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Episode 184: Reid All About It · Tectonic Takes

• Tectonic Takes: Well San Jose earthquake that's been thinking ⁓ Sam Marco on the richer scale of football, I think. What's up, Quakes fans? We're back with another episode. How are you doing today, Devin? ⁓ I'm recovering from a weekend of illness, so I'm happy to be here with you, Abram. Not good enough, Devin. You have to be at Levi Stadium. You have to join the like what? The the thousands of people who were there. The sixty ⁓ forty thousand people. Apparently it was the ninth most attended game this season. But ⁓ we will get into talk about the stadium and How a lot of fans aren't that crazy about coming back to Leviat Stadium. But ⁓ regardless of of where this match was played, we only have one match to talk about to ⁓ or to review, then we're gonna preview the Portland game after. But first we have the very eventful, very exciting game against ⁓ Los Angeles F C. Devin, from what you were able to see of this match, what did you think? I mean I I think if you look at this game from both ends of the spectrum, from an L A F C fanpoint to a San Jose fan point, this game had everything. ⁓ it's like one of the th one of those segments, I don't know if you watch SNL Abram, but it's it's like ⁓ that one I think it was it was the the news portion of the SNL segment where they had Stefan come out. Mm mm and and Stefan was like and this you know, this place has this and this and this. That's kind of what it felt like. Like LAFC versus San Jose at Levi Stadium had everything. Red cards, goals ⁓ I wanted to make it like an SNL type joke, but I can't think of anything. ⁓ But that being said, yeah, no, I I really I really thought that, you know, based on the the minutes that I had seen, ⁓ this game had a ton of back and forth, ⁓ and a lot of energy. On San Jose's end specifically, there were a lot of chances in the second half that I thought San Jose could have capitalized more on. but I I I I think the Quakes had done a good job despite being down two nothing. Which is one of the the toughest leads to to have in in the the beautiful game that we know of as football. to be up two nothing is is a very dangerous lead. Right. And I think we've seen that very evidently. Yeah, this game was was is frustrating at moments and I think most people would agree. ⁓ up until we, you know, squared us our first goal. ⁓ it was like, Well, what are we doing? Like this looks like a very, you know I guess vintage quakes where it's just we should be, you know, doing much better here, but we're obviously just not. We're gonna lose this game two zero. Like that's how it felt for a lot of the match. ⁓ Hungmin Sun, a beautiful goal. ⁓ you know, with his weak foot, very much what we have come to expect from him from his time at Spurs. he's one of my favorite players of all time and like that's just what he does. Weak foot, right foot, you know, it doesn't matter. ⁓ very nice goal. ⁓ the Buango goal was very frustrating. ⁓ They just just couldn't do anything about it at too much pace. ⁓ thankfully though, ⁓ we did We almost were were at ⁓ was it three zero? ⁓ but that goal was called ⁓ off for a foul in the build up. Very lucky because we've seen a lot of those kind of get like swept under the rug. Costa did fully get stepped on. ⁓ I don't know if you saw that, Devin, but it was ⁓ something where we're like, Okay, well that's obviously a foul, but it's it's also in a situation where if the ref doesn't call it, what are we gonna do? But like, no He was stepped on. Go back and look at it, ref, like they d you know, he he I don't know. What what did you think of that ⁓ disallowed goal? I think it is one of those things where it's referees discretion. If the referee wants to ring it back, they certainly can. But I think knowing this is MLS, we've seen a lot of plays like that, you know, slip under the rug, and and not be called. So I I I wouldn't I wouldn't have been throwing my hands in the air and saying like, ⁓ you know, this is this is the game altering decision, you know. I mean at the end of the day, Hyung Jungman Sun, ⁓ I think it was Sun, ⁓ finished that goal. and I think I would have l laid a lot more blame on on the structure of our defense on that play rather than the foul itself. ⁓ but you know, fortunately for us, ⁓ as we haven't been able to say many times in years past the referees came to our aid and and pulled that goal back. So ⁓ very fortunate and thankful for that. Yeah, we we have to acknowledge that because ⁓ most of the time as a Quakes fan you don't get those calls. So very thankful that we finally got one of them. ⁓ overall we seem to dominate this match from the beginning. Just it was, you know, Quakes had most of the possession. LAFC looked strong in the counter ⁓ for for a good portion when they had you know, eleven men on the pitch, they looked pretty good on the counter. But ⁓ as soon as Aaron Long took out Nico Shakarius, ⁓ for what I assume can only be a dogzo, you know, call, that really changed the momentum of this game. ⁓ let's look at the ⁓ momentum charts here on ⁓ Fot Foot Mob? Fo Fot Mob? Yeah, Fot Mob. I wanna call it Foot Mob, but it's it doesn't make that wouldn't make too much sense, right? So there's too obvious there's like, you know, back and forth, back and forth, you can see here, ⁓ we still have the most ⁓ of the momentum. There's a a spike ⁓ for for LAFC, but then you see ⁓ they score, then the red card happens, and then from then on it's ⁓ basically just quakes, except for one spike here where Dennis Buonga got the second goal of the game. So the Quakes really ⁓ dominated this match. Sixty nine percent possession. That's you know, something you'd probably expect from a match where we're facing ten men. But it was more than that, in my opinion. I felt that we were very dominant. I thought Luvin was incredible in the midfield, dictating everything, you know, before and after the red card. ⁓ was he your favorite performer of the match or who who would you say is man of the match other than probably Reed Roberts? ⁓ I kinda I want to give a lot of credit. again to to Bo for his movement in the midfield. I know, you Luven is is definitely an obvious choice, I think consistently day in and day out, since we've gotten him. There's a reason why we haven't lost a game since acquiring him. ⁓ I think Luven is definitely a choice, but honestly my my decision might might be going to to Bo Leroo, who is one of the most underrated still players that we have on this roster and and it just shows that, you know He's he's capable and able to nutmeg players, create his own space, find space for others, and and pick out passes that that are hard to even see and visualize from the naked eye at at even at a a media height vantage point. You know, things that he's able to see through the the eyes of other players with opposition players interrupting that, you know, that pathway. ⁓ he's able to pick, you know, pick these passes out. and and you know, continue bringing the ball forward for this team. something that I, you know, I've always looked forward upon, especially in my my upbringing as a as a kid. You know, I've I've I've played striker and and winger growing up, but I think I've had more of like an affection towards like the midfield game if that makes sense. And and that, you know making those style of plays that Bo makes And creating those runs is is something that's so crucial that no one really talks about in the modern era of the game. ⁓ just because I think people focus so much on the final product rather than how it's how it's, you know, set up or or or you know, put together in the factory for lack of better term. ⁓ and Boluru is that factory player. And I'm I'm really proud of of his progress, ⁓ you know, in the last four consecutive games where he's, you know contributed direct points for this team. Yeah, I mean, ⁓ obviously he got an assist this match, which a lot of people might not realize because how low key that that play was. He just kind of received the ball from Skeyon, turn left, pass it to to Reed Roberts. I don't think he expected Roberts to shoot from there, but hey, end up in an assist. ⁓ but obviously that's not the ⁓ average Bolaroo assist, he's gotten, you know, much more active assists, I I guess you could say. But ⁓ his main thing that he has improved on in my opinion this season over last is consistency and not letting ⁓ anything kind of shake him. Because if he, you know, had a bad game or or missed ⁓ whatever, he it would kind of like ruminate and then it would continue to affect his play. ⁓ But that's something that has massively improved, in my opinion. Eight touches in the opposition box. Great to see. ⁓ something that I I just saw it. Pass his final third is great. He created four chances. Very nice. ⁓ Devin, how many times without looking at Bolaroo's stats, how many times do you think ⁓ Bolaroo got dispossessed last match? Got dispossessed without looking. Yeah, without looking. I'm j just gonna throw out a number and say f five. Zero. He got dispossessed zero times. And that's something that I would also say he's been improving at. Where ⁓ I remember at Quakes 2 sometimes ⁓ they would lose matches because he's kind of I guess you could say like the nonchalant ⁓ you know, gimmick got to him a little bit and he just he was like twenty years old at the time. Right, and so he's he's adjusting to pro ball instead of just soccer ⁓ in in college. and you know, he he's continued to make ⁓ evolution in his game to now he is at the MLS level, playing against ⁓ you know, former champions L A F C and having a very, very good ⁓ you know, match in the midfield against a very strong team. And I bet they wish that they had somebody like Bo Larue to play for them. ⁓ another player who I I want to give a shout out to. He didn't have, you know, a glorious performance or anything, but he stepped up and was the man we needed him to be, is Dave Romney. I thought that when the team moved to a two center back system at in the second half when they had to ⁓ account for Muni ⁓ going out the pitch due to a rolled ankle. You know, Dave Romney was put at right center back and he looked fine. You know, he he he put in crosses with his right foot from right center back. Really, you know, weird things to to expect from even a right footed centre back. But the fact that he with his weak foot as a centre back was putting in crosses ⁓ it tells you not only what he's willing to do as as a veteran, but also the kind of match this was where we're just like bombarding them. ⁓ in the sixtieth around the sixtieth minute we brought in Timo Werner and at that point we're two one ⁓ two zero down. T ⁓ I'm what called you Timo. D Devin. You can if you want to how much did the addition of Timo in this match change things for you? Once Timo stepped on the field it was a clear Clear decision by Bruce and the rest of the team to really press LAFC's defense as hard as they could. it I mean it almost felt like Timo was like a free roam midfielder. Like he had no restrictions whatsoever because, you know, we we know that Timo loves the left hand side, bringing the ball up on the left, you know, attacking players one on one and and creating s ⁓ opportunities for others. But When he got that assist for Preston Judd, he was on the right hand side, crossed with his right foot, found Preston's head or you know, pr found Preston's head, and the ball went in the back of the net. A location that we wouldn't necessarily see Timo in a a normal game when he starts. You know, it's very structured, very organized that Timo is on the left hand side and that's where he stays. But he had more of a fluid role to this to the substitution. And I think that's what really opened up L AFC's defence is is knowing that, you know, there's specific men on one specific side that will take care of Timo and other top name players, you know, that they've done in the past for LAF C. But the fact that Timo was able to move to the right, which I had seen him do for other teams, ⁓ kind of gave that that team, our team, ⁓ flexibility to you know, find more creative space and create new opportunities for themselves. And and I think, you know, that that version of Timo's impact really had a a a broader impact for the rest of the team and and especially Preston Judd. A hundred percent, yeah. And and Judd really needed that goal. It was it was a big goal for him. ⁓ been pretty consistent after we, you know, ragged on him a little bit a few episodes ago. ⁓ he scored ⁓ against ⁓ what was it, San Diego and now he scored against LAFC. ⁓ So you were saying about how Timo was allowed to to roam about and I thought that was great. whether or not we can, you know, give Bruce the credit for that or just Timo, ⁓ I'm not sure. But it's obvious that, you know, Timo was looking to take advantage of the man advantage that we had. ⁓ take advantage of the fact that we had an additional man, ⁓ say it less you know, in a less complicated way. and you know, like you said, when he's moving around he's harder to mark. That's just the name of the game. And if you're looking at the heat map, he's on both sides of the pitch. He only played twenty eight minutes, but he is on you know, the the whole other than inside the box, he is all over the place. ⁓ in the twenty eight minutes that he played, he got three chances created. One big chance, and obviously that's probably referring to The cross to Preston Judd. Beautiful cross by the way. ⁓ he got a shot on target, two shots off target, which one of them hit the post, and then, you know, one of them just barely trickled past the post. Very good ⁓ shots. They w they were very I was very happy with his quality of shots, ⁓ and one block shot. But obviously he you know is is the main guy. When ⁓ we're watching the match, I was getting a little bit frustrated, but also I had to change my perspective a little bit. Because I was noticing that it didn't matter what our plan was, if Timo was open, they would just stop their build up, turn over to Timo and give it to him. Even if he's like two steps away, like, okay, here you go. Like everything halted for Timo. But it was for a purpose because Timo was the the free man and making things happen. So ultimately glad that we decided to play that way. You know, that's not something that you typically see from everybody. Not everybody's able to do that. That's what we see inner Miami do for Messi, what we see Argentina do for Messi. I'm not saying that, you know, Timo's as good as Messi, but in this situation, ⁓ the the philosophy of letting the creative player have a go at it worked out. Especially with Bo ⁓ kind of knackered at that point and Nico had been running like crazy all match. They're both knackered. ⁓ what did you think of, you know, the how the team played with Timo and trying to just get on the ball at all costs? I think it's great to include Timo in the possession build up because I mean Timo, as we all know, is just really creative, at least on the Quakes. I mean, I've been a Tottenham Hotspur fan for since we started our partnership with them in like twenty twelve, twenty thirteen. ⁓ but We didn't see that much out of Timo creatively and and I think it was just due to his his not lack of courage, but I think he was just it's a lot of fear. And the Premier League is hard. Yeah, the Premier League is tough. But I think it's also due to the fact that Timo is very injury prone and that's very evident in the last two or three years. ⁓ including or r disregarding all of that. ⁓ including Timo in our build ups. Definitely provided a lot of of opportunities moving forward as we saw in in the ⁓ what was it? What is it, Abram? The ⁓ I wish I knew. We we had just talked about it. But we talked about so many things. We're eighteen minutes. So in in the momentum chart, i it was pretty evident that you know the Quakes had a lot of momentum and I think a lot of that was due to Timo's flexibility and fluidity ⁓ moving moving throughout the the field. But also I think the Quakes could take more advantage of that fluidity and have Timo make dummy runs to to drag a bunch of opposition players out, whether it be away from goal or towards a near post and leave another far post player ⁓ coming in for a header or like Preston Judd or something like that. I think, you know, with what we see from a a lot of opposition teams and players like even Antoine Griezmann You know, just the presence of Lone will will attract, you know, say for example the Earthquake's defense. ⁓ the presence of Antoine Griezman, or even one of my favorites, Lewandowski. ⁓ just them being on the field will attract a lot of, you know, defensive ⁓ coverage. And we could utilize that to our other you know, to the advantage of our other players on the field. Say like Reed Roberts. No one expected Reed Roberts to to take a shot there, right? But I think one of the the main focuses in that moment is where is Timo Werner? Where's Timo Werner? And how is he gonna get the ball and how can we prevent him from getting that opportunity? And sure enough, you know, Reed Roberts like, no one's expecting me to take a shot. Boom. Goes on the back of the net. Or side netting for that matter, which is even more incredible. ⁓ but yeah, going back to Timo, like I I'm very happy that He was involved as much as as he is. But my concern for that is involving him so much kind of increases that risk for injury again. And that's kind of what I fear a lot is is the reliance of Timo's impact game in, game out, is almost detrimental to his injury risk. And I and I'm I wonder, is that something that you think about, Abram? when he's involved so much. Yeah, I mean of course. ⁓ I think game management is an underrated part of the sport that the casual fans or fans who just maybe didn't play career mode honestly. ⁓ they don't understand that if you play your best team and then play your best team and play your best team three weeks in a row or or y you know your midweek game you're gonna get injuries and it's gonna r stack up really fast and that's why rotation is huge. That's why depth is huge, especially in a league like this. ⁓ you know, with with so much parity and also ⁓ so many games compacted on each other. The the the bright side I think is that we aren't extremely reliant on Timo in every match. ⁓ like we won the previous two without him. ⁓ I think Nico is the guy who I'm I'm more worried about, you know, ⁓ where he he is definitely also inju injury prone. ⁓ regardless, it doesn't matter who who is, you know, being being ⁓ relied on. I think that ⁓ we we need to watch that. I I don't want to see Timo start against Portland for that very reason. ⁓ where I just don't know if it's worth it to start him for the you know th from the beginning. To maybe see him get hurt again. I'd like to see him be more eased into it. ⁓ just just purely for ⁓ game management and I I I just don't see I I mean he's a great player, of course, but it's not worth it to have a great player on the bench. It it's worth nothing to have your your DP on the bench. You don't get any points for that. So ⁓ yeah, I'd like to see him you know, ease into this. I I I thought that sixty minutes was ⁓ a decent time to bring him on, especially considering the the ⁓ you know circumstances in this match against LA where they have one less guy. It's just just, you know, already that's a big percentage of the the people that he might have to face up against are not on the field anymore. ⁓ and we needed somebody like him. ⁓ the game was screaming out for for a Timo Werner. ⁓ but I don't think that Pointlet and Timbers is quite as good as L AFC. So I'm seeing that as like well maybe, you know, Timo sits out for this one or comes on seventieth minute, something like that, like late in the match to 'cause you do need to play somewhat to to you know acclimate back into it, but I would hate to rush it. That's that's the the bottom line is just don't rush them back into it. Do you agree with that, Devon? Yeah, a hundred percent. ⁓ I think I've been calling that for for a good while now. And we know the specific player names that that consistently get injured and and we hear the same excuses from the coaching staff. Speci not not even any of the rest of the coaching staff, but just Bruce Arena that, you know, ⁓ like we've we've hindered Nico's progress on, you know, regaining full fitness and being one hundred percent. And then they don't say anything about Timo Werner and his injury prospects. And the same thing, similar you know, like the the similar like silence on on Preston Judd as well. You know, Preston's Preston's been injured for a while. and and so is Timo. But all we get is, you know, kind of like an apology on on Nico. That seems almost unfair to to the rest of the guys that have been treated somewhat unfairly. And that's not to say that like our entire team is injured and been treated unfairly. I think it's just the the injury prone players that we have and Preston isn't necessarily in that category of injury prone players. but I think it's it's the fact that we're so ignorant to the prospect of creating an injury prone player like Timo already is, and that Nico could potentially become to be, that I think there needs to be more accountability from from the managing staff, ⁓ and maybe the physio staff as well, that, you know, hey, these these guys are hurt. Maybe we give them a couple ninety minute games, ⁓ but on occasion we restrict their minutes to maybe thirty minutes in a game and and and let them recover a little a little longer than the the average player because we know what happens when you know, when they play too much and we also know what happens when they miss games to you know, what happens with the team and and how it affects the team. 'Cause we we we saw that stint without Nico and we saw that stint without Timo. ⁓ and the combination of the two is is detrimental to this team's success. Yeah. ⁓ I mean, it was clear the the impact that Preston had coming into this match. I didn't feel again, I mean I don't feel like I have to say it, but I do so you know what I'm talking about. Buddha shouldn't have been a striker, ⁓ for a whole sixty two minutes. ⁓ or or you know, they they changed the formation at halftime, but he was on the pitch for sixty two minutes. ⁓ it's kinda unclear w what the exact formation was after halftime. ⁓ but I know they put they'll play with a four back. Regardless, Preston Judd for me, you know, way more threatening as a striker. Buddha just again, kind of toothless. I like how he builds up play, I like how he creates things. I don't like him being on the end of anything. He he had a good goal against ⁓ San Diego. San Diego. Like that header is great. I don't think he can do that again if Nico doesn't put that in the correct position for him to flick it on. Right. So I'm what I'm saying is because he scored that goal, that doesn't mean that he is now validated as a striker forever in the system. I don't think it works like that. ⁓ and I didn't want to take away anything from him in that match though I didn't mention it earlier, because that we've been saying it so much that Sputa's not a lone striker. He's barely a striker. So, you Preston Judge coming on, a big difference. But again, we don't wanna aggravate his injury. He came off I don't remember who it was against, but he came off after thirty minutes. You know, that's that's worrying. It was right after the San Diego game when he scored his goal. ⁓ so so it i it's a little bit scary right now 'cause ⁓ we also had Danny Mooney come off with a rolled ankle in at halftime. That really changed the way that we played ⁓ made you know, Romney have to go to ⁓ right center back. and and ⁓ Ricketts came off for Costa because he's a more, you know, left back E left back. ⁓ where Ricketts is kind of a a bombing wing back, you know, the separate ⁓ profiles, I guess. I didn't really have a an issue with that change, but obviously the the main issue with That is where is Muni right now in in terms of his health? We don't want to rush him back because that would really suck. But we do rely heavily on Muni overall. He's our best defender. ⁓ he's our only all-star. ⁓ and he's just he's been having a great year. ⁓ so do you think that we should go with the same formation against Portland and just stick Floriani there, or do we switch things up and have it, you know, just Reed and and Romney or what are you looking for in our defensive, you know, shape for the match against Portland? I think the issue of playing a a four back and and I know you just mentioned this, Abram, especially versus LAFC, where you know, I think we started a foreback when LAFC had already started to recede and we were kind of on the dominant foot, so it didn't really matter who was on our back line at the time. I think with the absence of Muni, you may want to see more structured, centralized defense, so there's more players to pick up the pieces from incidents that you may see from Max Floriani because he's an inconsistent player. If you see a team like us with a two back of Romney and Roberts, in the first half of the game, I don't necessarily see that succeeding. ⁓ with two centre backs and two, you know, two full backs. I don't necessarily see that as a successful stint for us. I think we need to see a three centre back system where a lot of these opportunities for the opposition can be squandered a lot easier, ⁓ without the absence of Muni, who's the f who's obviously the fastest defender on the team. ⁓ s so so our players can kind of pick up the pieces off of each other if that's the case. ⁓ I just see that as a lot of, you know, ⁓ damage mitigation, if that's the right way to put it, Abram. ⁓ or or yeah, is it I don't know what you're trying to say, so I can't help you. Like I like damage it's like damage limitation, essentially. So the more defense that we have, the better structure that we'll be. Because I think in in a four back we are more susceptible to conceding a lot more opportunities without Muni. That's what I'm trying to say. ⁓ I I mean I can ⁓ potentially, you know, ⁓ but you know, if we don't have Muni then we don't have Muni. ⁓ so I'm I'm trying to to see what we do because like say s for for the purposes of this discussion, say you know Muni's hundred percent not gonna play. We don't know that. He could play. I've broken my ankle and play the next weekend. It it it depends on the severity of the rolled ankle. He he could be out for, you know, a few weeks, we don't know. But let's say for this discussion he is out for the Portland game at the very least. ⁓ we don't have him, so we what we you're suggesting that Floriani is safer to have on the pitch with two other centre backs, so he would have to play with three centre backs in total? Correct. Yeah, that's that's essentially what I'm saying. But also kind of something that we you and and ⁓ other members of the Discord had iterated earlier today in our conversation is you know, those are the only three center backs that essentially we have apart from, you know, part time Jzinski. and the the risk of injuring these players is, you know, w it's not high. But if any of these players, any of our defenders get injured, then then what do we do next, you know? So it's it's kind of that that balance between, you know, risking the injury for points and playing it safe. And, you know, maybe maybe we give up a lot of opportunities ⁓ during a ninety minute period just so that, you know, at least we have defenders come playoffs. But ⁓ I'd rather personally take the risk of playing a three man centre back Or i it's essentially it's a five man back line if we're talking about it because of the wing backs. But with three center backs, I would rather take that risk to win us a game than to play a two man center back who which has not done us any favors starting the second half of the season. Yeah, I mean I I see it ⁓ I don't see it as black and white. I guess. I don't think that like okay, it was four people on the back, that means we lost that game. Like that's not you know how it works, this whole soccer match has to be played and a bunch of factors. ⁓ and it also, you know, ⁓ one of the points I had made, ⁓ and I'm not saying I disagree with you, but I I am, you know, re re going back on on on that discussion, was that you know, three center backs on the pitch doesn't necessarily mean that a team is more defensive. ⁓ it could just be to counteract the offensive philosophy of the the system. So because we're gonna be, you know, pressing so high, because we're gonna be ⁓ you know going going hard on on attack, we're gonna have an extra center back to account for that. But or you have a high line, you want like you a lot of t teams will have a ⁓ an extra center back to account for that. But that team overall is more attacking ⁓ than a like four four two or four three three that sits back in a low block. where where the full backs are, you know, full backs, like they they're defensive. Obviously, I'm just pointing out the the different ⁓ you know, options for for what you know could be. I'm not saying that ⁓ that would necessarily be the case for us. I think for us, ⁓ if we're playing rickets at all, then our left back is gonna be more attacking. That's just the how it is because Ricketts his strength is attacking. ⁓ so if we have him on the pitch and we're on a four four two, then that team is is like you said, ⁓ it it suffers a little bit defensively. ⁓ I I think that, you know, a team could roll out ⁓ Victor Acosta there and have a ⁓ you know a four in the back and then be relatively defensive. But ⁓ I think in the way we wanna play at least The the three centre backs is probably the way to go. ⁓ but we do have to be cognizant of the load that they have. So I'm not the physio here, right? I I would be curious to see ⁓ where they see these players at. But assuming everyone's fine, I would go for the the three in the back. ⁓ even though, you know, there is a risk. Like if ⁓ Romney gets hurt What do we do? We you put I guess you would put Floriani in the middle, ⁓ and then have ⁓ what's his name? Chzinski at right centre back. And then we're at the bottom of the barrel. ⁓ we have Yeah, that's the very bottom Alejandro Cano. You can do a you can do like a Yule experiment and put Vieira as centre back. No, we have ⁓ Alejandro Cano I'm kidding. For the people of for the people viewing home, I'm not c I'm I'm he's he's joking. We have Alejandro Cano who i can play centre back, is is mostly playing centre back nowadays. But ⁓ Christopher ⁓ Quakes two are in the playoffs now and ⁓ they don't want to sacrifice any of their center backs for us. Although if you know the Quakes are trying to get playoffs and like I I prioritize the Quakes and I assume that everyone else in charge also does that. So I think that if it really comes down to it, then kinda you're swooped up the Quakes, you know, first team. But I don't think that there's anything right now that's telling me that that will a hundred percent be the case. You know, I think that if 'cause Mini right now, how I would place him is questionable. ⁓ because we don't know anything about his injury. He could play. He might not, but he could. ⁓ so I'm seeing Floriani there as like okay, well that's that covers Muni. I don't see ⁓ Roberts or Romney as necessarily prone to injury. So I think I would go with what you said and ⁓ go with the the you know, three center backs. But I was just in the Discord pointing out how you know t two centre backs on the field in a back four isn't necessarily more attacking all the time. It can be, doesn't have to be, because of how fluid the sport is and that's why we love it, right? ⁓ Yeah, I agree and I I also want to add to that. To your point and to others points who were are in favor of a back four system, I think also, you know, there there may be some advantages to that, especially with the addition to to Livin. ⁓ because we had also talked about this, Abram and and a lot of our our midfielders are picking up that that defensive slack and and you know, intercepting passes and and turning over possession in favor of us. ⁓ you know, obviously we're not the ones turning the ball over, but you know, our our defensive efforts by our midfielders are doing a good job at at winning possession ⁓ for us that, you know, maybe with this new four man centralized midfield we might see more comfort in playing a four back instead of a five because I don't I don't necessarily remember I don't even think since we've played Lovin, we've played anything but a three center back system. Yeah. and four midfielder systems. So, you know, that that is something to consider moving forward, I guess. Yeah, that's correct. ⁓ since Luven's been here we we changed the formation. ⁓ everyone was kinda confused at that time. It makes sense now. ⁓ the only thing that that was different when Luven started was that he and LaRue were swapped. So Larue was in the double pivot and Luven was higher up creating more. ⁓ but I like the way that this ⁓ team against LAFC is Where Luvin is deeper and you know, creating more ⁓ from from deep and kind of dictating the play. L if you look at this guy's heat map, like the pitch is on fire. He is all over the place. ⁓ Devin ⁓ it's check it out, like it's it's the most orange I've ever seen on a heat map. ⁓ Yeah, Luvin ⁓ just the way that he dictates the the play, absolutely fantastic. And has really changed the the ⁓ I guess the the the culture of how we approach every match. We're not, you know, doing the same things we did before, we're a little bit more patient. ⁓ I don't know if I, you know, like the the sacrificing of monster mode for ⁓ you know, Louvin's kind of more calculated approach. But ⁓ as long as it gets us results, I am not gonna be complaining. ⁓ Yeah, his heat map kinda looks like a if you if you analyze the source of the heat source of a Wiener Schnitzel. That's that's kind of the the image prospect of just everything centralized. I kinda see it. ⁓ Shout out Oktoberfest. Right. And Leuven got a eight point one rating, one of the highest ratings on the field. ⁓ Hyomin Sun got a eight point three, so Luwin's very close. And Leuven didn't even get an assist. He didn't get a goal. He was just doing that much on the pitch. ⁓ Reed Roberts obviously got the goal. ⁓ we talked to him after the match. He mentioned that he thought maybe he shouldn't shoot it when he received the ball. But he thought, you know, why not? He he s saw the shot, so he took it and ⁓ obviously ended up going in the back of the net. We rescued a point. Very glad he took it. I remember when I saw him get the ball and we were just moving back and forth at this time, like just trying to figure something out. And we we had gotten like Skein had a header, you know, blocked off the line by by ⁓ Loris, who was having a an absolutely fantastic match. And by this point when Roberts got the ball, I was just like, honestly just shoot it. Like What's that's not worse than anything else we've tried, just shoot it. And he does, and it gets through all the defenders who are trying to block it and it was a fantastic shot. Probably, you know, his favorite goal of his career. He hasn't had that many. I think one other goal this season. ⁓ but that's that's ⁓ a legendary moment that we're going to remember as Quakes fans for probably forever. ⁓ just that Reed Roberts goal at Levi Stadium. ⁓ I don't know if you have anything to add about that, but I wanted to move on to talk about Levi Stadium and, you know, fans' opinions on it. All I wanted to say to that was basically it it felt like in that moment when Reed Roberts scored that goal, the Goonies were back. It was like the Goonies are back, baby. Reed Roberts has just entered extra time, stoppage time, golaso ⁓ type type era. Ninety eighth minute. Absolutely fantastic. ⁓ and like barely There was barely any, you know, time after that. The the rep did the goal kick. I think like ten seconds later, ⁓ the final whistle. So, ⁓ back to the topic of Levi Stadium. Obviously from the press box it's not too bad. Like I I understand that, you know, when I'm talking about Levi's Stadium, I'm talking from a different perspective than most fans, where they have like a basically a hotel next to the stadium and that's the press box. ⁓ they have a whole buffet, is awesome. But I would gladly give that up if it meant that our fans got to play at home at their stadium that they already have. I I don't know, I think this moment is is more impactful. ⁓ even though the forty K people in front of a full dou ⁓ a sold out PayPal Park ninety eighth minute goal, I think hits harder there. Don't you think, Devin? Well, you're barking up the right tree. ⁓ mean it's It makes no sense to me, apart from the fact that yes, Levi Stadium, Stanford, these big venues give this team the opportunity to host a bunch of like corporate, you know, potential investment suitors for this team. But as a fan, I don't care. I really don't care. This is a team, a club that's represented by the city, for the city For the people of the city that represent the culture of the city, that represent the colors of the city, and has nothing to do with corporate sponsorships and whatnot. Look at the San Jose Sharks. They are the only team in the NHL that have no sponsors on their jerseys. The only team. It can be done. We don't need the sponsorships, etc. This is a sport that is designed for the people who live in the city, the club represents. We don't need to play in an NFL venue. We don't need to play at a college venue. We play at the stadium that's built specifically for us and make it a fortress for our own. I don't know how else to say it. And I'm sorry, I'm very passionate about this. But like it just makes no sense. You have a specific design stadium that was built just over a decade ago to play your soccer games in. And then you don't use it for two of your games. Like what's going on? Biggest games. Yes, exactly. The biggest classicos and they want to export it to another stadium. So if you're at home watching and your response to that is, Well, I like Le Fight, this is a fun time for me and I enjoy it. Then we're not here to tell you that you're wrong because you enjoyed it, right? If your response is, Well, the team makes so much money from it and that makes me happy, then I don't I don't know if you knew this, but the team isn't giving you any of that. It's not it's barely reinvesting it into the team, let's be honest. ⁓ w we're we're like we have the the a lot of money that we could be using to get players, but that's not what we're using it on. ⁓ instead we're we're getting ⁓ a Dude Wipes ⁓ mascot you know, dancing all over the place instead. I don't know if you saw the dev y I know you weren't at the match. ⁓ It it it's it's ridiculous, like Devin said. ⁓ a lot of fans have a very miserable experience. ⁓ a lot of people in the media also, you know, complain about the ADA parking not even getting them into the ADA lot. They have to walk across the whole parking lot to get to ⁓ the media entrance. And there are, you know, f hundreds of of ⁓ parking spots that are reserved for handicapped. But that they don't let the media handicapped people do it. They only you know I don't even know who got to park there. I didn't see any. They were all empty. Just the way that they handle it. ⁓ I know that ⁓ Eric Sarseno, a friend of the show, ⁓ that footy dad, for those who don't know, he got racially profiled at one of these games. And and obviously the Quakes aren't doing that. The League Vice has their own kind of company that manages, you know, security and and stadium staff. But regardless, ⁓ that doesn't change the experience that fans have when they show up to Leaf as. ⁓ y we hear a lot of ⁓ people complaining about their experience and how much distaste they had for it. And that's not even, you know, bringing up the fact that Devon's right that we have a whole stadium that we ha you know, built in San Jose and then the the times where we would have sold out that stadium instead we're playing With a bunch of MTCs, let's face it, in Santa Clara. It it's it just feels kind of wrong. Right? It feels very wrong. And just a small addition to this, like going back to the whole like NHL and Sharks having no sponsorships on their of their jerseys and being the only NHL team to do so. They also have the highest play highest paid player in the NHL of Macklin Celebrini. And they're still able to do that in a seventeen K arena venue. With no Jersey sponsorships. They're still able to do that. Yeah. The earthquakes have no excuse. I'm sorry. Yeah, and I would love for the stadium to be bigger. I would love for a PayPal Park to be bigger, but we we're not seeing a lot of investment ⁓ in the stadium. ⁓ it's the same as when I got there at fifteen, ⁓ and I'm twenty six now. It's looks the same as a big You know, outdoor bar who that honestly isn't that big. I I'm sure it's the largest in in North America, but I don't think anyone else is competing for that title. ⁓ and how by how much? Where's the second largest outdoor bar in North America? I I'm very curious. Where where is another outdoor bar in North America? No idea. Not even a large one, just any bar 'cause it's not that big. It's it's ⁓ how 'cause how long is the ⁓ that end of the the pitch? It's like So the you know, the long wise a pitcher's a hundred yards. How how long is it this way? 'Cause whatever that number is, the outdoor bar is smaller than that. Maybe twenty, twenty five. No, it can't be twenty five yards, definitely. It's definitely smaller. Like I I don't know. ⁓ we'll maybe D C D C has one? D C what? Does D C United have one? 'Cause I know they don't have like a full I don't know. ⁓ Ford section standard. I did write for DC United back in the day, but because I am based in the Bay Area I did not get credentials to go to their matches, so I I have no idea. ⁓ Yeah. ⁓ but that would really increase our attendance if we could have another side of the pitch or another side of the stadium. We have three quarters of a stadium. ⁓ and and that kind of sucks. And and it's you know, to to put the big outdoor bar there. ⁓ and obviously from what I understand that's not like that's not the ideal choice that the the people at the earthquakes would have, you know, chosen. I think that they would have wanted to close off that part of the stadium as well. But it's just for for a variety of reasons that's not allowed. ⁓ but anyways just all that to say that I think that ⁓ the Levi's games I I'm I hope that some people have fun as a fan it was kinda hard to sit in the sun for that long. ⁓ PayPal Park is is a lot more shade. ⁓ it's also less steep. So if you're sitting in front of a tall or behind a tall person you might ⁓ struggle. So if I'm sitting behind Devin, I I don't know what happened that match. ⁓ obviously the the pa ⁓ the the press box is amazing. ⁓ and I I am sorry that you weren't able to experience it, Devon. But ⁓ I'm kind of more worried about the people ⁓ sitting in the stands than myself who honestly I didn't it was a great press box, but the chairs have like the backs just go straight back. And so I had to like sit sit up the whole time. I couldn't lean back at all. So based off of that, never again. No no more Levi's. ⁓ I hope not. And with this this new schedule, you know, approaching in twenty twenty seven. Is that even a possibility for for Stanford as well? You know? Is is there a chance that we may not see Levi's or Stanford in the same year? Or is the team going to prioritize one home game per LA team per year to where, you know, we'd see one Levi's stadium game one year and then Stanford the next year? We don't know. Yeah. But we definitely won't see it in the summer, as we had previously and f previously seen. For a fourth of July game. That is no longer possible. Yeah. ⁓ and that was like a big, you know, selling point where we had the fireworks. I'm sure the if we did do the Stanford game, they'd do fireworks at some point, ⁓ of sub kind, sorry. ⁓ but also getting to to Palo Alto in the middle of the day and and figuring out how to park there at Stanford is a nightmare. It is actually really freaking hard. and Levi's for for how terrible that parking situation is, you're not in the woods. so there's that. ⁓ I I if I was to choose one, I would obviously pick Stanford. I don't know if you agree, Devin. ⁓ but I would just and more so because of the the the history of Stanford. but ⁓ I just wish that we felt comfortable enough in our own stadium to not have to play elsewhere. 'Cause that feels so weird, just as a the complex that builds when, you know, you're a club and you know that your team doesn't think their stadium is good enough to host these big teams and big players. I don't know. It it it's just it's not great. You're already starting off from like a ⁓ underdog and that's not the coolest place to be all the time. Sometimes I want to be the team that is expected to do better, right? And and so yeah, just for so many reasons ⁓ we're hoping to ⁓ you know just at least move away from yeah, move away from that and invest more in PayPal Park, make it a place that we actually want to be. ⁓ because, you know, obviously if we're trying to leave so bad, then maybe the stadium needs, you know, improvement in that aspect. ⁓ so this Portland match, ⁓ let's see how Portland has been doing as of late. So they haven't won in their last three. We haven't lost in our last four. ⁓ or is it five now? I think five. Yeah. So in terms of paper, we're doing better than them. ⁓ Diego Chara, I see him here. ⁓ I hate facing Diego Chara because he is he is a a bastard. He he he he makes every game an absolute ⁓ battleground. so obviously you never want to discount them. ⁓ But they did just lose against Atlanta and let's see how Atlanta are doing at this point. ⁓ 'cause I've I've only heard bad things about Atlanta. ⁓ I think they're still on somewhat of a downward spiral from the start of the season. Yeah. ⁓ so out of thirty teams they're at twenty eight. So Atlanta's not doing well, but they did just beat Portland. ⁓ they also lost to Dallas, who are doing you know better ⁓ I would say that they're up there with us, like pretty pretty on par with us. ⁓ on paper we should win this match, but games aren't played on paper, they're played on grass. Who are you looking at that gives you a little bit of pause? What what's ⁓ who are the players that they have that you might be worried about? ⁓ well I don't wanna specify that these guys will play based on injury reports and that I don't know much about, you know, Portland's injury reports, so I just wanna throw that out there. That being said, you know, I'm looking at the previous ⁓ you know head to head player stats and and Anthony has always been a consistent, you know, theme as ⁓ an attacking prospect. ⁓ it's been pretty dangerous with an eight point run eight point one rating last game. ⁓ you know, a couple of names who've who've also been dangerous. ⁓ Ian Smith and Jimmer Humer Forey. I don't I may have butchered that name. I mean, I'm sure you did, but I I don't think I could do any better. Yeah. So I mean just those three players alone seem like they they did a pretty good job against us. ⁓ decent stats. ⁓ but Anthony is probably my biggest worry. Is there anyone sticking out for you, Abe? Yeah. ⁓ they're DaCosta. I don't know his first name. Let's see right here. ⁓ David DeCosta plays ⁓ number ten for them, Portuguese. Used to play for ⁓ RC Lenz in ⁓ League ⁓ He has a he has ⁓ had a very good year so far, gotten ten goal contributions in twenty two matches. ⁓ you know, decent player. ⁓ I remember ⁓ being a little bit scared when he would receive the ball ⁓ last time we played them. ⁓ but Devin, I had asked you not to look at the head to head ⁓ before we started, I'm going to ask you, I don't know if you actually saw it, but out of forty-three matches that we played against ⁓ Portland in MLS, how many do you think we've won? ⁓ well, okay, so here's my thought process here on this Avon, right? When we did the the quiz with Saz and our little game show, on his game show, Portland was not on that Top ten list and I think we had guessed them. And Saz is like, no, we did not play well against Portland. So with with that in mind and knowing that sucked. Out of forty three and knowing that we haven't won an MLS game in Portland until this season, ⁓ I wanna say that we've only beat Portland out of forty three, thirteen times. No. We haven't even beat them a double digit amount. We have only won against Portland in forty three matches nine times. That's depressing quite depressing. And if you add the draws to the wins, which you wouldn't because then they could also do that. ⁓ then that would put us at twenty one draws. Like if we added the the the draws to our wins, that would put us at twenty one. And we still wouldn't win against them because they have twenty two wins against us in forty three matches. So history is not on our side, but the head to head everything else looks good for us. ⁓ it would be great to get the tenth win against Portland, ⁓ especially after we just got our ninth ⁓ earlier this season and also it was the curse breaking game where Preston Judd scored a brace. ⁓ Fantastic match, although I'll always remember that because of the fact that we had never won there in our history. And every time I play a career mode on FIFA, ⁓ when I win at Portland, I am like, ⁓ I broke the curse earlier, whatever. ⁓ but like I said, ⁓ head to head doesn't favor us very much, but I am looking forward to a win, hopefully. They have ⁓ a few guys out injured. Honestly some pretty ⁓ impactful players. Juan Mosquera, Brandon by, Jose Caicedo and Zach McGraw. Zach McGraw is a player I I wish we could have had a very big center back. do you feel confident going into this match? I'm not gonna ask you the score, but you know, how do you think ⁓ we should, you know, expect this t ⁓ game to play out? I mean now that the fact that they don't have a vendor on their team, I'm pretty confident, I'm pretty happy. You know, given their current season form, I I think we do have another chance. Given that this this game is is now a home game. ⁓ hopefully we can use the the home field on our side, you know, the the fans backing us behind us. ⁓ I I firmly believe that we have a chance with our new formation and kinda just with with our momentum and with Portland's lack of I think that, you know we can definitely continue paving our way into the playoffs and continue building points for this team. but historically, again looking at the last last match and the possession, average possession, Portland definitely dominated that game despite us taking advantage of of, you know, our scoring opportunities. I I don't know if we're that team. That continues to take advantage of those scoring opportunities like we did last time. So yeah, it it's it's kind of a toss-up at this point. I'm not exactly sure which way this team you know, this game's gonna go, but I certainly hope, you know, it goes in the favor of black and blue and we take six points out of six ⁓ for the for the season against Portland. And right before we go, last question I'm gonna ask you. What's one substitution that you're making from the previous lineup against LAFC just one substitution, any player. One substitution? I'm putting in ⁓ well I guess hell irregardless of of health, I'm putting Judd in for Buddha. ⁓ but if not Judd I I would still want to put Luca in for Buddha. I just I don't see Buddha as the the starting role striker ⁓ just to to start a game. Maybe as the second half sub yeah yeah yeah But we need some He could definitely press a back line. Like that's he's great at that part. He can he can run at that. He's got the Bruce Presser answers to come. I I I would also do the exact same thing. I'll put Luca in for Buddha and Jud would come off on in the second half. ⁓ just because we're not sure where he is injury wise. ⁓ but we need a striker to be at striker. So that's what I'm doing. ⁓ but yeah, guys, we're going to be back. ⁓ next week after the Portland Timbers game. But until then, GW out. GW O out