Jason Drops By SDH 8/30/24: The Weekend in MLS, ATLUTD, and A Front Office Talk

but that'd be one game it wouldn't be a whole slate of games on Friday it would be but I'm also gonna use this to get on my soap box and talk about that MLS should have a Friday night game I've said this for probably a decade yeah because they they did it for a while um on Univision and it was great and I loved it and it was something that I wish they had done more of but one thing are you talking to are you telling the fans not to worry about the jumping up and down or are you talking about the squad I'm telling the fans not to like you can't just stare at the table eight weeks ago you can't stare at the table all night long while like Toronto and DC and a bunch of the other clubs have pulled up and blown up their sck and boers and are beating the dog out of each other you all you can do is worry about the game that's in front of you when it gets to like four weeks left in the season if you really want to start staring at it I won't I won't begrudge you that eight weeks to go for me is just too far out to be like living and dying by where you are on the table and I know it's early right now yeah it's too early for this crap it's too early and right now Atlanta United is in the spot you know of course they want to be higher but they're in the playoff spot so if they take care of what's in front of them then they should hold on to that spot it's not going to be easy you're playing a lot of the teams around you but it's just this Eastern conference is very difficult and we can sit here and we can talk about the whole season long and this and that and this move and that move and blah blah blah blah blah blah and you can just spin yourself into mediocrity and being upset and that's not a healthy way to be like the fact is we can do the postmortem when The Season's done right now it is about Charlotte it's about Saturday night it's about getting three points and then it's about a break and then it's about Nashville at home and getting three points it has to be game by game and I I what I see so often and this isn't an Atlanta United conversation this is just Sports conversation it's so easy to sit here and look at well you know I'm not going to enjoy what's happening right now because I'm still mad about that loss three weeks ago stop it like stop it you can do that later and we will and we'll have the conversation about what went wrong and what could have been different all we can do those hypotheticals later but you have a game against arrival on Saturday night it should be a really fun atmosphere in Charlotte it should be a very not hostile in a like scary way but in a really pushing Charlotte side of things it should be one of those games that we get excited about why we're doing this why we're spending our time watching these games why we're running around calling and covering these games why we do this this is why and that doesn't diminish because the team is further down in the table than you'd like them to be that is just such a frustrating way to try to talk to anybody about what's going on this team is this team it's not 2018 it's not 2019 it's not 2022 it's not any of those it's 2024 and the work that this group is putting in and now you have another so like fun subplot to all of this and watching an incredibly talented player in Alexi maranuk figure out how to fit into this team on the Fly because that's the situation you're in you see this with big teams in Europe in early February after the window closes in mid-season and you've got to throw that top guy in there and you know Fitness is a different issue in that situation in general but you got to get them in the field you don't have time to do all the the work on the training pitch that you'd like to and you've got to see them figure it out and I thought it was so cool this week Jay Fortune talking about it feeling like a pickup game with you see what he can do and you try to figure out how to play with that and how to work with that and put him in good spots and how he can put you in good spots that's a fun thing to watch a smart talented player figure it out on the fly if he gets it right this is going to be a fun team to watch down the stretch because you would expect more chances you would expect better chances hopefully you're going to find some goals because right now that's the difference that's it and it's not about even creating the chances it's not like Rio and have not done a good job in scoring you've created so many chances over the course of the year that you're a top five team in chances created in XG and all those things your goal scoring is not there your record is not there the the Galaxy who's a great attacking team and Atlanta United going into Saturday night XG pretty much the same between the two goal diff the goals scored what about 13 or 14 difference well that's the difference between being first in the west and being where Atlanta is ninth in the East that's it right now and this is going to be a fun ride to see can manuk create better chances that end up in the back of the net a little more often and can this team turn some of those draws into wins some of those losses into draws and some of those losses into wins and they do they're going to be in the playoffs and they're going to be a team on a high going into the playoffs which is going to make for a fun postseason uh sidebar if you haven't seen it on Atlanta United's social media the the uh trip to Bergamo to catch up with Alexi midan chuk and get his thoughts tremendous work by the Atlanta United social media team to fly over and get his early thoughts about coming over to be a part of Atlanta United and get him into a car at Hartsfield Jackson International to start to start the journey very very cool once again they hit another home run for 5 minutes and 20 seconds didn't feel like it at all and that's the sign of a great piece that they put put together yeah Alexi's been cool to to get to watch a little bit and get to talk to a little bit he just seems like a really chill kind of guy who is chill in terms of being off the field and and vibing with people but intense on the field and that's that's an interesting balance um he's not the the biggest talker on the field he's not super demonstrative maybe that'll change as he gets you know more accustom with this group but he's a he's a big personality with his skill and his talent and it's fun to watch uh Happy birthday to one of the four people on the show a and it's not me Jason or Jared haha thanks guys that was an interesting math John but okay yes it's it's not me Jason or Jarrett so that means that it is the fourth person so happy birthday Madison and uh how are you celebrating this trip around the Sun oh I mean well first of all I can now simply say in quoting Taylor Swift I don't know about you but I'm feeling 22 um thank you everybody um you were waiting all week for oh I was oh I was I think she's literally been waiting all year I no actually like cuz so I turned 21 and I was like oh I know it's next I was like I got it no but um uh well tonight I'm going home seeing the family for a little bit um are they are are they paying for dinner oh of course we're going to get Mexican absolutely all right big big birthday cake maybe oh actually I don't know maybe okay knowing my mom probably yeah okay uh one candle one cand one candle or 22 oh gosh we normally don't do candles actually I mean we just I think we do like one I think we just do like one if we do maybe yeah but um and then I mean I'm headed up to Charlotte to cover United tomorrow so that's how that's how I'm celebrating okay so uh Maddie since it is your birthday do you have a question for Jason about this matchup with Atlanta United and Charlotte oh I mean I think I'm always so fascinated especially like I I I go back to like the the US Men's National Team team and then Panama in that matchup just because it is a heated rivalry M and we saw the team get heated and kind of keeping that composure how do you expect it even if it it may feel like a rivalry to some may not feel like a rivalry to some how do you keep your emotions in check especially going into a game like this where you said it's not going to be hostile but it's gonna be a little bit more of a like hey there's something to to prove here yeah it's this is such an interesting rivalry and and stop gatekeeping the word rivalry folks like I I beg of everybody like you can have a whole bunch of rivalries they can all have varying degrees of intensity and it's okay to call something a rivalry if somebody else disagrees with it I I hate the gatekeeping around the the Rivalry word Charlotte's a rivalry because there's going to be a lot of Atlanta fans who are going to drive up and be in the building just like there were a lot of Charlotte fans who drove down just like the same with Nashville rivalries can be a lot of different things this is a rivalry this is a a different kind of rivalry in my opinion it has a different feel than Atlanta and Orlando it has a different feel than Atlanta and Nashville to me I think Nashville has gotten a little more hostile I don't know if Atlanta Charlotte will ever truly be hostile and a big reason why is Anton walks honestly I think there's always a different feel around this game and I'll give you all the the teaser um hopefully it'll be hitting um sometime this afternoon on the history of Atlanta Soccer podcast series uh Sandy McAfee outdid herself with the the podcast about this rivalry and specifically about Anton's effect on it um lots of different voices in it it was uh a really good listen and conversation that I was able to have with some folks and I know Sandy had a ton of different convers ation around us it's a it's a really good listen um take your time with it it's it's not an easy listen but it's a really good listen and I think like that factor in this makes this feel a little different and I think it will for a long time and and maybe forever and that's okay uh Charlotte fans are going to be really hyped for this game um they've added some good pieces in the window Tim ream makes that defense that's been really good even better uh on the Atlanta side you know you're getting manuk in Charlotte's got a 10 as well and pep beel like you're trying to get both of them going handling the emotion of it I think is multifaceted in this game because it will get contentious at times um you know Ashley Westwood's an old school English midfielder he's GNA go flying into some tackles that's going to tick people off at times that's okay um I want to see that emotion out of Atlanta United I think I'm not ever as worried with the the character makeup of this Atlanta United Squad in getting over emotional at times I want them to get more emotional and I want them to be a little nastier in games like this when the tackles start flying and I hope this is a game that can bring that out of them a little bit because I think it's there I just think it hasn't come to the surface yet um Atlanta's got to manage those emotions um again multifaceted emotions you know there's not a lot of guys on the squad at this stage that you know played with or against Anton in that time period but I know for the coaching staff it is uh an emotional time anytime it's Atlanta and Charlotte um it's it's going to be a big big game past that emotion I think that's what you have to keep in mind here is you got to manage that element of it but this is a critical match you know not going to end anybody's season because that Eastern conference is so jumbled you could go from 9th to 15th and then 15th back to 9th like it's that chaotic but because of that every point I think is magnified a little bit so if you go on the road against a team that's ahead of you and you get a point that's not a bad thing you're not playing for it you're not going there looking for it you're looking for all three and you're fully capable of getting all three but you've got to keep in mind that big big picture of things here and this is about being as strong as you can be and getting stronger every single game over these last eight and finishing in a playoff spot and finishing on a big upswing going into that postseason it's not going to be easy but this is a good test along the way to get there Jared what's on your mind for Jason this morning as we preview Atlanta United and Charlotte okay so as far as putting together that Midfield this is something that we've kind of seen coming over the horizon with Lei manuk being a part of it how do you and it's going to change I know it's it's easy to want to write a Midfield out in pin and to carve into stone but with the guys you have and the games you have that are gonna be different and you know Styles make fights how are you lining up this Midfield this week it's a good question and I think you can go a couple different ways I mean I think you have really two uh templates that you can look at here when you're talking about the Midfield and how you incorporate manuk you can do it in the way that we've seen this team play Lately which is in a 4-33 so a thre man Midfield and and don't get hung up on six and eight and 10 I know it was like a huge conversation about Jay Fortune playing higher up the field in the last game and well if manchuk comes in he's gonna take his spot like Fortune wasn't a 10 like the game was taking him into those roles and he was going higher than sles was in this because in the long term SES is going to be a deeper lying midfielder because manchuk is going to get into those spots as well but 6810 in the way this Midfield works it's not rigid it's not to say that a six can't get forward and a 10 can't come back so don't don't get hung up on that stuff if maranuk is in this Midfield and you keep that current situation he might look like an eight at times he might be deeper than you think I don't think he's purely going to be just a 10 that sits underneath the striker and doesn't do anything defensively I don't I don't think that's what this team's going to look like I don't think that's what Rob Valentino wants this Midfield to look like I don't know if you can really do that in the modern game as much anymore you're your forwards got to defend your 10 got to defend your Defenders got to be able to attack that's just the nature of where soccer is in 2024 and it's not going to change anytime soon so if you have the three-man Midfield and you slot manchuk in you're talking about a combination of Five Guys it's btoes who I think plays if he's healthy Jay Fortune who right now is playing at that level to hold that spot Tristan muam is dealing with a hip issue and Rob Valentino said he was day today yesterday which makes you think that maybe he's not available for this one Dax mccardy who's not going to be able to play 90 minutes in all eight games coming up and do you have to pick your spots is it 90 sometimes or is it 60 sometimes to start or is it coming off the bench for 30 sometimes probably all of the above I don't think it's going to be 90 minutes in every game left for Dax mccardy I just don't think that's going to happen so and then maranuk so do you play in this one is it SES fortune and maranuk is it SES mccardy and maranuk is it SES mccardy and Fortune it's one of those combinations because I just don't think Tristan muam B being being talked about as day-to-day is going to be able to start maybe he can come off the bench maybe not the other template that you can look at is what we saw this team team do earlier in Rob Valentino's time which was that 523 343 kind of a shape so two Central midfielders but in the way that you have the Personnel right now it can almost turn into an attacking Midfield box where if you do that you play three center backs and you play two Wing backs and then two Central midfielders if let's say that's San Fortune because in that kind of a setup yeah I think it's manchuk not in one of those two spots so if you do that and let's say s and Fortune here then you're looking at two Wingers and you have two Wingers in air quotes in zabalo janza and Alexi maranuk who can play wide and come inside into the pockets so you get kind of narrow in this situation but if you play miranchuk off the left which he played a good bit for Atalanta and he comes in on his left foot and you place abalo janza off of the the the left side sorry miranchuk off of the right cutting in Lo janza off of the left cutting in on his right foot which we've seen him do and then you have your forward that could be another way to get something out of this group in a different kind of shape and I don't think that's going to be the first template but I think that's something that we could see over time with this group potentially and it doesn't dramatically change what you're asking miranchuk to do or or LJ needsa to do in those situations it just changes where your strengths and your weaknesses are and it's going to be down to the opponents that you're playing to see what works in the Run of Play That's that setup worked extremely well against ra Salt Lake who's one of the best attacking teams in the league it blocked them from getting the ball into those attacking players in the Run of play remember they scored three goals on set pieces that was a 5-2 game take three goals from set Pieces away which is not run a play which has nothing to do with the shape that we're talking about that's a two2 game that's a very different game that is a possibility I think the 4-33 is probably the more likely situation and if maranuk is in that Central Midfield I think you're going to see him drop from time to time and it's going to look as much like an eight as it does a 10 as maybe occasionally a six I don't think he drops as deep and as often as Thiago alada did when he played that role but I do think he'll play from a deeper position at times so you know three-man Midfield I think you have five guys and one of them is listed as dayto day and one of them can't play 90 minutes every game so I think you can start to figure out how you make that work over the Run of these eight games Jason mdy and Jared hanging out with us here on the morning show as we preview Atlanta United and Charlotte so Jason in your analysis of Charlotte and knowing what you're seeing from Atlanta United where do you think Charlotte is at its weakest where do you think Atlanta United can do their most damage in looking at Charlotte I remember last time it was an entirely different setup at Mercedes Benz they picked on Nathan burn and it was a long day for him in a very short amount of time where do you think Atlanta United can attack Charlotte and be the most effective you think you pick on Nathan burn and you try to make it a very long day for him because when you look at the backline the the weaker elements are wide and the stronger elements are Central you know you add Tim ream to that Center back group with Manda and I think Andrew privet who's been one of the success stories in the MLS super draft and then you also look at the rest of that Midfield with Westwood with brono it's a really good Midfield so the spine is very strong the the weaker spots are out wide I think the Red Bulls did a good job of that and if you've listened to the MLS sixpack Jessica charman talked about that the the wide play is a concern on the Charlotte side it can be an advantage on the Atlanta side you've got to get more out of the left side for Atlanta you can't get onedimensional with the right but I think you also need to get Brooks linon into more attack-minded spots and at something that they haven't done as much of in the last couple of games and you want to get him into those spots because you look at the quality of the crosses that he's delivered and he's among the best in the league I think some people argue with the stats but he is just facts are facts you know the I don't think the stats are are trying to lie to you like they he's completing more crosses than a lot of right-sided players Wingers and fullbacks in general I'd like to see him have the ability in the run a play at times to come back inside which we've seen at times but that means somebody has to be wide that means whether it's maranuk drifting out there whether it's l Janita drifting out there um you've got to have a wide option on that side but you want to make it a little harder to predict on the left you just got to produce you know and Amador I think has been solid going forward maybe a little bit more solid than we thought sha D Silva or whoever else is playing on the left wing got to get more production there and that would be the side that would be going at Nathan burn so you know it feels like a game where if it's shaay Silva starting and I I've talked about this games before he's he's one of those guys that I feel like if you get him going early he can be a problem in a nightmare for an opponent I think you need to test it early I would try to get him in behind I would try to get him isolated with Nathan burn as much as possible running at the Charlotte right back and see and if burn starts to struggle well then you see the weakness and then you can keep chipping away at it then Amador can get forward a little bit more then whether it's manchuk drifting there whether it's Fortune at times SLE starting to put more pressure on that side when you find uh oh when you find the weak spot I think then you have to really put pressure on it to break it down and I think that would be it we'll see you've got to be at your best to make that a weak spot as well so we'll see if that happens Maddie what's on your mind for Jason as we continue the conversation with Atlanta and previewing Charlotte I'm trying to think what questions I have because I don't know what y'all already asked well well you could you could we could also talk about the twos in Chattanooga this weekend we can talk about the college game anything's on the table so many things so many things y because we are gonna be crazy and go up to Chattanooga after the weekend that we're all having yes because why not you know why not also do love Chattanooga Chattanooga it's a it's a fun it's a fun little Stadium I loved going up there for wpsl it was a lot of fun um yeah I mean I think the twos in Chattanooga might be my next question for you um it's like it's a unique game you know they came to us we played and we also then went to them already and we've played again what needs to be done in order to see more success coming out of that matchup and more of a more of another rivalry as well kind of for Atlant United yeah it is a rivalry um Chattanooga is always up for a game against Atlanta team whether it was the old Atlanta FC when we went up there and ruined their opening game party in 2009 uh whether it was the old silver backs whether it's Atlanta United first team in open Cup games whether it's Atlanta United 2 Chattanooga's always up for it and I think that's the the challenge here for the twos is they've got to be up for that intensity because and it look it's tough and Steve Cook talks about this all the time this isn't a team in the normal sense it almost has more of like a national team feel with guys coming in and going out of it so you don't have the same team building kind of elements that you would because you're going to have guys from the first team that drop down you're going to have you know Academy players who are stepping up and you need to give them a game and you need to see how they handle it so lots of different factors that go into it and this one is a little interesting for the twos in the sense that the first team plays the day before it is a short trip to Charlotte you know I hope will be back home uh I think I might actually be asleep by 1:00 a.m. this time around um and then you know it's an easy trip for guys to make it up there we saw this with the game in Huntsville where some players didn't play in the first team game the night before now that was at home um but again Charlotte's A short flight and guys made the the trip over to Huntsville day of the game and contributed and maybe you see that again here so the twos might get some reinforcements we don't know yet but you just have to manage the intensity of the game because Chattanooga will bring everything they've got in front of their fans their fans will be up for it their fans hate any team from Atlanta and they will be all kinds of riled up so Atlanta 92 has to be able to play at that same intensity level especially early you know it's going to go up and down and that's okay but you can't get behind the eightball and you can't let that intensity multiply early if you can't match it if you match it then both teams maybe it becomes a little more of a stalemate in terms of intensity and both teams have their ups and downs but if you are getting overrun early if they start flying in on tackles they start knocking guys over the crowd starts roaring then they just keep growing and it's hard for you to get to that level so you've got to be physical and intense early in that game for Atlanta United too Jarrett for Jason as we continue the The Weekend Whip around and we're going to go back to the first team um because I want to figure out you mentioned you started to talk about it I don't know how much you did um trying to get something out of the left side however you have to do it um consistency has been an issue all season for sha Silva he's had spurts where he's been really good and then spurts where it's just hasn't worked whether it's creating overloads whether it's guys floating around however you do it I mean what else do you do on the leftand side to try and balance out uh production that you've gotten more consistently on the right even if it hasn't been perfect uh it's been pretty good on the right when you look at what's Saba up to right now I don't have the stats in front of me I think six and seven or seven and eight in terms of goals and assists uh Lenin's on six assists I think maybe seven that's a pretty good right side the left has not been that I was going to say especially when the left side hasn't been yeah so like the right's been been great um the left has been a a deficit for the team and that's something that has to change like the work rate has been there and this is where I I have so much respect for Shawn Des Sila because you see guys like him who are super talented and love their onv ones and when it's not on for them they don't give you anything else and that's not Shae like Shae has worked hard defensively he's won the ball back for this team pretty consistently he's been a much better Defender higher up the field than i' ever thought he would be so the work rate has been great from him but you know I don't know what the magic situation is honestly like it is just down to producing more and it it I I don't want to oversimplify it but you just have to get goals and assists from that side flat out and it's not happening enough and if it's not Shawn day then you know is it Edwin mosca is it Saba moving over to that side and then potentially hurting your right side which has been very good because you've got to get the production from a mosca or a Silva on the right or a Tyler wolf or a Luke Brennan I mean all our possibilities and you've got to find a way to get something out of that now I mentioned it manchuk does give you some different potential things you can do because yeah he can play wide and he can play wide from the right and I don't think that's what they want from him in the long term I think you want him as a 10 pulling the strings centrally but when you're trying to find a way to get results in eight games and you've got Brooks lenon who can stretch the field on the right and can be that wide player making the opponent have to deal with them and manuk who would be cutting inside because he's not a traditional Winger it could work but that's not your first or your second or your third choice the problem is you got eight games to make those choices and find some combination that fits and that's just the challenge that Rob Valen has had this season and it's a challenge that Gonzalo Pena had before him you know the left side's been an issue all season long and we have seen every permutation of left wing left full back left wing back that you can imagine and none of them have worked to the level that they've needed to yeah you were right Saba is six and seven and Lyon has six assists uh since six goals and 13 assists from the right side for your two players who have mostly been there that's that's pretty good yep uh Charlotte when it comes to looking at Charlotte and I would you know once again I would steer folks to the the six-pack that you and that you and Jess do every week but when it comes to Charlotte and of itself is there any one for someone who hasn't really seen him and spent a whole lot of time looking at Charlotte who worries you the most when it comes to Charlotte on offense Patrick aimon because he's a monster up top he just physically is a tough matchup and he fits the way that Charlotte generally wants to play they are a defend first get that part of the game right and then we go get what we can get in the attacking half so they're going to be direct more often than not he's a perfect forward for that because he is willing to go knock guys over he has the ability to time his runs and get in behind and he has the speed to make all of that work so it's just a huge challenge I mean ston Gregerson is a big dude and he can run that's going to be something that you see multiple times in this match of a ball played over the top and whether you you start aiman or you have him come off the bench for me he would be a starter every game especially in the way that they want to play whenever he's in there if he comes in Off the Bench that can be even more challenging because you're a little tired at that point and he's fresh but they're going to play balls over the top you're going to have to turn and run at your own goal and you're going to have to deal with a guy that you might bounce off of yeah and that's just a very difficult matchup you know they haven't been able to get the best out of Lea yet pep BL is new to this group so they haven't you know he's played 24 minutes it's kind of the same situation as maranuk um Brandon Cambridge is coming back into the mix as well we've seen him with crown Legacy he's back from injury he's another strong willing attacking player more from from a wide position who can can make your life difficult but aiman's the one who scares me just because it's a very difficult matchup whether it's at the start or at the Finish Maddie with Jason and Jarrett and me on her birthday here on a Freestyle Friday what else is on your mind yeah I mean I think one thing that was so interesting is how kind of like almost I don't want to say 180 because Charlotte still has that defensive like outcome but they they took the summer window and they ran with it they got a whole bunch of new attacking guys that can really create threats as well um it's interesting I'm I'm excited to see kind of what Charlotte's gonna bring to the table in this matchup as a whole because it's going to be a little bit different than what we're used to and I just it's so what I guess it kind of is the same question as John's but I mean kind of looking at that and kind of seeing the differences in between what they were from what we saw them back in May to then now what would you say are like the clear differences in what we can expect from the matchup I think the difference is they're even better defensively I think Tim Mar makes them even better um and long term and I said it on on six-pack when we talked about ream signing he's going to pay dividends not just now with him but he's going to pay dividends over time because he's going to make Manda better he's going to make privet better he's going to make any of those young players better he's you know one of those guys that for whatever reason the uh hash usmnt uh crew have not really liked him very much uh too old too slow he started an MLs um he's one of the best center backs this country's ever had and he's a very different kind of Center back than this country's ever had because he's maybe part Spanish like he's he's that kind of Center back he's classy on the ball so I don't know if you're going to ask him to be that guy as much I think what you're going to ask him to be is an organizer a leader a a veteran presence a calming influence at times you're G to ask him to do those things but and I think this will happen just because of who he is as a player they are now better in terms of having patience building out of the back when it's on they're not going to risk it they're not going to be dedicated to it but when it's there he can pick out a pass and that gives them a little bit different element so I I think the attacking pieces they added are going to be important for them but the headline of their summer was adding Tim ream and what he does to make a team that's conceded just over a goal per game I think they're even better defensively now so that makes it even more challenging to go and find a goal on the road Jarrett for Jason and Maddy and me I'm going to ask you something really unfair which is um oh boy the interview you did with G and Demetrius and Demetrius which was very cool that he joined in I did not expect that um until kind of the last minute and that added a ton of extra context to things that was great y I would argue people should listen to the whole thing because argue that as well there's a lot there that's not just Atlanta United related but like emls related like Grand scheme behind the curtain talk if there's one part of it that you wanted to highlight to kind of scream to the mountain tops of people what would it be um that's a really good question because I I I do say like you need to listen to all of it because there's a lot of context to a lot of things in there and to to give you guys the context on like how it all came about you know we' we have G logway on our radio pregame show almost every game and the games it's not him it's Carlos we've had Jonathan Spectre as well um it's a credit to the club that they've been willing to do that I don't think there's any other club in Major League Soccer that does that um it is what the Atlanta Falcons do for example and it's a segment that I always love in the Falcons pregame when Rich McKay comes in and is talking more big picture things not about I mean you can bring a lot of different people on to preview the game in front of you and that's what we do we can do that too it's bringing somebody like gu and and in the Falcons case bringing somebody like richon to talk about league rules changing and that's been a topic of the last I don't know month plus where things have evolved and you know announcement would be made or the Wy transfer would happen the alada stuff like all of it and it's all like wow and I I'd ask him one time after we finished I'm like I think it would be a great opportunity on a longer form situation to sit down and talk about these rules rules changes and how they affect you and the rest of the league and and maybe what's to come and gu was totally open to it and and I said you know what let's wait and do it after the window's done and it's it you know it doesn't need to be a distraction during the window let's do it after the window is done and let's have that conversation G was open to it and then bringing Demetrius in as the cherry on on top because he worked in the league office and he knows a lot of the not just the what of this rule is this he knows the why it is and as he explains in pretty big detail and it was something that had come up in our pregame and maybe this is the part to to listen to when you you know at times I think it's easy on the outside or you know you you play eafc or you play football manager and you think about how contracts get structured and salary caps get managed and you know you think it's easy when Demetrios talks about how they structured and this has been misleading from a lot of media in this country by the way it was why I drove this point home on in the conversation they structured the acquisition costs in different Windows to allow them to maximize their salary cap so when sabalo janza was added when ston Gregerson was added when arto Le was added all three are that player that you can put as a designated player and get a benefit from them being a designated player in your salary cap but you'd ideally like to have them not as a designated player about as Max as you can get non DP so the acquisition cost is always the issue with players at that kind of salary level that kind of quality because the acquisition cost if you do what some have said you had to do which is not true as we've learned and that's why I think this podcast was really important if you just amortize the acquisition cost over the life of the contract then you've got to buy that player down over the life of the contract to have them not be a designated player what Atlanta United did again to maximize how you can add players to this team and make this roster as strong as you possibly can on paper they had the acquisition costs rolling so and the SLE one is the most fascinating one to me because to do that and Demetrios talks about it you have to have a club on the other side who is willing to take that money later because in the case that Atlanta did this they didn't amortize it they didn't say okay well we're going to pay you in five installments over the five years of his contract no no no they said we're going to pay it up front but Leia Warsaw in BK's case because he was the last one of the group his hits next year you go to Leia Warsaw and you say look we're going to pay you we're good for it obviously but will you take it here because in our league structure it gives us a benefit to not have that acquisition cost be paid and hit our cap and hit his salary cap hit now it gives us a benefit for that to happen in 25 and they and that's part of negotiations that's why these are not simply I want to sign this player player says I want to go to that club and then the other club just says okay that's not how this works you're not pushing buttons you're not you watching the wheel spin and seeing if the uh computer manager on the other side agrees you have to finesse you have to talk you have to find these ways through and that was such a creative way to do it that I had never heard of in the league I don't think think it's ever happened in the league to be able to have three players come in that are of that ilk who would be designated players in a lot of situations but to have them on a rolling basis and this also remember this was with the previous designated player roster setup where you needed one of those guys to be able to maximize your u22 spots to have them which could give you cap relief in other places now the rule has changed but the way that you structured it it gives you the ability in 2025 to buy down BTO with the increased allocation money that you get from the Caleb Wy transfer and the extra allocation money that you get because you didn't sign the additional designated player and they talk about that in the podcast go listen to it they talk about how all of that went and it wasn't easy and the window timing is a factor in it I know that got a lot of headlines in the last month in terms of the league conversation that because the window ended two weeks before Europe ends that it's hard and it is and that's true absolutely true but the way it worked out you added maranuk you have one designated player spot open so you take the new thing that came in this summer with the two designated players and four U 22s and that wasn't their plan and it wasn't until they didn't get a designated player that they opted for this but it gave them an extra m million dollar in discretionary gam the g a new term theam the but you get that on top of the three for Caleb wy's transfer that now gives you that ability to buy bch acquisition cost down so he won't be a designated a player next year and you can go into the market add two so it like to get to that level of specificity and to get to that level of detail and to have a club that willing to tell you we did this and then when that acquisition cost was paid then this player became the designated player and then that acquisition cost was paid and then it was going to be this player but now because we've been able to take advantage of X and Y and Z that player won't be a designated player and we can buy somebody down so we will have three designated players and we will have three max non-designated players and the ability to have three U 22s in whatever capacity you use those for and as we're seeing in the league one way you might use that and and G talked about it in a pregame segment a while back you know if Caleb Wy transfer had not happened and you had a way to potentially keep him for a longer term you could have signed him to where he would fit in the u22 initiative and that's where I think clubs will use that and gar talked about it it's probably a month ago somebody like Jay Fortune could fit into that if you want to resign a new deal with J Fortune you could sign him to a salary amount that is more than his cap hit it because you could fit him into that u22 initiative and that gives you a benefit so there's lots of different ways to construct the stuff but the amount of detail that was given in that conversation was amazing and I mean as somebody who knows a a pretty good bit about the MLS roster rules and and has tried to not just know what the rule is but the why as much as we can and I've watched this league grow from from no designated players to one to what it is now and and the wise along the way it was really cool to get that in depth and I don't think it was that in-depth with going over people's heads I thought it was explained pretty thoroughly pretty clearly and with good enough detail that I hope it gives people insight into the thinking and now you go into this January window and it's going to be a very very busy uh time between now with eight games left in the season trying to get into the playoffs trying to make as deep a run as you can to having a lot of ability to add some top tier talent for 2025 and off the woodwork go to 929 the game go to the podcast section off the woodwork it's about 53 minutes total with ads 45 45 minutes of content and they mysteriously just right in the middle of a sound bite just bang here's a three minute ad break yeah I wasn't able to control that part unfortunately I know it's it's automated and how they determin things with length and all that kind of stuff no it was a it was a very uh eye openening conversation that went a lot of different directions that uh I don't think anybody has ever had the uh the the gravity to sit there and just break in and sit yeah we'll go ahead and talk about this we'll talk about am we'll talk about how it applies how we can spread it across the roster all these different things with with gar and Demetrius it was a really cool conversation that you were able to have uh must listen bookmark Abby gave the link the twitch pitch uh like I said it was a blast to listen to because it broke down a lot of different things and how the team is approaching things and how Major League Soccer is approaching it with windows that you're having to fight with European windows and European clubs and all this kind of stuff so uh must listen underline exclamate italicize bold face all that stuff yeah there's a lot of nuggets in there and just big thanks to everybody with the club for allowing it to happen and and most of all big thanks to gu and Demetrius for their was nothing that I wanted to ask about that was not allowed there was nothing that you know we couldn't get into and then they went beyond what I was getting into to bring up more things so it was very very cool and a great conversation and uh we probably could still be sitting there talking about it if we didn't have other jobs no doubt uh let's see uh really quickly before we get out of here it looks like uh strawberg has confirmed that Georgie petrovich is going over there from Chelsea uh Crystal Palace agrees nodding Forest to sign Matt Turner as a new keeper he's a replacement for Sam Johnston who went to wolves speaking of Southampton finalizing a deal for nll buck on loan from the revs according to gimme Sports written by Tommy Scoops and Ben Jacobs and so keep the chaos going it looks like Chelsea is now submitting an offer for Jaden Sancho still trying to figure out where Victor o Sean's gonna how many players does Chelsea have at this point uh two weeks ago they had 53 available well they've been busy in the last two weeks like I think it was 43 a couple weeks ago when I yelled and screamed about it on um and I know they've added and I know they've subtracted why are they still trying to add because they're Chelsea but why like I okay I'm gonna end on this sure you've got Raheem Sterling you played him in preseason no you don't want him anymore you don't want him anymore and Jayden Sancho's better no he's not are you high like no like I'm sorry Ryan Sterling would fit that team and play well you don't like him and whatever fine okay that's fine you don't like him personally you don't like that he got mad and and posted wanting more clarification because you left him out of the lineup and all that fine whatever you're not getting better by adding somebody else who's not as good by the way and he's probably going to have to or I guess somebody else would then have to go train with why do they call this the bomb squad in England that that makes no sense that's ridiculous unless they were just bombs when it comes to not hitting that's stupid that's stupid because they they're not a lot of these guys are not in this case it's because Chelsea can't go through the checkout line without buying the shiny new toy oh I know it's like going to sharper image and wanting everything it's like going to CVS and ended up with 27 different USBC Chargers cuz they're at to out oh I like that color I want I want I want I want the I want the pink six-foot cord this there has not been a team in a long time that the way that they are run and the way that they do things that has angered me as much as Chelsea Football Club right now and sorry Chelsea fans like it's not your fault uh your manager is not in a position to do the best that he can because he's got Island of Misfit Toys uh poino was in the same boat and he said you know what I don't want off this island this is stupid get me a boat peace out and it's just it's ridiculous and it's a disservice to the club get somebody in there with some intelligence and I don't know this thing called a plan and maybe follow said plan and maybe not sign 530 feet 33 first team players maybe try that yeah I'm out yeah okay so he's out uh I was gonna say broadcast plans for the weekend uh we got we got the twos and we got uh Atlanta United so Jason Oh I thought Jason was coming back in to talk broadcast plans because I thought he was going to CH oh God I was going to just leave but anyway um so I am flying to Charlotte this afternoon then Charlotte tomorrow 6:30 uh five Stripes countdown with ab and Garrett that's from the studio at Colony Square kickoff at 740 from Charlotte then I'll be on a plane then I'll fly back then Sunday we will be all over the place I will be at Center Park Stadium to call from the studio Georgia State women and Western Carolina should be a good game that is Sunday at 1:00 Maddie will be in Brook Haven at oglethorp for their home opener with their women's team and then Sunday night we will all reconvene like the Avengers and drive to Chattanooga and Finley Stadium and we will have the broadcast of Atlanta United 2 and Chattanooga FC from Finley Stadium pregame coverage will start at 6:30 for that kickoff will be just after 7 and then Monday we will be at emry University for the first of two matches between the emry Eagles and the oglethorp stormy petrols in men's D3 soccer two of the best teams in the country they're in our backyard pregame coverage we will have on our social media platforms we will get postgame reactions as well it's part of the sunny Carter Invitational that happens all weekend over at Emy B Haven is the third team in the tournament so Emy plays B Haven on Saturday afternoon oglethorp plays Bell Haven on Sunday afternoon and then ogal Thorp and emry play each other on Monday night so it's a busy weekend in the S network Universe now go adios everybody