Indy Eleven Head Coach Sean McAuley on Cupset Over Atlanta United & U.S. Open Cup Semifinal

are absolutely delighted to welcome in the man leading the charge, head coach Sean McCauley. Good morning Sean. Thank you so much for joining us. It's great to see you. My friend. Good morning to you all. It's great to see you Suzanne. All right. Let's let's go back to that. That big moment against Atlanta United for you thinking about your career. How special of a moment was that for you and for this club? It was it was really good. It was a great night. And I was just really pleased for all the players, you know, to get some recognition. All the staff, everybody works behind the scenes, you know, got a lot of good, hard working people here. And you know, we get a little bit of credit for the run we've been on. And now we look forward to a semifinal which is fantastic for the club. Sean, talk to me about this crazy run that you guys have have been on. At what point during that stretch did you kind of realize that things were really starting to Klich with your team? Do you know what? Susanna during the run we I never really focused on what we'd done in the past. I was just looking at the next game and then, you know, it starts to creep more and more and you know, I was a bit worried that the players were concentrating on, you know, maintaining this run than just concentrating on the game that was just in hand, but yeah, we really, you know, I would say we got fortunate in a few of the games that we, we won, and then when the run finally came to an end, I believe we should have won that game more than probably all the others that we played in. So we're really pleased that we've we've got a momentum now and we've got like a rhythm of play that we can sort of go into every game thinking that we can, we can score goals. There's only been one game this season where we've not scored a goal. So we're we're pretty, confident. But you know, it's take each game as it comes. Sean heading into this Open Cup match against Atlanta United. And I know it's a new version of this US Open Cup with some MLS teams being like, no, I don't think we want to play in this or we don't want to play our players. Atlanta United wanted to win this competition because they haven't been in great form, throughout Major League Soccer. So, you know, they're putting everything into this. How did you prepare your team for this big moment, and what did you see throughout the match, you know, we prepared, you know, by looking at the previous game that they played in, in the Open Cup, and we were unsure of which sort of side they were going to put out. And like you said, I think once you get to the quarterfinals, you know, and now you're in semifinals, I think the majority of teams think, well, this is a chance to put your hands on a trophy and you know, they're going to take it seriously, but so we didn't know exactly which 11, and, you know, fair play to rob. You know, he put out a strong side and, you know, we're we're pleased because that was a challenge for us. And we're prepared knowing that if we had a good start and a strong start, then the confidence could grow. And then at half time, I thought we probably deserved, you know, to be slightly ahead, but we knew that the second half was coming and we'd be under a bit of pressure. And fortunately for us, we probably scored against the run of play. Our second goal, and then you know, all the other players that had probably been rested a little bit because their schedule was tough playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, two away games, they, they barraged us with a lot of opportunities that our goal and I want to credit the, the, the whole team for digging in and, and just making sure that we got got the results to get through. Sean, prior to the season, there was so much discussion between MLS and who's going to play in the Open Cup and how important it is in the landscape of our game. I played for Lamar Hunt in Kansas City during my career, 1 to 1 in the US Open Cup with his name on that trophy. Is this about as good an advertisement as we can have for how important this competition really is in the US? I would hope so. And you know, I've worked in the MLS for 12 years and it frustrated me a little bit that, you know, teams would sometimes, you know, not take it as seriously and rotate the squad and you know, that's great for the players who maybe aren't playing as regular in the team. But I think every single player that's that wants to play the game wants to win a trophy. And you know, from the point of view that you win six games, you win a trophy. It's really attractive, you know, and I can understand you know, maybe some teams not wanting to be part of it because the schedule and things like that. But there's a saying of the history of the cup and the magic of the cup and all them things. And I come from obviously the UK, where the FA Cup means a huge deal, and this does sort of bring back a few memories of, you know, the lower division club having a chance and, and that's what we've taken and grasped and, and hopefully we can show a good account of ourselves in the semifinal. I love that, Sean. I want to get a little bit deeper into you as a manager. And when you're in half time and you're saying the pressure is being piled on, what are you saying to your team and what do you do? Even when you're up a goal? You're saying, maintain that pressure. Let's try to get a second or stay compact. Wait for our opportunity. Well, nobody really knows at half time what's going to happen in the second half because it's not it's not, you know, it's not being played. What you can try and do is read into what you know, the mindset of the opponent is going to going to be and being behind and being the team that's, you know, expected to put to get the win and expect the high division team. We knew that we were probably going to have to play on the counter attack a little bit in the second half, and I thought that that we exploited that quite well, in order to do that, they needed to understand the defensive responsibilities. But my big message to the players at half time was that they proved that they could compete and don't go out in the second half thinking that it's a different game, it's the same game, and go out and be the aggressor and try and try and get a second goal. Sean, talk about a couple of your players here. I see your roster has got some players with MLS experience. You got you got internationals Augustine Williams who got a goal. Martinez. I think he's a Honduran, player. Give us some of these names that we should be looking out for. I mean, we've got we've got a really good balance of a squad and, you know, everybody's done a great job in, in sort of getting the group together. We didn't start the season. Well maybe because, you know, it was a bit of uncertainty about what the new coach wants to bring and, and things like that. Now we've settled into a good rhythm, like I said, we've got Dougie Martinez, a Honduran international, we've got players that have played in the USL for a number of years, like Seba Gonzales, Callum Chapman, Page. We've got Aidan Quinn, who's not played a game for us yet because he got injured last season. He was a real top, top player. I think he was one of the record holders of USL appearances. And then we've got some really good young players. We've got got a couple of guys on loan from the MLS in Lawrence Wooten from Chicago, so we're really pleased that they they did that because he's getting good experience and hold to salt the goalkeeper who's been fantastic for us. He made a couple of great saves in the game. And we've got a couple of young players ourselves that we brought through. Josh O'Brien's done really well. And you know we're we're really looking forward to, you know, mixing all these groups together to become, you know, a strong team towards the end of the season. Coach I want to ask about life in in Indianapolis and kind of what the soccer culture is like there. What if people are going to Indianapolis and they're going to go to an Indy 11 game, like, what can they expect? What's what's the scene like? It's great. Susanna, you know, the club does a really good job, we, we play in a stadium that's, you know, very, you know, family friendly. We have a lot of things that go on for the, for the families that also, you know, during the game and, and you know, before the game and after the game, we really cater for everybody, in that respect. And then when we look at the football aspect of it, we've got some really passionate fans. You know, we've got a really good supporter section, that traveled down to Atlanta with us, and I'm sure there'll be quite a few that travel to Kansas for the game, in the semifinal. And they're really passionate about the football. And, you know, we're fortunate that we've got that. And we need to now repay them with with something that's good enough on the field for them to cheer about. Sean is it coming home on Sunday, because of my accent. And I was born in England, I chose my allegiance towards Scotland as a player and, played for the youth in under 21 team. So, unfortunately for me, I'll either be, commiserating with my fellow Scots people or celebrating with everybody else who doesn't want it to come home, so we'll have to wait and see. And that's fair enough. I'll be with you on that side. I'm going for Spain, too. We're together in this, Sean? Sean, you've got I mean, it's over a month until the semifinal against Kansas City. Correct. How much are you? How much do you think about it? I mean, are you just going to take it game by game, or are you starting to prepare for that semifinal match now, even though you've got well over a month out? I think we, we, we will be preparing for it in terms of looking at the opponent and seeing who's in form, seeing what team they pick week in, week out, seeing, you know, the different teams they may choose when they have three games in a week, that sort of thing. We'll look at that and make sure that the players are aware of, you know, different not so much systems of play because they're pretty solid in what they do, but more of the formations of the players that that might change, and then with our players, we've got a few injuries that that may come back into to reckoning for that, for that game. So it's a really good target for a couple of lads who've been out like Jack Blake who's, who's been fantastic for this season's got an injury and Aiden Quinn who's been out for a year. So it gives them a little target for something to aim for. So yeah I'd say we're preparing along with, you know, completing our regular fixtures. Well Sean, it's been an absolute pleasure catching up with you. So happy for you and your success. Keep it