Latest / Tectonic Takes / Episode 186: Mile High Playoff Push
Transcript
- Tectonic Takes: Well San Jose earthquake that have been thinking San Marco on the richer scale of football, I think. What's up Quakes fans? We are back with another episode. Devin, say hi. Hello everybody. Hello, Devin. We are here with another episode of Tectonic Takes. Today on the Docket we have a few things to talk about. it is pretty late in the night, so we're we're not trying to go super long, but we will be talking about the Colorado preview, that is the priority today. and then we also I want to mention Abel Angiano, friend of the show. He released his documentary recently about O'Farrollito. Or El Farolito for people who speak Spanish. it's it's a huge deal. He worked on it for a whole year. I was you know fortunate enough to see him in action. I didn't actually get to work on it. I was just didn't have any time, but I did see him at a pre season friendly just I happened to go to the park to play soccer with my dad and El Farolito was playing a friendly at that park. It is kinda crazy. how you know amateur soccer works in this country. It's just like you go to the park you might see you know semi pro amateur soccer team. Kinda g kinda wild. but Devin, before we move on, talk about Quakes, do you have any experience with Farlito or you know thoughts about them? I mean the only experience I have with Farlito is was watching that one game where they they had qualified for for US Open Cup and that was like one of the the biggest experiences in in club history and then as well as the San Francisco restaurant I had been lucky enough to to go to as a what is it like a some sort of fair, like a farmer's market or something was happening nearby. So we went to 'cause you know, I'm a big fan of burrito. My nickname big fan of burritos, my nickname is burrito and I went to to taste one of the burritos and burrito in general. It just is it is burrito. That's but anyways, yeah, no, that's that's the only, you know, association I have with El Farolito is is the fact that we watch the club play and the restaurant is incredible, eleven out of ten experience. Yes, I I have actually lived less than a mile away from one of their stores on mission. and I I I am not trying to dox myself, but also if you've been to that area there's no way you would be able to find a way to live at all. So don't go looking for me. regardless. I I also don't live there anymore, so there's that. yeah, go check that out. We will have that linked in the description. Abel is a dear friend of mine and obviously a friend of the show. super happy for him to have this finally come out and happy to see the reception that it's gotten so far. So like I said, it'll be in the description. check that out if you're interested. But back to Quakes. that's what our show is all about. We have a game coming up against Colorado. Devin, I know that you've been doing some work looking at the table and seeing how things work out. do you happen to know how important this game's gonna be and what it's gonna mean for us on the table? I think this game is more important to us than it is to the Rapids. I mean this is coming from, you know, a biased group of two individuals here, but if if we win this game versus Colorado and we win both of the games in one week against RSL a couple of days later. there is a small chance, but a chance nonetheless that the San Jose Earthquakes qualify for playoffs at the end of the week before we even play our probably most important game of the season, which is against Nashville SC. And I had said last week that, you know, if if the tenth place team sits at thirty six points then we make playoffs. That's That's very conditionary and it's not guaranteed that we make playoffs with with that statistical difference. but if tenth place s rests at thirty-five points, which there's I think three teams vying at thirty-two, at the end of the two next games, if tenth place is sitting at thirty-five points, we do officially qualify for MLS Cup playoffs on the condition that we win the the next two games. If we draw or lose one of those games, then we have to go into the next, you know, against Nashville or the game after that to determine our qualification. so yes, if if if we get our next two games, which, you know, it's it's basically in our hands at this point, winning every game here on out. which is most likely not possible, but as as Bruce Arena and And coaching staff and the players have shown us in in the last seven, eight games, it's possible. It's certainly possible. Such a funny way to phrase that, I would I love it. so it you you mentioned all the numbers and stuff, and that's a very good possibility or a decent possibility of us, you know, getting a decent spot in the playoffs. Is there any possibility and if you don't know, we'll cut it or whatever, you can say you don't know. Is there any possibility we fall below the play in game? Like can we just be out of the playoffs altogether? I I don't think it is that possible. Based on the fact that a bunch of the teams below us are playing each other. so teams will be dropping points one way or another. so I I I do not believe that we will fall below the play in line. Or fall into the play in line. So most likely we'll be doing better than last season where we didn't even get a play in game. So, you know, I mean already numbers wise we've surpassed our point total from last season. So that's definitely an improvement. but what's important about the numbers is, you know, getting a a playoff game or even a play in game which we didn't achieve last year. so that's you know, a positive in Bruce Arena's you know, notch for what he's achieved here. This has been a historic season in a lot of ways, how we had a great start in the beginning of the year. and, you know, it's various things that he's achieved. where are you on him right now? Because in terms of who he is as a person is a different question. and, you know, I I I I speak from my personal experience with him. I never like hung out with him or anything, but you know Like twenty minutes every week is is quite a bit, for two years. That's you kind of know a person. He doesn't know my name or anything, I'm sure. But what I'm trying to say is like the you know, the the Gavin Wilkinson stuff is kinda questionable. it's not a hundred percent confirmed like who's at fault there, but we kinda know, you know, that that's kind of his decision more or less, whether he had better option at the time or if he was forced by the league, w you know, we don't know. but I wanna hear your thoughts on that 'cause mine are all over the place. He's he's such a New Yorker and I don't I don't know much about his his personal background and upbringing. but he just he gives off such sassy New Yorker vibes. Anytime you know he answers a question. And and I've heard things that he's just a really like he's a he's a pretty down to earth guy behind the scenes. but like when it comes to the the publicity and and media, he takes on a different persona. so obviously we only see the one singular aspect of of Bruce and you know, we're not very happy with the fact that that Gavin Wilkinson was was brought into the into the team. That's an understatement, but yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm I'm playing the the cool game here. But of course, of course. but I mean as as a a human being he's just I mean, it's it's it's hard to argue against the fact that he is an excellent tactician. I just finished reading a book called The Long Game. is an audio book on Libby and basically the book kinda describes the the the past of kind of some US men's national team players and coaches. and Bruce Arena was one of those featured. And it kinda described, you know, how he navigated through the US national team and and you know, during my reading I I I could totally sense some similarities between how he handled the media in you know in in the US or for the US and then coming here to San Jose, it's almost the same thing. He he downplays his import not importance to the team, but he downplays the significance of Each like, you know, each season and each each time he thinks he's capable of winning a trophy. with the US he he downplayed the fact that just the team wasn't ready for any World Cups. It weren't ready for competing for anything until you know Bruce was finally able to get things underway in his way. and it kind of felt like the same thing, you know, when he started for San Jose. It was like downplaying the importance of of our our not the importance of our roster, but just more like downplaying I guess our readiness. to which, you know, it seemed like we were ready. We're more than ready based on what Bruce had said early into the season, and even more so this season where Bruce was like, you know, all we want to do is make it into playoffs. And here we are sitting in third, fourth place, vying for a second or even first place towards the end of the season. Potentially crossing fingers. so, you know, as as Bruce says, he just kind of like he downplays a lot of the the seasonal objectives. Yeah, I definitely have noticed that as well. not just like the team like he he'll he always like undersell it rather than oversell it, which I think is smart, but it also comes off a little bit like not having a lot of confidence in the team in the team. Even though I don't think that the way he actually utilizes the squad necessarily, you know, reflects that. I think that he does have a fair amount of confidence in the players that we do have. He just isn't gonna say like, okay, we're gonna win the league 'cause we have Reed Roberts, you know. Like i that's not how he's going to handle that. he also will repeatedly downplay his importance on how the team plays and the results. one way or the other, if we win it's not his fault, or it's not his, you know, doing if we lose it's not his fault. sometimes he'll be like, Yeah, maybe it's the coach's fault. I don't know. And I'm like I know. That what I okay, anyways. we won't get it too much into that. but no, I I I agree with you. I think that he is a much better tactician than we've seen in the past. I think we've had really good tactics in flashes under like Luching Gonzalez. we we had like a a patch of time when we were like the best team in the league under Matias Almeida, however brief that was. but this is kind of a more prolonged period this season in particular. It's a more prolonged period of where I feel confident watching my team. you know I have a question for you, Abram. Of the three managers that you just mentioned, who do you think was able to extract the most out of the players they had on their roster? I mean between Luci, Almeida, and Bruce. It's gotta be Bruce. But Bruce has done it here better than than Almeida did. I think that there was like a brief period of time when when the quakes looked very good under Almeida, but it was kind of a totalitarian regime where everyone needed to be able to speak Spanish. I don't know if you remember that. They had Tanner Beson on Duolingo and and Tommy Thompson actually learned Spanish and probably speaks better than me. do you have anything, Dad? I remember those Tommy Thompson days. Yeah, and he even did a full interview in Spanish and then I think what he he mentioned a a portion in English and then that came that that very famous quote by Tommy. post game is is something along the lines of we're gonna fix this. Yeah. And they didn't they didn't fix it. And yeah, no, they did not fix it. Yeah. and I feel really bad for Tommy and and you know I I I I I hoped that he would be right. And he would look really good at the end of the season or or even the season that, you know, succeeded that, but it didn't really get better. We just continue being one of the worst teams in the league. Luchi, I think, had really good ideas, but some of the execution wasn't always there. and you know, that was a while ago. But you don't really get to the worst team in MLS history by being like amazing at tactics and getting the best AW team. That twenty twenty four team was like eighty to some people would say a hundred percent Luci's fault. I would say like he only played eighty five percent of the season and also he didn't have any resources. Like that that's not his fault, but also he didn't make do with what he had, as well as I think Bruce has. 'Cause you could say that Bruce, you know, he he obviously did have more resources. W that's not really something you can question. If you look at Chicho Arango, Jose Martinez, you know, Cristian Espinosa, Hernan Lopez. All really good players that he had at his disposal. But he didn't do well with that with that group. He just done really well with this crop of nineteen college guys that has just like defied all expectations. it's it's a really That's the biggest key that you you can mention, Abram, is the fact that these are college guys. I know I harp on the fact that, you know, college guys may not be as as prevalent or or important as as homegrowns and and you know, the fact that bringing up homegrowns may may provide more talented players, but that's obviously my opinion and Bruce has has definitely countered that. and the fact that we're able to sit in fourth place and or the top four whenever this comes out. with the set amount of college players and we have the most Americ I think we've played the most Americans than any other MLS team. and the fact that he's doing it with this team is is pretty incredible. Yeah, I agree. s you know, since we don't have a lot to talk about today, we're gonna focus the latter half of this episode on Colorado. I I wanna talk a little bit about, you know, my opinion on on home guns versus what's it called? Draft picks. and I think we need both. Obviously, you know, you don't get n Nico Chairis without a homegrown like situation where he was in the academy being trained very well and and, you know, developed how he should and then was brought in very young and into the first team and then developed well and then also had a lot of time with the second team. His development went as well as it could with how much delays there were with his injuries and and all those things that we all know about. but I think that in this country at least, with the wage cap, you know, the with not being able to spend as much money as you need to on rosters and just bringing in a bunch of players, you have to be able to bring in players cheap. and that's why the draft system is so s I wanna say convenient. It's it's very convenient and you you can fill out your roster pretty well with With players that have played at a higher level and are older, more developed, they might not g have a higher ceiling than Nico. but they they have a higher floor at you know, 'cause Nico at sixteen doesn't he's not physically developed as much as somebody bring you know, who's drafted that year as well. that's just like a fact. I think Nico would agree with that. just ca continue on that, I think that We would like to have more homegrowns and I think that right now at least, you know, we we are kind of at a shortage. But also just because somebody is brought in on a homegrown contract doesn't mean that they're gonna play. It doesn't mean that they're ready for it. It it like there's a there's a lot of things that go into it. So I'm not I'm not asking the the club to just like pluck pluck out a bunch of guys and put them in Quake's jerseys immediately because that's they will sign a homegrown when they think that it's worth it to sign a homegrown. Like they're not you know, there's no quota. They just have to do it when it's like, okay, you're ready. Get up here. You know, like Cajun Spivy, Kruz Medina they thought was ready, Emiachoa they thought was ready. And also there's a another thing where they they see a really high ceiling for some players and they will sign them in anticipation of what they could become rather than what they currently are. And so that's where we see situations like Goberto Fuentes, who signed at fifteen, never made a first team appearance because they signed him so that he couldn't go somewhere else. And then you see LA Galaxy with a a really high potential young player, right? Correct. And then trajectories may be led askew during that time after you know, signing to a first team contract. So Exactly. That's very well put. And that's not something that they can really predict. They can just do the development the way that they you know, deem optimal. Like Nico was developed very well and I don't think we realized Cruz Medina had the same path, same opportunities. and and I'm only using him because he hasn't broken into the first team here. And that that's the only reason I I'm I'm picking on Cruz here. he just he had the same opportunities but didn't break through because he wasn't doing the thing that Nico was doing. at the age that Nico was doing them. you know, he he was somebody who, in my opinion, was was signed because they're like, okay, this guy has a really high ceiling. He can rip a shot from anywhere. He has very good feet. Not very fast though. And not very strong. Very small. And and you know, a lot of things. So he wasn't ready to play at the first team yet. But they're like, if he gets all those, you know, weapons, we don't want him going to to Vancouver, Sacramento Like I don't we don't want him going anywhere else. so we need to sign him to a first team deal, home gun contract now. But that doesn't mean that they're ready for it. And so there's a lot of players that aren't ready for it and don't end up getting that that, you know, first team contract 'cause they're just, like I said, not ready. so they'll go to college. We have players like Alex Chao who are are playing very well in college. Very good player, would have been a good home gun, but I'd to be honest At no point during these years since he's been at Quakes Two would I see a place for him in the team that would allow him to get more playing time than what he's getting in Stanford and more quality playing time. He'd be playing at Quakes two and you know, Edward Mendoza's a homegrown player who we haven't seen anything from other than in, you know, an appearance in preseason. And that was great, but I'd I would want better for for these guys. And so that's where I'm at, where I'm like the the college route is is a a very good route, especially for you know, players like Tomo who had the the deal on the table and then decided to come back, right? He came back from from Stanford and it's like, you know, I see I see a really good pathway for me. and and so it keeps the options open. That's that's the the important thing. Like get your degree and play ball at a really high level, then play Pro Ball w as soon as you're ready. Like you get drafted in the first round. I I I fully believe Tomo would have gone on the first round 'cause he's that good. but yeah, that's my rant about it. I don't know if you have anything to add, Devin. Can't believe you're slandering my boy Alex Chow like that. No, no. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I I was praising Alex Chow. I know, I know. I'm just messing with you, Abram. But I mean they're they're going back to Colorado. I I'm checking their their roster profile and and you know, there's a couple of names with the H G next to it. Reggie Cannon, a a Tam player. He's been pretty good for for Colorado this season with you know, seventeen games played, fourteen matches started. But also two goals, zero assesses. Sorry, I know yeah, you let me speak for a long time and I'm interrupting you now, so I apologize. But caveat with Reggie Cannon is that he went to Europe for a while and he came back. So there's a different pathway. There's a lot of different pathways for for soccer in this country. So Yeah, I I mean just speaking for the the the home grown product but you ninety two percent pass rate. And that's just for for the season. I'm sure he's had other more impressive, you know, stints in other seasons in in MLS and definitely in Europe. But you know, obviously different pathways are are, you know, provided for for different players who who have different interests. And, you know, some players who want more of that job security post MLS career or, you know, just for for security During an MLS career, if they get get injured with like an ACL, MCL, whatever, PCL, they have something to lean back on, you know. Yeah. we I think we saw that with Mark Pelosi as well. shout out Mark. Been a long time. and I think even Quincy Americo had a bunch of side hustles while playing for the earthquakes. He had the book? yeah. I had the book. Yeah. I think he he He started a club, I think, with Mark Pelosi. Like a nightclub or something. There you go. Fun fact. Yeah, that that's Quake's after hour stuff that you won't usually get from any other podcast. I don't think shout out Ted Ramey, awesome podcast, but I don't think they're talking about nightclubs from from Nancy not Nancy Pelosi, my god. What was his first name again? Mark Pelosi, yeah. Mark Pelosi, that's right. who I I believe played at Liverpool Academy or something. He was like a a decent prospect. He did. But like I said, yeah. Like you were saying, Devin, you you you summarized it well is that you could break your leg any day. Like any day, like walking. And then and you're a pr professional player you decided to to you know turn down the college route, then then it's kind of a difficult situation. So you have to be kind of prepared for the end of your career 'cause, you know, even if you play for a long time, Messi is is what, forty now? That's not that old in terms of a human being. And he's gonna be fine. Like obviously Messi's gonna be fine in terms money. But what I'm saying is like a player i in the States who maybe isn't making that much money, you end your career at forty, you know, that that's a really high number to aspire to. but you gotta keep earning money after that 'cause you can have you know, family for the rest of your life and people live till a hundred nowadays, you know. So it it's it's there's a lot that goes into it. And these aren't just soccer players, these are people, right? just just I'm sorry, I just I'm just rambling on about about all the things I think about this stuff. I I like this rambling. but but Abram, going back to the to the game versus Colorado this weekend, you know, looking at I I admittedly I I'd I've recently tried searching for the the entry report or the the roster update. Whatever it is, the availability report. and I could not find it, unfortunately. So I do not know who is injured. But in terms of the Quakes, who do you think is going to start and play and and what do you expect you know, in terms of this game against a mile high city? Well, I really liked the team that we charted out last week. I th or the week the weekend before. I forget who we played already 'cause it's been so long be without a quicker. Yeah. Do you know who we played? You have the thing in front of you. I think Portland, no? Yeah, we played Portland. and obviously Portland was heavily weakened. I can't believe we forgot we played Portland. Like it was it was a big deal. but I I really like the two striker formation. It was what we'd probably call a five three two. If you want, you could call it a three five two. They're there and an understand that and the rest of it is what matters, you know. the two striker formation was was very nice with Timo just going wherever he wanted. I and and I think it it gave a lot of space to President Judd, who is going to really thrive in situations where you have to mark him with one less guy because you're gonna want to mark Timo Werner. and Judd, you know, is is taking the space in behind, really hard to mark in in the box. I think it turned out to be a really great pairing that complemented each other very well. I thought that that Judd held up the ball really well physically and looked for Timo and and all the other midfielders, Bolaroo played very well as well. I think a big ad addition that we could make and an improvement that we can make to the squad that we saw against Portland is that Nico Shareas hopefully is gonna be back from injury. Hopefully he's all fit and ready to go. and in a game where Let's face it, in it at altitude is always very difficult. and that's just speculation. I've never been to to Colorado, but Devin, you you have and I'm sure you can attest to this. It's it's a different game. So Nico being able to dictate the game on the floor with his fantastic tac technical ability sorry, I started there. His fantastic technical ability will you know, really set the Quakes apart, I think. because they won't want to be running around as much. And I think him being able to hold possession and combined with the teammates is going to be a very key factor if he is indeed fit. We don't actually have any confirmation on that, but here's hoping I guess. Yeah, I think he's still week to week. although Bruce has said that so many times about so many other players and then play them the very next game. So you know it's I think it's just all mind games strategy for for Bruce and and coaching staff. I I I think We'll we'll see Nico. but you know we'll we'll find out come the photos release when when the team, you know, departs via their their charter jet what is it, the day before the match? Two days before I think for for long term flights. whenever whenever those photos are released, we'll we'll know if Nico's getting close to to making it for the you know for the team. I can say that So this is just speculation of course. But I do know that we are scheduled to talk to Daniel Muni at some point soon. whether it be tomorrow at time of recording or Thursday. we're not sure. But I don't think that they're sc they don't like to schedule interviews the same day as they fly. So I think that they'll be leaving on Friday. So keep an eye out on Friday, you know, when when the pictures come out, 'cause they love to do the the plane boarding pictures. yeah, great great observation. Yeah, thank you very much. I'm very excited for that interview. but I'm very excited also to see hopefully see Nico because like I said, I think that he is the X Factor. like he has been so many times. very excited to see him. anyone else that you're looking for in that match in particular? In particular I'm not really looking for for anything. I think keep in mind sorry. So just to add give you some more ammunition. We have gun back, we have Buddha back, we have Vieira back, we have all the players that were out on on international duty. I believe. I could be wrong about that, but I think they're back. and Darius Johnson as well, who is out but I don't think was really a factor. W with that in mind, what are you what are you expecting? I still think I'm gonna go with my gut my gut decision here and say that, you know, the most important player to kinda look out for is Timo Werner in the first half. I I'm sure he's played many games in in higher altitude in in Europe, but, you know, again, this is Colorado. This is one of the highest altitude teams there is in this league. and and, you know, Timo seems to wear himself out pretty quickly. If if we were to see an important important time for Timo to make a difference, it would be in the first half and then maybe see him come off, you know, halftime or or early in the second half just to to preserve him for potential playoff run in the future. You know, we don't want to see him get injured again. I think he'd be one of the most important players to look out for, obviously Bo Larue. I think, you know, with with Benji Kikanovich finding form again. he may be an important player to to stop a lot of the, you know, Colorado attack. Colorado has one of the best records, one of the best home records, in in the league this season, I think with nine wins, two draws. Two draws, one loss? Or Two losses, one draw, one of the two. but with with, you know, an important Colorado attack, we're gonna need our defense to show up and and I think Benji Kakanovich and especially Daniel Muny are gonna make that important, you know, on field decisions to to make that happen. Yeah, absolutely. I think Daniel Munich's gonna be huge. I don't think I wanna ask him anything about Saturday's game. I c I I feel like I'd be like, you know, jinxing it a little bit. and also we'll have we have that situation with Dewan Jones where he got injured and I'm I'm really I'm genuinely nervous about that as well. 'cause Dewan got injured three days after we talked to him. but assuming you're able to make the interview, Devin, I know that y you're kinda up in the air. We don't know at right now when tomorrow that we're gonna be recording. what are you excited to talk to him about? One of the most important things I just want to get to know him as a person. Yeah. I really want to know like his his upbringing and and why he decided to to choose soccer as as as his primary, you know, career. you know, going to I can't Clemson is it Clemson? No, it wasn't Clemson. I'm thinking of some other player. What it's college. We have to do some research tonight. Do more research. I I haven't done enough. Yeah. but anyways, you know, why why you decided to choose the the soccer career path instead of a another career. Yeah. you know, stuff like that. I I kinda wanna just get to the not to the bottom of things. You know what I'm saying, Abram? Yeah, yeah. Just kinda understand him as a person more rather than just as a player. With our player interviews, something I I wanna I keep in mind is that we watch them on the field every week. We don't know them a day to day. We don't know what they like. That's why we have the nerdy question because I want the fans to be able to relate to our players more. Like Dewan Jones, I'm sure a lot of people were really surprised and excited to hear that he watches one piece, and the other anime that I can't quite remember right now. I think that, you know, anime is is a very, you know, popular interest that a lot of people have, but maybe not talked about as much, especially amongst professional athletes. And I've just, you know grateful to the Quakes organization, even though we're mad at them right now, for the opportunity to be able to get into the, you know, day to day of of these players and find out about what their personal interests are and their personal stories in terms of why soccer. Because that's a genuine question in in this country of like why not football? Danny Mean is six foot extremely fast. Could have been like a safety or something. I don't know. I don't know football that well but His college was apparently Indiana University Bloomington. So Muni if you're if you ever listen to this clip or highlight or moment, I'm sorry for getting your college wrong. But yeah. We'll send him the link tomorrow so he can yell at you. no, but actually every time I think of Muni I think of Clemson as well. But it's because we got Oscar Aguin Clemson. That's a another sentence. That was the exact reason why I had that mess up. Yeah, and and I'm sorry that I keep derailing us from the Colorado conversation. It's just it's been a while. There's not been any quake stuff happening. and I just I just want to talk all the quakes. who are you scared of on that Colorado team? I believe they have Paxton Aronson right now. And I have never enjoyed playing him. I'm glad they don't have Cole Bassett anymore. He's on Portland. Didn't I dunno if you played against us the other day. that you you didn't you know factor. Yeah, 'cause they were not good. we talked about this last week, but Portland were not great against us. thankfully. Thankfully. I don't want to jinx it for when we play them next. I'm but I'm glad Colorado doesn't have Cobasit because that's a very strong player. They replaced him with Paxton Aronson. any other players on their squad that you're nervous about? Yeah, there's two players in mind. Paxton Erikson obviously I think is leading the the chart. specifically because he has seven goals and eight assists and and so far twenty seven games played, twenty five games started. So clearly he makes a really big difference. Fifty percent conversion rate. you know, XG is five point six seven, but I think just total accumulated throughout every game. Right. only one yellow card, zero red cards. seven offsides, so he he clearly you know is very effective every time he steps onto the field and and doesn't create many mistakes for his team. Rafael Navarro is another one he leads the team with ten goals and four assists. sixty seven percent conversion rate, and then twelve point eight X G, which is the highest by at least double the rest of the team. So can you can you repeat for me? I don't have the stats in front of me. my other monitor is bugging out today. What's his goal count versus his XG? So for for Navarro you're asking, right? That's right. So ten goals and twelve X G. Twelve point what? Twelve point eight. Okay. So he is underperforming his XG by two point eight. which means that he's getting chances he should be scoring more. not by a lot, but like he he is getting chances. He's he's do more, you know, according to the XG gods, whoever decides that. but it it is also it's like a double edged sword, because we don't know if that's because of the quality of chances, or the the number of chances that he's getting that he's not, you know, able to convert because it's high quality but high quantity but not high high quality. Or if he's just like getting good chances and then, you know, not scoring them, if he's like missing a bunch. I'd have to watch some Colorado games to to get hang of that. But what we can say is that he's under underperforming right now. I see your face making some faces, Devin. anything to add? I'm gonna have to check the transfer list because I'm I'm going back and forth on the the club stats and the official roster profile and I do not see Navarro on the current club roster profile. So maybe we don't have to worry about him because this podcast is extremely chaotic. This is a very chaotic week, so everyone bear in mind and and please Can you t tell me sorry, for this XG conversation, can you show me Paxton Aaronson and and how his XG vs goals? scored. So Paxton's goals are seven goals and his X G is five point six seven. Okay. So he is over overperforming by like one point you know eight four or something. like something something somewhat small but he is, you know, op over performing. That means that like players who over per overperform my god, I can't speak. Is probably someone like Evander who is ripping shots from places he has no business doing so and that will be a a goal even though the XG will be really low. so that's kind of scary in in our behalf. I'm not saying that like Paxton is ripping shots from everywhere. but that's kind of like he he is converting even though his chances haven't been that great or as good as they should be. so it's it's a little bit scary. Definitely look out for him. And what he's what he's gonna do. Do they show the expected assist or no? it looks I mean I just see his assist. I don't see XA. All good. that would be another thing, and it's completely different, you know, philosophy for for how you kind of break that down. I can tell you that his shot on target is he's got twenty one shots on target with with his seven goals. So Yeah. I mean, We're gonna have to look out for that. I think that you know, Gunn is back from his break and there's a lot of debate right now, Gunn versus Edwards. And I liked Edwards and last week I was saying that like I I think it's Gunn. He should still be the number one despite Edwards performance. I'm a little bit less confident now that we're closer to the a call auto game, but I s I think I'm still team Edward. not team Ed. I I I thought of the joke Team Edward and and I wanted to say it. But I'm I'm still Team Gunn just because I I think that the number one should be at number one. But I could understand people not feeling that confident in him right now. what are your thoughts on that? coming back from his international break, he's had two clean sheets, but I think the clean sheets don't really mean too much. I think you can You can take the small things from those clean sheets for Angus Gunn, you know, with potentially good communication with his back line and and the rest of the team and and keeping things organized. but if you look, you know, deeper into the stats, there's I think it was against North Macedonia, there were no shots on target. So Gunn was having basically, you know, a vacation day on the field, you know, for that game. So as much as clean sheets are important to the team You know, looking at that as a goalkeeper standpoint doesn't really mean too much. And I think and I'm struggling I'm struggling to to format an opinion here, but I I I think when it comes to high elevation games, we're gonna be more reliant on on Angus Gunn. personally I would like to see Earl Edwards Jr. start, but obviously For the most obvious reasons that we don't really need to say Abram. I just feel like Angus is going to start and and we're just gonna have to root for him no matter what. I mean, being six foot five, he's probably already used to the high elevation. Like every day he's living it. He's already up there in the clouds. no, that's a bad joke. But yeah, I I think that we're in agreement that that Gun should get this next game. there's not a lot of games left, but we have Gun right now. we're paying him a lot. and I know that shouldn't always factor, but I just we we've seen Gunn steadily improving. Like I know that that Edwards had a really good game, but I think that a lot of people kind of just like watch all of the improvement that that Gunn has made over the course of his time here. I think that he has a lot more to offer us. and every time I say that he he proves me wrong and does something really stupid. But I'm really hoping it's not the case this time. Edward Lowen or Edward Lowen is he has been absolutely key to everything so far. He had a really good game against Portland. I am again looking at him to make a difference for us in Colorado. I I Hope that we aren't the ones that break his streak of not losing. Devon, do you remember how many games he had gone without losing with Saint Louis? with Saint Louis I'm not sure specifically, but if you subtract what, seven or eight from the seventeen, so I would be what, nine games? Yeah. Nine or ten games, yeah. So yeah, he he's on a seventeen win streak, or not win streak, but without losing. Yeah. And that was very impressive, obviously. that goes without saying. I I really don't wanna break and obviously like it it it affects the team more than him. you know, us being in a a at a worse spot on the table. But the biggest emotion I feel right now is almost just like we love Livin' so much right now. I don't wanna disappoint him, I don't want him to to be angry at us. just 'cause he he's been playing so well for us and he's done such wonders for the the morale of the squad. what are your thoughts on Luvin right now? I think Luvin's been fantastic. I think he's the the biggest facilitator apart from Nico Sakaris in the midfield. I know that that's a bit of a a a throwaway for for Bolaroo, and I'm sorry Bo Laru, despite the fact that Bo is is second in the team on a in assist with I think nine only behind Nico. but that being said, I think Louvin's way more facilitative than than the rest of our midfielders right now and and he's he's just everywhere. I remember you mentioning, was it last week, that if you look at his overall, like what the the track map. Yeah. Like the entire field is basically red. It just there's not a blade of grass that Idwar doesn't touch during a ninety minute period. Which is And he's not running fast. He's not very fast at all. But he is just Everywhere. Like it his movement you know, below his his lack of speed. and and what he can do with the ball i i is fantastic and and he was a really good pickup. And I I do want to mention, speak like yes, exactly. Speaking of pickup, the fact that we picked up Edward Lowen from Saint Louis City is the reason why Rafael Navarro went from Colorado Rapids to St. Louis City. so we acquired Lowen and then about like six six or so days later, Saint Louis paid about twelve million dollars to Colorado Rapids for Rafael Navarro. So we don't even have to worry about Navarro for this coming weekend, thankfully. So next best next best player on the team in goals is Paxon Aaronson and then second is Darren Yapi which is only on three goals. so I think they they lost they lost a pretty significant attacker there. Yeah. I remember when Darren Yapi was about eighteen years old and just getting started to the league. And it makes me feel really old that he's like a a regular MLS player nowadays. but guys, I want to make some excuses for why this episode's a chaotic. I drove nine and a half hours today. I I don't know Devin's excuse. But you know, I think when there's two of us, if one of us isn't like here all the way, it's gonna really affect the rest of the episode. and i you know, it's just work has been really hard. It's also I had Over the weekend I had cover games for the Cup dot US and I had to do two games at once. One of those games ended twenty to one and I had to write social media updates for that match. so I was I wrote twenty one updates for that that match and it was to the point where the open cup the cup dot us Twitter account, they were not able to continue posting for the day. Because Elon Musk decided that unverified accounts have a post cap. They can only post a certain amount of times per day. And there are thirty one games happening across all you know, the United States Open Cup. And I I I'd have to start bunching you know, updates together. Yeah, no. I I wrote twenty one and so that that took a big dent out of the amount of posts that we were able to make. But that's not why you gather here. I'm just making excuses again. and Devin had his birthday weekend, so obviously still recovering from that I assume. Yeah, even if it was a birthday weekend, like I I admit, like we we had a bowling night and I was walking our friends home from from bowling and I I rolled my ankle on a curb, so now my you know, I'm I'm walking everywhere with a limp and I have to drive six and a half hours every day with with with that foot. So still recovering on that front and then had Bunch of other things happen in in the background that I I won't mention here. But it's it's been an absolutely wild week and I'm still trying to recover from that rolled ankle so I can go hike clouds rest in Yosemite this weekend. So big big big things to come. Yeah and guess what, Devin? When we wake up tomorrow we get the news on when we can talk to Muni 'cause it's not confirmed right now. But also we have a midweek media availability with Edward Lowen at noon. And then we have the interview hopefully at one or two. And so it's not over. It's just getting started. And we have the the game this weekend. But I'm so thankful that it's an away match. sad for the players because it is hard to play in Colorado. But I'm I'm thankful for us who don't have to go to PayPal Buck this weekend. And get to, know, chill on the couch and watch from there 'cause we definitely both need it. This is definitely going to be a scintillating match for sure. And and I think it's just due to the fact that Colorado's one of the best, you know, home teams in the league and we're one of the best away teams in the league. So you know, the the possibility of walking home with a draw, even a single point, will honestly for me feel like a win. I don't know about you, Abram, but I don't know about the rest of the fans who are watching. It'd be nice to hear in the comments what your expectations are. You know, if if a point is is, you know, not conceivable but, you know Acceptable. Acceptable. I would love to hear it. Or if if, you know, only three points is what matters to you, please let us know in the comments. or or in our Discord. I know Gilberto is very receptive to to answering our our our podcast communications and and whatnot. So shout out to you Gilberto. Yeah, shout out Gilberto. I'd love know what he thinks. Yeah, one of our longest serving I think he's been like listening or involved in the Tectonic Date community longer than I've been on the show. for those who don't know, like I wasn't here at the beginning. I didn't found the show. it was Fabian Ivan and we believe Will before me. But but yeah, regardless, shout out to Groberto again. This is it's it's a scary match. I am nervous about it because of the ramification that it could have on the table. for me, I definitely believe that a draw is acceptable. even though that wouldn't be the ideal for us. just because of, you know, the the circumstances. we don't have the we don't have access to the availability right now. But hopefully we have a good amount of players fit and and double hopefully Nobody has gotten on to the injured list that wasn't on there before. that would be, you know, really sad. but I am looking forward to this match. I I think that we can probably scrape a draw from it, if not a win. We have to trigger monster mode, I think, to get a win. But I think that Colorado fans will probably be pretty confident, unless there's something that we don't know and they, you know are missing some players. I Personally I think they might be a little worried. I haven't checked their their form, which I should check their form. But, you know, looking at two of their three most important players, their their number two player, obviously Paxton Haronson, who is now their number one, they they lost two important players in the summer window. another one number one being Rafael Navarro, who led the team in in goals, and had four assists. And and maybe those stats are also increasing due to his performances in in in Saint Louis. But they they also lost Dante Seely, who to Montreal, who was second or third on the team, for second in assists. Yeah. no goals, but definitely was contributive in the the passing game. So yeah, Colorado losing those two important players is you know, potentially a boost for us. Yeah, definitely. Dante Sealy used to play in Dallas and he was really good when he played us. fun fact about him, his father is Scott Seely, who used to play for the Earthquakes back in the day, was a number nine jersey. from Trinidad and Tobago, I believe. I never got to see him play personally, but I know that the Dallas fans were really big on Dante Sealy. it's good for us that Colorado aren't gonna have access to him. I I had no idea that they were just gutted recently, it it seems. I guess that shows how much MLS I'm not watching. 'Cause I I'm really just a Quakes fan and then I just turn off the T V if the Quakes aren't playing nowadays. Yeah, I mean good for us. I think very good potential here with with our our midfield strength. I think we can really do a lot of damage here. Yeah, that definitely tips the scales a little bit in our favor. I'm I'm hoping that we can take advantage of that. But again, the altitude is always gonna be a factor. I am excited to see Vieira back, although I'm a little bit disappointed for Ian Harks, who I thought played very well against Portland. but who knows maybe Vieira will be, you know, back to his his prime self. I think that he he's been pretty decent in the last few games. just I guess Getting back to to the prime Vieira that we saw earlier in the season. he's one of those players that is kind of like not at a hundred percent, I think. not not fitness wise, but like in terms of the quality of his play. I at least I haven't felt like he's at the start of the year Vieira levels. I don't know if you mirror that opinion, Devin. somewhat. Somewhat similarly. I just think that Vieira had had to do a little adaptation. Once we acquired Edward Lowen. Yeah, definitely. it seemed like he was pretty comfortable in his role. maybe a little too comfortable, kinda like what what Judd described with himself was just, you know, that that complacency and not providing enough for the team. And I think it that may have branched to a lot of other players, including our number fourteen. but yeah, it it seems like, you know, he's he's found his way back into a a decent form. with our midfield four and and you know, maybe maybe he feels more comfortable with with this new formation and and he has more structure to help him out defensively 'cause it seems like we were just really reliant on on him to do most of the dirty work around the top of our defensive eighteen yard box. So yeah. Happy for him to to for Vieira to pick up, you know, form and and to even come back from international break with with a boost of confidence. Definitely I think that, you know, a very Vero that's firing in all cylinders is very important to this team. and yeah, like you said, I I hope that he gains confidence during this international break. as well as Buddha and and you know, Angus Gunn and and Darius Johnson, who I I I made fun of at the beginning of this episode just 'cause he's been missing for so long and we we were like, Where is Darius? I I think that Darius has more to prove. And I think that I've I've seen good things from Darius and I'm just waiting for him to do those things in a quake shit. but I do think that that is coming. any final thoughts before we close out the episode, Devin? I think Darius's time will come, and that's only when we change formation to a three a three three attacking player formation. So he's he's used to being a winger. The only opportunity he'll he'll get right now on the field I think is to either be a secondary striker Which I just don't see happening. And and and I think that's it because he's just not a wing back material player. his defensive duties may be average or subpar. but obviously I don't think it's enough to warrant a starting or sub position at at wing back. It's either, you know, starting not starting, but striker position or or minutes in a you know, change of formation. Yeah, definitely. I think changing formation to a a more traditional wing setup will benefit Darius a lot as well as as Buddha. Yeah, I was about to say Buddha, because please let Buddha go back to Winger. But yeah, guys, that's been this week's episode Tectonic Takes. thank you guys so much for watching. We'll be back to preview the game against Rao Salt Lake. but until then, GW up. Fisher out