and I appreciate that, you know, you make an attempt to do that, but ⁓ if if something's happening and it shouldn't be happening or something shouldn't be happening and you know, it like we we've gotta call it how it is, as best as we can. We d we're not always correct. But ⁓ if we're both in agreement on something and then we can see it and we're not even like you know, professional analyst or anything, then, you know, somebody's gotta be taking a look at these things. and I mean we have we're the ones with the microphones. That's the only difference. Speaking of taking a look at things, Abram, ⁓ as this would you know, as this podcast gets published, ⁓ you know, later on in the week we will be facing Austin FC upcoming. what do you expect to see as an away game from the earthquakes? in terms of formations, you know, who who may start where and, you know, what what outcome you may expect out of out of Austin, who's who's still struggling at the bottom of the table. I mean, I think that Bruce likes to play the hot hand. I think that if something works for him, he'll do it again. so I wouldn't be surprised to see this same formation be utilized again. obviously with some adjustments, ⁓ you can't play Romney, you gotta do something else. And I'm not sure if he would be too happy with Buddha's performance, but coach in, coach out They like to play Buddha at Striker. I don't get why. But they keep doing it. Three coaches have been like Buddha's the striker and I don't get it. ⁓ Luci ⁓ was it Covello? No no no. Covello was ⁓ Lucci. ⁓ it was Luci, then it was ⁓ Ian Russell, then it was Bruce. They all like they like Buddha Striker. I don't get why, but they do. ⁓ So I can't say like, okay, well this performance didn't, you know, culminate in anything good for him. They're gonna switch him out. ⁓ that's what I would think that they would do, but obviously not. So ⁓ I would like to see Luka Jovanovich given a chance, ⁓ first forty five because ⁓ we need to see more from him. And he played really well, ⁓ I I forget who the opponent was Minnesota. I thought he played really well. I liked him. ⁓ And I think this formation suits him, ⁓ just his positional play and being a very aggressive striker and also having a ⁓ tendency to, you know, hold up the ball, bringing his ⁓ midfielders into play. ⁓ that's what I'd like to see. ⁓ this is a really good opportunity to get a win. We haven't had one in a while, but ⁓ I'm not really too confident as of right now, to be honest. So, you know, an another draw wouldn't be the worst result, but it would be disappointing. But I I just I I don't feel good enough in the team right now to say that we can get a win here, even though they're s ⁓ struggling. Yeah. I again it as as Bruce loves to reiterate, it's MLS. And even the worst teams are not guaranteed to lose every game. You know, they they will often beat better teams in the league, ⁓ in whether it be the east or west, in in just, you know, for example the the supportershield standings, you know. a a twenty fifth place team may beat second place on an you know, a consistent basis. Remember like twenty eighteen, how we were the worst team in the league and yet we we had beaten ⁓ Minnesota and Dallas pretty consistently. They may not have been the best teams in the league, but you know, f for some reason, you know, we we had their number. ⁓ but the the same thing as you just said may may result in in Austin's benefit. ⁓ that said, I I do agree with you. I think we need to see more out of Luca and it's not like He's been playing poorly. It's it's more of we've enjoyed what we've seen out of Lucas. We d we hope to see more of it as a starting roller because I think he and Paul Marie had a really good not good performance, but th it looked like they played well together and they were able to find each other in open space. It's just kind of unfortunate that they weren't able to find the back of the net. ⁓ but but things like that, like if Paul Marie has good performances, as we saw out of Houston, I think that can carry over into a great partnership with he and Luca. Because it just seems like he and Luca work work pretty well together. And and I think, you know, despite Luca's height, he's he he seems to be the primary recipient or th the the starting caliber player as a recipient of Marie and and Ricketts or even Timo's crosses or passes. I think he has the quality to finish. ⁓ and I think he also works well with the midfielders, with Nico and and especially, you know, potentially Luvin. We we haven't seen those two play together yet on the field per nine. ⁓ but it just you you can tell a vibe in the the playstyle of a player that may mesh well with another player who has also a good playstyle. And I think he, as in as in Luca, Nico and Luvin with Bo may get along pretty well essentially. And that I think that's just my prediction. I would love to see more of Luven ⁓ potentially starting since, you know, Judge's just been out of it. and and Buddha hasn't necessarily been cutting it as the score line still says zero at the end of the match against Houston. ⁓ you know, if we're if we're giving people time to experiment, let's experiment with with Luca and then kinda s l let's keep the same formation. I liked I like the players that were prov you know, that that had played in the first First half and majority the second half. ⁓ let's keep it going. But yeah, let's let's have let's have Buddha start on the bench and then and then sub in for Paul Marie probably in like the the sixty fifth, seventieth minute where where we can see the best out of him. Yeah. ⁓ I mean I I like Buddha. I don't think that this formation suits him. ⁓ I think he's an out and out winger. ⁓ specifically on the left, 'cause one of his best things is shooting. ⁓ so, you know, cutting in on his right foot w is a big deal and him not being able to do that from the right is th you know that makes sense. and he's obviously not the most defensively inclined. He will run, but just if you don't know how to defend, you don't ⁓ y you coaches can try and teach you, but it's like it is a skill. it's not just like ⁓ go defend. It's like you have to know how where to be the whole a whole bunch of things. We don't have time to cover all the nuances ⁓ and I'm not a professional coach or anything like that. So ⁓ yeah. ⁓ that's gonna be a fun one. I'm I'm really hoping for a win because we would really need that. It's it's surprising that we're still in fourth at the time of recording, I believe. but ⁓ we will be back next week to talk more quicks with you guys. ⁓ we did reach out to the you know, the people at BFC to comment on the GW situation. ⁓ they haven't gotten back to us yet, but ⁓ stay tuned for that, hopefully. so we will be like I said, we'll be back to cover the ⁓ game against Austin, but until then, GW out. GW out.