Latest / Tectonic Takes / Episode 156: Change On The Horizon

Transcript

Episode 156: Change On The Horizon · Tectonic Takes

• speaker-0: Welcome back Quicks fans, we're here with another episode of Tectonic Takes. I'm here joined by my good friend Devin. Devin, how you doing today? speaker-1: I'm doing great, I'm doing great, here to talk quick. speaker-0: Yeah, I'm excited. Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. thought you were done. Oh, no, no, no. speaker-1: I am done. Sometimes I just finish with the word ⁓ for some reason. speaker-0: It's been a minute since we've been able to talk quakes We we planned to we were on the call and then we had some technical difficulties. It was on the day where You know Amazon stuff. There's a bunch of technical issues. We're not gonna get into it mostly because I don't truly understand it myself, but ⁓ No technical issues today. We're all good so far ⁓ But real quick, we're going to touch on the Austin game where we did end up coming back and winning 2 to 1. Great result. We won't go too much on it because of how much time has passed to this point. But Devin, do you remember ⁓ the emotions you felt during this game? speaker-1: I remember the emotion I felt during the Niko goal. However, I don't really remember too much emotion during that game. was just kind of thinking about, you know, the people I was with, I was receiving updates regarding other teams games and everything was going against us. So I was like, ⁓ you know what? It's over. As long as we win this game in front of us, that's what matters. I want the wind pin at the end of the day. ⁓ Sure enough, we ended up getting the win. So was very, very satisfied with our team's performance as well. ⁓ But I know despite everything that we had, we didn't make playoffs, so it was more of like a mixed feeling heading and walking back to the car. speaker-0: Yeah, definitely. think that one thing that was frustrating for me is that we, you know, had a better goal difference than RSO. But just with the way the league is and, you know, it's kind of one of those weird things where it's we don't count the goal differences when we're doing tiebreakers. It's wins. I think they have more wins than us. And so that put them ahead of us just by a hair. And that's just like a frustrating thing about being a Quicks fan because in some metrics we had a better season than them, but ⁓ They are the ones in the playoff. I don't know if they're still in playoff i'm not really keeping up with ⁓ A non-quake soccer as much as probably ivan is I don't know if you are devin, but ⁓ yeah disappointing nevertheless speaker-1: No, I'm definitely not keeping up with MLS Cup playoffs. ⁓ For the most part, I think there's moments here and there. I really do wish Philadelphia would finally get their hands on a trophy. ⁓ That's the only team I would probably watch if they make it to semifinals and finals. But other than that, kind of staying out of tune from that. I got a bunch of other projects and school going on. ⁓ Yeah, I think it's nice looking at an ⁓ outsider perspective, though, in terms of You know, how the earthquakes fared at the end of the season. It must be nice for a neutral, not earthquake fan, but like a neutral fan for MLS. Watching all these teams walking into decision day with like four five different teams competing for two spots. That's entertainment. That's peak entertainment. And the unfortunate thing is the earthquake fans are always the blunt of the, you know, the brunt of the bad news. ⁓ Every single time, I feel like. And it's about time that if, you know, it's... things come our way. ⁓ At some point in the future, not saying it's about time now, but at some point in the future, it's gonna have to, the tides will turn. speaker-0: You know, and we're still waiting for that because as of recording today, it was announced by Tom Bogart that ⁓ Christian Espinoza is officially a free agent and Obviously, that is a huge blow. ⁓ the club has yet to announce anything there They've just posted like a a short on youtube a youtube short about espinoza and we're like dude Stop because the ones of us paying attention, ⁓ that you know that hurts because he is ⁓ For me, ⁓ know, on the Mount Rushmore of Quakes players of all time, ⁓ obviously incredibly influential to everything that all the success that we've been able to have has been in large part due to Espinoza and what he's been able to do for us. Devin, how did this news hit you? speaker-1: I think like most Earthquakes fans in our Discord server, the initial moment of frustration and just the venting of disapproval with everything that we've seen collectively in the offseason thus far, but sticking to Espinoza specifically, you don't want to see your best Earthquakes player, apart from Daniel, leave the San Jose Earthquakes. This guy is the heart of our team ever since Wando retired. Christian Espinoza has stood up on his own mantle and taken control of the team with his own strings as a puppeteer. You know, this is the team that he's bled for, that he's died for, and he hasn't died, but obviously, you know, he would die for this team. Emotionally, anyway. ⁓ But to see that we haven't picked up his contract is very disappointing. ⁓ I mean, what are your thoughts on this, Abram? speaker-0: Yeah, you know, obviously my my thoughts and my feelings are negative I think that Out of all the players that I would choose to keep like if we're like, okay every player on the roster getting wiped We keep one player. I think Christian Espinoza might be the number one guy I'll pick You know, I I I like Niko Chacaraz. I like a lot of players at a club, but you know, Espinoza is that guy either captain. He's a big deal ⁓ But I do want to provide some context for people who might not be as plugged in to the news as we are. Tom Booger announced today that basically their standard earthquakes are not going to exercise Christian Espinosa's option for the year 2026, which was that that option was agreed upon the year prior, if I remember correctly. So basically how that worked is like in 2024, they decided, hey, If we if we you're get this this this amount of money for 2025 and then if we so choose to uh exercise your option, then you'll get paid this much in 2026 and what the team has decided is basically They didn't like that number that they had offered him uh back in 2024 and they were going to Let his contract run out decline that option to extend it and then send him a whole new deal, right? And so that's what they've done this they've given him ⁓ a contract offer ⁓ But the the thing about that is that there's no guarantee at all that he will choose the earthquakes ⁓ in fact, we have some some whispering that it's already pretty much confirmed that he's not but For for people in denial out there. There is still a chance However slight but the earthquakes have offered a Christian has been also a bona fide deal for ⁓ We let that expire. ⁓ and then we have a lot of whisperings. ⁓ we'll just say it right now, right? Rodriguez said to be gone. Daniel said to be gone. ⁓ Chichua is flirting with other clubs. Nothing confirmed there, but you know, it's not looking good. ⁓ and obviously Hernán López confirmed to not be coming back until 2027. ⁓ Bruce said that, ⁓ that's three DPs not at the club. And a lot of players that we would have said are, you know, some of our So the player that make up the core of this team, how are you feeling with all this change? ⁓ speaker-1: right off the bat. mean that's a lot of internationals. A lot of internationals. And I know that you know Earthquakes fans may be like ⁓ well we're getting rid of all these players and maybe there's a chance we can bring in a ton more players. I mean let's face the facts here. Look at our transfer budget. Historically we haven't received anything of significance so replacing all those players, whom by the way I know you would agree with this Abram, are probably the best players that we have on the roster right now. the ones that we're actively getting rid of were the most important players of I want to say 2023, 2024, 2025 season, despite Chicho and Joseph coming in this season. Those are really hard players to replace and a lot of players to replace despite the fact that we don't have and we have never received much transfer funds. That to me is what's so worrisome about this. I think we've mentioned on previous podcast episodes, we definitely mentioned on previous podcast episodes that there is a player discomfort with ⁓ Bruce Arena. ⁓ And I know, you know, there's just a lot of speculation out there, but for sure, it just doesn't feel right. I think a lot of players are upset and they'd want to find a new home, you know, somewhere where they feel more comfortable. And these top playing players, want to win something. They don't know if they can win here in San Jose ⁓ with John Fisher at the helm and either Fisher and or Bruce Arena. ⁓ So I can't personally blame any of the players that want to leave and find success elsewhere. You know that we saw that with a ton of San Jose Sharks players. They Brent Burns and Carlson and Pavelski, all those good guys, Timo Meire collectively left to join other teams where they may find success and shows trophies elsewhere. And it seems like San Jose Earthquakes players are doing the same, ⁓ in addition to the sentiment against Bruce Arena. ⁓ Finding replacements for those, it's incredibly difficult. And I think that there are really good free agents coming up in the transfer market and window and even international window that maybe we can pick up here and there. know Timo Werner's got some sites, he's looking for a new club. and whatnot. again, those are really hard replacements. We also lost Pellegrino ⁓ this summer and he's now thriving in San Diego. You know, we've also not entirely lost Verhoeven, even though he's been injured for a while. He'd be a great left back or at least ⁓ substitute for the earthquakes ⁓ with his success and his age and whatnot. ⁓ I know, you know, there's a possibility that Niko could be on his way up. That's a lot of players. That's a lot of players. So, I don't know, this off season's gonna be strange and crazy, man. speaker-0: Yeah, and obviously there is precedent with us having crazy offseason under Bruce arena where we did bring in a lot of players We did get rid of a lot of players. But like you said Devon, this is not just like any You know regular job. This is We gutted this team the year prior we replaced them with some pretty good, you know quality players Ian Harks You know that the likes of Ian Harks and and Dwan Jones great great acquisitions ⁓ And then we have a much better base. We do a lot better this season than the year prior and then we get rid of every Player that makes this club special Right. So so Christian Espinoza Joseph Martinez Chicharango Daniel ⁓ You could put Rodriguez in there, but he hadn't been in great form lately. So those four players that I mentioned are like the best players at the club like Those are the DPS of players making big money and they're the reason why ⁓ So it's crazy to try to make their replacement now we do If she sure one go does go which it looking like it is but there's no news on that, right? So we're not gonna sit here and tell you that he's gone But it let's let's assume he is for the sake of this We have three DP slots according to Bruce arena because he said that I don't know because we have his ewe slot for 2026 It's hard to fill 3dp slots. ⁓ I I've heard from sources that ⁓ We tried to bring in players for the summer ⁓ That was something that we were trying to do wasn't like we just sat back on our laurels and just like we don't need any more reinforcements The fans could tell that we needed stuff the coaches could also tell right and What the what I heard is that they said that? The summer chef for window was interesting ⁓ And so that to me says that they had ⁓ a great difficulty convincing players to come And join this team for whatever reason I I wouldn't be able to speculate on why that is but ⁓ You know, it's it's a huge ask to you know, ask a club like us to bring in three DP players in one window especially after the season that we had ⁓ I'm not sure if it's feasible ⁓ maybe 1 DP? but that being said we did bring in Joseph Martinez and Tito Arango in the same window and nobody thought that could be done right? so it's really up in the air but I'm not optimistic at this point in time speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, mind you, Josef Martinez and Chicho Arango, I mean, Chicho Arango wasn't a free agent, he almost, like, given the circumstance of how we acquired him, it almost felt like he was a free agent. He was let go for cheap. ⁓ And then Josef Martinez was a free agent. we didn't, I don't think we spent any money, like any actual money on those players. We spent gam for Chicho and then just picked Josef up on a free. That's the state of the San Jose Earthquakes. That's the state of the earthquakes. have to rely on GAM and low transfer funds to make these moves possible. That's how we got Jeremy Obobacy. We got Jeremy Obobacy via GAM. Like, we don't actually pay lots of money for our top players. Hernán López Muñoz is our record transfer fee. It could have been Brandon Vásquez, but Austin beat us to it. That's what we rely on. And I'm not confident at all that we will make anything possible. And like you said, we're at 3 DPs. I want to make mention that I don't know if there's an MLS team out there in any given season since the David Beckham rule the DP rule ⁓ came into play I Genuinely don't know if there's been an MLS team that has let go all three of their DPs in one season maybe Toronto maybe Toronto FC ⁓ Given the the two Italian players who seem to be stirring up some some shy ⁓ But that's about it. I don't think there's another MLS team out there who's gotten rid of all three of their DPs. I'm worried. But also, in a sense, with new potential ownership coming in, if they want to spend money in the transfer window to really get things going and get fans excited before they start building infrastructure and picking up the pieces that John Fischer left behind. maybe there's a chance of excitement that a lot of Earthquakes fans are interested in. It's so tough to me to want to, and I'm just saying this kind of as like a fan, not even as someone on a podcast. It's just, it's so tough to think about wanting to walk to PayPal Park from the parking lot or from just driving from your house to PayPal Park to watch a Santa's Earthquakes game. When you know that there's no apart personally from Bo LaRue and Ian Harks and maybe one or two others here and there who've been really representative of the earthquakes. But you walk into the PayPal park with no players and no familiarity with names on the back of the jerseys, you gotta give us a reason to wanna come back to PayPal park. You know what I mean? And just throwing all that away instantly is very troublesome. Yeah, it's tough. It's really tough. speaker-0: And you know, the big thing is that that's really driving the negative outlook on these departures is that so far there are no transfer fees for any of these players. Sure, we do get their wages back and that's great. That is money in the bank that we wouldn't have if we kept them. But we also don't have those players and we don't get any transfer fee for them. ⁓ Chicharangua might be the only one to go for a fee and you know if we can get we we paid like one point something 1.2 1.4 million That's a very cheap if we can get a profit on Chicharangua. That would be really good But you know even say say three million for Chicharangua. That's like 1.9 1.8 1.8. I was like, what's the number between 7 and 9? ⁓ I had a brain fire, but that's 1.8 million of profit Where that's not gonna get us that much in terms of ⁓ a transfer and when we're talking about DPS, right? ⁓ The fact that we got you show for the press we did was because he had a scandal and we're not gonna like Say like anything that happened because it's all alleged and we don't want to get sued but you know, it's it's It's not like every day that we can pick up players at that quality for that price, right? So it's definitely concerning. speaker-1: Yeah, exactly. And I think there's another 1.8 that we can talk about and that's Christian Espinoza's salary. He was getting paid 1.8 mil for, you know, for the contract that he signed and that's a really low number for a very high profile player who's basically the Earthquakes' only appearance in the MLS All-Star game since Cade Cowell. And even then I kind of felt like Cade Cowell is more of like a... ⁓ Because he played at PayPal Park, believe. No, he didn't because that was 2016. He wasn't speaker-0: But like we love Kate but he wouldn't have gotten that Call up to the altar team if he wasn't 17 years old at the time Right, like if he if he was like 25 nobody would notice that his performances were that outstanding He was doing well, but it was like, okay pretty good, but he was 17. So I was like, okay, this is crazy speaker-1: Yeah, exactly. And then the last time we had a player represent us on the MLS All-Star game, that was Wando with, you know, going up against Frank Lampard and you saw the videos come out of that. It's baffling that we aren't willing, almost aren't willing to pay SB knows them more. Like enough to a point where SB is like, sure, will 100 % no doubt sign this contract because you're paying me my worth. There are so many MLS clubs out there. Including international teams who would be willing to pick up someone of Espinoza's caliber and this is what worries me the most for the offseason I'm not trying to to just bring up all this like anxiety within the fans watching this but it's something to consider that Espinoza has a very high worth and if the earthquakes aren't willing to pay that Yes, we will see Espinoza walk like officially ⁓ We need to pay the players who've given us our name and put us through all that they can give us. ⁓ Their worth. I think, you know, there was talk about this in our Quakes talk and Discord. LAFC is looking for a right-winger DP. know, Espinoza fits that mold. There could be a chance that Espinoza goes to LAFC. I don't think it's gonna happen. But there could be a chance that he goes to another team where they actually pay him his worth. you know, maybe with new ownership we can see something change in that. ⁓ But if we don't pay our top players, our league's best performers, then I don't see how we can recruit other players from other leagues and other teams because there is viable evidence right in front of everyone's faces that says this team doesn't support the players the way they should. And, you know, even with that, the lack of infrastructure that we have, the physical infrastructure and the lack of moral support with the players, you know, whether it be true or even, you know, slightly miscalculated, it's, the evidence is still there and we need to do something, not we as in like our media team, but we as in the club need to change that outcome. speaker-0: I can't do anything. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: ⁓ no, I fully agree. think that president matters. ⁓ I think that it's kind of an undervalued thing of like, ⁓ well, we'll just do something different. people are watching, they'll pay attention. If somebody is going to uproot their whole family and move to a club, they're going to be looking at like, what, what's this club about? And these are the kinds of things that define, ⁓ what a club is about. ⁓ Espinoza is almost as big to this club as Wanda. uh... you know uh... not not a hundred percent because one does the the greatest score in the league history he's up there heat for me to number two for other people uh... shay's leanest whatever you want to say he he is huge and he's the the number one guy that we have right now and he is the guy who is putting up the numbers that are better than anyone else in the league uh... you know what chances created crosses completed all these kind of things And so you telling me that like Inter Miami is not going to look at this guy who's a free agent and be like, well, maybe he would take a pay cut to come play with Messi. Right. And then we can get him on ⁓ a cheeky non DP deal because we seem to get everyone for free. Right. So. You know, this is a really big missed opportunity. I don't think that. Don't know if they're like, okay, we need to move on from Espinosa because he's on the wrong side of 30 and ⁓ his ⁓ his performances started to ⁓ you know trend downward ⁓ near the end of the season or if it's like they're they're taking him for granted and assuming that he will take the new deal offered to him, but you know, whenever I talked to ⁓ Another journalist or another content creator friend from another team Espinoza is a guy where they were like I would love to have that, you know, somebody who's gonna work hard Who's gonna put up the numbers who's going to perform? ⁓ And the fact that you know, like you said there and this is ⁓ he is the guy that you want to pay the big money to and if we're not paying the big money to him Who is it going to you know? ⁓ And so yeah, obviously very disappointing ⁓ But I want to lighten the mood a little bit. I want to go back to the ⁓ Austin game I said we talked about it ⁓ So yeah a comeback victory two to one ⁓ The first goal that ⁓ Owen Wolf scored, Owen Wolf seems to always have a really good game against us but For me ⁓ Austin had a really poor game. This was a poor showing from Austin one of the only shots that they had Was a deflected shot off of Jamar Ricketts who you know his job is to get in the way I don't blame him for that at all. I don't think anyone should be looking at him Be like, ⁓ Jamar. Why'd you do that? You know, like he's he's you know He might not be at the left left back position But he is drifting in and if he's just like a few inches more to the right then he blocked that shot, but unfortunately the way the way luck goes it bounces off his back and ends up in the back of the net because there's nothing really the keeper can do in that spot when it's just the ball changes trajectory so fast. Devin, any thoughts on that goal? speaker-1: think you covered most of it, to be honest. It's just an unfortunate trajectory, unfortunate deflection, and it gets past the goalkeeper. Really nothing you can do in those scenarios. I've been playing Sunday League for the last five, six weeks, just things happen. It deflects and it hits the back of the net, and you're like, well, what can you do? After all, these are professional players. They're looking to block anything that they can. ⁓ things just don't go our way and sometimes things do go our way. If we're Austin fans, we'd be celebrating this moment right now. So ⁓ yeah, unfortunate that, you know, it goes off Jamar Ricketts. I hope it doesn't affect his ego for next season or his performances. ⁓ He's been a promising player all season. Not many of our fans or even analysts expected a impressive Jamar performance or even to score the first goal of the season. So to even have him on the field, getting assists a couple weeks prior to that, think, even maybe the week before, I can't exactly remember when he got that assist on the cross. ⁓ But yeah, know, things happen. Bounce back the next season, next week, whatever it may be. ⁓ Shake your head and carry yourself forward. speaker-0: Yeah, and I want to say that I I saw Jamar I knew that he was gonna have a word of play because I he's a very talented player and I don't see this As you know something that should be counted against him I did see a lot of people online who were annoyed at him for that But I guess that you can be kind of chalked up to you know He does a moment and more upset about the situation rather than at him But unfortunately that kind of thing is gonna get directed at him ⁓ ⁓ Next goal we get the equalizer ⁓ This is a goal from Jose Martinez who gets a header off a jack scan cross. I want to talk about like those great Yeah, it's a great header ⁓ fantastic from scan to get on the pitch and and do that and it's a hockey assist for Nico who ⁓ Played the ball out wide to to scan so that's that's great for Nico, but I want to talk about scan in general because I know if he has a contract next season. That kind of thing is harder to gauge for players of Scan's caliber who are kind of like fringe squad players. But in 54 minutes of play across the entire season, I think five appearances, 54 minutes, he has two assists. What do you make of that, Evan? I feel like that's really good value that we have to kind of, we're always saying this, we got to bring it back. speaker-1: You know, two assists and a goal in US Open Cup to win us the game, I think, in Portland, not in Portland, but versus Portland. So adding those minutes to on top of that, so one goal and two assists, that's that's pretty good for the minimal numbers that he has. And I remember that in a press conference, Bruce Serena admitted to liking Jack's game. And I thought it was weird that he didn't get as many minutes as as he received in that season, despite him being liked by Bruce Serena. But, you know, I. Tell me if I'm wrong on this assessment. But I kind of consider him as a Daniel Mussovsky of the San Jose earthquakes when he played here anyway. you know, prior to his Seattle stint, because I know he's been he's been looking impressive in Seattle and somewhat for RSL when he played for them too. I think it was RSL, that or Colorado, ⁓ shaking your head no. Yeah. speaker-0: as well. speaker-1: So anyways, yeah, he's kind of reminds me of the Daniel Musavsky doesn't give any minutes But when when he's given the chance he performs really well ⁓ And it looks to impress every single time. I really like Jack scan. I would love him To play more number one and number two to you know, be a super sub just like he's been consistently for us ⁓ As I say consistently is only one goal to assist but the time he's played he's made a difference ⁓ I would like to see him get more minutes for the team and contribute to a team, whether it be for us or for not. If he doesn't have a contract at end of the season, I would love to see a club pick him up because he deserves it. ⁓ His work ethic is astounding ⁓ in a good way. I love his character off the field, know, talking to him kind of behind the fence has been, you know, great. ⁓ He deserves to play minutes and to be, you know, to be a part of an MLS club that can utilize him the way he deserves. ⁓ kind of like the way he was utilized here. just, think he deserves a little more than he was given. speaker-0: Yeah, he's kind of like a utility player and it's really impressive the the amount that we've been able to get out of him But because like we've talked about scan, right? We know that he has weaknesses. He has things about his game that aren't like 100 % what do you expect from from a player? That's gonna you know change a game, but the things that he does well he does phenomenally and Like he his assist to Joseph early in the season was like he got another assist to Joseph a left footed cross from the left side. ⁓ That's what you want. Like he just comes in and I also want to touch on the fact that 54 minutes in the MLS across five games or so. So it's not like he played consecutively for 54 minutes. That's so ⁓ chopped up. That's like an average of ⁓ like just over 10 minutes per game. That's so little time to do anything with. Yet he he's managing to do stuff and this isn't the first time he the reason he's still here is because he manages to to pump value into every single minute that he plays he makes it count and You know, like you said Devon ⁓ even if we don't bring him back just because of the value that he brings it it I would also be happy to to see him play for another club and Hopefully be valued more there I want him to be on a team where they appreciate him. Even if he goes to like USL and becomes like a star at one of their teams, that would be great too. I wouldn't mind that. I just want to see JaxGan do well because he deserves it. Yeah, great assist from him, super happy. But I don't think anyone is happier for this next guy that I want to talk about than you, Devin. Biggest NikoScaris fan I know, other than myself. I mean, he's NikoScaris fan, so I'm saying a lot. ⁓ speaker-1: That's a challenge. I'm challenging on that one. speaker-0: I I'm saying that you're the biggest one. I am also a Nikita Karras fan, you're probably more You're probably number one out of number two speaker-1: Yeah. Oh, God. All right. Do you want to describe the situation here? speaker-0: Sure, yeah, it's a goal. No, it's a free kick. ⁓ Probably about 20 to 25 yards. ⁓ It's not an angle where you'd be like, okay, we're going to 100 % score, right? Like it's a difficult one, ⁓ but it's obviously for a left footed player, in my opinion. ⁓ And Bruce said, That when he saw the position the free kick was in he said that Niko has to take this ⁓ And Christian Espinoza was kind enough where he he gets to say right in this position He tells Niko that he should take it ⁓ Which is what a leader should do and that's what we're gonna be missing from him. But ⁓ Niko Obviously had done this a few weeks prior in the 20 World Cup. So we knew that he could do it It was a great shot cold inward It could have been a little bit more to the left but nonetheless the keeper cannot get across to To keep it out because of the speed that it comes in So even though he gets a bit of a hand to it just the power, know You can't keep it out of the net and obviously his first ⁓ goal at the MLS level Devin, how happy are you for Niko Scherz in this moment? speaker-1: Dude, it's been over a month anyway. Several weeks from that game and you can still see the beaming smile on my face. There's no player in MLS that deserves the first goal in their career than Niko Sikires because the amount of work, his work ethic is insane. His talent is borderless and just, I don't know. Watching him through any Youth World Cup events and just knowing his character through and throughout all these tournaments and close watched events that you would see scouts want to inquire about him. He's performed throughout all of that and yet somehow he comes back to the San Jose earthquakes in games prior and just wasn't able to make that final difference for, you know, for like the for the score sheet anyway. It is so nice to finally see him put the ball in the back of the net. Of all things on a free kick. I remember that we we as the San Jose Earthquake season take holders, we were invited out to a ⁓ public training event a couple of years ago, whether it be 2021 or 2022. I remember we had to kind of scatter ourselves six feet apart from other fans and At the very end, Nico was one of the very few players to stay out on the field and get coached by Wando. And I believe it was free kick training. It was free kick training or finishing training. And he was working for at least 20 to 30 minutes on that alone. Just him and Wando going back and forth about it. And if there's any coach you want coaching you about finishing training or free kick training, it's going to be Wando, of the best, not even one of the best, the best of all time in MLS. And to kind of see him as a Niko progress and progress and just get so close. I remember, I think it was either early this season or late last season where he just had a couple of really good opportunities to finish and then couldn't quite ⁓ slot it home. To finally see him finish on a free kick of all things was just a moment of magic. Yeah, to win the game. is a moment of pure magic and something that I know that Earthquakes fans will never forget. At least the die-hard ones will never forget. ⁓ God, I'm so happy for Nico and I hope this helps him excel to become more of a starter role next season or even finds a transfer price somewhere in Europe and get sent over there for more successive stints. speaker-0: Yeah, no, mean it's been four years, I think he's 20 now we signed him at 16, I believe uh very we got him very young and immediately he was able to come in and He wasn't obviously like changing games right off the bat But he was he was a player where even at 16 you're like, okay, he he's able to do something right? He he can make a difference He had a lot of players like Cruz Medina, know, ⁓ right now is about 19. Just they're the difference. Some people aren't ready to do it at such a young age as Nico. Nico and Cade coming like right after each other is, you know, insane. That doesn't just happen. It's very special to have somebody like Nico around. ⁓ Yeah. And The the theatrics of scoring a a worldy free kick in the last game of the season to win the game after a comeback You know, you can't really ask very much better than that except you can you can ask to be in the playoffs but ⁓ Obviously, ⁓ we are quakes fan. So is it what we're have to settle for? ⁓ But don't enough about Nico because who knows how much longer he'll be here. I hope that he's here but ⁓ another young midfielder, Boleroo, somebody who we've been begging ⁓ for Bruce to put him on the pitch. And it's almost like he watches the show and heard us because just kind of unexpectedly, he ⁓ put Boleroo into the game. I don't know if you remember because it's been so long, but ⁓ personally, I'll just say a few things that it felt like we were able to breathe. because he was on the pitch. He was able to help us come out from the back and we looked a lot more dangerous with him on the pitch just because he is the guy who is willing to make those diagonal passes ⁓ to the wingers. And even if they fail, the fact that he's doing it just provides that threat in the back of the minds of the opposition of where we can't get too comfortable because this guy might just pick a pass and cut us open. So just his presence and his willingness to do those things and take those risks, that's the kind of player that's going to make a difference in this league and that's why ⁓ Belarus is going to be such a huge player for us. What are your thoughts on? speaker-1: ⁓ first thought is that I think he won the goal of the season award for this, for the earthquakes. ⁓ I know there was a tournament bracket that the club had either on social media. I think it was Instagram. ⁓ and everyone was just voting all, all for the bow goals because every single goal he has scored for us has been a banger outside, outside of the 18, ⁓ full volley, whatever it may be. Like every single goal that Bo has scored is fantastic. And not even just the goals, but kind of like you said, his tenacity, his agility, his dribbling ability. ⁓ And you've watched him ⁓ for Quakes 2, you know, before the Town of Sea was created. Like you were kind of that centerpiece for Tectonic takes and analyzing ⁓ those second team players and building up to become first team players. And Bo Lu Ru was a prominent front runner for to become a San Jose Earthquakes player. Sure enough, he gets the shot and right off the bat, he's already impressive. ⁓ I am excited to see him for next season. He's very dedicated to the San Jose base, very dedicated, kisses the badge. ⁓ You just know where his loyalty lies. I think it's just any team he plays for, he knows what he's playing for and why the fans are... here supporting the team and he wants them to recognize that and that's not something that you really see in many players in the modern era. ⁓ And he has that and I really love the fact that he shows his appreciation for the fans and is very interactive on social media and public spaces and liking ⁓ people's posts and whatnot. Like the social media site. Insane player. Insane player. I he deserves maybe a little bit more for what he's earning right now via contract. hope he gets re-signed for more. ⁓ But Boluru is as an FB ref, is it FB ref? Yeah, as an FB ref, statistical, ⁓ I don't know, seer. Yeah, follower. ⁓ He's got one of the best stats in the league in almost what 70 % of the categories? ⁓ Despite his age, despite the fact that this is his inaugural season for an earth as an earthquake dudes putting up numbers and even if he's not putting up direct impact numbers like goals or assists or whatever he's making the impact by successfully completing lateral passes bringing the ball forward dribbling through you know dribbling through pressure around defense ⁓ maintaining possession of the ball under pressure, etc. Like you just keep listing the traits that Boleru has and how he contributes to the earthquakes. It's an endless list and whatever he may be partnered with, because I know Mack is gone. He sent ⁓ a message on social media on Instagram saying goodbye to the fans. ⁓ So Mack is gone. We're not exactly sure who his partnership will be. in the midfield next season. speaker-0: Mark Anthony speaker-1: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, ⁓ so Mack being on, we're not exactly sure who his midfield partner is, but whoever it may be, I know for sure that they'll be confident with Boli Roo besides them. speaker-0: Yeah, I totally agree with that. I do have to make some corrections not because I love to correct you but because I have to be the the Quicks to expert guy and always have to be right, right? But Leroux didn't actually play for quicks to did play in the Academy for a minute, but he never made it to quicks to he only played for the town because the switch had happened the year before he came and I also want to say that this isn't like a categorical thing but I wouldn't have picked Boleru to be a starter watching his performances at the town. He had some beautiful goals. He did some really good things for them, but there was a lot of moments where I thought that he looked maybe immature. And those moments piqued their head a little bit ⁓ in the MLS play, but ⁓ what he was showing at the MLS Next Pro level was Like he was good, he was scoring some nice goals, was getting good link up play, but it's nothing compared to what he ended up bringing to MLS play. ⁓ His level elevated a lot and so you know obviously got to ⁓ give him props for that. But everything else you said Devin, I 100 % agree. I think that even if you're looking at his defensive stats on our ⁓ FB ref, those are probably the most... ⁓ You know, ⁓ impressive ones even though he's just like really good offensive player who's really ⁓ is ⁓ Very ⁓ integral to how we build up His defensive stats is what you know sets him apart from ⁓ some of the best players in this league i've set him up against ⁓ Just I can't even name all the guys but just some of the best players in his position and he just like He is better than them one at least one aspect of the game ⁓ each like six other players in like a center attacking mid position or like ⁓ Edward Louvin is more of a box-to-box he outperforms each of those like ⁓ elite players in this league at one of ⁓ At one stat just he's so well-rounded. He's not just like a one-way player. He is he does everything Yeah, yeah, like I'm right up there tackling interceptions speaker-1: like a predominant stat too. speaker-0: ⁓ You know ⁓ past distance Running distance very good ⁓ Awesome awesome stuff and he's one of the best at ⁓ non penalty goals. He don't take penalties So all his goals are non penalty goals He's one of the best at that because he has an incredible shot on him on top of everything else So it's kind of like, you know, where was he? Why why wasn't this showing up? ⁓ Because it wasn't like ⁓ he was a good player. He was starting But never in a million years would I have thought that's the guy out on this midfield with Cruz Medina and Edwin Mendoza and uh, was Blancas there at the time? I believe Blancas was there. Yes. Like, I wouldn't have picked Boleru to be the guy who's gonna be the MVP Rookie of the Year this season. speaker-1: know, I find it so funny that you say that because I just did a quick little result search or filter search in our server, specifically in the Quakes 2 chat. ⁓ you know, I appreciate your correction, first and foremost, of him playing for the Town of Sea than Quakes 2. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no. But just looking at it, guess, you know, there were two or three players that were very heavily, ⁓ or three players, three fans that were very heavily... ⁓ speaker-0: It doesn't matter. That's just what we call it. speaker-1: Convinced that he was ready for MLS, you know me being one of them. So ⁓ You know kind of just looking through this and I saw a comment that you just made that Parallel something that you had stated on October 20th of last year Saying I still stand by the feeling or I stand by feeling the fact I don't know why there was so much hype around the Roo when no one had seen him play yet But he's definitely one of the guys I could see playing with the first team. So you could you foresaw this speaker-0: Tell me. speaker-1: You saw this coming. At the end of the season, ⁓ you saw that there is at least an opportunity for him to play for the first team. something that none of us had ever thought would be possible is Boleru not even getting a contract for the first team only days prior to the first, our inaugural game, but to have him start for almost every game since then, have him being such an impactful player. And that just says a lot about his character. And I know we've probably gone about five to 10 minutes on both of you alone, but if he played for any other team, any other analyst group or media team would probably be saying the same thing about both. That's how important he is to us. speaker-0: Yeah, I mean we've talked to other to other Fans about about balleroo and then when he plays them they agree with us, right? Like I had none from WATV Fully agreed with us about what we said about balleroo We made a tick tock about his rant about balleroo and balleroo like that tick tock so like, know, like I kind of feel like we could talk about him for 10 more minutes and people wouldn't be Upset because he is one of the fan favorites this year I am surprised that I said such a strong statement of he is one of the guys ready to go up when I felt that Lalo Blanca is like I was hard on his train as well as Edwin Mendoza but for different reasons Edwin Mendoza is more of a defensive player Lalo is a ⁓ attacking player but Leroux does both now at this level you know and and so that that's very surprising and I was a little bit frustrated when Butler was first started playing for the town and not because I had anything against his play I thought he was a fine player But everyone was like, butler is the best player we have and he should be on the first team and nobody had seen him play Like it was just like a hype thing like oh we like him because of how he is I know that one of the guys Chemical Oreo hadn't seen him play but was just very excited about him, right and and That's totally fine, that's completely fine, but I'm like, I'm an analyst, so I have to find facts behind the hype to talk about it, otherwise I'll lose credibility if I'm just like, ⁓ I like his hair, you know what I mean? So that's where I stand on that, but Baluru has proved me right, but also proved me wrong. Like, just has done so well that like, I could never have foreseen how well he's done. speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, I think that was that was the other guy, ⁓ chemical Oreo, who's who's very adamant about having bulleroo be a first team player. So credit to him, wherever he may be at this time. ⁓ But yeah, like, he's one of the guys that will leave me walking back to PayPal part next season. ⁓ Actually, what I want to do is I want to get a bulleroo jersey and and stick it somewhere on my wall in the back. you whenever I get finished with my little Formula One projects here in the background. yeah, you got some open space right there too. So, um, you know, Beau is one of those guys that will bring me back to PayPal park next season. And, and, and I'm so excited and just looking forward to what he, the potential he has, despite everything that we've seen in 2025, you know, what's in store for 2026 for Beau and, and, you know, I think you and I specifically will be very closely watching him for the season to come and what our team has in store for him because sky is the limit at this point. speaker-0: 100 % agree We're gonna change topic to something more ⁓ bureaucratical more boring, but people will want to hear about it ⁓ There's two topics and hopefully we can get to both of them But I want to start off before we talk about the new league format We need to talk about the potential new owner because Joe Laker was seen at the earthquake game Against Austin ⁓ One of our photographers, I won't say which one But he was taking a picture because he noticed him in his suite and Joe Lake was like, no, he didn't want a picture taken. He didn't take a picture anyways, but whatever. We didn't post that, of course. ⁓ But, you know, obviously that caused a bit of a stir when we found out that he was at the stadium because he could potentially be a new owner. What are your thoughts on that, Dylan? speaker-1: I would love to have Lakeup as an owner for the earthquakes. I mean, just look what he did for the Valkyries this season alone. the impact that Lakeup has on any team that he owns is night and day. You know, before he bought the Warriors or before he got the Warriors, look what they were, you know, they were hardly successful. I mean, give a lot of credit to Stephen Curry for, you know, doing what he does best at his natural element. specifically for the Valkyries. It's been a complete success for them. ⁓ and shout out to Sam Benavides up there doing his digital media thing. ⁓ used to be a Santa's earthquakes, digital media, ⁓ employee. So glad he's glad he's succeeding up there. ⁓ but to have Lake up as a potential owner for the earthquakes, ⁓ with all the rumors swirling around that we may move to downtown or, ⁓ whatever, whatever is out there, ⁓ publicly. ⁓ that we may alternate plans in the future to build a new stadium or have a new roster, whatever it is. ⁓ To see Lake Up kind of be there for any sort of foundational change for this club is exciting. ⁓ But I would like to mention, since we're on this topic, that there are multiple ownership groups out there in attendance versus Austin. you know, Lake Up isn't the only guy in the only piece to that ownership group out there. He's a prominent figure, but there are definitely some major candidates out there that we don't know yet for sure, who may be an owner for the earthquakes. So, you know, we'll keep our eyes peeled. We'll do whatever we can to get as much information on this and update you guys throughout the off season and into the start of next season. ⁓ But yeah, I mean, it's exciting to have someone like, a, you know, just attached. to the San Jose Earthquakes ⁓ kind of rumor, rumor swirl. ⁓ I really hope it happens. It'd be fun to kind of shake his hand and see that whole press conference of, you know, new ownership press conference come in and have him kind of lead it because I would never want to see anyone else at the forefront of that stage than, than like. speaker-0: Yeah, I mean, ⁓ regardless of that, think that ⁓ we do have to temper expectations and realize that, ⁓ you know, anyone can, by the way, ⁓ there is a strong push from the people at the club ⁓ to keep the club in San Jose. That's a priority for them. ⁓ That's what I heard anyways. ⁓ But ⁓ I will say that, you know, inviting a new ownership is inherently inviting change. And if you don't want change, then you don't want new ownership. Right. So if you want things to change, you got to be OK when things start changing. ⁓ And some of those things won't be great. ⁓ But I think overall, ⁓ you know, we should be in a better position than John Fisher has put us in. So, ⁓ you know. With that I think that we we could be pretty confident about ⁓ You know at least going up and especially when you look at the the average salary and the NBA that Lake up has to put up for his ⁓ Warriors that doesn't that is warped in comparison that dwarfs the MLS salary average in comparison ⁓ I looked it up and their average player gets like four million a year and that's like a really big DP for us, right? So, ⁓ you know, obviously he probably won't be spending that that kind of obscene money, ⁓ right away, but It is something to to look at and put into perspective like what's possible. ⁓ I also want to say that even Though we saw the potential owners at the stadium. ⁓ this is something that's going to take a long time This isn't something that I expect to be done By this year it could go into next year ⁓ late next year. We'll we'll see But I'm not looking at this something that's going to be really quick. ⁓ Devin, we ⁓ got some news today about a potential new format I want to talk on really quick. ⁓ And the reason for the brevity is because I don't understand it quite that much. It's a very strange league format. Do you have any insight on it, Devin? speaker-1: ⁓ So for all I know is because it's just so brand new that you know Well, we'll do our best to kind of provide context for this but it appears that the league is looking to expand on divisions ⁓ So instead of having two divisions in East and the West I believe they're gonna Try and narrow down the competition between clubs with five five or six divisions. I believe it's ⁓ and I can't guarantee I will ⁓ post an image here on the screen for the podcast. Hopefully my editing self will remember to do this. ⁓ But you know, looking at the current diagram right now, there's a chance that there's a northwestern, southwestern, northern, southeastern, and northeastern ⁓ division. And that's what it looks like. ⁓ may potentially have. Obviously this is hypothetical but ⁓ no one really knows what club is going end up in what division but I know for sure that they're looking into ⁓ five separate divisions to kind of ease travel between teams. So it almost looks almost like a hockey format in a way ⁓ or an NFL format. I'm not sure what that would mean in terms of MLS playoffs and if they're like you know if each Division will have six total teams. We don't know that for sure. ⁓ But I believe this would impact MLS Cup playoffs in a significant way, which kind of moves into a potential, the next segment of an entire league scheduling format. And we'll stay on topic for now. We can come back to the scheduling format later, but what are your thoughts and what do you know, Abram, about this potential? divisional change-up. speaker-0: Well, I just saw what people posted in the discord. There was a few tweets ⁓ added into the discord and from the early mockups of where people are predicting that the teams will be like what team will be in what division It looks like we'd be separated from the LA teams for the first time ⁓ Which would be kind of crazy. I I don't know but it would kind of mean that we don't play LA unless we face them in the playoffs We'd be facing Vancouver Seattle Portland ⁓ RSL and Colorado ⁓ I believe something like that, but we wouldn't be facing San Diego or either of the LA FC teams or either of the LA teams Which you know, I I'm not a fan of the LA teams But like they're the big part of MLS history or at least our clubs history that is You know route and rivalry. I think a lot of clubs ⁓ They have a rivalry kind of baked into supporting them like AC Milan fans hate inter Milan fans You know what? I mean? ⁓ Roma fans hate Lazio fans ⁓ Celtic Rangers, you know, it's it's it's a it's a thing and that's kind of being taken away from us ⁓ to an extent so what what do you think like just ⁓ Emotionally, how does this impact you? speaker-1: I don't know. Genuinely, because this is such a gray area that I'm... A part of me is excited at the potential of seeing these divisions, but also knowing that we have 40-something, what? 34 games to play in an MLS season. I really do not want to see the same teams three or four times in one repetitive season. I mean, I know they did that with us. with LA Galaxy, I think we played them like three or four times. The fourth time I think being in US Open Cup. ⁓ I really did not like that. I love the two game format, know, a home and away and kind of leave it at that. And if we play them in MLS Cup playoffs, so be it. I obviously have a discontent to LA ⁓ in all forms and all across all boards. ⁓ But To have to play a certain team like three or four times per season, I'm not a fan of that. I would rather see us going across country and having like a three or four week basis of playing either NYCFC, then Red Bulls, then Philly, then Rebs, or then to Montreal or something like that and make it like a whole away game thing. ⁓ to play like East Coast teams and to keep branching out and playing these teams that we don't normally play and then come back to the West Coast and then play West Coast teams. ⁓ Keeping it divisional is very American to say the least. And that's not necessarily an insult, but you just see that across all the sports from MLB to NBA to NFL. That's how it's set up because this country is so huge that travel is... Crazy and if you compare us and put us over a map to Europe like that's a Champions League That's a Champions League table like we're basically playing at Champions League distances ⁓ If not further per game per week ⁓ Which is kind of crazy to think about but as as beneficial as it would be For the players to not have to travel as far ⁓ I just don't see any specific advantage to separating ⁓ teams in five different divisions. ⁓ I don't know. What are your thoughts? speaker-0: Yeah, I mean, I don't really understand what the format is. I heard like one league table, five divisions, which makes zero sense to me. It's complicated. I barely understand when football or hockey or other sports have... I didn't understand why the A's and the Raiders are in different divisions. Like, that makes no sense to me. I still don't get it. ⁓ But regardless, ⁓ we will probably have to learn it. But you're right, it is uniquely American. And that's not bad. it is something that other, ⁓ we're not catering to the European market, but it's something that they're going to look at and be like, well, what's going on here then? They're not going to get it either. it's not a bad thing. I am open to it because I just. I get it so I might end up liking it but I am a little bit worried about the winter schedule of like playing through the... because they talked about changing the dates of which we play and playing in I don't know Montreal in the winter seems scary I don't know I've never done it but the snow in Canada is no joke so definitely going to be interesting to see what ends up shaking out of this speaker-1: mean, I have two opinions on this really. And the first one is changing the format to fit more of a European-based style scheduling. kind of catering to the Europeans. The Europeans won't watch us anyway when their leagues are in play. if, for example, because my team's Tottenham, if Tottenham is playing, you know, nobody in Europe is going to stay up till 3, 4 in the morning to watch us play at 7, 8 p.m., whatever it may be. Maybe they'll stay up to watch Inter Miami and Lionel Messi because that's just Barcelona and Barcelona loves Messi and Messi loves Barcelona. But other than that, know, no European team or fans will talk about us unless they're playing us directly, which the only time that happens is in the Club World Cup. ⁓ So catering to those European fans would essentially not kill MLS, but I think it would... It would do two things. It would make us compete against already established American leagues, NBA and NFL, which are the biggest leagues in American sports. Two, we'd have to play in winter specific games, which I'm all for. I love winter specific games. I love playing soccer in the snow and I love playing in the rain. Sure, people, know, parents will get worried about their kids getting colds, but I love that thrill. I love the potential of, of being grad. speaker-0: You are californian. I am californian. Yeah, so like we don't actually know what it's like to ⁓ speaker-1: We don't know what it's like to play a negative 25 degree weather or negative 5 Celsius weather speaker-0: I love playing in the rain, but I'm not going to be like well if I can play in the rain Canadians complain just now like speaker-1: That's the other point that I was going to make is that NFL teams sell out stadiums in NFL games in the peak of winter all the time. It's just how you sell the league. It's how you establish the league, how you sell it, and kind of how you just manage it. And I feel like if we manage MLS the right way and we were to sell it to the right fans and I know there's a lot of... ⁓ kind of misconception about MLS and like soccer in general like ⁓ soccer is boring because there isn't much going on in the 90th minute in the 90 minutes they they haven't watched the game they don't know what it's like to like fully immerse yourself into the tactics like if you were to watch NFL like in my my opinion of an NFL game it's like there's a lot of there's short runs you know short moments of plays and then there's like a big pause and then lots of commercial breaks You know, it's a lot of back and forth like that. And I feel like if we sell it to the right fans, those fans will show up and they'll show out in winter seasons. I 100 % would show up and show out in winter seasons ⁓ to watch any MLS team play, live anyway, specifically the earthquakes in any scenario. ⁓ But you just have to sell it the right way. switching to the winter, spring format. I'm not against it. I'm actually for it. I think knowing how it would compete against the European market, I think we'd be attacking it in the weirdest way. And we wouldn't necessarily be giving ourselves the right reasons to be doing what we want to do, if that makes sense. speaker-0: Yeah, and I think that there's pros and cons to all of this. ⁓ You know, we play through the international break as it is, and that, you know, leaves a lot of teams without their best players. it's a whole thing. The MLS has always been weird. this, you know, it's just another thing. I personally, I'm not super one way or the other, just because I am the kind of person who's like, well, I don't know what's going to happen. I'm not going to pretend like I know what's going to happen. I'd like to see what happens then I can know what happens, right? ⁓ And so that that's where I am like ⁓ I'm kind of neutral though I'm not as excited about the the winter thing and because I'm not just thinking about myself I'm thinking about the teams actually have to deal with weather and the Californian we have rain ⁓ But you know, I like you said Devon that we can deal with rain ⁓ and that's fine. But you know that that's Might not be the case for every single team in the league. ⁓ so that's the only thing i'm really worried about but ⁓ other than that, it's just kind of like i'm just skeptical of how it's gonna go, but I don't actually have any like analysis or or real reasoning for for you know, any opinion stuff why i'm gonna kind of Stay out of it and see how it unfolds because it's something that's gonna come to a vote. ⁓ is my understanding and I don't know if it has come to a vote today or if that's something that's gonna happen in the next... Yeah, okay, So yeah, that's what's going on in the league right now and it's gonna be very interesting to see happen. And Devin, I wanna end the episode with this because you said that people don't really understand soccer the way that they should. Something that my grandfather told my father, who then told me, is that soccer is a thinking man's game. And I think that everyone... speaker-1: I believe it's in the future. speaker-0: who really truly understand soccer would agree with that. It's not just about how fast you run. It's not about how big you are. You have to think at some point. And that's why we love it. That's why we're here doing a Sound of Air Quick podcast and not a 49ers podcast. speaker-1: We're thinkers, Abram, we're thinkers. speaker-0: And with that being said That's gonna do it for today's episode. Thank you guys so much for watching watching ⁓ Make sure to check in the description and join our discord the most active quakes community outside of PayPal park very proud to ⁓ Cultivate that that place Obviously in the offseason. That's kind of the only place we can really be with other quakes fans. So make sure to ⁓ check it out anything else speaker-1: I got nothing really else to say except, ⁓ you know, hopefully we can enjoy the off season, find a couple events that maybe we can ⁓ reconvene and gather as a group to enjoy each other's company and then look forward to next season. speaker-0: Well said Devon. Alright guys go quicks speaker-1: Go Quakes!