Latest / Tectonic Takes / Episode 168: Smashing The Roadblocks
Transcript
- Tectonic Takes: What's up Quakes fans, are back yet again with two big wins since we last covered, since we were last here. A 5-1 win against Austin FC, a 3-2 win against St. Louis City. Devin, how are you feeling with how the Quakes are doing so far? I think in terms of the Quakes, I'm extremely satisfied. think over the weekend I had my personal butt kicked, you know, in the... In the background of things, I'm preparing for a hike up to Half Dome. So after the St. Louis game, had a multi-mile hike with a lot of incline and decline. I'm kind of, I'm like suffering through it right now, but we're pushing. We're pushing, trying to push past my fear of heights. But on the quake spectrum, very happy. ⁓ It was a six point weekend and sure enough, we got a six point week. So I... Living up to expectations living up to expectations. Abram what were you? What did you think as we were approaching up to st. Louis? Yeah, I mean We you just said living up to expectations. We did say that these two games are games that we should win and obviously there's Anything can happen and I knew that that was gonna come back to bite me when I saw ⁓ The second goal in two minutes happened when st. Louis scored two in a row Cordova and hartell or hartle. I don't know hartle. Let's say hartle. It's hard. Yeah, it's hard. ⁓ yeah, it's like Tomas hartle Go hartle use bubble be and Ivan would love that. Okay If you're not a Pokemon fan, it's okay. You don't have to do that one Yeah, thank you guys for not clicking off immediately But no, like we said two big wins We can talk a little bit about ⁓ Austin first just because it happened first and then we'll go into the st. Louis match ⁓ Two very, you know eventful games for different reasons, but this Austin game we were coming into it and we had a lot of confidence ⁓ somebody in the server in the discord server who is a Austin fan, but he's there for fantasy league reasons he was saying like guys this Austin is running out the B team This should be, you know, totally fine. And then within 10 minutes, we are one nil down. What did you think at that point, Devin? I thought based on the fact that Austin came out with a heavy shoulder, you know, they were just beaten guys off the ball left and right. And I thought we were going to lose the physical battle, which in turn then lose the rest of the 90 minute battle. ⁓ So I was at least in the first half, I was unprepared. for Austin's level of preparation heading into the match. But as you can kind of tell, over the course of the first 30 minutes, the Quakes were slowly getting their feet back underneath and finding that groove again that I keep referencing every week. But halftime came, and then all the chains just broke off the Quakes, and they'd managed to enter Monster Mode and destroy Austin FC in the second half. Modester Mode is a very good name for what happened to this Quakes team where like we saw it against LAFC. We've seen it quite a few times, but LAFC is the, you know, latest occasion or earliest occasion that I can remember off the top of my head. You know, like what, three goals in six minutes, four goals, six minutes. ⁓ Then here, ⁓ in like the last few minutes, we scored four goals within, within 10, like less than 10 minutes. You know verner penalty jud brace brutal goal. I don't know what happens, but they they become Little gremlins. Yeah, they become little gremlins and they just go into a next gear that other teams simply don't seem to have ⁓ It's like nobody can stop us when we hit that stride and it's it's really good to have ⁓ but I have to say, know Timo a Lot of people had doubts about him When he signed this is exactly what you and I said would happen Devon you especially as someone who's a bigger team of fan than I am ⁓ What are your thoughts on his you know ability to drag this team not judge team? you know what? mean like really, you know ignite the the fire that turns us on to Would you say monster mode? Yeah monster mode and I think I think Timo epitomizes monster mode quite a bit just because of how he carries even though he's from Red Bull Even though he's from Red Bull, yeah, he carried himself in a monster mode. Huge way, ⁓ you know, is that stat. In one week, he has four goals and three assists, which is an insane stat to think about for a guy that people have claimed, you know, or have memed over the last couple of years. And he comes to MLS and here he is, you know, scoring and assisting and contributing to a lot of winning moments. A lot of winning moments. What you want to see from your DP is to show up and win it matters most. And he's not even showing up just when it matters most. He's just showing up. You know, two consecutive matches of playing almost 90 minutes each. I think he missed like two minutes to make double 90, but in the St. Louis game. But you know, nonetheless, ⁓ Timo again was ⁓ part of the second goal, I think, in the Austin FC game. ⁓ and he was part of the third goal, he pinged the pass over to Marie, who crossed the jud to make it 3-1. He helped, as I just mentioned, he helped with Ricketts' penalty, who I think was smart in going down versus Dubr... Correct me if I'm wrong, any Austin fans out there, but I think it's Dubr-Sarsky. He flicked it over both of those players, Dubr-Sarsky couldn't make a connection, and Ricketts, you know, managed to pass him, contact was made, and he went down and the penalty was called. I think it was a fair call for a penalty because you shouldn't just be in front of earthquakes or any player like that on the ground. you know, most of those came from Teemo and you have to contribute or you have to give praise to Teemo for all these things that he's doing and we'll talk about St. Louis in a second. But he's contributing the way you want him to as a DP. Abram, what did you see out of Teemo? Yeah, I mean, Same thing I've been saying is that he is contributing everywhere So it's not just I'm gonna be the guy who takes the penalties and that's why my stats look good It's ⁓ he you know really drives the team forward his general play is you know? One of the best in the league he he's finding teammates open. He's burying the team forward by either Making those switches which aren't always effective. That's the thing that I think could be more consistent But he's doing them and that's what matters and he is finding his man when he makes those switches like the ball to palm Marie And and when he dribbles forward People are scared, you know, it opens space up right in other areas and if they don't close him down He is going to score on you ⁓ And you know, lot of players have benefited from him just being on the field in my opinion I think Judd with the brace against Austin and another early goal here in st. Louis ⁓ You know, I think that we probably could have predicted this that you know, if Timo plays well, then Judd probably also plays well ⁓ some people, you know were rightly maybe ⁓ Concerned that Timo would take over Judd's position as a nine But it hasn't been that way. We've seen them both play at same time, which has been good. But it does bring up a concern about if all our best players are on the field at the same time, then when we have more congested match weeks, how is that going to play? Because there's only a matter of time until we start seeing more injuries to players who are more crucial to this team. You know, we could talk a little bit about St. Louis now, but we... put out a second team, right? That was our B team, ⁓ with a few exceptions. Timo, one of them, and Judd, of course. Those were the two, I think, A team guys. And they looked good, and Fernandez looked good, ⁓ but we couldn't get out of our own box. ⁓ know, Oradowitz had to stand on his head to keep us in the game, and then suddenly he's out injured, and they get two goals in quick succession. And we have to bring in our A-Team guys to save the day. And it is a testament, which people aren't talking about this, Devin. I'm curious what you think. It's a testament that with the limited minutes that our A-Team guys got, I'm talking ⁓ Nico, I'm talking Viera, ⁓ know, Buddha, they were able to turn this game around. Fully. We had lost all momentum going into the two goals that St. Louis scored. We'd lost all momentum, we were being bombarded. And then suddenly we bring in our 18 players and then they switch the game around. We start pounding St. Louis and we end up winning that game. ⁓ With the limited minutes, you know, it was like, it was like in those FIFA kind of, you know, the mode where you would enter a game in a certain situation and then you had to... change the game around they have so little time to do it but they were able to do it and in my opinion they did it very convincingly they look very good after those subs were made what were your thoughts on when that happened yeah i think there's there's two points you know versus the st louis game i'm gonna make a third point here ⁓ pulverize absolute go on the bench ⁓ i just want to Quickly acknowledge his MLS record of five minutes and 28 seconds between three assists three separate assists in the awesome game it's something to to be acknowledged and and Celebrated because we don't really talk about Paul Marie very often on this podcast and in general I don't think many fans give that as much appreciation to Paul Marie quite like our PM our very own PMA does ⁓ but you know That being said, I think there's two points of reference versus St. Louis. And the first one I've noticed as a consistent theme throughout the season so far is the game of endurance. The Earthquakes, they come out to play their game and it may not necessarily be the perfect game in the first half, especially given the last three, I think we had to make a comeback. And the second half in these games, is what we really know the quakes to be. But I think it is somewhat concerning that we have to wait until our first team players are substituted onto the field to really see a true impact to this team. I think we would be sitting here talking in a completely different manner if St. Louis were to convert their chances that we had seen in the first half. I think, you know, they hit two shots off the post. there were a couple of obvious chances that should have hit the target. ⁓ I know if I was a St. Louis fan watching that game, I'd be like, we could be winning five to one right now at the end of the first half. ⁓ So yeah, think it's just, it's a different context if you kind of look at those opportunities holistically and obviously we're sitting here imagining if that went in because we finished the game three to two, but. You know, they had a lot of chances and that was versus a team that was heavily rotated by us. So what does that say about our substitutes and the effectiveness of those substitutes when they start games versus when they come onto the field? I'd like to get to know your thoughts, but I am slightly concerned at the level of saturated games we have coming up and how tired our players may be and the difficulty of rotating the squad. Just the impact of the players in the future, like with, you know, the game versus Minnesota, as this podcast will be posted after the game's conclusion, we'll be, you know, leading up to Toronto, but, you know, what is that to say about our team? What is that to say about our depth? And our quality of depth is quite shallow. ⁓ And I think we're able to stand on our quality of depth and on our knees are still above water. So, Abram, but you know what? Despite the impressive performance in the second half, what are your thoughts on the rotations in the first versus St. Louis? Yeah, I mean it's no secret that we don't have the best depth. We like the guys off the bench, but you know over a full match ⁓ I don't know if Jona Gonzalez is you know ⁓ that quality of player at this from what we've seen where he can you know really carry the game because ⁓ he was asked kind of to be ⁓ the creative force that Bo LaRue is. think that, you know, if we look at, you know, who usually pairs up in that spot, it's Vieira and LaRue. And so you would agree that Harks is probably the more defensive one. And so he takes after Vieira and then LaRue is the more offensive one. And I mean, Jonah is the more offensive one he would take after LaRue. That to me, at least that makes sense to me. I don't know if it makes sense to you guys. So. In this game when we didn't have a lot of possession, ⁓ it didn't really make sense to have somebody like Jonah Gonzalez who's like 5'5 maybe, 5'6, ⁓ you know, very small. And he can make, you know, big tackles and stuff, but that's not the game for this. And also they weren't a very good caliber of tackles, to be honest. He gets cards. He's going to be missing against Minnesota because of a... Two challenges that were so unnecessary and you know that does have to be spoken about where this is like one of the main guys we're looking at off the bench in the midfield and We can't really rely on him. We can't like I don't look at him and feel trust When when I'm like, okay, he's coming on in the past when he first started I was like, okay, there's a guy who's very smooth on the ball and and I'm excited to see what he can bring And I think that that novelty is a little bit worn off think Jack Chosinski is a solid player for the future. I think that he will have a lot to add. ⁓ But the way he is, I don't know how effective he is going forward. I know that he scored that goal ⁓ against ⁓ Austin. I'm aware of that. I saw it happen. you know, going forward, ⁓ combinations and stuff, it's not really his game. He's more of like... defensive type and in the final third he's okay, he's okay but like just in the build up like going forward like Marie we would all agree is like a very good ⁓ fullback for building forward and I don't think Jack Jouzinski fits that profile. Same with Romney I don't think as a left back he's very attacking minded ⁓ and so that created a kind of ⁓ an issue where If we're playing out from the back, who's playing out? We couldn't beat the press that St. Louis had very efficiently. And it created a really big problem. And I do think that in a game like this, it was not a good matchup for Jonah because of how his size. we needed, we were being bombarded on crosses and corner kicks and stuff like that. You saw Jack Skea and get beaten there a few times. It's like we needed size and we didn't have size in this game. ⁓ And it did take us to bring on Viera ⁓ and Nico to really stabilize the midfield. Nico is somebody who drops in very deep and will like, you know, spur the team forward. And that makes it much more possible to play out the back. But before he came on the pitch, we didn't have anyone that was able to do that. Whereas I think that this team in full strength doesn't really have that issue. think that Dewan Jones can play out the back. think Benjy Kandavish plays out the back. I think that, you know, even Reed Roberts has a left-footed pass that I think can break lines. Same with Muni. ⁓ There's so many small things that you don't really consider that are necessary to the system that we kind of, we don't lose, but we don't have the same quality that makes us the special team that we are. when we have to have such a heavily rotated lineup like this. ⁓ I think that we stand to improve, it makes Bruce's job very clear of what he needs to look at to bring into this team. Because we do need reinforcements because this is a long season. We do have the World Cup break coming up, but... What happens after that there's gonna be congestion after that as well And then we don't have a break to look forward to at that point. Yeah, very sorry interrupt very briefly, but you know In the first two games back, there's a three-day difference between Orlando City and LA Galaxy. So right Yeah, and we want to be concerns. We want to be full strength for LA Galaxy, right? ⁓ for obvious reasons and So if I'm if I'm Bruce, I'm like, okay Well, this team needs a little bit of help here and there and they're just... But, couldn't help but doing my Bruce impression. there is glaring issues in my opinion. I think that's very clear to see. I think being three deep in positions is not a bad thing. I think the only place where we are actually three deep, or barring injuries, is probably left back. And that's not as... helpful, especially when two of those guys are injured, right? ⁓ So that's what I would like to see from Bruce because that's what's going to make this season. ⁓ The reinforcements that we could bring in. ⁓ I don't think that everyone will stay fit. Like that's really hard to see and expect. And just like put all your hopes on the fact that like no one in our, you know, starting 11 gets hurt. And then we have to consistently start one of these bench players. that's not something that I would bet any amount of money on because it's just like we saw what happened with one Jones. He was huge for this team. We are we are doing well, but we looked better with the one in my opinion. We don't look bad now, but we look better with the one and then he has a huge injury that nobody expected right that happened out of nowhere that can happen at any time to anyone and you know knock on wood don't want to see that but this team is you know, in danger if we don't find a way to get more depth. Yeah, you made plenty of good points there, Abram. I do want to take a slight turn in a more positive direction. ⁓ think, you know, taking a step back holistically, it's kind of funny. We're sitting here because I completely agree with everything you just said. I think those are extremely valid points. And, you know, there are concerns at left back position. where it's almost like we're scrambling in a way to find the right candidate to replace Dewan Jones. And I personally think that Jamar Ricketts is a great candidate for that, but we also need him at left wing when Timo Werner isn't there. So it's, you know, finding the right balance of minutes with Ricketts as well. And then, you know, as competitors, there's Romney and Chazinski. And yeah, I don't necessarily disagree that Chazinski... provides enough to warrant more of like starting minutes, I guess. ⁓ But also, I don't think Romney has the attributes, technically, to warrant a starting position at left back either. I think we're still scrambling and searching for a starting left back position. And maybe that's something that needs to be addressed heading into the quote unquote off season, AKA summer transfer window. if Dewan Jones is out officially for the rest of the season. Maybe that's something that we look into ⁓ as an organization in the transfer market on top of the couple of other additions Bruce is hoping to make. ⁓ But I think your point of concern actually is something I'd like to dive a little bit into and I'd like to get your thoughts on this Abram. I had talked to you previously, but I had made like this little bar here. ⁓ I know it means absolutely nothing to you, but... um... it's kind of just a gauge on where your opinion is on something and so uh... as as someone who really likes to be the people that is just pull out of a printer to the right and just great at all uh... audio listeners of the evidence for the people with the line graph and i don't know what it said it just had a line graph on it and then he showed me uh... example of the other very briefly european may vary so i don't have to show that I was about to explain it to Abram and Abram goes, no, surprise me in the podcast. We need the people on Spotify and Apple podcast. Yes. Yes. Yeah, that's true. That's true. ⁓ So I was for full context, I was listening to a psychology podcast describing scarcity versus abundance mindsets. And I think this perfectly depicts what the earthquakes are kind of going through right now. It's kind of like a healthy mix of scarcity, knowing that there's you know, things that we need to do to improve, but also the aspect of an abundance mindset. We're sitting here nine and one, you know, maybe we should be, you know, absorbing more of the euphoria as an Earthquakes fan base because who knows when we're gonna experience this again, experience these nine wins, experience being five and ⁓ away. ⁓ You know, I kind of want to get your thoughts, but like maybe there's also a hint of hesitation. Are we expecting a bad spell of games to come? ⁓ Should we enjoy the wins? Who knows how long we're gonna celebrate this feeling. on this specific ⁓ bar graph here, guess, ⁓ where do you see yourself along the lines on this scarcity versus abundance skill? Do you see yourself that- Can you to me like the each end in the middle? Yeah, so on the left-hand side, it says everything is perfect. That's our abundance. What we have right now is great. We can sit back and relax, put our hands behind our head, our limes on our eyes. ⁓ In the middle is the mix of both. And on the right is, I put, we are desperate for change and additions. We need change immediately. Where do you see yourself on this, this graph? I mean, so they're asking different things. ⁓ Like, you know, Do we need change? Yes. ⁓ Are we playing very well? And do I need to worry about the next coming games? No. ⁓ You know, so it's like, ⁓ can I see things going wrong ⁓ hypothetically? Sure. Yeah, 100%. But ⁓ I don't think that like, ⁓ I'm looking at this, ⁓ you know, any of the games coming up and I'm like, ⁓ we're gonna be screwed for that game. I think that we can win against anyone right now. So, and I wouldn't say it's somewhere in the middle, because again, I think it's two different questions. ⁓ But ⁓ to answer that, think I'd be closer to... I'm probably closer to the left end where it's like things are pretty good, because, you know, I think that with this team playing as well as it is, even if we have to rest some people here and there, ⁓ I think that against teams like Austin and teams like st. Louis we can you know pull out really good results we had a rotated back line against ⁓ Austin right ⁓ Romney and Tsunosuke aren't the main guys ⁓ that we usually play at a right back and left back they are ⁓ you know depth and Same thing for st. Louis ⁓ who knows what would happen if we started that game with 100 % strength ⁓ so you know I think we have the players to beat most teams, but if we want to win Supporter Shield, if we want to go anywhere in MLS Cup, you know, that's a different question. And for that, we do need, we desperately need reinforcements in that case, right? Yeah, that's where I'm at. Okay, I think I'm on a very similar thought pattern as you, Abram. I think I lean slightly more to the left that things are going really well right now, but there is that case that You know, others in our Discord server specifically have also described as, you know, there are yellow flags being waved ⁓ in a racing reference across the track. There are some ⁓ sectors that need addressing. It is a healthy balance that we're trying to find right now. And I'm thankful that we're on the positive end of those things. Where are you hoping, this is a different question, where are you hoping that the FO is at? Like where do you think that they should be in terms of how they assess this team and you know finding replacements and wanting to move forward? Should they be in panic mode to you know bring people in? Should they you know look at this team and be like ⁓ it's fine how it is? I think the beauty of the World Cup is maybe they don't have to and maybe this is my ignorance. I think maybe they don't have to try as hard or as desperate to bring in a big named DP player. I think given our current position in the league, I think you would see a lot of players looking at this team and looking at our management, not just Bruce Arena, but all the assistant coaches and fitness coaches and everyone that contributes to where we are now. And they can see our success and be like, okay, yeah, I could take part in this. could see Bruce's vision. ⁓ Like Timo, I don't think, or unlike Timo, I don't think Bruce needs to go out and fly somewhere specifically to convince someone to come. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. But I think given the world, that the World Cup is here, I think maybe we can find some good names out there without having to, you know, throw our hands in the air, throw our papers in the air, make them fly everywhere, and say like, hey, know, emergency mode, let's... Let's pick out someone because we need depth immediately without considering any of our future process. I think we should be in good hands entering this summer transfer window and that one month long break. ⁓ How we exit the window and break is another question. ⁓ But, you know, what do you think, Gabriel? I mean, the player that I'm looking at to step up Who hasn't featured in this team but I'm like we should see more of him because he could Have a really big place in this season if he you know starts to come good is no buck I think that you know he is someone who's like an eight can has played wide in the open cup ⁓ He was supposed to be somebody who was seen as more than just a you know gets a few minutes in the open cup he was like Well first of all he was like a wonder kid when he was like 17 coming into this league scoring bangers left and right. We haven't really seen that guy. We've seen like a kind of a timid midfielder and that's a harsh you know view on him and that's the harshest thing I could conjure to say about him. But that's the point I'm trying to make. ⁓ He is better than what we've seen and I am hoping to see him step up because in the role ⁓ that Giorno Gonzalez is currently occupying, think that ⁓ having somebody else, a different option like Buck would be very nice for us. I know he's not 100 % fit. He had a bad injury in the off season, so probably wasn't able to train with the team and stuff. So we have to take that ⁓ into consideration when we're putting him into the team. but he's somebody who we thought would have a bigger role by now. And it's still only 20, 21. So ⁓ I'm not like looking to rush him in or anything, but I do think that he could have a bigger role to play if he is up to it, which I don't know. He didn't look incredible in the Open Cup. He looked fine. I was happy with his performance, but you know, ⁓ when you compare it to someone like Nick Fernandez, who was not. I wonder kid when he came into the league. was a second round draft pick. ⁓ Fernandez is way ahead of where Buck ever was for this team. For this team, New England fans might have something different to say, but all that just to say that I think that Buck should be closer to stepping into the first team and having a role to play because that midfield, if it's just Harks and Gonzalez, Coming off the bench or being the backups. That's pretty thin ⁓ Especially when Jonah's getting red cards ⁓ So yeah, I'm looking at Buck to really you know step up Yeah, I think we also showed concerns about Gonzalez too as he started versus st. Louis ⁓ He didn't necessarily Show the most impressive performance I think there were lot of instances where he just committed unnecessary fallows. did make the most, correct me Abram on the stat, but I think he had the most interceptions or successful tackles in the league. I'll keep talking here as you look at the stat. he didn't overall seem that impressive versus St. Louis. And I think you're right. He is one of those players that needs to step up. And Noel Buck is also another player that I hope is deserved, know, is given minutes to prove that, you know, he's worth and part of the team. ⁓ Because we just, we clearly just haven't seen him at all this season. I'm looking at our individual stats here and No Buck has zero appearances all across the board. ⁓ Zero everything. So ⁓ like him and Nani Arimabua, I hope they get some time in the first team, especially because You know with the combination of Nonny and Hear Me Out for a minute. This is going to be my hot take of the episode but with Nonny Arimabua as part of the Quicks first team now, Nico Tecaris as my dog is barking in the background. I'm sure you can hear him. He's freaking out because I think my dad just got home. ⁓ with how good Nico's crosses are on set pieces, corner kicks, free kicks. Nonny is a tall player. He can get up there. can, you know, he's got some height to him. I think if there's a player that can put the ball in the back of the net with his head apart from Preston Judd, it's Nonny. And I would love to see that in the second half, you know, given if we start our primary guys, our first team starters, Bolaru, Nico Siqueiras coming off, you know, instead of coming off the bench in the second half, I would love to see Nonny do it and, you know, test himself versus MLS quality players because I think his skill set Benefits us from those set pieces specifically. I didn't like what I saw versus Phoenix Rising I didn't like us playing the ball to him in the air in the midfield third and the middle third he just didn't look like he was comfortable with the way we were playing the ball to him and I I give him some credit there with with the combination of how good Nico is on set pieces and Arima was ability to you know find himself in the air and and and find a great connection that as we saw in preseason with headers, think those two are a great pairing for second half goals. mean, do you see something similar Abram or? I mean, I think that Nonny had an unfair opportunity to show what he's made of. I don't think that a game where we're one man down, you know, defending a two nil lead is a good ⁓ situation for Nonny to show what he can do. ⁓ In the first half, I remember he played a good ball over to Timo Werner who didn't end up scoring, but it was a good ball. So when you're looking at target man forwards, what you think about for a team that uses one of those is fast wingers who cross the ball in. Right? That's the traditional pairing of those two. Or like they're paired with a fast striker to, you know, benefit of the space that the target man takes up. And there was times where I felt that, you know, Ademabua and Demo fit well together, but the wingers weren't quick. They weren't the type of wingers that you want for a target man. They were wide playmakers. who are looking to combine and make connections and then break the team down that way. They weren't looking to get in behind and stretch the game vertically. That's not the game plan that we came into that game with against Phoenix. ⁓ And not to say that the Wingers didn't play well, they just didn't suit Adimabu's strength. ⁓ I think that you know, everyone was saying like the first few minutes of Nani looked really good. He was winning the ball in the air. And I agree. I think that you mentioned Devin that he was winning the ball in the air in the midfield. That's because that's where it was. That's where the game was. It was in the midfield. Our wingers were two midfielders and they were, you know, they both were inverted. Nick Fernandez on the left hand side while he is right footed. Gonna look to the middle of the field to combine. Same with Buck who is left footed on the right hand side. ⁓ You know, they might be looking for somebody who is closer to Teemo at striker to play him in behind or find space that way. But Noni's game isn't to run in behind to make space like that. His game is more, you know, pretty far out of the air. ⁓ Five players ⁓ in making runs whatever it is almost like a false nine in a way There is similarities between a target man and a person false nine for sure And I don't think people really think about that ⁓ but they they're you know holding up they're holding up to play and If we're playing, you know near the halfway line, there's nobody getting any kind of verticality Then then what is no need to do? ⁓ I would love, I would really love to see Nani play with Jack Scan or a Useni Buddha who are looking to get crosses in ⁓ into the box in the final third. Not just like, not have his whole job to be to win the ball from the halfway line when we clear it. Right? So all that to say that I don't think Nani had a fair showing. I think that in a different game, with different circumstances. ⁓ know, one where he's not spending a lot of his time on the field defending with one man down. We could probably be a lot happier with his output in those circumstances. ⁓ So definitely more to see from Nani Adumaboa. ⁓ And I think that he could be somebody that we remember very fondly ⁓ after he's finished playing. ⁓ We haven't seen what he is capable of yet. Yeah, I also think during the Phoenix Rising game, he tried to win those air balls in the midfield third, but he just kept getting bodied by Phoenix's defense and he just couldn't hold possession of the ball. They just kept stripping it off him. And that's where I think, you know, there was such a disconnect of his game and in our utilization of him. I think he's most capable in the final third rather than being used in the midfield third. I think he has good hold up play if the ball is played to his feet. But his first touch, and I'm not trying to criticize him too much, but his first touch did let him down a little bit and it was just too far away. The defender was able to cut in front of him or just steal the ball off of him and win possession. I would like to see more of a connection to him from our, you know, from his teammates in the final third of the field where he's more lethal. It seemed like he was very uncomfortable in the middle third and winning possession. Can I also say that like that was his first game at that level. He's played MLX Pro, he's played college, ⁓ you know, high levels in their own right, but ⁓ I'm not surprised that his first match against ⁓ you full grown professional players usl is it like uh... farmers league was not the best league obviously but it is a big step uh... past our next pro uh... even bruce mentioned that they are professional players and they have more credit they are good players we saw i don't remember his name darrius johnson something like that he looked good i wanted to sign him after that game that he was the right wing and number twenty-two yet twenty-two he looked really good and you know a lot of our players go and play in the u.s.l. Nani had never faced anyone like that before outside of Quicks training which is a big, you know, that's very different where they're paid to take the ball away from you rather than your teammates training. Like that's ⁓ a much different circumstance. ⁓ I think that, you know, he will probably grow into those little things that you mentioned, Devin, where ⁓ his touch will be closer. He'll be more aware of the defender around him because he has to be. You know, you have to adapt or die in these circumstances because he is coming from a lower level playing ⁓ above what he's used to and so he's gonna have to grow and he may be 25 but you know, it's still he's still making the jump same same as Nick Fernandez who wasn't immediately, you know getting assists and goals. He did play last year and if you don't remember that then that you know, that's kind of the point we're making ⁓ So I think that, you know, there is room, both things are true. There is room for Noni to grow and that game didn't suit him with the way that we lined up. ⁓ But he should have a role to play this year because we don't have that much depth and he is going to be a part of that. If anything happens to Judd, know, yellow card accumulation, whatever it is. Noni is next up as the striker position. You know, we have Buddha but you know that that takes away depth at the wings There's so many things, you know, so he's gonna have to be a part of it. No matter what Yeah, also, you know as we're about to preview Toronto FC's match ⁓ This this coming weekend. I see a lot of really talented defenders I don't know necessarily if I want to see Noni specifically play in this game versus Toronto I mean you got the likes of Walker Zimmerman ⁓ Funny enough, William Yarbrough is here on the Toronto's roster, so we're very familiar with ⁓ his talents. A ⁓ couple of midfielders, Majailovic, Josh Sargent, Forward, ⁓ Daniel Shalloy, he usually plays pretty well against us. A lot of big names here on Toronto's roster. I'm going to guess we're going to save a a couple of big names on our team for this game and rest up say the likes of Niko Siqueires versus Minnesota. What do you see any players specifically on Toronto that may stand out to you? Let me open up the squad here. mean, yeah, Joel ⁓ Osorio, that's the former ⁓ media guy. ⁓ Osorio is somebody I'm looking at as a decent player shall we always. Josh Sargent, of course. Cifuentes is a name that I hadn't heard in a while, Cifuentes. He used to play for LAFC, was a really big part of their success early on. You know, you mentioned the defense there with Walker Zimmerman. I don't think, yeah, I would agree. If I have the choice, I'm not playing Noni in this match just because that doesn't seem like a good environment for him to grow in either. ⁓ I would probably play in the open cup ⁓ Just because that's for me a less important match people that might be a hot take because I won't want to win the open cup but With just and it's a Tuesday. It's not even the extra day like for the Wednesday game You know like the fact that we just won like if I feel like it was yesterday when we beat ⁓ St. Louis it was the day before yesterday and then tomorrow We're playing again against Minnesota an MLS team. So it's very hard. This is the point of the season, you know where the depths the lack of depth start to show So definitely for me, I think that MLS is more important or how we get how far we get in the playoffs You know with Danding I think that like we really want to have a really solid spot in the Western Conference ⁓ You know, it'd be great to win the Open Cup, but I just I don't see it happening Even if we you know go full strength it still might be hard, you know It's still not like guaranteed even if we just like say screw the league and just go full in on the Open Cup But that's just how I see that. I think that the league probably takes more of our attention and ⁓ At least for me who's I've been wanting to see a playoff game at home for the longest time, ⁓ you know, that's how we get there ⁓ by prioritizing the league. I don't know, maybe that's just my personal preference, I guess. Yeah, I think this may be my abundance mindset here as well. But, you know, we currently are in contention for three trophies that will lead us to CONCACAF Champions Cup. And I was just talking to a buddy about this as we were on our way up to a friend's house to watch the St. Louis game together. You know, we qualify for any of those and there's a chance that Earthquakes fans can travel to other countries and other cities ⁓ for Champions Cup games. You know, the likelihood of us playing against a club in El Salvador or I'm trying to think of any other country apart from Mexico. Eric said that he'd love to go to Guatemala. member yeah the other is a club that he's and i'm really going to sleep and i don't know the name of the club either but you know that you know that's it's my point like there's there's a good opportunity that next year we can play in in play out of the country and quakes fans can watch that and we don't we haven't ever been given that opportunity apart from like after two thousand twelve and two thousand twelve i believe uh... So yeah, there's three trophies up for grabs and which one are you going to prioritize the most because our depth is unfortunately not to the level of other clubs that you see like Nashville SC and LASC and also Vancouver, teams that are just right below us in the ⁓ Supporters Shield ranking. ⁓ you know, it's a matter of balance. What are you going to do? What are you prioritizing here? know? Yeah. ⁓ And that is fair. think that because I'm like, I don't look at it like, this could qualify us for a tournament. I just want to go as far as we can in the MLS Cup. Like I'm very like right now, at least for this specific season, I'm very like, I'm thinking about what affects us currently. And I want to win the next MLS match more than I want to go closer, you know, go further in the open cup because I don't. I guess I'm not seeing that as like, we're gonna win that. have a good chance. We have as good a chance as anyone, but I don't know. That's where I'm at right now. don't, Eric, I apologize, but I don't, it doesn't affect me. Like I'm not thinking about, ⁓ we can go to other countries. Yay. I don't, that doesn't affect me. Cause I'm not thinking of that far ahead. I'm just like Toronto. We have to beat Toronto. We have to beat Toronto. And that, that's literally like. That's what I'm thinking of every time we have a match. I'm like next time let's match We have to beat them next time let's match. That's what we have to do That's fair. And maybe I'm just a travel expert and I really want to travel and watch my team out I love traveling but like that. Yeah, it's not a priority for me. I like to travel and then I have a good time like for like a week there rather than like I mean way games are really fun I do enjoy that but I don't know maybe maybe Devon if you promise that we'll go to Guatemala with Eric If it's just to see his team play, then I'd be more excited for that. right now I'm just like, OK, Toronto. It's Toronto. Speaking of Toronto, Abram, you know, we got the game coming up this weekend. What are you expecting in terms of the lineup and what are you expecting to see in terms of maybe substitutions and how to manage this game? Because it's two pretty good rosters. matching up in Canada. Yeah, I mean Toronto is ⁓ stronger than St. Louis and stronger than Austin. So I can see this game being tough, especially going away to Canada. That's always gonna be hard. But ⁓ you know, I watched the highlights of the match against Atlanta. Atlanta has been very bad and Toronto lost to them. And in the three matches prior to that, have not won. They They conceded seven goals. Okay, hold on. Let me do the... In the last four matches, they've conceded nine goals. We have a record of scoring goals. I don't know if you've noticed that. ⁓ I think that we have a good chance of winning this because their form is currently on the downturn. ⁓ And that's obviously it could be a trap right ⁓ where we're like, okay, we're gonna do really well in this match every game away from home anything can happen and We acknowledge that every time we're here, but we just have to say that we accounted for this I think that all things even we should beat Toronto ⁓ I'm hoping that we have a more rotated squad against ⁓ Minnesota tomorrow in the open cup just because we had to play so many players in the match against St. Louis. We were trying to rest our starters and we weren't able to. And so to actually get them some rest would be really nice. ⁓ You know, it's very possible that even against Toronto, we see Romney sitting up at left back ⁓ and that's not ideal for me. ⁓ Might see Jack Chizinski whose name I'm ⁓ being harsh on Jack ⁓ Czernyki. I like him. think he's really good. He scored ⁓ in his first two games that he played. scored in the Open Cup and also in the MLS. So that's really good. And I like him as a personality. has ⁓ a great personality in the press conferences. ⁓ And general play, I'm very impressed with it. It's just like... The profile that he is, he's a big right back and you know that's kind of, that's what I see in terms of how he fits into the squad. ⁓ But no, ⁓ if he ends up playing against Toronto I wouldn't be upset. What I would like to see against Toronto is at least Vieira, at least Nico Chakras, Buda, Preston Judd and Timo Werner. I'm hoping that Judd is rested against Minnesota so that we can have him available for Toronto. ⁓ What do you think about that? would like to second everything that you just said. I'm Jack, you think trip you up to maybe, maybe not, not as much, but yes, just inskey. feel like after a long sentence will definitely trip you up. ⁓ I'm looking at Toronto's overall goals here. Their top goal score is Daniel Shalloway with three goals. ⁓ I think it. I may have miscalculated, but it seems like there's 15 total goals scored for Toronto, which the earthquakes have basically scored in the second half of the last five games. So I really do see an opportunity to take three points away, yet again, and go six and out. But obviously, expectation versus reality can very much differ based on ⁓ natural circumstances and environment and whatnot. It is a cold environment in Canada as we're warming up here approaching the summer. ⁓ I can see Nico Siqueiras playing a big influence in the center of the field just like he did versus St. Louis. There was that video going around on Twitter of that one through ball by Nico and just how impressive his vision is. from the deep end of our own field to find one of our wingers and strikers. ⁓ It's more impressive every game how Niko's talent is just increasing and not even at a slow rate. It's exponential. Niko is just getting so much better and you know now MLS analysts are finally looking into his quote unquote behavior. ⁓ But I could see you getting about two assists. Do you remember when everyone, like ⁓ Tom Bogert and everyone was like, Nico Chacaris, he's just a more mobile Jack McGlynn. Yes. And hey, I like Jack McGlynn. That was like, that's not the worst thing you could say about somebody, but Nico is a very, very, very good talent and I'm glad people are going to see that. Yeah, I think even last year a lot of us were asking to play Niko more, given his entry in national team ⁓ timeout. But we knew what his capabilities were. We knew how good he could be for our team. sure enough, ⁓ six assists now on the season. Timo Werner has five. He's in good company. He's in really good company. Looking at Toronto here, there's not many players who have a lot of assists and there's not many players that have a lot of goals thus far into the season. I could see Daniel being a bit bored in this game. Yeah, mean, ⁓ they definitely are not the most potent team. So in the last three matches prior to the Atlanta match, they scored three against Philadelphia and Austin. So like they're able to score. They scored three against Colorado as well. So it's not like they're not capable of finding the back of the net. But I do think that we have a better defense than any of those teams that we mentioned. ⁓ And we should be able to outscore them as well. ⁓ Yeah, things are looking good in terms of like on paper. And that's all we can really bring you. ⁓ We have a team that I would consider to more talented and more hungry. But like I said, I wouldn't feel confident flying to Toronto to play and then beat the team there. Like me personally, I'm not, obviously not an MLS caliber player, but like that seems very daunting. Just the mental aspect of it. To fly there so far away and then it's gonna be cold and then it's gonna be tough. It's not gonna be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination. We knew that it was going to be a similar thing against St. Louis. That was also going to be a tough game. But we went there and we ended up winning. So I think that if we go with our A-team and everyone's available, all things considered, this should be a good three points for us to go 6-0 on the road. And I think that would make us the best road team to start the league in history. I think it's, yeah, in history, we're think we're tied right now with five. Yeah, so we've made history. Well, we've equalized history, but I think the next one is breaking the record. Yeah. And you know, these records are really cool. ⁓ know, Bruce will go down in history for the things that we've accomplished early on in this year alone. ⁓ But unfortunately, these are records that don't matter in the latter half of the year. ⁓ you know, Bruce has said August that's when things start to matter. ⁓ so I, I am going to have to like, you know, be a little bit cautious, ⁓ until then, but, ⁓ things look good and these games do matter. ⁓ we, we've said Devin that like until seven games, we can't say anything. It's been 10, still looks pretty freaking good. So, you know, I'm not, I'm, there's not a lot of reasons to be pessimistic about this team right now. But I do bring up the things that I do to temper people's expectations and be like, hey, this team is capable of losing, right? That doesn't mean that they are the same old quakes. That doesn't mean that you have to cancel your season tickets and never go to another Quake game. Because people are starting to get interested in this team and coming to the games and stuff like that. I hope that one game doesn't derail that momentum. I think that the mentality is stronger than that, but I think that it's not just the players who have to be mentally resilient, but it's also the fan base. And I think that if we can help rally them in home games and all that, ⁓ we're doing our best that we can do on this podcast and in the press conferences, but ⁓ we need to keep winning the games at home and the fans are gonna be a really big part of that. And so we can't let up, we can't, you know. We can't lose hope. We just got to keep pushing. Very well said, Abram. We appreciate your attention and appreciate you guys coming back to our show week in, week out. Yeah, I mean, it's been ⁓ a very good month for Tecronic Takes. We've been hitting records in views and ⁓ interactions on social media. We have a website now officially. That ⁓ you know, we'll have all of our content be centralized in one place And that's really huge for us and something that I didn't think that would be happening when I joined this this podcast at 51 episodes With Fabi bringing me on ⁓ I'd never thought that you know, we'd be here and I'd be I brought Devon on because I knew what he could do to help us and and I was right and now it's just the two of us basically with with Ivan, you know being busy for school And the things that we've been able to do, the experience we've been able to have because of this show have been magnificent. ⁓ So super thankful for the people who have joined us ⁓ lately. ⁓ Happy to have you here. Make sure to join the TicTacTac Discord. It's the most active ⁓ place for Quakes fans outside of PayPal Park. ⁓ And I will stand by that forever. ⁓ Amazing place to be during game days and just throughout the week always talking quakes and and ⁓ MLS and and all types of soccer ⁓ If you guys are interested in joining the patreon feel free there is ⁓ We have the votes in on the next interview that we're doing we'll be talking to Nico Chakras that will be coming in ⁓ a week or two ⁓ But obviously something to be very excited about ⁓ It just keeps growing as the team grows the the the show grows and I couldn't be happier Anything to say on that front Devon? Yeah, if you want to get a sneak preview on the nego securis interview Before it's released publicly join our patreon you you will get that access And if you want to vote on the next player that we interview, that's also how you do that through the patreon If you want early access to the podcast episodes patreon We we release everything to the public at some point But we do have a small buffering period for the patreon to enjoy that content first We'll be back to preview the Vancouver game at home But until then ⁓ We'll see you guys next time and go quakes go quakes