Latest / Tectonic Takes / Episode 175: Gearing Up For The Second Half Of The Season
Transcript
- Tectonic Takes: What's up Quakes fans? We are back with yet another episode of Tectonic Takes. It's been a minute. ⁓ you guys probably see I'm not in the usual spot in my room because right over there there's a giant pile of my belongings. We're moving this room around to paint. ⁓ so I have this like crazy like you know setup right now that that's not professional in any kind of way. But somebody who does have a very professional looking setup is Devin. Devin, how are you doing today? ⁓ I'm fantastic. ⁓ I don't want to take all the credit, Abram. ⁓ I don't behind the ske the scenes underneath the camera it's a it's a massive mess. So ⁓ yeah, doing great. ⁓ excited for the Quakes to be back in s in season next week. How do you feel about that, Abram? I'm feeling I'm feeling mixed about it. I'm really excited to be back to the stadium, seeing all the people. ⁓ every time I visit the stadium I'm like ⁓ I'm reminded about how much I love it there and and all the people there and how many friends that I have, you know, at the stadium. ⁓ but man, like it's a lot of work. ⁓ so I've really enjoyed my time off. That's the only reason I've been able to to paint. If I had to go to the Quake games and leave my girlfriend here to do all the work, ⁓ I think I would be single. ⁓ so thankfully that's not the case. I've been able to, you know, have some time to myself and do some adult stuff. ⁓ but ⁓ no I I can't lie I do miss it, especially because ⁓ stadium days are the days where I drive my Miata the most. ⁓ so you know, top down in my little tiny old raggedy sports car on Saturdays, those are that's the vibe for me every time we have a game day. And ⁓ I haven't had one in a while. It's been a minute. I've enjoyed the World Cup. ⁓ the World Cup has been great. ⁓ Devin and I ⁓ we recently watched was it Canada? Who was the other team, Devin? ⁓ I don't remember who the other team was. Yeah, it's been on the spot. Yeah. There's been about fifty games in between then, so it's it's hard for us to remember, but we saw Canada win ⁓ against South Africa, that's who it was. ⁓ we we had Tectonic I've been there as well. It was a great time. ⁓ I hadn't been to San Pedro Square to that capacity. Devin got to show me around as a San Jose native. ⁓ ⁓ but no, ⁓ the World Cup is coming to a close very shortly, ⁓ which I'm very disappointed about. I'm I've been enjoying the World Cup and ⁓ the way that it's brought the whole world together. ⁓ but ⁓ thankfully we'll still be able to get together for soccer at PayPal Park. ⁓ how are your feelings about it, Devin? I'm excited to be back just as a fan, purely. ⁓ based on the you know the actions that have that have occurred over the course of our quote unquote off season. I'm like less looking forward to entering the press conference room and asking Bruce questions because I have no idea what to ask. There's just so many questions. but, you know, just to see the boys back in back in their kits and on the field and, you know, ⁓ playing for us again. I I'm really, really looking forward to that. ⁓ you know on on on top of that You know, with all the the transfer rumors and news and things starting to stir up now that the transfer window's open as of I think yesterday, ⁓ you know, there's there's a lot of things to look forward to and and against Orlando City S C as as their first opponent back. You know, they just signed Antoine Griezmann and they're about to sign Dale DK now. ⁓ I it's gonna be a heck of a game to to look forward to, Abram. Probably the most different profiles of strikers that you could get. ⁓ so to be getting both of them is very interesting. ⁓ and I saw a graph actually ⁓ yesterday ⁓ saying that by far the team that's most suited to DK style DC United just because they kinda built around Benteke for a while and so just a big target man strikers is how they're built. But ⁓ I guess the connection that ⁓ Orlando has with DK is still very strong. Yeah, that's where he built his name. So ⁓ th it makes total sense. ⁓ I know a lot of ⁓ people in our quick discord like DK as ⁓ a football manager signing ⁓ for when they play as the Earthquakes because he's an American so that doesn't take an international slot and he's obviously a very good striker. ⁓ but you w you mentioned transfers, Devin, and there's been a little bit of transfer news. ⁓ we kind of talked about it last time and it was pretty much confirmed. But now we have the news that Daniel is gone to ⁓ F C Dallas and we have very, very promptly replaced him with ⁓ Angus Gunn, the Scottish International Keeper, played over a hundred games for Norwich, ⁓ played for Stoke, recently played for Nottingham Forest, but only one appearance. ⁓ but still a Premier League keeper, still a very solid ⁓ replacement. Like, you know, you don't want to lose Daniel, but if you have to, which we did ⁓ we'll talk a little bit more about what the speculative drama is there, but ⁓ Angus Gunn isn't the worst replacement in the world, Don. I'm I'm a pretty big fan of Angus Gunn, mainly because throughout the World Cup I was supporting Scotland, hoping Scotland would win and and you know, unbeknownst to me, I didn't realize that we would sign Angus at the end of their their World Cup ⁓ round. But ⁓ I was impressed with his performance. Not overly impressed like I am with with Spain's goalkeeper and and whatnot. But ⁓ you know, having having Angus, you know, behind our back line gives me comfort. I think we can we can both speak for Earthquakes fans by saying that I think we would all rather have Daniel in our back line. Or not in our back line, but you know, ⁓ between the between the posts. But, you know, if there's gonna be a replacement for Daniel, who's now at FC Dallas, I I would I'd be excited to see Angus Gunn live in action. ⁓ I mean, it's much better than William Yarbrough, right? Yeah, I'd any or E. E. J. or any of the other guys down below, you know, I think E. E. J. had a couple of of good performances. I wouldn't say the word impressive really, but he had some good performances, whether it be in the US Open Cup or just replacing Daniel when he wasn't he wasn't there or whatnot. ⁓ I just to have an international player, someone who's who's been through Premier League, who's been through Champions League, et cetera, throughout these these accolades, ⁓ I yeah, I I'm I'm really looking forward to see what Angus has to offer and and I know Bruce Bruce chooses his player as well, so I I trust everyone that comes in via Bruce, ⁓ and you know, also Scottish. No s no Scot ⁓ what is it? No Scotland, no party. You've gotta be excited for that, you know. Maybe maybe with the the incoming Angus our our beer beer prices can go down for a little bit, or maybe we can have like a similar version of Holl ⁓ Dollar Dog Night to like three dollar beer night or something like that. ⁓ just to to honor the the Scots. I don't know. I'm throw I'm just throwing that out there in case someone from the FO listens to this and and yeah. Th imagine if if ⁓ TikTok and takes had that amount of influence. Just like, Hey, make the beer less expensive and then they're like, Okay ⁓ but no, to be honest, like obviously losing Daniel ⁓ sentimentally it it matters a lot. It it's very disappointing. ⁓ apparently him and Bruce had fallen out earlier in the year and he had been told to find a new club and then, you know, w deals have to be done, it takes some time. Daniel Is standing on his head for a lot of games and is a big part of the reason that the Quakes have found success even though ⁓ for a lot of that time he was playing with kind of a a chip on his shoulder where Bruce is like, I don't like you. ⁓ not that Daniel would have known what he's saying. ⁓ regardless, ⁓ there is big potential here that Angus Gunn could be better than Daniel. And, you know, that that's I'm saying that because of his pedigree. I haven't seen that many games where I've been like, Okay, well this guy is like an incredible keeper. ⁓ I I will say that he got kind of shafted in that Brazil game, ⁓ against ⁓ Scotland Brazil. It's like, well if your defender is gonna keep giving Vinicius Jr. the ball in the six yard box, there's not much you can do. There was a lot of pass giveaways in the midfield third just the midfielders and the defensive set alone. ⁓ yeah, I felt I felt pretty bad for Angus, but you know, when you give away those kind of passes You expect the goalkeeper to be involved a lot more often than normal and and that's that's what happened to Angus. Yeah, I saw a sat today, ⁓ shout out to Crystal. ⁓ they said that ⁓ Angus is in in the top ten of most mobile keepers in this World Cup. ⁓ I don't know how good or bad that is, to be honest. ⁓ but it's something. ⁓ we we like we learned a little bit about him. ⁓ but like I said ⁓ I I've seen Norwich fans go to our Reddit ⁓ and say, Hey guys, I don't know why you're upset about this. Angus is probably better than Daniel. ⁓ and you know, being a Premier League keeper, there is a possibility of that. So I do want Quakes fans to rest assured that we're not screwed just because we don't have Daniel anymore. It is ⁓ something I wish we w could have kept him. ⁓ I I did enjoy Daniel's time here. And the vibes just aren't gonna be the same. Like Just there you know Brazilians make vibes and it it's gonna be different. I might argue in favour that the vibes may also go up too. They might, yeah. They they they might go up just for the fact that he's Scottish. A lot of Scottish Scotland fans in the Bay Area may tune in and, you know gather around in a stadium and have a have a big old party or I don't know. I'm just I'm just waffling over here. But, you know The fact that he's Scottish and a lot of Americans kind of were entertained by the Scottish fans while the World Cup was going on, I think maybe maybe that Scottish culture can rub off here in the Bay Area and and ⁓ it might kick off some some new ⁓ new traditions and whatnot here within the club. But I mean you know, that's that's speculation. Yeah, yeah. But that's how it happens, right? Like ⁓ a a a lot of people who don't follow MLS they might see that they're in their national team's keepers joined their local club and so they might come out and watch and then fall in love with earthquakes. That that that'll probably happen like at least five times. Like there's probably at least five cases of that that'll happen ⁓ over the definitely isn't the same time yeah. It definitely isn't as big of a a reach ⁓ for Scotland fancier as Mexicans, Colombians and or Brazilians as we've learned throughout the World Cup watch parties at San Pedro. My gosh, they've they've definitely come out. But If Memo Ochoa joins the earthquakes, ⁓ I think that we'd have to build a new stadium to fit all the people that would come to to watch earthquake games. I guess. Yeah, we're just hey Forty Niners, ⁓ go away. You you guys don't have Memo Ochoa, so you guys can't even compete. Rebuild candlestick. We're kicking you out. Yeah. ⁓ this is a very good quality keeper, ⁓ who could be playing in the Premier League ⁓ championship at the very least, which is, you know, statistically rated higher than the MLS. I think that was obese. I know Manu's goalkeeper on Belgium had a bit of a howler and and Manu fans in in comments were saying, ⁓ but that's just normal Manchester United goalkeeper behavior. But if you're interested you know, if a club that big is interested in signing you, whether or not they they officially reached out with a bid, that that also says something about the talent of of Angus Gunn. ⁓ and and as much as it hurts to lose Daniel, when we saw Angus Gunn signing on Instagram, I had r ⁓ looked into the comments and a lot of his f his ex-players, teammates, and even s you know, curtain Scotland teammates were congratulating him and and You know, really looking forward to his next chapter here on San Jose. And I I think that that speaks volumes for his talent, his friendliness, you know, how much his his teammates love him and how much he'll you know, how how good he'll get along with with his current teammates now here in San Jose. I think he and Muni may kick off pretty pretty quickly. I don't for no reason whatsoever. I think it's just the vibes purpose. But ⁓ yeah, I think he and Muni and ⁓ and Roberts will will have a good time together in in the back area somewhere. I definitely hope so, 'cause they'll be ⁓ you know, working together quite closely. ⁓ so it's important to have a good ⁓ relationship among the back line there. ⁓ the fact that he speaks English also it's not a Scottish English. He he is born in England. He has Scottish descent, so he is English more than anything else. He came through the Manchester City Academy. ⁓ so it's not gonna be like, you know, he's not gonna sound like Shrek. ⁓ he's gonna be Kind of a more understandable accent. I think Muni and Roberts will be able understand him. you know, the ⁓ the players kind of I feel talked down the importance of the ⁓ language barrier that was present while Daniel was ⁓ in in between the stick. They played fine, right? We had a really good defense. ⁓ but I think that there was kind of ⁓ an issue there and so at least in that regard There will be an an improvement where they will be able to communicate a lot easier. ⁓ But yeah, we wish sorry, go ahead. ⁓ I I I do have a question for you and it's just a a a random hypothetical that I just want to know what your opinion might be off the top of your dome. Let's say that Daniel has the talent that he has now, but he holds a Scottish nationality and was called up to the Scottish national team. Do you how well do you think Daniel would perform in goal in a World Cup, say for for Scotland. Th that's a crazy ⁓ situation. ⁓ It is. It's it's a wild hypothetical. But I'm thinking like if Daniel were in guns place how I don't know what we would do. So ⁓ we very rarely get to see like we we get to see like players come from the Premier League like Homie and Sun and and play well in the MLS but ⁓ the goalkeepers like Hugo Laris was very good But it was kinda different. He was like really aging, so we're gonna see a decline in that no matter what. ⁓ it it's hard to say how much it transfers, right? Like from from where Gun is coming from to to MLS. So that being said, it's hard to kind of visualize for me how Daniel would perform ⁓ in guns shoes. I think well. ⁓ it would be awkward playing against Brazil. ⁓ but ⁓ Especially like like I said, if the centre backs are gonna be passing it to businesses junior the whole game, ⁓ and then letting him have shots at you. ⁓ I think he's he's a solid keeper. Like he he does things well. I don't think that he is the strongest, ⁓ with his feet. I think he's fine. He's able to to clear it with both. ⁓ which is like the bare minimum kind of. ⁓ but we saw like JT Marzukowski was probably better with his feet. ⁓ I think that'll be an improvement because of just like what gun will have to have dealt with ⁓ at in his time during the top levels that he played at. ⁓ it's also it's really hard to say. You you you you put it like a it you know, ⁓ it's the comparisons are really hard because there's not a lot of proximity and not not a lot of opportunity to compare the levels. That's fair, that's fair. I I also threw you like a a curve ball like, you know, instantly so expecting like a a clean answer after with no thought. whatsoever is. ⁓ good. I'm I mean, ⁓ we'd like to hear you guys' thoughts in the comments though. ⁓ I think that would be interesting to see what you guys think about how Daniel would perform ⁓ in in the championship or the Premier League. I think it'd be decent, ⁓ but it it remains to be seen how those levels actually ⁓ you know translate to goalkeeping. ⁓ I do want to ⁓ wish Daniel however a you know, a great career. ⁓ we loved having him here. This is our official goodbye to him. it it was kinda weird 'cause ⁓ we played a scrimmage against S C Dallas like right after he went over there and ⁓ they put him in goal. And honestly, the S C Dallas fans, they're not even like super excited about this. They they think that their current keeper is better. So we'll see how that actually ends up panning out. ⁓ but no, ⁓ Daniel's always nice to me. ⁓ in the few, very few times I've interacted with him. ⁓ Obviously I don't speak Portuguese. ⁓ I've tried to speak in Spanish. It is kind of awkward. But regardless, ⁓ he will go down as one of the best quicks keepers in history, in my opinion. ⁓ at least from recent memories, because well, let's face it, since ⁓ John Bush, there's not a lot of memorable keepers like ⁓ Brian Meredith, ⁓ Tarbell, you know, like that's kind of like who we had and then we had J T and Daniel and and all those guys like like right at the same time. So yeah, for me Daniel is ⁓ in the top five at least ⁓ Quakes keepers in history. ⁓ but we'll have to move on. ⁓ Daniel Muni has been selected to the MLS All Stars, which is absolutely huge. ⁓ super happy for him, ⁓ ever since we drafted him from ⁓ whatever college you went to that escaped me right now. ⁓ he he's been ⁓ really incredible. I don't th it wasn't Clemson. We Agrin from ⁓ Clemson. Yeah. ⁓ that's why it's hard because all there's so many colleges, right? ⁓ and I don't watch college ball. So ⁓ regardless, ⁓ wherever he came from, Danny Mooney has been putting in a shift ever since he got here. ⁓ super happy. I like if I had to pick somebody, ⁓ I think it would be him. ⁓ just because ⁓ you know, I I love Judd. I think Judd's been amazing this year. ⁓ but it's just Muni is such a likable guy. I think Judd I don't know if he would have given it to Muni, but I think that he's very happy for for for Muni. ⁓ I'm happy to he d he definitely got snubbed. ⁓ but more on Preston Judd. He's recently ⁓ signed a new contract. ⁓ that was ⁓ announced today at the time of recording. ⁓ he signed his last contract in October less than a year ago. ⁓ obviously I think it's well deserved. I think that if you score double digits, ⁓ then you kinda have leverage to be like, hey, you know, if you guys wanna keep me around, you gotta pay up. We were paying him three hundred K ⁓ after his previous contract. ⁓ I'm assuming there's gotta be some kind of bump after the the one that he signed earlier today. ⁓ W and this contract goes to twenty twenty eight, twenty twenty nine with a option for twenty twenty nine, twenty thirty, ⁓ 'cause we're switching from like just four years to you know, going over New Year's ⁓ whatever. ⁓ what kind of impact do you think this is gonna have on Judd's career as a whole? I think it'll have a positive impact. It seems like Judd's been been pushing for a salary bump. I'm hesitant as I had noted with a couple of conversations in our Discord about this potentially being too early for Preston Judd. I think it's great that he gets a pay bump because he deserves one with the amount of ⁓ you know, the amount of goals he scored in the first half of the season and now entering the second half. But I think only, you know, six months taste of of this Preston Judd that we enjoy seeing, I think is just too early based on the fact that he just signed his last contract right after the regular season ended in twenty twenty five. I would like to see a full season of consistency before, you know, he gets a big pay raise. I'm not sure what his pay raise is now. I I don't think anyone knows what his pay raise is right now. But ⁓ you know, he deserves a bump. I just hope it's not too high of a bump, like over like six hundred and fifty thousand. I I know he just got married, he had a wedding, ⁓ I'm sure that's gonna help pay off those those dues. but you know, I I think it's just for me, it's too early to give him a huge pay bump in like until the end of the season. I think I would have waited until the end of twenty twenty six to to give him that pay bump. But nonetheless, he is producing the numbers that you expect a striker to see. And, you know, as him being in one of the top five ⁓ players in MLS and in the golden boot race. Yeah, and it occurred to me just now that you know, we don't usually see this, ⁓ 'cause we could have for for the contract, you know on the contract side of things, we could have kept him until his contract was set to expire and then done a ⁓ you know, extension there. ⁓ His contract wasn't like a ten month contract, that's not how that works. I don't know the details of the the contract he signed in October. I kinda wonder if he had another deal and the Quakes are like, Well, we don't want you to go and they're like, Well if you want if you want to keep me then pay me or you know, ⁓ it that's just speculation. I don't know anything ⁓ about that being possible. ⁓ I've heard people say on Twitter that ⁓ Everton interested. I don't think that's real. I I'll just be honest. ⁓ I think he's a fine player, but I I don't know about Everton right now. ⁓ he's twenty seven, so it's not like he's a spring chicken. He he's the young, you know, I think that he has many years left in the league, that's not what I'm trying to say, but he's not like someone like ⁓ Nico Shakeris, twenty twenty one, you know, he's not a at that age right now. ⁓ and I think what Devin's saying is that when players are playing for a contract they play better. ⁓ most of the time. Like ⁓ Muhammad Salah is very notorious for, you know, playing his ass off and then getting a big contract. And then once that contract is signed and he's not necessarily on a ⁓ a contract year where it's that to r ⁓ expire or anything, he's not playing with the same kind of motivation. and also you have to think about like somebody who is getting paid like a Tam salary. ⁓ it is c that would be kinda crazy, right? ⁓ like we haven't seen we've seen great play from Judd, but nothing to merit like a Tam level player. am I am I touching any truth? I think I think this you're you're s you're right, and you've helped me think of an additional point. This is Preston Judd's very first season in MLS as a starting striker. Yeah. And yes, he is producing the numbers as we had hoped as a bench player in the last couple seasons and he's getting seven plus goals a season. And now here he is as our starter and he's got eleven goals on the season. I think that's that's excellent. But if it's your very first season as a starter and then we've already like pushed you through two contract extensions in under a year. I don't know. I I just I'm very hesitant and and in slight disagreement on that decision to pay him ⁓ an extra amount of money in under a year, if that makes sense. Yeah, and I hope that it's something that's still team friendly. ⁓ you know, this isn't about like we don't want to see Judd succeed. Obviously that's not the case at all. We would love to see Judd succeed. He's a friend of the show. And by that I mean that he was on our show one time for an exclusive interview. ⁓ he probably doesn't know who we are. ⁓ but you know what I'm saying. Like we want to see the best for Judd. Like that's that's not what this is about. It's about the team having a team friendly deal that that works for us as well. ⁓ Yeah, I think also just 'cause we're media too, you know, we're we're looking out for the team as a whole and not just individual players. Yeah, we don't wanna see ⁓ the team get shafted for for doing a deal that isn't beneficial for both parties. ⁓ so You know, the best we could hope for is that it is. It's a deal that you know I don't think I would turn down a deal that goes from three hundred to five hundred thousand, right? And I would be fine with him getting five hundred thousand. Like th that's totally fine. So if it's if that's that's the case, ⁓ I think anything above six hundred thousand is like Tam territory where you have to be bought down to not be a D P and I don't think he's that D P level yet. ⁓ he has the potential to get there if he stays consistent. If he keeps his ⁓ first half of the season form into the second half, then I think we can have that conversation. But this is like like you said, Devin, his first time as a number one striker, like the starting number nine. We don't know what's gonna happen. It's it's kind of unpredictable. Once we have a full season of that, then we can like think like, okay, well this guy can do this, you know, and it's fine. ⁓ but there's another aspect of it that that's kind of I think drawn some questions into Quakes Phantom. ⁓ Dave David Romero is a Argentinian striker playing in the Argentinian league who we have reportedly put an author in for. This is ⁓ a source on Twitter that we saw from a South American source. Not the most reputable, but it is something and there's not a lot of Quake stuff happening right now, so we should talk about this. Go ahead. Yeah, I I think they had mentioned that the earthquakes were still keen on signing him, but there was no official offer. So it was basically just the same the same rumor that we had seen, except that the earthquakes had had you know, had newfound interest again in this player and they seemed to be, you know, upping the ante on on scouting him and ensuring that they're he's the best candidate. But still I don't think there was an official bid put put in for David Romero. Got it. So Regardless, I I wanted to reignite this conversation because it is interesting to think about what that does for Person Judd. Does it increase his stock or does it, you know diminish it? ⁓ I would like to think that he's the type of player that's gonna step up when provided with competition. But then what are we bringing in a guy for if we like if Judd's just gonna succeed? Then I don't think David Romero's gonna be super happy sitting on the bench. Or maybe he w he is, but that's like I don't know, you don't go to a club to sit on the bench. Usually unless you're Andrick. You know? ⁓ yeah, especially on D P salary too. Right. I it it wouldn't be a cheap salary. Like it it's I don't know if he was a d a D P level. I think it was like around where where Judd is. But I could be wrong about that. ⁓ like I I I think somebody mentioned like yeah Five hundred thousand or something like that, ⁓ for sales. His current val market value is five mil. ⁓ which is which is more than than Timo I mean, given Timo's age, more than Timo and and more than than you know, previously Earthquakes lost Espinoza. So I think if we bought him like with a transfer like with the whole transfer thing, I think that would make him a D P. Yeah, exactly. And a as you had mentioned, like competition with Judd. I'm looking at his twenty twenty six stats right now. He has twelve games played Seven goals and ⁓ two assists. ⁓ so it pretty good numbers, really good numbers for a striker. But also the fact that we just re signed Preston Judd to a new contract, I'm sure that Preston won't be happy if you know we'd sign another guy who's who's got more caliber than him, ⁓ to play minutes that Preston thinks he deserves. So I don't know. I looking at this rumor mill ⁓ surrounding David Romero Is a bit weird. Yeah, it it is weird 'cause it's like mixed messages, right? It's like, hey, when when you give a player a contract, you're like th you're our guy, we want to keep you around. ⁓ these are the promises we're willing to give you. ⁓ you know, that that's what that means. And then to also be like, Hey, we're gonna get a guy to play your exact position. We only play with one striker. And we don't have any backup guys. Like Adimabua is not ready. ⁓ I don't know if he will be. ⁓ from what he's shown us, I I you know, that's not something I'm super confident in. We do need somebody. We do need a striker, but ⁓ somebody to kind of compliment Judd and and you know, take the load off of him rather than replace him 'cause, you know, it it it it there's only so many minutes and it's not gonna be forty five forty five. Neither of them are gonna wanna do that. ⁓ so it it's a really weird, you know, situation that we find ourselves in. Yeah, also someone had brought up a good point in our Discord server and in that, you know, maybe maybe the earthquakes are being used here for a better deal elsewhere. I know that Deportivo Toluca, Calguliari, you know, ⁓ Flamengo and Palmeras, I think I'm saying that name, right? Palmeras. ⁓ all have interest in him. So, you know, if if they're claiming that the earthquakes have interest but other clubs would like to buy ⁓ Then that could raise his transfer value, that could raise his salary, etcetera, to to f you know, bag him a l ⁓ a spot elsewhere in another team, ⁓ with with more than expected salary. So I I'm not sure exactly what's going on here with the earthquakes, you know, but ⁓ it seems like it c it could potentially be like a PR ploy for for ⁓ a better deal elsewhere, and that the quakes are just kind of being used here. Yeah, I think that's very possible, ⁓ you know, considering all the things involved in that. ⁓ I I'd like to hope not, but also I don't see why he would have a lot of incentive to choose us over those clubs. ⁓ I think that like a lot of players I know I said that players don't move to sit on the bench. Players will move to Palmeidas to sit on the bench. Like that's a big club in South America. ⁓ Cagliari is like you you're starting your European career. ⁓ David Romero, I believe, was like twenty-three, twenty-four. ⁓ on the younger side of his twenties, yeah. So it's like he isn't in the twilight or anything. He's trying to go up. ⁓ and to come sit on the bench at ⁓ center of the earthquakes probably isn't on his bucket list. I think that, you know, I do have to kind of shift the perspective that others will have of the club because ⁓ Timo Werner is here. And that's something that we forget because he's been injured for so long. ⁓ but, you know, Timo Werner is at the club, so that does raise our stock for for potential other players wanting to come. But ⁓ no, if I'm him, I'm looking at Cagliari or Palmeidas and and thinking about something else. Like that's not really when I'm I'm not looking to go to the Earthquakes to compete with Bert and Judd. Can I also mention that he is Argentinian and we have the the most well known Argentinian in this league and I know A lot of players have interest in playing against him on the field, and that could provide some value, some incentive for him to join MLS, whether it be the earthquakes or an East Coast team or whatever, to play against, you know, Inner Miami's favorite. I that that could also be a possibility in in his in his strategy for Romero. But I think it's it's it's on you know the low end of the priority list if you're going to a Western conference team to play against against Messi, you know. Go to Orlando. Exactly, yeah. Go to Orl like I'm sure Miami has another international slot that they just pulled out of their, you know, pocket or something. Like they they just have unlimited of those so ⁓ yeah, i i it would be really weird, ⁓ especially 'cause I don't think we played them this year. I don't actually know if that's the case. ⁓ no, that was last year when the bank that last year. So, you know Yeah, ⁓ that that ⁓ a theory. ⁓ I I don't wanna rule that out, but I think that if I'm him I'm like, Well what's their schedule? Do they play him even? And then it's like, ⁓ no. ⁓ but ⁓ no, ⁓ we wanna talk about we we talked about Timo a little bit. He is ⁓ up and running, so to speak. He's not like a hundred percent but he is much closer than he was before. ⁓ do we have any official word? Did he play in any of those ⁓ scrimmages? Did you see? ⁓ I d I didn't see whether or not Timo played in that scrimmage. I I know he is back officially in training with the team, full training, you know, ⁓ one hundred f a hundred percent ready to go. I am expecting Timo to play versus Orlando. I just can't tell you whether or not he would start. Yeah. I mean I would love to see him against Orlando. ⁓ again, I think that because of the amount of time he's been out for, it it's been like you know, it's great that we have him, but ⁓ we can play well without him. ⁓ I think the mother the more important player ⁓ for how this squad plays, ⁓ is Nico Chikaris. ⁓ who is back in full training. I don't actually know if it's full training. ⁓ I don't know that he is training. We've seen pictures of him on the training ground. I don't know if it's like a hundred percent like he's doing what everyone else is doing. ⁓ but that's a very good sign that means that he is able to walk at the very least, right? ⁓ we've seen him limping around a little bit, ⁓ at San Pedro Square and wherever the case may be. ⁓ That's great news. I'm super happy to hear it. ⁓ I I don't think that we should expect Nico against Orlando. ⁓ I think that at least give it a few more weeks, ⁓ up to like two months after after ⁓ we resume play. ⁓ but, you know, great science, ⁓ if if not for our ⁓ league prospects, ⁓ just for Nico as a person. ⁓ I'm sure that he'll be very excited to get back on the pitch and God knows we need him. ⁓ I remember Ronnie ⁓ Ronaldo Vieira said we got used to playing with Nico. And we kinda relied on on how he plays to to do what we want. And then when he's not in the squad, you know, they don't have that that gel that Nico provides. And that's really big praise. That's probably like the biggest praise. Like, ⁓ y he could say like, ⁓ great player, great technique. No, he said, We sh can't do it if he's not here. That's huge from from your captain. ⁓ what do you think about that, Devin? Yeah, I think his praise is deserved. I mean ⁓ given what we've seen without Nico in the midfield and without Timo on the wing, but specifying Nico here, like the the team had looked off chemistry wise. Like we really need a cam. We're reliant on a cam. It seems like Bruce's tactics are very reliant on a cam. and I think that's why he was going you know, he was he was going after Lucho Acosta before he went to I think Brazil. ⁓ but with Nico in particular and his skill sets that he provides, his ability to dribble close to his body ⁓ keep the ball close, you know, dribble its speed. ⁓ you you've you've clearly seen his ability to finish and his improvement on that front, whether it be in trainings and and ⁓ in the regular season. He's clearly improved as a player to a point where now he's putting up, you know, D P level numbers and and bare minimum TAM numbers. So ⁓ he deserves that ten jersey and and you know we we're just hoping that Nico's recovery is nice and thorough, so we can just see him back in the field because I I think the team the team would love to have Nico back. I I I'm hesitant to say that I don't want to see us sign a new player in Nico's position, but I think the team needs it. But also when Nico returns, I would rather I would much rather see Nico as as our ten than than anyone else that we would potentially sign a replacement. Yeah, but how would you feel about that? Yeah, I mean, ⁓ just ⁓ for, you know, sentimental value. ⁓ he's the favorite of of who I'd like to see. I love how he plays. Also, like, you know, a fit Nico is is incredible. ⁓ I'm hoping that's who we get, but you know, as Saz rose ⁓ concerns in me with his ⁓ expertise as a physical therapist. Saz brought up some concerns about Nico and He, you know, said that he might be much different now given how many times you injured the same muscle and ⁓ Saz has some experience as a physical therapist, which is his main occupation right now. ⁓ so for me I'm like, well Saz knows what he's talking about. I'm hoping he's wrong. ⁓ that's that's the how I have to look at it. ⁓ 'cause I don't want another cam if Nico can do it, but I also understand if he can't and then he can't and that's all there is to it. You g you know, you gotta move on. But that'll me that remains to be seen. you know, I'm not gonna make any judgments until he's back on the pitch, ⁓ and showing me himself what he could do. ⁓ but speaking of back on the pitch, we will be ⁓ facing Orlando City next. ⁓ what's your predicted eleven for that? Just real quick keeper back line Yeah, given given the fact that, you know, we're back in the league and it's not a friendly anymore. We're not playing the Sounders, we're not playing Dallas behind the scenes, whatever it is. ⁓ I think our obviously our goalkeeper is going to be Angus Gunn. He's had enough time. I I think we'll go with a four three three with Angus Gunn on the back. We'll have our center backs as Daniel Munie and Reed Roberts. Our right back will continuously be Benji Kakanovich unless something happens. Our left back is interesting because obviously without you know without Dewan Jones, I I hope to see Jamar Ricketts on the left coupled with Timo Werner on the left wing. But we'll get to that in a second. In the midfield, I am expecting to see Viera on the six, Bo as the eight. Potentially a and maybe this is just me being weird here, but maybe Skein as like the ten. I'm I can't think of any better replacements as a ten than than Skein. ⁓ yeah, maybe Nick Fernandez. ⁓ given it's been a while, you know, he's got his he'll have his fitness up, whatnot. ⁓ yeah, I guess Fernandez as the the ten and ⁓ and Skein maybe as a replacement. On the right, Oseni Buddha on the right wing. ⁓ Preston Judd is our striker and then Timo Werner on the left. ⁓ I I'm mostly interested in the pairing between Werner and and Ricketts because both provide great speed and their distribution ⁓ into the box is is also pretty incredible. So I think we're gonna see a huge threat ⁓ from the left hand side, especially against Orlando. And sixtieth minute down, ⁓ you're sixtieth minute in, you're one ⁓ nil down. Who is your subs? ⁓ DJ number one. ⁓ Darius Johnson, I think, will be our our our best case scenario. ⁓ coming off the bench. I think Jack Skane as the number ten for any, you know, central midfield ⁓ you know new new new fresh legs. ⁓ maybe Ian Harks for Bolaroo if he starts to get a little tired. Or or even Ronaldo Vieira. ⁓ and you know ⁓ I'm not sure ⁓ what the case is here. on on on ⁓ Vittor Costa. I I can't even remember his name 'cause it we haven't seen him in such a long time. But maybe Vittor Costa comes on at left back in in replacement for for Ricketts. Or maybe he even starts and Ricketts comes in as a sub but you know, one of those two I think ⁓ Vittor Costa would would be a you know a decent shout as a substitute. I know he got some minutes versus Seattle and that friendly. ⁓ so he is back officially. ⁓ And then as, you know, maybe a fifth we'll see we'll probably see maybe like Jonah ⁓ come in in the midfield. ⁓ although maybe I I I don't necessarily want to, but you know, he's he's been ⁓ a consistent substitute, so maybe we'll see consistency throughout that. Is that a firework? I think so, yeah. not before the fourth of July, yeah. Happy belated July fourth. It's ten days past. ⁓ Regardless, ⁓ it my my starting level looks very similar to you. I use the same ⁓ formation just 'cause we've been using it all year. ⁓ so but at left back, ⁓ the difference is I think I'm bringing on Jack Chzinski because I don't think that Werner will be available, ⁓ right away at least. ⁓ but that's just speculation. I don't have any information to say that. I've just like on when we when it comes to injury I'm on the more cautious side pretty much always. so I'm just cautious about Werner rather than like optimistic about him starting. So for me it's Jack Tzinski on the left back. ⁓ I have Nick Fernandez as a ten, same midfield as you. And then on the left I have ⁓ Jamar Ricketts. ⁓ and that's the only difference is really ⁓ I think that Jack Skein could yeah, he can come on across the The ⁓ you could go the ten winger, either one, ⁓ Darius Johnson. ⁓ if not for anything other than I just want to see more from him. I haven't gotten to see gotten to see that much. I liked him against Portland. ⁓ yeah, it was Portland, yeah. ⁓ where we got our first win. I thought he he looked good, but ⁓ nothing where I'm like, okay, this is like his changing the game of our our whole lineup. ⁓ it'd be great ⁓ to see more from him and then if he does have that ability, then ⁓ I hope he'll show it. ⁓ but my lineup is almost identical to yours except ⁓ Jess Chasinsky is a left back cover. And that's important actually. I do want to ⁓ talk about that a little bit because I don't want it to be Dave Romney. Like Jack Chinsky left back, not Dave Romney left back. Okay, Bruce? Because Dave Romney can't do that. He can't attack. ⁓ he can he can jump good, stop ball good, he can't go forward. It it's so frustrating to see him try to build out from the back 'cause he is like a brick wall trying to, you know, do acrobatics. It's it's like so it's so difficult for him. And I like him. He's almost like like a a a built tank. Almost like a ⁓ a McGinn on I can I just going back to Scotland references. ⁓ John McGinn, ⁓ he's just built like a tank, but he's also slower and and plays like a center back. ⁓ because he's a centre back. He doesn't he doesn't have the ability to play not no no offense to Romney, but he just doesn't have the the ability to play as a a left back and you know, doesn't bring the pace, doesn't bring the the the dribbling that you necessarily want to see in in in tandem with a a winger and Making overlapping runs. He just doesn't do that. He's he's a center back at heart. So now that we have two healthy center or two healthy left backs, let's let's utilize or three healthy left backs. Let's utilize those instead of Romney. Yeah. I I I do want to comment that the comparing John McGinn Dave Romney is diabolical. ⁓ that man can move very well. And the just body built wise, not not necessarily speed, just like built like a tank. Yeah. ⁓ Anyways, ⁓ no, w ⁓ if Vitro Clato is back and we're planning to keep him, ⁓ I'd like to see him integrated into the lineup, though he's not ev anyone's favorite left back at the club, right? So and it's also he's the last Brazilian. We used to have so many, ⁓ but he's the last one. And he's not the one that I would have assumed would be the last one. ⁓ I would have thought it was Daniel, but ⁓ that's not how the cookie crumbles. ⁓ But yeah, do you have any closing thoughts, Devin, before we ⁓ do the outro here? No. I think it's it it may be eventually ⁓ about time where Bruce may Thanosnap all the Brazilians out of here and and Vittor Costa may actually end up leaving. I I I hope Vitra Costa shines and and gives us, you know, what we hope to see on the field. ⁓ but other than that, I think ⁓ all of the infinity of stones have left. ⁓ except for Vitacosta. The Brazilian Infinity Stones have left except for Vitacosta. He's the final one and and ⁓ Bruce hasn't Thanosnapped him out of existence just yet. ⁓ But I totally forgot and I am very apologetic, PMA, but we forgot about Paul Marie as a potential substitute. I think he would give us a a pretty good option on the either the right or left. Yeah. But ⁓ He can he might not. He can't how it yeah. May not at thirty thirty one, thirty two years of age. ⁓ it it's yeah, it's like a fifty fifty whether or not we see Palmeria. I think there's there's better candidates on the on the bench, but pretty strong player. Yeah, decent decent fullback depth for sure. Well not not just fullback 'cause he played on the wing more often nowadays than than fullback. Yeah. And was loaned out as a cam. Yeah. ⁓ when he was at ⁓ Tampa Bay Rowdies he played most of his games there at the cam and got like ⁓ a decent amount of goals and assists playing as a c ⁓ number ten. So that that's kinda crazy. ⁓ but ⁓ we are going to be closing out the show. Thank you guys so much for watching. We apologize for the late upload. ⁓ we're supposed to upload last week, but again, life happens, right? And ⁓ there wasn't any quakes to talk about anyways. So I don't know what we would have talked about 'cause the Angus Gun, Jud that all happened semi recently. So anyways, ⁓ guys we want to direct you to our website that we haven't actually ⁓ gotten to promote yet. ⁓ shout out to Bay Area Football News for designing and making and coding the whole website for us. ⁓ they are on Instagram, so go ahead and check them out. We have done some collaborations with them. They cover all Bay Area soccer, you know, everywhere. They're they're they they're great at at their job. ⁓ And again, they were the ones who designed our ⁓ new website. Go ahead and check ⁓ that out. ⁓ it has all our latest uploads. ⁓ we'll eventually start posting articles on there. ⁓ great stuff. Thank you guys so much for watching. ⁓ make sure to check out the website, like I said. Patreon also will be looking to do another player interview ⁓ once we return. ⁓ so look out for that soon. Patreon members get to vote on the next player that we interview. ⁓ they also get to submit questions to the press conference and also th those partner interviews that we spoke about. Great deal if you ask me. ⁓ but ⁓ we'll be back after the Orlando City game. ⁓ but until then, go quakes. Go quakes.